Dissed -Discouraged

Series Title DISSED

Sermon Title: Discouraged

ME: Today we begin a 3 week message series called DISSED. It is a series on how to move forward from the things that hold us back.

Let me first start by pointing out two important things concerning the word Dissed.

First of all the word begins with a prefix. The prefix Dis.

When you put Dis at the front of a word it puts that word into reverse. For example; ease becomes disease and content becomes discontent, appoint becomes disappoint…

So the Dis is dissed refers to all the setbacks in your life that try to stop you from moving forward. The setbacks that throw your life into reverse.

What kind of setbacks are we referring too?

So here is the second important thing about the word Dissed.

Dissed is really a slang for another word. It’s the word disrespected. Dissed means to be disrespected.

The dictionary definition of Disrespected is “to be thought little of “ or “made to feel less than”

There are so many ways people can disrespect each other.

When a person is not be listened to/ignored/interrupted/not included/ talked down to/these are setbacks that can easily stop you from moving forward with your life.

So in each of the next three weeks we are going to look at one setback that being dissed brings on our lives and see how to move forward from it

For our first week we are going to look at the setback of DISCOURAGEMENT.

I think that discouragement is the most common and the most universal response people have to being dissed by others.

I think this is true for both Christ followers and non-Christ followers

I think this is true for everyone here and for everyone who is not here.

I think it is true because discouragement is the response that those who disrespect others are looking for

People disrespect other people because they want to discourage them from doing something.

Examples:

In Marriages one spouse can disrespect the other in order to discourage them from speaking up for themselves

In work situations one co-worker can disrespect another co-worker in order to discourage them from getting a better promotion.

Discouragement is a huge setback to any one’s life because it results in both a loss of confidence and a loss of enthusiasm to move forward.

Its not only thinking I can’t move forward- it is also feeling that I can’t move forward.

The last thing I want to say about discouragement is that it is such a huge setback because it negatively effects not only our future but also our past and our present.

Here is how discouragement works through all our past, present and future life…

Discouragement brings a dissatisfaction with the past.

You look back at your past and all you can see is only regrets and failures.

Discouragement brings a distaste for the present

Discouragement has taken away your appetite for life. You can no longer taste Joy or happiness

Discouragement brings a distrust for the future

You can’t see your life in the future getting any better. Your discouragement has now given birth to disbelief

You live your life defeated

Q// So what do you do if you find yourself living your life discouraged?

The good news is that God specializes in helping discouraged people.

God has been helping discouraged people for thousands of years. And God wants to help us too.

In the OT (before the coming of Christ) God would send prophets to individuals or kings or the entire nation of Israel to help them out of their discouragement.

So today we want to look at one such OT Prophet and one such occasion where God helped an entire Nation out of their discouragement.

The Prophet is Isaiah and the occasion is found in Isaiah chapter 41:8-10

The prophet Isaiah himself like most of the Prophets in the OT often found himself being disrespected. Many times the Nation of Israel didn’t want to hear a word from God because they were deliberately living in rebellion.

Here in Isaiah 41 the nation of Israel has fallen into hard times. God sends the prophet Isaiah to the nation of Israel to help them out of their discouragement

(V8) A TASTE FOR THE PRESENT

“But as for you Israel my servant, Jacob my chosen One, descended from Abraham my friend.”

God begins the process of moving the people forward from the discouragement that holds them back by first giving them back a taste for the present.

How He does this is by reminding them of who they are to Him.

You get your appetite back for the present by remembering who you really are to God.

You are Israel my servant. You are Jacob my chosen one. You are descended from Abraham my friend.