The Caring Christian

Our image of the church is a place where hurting people can come for help. It's a safe place where care, compassion and sensitivity are available to anyone who needs them. Unfortunately, real life doesn’t always match up with our image. In this probing series of messages, Dr. Evans examines a number of characteristics of caring churches and the people who make them work. He explores subjects like encouragement, confrontation, comfort and sharing, as well as some difficult concepts including church discipline and restoring wayward believers. 

#1 – Caring Enough to Encourage (Hebrews 10:19-25): There are two very simple ingredients you need for encouragement to work: those who need it and those who can give it. While you don’t have to look far to find someone in need, finding someone willing to give it is the hard part. That’s why Tony Evans seeks to inspire us in this lesson to become encouragers to fill the ever-growing need of Christians who lift others up.

#2 – Caring Enough to Restore (Galatians 6:1-5): There’s not much worse than feeling trapped in something we wish to be free from. Everyone faces strongholds at one point or another where we just don’t know how to get out or don’t have the power to. That’s why Tony Evans says we need restorers to help others break free of what they cannot break free of themselves. Join him as he covers all we need to know about what it means to live a life of restoring others in this lesson.

#3 – Caring Enough to Comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3-7): When we find ourselves in the midst of affliction, trouble or suffering, there’s not much else that we need more than a bit of comfort to help us make it through. But Tony Evans says that God doesn’t comfort us in our troubles just for us, but for others, too. It’s a look at how receiving comfort means learning how to pass it on to someone else in need.

#4 –Caring Enough to Confront(Galatians 2:11-21): Nobody likes confrontation. But Tony Evans says that when we fail to correct what goes against God’s truths, we’re doing more harm than good. If you struggle with not knowing when to correct or even what to say, this lesson seeks to answer those questions as it discusses how to confront others based on Biblical truths in order to lovingly protect them from dangers.

#5 – Caring Enough to Love(1 John 4:7-12): The word love can come in many different shapes and sizes. But when the Bible talks about love, it’s not referring to the love we have for our favorite dessert or the love we show to our friends. The biblical love that Tony Evans wants to tell us about is the selfless kind that reflects the heart of God, and he’ll do so by discussing all we need to know in order to express this same kind of love to others.

#6 – Caring Enough to Forgive(Colossians 3:12-17): The thing about forgiveness is that no matter how simple a concept it is, there are still countless people who find it near impossible to put into action on a daily basis. But should you find yourself a prisoner of unforgiveness because of something you did or something that has been done to you, Tony Evans wants to remind you of the hope we have to experience true freedom. Join him as he shows us the power of forgiveness because of Christ who first forgave us.