You've Got a Friend in Me
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Illus: Robert E. Lee - Expert in encouragement. He had the innate ability in firing his Generals in a way that was so encouraging they almost never knew they were fired or demoted.
Southall Freeman says that General Jubal A. Early’s proudest memory of the war was of the letter he received from Lee removing him from command.
Listen to his response to General A.P. Hill who wanted Lee to court-martial another General:
“Now, General Hill, I would not do that. General Wright isn’t a professional soldier; he is a lawyer. He has come out here, fighting for his country, and is doing the best he can. What good would it do you to humiliate him in the eyes of the Georgia people by court-martialing him, and besides, whom have you to put in his place? Nobody better. When I find a situation like this, I take the officer into my tent and I talk to him there, and I try to see that at least he won’t make the same mistake again.” - Lee on Leadership, p.137.
Encouragement is not something we do well. The church is a gathering of God’s people for their mutual encouragement.
Encouragement in the Faith in Jesus.
How often does our faith wain and seem to be on the decline? Christians are discouraged all of the time.
παρακαλέω - encourage; comforter, to urge, to implore, to Echort
Paul, when things were stirred up, encouraged the saints. He wanted to lift them up and encourage them in their faith.
Maybe we have seen a decline in church today because it has become less about encouragement and more bout rules and regulations.
Encouragement
Needs to be an intentional discipline in the life of God’s people.
Takes practice
Paul set out in his travels in order to encourage churches
taking disciples and visiting different places
Takes discipline
Takes practice
We have to know how people are encouraged
We have to have our eyes on the future and promises of God
We have to believe that Jesus is coming back - our Hop
No discrimination in our need for encouragement.
Paul visited many saints in many different regions
Wasn’t a one size fit all
He built relationships
and encouraged them in many different ways
Didn’t deviate from his purpose
Wherever God has us in life we should seek to encourage our fellow Christians.
Spend time with each other
be engaged
Need more men and women to lead in this aspect of the church.
The world is a critical world
Sports:
Illus: The man who threw his Dodgers Jersey onto the field.
Social Media:
Anyone at any time can criticize anything they read. Just leave a comment.
The church is to be counter culture
We should seek to be encouragers
We need to lead in this
You don’t need to be an elder, deacon, Sunday School teacher
This is an aspect of the faith that all of us should be practiing
Conclusion
Conclusion
Jesus encouraged his disciples:
“I Am Statements of Jesus “
I Am
6 - Bread of Life right after feeding the 5000
8 - Light of the World after being questioned by the Pharisees about his witness in the world
10 - Good Shepherd - Leader/guide/comforter
10- Door of the sheep - protector
11 - Resurrection and the life right before he raises Lazarus from the dead.
14 - The Way, the Truth and the Life
Followed by the promise of a helper, a comforter to encourage and help the disciples in Jesus absence
Paul tells us that Jesus is our encourager
English Standard Version Chapter 2
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
Be an ecnourager
Don’t depend on people to encourage, look to Jesus
Illus: Chris Cornell
Lead singer and artists who sang for many years. Great voice, family, money, wealth, had it all . . .
May 18, 2017 committed suicide
His story is like so many before him . . .
Who knows why someone gets to this point in their life.
There is an epidemic of people being depressed and thinking that life is meaningless.
This is only one aspect of the effects of people without hope
But, we have something that can help people overcome this:
We have encouragement in Jesus Christ
Encourage one another in the body of Christ by pointing them to Christ
Encourage the world by showing them Jesus Christ
Many of us may not know how to encourage people - Show them Jesus