Healing Community

Introduction/Scripture

Romans 12:9–21 NIV

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Pray.

One of my biggest sources of anxiety is what to wear. Hey today is about being a community of healing and not judgement so practice right now by not judging me. This is not an everyday thing, but special occassions, Christmas, Easter, Weddings, funerals, parties, every sunday (kidding, sorta). My goal is almost always, how can I blend in with maybe the potential to stand out in a good way but only slightly. Like enough for someone to think to themselves….”he knows how to dress” but not more than that. I dont really have an eye for style or colors or things like that. Lauren for our entire marriage has thought I was color blind. I am not…its just that the part of your brain that says “don’t put those things together” it is broken in mine. So when I joke that Lauren picks my clothes out…it’s because if she does….I have complete peace. Why do I feel this way?

Well there is probably something wrong with me. But there is also a cultural pressure that exists. There is a price we pay to belong.

I wonder if this experience applies to other things besides appearance. What about culture of church? I suspect there is a great price we pay unknowingly to belong here. We want to fit in. To struggle with mental health might feel like the equivalent of showing up to church in a spedo. It is too revealing.

Let me abuse this analogy by going too far, haha

There are two corrections for this:

Convince you it is ok to show up in your spedo, as a matter of fact most of the people here are just hiding theirs

And secondly, we as a community can get better and being a safe place.

Ok…now for the record, wear clothes to church.

My point is we must break down some barriers in our own hearts so that when there is hurt or pain…we, ourselves, show up. And we as a community have to fight to erase the barrier of entry, the facade that says we here are all a community that is ok, so if you are not ok, this isnt the place for you.

Troubled Minds by Amy Simpson

1 in 4 of our population of adult population are suffering mentally. That is equal to the percentage of people diagnosed with cancer each year, those living with heart disease, people infected with HIV and AIDS, and those afflicted with diabetes—combined! page 10

Introduction: What Heals People?

As we end our series on Faith and Mental Health, we come to one final—and vital—question:

What heals people?

Over the past few weeks, we’ve talked about God’s comfort in anxiety, His presence in depression, His invitation to rest and renewal. But no matter the personal battle, one thing is clear: healing rarely happens in isolation.

Healing happens when someone says, “You are not alone.” “I see you.” “I will walk with you.”

And this is what the church is meant to be: not a place of pressure to appear perfect, but a place of presence—where Christ's love is lived out in real, embodied community.

Paul’s words in Romans 12 give us a vision for this kind of community.

1. Love Must Be Sincere (Romans 12:9)

Paul starts with a strong call: “Let love be genuine.”

Genuine love is not performative. It’s not fake smiles or Sunday-only compassion. It’s real. It shows up in the trenches. It doesn’t flinch at someone else’s mess.

In a world of filters, curated lives, and superficial connections, Paul calls the church to be a people of authentic love.

If we want to be a healing community, we cannot fake it. We must be the kind of people who say, “You don’t have to pretend here.” “You can bring the hard stuff here.”

Because sincere love makes room for people to be honest, and honesty is the beginning of healing.

2. Be Devoted to One Another (Romans 12:10–13)

Paul continues: “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves… Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

The language here is family language—devotion, honor, hospitality. It paints a picture of a church that’s not a crowd, but a family table. A place where you are welcomed, known, and cared for.

That’s what people need when they're hurting.

Mental health struggles can make people feel isolated, ashamed, even burdensome. But Paul says: in the body of Christ, no one is a burden. We bear one another’s burdens because that’s what love does.

This is a challenge for us. Again Amy Simpson:

“We are so uncomfortable with being forgiven and called and yet weak and suffering, we turn away from the suffering and weakness in our midst. We reject them in the name of our claim on a world we don’t yet live in. We try to amputate those parts of the body of Christ that exhibit the most suffering. We don’t want to look at them, because they remind us of what we’re trying to forget—the truth about every single one of us.” - pg 30.

It is hard emotional work when my brother calls me

When someone is in the valley, we don’t rush them out—we go into the valley with them.

We bring meals.

We send the text.

We ask again even if they didn’t answer the first time.

We make room for grief, for silence, for slow healing.

And we keep showing up.

3. Mourn With Those Who Mourn (Romans 12:15)

This verse is so simple… and so powerful:

“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”

It doesn't say, “Cheer up those who mourn.” Or, “Give advice to those who mourn.” It says, “Mourn with them.” Sit with them. Feel with them. Be present.

This is one of the most healing things we can do.

Often, we fear people’s pain because we don’t know what to say. But the truth is, most healing doesn’t come from words—it comes from presence.

Jesus wept at Lazarus’s tomb, even though He knew resurrection was coming. Why? Because love doesn’t rush to solutions. Love sits in the sorrow.

If we want to be a community of healing, we have to learn to mourn well—to sit with each other in the mess without trying to fix it too quickly.

4. Live in Harmony and Pursue Peace (Romans 12:16–18)

Paul says, “Live in harmony with one another… If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

There is no healing without peace—peace in relationships, peace in community, peace in the soul.

Healing is hard enough without the added weight of conflict, competition, or judgment. The church should be a refuge from that kind of world.

To be a healing community, we must become a place of:

Grace, not gossip

Peace, not pressure

Reconciliation, not rivalry

Sometimes this means hard conversations, forgiveness, and humility. But the result is a space where people can exhale. A place where they don’t have to guard themselves.

5. Overcome Evil with Good (Romans 12:21)

Paul closes this section with a profound call: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Mental health battles can feel like darkness trying to take over. But the church is called to be a place where goodness pushes back the dark.

When someone comes to church weary, anxious, afraid, we don’t offer cliché answers—we offer compassion. And that compassion is powerful. It overcomes evil with good.

In every act of care, every moment of empathy, every shared burden, we are testifying that light still shines, that Christ is still present, that healing is still possible.

Robert Hand

This has been one of the most difficult weeks of my faith journey. Lauren and I have faced all sorts of things together. I have led churches through some real crises. Tuesday morning as I was getting the kids ready for our neighbor to come watch them for the day, I got a phone call from a friend that normally would not call me at 7am. Our dear friend Robert Hand lost his battle with depression.

Robert was the best of us. He was a professor, a biblical scholar, pastor. He was published author. He was so in love with his family. He loved Jesus. There was no scandal. Nothing hiding. As a matter of fact he did everything that I have preached about this series. He was never isolated. He met with brothers every week to confess sin and to pray with people. Something just broke.

I struggled spiritually with what to do today. Honestly I didnt want to preach, didnt want to finish this series. In the quiet, I heard lies this week or challenges from darkness:

“What do you think about your sermon series now?!”

“Did God really say this?”

Also, I refuse to preach from a wide-open wound. That isn’t fair to anyone. I have more questions for God than answers and that is a part of life. So here is what I want to say:

It was healing for me to be with my friends yesterday. In more specific, to be not ok with my friends

It was healing to hold my wife’s hand and to grieve with her

It was healing to sing songs that I didnt want to sing

It was healing to receive words from my friend preaching, words that I knew. Words that I preach. But truths that I needed to sit in again.

This is not meant as a negative to you. But it was healing for me to get away from here and mourn with people that knew Robert.

And somehow in the midst of that awful situation I could feel the closeness of Jesus.

I think that is what Paul is getting at in 2 Cor.

2 Corinthians 4:8–10 NIV

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

Today: if you are carrying a burden, tell someone. Today.

If you are in a different season… reach out someone. Today.

That is how we live as the body of Christ.