1 Encourage Others Please turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 New International Version (NIV) Believers Who Have Died 13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. The Day of the Lord 5 Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, Peace and safety, destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let s Pray. Dear Lord, Thank you that we can gather here today to worship you. Lord I ask that you would open ears to hear and our hearts to receive your word. Make my words your words; let me speak as you would have me. In the name of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord, we pray. Amen.
2 Good Morning Church! It is great to be here with you today. Now, originally, I was supposed to fill in for Chris because he was going to be in Spokane visiting Maddy, but with Karen s emergency surgery on Wednesday, they had to forego that trip. Our prayers are certainly with Karen as she recovers, and with the whole Montovino family. Surgery doesn t just affect the patient, it affects the whole family as they adjust to help with recovery. But we do pray for her speedy and full recovery. And now, on to the sermon. Who wants to change the world? That s not a rhetorical question, go on, raise your hand. Right, we all want to change the world; we all want to make this world a better place. Now, I think the sermon series this fall is giving us the tools to make a dramatic impact on the world around us. Chris has been teaching us about living a generous life. Chris has taught us that generosity is more than a financial gift. He showed us that it is sharing our talents with one another, and sharing our ideas and creativity in ministry. He taught us how a generous life shows hospitality and connects with others. Today, I m here to talk about the importance of Encouraging Others as a part of living a generous life. And, just to prove how important this message is, God set me up to deliver this sermon during the Seahawks game in London, which kicked off at 10am, our time. So, if I m missing a Seahawks game for this, you know it has to be important! Now, as I was reflecting on this topic this week, I was struck by how much more encouragement was a part of my life when I was a kid, compared to its presence in my life now that I m an adult. When I was a kid, I was encouraged in every aspect of my life. First, I was
3 encouraged to walk, then I was encouraged to learn my ABC s. Then I was encouraged to read. Then I was encouraged to learn continually. I was encouraged to ride a bike, swim, play baseball. Childhood is filled words of encouragement, full of people looking to build you up and cheer you on. Adulthood has been more about facing and responding to criticism. Whether it come from family or friends critical of our personal decisions or parenting style, or from bosses and other professionals critical of our work; we all face criticism. Often, at least for us non-retirees, we face criticism in annual performance reviews, where our weaknesses get highlighted in order that we might correct them. Any of you ever have a performance review in your job? Were you ever excited to have one? I ve never been excited to have one. They are not fun. No one enjoys having his or her faults pointed out. No one likes being told that he or she isn t good enough, isn t strong enough, isn t the right person. No one enjoys being torn down. No one likes to be discouraged. So, why don t we encourage each other more? I think the answer lies in our text. And it is fear. Fear is what makes us be closed off, makes us hoard, makes us less likely to share. We don t share our ideas for ministry because we are afraid our ideas will be shot down or belittled. We don t share our gifts and talents because we are afraid of being mocked, jeered at or criticized. We don t share our money because we fear we might not have enough for ourselves. Fear for our safety makes us less likely to embrace new people or new cultures. Fear that we might not be good enough is what makes us so critical of others. Fear is what cripples a church s ministry. But Paul points out that we have nothing to fear. He writes:
4 5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. I love those last few verses. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath How freeing is that?! We don t have to fear wrath, we are meant for salvation! But look again at the text: whether we are awake or a sleep, with live together with our Lord Jesus Christ. And I love that next word: Therefore. Therefore! Literally, because we live together with him we should encourage one another and build each other up. That should be our response to the incredible gift of salvation. Have any of you ever looked up the word encourage? Well, let me nerd out a little bit here. First off, it s a verb. Any students know what a verb is? That s right, an action word. By definition it means to: Give support, confidence, or hope to (someone); or, to persuade someone to do or continue to do something by giving support and advice; or, to stimulate the development of an activity, state or belief. It literally means to give someone hope. Isn t that our calling as believers? Isn t that the mission of our church? Not just come, be fed,
5 but also be sent. If we are not sent out to give hope to the world, then what are we doing? I want to take a quick survey here. By a show of hands, how many of you have not done something you thought you could because someone discouraged you? How many of you have done something you didn t think you could because some one told you that you could. Which made you better, discouragement or encouragement? I want to show you a short video. Awesome video, right? But did you see what that coach did? He made it so that Brock could only hear encouragement, so Brock not only accomplished what he thought he couldn t, remember, he only believed he could go 50 yards if there wasn t someone on his back, but he vastly exceeded his expectations! That s what encouragement does. It transfers belief that allows us to transcend our limitations. Here s another example. A few years ago, when I first started on session, our ministry in the community limited. We helped out at the winter housing overflow, and we had some lunch buddies at Silverstar. At least, that s what I recall. Then Chris met with some friends and talked about the work that we were doing in the community, and the fiends wanted to encourage what we were doing. So they gave us some money. So our vision for ministry expanded. With the increase of our vision, so came the increase of our funding. And what an increase! We are having a huge impact in our community. We are actually making lives better as we pursue a life of generosity.
6 Take last week for an example. You saw those Young Life kids. How important was camp for them? That wasn t in our vision when I became a member of this church, at least not specifically. But look at the impact we are having now! Wasn t it amazing to hear from those kids. Those are kids who wouldn t have had the opportunity to go to camp. What a difference it made in their lives! We received encouragement and we give encouragement, and it is making a significant difference in people s lives. But here s the thing, ministry and living a generous life are intertwined. In high school I was told that ministry is the overflow of the heart. It s giving of one s self. And it doesn t have to big. Think back on the people who influenced your life. Teachers, pastors, coaches, friends, family. Who made the positive difference? I know I always performed better for the coach who cheered me on, who encouraged me. And I did better in school when a teacher encouraged me. But it was never big things. It was the vice principal in high school who wouldn t let me drop A.P. English because she saw my potential. This is the same lady who handed me my application to Whitworth and then encouraged me to go there over Pepperdine. Whitworth is where I met Becky, and, if I didn t meet Becky, I wouldn t be here with three beautiful kids. I would know you all! We don t know how the little things we say to others can have a lasting impact. So let s make it a positive impact. Let s give hope! Let s pray.