Pastor Adam MacDonald | July 20, 2026
About This Message
There’s a quiet assumption many of us carry around: that helping others with their struggles is someone else’s job — the pastor’s, the counsellor’s, the person who has it all figured out. But what if that assumption is exactly what gets in the way? This week, Pastor Adam walked us through Galatians 6 and made a case that bearing one another’s burdens isn’t optional, isn’t conditional, and isn’t reserved for the spiritually put-together. It’s the natural overflow of a life led by the Spirit — and it might start with something as simple as a cup of coffee.
Background and Context
This message is part of our ongoing One Another series, and it drew from Galatians 6:2 — “Share one another’s burdens, and in this way, obey the law of Christ.” But to really understand that verse, Pastor Adam took us back a chapter, to the heart of what Paul’s whole letter is about. The church in Galatia was wrestling with a fundamental tension: did following Jesus mean also following the law of Moses? One group, known as the Judaizers, said yes — Jesus plus the rules. Paul’s answer was a firm no. Not because the rules don’t matter, but because the law, on its own, doesn’t produce life. What does? The Spirit.
That contrast — law versus Spirit — runs like a thread through the entire letter, and it’s what gives Galatians 6 its meaning. Paul’s famous list of the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) isn’t a checklist to follow. It’s a description of what grows naturally in a person who has surrendered to the Spirit’s leading. And bearing one another’s burdens, Paul argues, is one of the clearest expressions of that fruit in action. It’s not how we earn favour with God — it’s evidence that the Spirit is already at work in us.
What We Explored
One of the first things Pastor Adam did was reframe what “bearing burdens” actually means. Many of us, when we hear that phrase, immediately think of practical help — giving someone a ride, bringing a meal, helping someone move. And those things matter. But the passage in Galatians 6 is specifically about spiritual burdens: what to do when someone around you is being overcome by sin. The text is direct — gently and humbly help them back onto the right path. Not with judgment. Not with a highlight reel of your own spiritual wins. Gently and humbly, because you know tomorrow it might be you who needs the nudge.
There was a moment in the message where Pastor Adam shared a story that stuck — one he heard from a pastor in another province three decades ago and is still thinking about. A member of a worship team approached their pastor, indignant, and asked not to be scheduled on stage at the same time as another team member — because that person used a cane. The story landed hard, not because people like that exist somewhere out there, but because, as Pastor Adam admitted quietly: I’m also that person sometimes. The tendency to think we’re too important, too polished, too far along to get our hands into someone else’s struggle — that’s not a character flaw reserved for the obviously arrogant. It creeps into all of us.
The sermon also did something worth noticing with the apparent contradiction between verses two and five of Galatians 6. Verse two says to share one another’s burdens. Verse five says each person is responsible for their own conduct. At first glance, that looks like Paul is talking out of both sides of his mouth. But Pastor Adam unpacked it carefully: they’re talking about different things entirely. Verse two is about showing up for each other in love. Verse five is about not dragging around the impossible weight of the law — all those rules that were never meant to save you in the first place. You are responsible for following Jesus. That’s it. That’s the load you’re asked to carry.
The imagery of the quicksand was one of the more memorable moments of the morning. When you go to help someone who’s sinking, the first rule is: don’t sink yourself. Pastor Adam was clear that this warning in the text implies proximity — you have to actually get close enough to someone for there to be any risk. You can’t help from a safe distance. You do have to go to the drug house, so to speak. Just don’t move in.
Key Takeaways
1. The Spirit, not the law, produces life.
Paul’s point throughout Galatians is that following rules doesn’t make you righteous — it just shows you how far short you fall. What changes a person is the indwelling Spirit of God, working from the inside out.
2. We’re all in the same boat.
The list of sins in Galatians 5 is deliberately wide. Wild parties and jealousy show up side by side. The sins that are easy to hide and the ones that aren’t — they’re in the same category. None of us is spiritually elevated enough to look down on someone else’s struggle.
3. Helping others requires humility, not superiority.
The words Paul chooses matter: gently and humbly. If your instinct when someone falls is judgment or distance, this passage asks you to sit with that and reconsider. We help not because we’re better, but because we’ve been helped.
4. Your justification is in Jesus, not your record.
You are not saved by following more rules than the person next to you. Bearing someone’s burden isn’t a transaction that earns you points. It’s an expression of what’s already true — that the Spirit lives in you and love is the natural result.
A Question Worth Sitting With
❓Is there someone in your life who’s drifting — and have you been waiting until you feel more qualified, more together, or more certain before you reach out?
This Week’s Challenge
Before the week is out, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to bring someone to mind — someone who might need a gentle nudge back toward the way of Jesus. Then invite them for coffee. That’s it. Prayer first, then coffee.
Watch the Full Message
Catch the full sermon at westhillchurch.ca or join us Sundays at 8025 Sherwood Drive, Regina, SK.
This post was prepared as a ministry resource for Westhill Park Baptist Church. An initial draft was generated with the assistance of Claude AI (claude.ai), developed by Anthropic. All AI-assisted content is reviewed, edited, and approved by church leadership before publication to ensure it faithfully reflects the message and values of our community.
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