Verse to Remember: “By helping each other with your troubles, you truly obey the law of Christ.” — Galatians 5:6 (NIV)
[Read More] thoughts on weekly Session 5 of Rick Warren’s 40 Days of Community,

In many ways, this week’s lesson mirrored Week 2 on reaching out, though the focus now is more on serving the body of Christ, as well as those outside the church. I think I need to pray more for our group; we appear to be under a lot of attack. One person apparently didn’t feel well enough to attend, and another had a daughter in the hospital. What’s more, our Service Project today didn’t happen to do some bizarre miscommunication/misinformation on the other end.

As with all spiritual warfare, the key is respond with humility, grace, forgiveness, love, and support — rather than anger, despair, blaming, or unforgiveness. Its a challenge for me, as I easily get annoyed when things don’t go as planned. I pray God grant me a servant’s heart, that I see these challenges as opportunities to serve others in their time of weakness, rather than interruptions or occasions to complain or feel sorry for myself. Or, worse, to lecture them on their folly rather than repenting of my own…