The Importance of Groups to Christian Leadership Essay

Introduction

The importance of groups to Christian leadership is undeniably great and admirable. And without the groups, it becomes challenging for Christ followers to reflect and maintain the biblical lesson on communal teachings. Through the groups, members learn from each other and to strengthen their faith in the walk with Christ hence fostering the discipleship quality hence the following constructs associated with fellowship, prayers, caring for one another and encouragement (Ramsey, 2015).

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Fellowship

In times of trouble, the presence of group members comes with joy, hope, and encouragement. The bond created among brethren is constituted by God and it strengthens the union as it manifests Gods presence as members sharpen each other as written in Proverbs 27:17.

Through fellowships, group members create new friends as well as catching up with the old ones. This forms stronger Christian friendships and it is one of the practical activities that portray the Christian calling to love, care for and understand one another. In these fellowships, members learn from each other by listening to the stories on how their fellows balance the spiritual life and the common life (Cooper, 2005). It also encourages interaction between the unbelievers to interact with the faithful as it is easy to invite others to join. Fellowships help members to find determination and strength to persevere in order to overcome endures hardships and challenges.

Prayers

As captured in the New Testament, Acts 4:24, with one accord, the believers' fellowshipped together and on behalf of the groups, the leader voices the word. In the same setups, the church members of a group intercede for each other (White, 2016). In instances where the expected answers are not forthcoming, people may feel discouraged. Through prayers, the word of God can transform, create and rebuild new lives and encourage some weary souls. It is, therefore, a means through which an individual's burden can be taken away. According to Christian teaching, God cares for us but he instructs that Christians and believers, when faced with challenges, must go to him in order to lighten the laden and labor thus the assistance is dispensed (Byrd, 2015). God only needs to hear about your needs and the means to reach God is definitely through prayers and He will never cast away anyone who goes to Him.

Care for one another

In the Christian setup, the need for caring for each other is founded on Jesus teachings of activity done unto one another is also done unto him as written in Matthew 25:40. The joy and encouragements obtained are strengthened by the teaching of Jesus where he advises brethren to agree among themselves to avoid divisions so as to share in common what is in their thoughts and minds. The merits of being in the company of each other support one another to accomplish missions as well as complementing them in the body of Christ. Based on these among many others, being a Christian is to be part of the brotherhood. This is Gods intention to be in the group and not to be alone and independent which finally makes us better (Cooper, 2005).

Encouragement

Characters of a Christian leader as listed in Titus chapter 1 indicates that the leaders must maintain the true message as it is taught for them to encourage others basing on viable doctrines and to correct those who go against the doctrines. The leaders are expected from the Christian teachings to be people who hold the truth dearly in order to make other followers be encouraged. sThis results in an encouraged church as leaders are respected. In totality, the group members have the responsibility to encourage and build each other up all the time (Eisenstat, 1992). It is therefore not the responsibility of the leaders alone but it calls for the entire spiritual group. Encouraging each other makes the walk in as a Christian strengthened. It requires continuous engagement to overcome the determination of the Satan to make the faithful turn away from the ultimate word of God (The power of encouragement. , 2014).

Coclusion

Finally, God has placed the brethren and the groups to serve, to fulfill each other and to stand in the weak point in order to make the walk with Him come to pass and enjoyable while one gets the strength from each other. All these can only be learned when brethren are in these relationships.

References

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