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Small Groups and Suffering…
SMALL GROUPS: ENGAGE IN CARE
We will be looking at this morning.
We started talking last week about connecting with one another in community.
In the local church there should never be anyone who says, “I don’t feel a part of the church.”
Or, “I’ve been here a year and I still feel like an outsider.”
It should never be incumbent upon the new believer or new member to work to break in to the already established “in-crowd” of the church.
I call this the “Curse of Current Community”.
What I mean by that is a core group has established over years of being together and everyone is comfortable with the current family and friends connections they have and don’t feel the need for any more.
Small Groups and Suffering…
I liken this to molecules with extra atoms floating around.
All trying to bond to the molecule, but there’s no room for extra molecule-atom relationship bonding.
So after a while the atoms drift away looking for others molecules to bond to.
That’s why some churches tend to expand and contract, expand and contract.
People just can’t break into the established community and feel a part of it.
They just continue feeling like an outsider.
So how can we be there for one another?
And do we even need to be concerned about others in the body of Christ He has placed around us?
I believe we all need each other.
Because we all hurt.
And God has designed His body to rally around it’s members who are hurting for whatever reason.
And that brings us to the subject of today’s text.
God’s comfort through the body to those who are hurting .
Sixty different times in the NT we see the word “comfort” in the original language.
Thirty of them are used here in this book.
Interestingly enough, ten of those times are in verses 3-7 right here.
Let’s read...
So, what is this picture that Paul introduces to the Church at Corinth that had to do with small groups and struggles and hurts and needs in our lives?
What I want you to see is a few truths that are foundational that Paul is laying here that lay the foundation for everything else to come in this letter.
We experience suffering in God.
So, what is this picture that Paul introduces to the Church at Corinth that had to do with small groups and struggles and hurts and needs in our lives?
What I want you to see is a few truths that are foundational that Paul is laying here that lay the foundation for everything else to come in this letter.
David Platt, “Small Groups: Engage in Care,” in David Platt Sermon Archive (Birmingham, AL: David Platt, 2007), 869.
We experience suffering in God.
Even though we are part of God’s family, we are not immune to suffering while in this world.
We saw the word comfort repeated ten times in this passage.
What’s interesting is Paul places just as much emphasis on suffering.
It’s kind of parallel.
Suffering and comfort back and forth.
Let’s look back to verse 4...
2 Corinthians 1:4-
We see quite a bit of suffering here.
Even suffering for living for Christ.
I want us to see how Paul shows us a picture of God from the very beginning, God in light of our suffering.
Look at the characteristics of God that are highlighted here.
First of all...
He is sovereign over all suffering.
“Blessed be the God and Father...” v. 3, It’s a picture of the One who is in control.
This is the God who is over all suffering.
Nothing happens outside of Him.
He also understands our suffering, because
He is familiar with all suffering.
We don’t have a God who is off in the distance in the universe unfamiliar with what we go through.
We have a God who is with us.
Literally.
Jesus suffered.
He was beaten, spit upon, mocked, nailed to a cross, suffered rejection, physical pain, emotional pain.
He knows loneliness.
But because of who He is...
He is the source of all compassion.
I love this phrase...
2 Corinthians 1:
Or the originator of compassion.
All compassion flows from Him. That’s the picture we’ve got.
It overflows from Him into our lives in our deepest point of need.
And...
He is sufficient for all comfort.
Paul uses the word comfort 30 times in 2 Corinthians.
It literally means “to come alongside and help.”
It’s the same word used by Jesus to describe the Holy Spirit.
The one who comes alongside us and helps us.
Here’s the thing, your suffering will never outweigh the comfort of God.
And that brings us to our next point...
We extend comfort from God.
What we see Paul saying here is that when we suffer, and we receive comfort from God, we are then able to extend that comfort to others who are hurting or in need.
It can give a purpose to our pain.
We experience comfort and the result is we are equipped to extend the comfort that we have received from God into others’ lives.
The purpose of God’s comfort doesn’t just center on us.
It’s intended for others.
He’s saying...
We are comforted for each others’ sake.
Let me show you this.
Look at verses 4, 5, and 6, back to back to back.
This is the reminder.
This is the crux of disciple-making.
We live for each others’ sake.
Listen to what Paul says...
Here’s the purpose clause.
Why did God comfort Paul?...
Do you see it?
The purpose of God’s comfort in our lives is to enable us to comfort others.
Verse 5, “Just as the sufferings of Christ flow into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
Overflows to whom?
To those around us, for others’ sake.
Then he says in verse 6, “If we are distressed, it’s for your comfort and salvation”.
Here’s the picture.
We exist for each others’ sake.
Why?
So that we might care for each other’s hurts.
What Paul is saying is literally, “I’m able to care for you because I’ve been through horrible times and God came through for me.”
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