Sermon Central
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Do You Need A Boost?
Contributed by Derrick Tuper on Jun 21, 2021 (message contributor)
Summary: We could all use a little boost every now and then. No, not the nutrition shake, although that might help too. But there are times when we could all use a helping hand or a pep talk. Let's look into the subject of encouragement.
I also see this as encouraging someone who has begun to turn away. Although we're all responsible for our actions, one reason we could drift away and become hardened by sin is because we're not feeling encouraged. We may think our sin is too big and too frequent and we're not able to overcome it. We're believing Satan's lies that we're alone in this battle and that we can't win. So we start to pull back and withdraw.
But if we encourage people by telling them the Lord is greater than the enemy and that the power of the Holy Spirit within them can accomplish anything then we can encourage them to throw off the sin that entangles them so they can run their race with perseverance.
When our brothers and sisters in Christ are discouraged because of sin or some personal setbacks we can give them a boost by reminding them how much Jesus loves them and how much we care about them and want to see them do well. We give them a boost when we help to convince them that they can win the battle and make it to the finish line. A little encouragement goes a long way.
In their book Passionate People, Keith Miller & Bruce Larson describe two kinds of people: "basement people" and "balcony people." "Basement people" are the discouragers in our lives. They may be people from our past, or present, but their words go with us everywhere we go.
They are the negative influences and their words go something like this: "You can't do that." "That was a stupid thing to do." "When are you going to get it right?" "You’ll never amount to anything." They divert us from our hopes and dreams. They constantly point out what's wrong rather than what's right. Basement people cause a room to light up when they leave.
In contrast to them are the "Balcony People." They're full of love and cheer us on. They encourage us to be loving, courageous followers of Christ. They sit in the balcony of our lives like a heavenly cheering section, saying, "You can do it." "We believe in you." "You are special to us."
Balcony people are the great encouragers in our lives and we all need them! Balcony people try to lift people up to where they are, but basement people try to drag people down to where they are. Are we going to be basement people or balcony people? There’s no question which one God wants us to be. Let’s go give someone a boost.
