INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• I bet you have heard from folks that they could foster their own relationship with Jesus without being a part of the Church. The implication is that the church really offers nothing of value that would make it worthy of their time and busy schedules.
• Even for those who will come to church, some will really not be interested in being involved in the life of the church for many reasons.
• Folks will give all kinds of reasons not to be involved in a local church.
• I hope we can dispel that notion over the next four weeks.
• I hope we can help people see why having involvement in the life of FCC is important enough to make the time to do so. This is not a series on you are a bad Christian if you do not come every time the doors are open, but rather an encouragement to find ways to be involved. With that though in mind…
• Today is the start of the sign-ups for our next session of Life Groups.
• I those who took the opportunity to be a part of the last session were blessed.
• SLIDE #2 (CONNECTION MINISTRY GRAPHIC)
• One of the main reasons the Life Group ministries was started was so that we could have a way to help fulfill our mission of “Connecting People With Christ.”
• The Life Groups as they develop will be a real blessing in our efforts to help people become more connected with Jesus and to be better connected with each other.
• With that in mind, over the next four weeks I want to us through a journey to examine some of the blessings we can receive as a result of being willing to make time to spend together learning together from God’s Word.
• We are going to start our journey with by looking at the challenge to focus on encouraging others.
• I do not have to tell anyone of you how difficult, confusing, and discouraging life can be at times.
• There are times when we struggle in a big way with trying to do what God wants us to do. I struggle with it and I know everyone else here does to some level.
• Isn’t it nice to have people around you who can give you encouragement during those moments?
• Wouldn’t be nice to have others who can be the wind beneath your wings, folks that know you, love you and only want the best for you.
• In our text today we will examine one of the blessing that can come from being involved in the life of FCC.
• SLIDE #3
• We will start with verse 23
• Hebrews 10:23 (ESV) 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
• SLIDE #4
SERMON
I. A personal challenge to stay encouraged.
• In the context of this passage we have the second of three exhortations that are based on verses 19-21. In verses 19-20 we see that Jesus is the basis of our hope.
• SLIDE #5
• Hebrews 10:19–20 (ESV) 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,
• Jesus is our way and access to God.
• The readers of Hebrews were facing difficult times, they were facing economic ruin, and they were facing persecution. Their Chicken Restaurants were under attack for standing on biblical principles. CAUTION!
• The Hebrew writer in the midst of all the negative things that was happening to the Christians gave them a personal challenge to hold fast to the confession of their hope without wavering because He who promised is faithful.
• IF we quit confession our hope in Jesus, then we have no hope!
• WE are being challenged to stand firm in Jesus. We are being challenged to stay encouraged even in the midst of difficult times.
• The word translated “WAVERING” denotes an object that stands absolutely STRAIGHT, not departing from the perpendicular.
• We are called not to waver in our confession and in our hope. WE are called to lay hold of Jesus and NEVER let go, even in the slightest way.
• WE cannot let ANYTHING cause us to waver, we cannot allow anything to cause us to lose faith and hope in Jesus.
• This confession is the initial confession of faith we make at baptism and it is the ongoing confession we make with our lives.
• It is interesting that in each of the three cases where “confession” is mentioned in Hebrews there is a command to CONSIDER (Hebrews 3:1) and to HOLD FAST (Hebrews 4:14;10:23).
• We are called to develop and maintain a spiritual consistency; we cannot allow ourselves to be tossed back and forth concerning our hope and recognition of who Jesus is.
• One of the reasons we can be encouraged is because He who promised is FAITHFUL!
• WE do not have to wonder if God is going to let us down or if God is going to change Him mind concerning how we can get to heaven!
• God kept all the promised tied to the Old Covenant and He has made even better promises in the New.
• SLIDE #6
• Hebrews 8:6 (ESV) But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.
• Part of the reason we come together is so that we can be encouraged to stand sting in our faith as we live in a fallen world.
• Let’s turn to verse 24 for our next observation.
• SLIDE #7
• Hebrews 10:24 (ESV) 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
• SLIDE #8
II. A personal challenge to be an encourager of others.
• Now we start to delve in deeper to see one of the reasons we are called to assemble together each week.
• The context of this passage deals with the weekly assembling together or what we would call church service.
• But when you look at the charge to consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, how can we do that if we do not spend time together.
• How can we consider how to encourage someone we do not know?
• How can we stir someone to action if we do not know what moves them or motivated them?
• People are more likely to confess their hope without fear or apology if they have folks around them giving them encouragement.
• Let me give a shameless plug for the Life Group ministries.
• If you speak too many who attended the first session you will find that they learned a lot about what we studied and they learned a lot about those whom they spent time with.
• This is a good thing. Any time we can spend time together learning and growing in our faith.
• One of the hopes of Life Groups is that we will get mix of newer Christians, to very seasoned battle tested Christians and everything in between.
• The seasoned Christians can be such a blessing encouraging those less seasoned to be strong and to learn how to incorporate aspects of their faith in their lives that they are struggling with.
• The battled tested Christian has already been there and done that.
• Back to verse 24
• We are told to CONSIDER. The word CONSIDER is not focused on the HOW but rather on ONE ANOTHER so that we will know how to stir one another up.
• To be able to do this we need to know each other well enough to be able to take into account the circumstances one is dealing with and their weak spots in dealing with said circumstances.
• Then we need to be able to best know how to give support and encouragement.
• The goal is to stir one up to do the right thing, to help move them to love and good works.
• The word translated CONSIDER means to direct one’s whole mind to an object.
• The word translated STIR UP is usually translated in a negative way, to IRRITATE, but this context denotes the positive, to stimulate.
• Let’s turn to verse 25
• SLIDE #9
• Hebrews 10:25 (ESV) 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.
• SLIDE #10
III. A personal challenge to invest the time and effort to encourage others.
• The danger we run into when trying to stir one up to love and good deeds is that we can end up irritating them if we do not know what makes them tick.
• When I coached softball for the years I did, the trick was to stir the player to reach their maximum potential.
• The problem that many coaches have in trying to do that is they do not know their players well enough to do that. If you do not know what makes your player tick, you just end up ticking them off.
• AMY BISHOP EXAMPLE.
• If we are going to be successful in encouraging people we have to be willing to invest enough time in others so that you can stir them and not irritate them.
• This is the part of the challenge that can be difficult. This verse implies that when we come together our focus should be on other people.
• Many folks will come to worship for what they can get out of it instead of coming to bring something with them.
• As far as the life Group ministries are concerned. If you are just looking to GET something, you may be disappointed at the end of the day. When we focus on self, we usually NEVER come out satisfied.
• But if we focus on GIVING something or deciding that we are going to be a blessing to others, it changes our focus, and in turn we will get something.
• WE will leave satisfied because we know that we have been able to help another Christian grow or to better understand how a passage can be incorporated into their life.
• People who are focused themselves are folks who are usually sad and unfulfilled.
• I see A LOT of Christians who jump from church to church within a city because they are only happy for a short time.
• There is always something wrong and the SPIRIT is leading them to greener pastures.
• Now there are times when we have legitimate issues that may cause one to move on, but church to church to church to church may be an indication that the focus is on WHAT CAN OR DO I GET verses WHAT BLESSING CAN I BRING.
• The Hebrew writer points out the need for mutual encouragement. When we neglect to meet together we tend to lose the motivation to maintain our discipleship and our relationship with one another.
• The word NEGLECT has a flavor of FORSAKING OR ABANDONING. It implies a decision to do so.
• We are called to come together so WE can encourage one another as we see the day of the Lord’s return coming near.
• WE are encouraged to be an active part of the life of the Church not only to be blessed but to be a blessing!
CONCLUSION
• One of the reasons we come together is so that we can be encouraged to hold fast to our hope and also to encourage others to do the same.
• Our Life Group ministries will provide and excellent vehicle for that to take place.
• We can be such a blessing to others as well as being blessed ourselves.
