ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER
Introduction
All Summer we have been talking about Building Up One Another. Members of One Another, Devoted, Honor, Be of the Same Mind, Accept One Another, Admonish, Greet, Serve, Carry One Another’s Burdens, Bear With, Submit to One another.
Each one of these passages presents a challenge to greater life in the Faith Community. Today’s is an important ingredient in all of these teachings: Encourage One Another.
Some people are more naturally discouragers than encouragers. A preacher who was leaving his church. At his farewell dinner, he tried to encourage one of the members of the church. He said to the older woman, “Don’t be sad at my leaving. The next preacher might be better than me.” She replied, “That’s what they said last time, but it keeps getting worse.” (Ortberg)
A book describes two kinds of people: “basement” and “balcony”. “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 in our lives. They constantly point out what is wrong, rather than what is right with us. Basement people cause a room to light up when they leave.
In contrast to them are the “Balcony People.” They are people who are 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. We need them!
The question for all of us is who will we be? Will we be basement people or balcony people? The choice is ours to
make. (Miller, Larson)
Our text today teaches us to be Balcony People! 1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” J.B. Phillips puts it in his paraphrase, “So go on cheering and strengthening one another…as I have no doubt you have been doing.”
Imagine a church were everyone there is your greatest cheerleader. They all believe you can do it. They’re all ready to help you make it happen. They’re all there to help you back up when you stumble. And they’re all thrilled when you do succeed. That’s the kind of church we are called to be.
1. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER?
The NT word for encourage is a word that means to “come alongside of, to stand with.” You encourage someone when you come alongside someone and help carry the load, you help them keep going. You guide them in which way to go.
ESPN calls it one of the 100 greatest moments in sports history. I call it the perfect picture of encouragement. IT was Derek Redmond’s dream to win an Olympic medal in the 400 meter race. In the semifinals of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, the stadium was filled 65,000 fans including Derek’s father, Jim Redmond. During the race, Derek broke out to an early lead and pulled away. 175 meters from the finish line, the race looked to be all his.
Suddenly, Derek hears a pop. It’s his right hamstring. Derek pulls up as if he had been shot. After hopping on one leg a few steps, he collapsed to the ground. At the top of the stadium, Derek’s dad, Jim, feels as though he’s just been sucker punched in the gut. Seeing his son writhing on the ground, Jim scrambles down the stands as fast as he could. Jim had no credentials to be on the field, but pushing by people as fast as he could, he yelled, “That’s my son out there, and I’m going to help him.”
Meanwhile, in incredible pain and tears, Derek realized his Olympic dreams were lost, but he was determined to finish the race. In great anguish, he pulled himself to his feet, and slowly hobbled down the track. With tears streaming down his cheeks he refused to surrender as he limped his way around the track. In the final turn with about 120 meters remaining Jim finally reached his son.
In an unforgettable moment, Jim tells Derek, “I’m here, Son,” as he took Derek in his arms. Between sobs he said, “We’ll finish together.” Arm and arm, father and son continued down the track. 65,000 fans were all on their feet cheering and clapping and crying. A couple feet from the finish line, with the crowd in an absolute frenzy, Jim let go of his son, so Derek could cross the finish line by himself.
That’s what means to encourage- to come alongside of.
Jesus uses this very same word in the gospel of John to describe the Holy Spirit. When Jesus called the Spirit the
Comforter, He is saying that the Holy Spirit is the one who comes alongside us, and stands with us, and helps us to move on. That’s what encouragement does.
So how can we as a church, how can we as Christians better ?come alongside each other? Stand with each other? We learn how through the great example of the best-known encourager in the Scriptures.
2. THREE WAYS BARNABAS DEMONSTRATES ENCOURAGEMENT
-Be Generous With Your Resources
We first see Barnabas in the Jerusalem church in those earliest days following Pentecost. In Acts 4 we see a beautiful picture of what the church can be, when she is all that she should be.
Acts 4:32-37 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. 34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet.
How encouraging it must have been to those in need to have someone like Barnabas make a sacrifice on their behalf. Luke was able to write that there were no needy persons among them, because there were people like Barnabas who jump started everyone into giving. We need to be generous with our resources as well. Many times it’s the small things, preparing a meal, giving a few dollars, or buying a couple bags of groceries. Sometimes God calls us to the bigger things. The world tells us that we succeed by acquiring, owning, possessing, getting more and more. God says that we succeed, as Christians and as a church by giving and sharing. Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
- See in People What God Sees in People!
We tend to look at people on the outside. We look at them according to their past, according to what they’ve done to us and for us. God looks at people on the inside. He looks at their future, what they can become through Him, what He can do in them and through them. Barnabas does this several times in the book of Acts.
He was among the first to accept Gentile Christians into the church. He welcomed them. He lived with them, worked with them. He equipped them for ministry. This is something most Jews would never do, but he did.
He led the other apostles into accepting the new Christian, Paul - the former Saul of Tarsus! After a long history of persecuting Christians, throwing them into jail, of overseeing their executions, no one in the church wanted to get close to him. No one trusted him. Look what Barnabas does.
Acts 9:26-28 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not
believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them
how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had
preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.
Barnabas takes Paul with him to Antioch and trains him as a minister of the Gospel.
-Give People Second Chances.
To be an encourager is to be someone who gives second chances. It doesn’t hold peoples failures against them. It is willing to extend a hand, help you back up, and give you a second chance. When Paul and Barnabas went on their first missionary journey they took a young man with them named John Mark. John Mark, part way through the trip, quit and went back home. On the next trip Paul did not want to take John Mark. Barnabas wanted to give him a second chance.
Acts 15:36-41 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing." 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and
had not continued with them in the work. 39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
Barnabas the encourager took John Mark on a trip, giving him a second chance.
Think of how much the church owes to Barnabas! He encouraged Paul, who preached to the Gentiles and wrote 13 of the NT books. John Mark went on to write the Gospel of Mark. This was the first of the gospels, and it blazed an important trail. John Mark also proved his usefulness as a minister of the gospel, even Paul admitted years later (2 Timothy 4:11). Barnabas never wrote a book that made it into the Bible, but ?encouraged two men who wrote over half of the New Testament.
Barnabas shared his resources, he saw in people what God saw in them, and he gave people a second chance.
Conclusion
1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
Be a Balcony Person - someone who encourages others.
I like the story of a math teacher named Helen who gave her students an unusual assignment one day. The students were struggling to understand some math concepts she was trying to teach them. They were becoming mean and short with one another. She instructed them to take out a blank piece of paper and write the names of each of their classmates and next to each name they were to write the nicest thing they could think of about each person. She collected all the lists and compiled them over the weekend. On Monday she gave each of the students his/her list. Before long the entire class was smiling and comments were being made, like: “Really? You think that about me?” “I never knew that I meant anything to anyone.” “I didn’t know others like me so much.”
Several years later, Helen learned that one of those students, named Mark, had died in Vietnam. She attended his funeral and then gathered afterwards with his friends at his family’s home. Mark’s parents approached the teacher and said, “We want to show you something.” With that, the dad opened his wallet and removed two worn pieces of paper that had been taped, folded and refolded many times. The papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark’s classmates had said about him. Mark’s mother then said, “Thank you so much for doing that. AS you can see, Mark treasured it.”
Others took notice of the conversation, and a former classmate named Chuck smiled and sheepishly said, “I still have my list too. It’s in the top drawer of my desk at home.”
Another student’s wife said: “John asked me to put his in our wedding album.”
A former student named Marilyn, reached into her purse, took out her wallet and showed her worn list to the group, saying, “I carry mine with me all the time.”
Oh the power of encouraging, up-building words!
Let’s make it our goal to encourage at least one person a day. The best encouragement we can give you today is to become a Christian! We also encourage you to grow in your discipleship each day.
May God help us learn to encourage one another.
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Discussion Questions
1. “Balcony People” are the encouragers in our life. Can you tell of someone who has been a balcony person, cheering you on in your life? What is something they have done that has been a blessing?
2. Why is it easy to fall into the habit of being a ‘basement person’ - always focused on and speaking into the negative? How can one break the habit of always seeing the negative?
3. The Book of Hebrews was written to encourage some discouraged Christians. Two passages, in particular, speak to the idea of encouragement. Read these passages together and talk about what we can learn from them. Hebrews 3:13; 10:25.
4. The principles of encouraging others relates very much to the words we use as we speak to one another. What does Paul say in Ephesians 4:29 about this and how can we put this into practice?
5. Jesus was a master encourager. What stories come to mind when we think of people in the Gospels that Jesus especially encouraged?
6. Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). In what ways is this statement true in your experience? How does this relate to encouraging one another?
7. We all need second chances. We are never beyond the need for recovery and restoration. Even mature men of faith like Paul and Barnabas had to deal with conflict and anger. How would you go about being a Barnabas - encouraging a ‘John Mark’ who has failed and should not give up?
8. What else did you hear / think about in this lesson that you wanted to talk about?
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Video of this message can be found by searching the YouTube channel for Forsythe Church of Christ.
Speakers in this message were John Dobbs and Daniel Kirkendall.
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Resources:
Getz, Gene. Building Up One Another. Victor Books, 1985.
David Owens sermon on Encourage One Another
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/7-encourage-one-another-david-owens-sermon-on-encouragement-140785
David Owens sermon Spurring Each Other on One Another
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/12-spurring-each-other-on-david-owens-sermon-on-discipleship-142115
Miller, Keith and Bruce Larson, Passionate People.
Dan Raymonds sermon on Second Chances
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/3-encourage-one-another-dan-raymond-sermon-on-second-chances-199001
Orberg, John. The Life You’ve Always Wanted, p. 159
