October 2026 LiNK

John Andrus:  In 2006, I spent a month in Afghanistan on a mission trip and wanted to move my family there, but my wife nixed it.

Over the course of this year, we'll be working through the book Side by Side by Ed Welch. This month we'll focus on the Introduction and chapter 17.

At the September Launch I mentioned that one of the best ways we can lead our groups is by sharing our neediness, namely confessing sin. Side by Side was written to provide skills in helping one another. And "those who help best are the ones who both need help and give help" (11).

Gospel Communities are perfect places to see this kind of mutual help happening because there's built in proximity, warmth, and friendship.

Chapter 17 captures the big story that I hope is always in your mind, as you lead and as you read this book: that you were once broken and doomed because of your sin but because of Christ have been healed and forgiven and given new identities as sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ. We're not perfect yet, but God's with us and helps us. He loves us the same on our good days and our bad days.

And we look forward to a day where Jesus comes back and will make all things right. Which gives us hope right now to serve with patience and confidence that God will accomplish his purposes in his way and on his schedule.

• Read chapters 1-3 of Side by Side.

• This is a great time to share testimonies. You could carve out entire group meetings to share or you could have one family share per meeting. I've found the Your Story Graph a really helpful tool to capture God's work in my life.

If you need to chat, are struggling, or just want to shoot the breeze, email or text or send a carrier pigeon. I’d love to connect.

And, if you have questions, check out the Leader Base: a knowledge base of all sorts of information for Gospel Community Leaders.