For The Person Who Has Everything: Encouragement

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Well, good morning, Restoration Church.

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Glad to be together.

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Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.

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Uh, it's gonna be a great

month, a great season, hanging

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together and worshiping together.

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I want to, uh, just, just say from me

to you, water baptisms are next week.

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These are some of the most important

fun services that we have all year.

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We've got 14 people, 13 people, 14

people signed up for water baptism

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next week across our locations.

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Um, always so much fun as you hear

of, uh, some true stories about

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how Jesus has changed some lives.

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So that's happening next week.

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If you haven't had a chance

to sign up, it is your time.

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It is your time and uh, you can

do that through the church center

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app or at the new here welcome

center Uh area at your location.

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We are one church.

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We have services together Here in

dover and in bethlehem milton and

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plymouth dover you put your hands

together for the other locations

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We had a great time at the worship night

Last week in Bethlehem and uh, thanks

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for everybody who made the trip up there.

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Thank you Bethlehem

location for hosting us.

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It was a special time and uh,

heard some great testimonies

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out of that night as well.

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Um, I, the, for, for the next couple of

weeks, I'm gonna do something for you

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guys, um, because I don't have a YouTube

channel that I want you to know about.

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So, during, during our times, every,

uh, every week during service, I'm

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gonna, I'm just gonna give you a,

a, a holiday gift giving guide and,

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uh, just a few things that either

I've received or that I've given.

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That I think are worth, I think they're

good, I think everybody would want them.

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So, um, so, so, don't be annoyed by me.

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Um, but this morning's gift, alright,

I've been carrying this thing

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around with me for a few years.

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It is a Gerber knife, and what it

has in it is, are exacto blades.

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So replaceable exacto blades.

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So I got this a few years ago from

my mother in law and I have loved it.

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I, I, I'm with it every day unless

I misplace it for a month or two.

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And uh, when it gets dull,

you just change out the blade.

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So with this and, and buy a

hundred exacto blades with it.

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I mean, it's under 30 bucks for this gift.

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Plus it's got the built in

screwdriver and bottle opener for

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when you're traveling in Africa.

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Listen, this thing is killer and amazing.

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Alright?

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And Gerber has a lifetime warranty,

so I broke my very first one I

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ever got, took a couple pictures of

it, they sent me a brand new one.

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And a lifetime warranty, I believe.

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So there's your gift guide.

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Next week, we'll do

something for the children.

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And, uh, then we'll do something

for the ladies the week after that.

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But honestly, ladies, if you,

um, if you're a crafter and you

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use an X Acto knife, this is much

cooler than that dangerous open

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blade that you've been carrying.

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So get yourself something that closes.

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Now for this next few weeks through the

Christmas season, We are, have this series

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titled for the person who has everything.

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And we have that kind of that question.

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What do I even give this person?

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I don't know that they need anything.

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But there are some things we can give

them that are greater than possessions.

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There are things we can give them

that are greater than a Gerber knife.

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And today, I want to teach

and, and, and to teach you to

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give the gift of encouragement.

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Give the gift of encouragement.

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Most of the time, as individuals,

we're not feeling very encouraged.

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Thank you.

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We are feeling discouraged.

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We overcooked the turkey.

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We're discouraged.

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The people we invited

to church didn't come.

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We're discouraged.

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We didn't get the

promotion we applied for.

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We're discouraged.

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We're discouraged.

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Our marriage is in a rough spot.

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We're discouraged.

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We're, uh, we lead a serve team and

the serve team people didn't show up.

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We're discouraged.

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We are leading a song on stage and

we sing horrifically out of tune.

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We're discouraged.

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You're leading a circle.

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Nobody came that week.

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You're discouraged.

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You stepped on the scale thinking

you lost 10 pounds and you gained 7.

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You're discouraged.

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We tend to be more discouraged

than we're encouraged.

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Is that true for anybody here?

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There are some things in

scripture about encouragement.

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So I want to show you two scriptures

right off to just help set the

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stage for encouragement, that

encouragement is a good gift to give.

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First, in Proverbs 16, 24, Kind

words are like honey, sweet to

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the soul and healthy for the body.

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Kind words for you to share.

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Kind words with someone you live with.

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Kind words with someone you work with.

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Kind words with someone

that, that teaches you.

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Someone that's an authority over you.

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Someone that's an authority, or

someone that you have authority over.

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These, uh, you can, uh, You, if you

wanted to, and we didn't have time

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this morning, but you can, uh, there

are neurological studies done, brave,

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brainwave studies done, that when you tell

someone no, and you use a discouraging

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word, how it fires different parts of

the brain, but when you tell them kind

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words, how it fires up other parts of

the brain, how it releases positive

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chemicals within the body, that it

literally feels good because it is doing

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good things in your body to hear that.

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Your body reacts to it

in a very positive way.

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The next scripture in Proverbs 12, 25,

it says, Worry weighs a person down.

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An encouraging word cheers a person up.

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Give the gift of encouragement.

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Now, encouragement, as we talk

about in the Bible, it isn't

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focused on complimenting someone's

haircut, or telling them how

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good their homemade salsa tastes.

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Those are great things, positive things,

um, a way to, to bless another person.

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But biblical encouragement goes

deeper than that, and that's, you,

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you kind of intertwined in the two.

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We don't, we want to make sure

that we're not just focusing on the

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externals, but that we're also focusing

on the internal, uh, character of

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people, and also making sure that

we're helping each other according to.

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So if you've got your Bibles,

open up to Hebrews chapter 3.

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Encouragement that we want to talk

about today is the type that's going

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to help others walk with Jesus.

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The type that is going to

help people finish their race.

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Because when we made the

decision to follow Jesus, there

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now becomes an opportunity.

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All kinds of discouragement that happens

trying to get you to stop before you

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start Trying to get you to quit before

you finish trying to get you to kind

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of be a one and done That you made a

decision to follow jesus, but it affects

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no one beyond you No one beyond you.

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This week we were, uh, we were

talking with someone, the pa uh,

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the pa we were, uh, here on Tuesday.

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The pastors and I were together and

we were talking with someone else and

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asked them, what book are you reading?

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And they said they were reading

The Screwtape Letters, which

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is this famous book by C.

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S.

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Lewis, which we would recommend

to you to read as well.

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And it's a fictional, story

of two demons interacting.

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Uh, uh, this, this higher ranked demon,

who's the uncle of a lower ranked demon.

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And the whole story is about, um, trying

to get this demons been assigned to

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get someone to never believe in God.

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And he keeps failing because then they

believe in God and then they follow God.

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Then they start praying and they,

and the letters are going back and

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forth, but their uncle's saying

like, You're embarrassing me.

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You're, like, I, I put your name up

for this position, and now they're

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praying, now they're reading their Bible.

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You've got to do something about that.

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And then as it goes on, then the

uncle becomes very infuriated because,

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listen, it was bad enough that they

came to know Jesus, but now their

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family members are knowing it.

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Like, you, you, you, I'm not

gonna be able to protect you.

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Like, there's bad things

happening for you.

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If you don't get this, immediately.

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And it's, uh, uh, a fictional, uh, parable

helping us understand the spiritual realm.

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Some of you would recognize that, hey,

when I made the decision to follow

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Jesus, things went very bad afterward.

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Or every time I make an attempt

to follow Jesus, things go bad.

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I'm going to give up.

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Well, that's exactly what

they're trying to get you to do.

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That's exactly what the

enemies of God want you to do.

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They don't want you to

discover the John 10 10.

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Abundant, overflowing life.

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They don't want you to experience

forgiveness and freedom.

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They don't want you to experience

love and unconditional love.

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They don't want you to know God.

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And so discouragement

comes after all of us.

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Comes after all of us.

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And in Hebrews chapter 3, kind of

chapters 1, 2, and 3 leading up to the

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passage we're reading, it is The author

of Hebrews talking and teaching about

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how Jesus is not like anyone else.

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Jesus is uncreated.

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Jesus is God.

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Jesus is part of the Trinity.

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Jesus is above all.

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He has all authority in heaven and earth.

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And some of this we talked about

at worship night last week, but,

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but Paul's writing about this.

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And so he talks about, hey,

Jesus is not like an angel.

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Angels are powerful.

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Angels are supernatural.

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Angels are created by Jesus.

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Jesus is the uncreated one,

but angels were created.

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He's not equal.

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They're not his rival.

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Which means that a fallen

angel named Satan is not equal.

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He's not a rival.

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The other thing that he goes and

talks through is he mentions one of

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the famous people in church history,

in Jewish history, the name of Moses.

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A mighty, mighty, powerful prophet,

a mighty, powerful man of God,

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who saw God, who spoke to God,

who spent time alone with God, had

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audible conversations with God.

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And he says, Jesus is greater than Moses.

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He's greater than him.

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Moses was created.

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Jesus is uncreated.

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Moses was used by God.

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Jesus was created.

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is God.

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So he sets all that stage up, trying

to help people understand when we're

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following Jesus, we're not following

some other guy from another religion.

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We're not following, um,

someone who, who has an equal.

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And he goes on into this passage

about our faith and walking with Jesus

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and about encouraging one another.

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So Hebrews chapter three,

go down to verse number 12.

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We'll read verses 12, 13, and 14,

and I'll be reading it in the NIV.

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Listen, see to it, brothers and sisters.

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So he's, he's talking to

people who've said, yeah, I'm

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a Christian, I follow Jesus.

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See to it, Christians.

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That none of you has a sinful, unbelieving

heart that turns away from the living God.

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But encourage one another daily, as long

as it is called today, so that none of you

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may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

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We have come to share Christ,

if indeed we hold our original

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conviction firmly to the very end.

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See to it, brothers and sisters, that

none of you has a sinful, unbelieving

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heart that turns away from the living God.

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We need to look at our

heart, evaluate our heart.

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There's a part of looking

at our neighbor's heart, our

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friend's heart within the church.

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Encourage one another daily

as long as it's called today.

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Couple things about discipline

that this scripture talks about

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that I want to teach today.

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One is having a discipline

of encouragement.

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A discipline of encouragement,

is a habit of encouragement.

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He says, encourage one another daily.

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As long as it's called today.

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Encourage one another daily.

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In case that's not clear enough.

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What day is today?

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Is today, today?

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Yes, then today's the day you

need to encourage another person.

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We encourage.

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We tend to put things off, we

tend to schedule things for later,

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we tend to say, I'll get to it.

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But he's saying encouragement is so

important that if it's today, it's

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the day to encourage each other.

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He's teaching us.

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To develop a practice, a

discipline, a habit of encouraging

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someone else every single day.

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This is for every follower of

Jesus to say, I am going to

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encourage another believer today.

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Every single one of us carries

and acts on that practice.

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Sometimes people mope about

not receiving encouragement.

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Amen.

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But this is not our focus.

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It's not about receiving.

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It's about giving.

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And the command is not to

receive encouragement daily.

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The command is to give

encouragement daily.

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Make encouragement a daily discipline.

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For some of you, it is very, very easy.

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You are encouragers, and, and

it's so natural to you that when

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I say to you, wow, you're such

an encourager, you're shocked.

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I am?

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I didn't know that.

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No, you are.

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And everybody is like, yeah, that person.

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I think we could all think of five to ten

people in our church across locations, and

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we'd come up with, um, with very similar

names of people who are encouragers.

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For some of us, it's naturally, but

for others, they gag they, not exactly.

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What I have to do, and what I'd encourage

you to do, is to put it in your calendar.

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To use that digital calendar and to

make note to practice putting in that

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habit of encouraging someone every day.

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A calendar to send a note, an

email, a text, a phone call.

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I have to remind myself

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to encourage others.

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I have to remind myself to

encourage my wife, my kids.

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The church staff, I have

to remind myself that.

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Not because I don't think good things

about them, but because it's not in

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my nature to communicate that way.

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But scripture has called me to act

in a way that's not natural, and

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I must be obedient to scripture.

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The second thing, which I've

already kind of touched on, but

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it's the command of encouragement.

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Paul commonly challenged the

churches he led, and the churches

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he started, Two, and this is found

in 1 Thessalonians, Encourage each

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other and build each other up.

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Encourage each other

and build each other up.

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That Christians are Encouraging other

Christians and Christians are building

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up other Christians Perpetually, non

stop, more and more, greater and greater.

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And this is not just something

that's relegated to people who have

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encouragement as a spiritual gift.

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So there is a spiritual gift of

encouragement that those people function

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with a greater grace, a greater ability.

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Probably some of the names that

we'd all think about are people

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who have that spiritual gift.

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Uh, Barnabas in scripture is, is likely

someone who had that spiritual gift.

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He was given the nickname Barnabas.

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Son of encouragement.

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Alright, so it kind of gives you an idea.

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If you've got a nickname of

Encour, of encourager, then

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you probably have that gift.

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But all of us are called to

encourage in a similar way.

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Some people have a

spiritual gift of giving.

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It seems like it's very easy

for them, very natural to them.

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They have ability to give more and more

and more and, and they're, they're.

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It's very easy, but all of

us have a command to give.

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So even though someone, uh, has

the gift of it, and it's very easy,

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it does not take us off the hook.

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All of us are called to share our faith,

but some have the gift of evangelism, and

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so they, what takes us, uh, what's very

difficult sometimes for us to do, they've

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already done it, you know, 45 times.

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So here's, let's talk about this.

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Why is encouraging others so important?

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Why is it a command for us?

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It would seem like of all the things

that scripture would call us to

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do for encouragement to be really

hammered on over and over again.

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Why is it so important?

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One thing is that our key, and one

important thing, probably the most

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important thing from this scripture,

is that encouragement From other

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people, from other believers,

keeps our hearts close to Jesus.

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In the passage we just said, it said,

uh, it, it mentioned our heart two

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different times, that you haven't,

you can, to protect against an

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unbelieving heart and a hardened heart.

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And encouragement helps other people

from having an unbelieving heart

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and developing a hardened heart.

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I want to look at a

couple things real quick.

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About what are some ways might an

unbelieving heart show up in your life.

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Because, again, remember,

he's talking to a church.

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He's talking to people who follow Jesus.

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So, this idea of an unbelieving heart

amongst people who confess they believe,

320

: 00:19:23

It's kind of, it's a little bit confusing.

321

: 00:19:26

Why would, how could they have unbelieving

hearts if they say they believe?

322

: 00:19:29

But often times, what happens in our

heart happens way before our head.

323

: 00:19:34

And in our heart, our heart

has started to not believe.

324

: 00:19:37

Our heart has wandered and gone astray.

325

: 00:19:39

Even though our head and our function

practice is, um, is still the same.

326

: 00:19:48

Here are some things, I'll put

these on the screen for you.

327

: 00:19:50

Number one.

328

: 00:19:52

Doctrine so these are again.

329

: 00:19:54

I'm talking to the believers.

330

: 00:19:55

I'll explain these for you But for someone

who's who's gone to church for someone

331

: 00:20:00

who's following Jesus But you begin to

maybe you don't even sense it yourself

332

: 00:20:06

But others can see it in you weakening

doctrine that you no longer see the Bible.

333

: 00:20:11

You no longer see scripture As the

authority and you're no longer studying

334

: 00:20:17

scripture to find out what to believe.

335

: 00:20:20

You're studying blogs

to affirm your belief.

336

: 00:20:25

That's a sign your,

your doctor's weakening.

337

: 00:20:28

'cause you're looking at a YouTuber,

or a TikTok or, or a blogger of

338

: 00:20:33

someone that you never met before

to determine what scripture says,

339

: 00:20:37

instead of studying scripture.

340

: 00:20:41

To find out what it says.

341

: 00:20:43

And we see this happening in

our country, across churches,

342

: 00:20:49

in every single community.

343

: 00:20:52

Across denominations, Um, Uh, It is,

it is, Uh, a rare, more of a rare

344

: 00:21:04

thing to find the church that says,

we will align ourselves to scripture,

345

: 00:21:09

rather than saying, scripture is

going to align to our beliefs.

346

: 00:21:14

The second thing is rigid dogma.

347

: 00:21:18

Dogma is a set of beliefs that, um, that

are kind of outside of the scripture.

348

: 00:21:24

Alright, so dogmas can be kind of positive

things, they can be negative things,

349

: 00:21:29

they just are, but when you're rigid

about them, usually that's a bad thing.

350

: 00:21:33

We need to be rigid about our doctrine,

not about our dogma, and when you get

351

: 00:21:37

those things reversed, it's showing

an unbelieving, hardening heart.

352

: 00:21:41

So, an example of, uh, of a

dogma, like a positive dogma that

353

: 00:21:46

Restoration Church has, is this.

354

: 00:21:49

We have loud music.

355

: 00:21:52

We have loud music.

356

: 00:21:53

It is something that we do, something

that's important to us, something

357

: 00:21:56

that we do that believes, glorifies

God, something also that keeps us

358

: 00:22:00

from having to hear you sing, alright?

359

: 00:22:01

So, so it, we believe that with loud

music and soft lights, and dim lights,

360

: 00:22:08

it'll help other people to worship God.

361

: 00:22:10

So, that's why we do it.

362

: 00:22:12

We do it to help you worship God.

363

: 00:22:14

And, it's a, it's just

something we believe.

364

: 00:22:16

It's not in scripture.

365

: 00:22:18

But sometimes people have

a dogma that it's wrong.

366

: 00:22:21

Well, you shouldn't have lights,

you shouldn't have dark ceilings,

367

: 00:22:23

you shouldn't have dark rooms,

you shouldn't have loud music.

368

: 00:22:26

Those things are wrong.

369

: 00:22:27

Well, is it in scripture?

370

: 00:22:28

Absolutely not.

371

: 00:22:29

In fact, there's more, there's

more evidence toward loud music.

372

: 00:22:33

It talks about clanging cymbals and,

and, and it talks about loud music.

373

: 00:22:39

More in scripture than it

does about somber music.

374

: 00:22:43

So that's an example of a dogma

that, that we could say, Hey, whether

375

: 00:22:48

it's soft or it's loud, no problem.

376

: 00:22:50

We have a, we have a

flexibility in how we worship.

377

: 00:22:53

But when you begin to say it must

be done this way and the other way

378

: 00:22:56

is wrong, rigid dogma is wrong.

379

: 00:22:58

And another example of this is, uh, uh,

you've made, uh, well, the principle is

380

: 00:23:04

you've made minor things, major things.

381

: 00:23:08

And an example of this would

be the names of holidays.

382

: 00:23:12

And let me, let me get on my

soapbox here for a minute.

383

: 00:23:17

And sing Jesus Freak to you.

384

: 00:23:18

No, let me get on my

soapbox here for a minute.

385

: 00:23:20

And every holiday, we have people in

our church wigging out, wigging out.

386

: 00:23:25

And I apologize for such old terminology.

387

: 00:23:30

But, but, freaking out because we

either used the word Halloween, or

388

: 00:23:34

Easter, or even Christmas, and that

somehow using those words has caused

389

: 00:23:40

us to compromise something about this.

390

: 00:23:43

Whatever you want to call Easter, call

it that, but don't be rigid about it.

391

: 00:23:46

There's nothing in scripture here

that talks about that, or Halloween.

392

: 00:23:50

Or Easter, or Fair Food

Sunday, or President's Day.

393

: 00:23:54

Because it's a minor

thing, it does not matter.

394

: 00:23:58

And now some of you are getting all

wound up like, Whoa, I got an email

395

: 00:24:01

for you, I've got an email for you.

396

: 00:24:03

You are so wrong.

397

: 00:24:04

Listen, it doesn't matter.

398

: 00:24:07

It doesn't matter, it doesn't

matter, it doesn't matter.

399

: 00:24:10

When Paul showed up to a pagan

town, There was idols everywhere.

400

: 00:24:16

Idols everywhere.

401

: 00:24:17

And he says, hey, I see this idol

right here to an unknown God.

402

: 00:24:20

Let me tell you about,

about this idol right here.

403

: 00:24:23

His name's Jesus.

404

: 00:24:24

We'd be freaking out.

405

: 00:24:25

You can't call Jesus an idol.

406

: 00:24:27

You can't call Jesus an unknown God.

407

: 00:24:29

And it's the principle of use

the language of the culture to

408

: 00:24:34

communicate the glory of God.

409

: 00:24:36

We say Easter because that's

what people understand.

410

: 00:24:38

They have no flippant idea

what Resurrection Day is.

411

: 00:24:42

We say Halloween because they

don't know what Reformation Day is.

412

: 00:24:46

We say Christmas because the birth

of our virgin Immaculate Savior

413

: 00:24:54

does not make any sense to them.

414

: 00:24:58

We don't go into another language

and speak foreign language to them.

415

: 00:25:03

We use their language to help us to open

up conversation about who our Savior is.

416

: 00:25:10

That's the biblical principle, and that's

417

: 00:25:16

The doctrine, not the dogma.

418

: 00:25:18

Next one is this, compromised convictions.

419

: 00:25:23

And again, this is for the Christian.

420

: 00:25:26

All right.

421

: 00:25:27

So you're following Jesus.

422

: 00:25:28

You made a decision to follow Jesus.

423

: 00:25:30

Some of us have been serving him

for 3, 4, 5, 10, 25, 65 years.

424

: 00:25:38

And are there things you previously

would not do that now you're doing?

425

: 00:25:46

Think about that for a little bit.

426

: 00:25:49

Things you previously would

not do that now you're doing.

427

: 00:25:53

Now, for some things, we realize we've

been taught dogma and not doctrine, and

428

: 00:25:59

so when we discover a doctrine that we've

been rigid, we can change it and adapt.

429

: 00:26:05

An example of this was, in my

lifetime, uh, I went to churches,

430

: 00:26:12

not Restoration Church, but I, I was

part of churches where the ladies

431

: 00:26:16

were not allowed to wear pants.

432

: 00:26:23

So, some ladies are wearing

pants, but in their lifetime,

433

: 00:26:27

they never would have before.

434

: 00:26:28

Some men are here today, and for

the first 15 years of walking with

435

: 00:26:32

Jesus, they only came to church in

a suit and tie, and now they don't.

436

: 00:26:36

Well, that's not in scripture.

437

: 00:26:38

So, they begin to say,

oh, I've got freedom here.

438

: 00:26:40

Now, there's other things where there

are a personal conviction, you know, I

439

: 00:26:45

cannot do this, but yet, if you evaluate

yourself, you are doing these things.

440

: 00:26:51

I remember being four years old, and

we lived on Horn Street in Dover,

441

: 00:26:59

and I get in, my dad had bought this

red Chevy Sprint, and I get in, in

442

: 00:27:05

it, and it's this tiny car, even

for a tiny kid, it was a tiny car.

443

: 00:27:09

And my dad had a note.

444

: 00:27:11

on the brand new car.

445

: 00:27:13

Don't smoke in the car,

which is a note to his wife.

446

: 00:27:17

Don't smoke in the car.

447

: 00:27:18

And I remember, um, sitting in the car

and he's like, son, smoking is bad.

448

: 00:27:23

Don't smoke.

449

: 00:27:24

Smoking is not a good thing.

450

: 00:27:26

And we drive off to

wherever we're driving.

451

: 00:27:29

Fast forward all these years

later, all these years later, many

452

: 00:27:33

years later, my mom doesn't smoke.

453

: 00:27:35

My dad does.

454

: 00:27:39

It's It's kind of one of those things

where, what has happened, where something

455

: 00:27:46

you were, you were so, like, this is

not for me, I cannot do this, to now

456

: 00:27:52

you're like, yeah, I kinda, I do this.

457

: 00:27:55

Those are something you have to

really evaluate, really evaluate.

458

: 00:28:00

Why did you make the change?

459

: 00:28:02

Is it because Is it because of growth

or is it because of compromise?

460

: 00:28:08

And, and sin is so treacherous

that it can convince us otherwise.

461

: 00:28:15

Here's the last one.

462

: 00:28:16

It is decreasing grace.

463

: 00:28:20

Um, we find ourselves functioning

with less grace toward other people.

464

: 00:28:25

You are less patient, you are more

judgy, you tend to blame others

465

: 00:28:30

instead of accepting any blame.

466

: 00:28:33

These are signs of hardening or

unbelieving, growing unbelieving hearts.

467

: 00:28:39

Encouragement protects heart.

468

: 00:28:44

Encouragement can protect

hearts from these things.

469

: 00:28:49

Encouragement keeps us going.

470

: 00:28:52

And allows us to function and to

finish the race that we are called on.

471

: 00:28:59

Here's the last one.

472

: 00:29:01

The outcome of encouragement.

473

: 00:29:04

Couple obvious and beautiful

and most important ones.

474

: 00:29:08

One, encouragement can lead to repentant.

475

: 00:29:14

And that's what we want for people

to turn away, to turn back to Jesus.

476

: 00:29:18

It's what we want for you to turn away

from those other things, to turn to Jesus.

477

: 00:29:23

for joining us.

478

: 00:29:25

Encouragement can lead to salvation

because sometimes we've wandered so far.

479

: 00:29:33

Encouragement, and let me encourage

you, pray to Him, give your life to Him,

480

: 00:29:38

let Him back in your life again today.

481

: 00:29:41

It's what we want for you.

482

: 00:29:44

Another outcome of encouragement

is found in the scripture.

483

: 00:29:48

Also, it is persevere it.

484

: 00:29:52

It says that they will hold on until the

end, hold on until the end, that we won't

485

: 00:29:59

give up, we won't give in, we won't quit.

486

: 00:30:02

We'll continue following Jesus through

everything, through every moment

487

: 00:30:08

of discouragement, through every

temptation of sin, through every

488

: 00:30:14

difficulty, through every storm.

489

: 00:30:18

Encouragement helps us

to keep going forward.

490

: 00:30:23

The Smithsonian Institute

in Washington, D.

491

: 00:30:26

C.

492

: 00:30:27

Has, uh, has a collection of things that

President Abraham Lincoln was carrying

493

: 00:30:35

on him the night of his assassination.

494

: 00:30:38

And one of the articles that he had

on this person was worn out because

495

: 00:30:42

he had opened it and closed it many,

many times and it was worn out.

496

: 00:30:46

And it was a newspaper clipping.

497

: 00:30:50

That celebrated his

accomplishments as president.

498

: 00:30:53

And it read in that article,

Abraham Lincoln is one of the

499

: 00:30:58

greatest statesmen of all time.

500

: 00:31:02

We can obviously see that one of the

reasons it was so worn out is because

501

: 00:31:05

he was pulling it out to remind himself.

502

: 00:31:08

And the great difficulty of the Civil War,

when, when Hey I'm President, and half the

503

: 00:31:15

country, uh, uh, secedes, in the darkness,

in the attacks, in the questioning, every

504

: 00:31:21

decision he made, they'd be questioning,

and questioning, and questioning.

505

: 00:31:25

There was, uh, people not wanting

him to run for a second term and

506

: 00:31:31

all of the difficulty of that.

507

: 00:31:32

He carried that article.

508

: 00:31:36

Abraham Lincoln is the

greatest statesman of all time.

509

: 00:31:41

We have critics as well.

510

: 00:31:45

We have spiritual critics, we have critics

in our family, critics sometimes within

511

: 00:31:51

the church who don't want you to step

out, who don't want you to step forward,

512

: 00:31:55

who don't want you to step into what

God has for you, and And some, listen,

513

: 00:32:02

we've got to encourage each other.

514

: 00:32:06

Keep on the race that God has for you.

515

: 00:32:10

And because of the critics we have,

our Bibles should be worn out,

516

: 00:32:17

remembering what God has said about

us and what God has said to us.

517

: 00:32:24

That when the critic comes,

you're not a good mom.

518

: 00:32:27

You're not a good dad.

519

: 00:32:28

You're not a good employee.

520

: 00:32:29

You're not a good Christian.

521

: 00:32:30

You're not, that we would

pull up our scripture.

522

: 00:32:35

And say, God, what do you say about me?

523

: 00:32:38

God, what do you say about my future?

524

: 00:32:40

God, what do you say about my,

uh, about my gifts, and about my

525

: 00:32:44

calling, and about my assignment?

526

: 00:32:46

God, what do you say?

527

: 00:32:47

And to wear it out, reminding

ourselves of what Jesus says.

528

: 00:32:54

And here's the last thing, and, and

the band can move into position.

529

: 00:33:03

It says to encourage one another

daily, And I mentioned earlier,

530

: 00:33:10

we should not be complaining that

other people aren't encouraging us.

531

: 00:33:14

That's not the command.

532

: 00:33:16

All right, take the focus off yourself.

533

: 00:33:18

You need to say, am I, who

have I encouraged today?

534

: 00:33:20

That's your responsibility.

535

: 00:33:22

But you know what?

536

: 00:33:24

You are supposed to be encouraged daily

and God wants you to be encouraged

537

: 00:33:29

daily, but not from other people.

538

: 00:33:32

He wants you to be encouraged by Him.

539

: 00:33:36

That we are looking to Him

for our daily encouragement,

540

: 00:33:40

not looking to other people.

541

: 00:33:41

This keeps our hearts pure, helps us from

being self centered and selfish, from

542

: 00:33:46

being resentful, from all kinds of things.

543

: 00:33:48

And we're able to pour out of His

encouragement to encourage others.

544

: 00:33:53

And the Holy Spirit is, He's got

a couple of names in the Bible,

545

: 00:33:58

a couple of describing names.

546

: 00:34:00

The Comforter, The Comforter.

547

: 00:34:02

The advocate, the encourager.

548

: 00:34:06

He wants to encourage us.

549

: 00:34:08

And so when it says be encouraged

daily, the Holy Spirit wants

550

: 00:34:14

to encourage you daily.

551

: 00:34:16

Here's what, here's

what He wants you to do.

552

: 00:34:21

Here's what God wants you to do.

553

: 00:34:24

To have a Bible.

554

: 00:34:26

If you don't have a Bible,

we'll give you one for free.

555

: 00:34:28

Just go to the New Here area in the

lobby, they'll give you a Bible for free.

556

: 00:34:33

This isn't just a book.

557

: 00:34:35

This isn't just, uh, just

a collection of writings.

558

: 00:34:41

This is God's Word.

559

: 00:34:42

He wants to supernaturally use this

book to encourage you every day.

560

: 00:34:47

This is why we read it every day,

not to be religious, not to, uh, not

561

: 00:34:52

to check it off the box, not to look

cool to the Christian girl we're

562

: 00:34:56

trying to get to go on a date with us.

563

: 00:34:57

We read it every day so God

can speak to us through it.

564

: 00:35:03

The other thing is every day to pray.

565

: 00:35:07

And you have your list of things you're

asking God to do, but also prayer is

566

: 00:35:12

about conversation, to really talk to him.

567

: 00:35:16

Don't just say, check, check,

check, check, check, check.

568

: 00:35:18

But to say, here's how I'm feeling.

569

: 00:35:20

Here's what I'm going through.

570

: 00:35:22

Here's what I thank you for.

571

: 00:35:24

Here's what I'm grateful for.

572

: 00:35:26

And to take a moment and pause.

573

: 00:35:29

Uh, earlier this year in the soul

series, we take, just take five

574

: 00:35:31

minutes of silence every day.

575

: 00:35:33

Five minutes, have nothing

on, nothing on just silent.

576

: 00:35:37

Don't even talk.

577

: 00:35:38

Just listen.

578

: 00:35:39

Because He wants to encourage you Himself

to speak in a still, small voice to

579

: 00:35:43

your heart, to your mind, to bless you.

580

: 00:35:49

We give encouragement to other

Christians every single day.

581

: 00:35:55

And we receive encouragement

from Jesus through His Word and

582

: 00:36:00

through prayer every single day.

583

: 00:36:04

You close your eyes, let me pray for you.

584

: 00:36:08

We just ask you right now,

Jesus, to encourage us.

585

: 00:36:19

There, there are things we're discouraged

about, things that we're resentful

586

: 00:36:22

about, things that we're struggling with.

587

: 00:36:25

Encourage us.

588

: 00:36:28

For the people going through

a hard time, it's not forever.

589

: 00:36:32

Encourage them with that.

590

: 00:36:35

For the people who are trying to

rebuild their life, tell them your

591

: 00:36:38

promises and encourage them with that.

592

: 00:36:42

For the people who, um, who, things are

going well, but they feel like maybe no

593

: 00:36:47

one's noticing, tell them what you notice.

594

: 00:36:51

Encourage them with that, Lord.

595

: 00:36:54

God, you have a word for every

single one of us in our church.

596

: 00:36:57

You have something every day that you

want to tell us, something special every

597

: 00:37:01

day that you want to share with us,

through your word and through prayer.

598

: 00:37:05

And I pray, God, we will

make that a discipline.

599

: 00:37:10

A discipline not just to give

encouragement, but a discipline to receive

600

: 00:37:14

encouragement from you every single day.

601

: 00:37:17

And we pray this, Lord

Jesus, in your name.

602

: 00:37:20

Amen.