Today is Tuesday, March 20th, 2007; Karen's Korner #1022

Our church's small groups are wandering our way through Rick Warren's "Better Together" book on churches as communities. This book is also a 40-day adventure like his best-selling "Purpose Driven Life".
 
Several thoughts taken from Day 18, "We are Chosen to Fellowship Together" is the theme of the week; with this particular day titled "...by supporting each other......":
 
"'.all of you should be of one mind, full of sympathy toward each other,
loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds.'
 - I Peter 3:18
 
"God enables us to love the fear out of one another.
 
"We drive fear from our community by loving one another so supportively that each member feels safe inside the group (I John 4:18). This safety allows us to bring our humanity into the group--including all our joy and pain, our ups and downs, our victories and defeats.
 
"We exhibit tender hearts when we say to one another:
 
:"It's OK to have a bad day; It's OK to be tired: It's OK to admit your mistakes; It's OK to say your marriage is failing: It's OK to confess your addictions; It's OK to share you're scared; It's OK to want a day away from your toddler; It's OK to grieve this loss; It's OK to doubt, to be confused, to cry.
 
"We exhibit humble minds when we say to one another:
 
"It's OK be happy you got a new car; It's OK to celebrate that you got a HUGE raise; It's OK to joyfully tell us you lost seventeen pounds; It's OK to say you won the sales competition; It's OK to shout 'hallelujah' because God's presence in your life is so good."

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