We all need help and are helpers!! Side by Side, pages 11-42

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be posting some quotes, questions and thoughts from the book Side by Side.  While much of the content will be focused on Soul Care groups and leaders.  It will also be helpful for other ministry leaders like deacons and Bible teaching hour teachers.

Today's post is related to the content on pages 11 through 42.

Welch has included two or three Discussion/Response questions at the end of each section.  These are very helpful.  Think about how you can use these to help you become even more sincere in God's love.

Two of the big ideas of the book are we all need help and we are all helpers.

We all need help

Anything that reminds us that we are dependent on God and other people is a good thing. Otherwise, we trick ourselves into thinking that we are self-sufficient, and arrogance is sure to follow. We need help, and God has given us his Spirit and each other to provide it. (p. 12)

We are all helpers

In our era we consult experts, professionals, and specialists, but when you look at your own history of having been helped, it’s likely that you’ll notice very few experts among those who have helped you. Who were your helpers? Were they professional counselors or specialists? Probably not. Most often, they were friends— the regular, everyday people in your life. Friends are the best helpers. They come prepackaged with compassion and love. All they need is wisdom, and that is available to everyone. 

It’s the perfect system. If God used only experts and people of renown, some could boast in their own wisdom, but God’s way of doing things is not the same as our way. We ordinary people have been given power and wisdom through the Holy Spirit and are called to love others (John 13: 34). From this beginning, we are compelled to move toward others rather than stay away.  (14)

Here is a helpful group leader tip:
Be honest and transparent.

As a Soul Care leader, it can become very easy to appear the expert in the group and speak AT people rather than growing with the group and conversing with them about life and godliness.

We spend too much time concealing our neediness. We need to stop hiding. Being needy is our basic condition. There is no shame in it— it’s just the way it is.  Understanding this, accepting it, and practicing it will make you a better helper. (p. 15)

Here is a helpful training tip:  
Use resources we already have in place to help you and your group grow!

Plan to come to the 9:00 am Bible Teaching Hour classes in March & Invite others in your group to come.  I know most of you do but these class times.
Our topic on March 6 is praying scripture and hopefully the lesson will help you and your group.  

Here is a helpful discipleship/counseling tip:
The HEART is the target of real change.

What we do, think and feel is connected to the heart.  Welch describes a couple of basic emotions in a way that connects them with the heart.

When happy, we possess something we love; when anxious, something we love is at risk; when despondent, something we love has been lost; when angry, something we love is being stolen or kept from us.  (p. 25)

This section closes with some great thought developed from Psalm 22.  Take time to read not only this section in the book but also Psalm 22 several times.


Psalm 22