Backwards and Forwards
This Preaching in Shorts sermon series is about love based on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.
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Due to the Christmas season we have been talking about what Christmas is all about and we took a break from looking at the Ministry of Encouragement. This message will serve as a review and an introduction into the next series, “What the World Needs Now”.
We started our discussion on the Ministry of Encouragement by defining what encouragement is. Encourage is a compound word consisting of “en” which means to put in or into and the word “courage” which means brave, strong, or confident. To encourage literally means to put courage into someone. The ministry of encouragement then would be to put courage into people to trust and obey God because He loves them. If you add the prefix “dis” to a word it basically reverses the word it is attached to. So to discourage would mean to take someone’s courage away. An encouraging person is good to be around because they build you up with their words, actions, and attitudes.
A discouraging person leaves you feeling weak, hopeless and fearful.
In the New Testament, the word that we translate encourage from is the word “parakaleo”. So, “para” means beside or near or alongside and “kaleo” means to call or summon. A “paraclete” or encourager is someone who comes alongside and brings comfort, hope and courage. Paraclete is the word used to describe the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
1. Get focused
Hebrews 10:19-25 (New International Version)
19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Why is the Ministry of Encouragement so important?
a.) We live in a grumpy world
Filled with bad news and fear which for some reason is spun to make it seem worse and more fearful. The reason. To keep you watching so that you will watch commercials which they are selling to make money. But it is a factor in why the world is so grumpy. It is making us all eeyores. We’re all doomed!
b) It is a ministry for everyone
100 % of the church can and should be a minister of encouragement
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (Steve’s Paraphrase)
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all encouragement, 4who encourages us in all our troubles, so that we can encourage those in any trouble with the encouragement we ourselves have received from God.
2. Give Thanks (thankful5)
We talked about the attitude of gratitude which is one of our greatest spiritual weapons. We used Philippians 4:4-8 as the foundation for being thankful.
Philippians 4:4-8 (NIV)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.
We looked at
a) Maintaining our joy – by watching out for the Pharisee in me, keeping our priorities right and getting to know Jesus better.
b) Stress reduction — by not being anxious (Oh God, Oh God prayer)
c) Thinking God’s way – by getting rid of when and then thinking
Be thankful for at least five things every day!
3.) Get Connected
For this series we used the Lord’s Prayer as our foundation.
Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV)
9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
We talked about
a) That God is a loving Father
b) Living by doing the next right thing
c) He provides for our needs (physical, spiritual, relational and eternal)
d) Forgiveness (wash rinse repeat)
e) avoiding temptation – what is your pattern of temptation? He will provide a way out (HELP) prayer, change your focus.
4. Take Your Stand
We used Ephesians 6:12-18 as our foundation for taking a stand.
Ephesians 6:12-18 (NIV)
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
a. Standing up to evil
In order to stand up to evil we have to know the answer to this question: Who do you say that Jesus is? The answer keeps us from being distracted which is one the biggest tricks of the enemy.
b. Standing alongside the broken
Truth and righteousness gives us integrity.
self-righteousness (Pharisees)
sin scale
true righteousness allows us to see the beauty of people’s potential
c. Standing against fear
Peace and Faith give us courage.
Always keep God in the equation
d. Standing with Jesus
Salvation and the Word give us real life, now and forever.
The Word of God prepares us for the life He has called us to.
e. Standing in Love
Praying in the Spirit is about staying connected to the heart of love of God. It keep us from getting arrogant, self-righteous, self-centered and rebellious. It keeps us from using religion as a cover for evil.
The motivation for our lives must be love.
Everything must be passed through the filter of love.
What is the filter of love? I Corinthians 13:4-8 And this will be the foundation for our next series, “What the World Needs Now” which will finish up the encourager’s plan.
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Category: Preaching in Shorts
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