We Grow Better Together | September 13, 2026

Celebration

What has God done in your life lately that you would like to celebrate and thank Him for?

Last time, we challenged ourselves to share our Jesus story with at least one person. Were you able to do it? Would you like to share what happened?

Challenges

What challenges did you face with regard to sharing your story to someone?

Content

Read: Hebrews 10:19–25; Ephesians 4:15–16

We Grow Better Together

God never intended the Christian life to be lived alone. The church is more than a building we enter or a service we attend—it is a community of people who follow Jesus together. We need people who will encourage us, strengthen us, challenge us, and sometimes lovingly correct us. We cannot fully grow into Christlikeness by ourselves. We need one another, because we grow better together.

This life together begins with what Jesus has done for us. Through His blood, Jesus opened a new and living way for us to come into God’s presence, and He became our great High Priest. Because of Him, we can now draw near to God with confidence and full assurance of faith. Our confidence is not based on our goodness or accomplishments, but entirely on what Christ has accomplished for us. Jesus brought us to God—and in doing so, He also brought us together as His people (Hebrews 10:19–25; Hebrews 4:14–16).

Because we belong to Christ, we are called to encourage one another. Hebrews tells us to “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works” and not to neglect meeting together (Hebrews 10:24–25). Encouragement is more than saying kind words. We encourage others when we inspire them toward love and good deeds, when we gather faithfully, and when we come alongside those who are struggling. Sometimes simply showing up is already a powerful encouragement. Our presence says, “I’m still here. I’m still following Jesus. And we’re in this together.”

But growing together requires more than encouragement. We also need people who will speak the truth to us in love. Paul writes, “speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him…Christ” (Ephesians 4:15–16). Sometimes we need someone to remind us of God’s promises. Sometimes we need someone to tell us not to believe a lie. And sometimes we need someone who loves us enough to say, “You’re going in the wrong direction. Let’s go back to God’s Word.” Truth spoken in love helps us become more like Jesus.

We especially need this because we all have blind spots—areas in our lives that others may see more clearly than we do. David needed Nathan to confront him about his sin. When Nathan courageously told him, “You are the man!” David was finally brought face-to-face with what he had done (2 Samuel 12:1–7). In the same way, we sometimes need a “Nathan”—someone who loves God and loves us enough to tell us what we cannot see ourselves. But receiving truth also requires humility and courage: humility to listen instead of becoming defensive, and courage to admit when we are wrong and allow God to change us.

This is God’s beautiful design for Christian community. We need both truth and love. Truth without love can become harsh; love without truth can become shallow. But when truth and love come together, we help one another grow toward Christlikeness (Ephesians 4:15–16). So let us become people who encourage those who are struggling, lovingly correct those who are drifting, and humbly receive truth when others speak into our lives. We need each other to become more like Jesus. We were never meant to grow alone. We grow together—and we grow better together.

Discuss

How did the message speak to you?

In what ways can we as a faith group apply the message?

Commit

What are you personally committing to do to apply the message to your life? We will follow up on this next meeting.

Let us also continue in our commitment to share the gospel, or share our story to at least one person.