Encouragement

By Hayley Boud

Hebrews 10:24-25, "And let us consider how we may stimulate one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching".

“ let us consider”, we have to take time to think about encouraging others and find new strategies. I always tell Michelle after the meeting thank you for hosting the meeting which is good but now it is a slogan without real encouragement. It would be better for me to think of new ways to encourage her, send her a card in the mail or ring her during the week just to lead to know that I'm grateful. Let's find unique ways to encourage each other. Take the time to think about it in its make sure we consider everyone. Maybe we can use the list and tick people off and see if we can encourage everybody at least once a week. Let’s think how will I encourage the person in a way that makes them happy.

“ stimulate one another”, our encouraging should be stimulating for others. For example, the laser is a light that is amplified by stimulating electrons to produce a very powerful ray of light. The electrons do nothing, they are just resting but by stimulating them they create a laser which can do so much and is so powerful. The laser can perform dentistry, heart surgery, corrective eye surgery, face lifts and so much more, they are even used in compact disc players. So if we stimulate other Christians they can become more powerful lights. We as Christians are lights to this world but if we are lasers we will be Christians that are light amplified, lights that are more powerful, lights that can achieve much much more than ordinary lights.

“One another”, Let's not miss anyone out. Sometimes we only encourage those that are closest to us, or those we like, or those that we think need it. Often we forget about those that we don't have much contact with, or those that we don't really like, or those that seemed to be already awesome Christians. But everybody needs encouragement.

“ Love and good deeds”, our encouragement must help each other to love others and to put this love into action. Good deeds are actions that are good according to the word of God and not according to this world. Sometimes encouraging someone will not be treating them as though they are a cute animal but loving the person respectfully encouraging them to see the truth. If you see someone who needs help in a certain area, for example prayer, don't tell the person bluntly you are not good at prayer but instead encourage the person and tell him you are very good at praying and I believe you could be even better. Then we could make some suggestions.

When I was five I was sitting at school on the class mat with all the other kids and I was slouching and talking to my friend when the teacher said, “I want everyone to sit up nicely like Hayley” and immediately it encouraged me to stop talking and to sit up straight with my arms folded. Every day after that I would make an effort to sit up nicely so the teacher would point me out again. She encouraged me to make an effort. If she had growled me and said, “look at Hayley talking and slouching”, I would have been discouraged.

“don't forsake meeting together”, we often take it for granted and forget just how important it is to meet together and just by turning up this is a huge encouragement to others. I remember one intercessory prayer meeting Ange came while she was about three days away from giving birth and that encouraged me. It made me realize, that if Ange can do, so can I. Don't neglect meeting together, it is very important and we should meet as often as we can and do it with joy.

“Our own assembling together”, this includes the official meetings and just when we meet together. Don't take it for granted if someone wants to meet with you, everyone and every meeting is valuable and an important way to encourage each other to love and good deeds.

“as is the habit of some”, just because you see others not coming to the meetings doesn't mean you should follow their lead. Just because Hayley has said she is sick and can't come and has a habit now of doing that, don't be thinking, ‘ I'm too tired tonight I won't go’. Don't follow the bad habits of others but follow people with good habits, people like Tyrone and Coleen and Michelle and Ange and others who go every single meeting.

“encourage”, it's not about being pushy, it's about giving someone the courage to do something. Our way of speaking needs to be in such a way that our words will bring comfort to others, they will support others and appeal to others, our words will help others. We can do this by thanking the person for their good deeds or by telling the person about their good characteristics or by supporting them through difficult times (which can be simply by listening or by reminding them about the word of God).

Tonight we are going to encourage each other in a unique way: we are going to write our names on a piece of paper and then hand it to the person on the right and that person will write something encouraging about the person. Write one thing that you like about the person, or something that you would like to say thank you for. Then we’ll pass it around the room until we get our own one back.

DOING GOOD!

By Hayley Boud

Tonight’s message is an encouragement to keep doing good.  All of us need encouraging from time to time.  Even if you don’t need it tonight, maybe you will need it in the future.  All of us here began doing good works for God when we were first saved and all of us continue to strive to do good.  All of us!  Be encouraged, God sees your good work.

NIV “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up”. Galations 6:9

NAS “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary”

Don’t lose heart in doing good.  Don’t grow weary or tired.  Every one of us will have a different role from God, a different desire that he has placed in our heart, a different work, each of us have different “doing good”.  Eph 2:10, ^“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  Whatever is in your heart, whatever you know God wants you to do, don’t give up but keep persevering because at the proper time, you will see the result.

Sometimes we will be discouraged, usually with people but we have to keep going and not lose heart or grow tired.  We have to keep going because if we persevere we will reap at the end but only if we keep going.  If we give up somewhere along the way, we will be disappointed when Christ comes back.  E.g. I started learning French years ago but I found it a BIG work and people discouraged me and I gave up.  But four years after I started to learn, my class mates were graduating from university and they were now really good at French.  I was jealous, why did I stop?  I would be fluent by now if I had persevered.

We have to remember this with God’s work.  For example, if God wants me to ring people and encourage them but after two years I get tired and stop, I won’t see the fruit of that work.  Maybe through me, God was going to use the encouragement to bring people to salvation, or maturity in Christ but because I got tired, I won’t see that harvest fulfilled.

All of us have different works to do and all of those works are important and I just want to encourage you to keep going, even when you feel tired, or disappointed, or discouraged, or you might feel like it’s useless or doing nothing, or you lose your heart, or you lose the joy of doing it, keep going.  You will be happy when you see the end result.  Like Zoe last year with hip-hop, she was really tired, she worked so hard and sometimes she was discouraged, disappointed and she wanted to give up, but if she had, she would never have made it to the World Champs.

We have to remember that the word is “work” which means that it is a work.  It’s not something that is easy, it takes effort and it’s hard because we chose to become “servants” of God which means we are expected to work.  Just like our boss at our day job, he/she expects us to work 8 hours a day and to complete the job we have been given.  God expects at least 10% of our time and for us to finish the job He gave us.

The first step is to ask ourselves, what is the work that God has for me?  Everyone will have a different answer but we will also have the same answers because some “works” are expected from all Christians.  We are all expected to read the Bible, to pray, to intercede for others, to fast, to worship, to tell others about God, to encourage others, to visit the sick.  If any of these things feel like a work to you right now, if it feels hard….be encouraged, it IS hard sometimes to pick up the bible, it IS sometimes hard to fast, it is sometimes hard to say yes when someone asks you to take them to the supermarket or take them to the hospital, it IS hard, (especially when people are there to discourage you) but be encouraged and know that when you persevere, you will see a good result at the end.  At the end there will be a harvest!

So think about what things you know God is wanting from you, what is in your heart right now?  Now think about the end result if you continue to persevere.  If Zoe didn’t think ahead and keep in her mind, “World Champs”, she might not have continued to work so hard and she might not have made it.

For example, if God wants you to fast and pray every Tuesday for your mother to find salvation (just an example), try to imagine the final result that might come about because of your prayers.  How happy will you be when your mother is saved?  But in the mean time, you will be working hard, fasting and praying, with no encouragement from others, maybe even you will see your mother getting worse, maybe people will mock you for fasting or maybe when you fast, you feel sick.  You will find the work is hard but if keep persevering, keep your eyes on the end result, the harvest…..at the right time, you will see it being accomplished and then you will not even feel like you worked hard after all.