Here at First Presbyterian Church of Lake Wales we profess to be a Christ-Centered fellowship of believers. In proclaiming this we mean something more than that we hang out in close proximity to one another on Sundays and Wednesdays. Ideally, it means we know one another and we seek to love one another in Christ. We strive to be a part of each others’ lives, rejoicing together in the triumphs of life and shouldering one another’s burdens in its hardships. That is easier to say than it is to do. It can require a lot of effort to truly love others. It can also require great effort to be loved by others.
Edward T. Welch has written a wonderful little book that provides great encouragement to believers to help us understand and acknowledge our neediness, both for God and for others, and to help us embrace the fact that in Christ we are also needed by others. From there Welch gives some very practical advice to help guide us in moving towards one another in spiritual friendship that we might vulnerably depend on others and that we would be someone they can increasingly trust with their own needs. We will begin an 8 week discussion-based study of Welch’s book, Side by Side, on Wednesday, April 4th. Over the course of our reading and group discussions we will seek the Lord’s power to help us embrace the beauty of living life together in Christ as a fellowship of believers who are both needy and needed.