Designed to Grow Together

Happy Monday to our CFC Family;

Well, the weather has certainly been intense lately. With the recent heavy rainfall, especially in Winnipeg where I live, followed by periods of extreme heat, it has made for a very interesting growing season in the garden.

For the past several years, I have been growing pole beans in my garden. This year's crop comes from the fourth generation of seeds that I have saved from previous harvests, and they have never looked healthier. As you probably know, one thing pole beans absolutely need is a pole to climb. Without that support, they simply cannot grow as they were designed to. Year after year, I have watched the same thing happen. Once the vines reach the tops of their poles, they begin searching for something else to hold on to. They reach toward neighboring vines, wrapping around one another so they can continue growing upward.

As I watch this happen each year, I cannot help but think about the support we receive from one another as followers of Christ. Throughout life, there are many things we lean on. We depend on our health, our finances, our jobs, our routines, our families, and even our own strength. These are all gifts from God, but we often assume they will always be there.

Then life changes.

A diagnosis comes. A loved one passes away. Employment becomes uncertain. Relationships become strained. Suddenly, the things we depended on are no longer able to hold us up. It is often in those moments that God reminds us we were never meant to walk through life alone.

Just as those bean vines reach for one another when they have climbed as high as their poles will allow, God has designed His people to reach out and support one another.

In our own church family, we have recently witnessed several difficult situations in recent months. Some have faced serious illness. Others have grieved the loss of someone they dearly loved. Still others have carried financial burdens or walked through seasons of uncertainty. These experiences weigh heavily on the heart, and the supports we once relied upon can suddenly feel fragile or disappear altogether. This is precisely why God calls us to live in genuine Christian community.

The early church understood what it meant to stand together in difficult times. Hebrews 10:33 tells us that believers when they were being persecuted and everything around them seemed to be lost, they stood "side by side with those who were so treated."

They did not pull away or try to deal with it on their own, but in fact, they drew closer together. That is God's heart for His church today.

There are many people who claim they can follow Christ without being part of a local church, but that is not the pattern God established. Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, "On this rock I will build My Church." He did not say He would build “believers” or “Christians,” rather He would build his Church. A people who worship together, serve together, pray together, and carry one another's burdens!

Hebrews 10:24-25 encourages us to "consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together... but encouraging one another.”

We need one another's prayers, wisdom, encouragement, and presence. Sometimes we are the ones who need someone to hold us up, and at other times God calls us to be that support for someone else.

As I look at those bean vines reaching for one another, I am reminded that God never intended His children to stand alone. We grow stronger when we stand shoulder to shoulder, encouraging one another and pointing each other to Christ.

This week, don’t just simply “attend church” but rather intentionally stand beside someone who needs the strength and encouragement that only the family of God can provide?

Have a great week and we’ll see you Sunday!

Pastor Dan