Gathering For Encouragement Series

Today we’re starting a new series. We will have four talks on the theme of ‘Why we gather’.

Last Sunday we met back at church after sixteen months of having our morning services online. That’s a significant moment.

But something else has been happening. About four months ago we started a new afternoon service. Almost everyone who has been coming to these services is new to the church. They don’t know you who come to the morning services, and you don’t them. It’s great that they’re coming, but a situation in which half the church doesn’t know the other half of the church isn’t what we want!

So given that this is a rather unusual moment with the morning congregation returning to services in church, and also a rather unusual situation, with the morning and afternoon congregations not really knowing each other, it’s a good time to think about why we meet up.

When I say ‘meet up’ I don’t only mean meeting at church on Sundays. We meet at other times too, for example, for a Bible study or a coffee or a picnic. But meeting together on a Sunday is a really important part of meeting.

So, let me ask you: why do you meet up with other Christians?

If we’re mainly thinking of going to church on a Sunday, one person might say that we want to praise God with other Christians. That’s right and proper! Someone might say that she comes to church to hear God speaking through the Bible. But she doesn’t actually need to come to church for that!

So, why do we meet up with other Christians?

In these four weeks we’re going to look at four reasons for God’s people to gather together. They are encouragement, rhythm, strength and unity. [N.B. this set of reasons is based on the SermonCentral 'We Are Gathered Here' Sermon Series Kit.]

Today, we’re going to look at ENCOURAGEMENT.

Could you turn to Hebrews 10:24-25? It says:

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, NOT NEGLECTING TO MEET TOGETHER, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

We don’t know who the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews was. Many people think it was someone called Apollos. Some people have suggested it might have been a woman called Priscilla. But we simply don’t know.

The writer tells the Hebrews 'not to neglect' to meet together. If your husband is getting ready to leave the house you could say to him, ‘Don’t forget to post the letter.’ Or you could say, ‘Remember to post the letter.’ The meaning is the same. ‘Don’t neglect to meet together’ means the same as ‘Remember to meet together’.

Why should the Hebrews meet together? The writer is urging the Hebrews to stir each other up to love and good deeds and to encourage each other. How can they do that? However they’re going to do it, they will have to meet together.

So this verse is giving us one very important reason for meeting together. It’s in order to stir each other up to love and good deeds and to encourage each other.

But let me ask two very basic questions. Why do we even need encouragement? And how does meeting – especially meeting in church on a Sunday – help?

WHY DO WE NEED ENCOURAGEMENT?

There are some things we need very little encouragement to do. I can take our son Daniel as an example. I’m going to ask him three questions.

Here’s the first. Daniel, would you like a Domino’s pizza? [Daniel says yes!]

Second. Would you like to go to a movie with me? [Daniel says yes!]

Hmm … Daniel hasn’t needed much encouragement to do these things!

Third. Would you like to run a marathon with me? [There is a long pause!]

I once asked Daniel this question. I asked him if he’d like to run a marathon with me. Without a moment’s hesitation, he said yes. Some months later, he ran the Newport Marathon with me. He doesn’t regret doing it. But now, if I ask him to run a marathon with me, he says no. Why do you think that is? Daniel now knows what a marathon is like. Running a marathon is hard work. And the Christian life is much more like running a marathon than watching a movie.

That’s what the letter to the Hebrews tells us. Can you flip forward to Hebrews 12:1? It says:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and LET US RUN WITH ENDURANCE THE RACE THAT IS SET BEFORE US…”