Last week we talked about James 5:16, what I personally believe to be the most difficult of all of the “One Another’s” of the New Testament where James gives us this command, “Confess your sins to one another.” It’s hard to be that vulnerable. It’s hard to be that honest, it’s hard to be that real. We know that confessing our sins to God leads to forgiveness, so why do we need to tell each other? Why does the Bible tell us that we have to confess to one another? Why do we need to put ourselves to that kind of embarrassment? Why do we have to subject ourselves to the possibilities of judgment, rejection, being looked at differently or turned away completely? James tells us, “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed.” Confession when joined to prayer leads to healing. Deliverance, freedom from sin is a part of our fellowship with each other. As scary and as painful as it may be, as it may seem to be, as tempted as we are to confess our sins to God in private, but then hide them from each other in public, there is a freedom that can only be found in the accountability of fellowship…Last week sermon leads us to this important question, what if the burden we carry, what if the issue we face, what if the wounds we bear are not from our sins, but the sins of someone else?
In this week’s sermon, Pastor Abie Kulynych invites us to answer our calling to “Bear One Another’s Burdens.”