Other People Make a Difference…and a Few Tips for the Road! (Session 4: Everyday Worship)

The Psalms consistently move us from a vertical dimension (with God) to a horizontal dimension (with other people). When the Bible comes to life in your life, it doesn’t end with you – it goes out to others. Faith turns to love, prayer lands with others. The Psalms give us, not a timeline for suffering, but a template for walking through suffering. Other people help us understand prayer, meditation, and affliction in new ways. We comfort others with the same comfort we received (2 Cor. 1:3-5). Every believer has three elemental callings that we are always called to do: 1. Pray for one another; 2. Give practically; 3. Speak words of wisdom to one another. Powlison ends with a few tips for helping find a word that will make a difference for someone else: 1. Words we say that are helpful are usually short; 2. Help people slow down when they read Scripture to particularize it to their own life; 3. Always hook the moral landscape of Scripture to the promises of God; 4. Translate things for people – put things in straightforward words; 5. Connect people’s experience to the creation – object lessons are powerful when they connect real-life situations to Scriptural truths.

(This audio is part 4 of a 5 part regional conference titled Everyday Worship: How God Brings the Bible to Life)