Author: Nathaniel Colt

Read about It

Read: Hebrews 10:23–25

Have you ever noticed sports players on the sidelines responding to a big play in a game? They don’t just sit back and ignore what’s going on. Normally, they’re excited and yelling at their teammates to encourage them. Why? Because they’re a team. They practice together, sweat together, work out together, study the plays together, and cheer each other on. They do it all for that “big play” moment on the field.

God wants this for His children. We, the Church, are a team. When we study God’s Word together with other believers, we help to motivate each other and encourage each other in our relationship with God. We can help each other be strong in both the good times and the bad times. We can help push each other not to give up, especially when we may feel discouraged.

Read about It

Read: Ecclesiastes 4:9–12

Have you ever had a hard fall? If you have, you know it can be painful. Having someone to help you makes it easier to get back up. Have you ever sat close to a friend after playing outside in the snow? You know that being in the cold by yourself isn’t very warm. Being in a pair, a group of two people, makes life so much easier.

When we surround ourself with other believers who are serving Jesus, praying, and spending time studying God’s Word, it’s harder to fall away from following Jesus. Studying God’s Word with other people will make our relationship with God stronger. We can help each other understand parts of God’s Word that He’s explained to us. And we can stand together against Satan, our enemy.

Read about It

Read: Acts 17:10–15

Have you ever played a game of Telephone? The game begins when someone whispers a sentence to someone else. That person passes on what they heard to the next person and so on. Usually by the end of the game, no one knows what the first sentence was because it was repeated so many times.

To know the truth, you would need to ask the source of the message, the first person. The people of Berea in today’s Scripture heard the message that Paul passed to them. Rather than just accepting it, they went to the Source—God’s Word—to see if what Paul told them was right.

The Bereans read the Scriptures to find the truth and test what they heard. If Christians today want to grow in their faith, like the Bereans, they should study the Scriptures together so that they can also know the truth. If we study the Scriptures together, we can become a community of friends who learns and grows together in the things of God.

Read about It

Read: Acts 2:42–44

The Early Church understood the power of praying together. Several times in the New Testament, we read about the believers who gathered in one place to share meals, fellowship, and pray together. They devoted themselves to these things. That means that they were committed to doing it because it was important to them. They were also like a family, and they cared for each other like a family. Praying together was a normal part of their life. As they spent time with God in prayer, they saw Him answer their prayers in amazing ways. They were able to celebrate those answers together.

When we pray with other believers, we should pray for them with concern in our heart—like they are our own family. We can help each other believe God for big and amazing things.  Our prayers are powerful when we agree together to pray for what we believe God wants for us. Just like these Christians almost two thousand years ago, we should pray together.

Read about It

Read: Matthew 18:19–20

A dogsled team is a group of dogs that pulls a sled across the snow. Their harnesses help them stay unified and running in the same direction as a team. Imagine how difficult it would be to pull a heavy sled if the dogs were running in different directions. But when they run together as a team, they are better than if they tried to do it alone.

That’s kind of like when we pray together with other Christians. Praying together shows that we are unified and part of the same team. We believe together for God to answer our prayers. Praying together can benefit us in many ways. It can encourage us and build our faith. When we share our needs with other believers and we listen to the needs of others, we can grow closer because we are praying in unity.

Read about It

Read: Acts 12:6–16

Can you imagine what Peter must have been thinking when he realized he was free from prison? People were praying for him, and God chose to help Peter in a way that he probably never imagined. He had been chained to guards and the chains fell off his wrists. The angel even reminded Peter to put on his coat as he was walking out of the prison cell, past the guards, and past the iron gate that opened by itself.

Other followers of Jesus had been praying and believing that God would help Peter. But even they were surprised when God answered in a way that they may not have imagined. God is greater than we will ever be able to understand, and He helps us in ways that are far beyond what we could even dream about. When we pray together, we can trust that the God of the universe will move in supernatural ways because that’s what He does. He is the God who hears our prayers and answers us.

Read about It

Read: Acts 12:1–5

King Herod was finding and hurting Christians. He had Jesus’ disciple James killed. Then he had Peter arrested and several guards to watch him in prison. Herod was determined to keep Peter from escaping from prison. Peter was in prison even though he had done nothing wrong. But Peter served a great God, and he had a group of believers praying for him.

When the people of God, the Church, join together and pray, God can do miracles. Our prayers can make a difference for our friends, families, or even people we don’t know who may be going through hard times. Even though there were soldiers guarding Peter, they were no match for the power of God. When we pray to God and pray with others together in unity with faith, amazing things can happen.

Read about It

Read: John 9:35–41

The man born blind was once again face-to-face with Jesus. Before this, he had already given a powerful witness of the Jesus he knew to the Pharisees. It seems as though God had given him spiritual eyes to recognize who Jesus was and the impact of what He had done. The man had faith in Jesus as his Healer, and that gave him the boldness to stand up for Jesus.

Faith can give us spiritual eyes to see Jesus as well. When we trust what God has done for us, we can boldly proclaim it wherever we go. Even though we haven’t been able to be face-to-face with Jesus like the man, we can see His work in our life. Through faith, we tell others about His mercy so they can see Jesus too. By trusting Jesus like the man born blind, we can also see His work and great plan unfolding in our life and lead others to Him.