Encouragement Series

Encouragement

Hebrews 3

September 14, 2025

Something I’ve noticed over the years is that we are often totally unaware of how to meet the needs of the people we love.

A few years ago I preached through the 5 love languages, and yet, I want to look at something that is kind of related to love languages, but more about how to love someone.

It’s a topic I believe which is so lacking in our world and greatly impacts us.

Firstly, so you’re not wondering - - - - what are the 5 love languages? They are - - - -

Words of Affirmation

Quality Time

Acts of Service

Receiving gifts

Physical Touch

I didn’t want you to be stuck thinking about them. Know what yours are, and what your loved ones love languages are, so that you can meet those needs and have yours met as well.

Back to what I want to talk about. It comes from a lot of reading lately about what seems like a pretty basic topic.

It’s encouragement!! How are we at it?

Personally, I know I’m not always great at it. I have no problem enouraging from our basic understanding of the word, but it goes deeper, and that’s where I and most people get lost.

So, over the next weeks, we’re going to talk about what the word means and how we can make that a real part of who we are.

I want to start by reading a passage from Hebrews 3. If you have a Bible, take a look at this passage.

Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians. And the writer is making the point that Jesus is greater than Moses. In the eyes of the Jews, nobody was greater than Moses and Abraham. They’re the patriarchs of the Jewish people.

Then he starts talking about the struggle with sin and unbelief. And then it seems like there’s this huge shift in what he’s saying. This series is based on these passages - - - -

12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

13 But encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

15 As it is said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” - Hebrews 3:12-15

There’s a lot to this passage. Basically, we’re being told not to act like the Hebrew people did when they left Egypt and were traveling to Israel, the promised land. Don’t reject God. Don’t harden your hearts, even after witnessing all He’s done for you.

More on that next week.

The remedy comes in verse 13 - - - -

13 But encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

I have become more and more convinced that the greatest and most singular need of people who want to wake up, follow Jesus, and become imbued with his supernatural presence and power in the everyday world — which is holy love — is courage.

Now that may seem strange, yet courage is part of encouragement. We need to have courage put into us.

And we need it not just every now and then or before a big challenge or in the midst of a hard struggle or loss. So how often do we need to be encouraged?

Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” . . . That means - - - -

Every. Single. Day.

Every day? Yup, that’s what we read. And remember God is the one who knows our needs better than we do.

You might say - - - - But I don’t need encouragement. I’m good! I’m independent and don’t need idle cheering. I don’t need that half hearted pat on the back. Don’t make up something to say that’s nice.

Oh, your hair looks nice! Oh, nice shirt . . .

YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?

But, that’s where we get it wrong. And we get it wrong because our hearts long for more, and it’s not happening. So, when someone walks alongside of us, we kind of reject those idle phrases of encouragement.

When we think of encouragement, we think of a William Wallace speech to his fear-filled warriors in Braveheart. It’s a great speech! One of my favorite movies!

Or maybe it’s Winston Churchill talking to the people of England, telling them ‘we’re not going to surrender.’ Or Martin Luther King Jr. “I have a dream” speech.