EVERLASTING ENCOURAGEMENT
(All me sermons use illustrations from sermoncentral.com and all scripture is NIV unless otherwise noted)
How many times in life do we feel the weight of discouragement? I am fairly certain that every person sitting here this morning knows what a battle it is to stay encouraged, especially in light of continual flow of bad news that comes from our world. There is discouragement all around us, and yet as Christians, we have all the reasons to have EVERLASTING ENCOURAGEMENT.
This morning, let me share four things the Bible tells us about encouragement, and perhaps as we leave here this morning we will feel the weight of discouragement lifted from our lives and have a better understanding of why we should be encouraged AND what we can do to ensure the encouragement of others.
If you have your Bible with you this morning, let’s start with a passage from Joshua 24:1-15 Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God. 2 Joshua said to all the people, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ’Long ago your forefathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River and worshiped other gods. 3 But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the River and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, 4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. 5 "’Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did there, and I brought you out. 6 When I brought your fathers out of Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen as far as the Red Sea. 7 But they cried to the LORD for help, and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians; he brought the sea over them and covered them. You saw with your own eyes what I did to the Egyptians. Then you lived in the desert for a long time. 8 "’I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their land. 9 When Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you. 10 But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand. 11 "’Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites, but I gave them into your hands. 12 I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you-also the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow. 13 So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.’ 14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
PRAYER
I. GOD’S FAITHFULNESS IN THE PAST OFFERS ENCOURAGEMENT
Becca constantly reminds me that God has never let us down before, and He will not let us down in the future. God takes care of His people, it may not always be the way we would like, but He has an excellent track record of taking care of our needs. We are His children and God is proud of those who give every bit of effort they have in serving Him. It does not matter if others scoff at us in our service to the Lord, it does not matter if we are beaten down and tired, OUR FATHER in heaven, loves His children and HE is always there for us, HE HAS PROVEN THIS, time and time again.
Here’s how the story of Finding Nemo develops in the movie:
Nemo’s father loved him very much. He watched over Nemo and protected him from every evil. Nemo and his dad were best friends. There are reasons why so many people enjoy the blockbuster hit Finding Nemo. It is a powerful story of the sacrificial love of a mother, and determination of a caring father. It is the story of being lost, and then found. It is a story that can help you understand God and his love for you.
But one day Nemo disobeyed his father and swam beyond the reef. He was suddenly scooped up by a diver and taken away on a boat. Nemo’s disobedience caused him to be separated from his father. Nemo was so sad because there was nothing he could do to get back to his father. Nemo ended up in fish tank in a dentist’s office overlooking the Sydney Harbor. His situation seemed hopeless.
The father loved little Nemo so much that it did not matter how big the ocean was, or how many fish there were. He was determined to save Nemo, and set out on an incredible adventure to seek and save little Nemo. His journey became the talk of all the fish and birds. The good news of this heroic father traveling the ocean in search of his son reached Nemo through a pelican named Nigel.
Nemo was so surprised and thrilled to learn of his father’s love and search for him. However, time was running out. The dentist’s destructive niece Darla was set to pick up Nemo as a pet. Darla was known for abusing her pet fish until they went belly up. With a strong desire to return to his father, and the encouragement from his new friends in the fish tank, he took an amazing step of faith. He jumped out of the fish tank, down a water drain that led to the ocean. The father’s love drew Nemo in the right direction. Dory was a fish who knew Nemo’s father, and led little Nemo to him. There was so much happiness when Nemo was at last saved and home with his loving father.
God is faithful to His children, he willingly allowed the death of His own Son to save His children, He has proven Himself as a protector, healer, and loving Father throughout history, we should derive great ENCOURAGEMENT from His faithfulness.
Now turn with me to 1 THESS 3:6-7 But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. 7 Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith.
II. WE CAN BE ENCOURAGED BY THE EXAMPLE OF OTHERS
I can not begin to count the times that I have found encouragement through the witness and example of another Christian. Here Paul says that Timothy has visited the church in Thessalonica and reports they are a church that has true love and faith and it is that FAITH that encourages Paul in spite of the very many bad things that are happening to him. It is so easy in our world to be discouraged, so many people are NEGATIVE, and have little faith in others or in God. They are constantly telling us what can NOT be done, and forget that ALL things can be done through Christ who is our strength.
One day a man holidaying in the Bahamas noticed a big crowd gathered at the end of the pier. As he got closer he observed someone preparing for a solo journey around the world in a tiny homemade boat. Without exception everybody was telling him all the things that could go wrong. Suddenly the man felt an IRRESISTABLE URGE to offer some encouragement. So as the little boat drifted toward the horizon he began jumping up and down shouting, ‘Go for it! You can make it! We’re proud of you!’
This man had what we need more of – the gift of encouragement. We need fewer critics and more CHEERLEADERS: those who see over the heads of the nay-sayers and shout to someone launching out in faith ‘Go for it! You can make it! We’re proud of you!’
It is our FAITH that gives others EVERLASTING ENCOURAGEMENT. We need to have faith in God and in each other, we need to NOT say that can’t be done, but suggest better, more effective ways of GETTING IT DONE! So many times we are quick to display a lack of faith, but with unity and faith we show that ALL things can be done.
In the news a while ago was the story of the rescue of the 9 miners from the PA coal mine. A large part of their survival was their encouragement of one another. One of the miners said, “We decided we were all going to live together or die together.”
Are you committed to building one another up? It kept 9 coal miners trapped in PA alive for 77 hours. Think what it could do for our church family. Think about where our church would be if we ALL believed the church was going to grow and there was nothing we could not do with UNITY and FAITH in God above! God is good, He has proven himself, our example, our unity, faith and love will keep others encouraged as well.
That brings us to the number three way to find EVERLASTING ENCOURAGEMENT and that is quite simply:
III. WE GAIN ENCOURAGEMENT BY THE WORDS OF OTHERS
1 Thess 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Just reaching out to others, to tell them how much you appreciate them, is such an encouragement. If we are to establish unity and love, we must go out of our way to tell people how much they mean to the family of the church.
There once was a woman who really felt she had nothing to share with or give to God and his people. During the services she would sit, sing softly to herself, pray to herself, engage in little small talk afterward. On Sunday the preacher gave a message on Expressions of Gratitude. When she went home, she thought about the message, she decided to call the preacher and tell him how the message moved her and she wanted to thank him for being her friend. After that conversation, she thought, well that song that David sang, how beautiful was his voice, she decided to call him and tell him how much she appreciated his singing and how much that song meant to her. Later, she thought about the piano player and how beautifully she played, she decided to write her a note thanking her for playing every Sunday. As she was writing that note, she thought about the Sunday School teacher and decided to write her, then the Children’s church teacher, and on and on the list went on as she wrote these notes of encouragement. Finally she realized she did have something to give, encouragement, and she would give it totally. She saw this as her talent for God.
In fact it is a GIFT, the Bible tells us so: Rom 12:6-8 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
We need more encouragers, we need to feel the love and the appreciation of others, and we must have nothing but kind words for one another.
Eph 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
I am guilty of speaking before I think, I know that many of us have been in that place where we wish we had thought about what we were going to say before the words started flying out of our mouths, here is a little test to help us:
T - Is it TRUE?
H - Is it HELPFUL?
I - Is it INSPIRING?
N - Is it NECESSARY?
K - Is it KIND?
If what we are about to say does not pass these tests, we should keep our mouth shut. OUR WORDS ARE SO IMPORTANT. Let us only speak things that are encouraging, find solutions to obvious problems rather then complaining about everything. I think problems are obvious to ALL of us, but effective solutions are much harder to come by.
Let us all be encouraged by God’s faithfulness, by the example of each other, and by the words we use &
IV. ENCOURAGEMENT COMES FROM REFLECTING ON THE ETERNAL HOPE WE HAVE IN CHRIST
1 Peter 1:3-6 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
While it is true that we may suffer here on earth, it is for only a little while compared to eternity. We have great and living HOPE and ENCOURAGEMENT through the fact that Jesus rose from the grave, He has fixed us a place in ETERNITY and He is storing for us riches and treasures that can never perish, spoil or fade, this alone should give us great ENCOURAGEMENT! Jesus is coming back for us, and then we will have EVERLASTING ENCOURAGEMENT. We will have an inheritance that will never go away, NEVER. Although waiting for Him may take time, and patience, we must have encouragement through the faith that he will return.
Have you ever waited for someone for any length of time? I don’t mean waiting for someone to show up when they are 15 minutes late. I mean really waited for someone. I think of the women who waited back home when their husbands and fiancés went off to war. Some of you may have experienced such waiting in your own family. What is it that keeps a woman in waiting for her fiancé while he is overseas fighting? Love? Yes. There must be love, but there must be something more as well. She must have faith that someday he will return. In order for that woman to wait patiently for her fiancé to return, she must truly believe that he will return.
James gives us the encouragement to do the same. “You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.” We can be patient; we can stand firm, because we truly believe that He is coming back for us. And His coming may be today, praise God, or it may be years after we are all gone from the earth. The issue is not about when He will come, it is that He will come. We can be patient because He will come.
Jesus will return, He is coming back for ALL of those who by faith believe in Him and have a personal relationship with Him. BUT, God does not want us to sit and wait for the return of His Son. There is so much to do: We must be UNITED in seeing and understanding God’s faithfulness, in being an example to one another, in our words to each other and in our FAITH that Jesus will return. And perhaps, just perhaps we can change the world.
Taken from the tomb of a Bishop in Westminster Abbey 1100 A.D.:
When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits I dreamed of changing the world.
As I grew older and wiser and realized the world would not change I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country: but it too seemed immovable.
As I grew into my twilight years I settled on changing only my family and those closest to me, but alas they would have none of it.
Now as I lay on my deathbed I suddenly realize that if I had only changed myself first, then by example I could perhaps have changed my family, and from their inspiration and encouragement to me I would have been better able to help my country and from there I may even have been able to change the world.
Are you ready to be an encouraging part of this church family? Have you accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life and been baptized into a personal relationship with Him? Are you ready to make a commitment to God to be one of the encouragers the church so badly needs? This morning as the ladies come forward and we offer an invitation, won’t you step forward and share what is on your heart?
INVITATION
