I don’t know about you, but when I’m going through a trial or test, “joy” is not the first word that comes to mind. I’m more likely to think that once I get through the difficulty, I can throw my hands up in the air and say, “It’s finally over! Now I can have some joy.” But the Scripture doesn’t say that. Rather, it says, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trails, knowing that the test of your faith produces endurance” (James 1:2–3).

I learned the significance of “brother” and “sister” long before I began to use those biblical terms myself. As a child, I would half-listen to my parents’ side of phone conversations, absorbed in a book but mildly curious about who was on the other end. 

The introductory chatter never aroused my attention. Their transition to hushed pauses or solemn tones failed to fully engage my interest. But then I would hear my dad address the caller as “brother,” and I would look up from the page. 

Every local church is comprised of a diverse group of people who have been radically transformed by the power of God through the person and work of Jesus Christ. These diverse people have no reason to live and work together, let alone care for each other—and yet, they choose to live in love and unity together, to the praise and glory of the Lord’s name.

Healthy local churches make a powerful and attractive testimony to a watching world. This means that every member has to be devoted to building others up.

This article discusses six types of members that do build up the church.

This year has been one for the records. A lot has transpired. Unfortunately, a lot of sorrow has swept through this world. It has not been easy. But believe me when I tell you: God is about to do some new and great things for His people. As I sought the Lord on what to write, He instructed me to ask you a question. He told me, “Ask them, where is your trust?”

I was talking to a friend who was discouraged about a difficult family matter that was impacting her young daughter in a very negative way. I had watched my friend get more and more overwhelmed by the anxiety and stress to the point that I could see her own health was being jeopardized. I was reminded that when God brought the Israelites out from their oppressive captivity in Babylon that He promised they would “go out in joy and be led forth in peace” (Isaiah 55:12). So I encouraged her that if we’re going to come out of dark places like she was in, if we’re going to stand under the trials of life, we have to come out with joy and walk in peace. We have to use joy to deliver us from anxious thoughts, defeat, and discouragement. Joy is the key, and it’s inside us.

Humanity, as the image of God, is stamped from the beginning for beautiful community. That is, we’re marked out for a God-glorifying life of unity in diversity. This is where God is taking humanity. We’re fractured and divided, but he’s going to knit the human race together under the lordship of Jesus Christ. And the church is called to pursue beautiful community in the here and now as a witness to the world of the Holy Spirit’s reconciling power. Experiencing community means experiencing a sense of belonging, of welcome and embrace, a sense of being at home. It’s the exact opposite of feeling you’d rather be someplace else. Since beautiful community is a matter of the Spirit and can’t be engineered, there’s a cost to becoming the kind of people who welcome and embrace fellow image-bearers across lines of difference.

Most children are introduced to prayer through prayers offered before meals and before bed, but when trials strike, those traditional prayers fall short of helping our kids through life’s most difficult days. Is there a prayer to pray when your best friend moves away? How do you approach God when you lose the big game? How do you face God the day after you get caught cheating on a test?  What can help our kids connect with God through a more severe trial like when a family member is hospitalized or when a beloved grandparent passes into glory? The Psalms provide Spirit-inspired examples of petition, confession, declaration, and lament for our kids and us to learn and follow. Turning to these prayers in times of trouble move our focus away from our weakness and onto God’s strength.

I confess I have a prayer problem—sometimes my own prayers bore me. So boring that my mind completely wanders away from God. At times, I’ve even fallen asleep while praying! Over the years, I’ve noticed that I tend to pray the exact same phrases over and over in a kind of empty way. My prayers can be dull and repetitive. My mind and heart drift, and I feel like I’m just going through the motions instead of communicating with the Living God. This doesn’t exactly fit my image of a vibrant prayer life!

Has anyone done you wrong? How does that person make you feel? You feel angry, right? You feel resentful and you want that person to feel pain, too, right? How does it feel when that person is around? Does that person make you feel good or bad?
When someone has done us wrong, we feel negative emotions, such as hate, anger, and resentment. But when you take a deeper look at the situation, who is hurting more? Is it the person that did you wrong? Or is it you?
The Bible tells us a lot of things about forgiveness and unforgiveness. In Ephesians 4:32, it says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

We may think of journaling as a bit archaic—maybe even Victorian. I certainly did when my then-boyfriend suggested we start one together. But church history shows us that journaling does not belong to a particular time or place or age. It has been useful to Christians of all ages for thousands of years—and still is, despite the technology that threatens it. Journals are as diverse as their authors, each writing for particular reasons and benefits, though there is a common theme. Looking at examples from the last 2,000 years can illuminate the benefits of journaling in the 21st century.