The Encouraging Community

Sermon: “An Encouraging Community” Text: Hebrews 10:24-25

Introduction:

Thank you music team.

Good morning, Church. Good morning to those of you joining us this morning on the live stream. We are glad we have that technology but you know there is nothing quite like being here in person.

Happy Fathers Day!

We are in part 7 of this series we are calling simply, “Community” So far we have talked about the church, the called out assembly, the ekklesia, as a community of peculiar people, a holy nation, A hopeful people, a serving body, a Christ-centered, unified body, Last week we considered our responsibility as a reconciling community. A community of Peacemakers.

Today, as is really the case to some extent every week, but especially today, I want to speak to your heart—not just your mind. I want to invite you into a vision of Christian community that may feel both deeply attractive and somewhat uncomfortable. I know, right now your thinking, “What! Last week wasn’t uncomfortable enough for you?!” Well yeah but this is a little different. This morning we are going to talk about the aspect of our community that we all long for… but sometimes run from.

Let’s begin with the Word of God. Turn in your Bible to the Book of Hebrews, the 10th chapter. Here is what it says:

Hebrews 10:24–25 (ESV) “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Now, it is important to note that the writer of Hebrews isn’t issuing a suggestion here. This is a call—not just to show up—but to show up for one another. This passage paints a vision of the church as more than a building or a gathering. It’s a people—a people of purpose, of encouragement, of shaping one another into Christlikeness. This is a call—a divine urging if you will—for the Church to become a community of intentional encouragement, accountability, and formation.

I. False Narrative vs. True Narrative

So I want to begin this morning as has become my custom in this series, by confronting a common cultural narrative. And that narrative is this:

False narrative: “The church community exists to serve my needs.”

Now most of us would have difficulty admitting that we are here for what we can get out of it. And on Sunday morning, as individuals, that is indeed part of why we are here. To be fed, to be encouraged, to be challenged, to be ministered TO. But this entire series has been about the community aspect of the church. If the only time you are engaged in the LFB community is on Sunday morning, and the only reason you are here is to take something away for yourself, then you are missing the richness that comes with a community of believers, and there is a good chance that Sunday morning is the only time you even think about me, or the message, or the worship, or the people sitting around you.

Add to that, our culture has taught us to be consumers. And unfortunately, that mindset seeps into our spirituality. And so, many have bought into the false narrative that the church exists primarily to meet my needs.

Now, let’s be clear: the church is supposed to offer healing, comfort, and care. God does meet us here in our brokenness. I am not discounting those things.

But when we view church solely as a spiritual service provider, we miss its true purpose.

Far too often, we approach the church like a restaurant. We “order” programs, expect comfort, and leave when the service doesn’t meet our expectations. But Church isn’t meant to function like a consumer transaction. It’s meant to be a transformational environment. An environment where we can be transformed as we rub shoulders with each other and collectively seek to apprentices of our Lord Jesus.

Hebrews 10:24-25 doesn’t say, “Let us consider how to be served by one another.” It says:

“Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.”

The word “consider” means to think carefully, intentionally. It is the very thing we have spent countless hours in the elder room considering, discussing, praying about how we can stir one another up and stir all of you up to love and good works. The church is not a product we consume—it’s a people, a community we belong to.

We were made to be shaped by one another. That means:

I don’t just come to church to be fed—I come to be fed AND to feed.

I’m not here to be affirmed in my comfort, but encouraged toward Christlikeness.

A Biblical community is not made for merely comfortable Christians, but Christlike men and women growing in their life with God and each other. In order to become that kind of community, we need a new narrative, a biblical narrative, to reshape our thinking and our behavior.

So here is the true narrative the we see in scripture regarding the rights and responsibility of the community:

True narrative: “The church community exists to shape and guide my soul. The community has a right to expect certain behavior from me, and can provide the encouragement and accountability I need.”

From the beginning, the ecclesia of Jesus has practiced soul shaping through many means: corporate worship, the breaking of bread, the teaching of the Apostles, corporate fasting and holding each other accountable to live godly lives. Transformation into Christlikeness has been the aim and responsibility of the church from its beginning, as our passage in Hebrews reveals.

And if the church has that responsibility, it also has the right to encourage certain behaviors from it’s members. As we heard last week, we can and we must offer forgiveness and reconciliation to all who seek it. And we must accept all who come to us broken and dysfunctional. But acceptance doesn’t mean we ask nothing of the people who join our community.

God designed the community of believers not primarily to meet your preferences, but to shape your soul. We are not spiritual tourists. We are living stones being built together into a spiritual house

(1 Peter 2:5 “5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” ).

That building process is rarely comfortable—but it is deeply good and beneficial when it comes to your Christian spiritual formation.

Biblical community has expectations—not to burden us, but to bless us.

“Stir up one another to love and good works.” “Encourage one another.” “Do not neglect meeting together.”

The Word of God.

These aren’t suggestions. They are the mutual responsibilities of every believer.

In community:

You have a part to play.

You have a calling to walk in.

And yes—others have the right to lovingly ask, “Are you growing? Are you staying close to Christ?”

This is not legalism. It’s love.

Hebrews 10:24-25 reminds us that the gathering of God’s people is meant to stir us up—to provoke us in the best kind of way—to love more, to do good more, and to grow more.

Why? Because spiritual formation is not a solo project.

And, contrary to what some think, we don’t gather just to stay comfortable. We gather so we’re transformed. And we’re sent out so we extend that transformation.

The soul-shaping role of the church is not JUST for our own spiritual nurture - it is meant to propel us out into mission. Here is how it works. We gather together to worship, and as we do, we learn our ancient family language, we tell and learn about our family narrative, and we enact our sacred moments. We also listen to the Spirit speak to us through sermon and song. And we are inspired and encourage to certain practices that will keep us in the kingdom throughout the week. As we do these things we are shaped into a people, a community being transformed into goodness by our God Who alone is good.

But then....Matthew 28:19, we are sent. We leave worship as all new people, inspired by our connection to one another and our connection to the old, old story. We leave to go out and, quite simply, change the world. We change it by our very presence. We cannot help but make a difference because we are the aroma of the resurrected Christ to a world that knows only death. We also behave or conduct ourselves differently. We are unselfish. We are generous. And in so doing preach without saying a word. And of course we do preach with words when the time is right, ready with the right wordin due season. Ready at all times to tell our story of hope to anyone who wants to know or hungers for it.

If we try to be shaped without being sent, we become spiritually self-indulgent. If we try to be sent without being shaped, we burn out or drift from the truth.

Community holds us in this holy tension:

It pushes us when we settle

It calms us when we panic.

It reminds us of who we are and who we are becoming.

We are shaped and we are sent. We cannot have one without the other.

Now, I realize this whole notion that the church community we belong to has a right to expect certain things from us causes uneasiness. Many church leaders and members as well are reluctant to ask others in the community to say, take a stand against sin, or challenge them to develop a prayer life. We are often reluctant to tell people what to do in general. Because let’s face it, no one likes to be told what to do.

Some of this uneasiness is good. For example, as church leaders we need to have a healthy fear of being controlling or manipulative, or of abusing power.

So...

III. Our Uneasiness: The Fear of Abuse

Let’s go ahead and name the tension.

Many of us have witnessed or experienced the abuse of spiritual authority—manipulation, guilt, control, or toxic systems masked as “accountability.” Some or all of that has occurred in the 100+ year history of this church to be sure.

We’ve seen churches abuse this idea. We’ve seen pastors or leaders use “accountability” as a tool for control. We’ve seen “community” weaponized instead of cherished.

And so we become wary of anyone trying to shape us.

We flinch when we hear that community has a shaping power in our lives.

That’s real. But don’t let the misuse of a good thing rob you of the right use of it.

The antidote to abuse isn’t abandonment—it’s redemption. God calls us not to give up on community, but to reclaim it. To do our part to make it right “hmmm, “as much as it depends on us”.

Community isn’t about controlling others. It’s about creating the conditions where Christ can be formed in us—where encouragement and accountability walk hand-in-hand.

Healthy, Christ-centered community doesn’t coerce—it calls. It doesn’t dominate—it disciples. It doesn’t shame—it shapes.

Almost every Sunday, at least one of you, often more than one says to me something like, “Gee Hutch, you really nailed me with that message” or “Man Hutch you really stepped on my toes today” or “Hutch, have you been spying on me this week?!

To all of that I say good! That is the whole point of what I am doing. My job is to stir you up! To push you a little. To get you thinking about what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. If all I ever heard was “Hey that was a really nice message” then I have failed. So it is my responsibility to make you a little or a lot uncomfortable. But...with that comes some tension for me as well. If I spend the week working on a message and my only thought or motive is to mess with people, then again, I have failed. And I will confess that in my younger days as a preacher, I can remember thinking, “Boy, sos and so really needs to hear this” That’s bad. Preachers are always in danger of preaching to one person on Sunday which makes the message more vindictive than spiritually motivating. Avoiding that comes with maturity. I can assure you that the things i preach to you are pointed right at me as I prepare each week.

IV. Comforted and Challenged in True Community

So what does an encouraging community actually look like? How do we comfort and challenge one another without compromising truth or love?

Let me suggest three things that may be helpful.

1. We Remind Each Other of Who We Are

One of my favorite old Hymns goes like this. Sing with me it if you know it.

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine; Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long.

This is my story, this is my song,   Praising my Savior all the day long.

This is my story, this is my song,   Praising my Savior all the day long.

I love that song because it reminds me of my identity. This is MY story. I have the blessed assurance that Jesus is my Savior. I am an inheritor of salvation. I was redeemed by God. I was born of the Spirit and I have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus.

Jesus has written me into that story. It forms my identitiy. I know who I am. Loved, forgiven, cleansed, made alive, and heading for eternal joy.

When we sing a song like that as a community, I am reminded of who I am. I am reminded of my TRUE identity. If you are here this morning, and you are in Christ, then you and i are bound by a common story, and as we tell we are reminded of our true identity.

We all had the privilege this morning to witness Josie stand up in front of this community and give us a beautiful picture of her identity in Christ through baptism, and at the same time reminding us all who we are. That is the power of community. As I sat and chatted yesterday with Josei and her folks, one question that came up was, after baptism, what should I do or what should Jose be focused on. I said, that’s easy. Just be perfect and don’t sin anymore!

Paul tells us in...

Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

This is both sobering and freeing. We’re not here because we’re perfect. Any perfect people in here this morning? Look at the person next to you and say, “You’re not perfect.” I hope you said that in love!

We are holy, yet we are broken. And we are broken, yet in Christ we are holy.

The church isn’t a place for people who have it all together. It’s a place for people who are being held together by Jesus.

The Church should be the safest place in the world to admit your struggles—but also the strongest place to be called beyond those struggles.

Josie, you are a masterpiece in progress. And your community exists to remind you of that, even when you forget.

So we remind each other of who we are. Number 2.

2. We Show Each Other What We Can Become

Romans 15:14 – “I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another.”

I love this passage in Hebrews 10 because it offers a clear call for us to chjallenge one another to live as apprentices of Jesus. Hebrews 10:24–25 “24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” –

“…stir one another up to love and good works.”

We don’t just see each other as we are—we speak to each other about what we can become.

This is hope. The church says: “You are not stuck.” “You are not finished.” “You are still becoming.”

We see the potential in each other that sometimes we can’t even see in ourselves.

God sees your potential far more clearly than you do—and often, He speaks it to you through someone sitting near you in this very room. Encouragement isn’t flattery. It’s prophetic vision. It’s calling the gold out of someone who’s buried in doubt.

So we need people around us who can encourage us to become the kinds of people Christ has called us to be.

So we remind each other of who we are. We show each other what we CAN become. And third...

3. We Hold Each Other Accountable with Courage and Grace

All of this sounds good on paper, but in real life this kind of enterprise involves a lot of ups and downs, a lot of successes AND failures, some happy surprises and also some deep disappointments. Accountability involves the art of encouragement and admonishment. We all need encouragement when we begin to lose sight or strength to keep fighting the good fight. We need someone in our corner to strengthen and encourage us. I have had a rough couple of weeks and I an happy to tell you that I am surrounded by a lovely group of people in our staff and among our elders a few of you who have been the encouragement I have needed. Not to mention my sweet wife is is an ever-present cheerleader and encourager to me. We all need that. That cannot be found outside of community.

We see this sort of thing with Paul and His fellow workers in what they did when they visited the churches Pau had planted.

Acts 14:21–22 “21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” – “…they strengthened the disciples and encouraged them to remain true to the faith…”

In the next chapter, Judas and Silas do the same.

Acts 15:32 “32 And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words.” – “…said much to encourage and strengthen the believers.”

We so often think of accountability as a negative thing or as an act of “tough love”. But in reality, it is as much about the art of encouragement as it is about the art of keeping high expectations. There is so much in life that beats us down that we need a steady dose of encouragement. So be an encourager to someone this week. It will mean a lot to them.

But right along with encouragement, we also need admonishment. To admonish is to warn, to watch watch out for and to offer guidance to someone. Paul instructs in ...

Colossians 3:16 “16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

When we open our lives to one another, we do so with the expectation that he or she will freely offer us a word of warning when we need it.

ILLUSTRATION: Accountability group I was in. We were open and honest about our struggles. When we met, we asked two questions. 1. How’s it going? 2. Are you lying to me?

Holding someone accountable is not easy. It takes discernment. Paul told the Thessalonians to treat certain people in certain ways, according to their condition.

1 Thessalonians 5:14 “14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.” – “...warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

We cannot love without truth, and we cannot grow without grace. I will say that again. We cannot love without truth, and we cannot grow without grace. Accountability is not about control—it’s about calling people to what God already has for them.

A community that never corrects is not loving. And a community that only corrects is not safe.

We must do both. That’s where true encouragement lives: in the tension between comfort and challenge.

We need people in our lives who love us enough to say: “You’re slipping.” “You’re isolating.” “You’re drifting.” “You’re made for more.”

V. We’ve Spent Too Much Energy on Getting People to Church

Let me close with this.

Far too much of our energy in the church today has been spent on getting people in the building, and far too little on helping the ones who hunger for a deeper life with God once they’re here.

The church has invested years in catchy programs and creative series, trying to get people in the door.

But there are some, maybe many who have come through the door are hungry for depth. They want something real. Something honest. Something that doesn’t just meet their needs—but reshapes their entire lives.

They don’t want a church that entertains them. They want a community that transforms them.

Jesus didn’t say, “Go and get people to attend.” He said, “Make disciples.” He didn’t die to fill pews. He died to fill hearts with His Spirit. He didn’t rise to make converts. He rose to make a people—a Kingdom people, shaped and sent into the world.

And that begins with community—not just attending one, but committing to one.

Closing Challenge:

So here’s the question I want to leave with you: Are you letting this community shape your life, or are you only consuming it?

Do you show up ready to stir others up?

Are you open to being reminded, encouraged, and even corrected in love?

Do you see the church as a spiritual family with a mission—or as a religious product to be evaluated and consumed?

Church is not about being served beloved. Church is about being shaped—and being sent.

And the kind of shaping we need doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens in the gritty, beautiful, uncomfortable, loving, real-life mess of community.

Call to Action:

So,

Who are you encouraging?

Who is encouraging you?

Are you present in community... or are you hiding in the back row of your spiritual life?

This week, I want to encourage you to ask the Spirit to show you:

Someone to speak truth to.

Someone to receive encouragement from.

And a place where you can give yourself more fully to the shaping work of the community God has placed you in.

Amen? let’s pray.

Father,

Thank You for the gift of community—imperfect but powerful, broken but holy. Thank You that You have not called us to walk alone. Forgive us for the times we’ve made church about our preferences instead of Your purpose.

Shape us, Lord. Shape us into encouragers. Shape us into truth-tellers. Shape us into servants who stir one another to love and good works.

Help us love enough to comfort. Help us love enough to challenge. And help us become the kind of people who long not just to be fed, but to be formed.

May we be the kind of community that hungers for more of You every day.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.