Be Encouraged
Notes
Transcript
Be Encouraged
Be Encouraged
Intro
Just a few weeks ago I was scrolling through Facebook and saw a video that intrigued me.
The video was of David Brown.
David Brown is a Sprinter.
He runs a 100 meters in less than 11 secs.
He is currently the World Record holder in his sport.
He is also Blind.
He races in the Paralympics.
That’s an incredible story.
But can I tell you what I thought was even more incredible.
Because he is blind he has to have a guide to help him.
He has to have a guide to tell him how hard to push it.
How far they have left and guide him in his lane.
Jerome Avery is David Brown’s guide in the race.
Jerome encourages and pushes David to be the best racer he can be.
When David starts to veer outside the lines Jerome Corrects him.
When they get closer to the finish line Jerome Pushes David Hard.
During the Race you can see Jerome shout at David, “Come on, David.”
In one interview Jerome says, “I am letting him know where we are from the beginning of the race to the end of the race.”
If you watch them run together its almost as if they are running as one.
Tied together by a string they race against people from all over the world.
Jerome was an olympic hopeful in his own right.
He tried and failed to qualify for the 2004 olympic team.
But he found a new passion in helping blind runners reach their dream.
“I thought running for myself was my goal in life. I was good at it. Come to find out, I’m really good at guide running.” Jerome Avery
He was asked how he felt about guide running. He said that “he was happier as a team than an individual. and that he found Success through Selflessness.
So when we look at the lives of these two men. What do we see?
We see someone who needs help and encouragement.
We see someone who meets that need and is a help and encouragement.
Here’s the reality. We need encouragement.
We also need to be encouraging.
Life is hard.
The Christian Life if harder.
Living in obedience and submission to God, while loving others as we love ourselves can be weighty.
We are going to read about how we can be an encouragement to others in the Body of Christ.
In this text Luke is gonna bracket what he is trying to show us with the use of the greek word parakaleo. He will place the word in the first verse and in the final verse like bookends to tell us what this verse is really about.
From this word we get the words encourage and comfort, both of which will be used in todays text.
This is also the word that is used to describe the Holy Spirit as helper or comforter.
It means to come alongside one another.
To cheer one another on.
It’s like to be Jerome running next to David saying, “Go David, Go.”
You got this.
Just a little further.
Sometimes this spurring of one another is what we need.
Sometimes we need to just be with one another.
Sometimes we need to meet each others needs.
That is what it means to be an encourager.
That is what it means to encourage one another.
1 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia.
2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece.
3 There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.
4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus.
5 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas,
6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.
Encouraging One Another
Directly following the fallout in Ephesus, Paul gathers the disciples and encourages them.
Isn’t it interesting that after a massive protest against what Paul was teaching that his primary concern was encouraging others.
He wasn’t worried about his bruised ego.
He wasn’t worried about the potential physical harm he might face.
He wasn’t worried about people gathering and saying false things about him.
He was worried that the saints in Ephesus were going to be more effected by this event than he would be.
He knew that he was going to leave.
He knew that he was about to venture on and continue his mission.
So he looked out and thought… “What Can I Do? How can I bless those who remain?”
He encourages them.
This is a spirit we should all have.
The heart to encourage our fellow believers.
The wisdom to look outside yourself and know that you’re not the only one with problems.
I want you to ask yourself the question: How can I encourage someone this week?
Could it be through a text message, a call, an email, meeting for a cup of coffee?
You could thank someone for a job well done.
You could tell someone that you see how much they work and you appreciate them.
There are a multitude of ways that you can encourage someone, find out who you can bless this week through some encouraging words or deeds.
But on the flip side, ask yourself: Why don’t I encourage people?
I will tell you that the answers is most often selfish.
Usually we don’t encourage one another because we are too busy to stop and say something.
We don’t want to add anything to our plate.
We don’t want to be stretched too thin.
Or we are too self absorbed to notice what is going on.
Paul could have been self-absorbed, but instead he saw the benefit in encouraging others.
I’ll admit that some of us will be better and more natural at encouragement, but that doesn’t excuse any of us from encouraging one another.
In these verses 1-3 we read that Paul leaves Ephesus and goes back to travel to all the places he had previously planted churches before he returns back to Jerusalem.
What is he up to?
Why is he going back and visiting these Churches?
Well the first thing we see is that he is encouraging the churches there.
But he was also gather a collection to bring back to the church in Jerusalem.
What is interesting is that this isn’t mentioned at all in Lukes letter.
But we know from other texts that this is what Paul was doing.
In Fact, Acts 20:1-3 overlap with 2 Cor. 1-7.
Paul is visiting these churches so that he can collect an offering for the church in Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Church has fallen on hard times.
So Paul sees fit to gather an offering from the churches he planted and take it to the church in Jerusalem.
This is a magnificent partnership.
It is a true demonstration that as the Church we are one in Christ.
We should be about helping and encouraging one another.
Sometimes that help looks financial.
This offering was going to help the church in Jerusalem get back on their feet.
Paul even talks about the Macedonians giving out of their poverty to encourage the church.
He calls the Corinthian church cheerful givers 2 cor 9.7
So one way that we can encourage one another is by being generous with the blessings God has given us.
We don’t need to be scrooge-like misers with closed fists, rather we should be open handed and generous especially when we know it will bless/encourage someone else.
Paul also met with people to encourage them.
Sometimes encouragement is that simple.
Go and sit with someone who is homebound, sick, or lonely.
Presence is a great encouragement.
Some people feel so alone that a simple visit will help them see that you care about them.
If you ever want to sit with or visit one of our homebound members, get with Lawrence and Debbie Roome.
They would be more than happy to go visit with you or tell you about those that are longing for fellowship.
Another way we encourage each other is when we serve one another.
You may get tired of hearing me talk about serving one another and serving the church, but the reality is if it was getting done I wouldn’t have to say it as often.
Here’s the truth. You have been placed in this church to serve the church and grow God’s kingdom.
Let me ask you this…Do you ever feel like your relationship with God is stagnant, stale, or faltering?
Sometimes when this happens it is because we aren’t serving God the way that he has created us to serve him.
When we aren’t serving one another we aren’t growing.
When we aren’t serving one another we aren’t encouraging.
It doesn’t have to be majestic.
It doesn’t have to be grand.
It doesn’t have to be in the spotlight.
Simply serving is simply the best.
Another way that we can encourage one another is through prayer.
Let people know that you are praying for them.
And not in the way we do most of the time.
Yeah, I’m praying for you.
But when you say you are praying for someone…actually pray for them.
Actually praying for someone will change your heart toward that person.
It will give you an opportunity to see them as God sees them.
Praying for someone is probably the easiest way to encourage them.
Let’s be honest, it is at times easier to discourage one another than it is to encourage one another.
How do we tend to discourage one another?
Through envy, hatred, and avoidance.
We also can be harsh, unfair, or even assign bad intentions where there were none.
We can also become arrogant, self-focused, and impatient with one another.
I don’t know about you…but for me it is easier to see what someone is doing wrong or where someone is lacking than it is to see the good they are doing.
But if we are overcritical toward one another then there is little room for encouragement.
Yet when we truly see one another as a child of God, it will be easier to encourage them.
The world beats us down enough.
School, work, and relationships are hard enough.
When we get together lets love and lift each other up in encouragement.
Your face, smile, and words should be refreshing to those around you.
The last thing I want you to see before we move to the next section is those that Paul was traveling with
4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus.
These men traveling with Paul were representatives from the congregations that collected the gift for the church in Jerusalem.
We know that on Paul’s Journeys he rarely traveled alone.
And on the few occasions that he was alone he felt disconnected and out of touch.
Here’s what we can learn from this…we need relationships with other believers.
It’s not okay to walk the Christian life alone.
If it were all of us could go and become hermit monks right now.
But God has called us into a relationship with himself and his people.
We need each other.
Our relationships within the church body should be some of the best ones in the world.
We can spur each other on.
We know how to encourage one another when we spend time with one another.
You may be thinking about this whole concept of how to encourage some one, but I will tell you it starts with spending time with them.
Knowing their likes and dislikes.
Knowing them deeply.
I love being a part of small church life.
But it does come with its own levels of difficulty especially when it comes with small town living.
Here is what I observe…
In Small Town Small Churches we tend to know about one another.
We know their family. We knew them when we were growing up.
We know their history.
We know what we have heard about them from others.
So it’s easy to know about one another, the difficult part is to know one another.
The only way we get to know one another is if we spend time with one another.
Not just worshipping on Sundays. Or Dinner on the grounds, but actually wanting to have one another in our lives.
Now I am not saying that worshipping together is not a way to encourage one another.
Quite the opposite.
Worshipping is encouraging.
When we gather together and lay aside our preferences for God’s Glory something amazing happens.
We encounter together the King of the Universe.
We encounter the one who holds us together in unity.
We encounter him together when we worship him together.
7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.
Encouragement in Worship
Luke takes some time to show us what a worship service in the early church would have looked like.
There is a lot of talk about being a first century church.
About getting back to the basics.
What did the first church do?
How did they worship?
How does this worship encourage the saints?
The first thing we see is that they met together on the first day of the week.
Acts (2) Restoration of Eutychus (20:7–12)
This is one of the earliest references to Christians meeting for worship on Sunday, the first day of the week. Christians may have continued to observe the Jewish Sabbath as well, but eventually the Lord’s resurrection day became the sole day of worship for Christians.
The First day of the week.
So when someone asks why do we worship on Sundays.
We worship on Sundays b/c that is the day that the Lord Rose from the dead.
All worship exists b/c Christ rose from the grave.
Every Sunday is a celebration of Resurrection Sunday.
There are a couple of implications here.
First, the sabbath day did not change.
For Jewish people, even Jewish believers the sabbath day is still Sunday.
The Sabbath day is a day of reflection, rest, and gratitude for what God has done and created.
Second, one of the things we need to realize is that a 5 day work week was foreign to the Jewish people.
God commanded them to work 6 days and rest on the seventh.
That meant that the gathering on Sunday happened after people got off work.
After the Labor was done.
They didn’t let being tired, worn out, or exhausted get in the way of their gathering.
Why did they gather after a long hard day at work?
Because they knew that worship was more important than their exhaustion.
They knew that gathering together for worship was refreshing.
They knew that gathering together for worship was of the utmost importance.
They didn’t look for a reason to not meet.
It’s important that we get together and worship God.
We celebrate his resurrection.
We celebrate the fact that he has saved us.
We celebrate the fact that we are no longer God’s enemies, but his children.
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.
We come together to worship so that we can Exalt Jesus and encourage one another.
I don’t think its any coincidence that Worship was moved to the first day of the week.
Aside from it being the recognized time that Jesus rose from the dead, what better way to start off a week than in worship?
Kanye West said it this way “They say the Week Start on Monday, but the Strong start on Sunday”
We begin our week with worship.
We begin our week focused on who is truly important.
We begin our week knowing that God still sits on his throne.
We begin our week gathered with like minded brothers and sisters.
We begin our week as a time of encouragement.
Sunday Morning Worship isn’t something we have to do, its something we are privilege to do.
We live in a day, time, and place where we don’t have to worry about someone busting down the door to arrest us for worshipping God.
We live in a place where we can freely sing, read our bibles, and worship our God.
Yet many of us think of this as an inconvenience or something we have to do to mark off our Christian check list.
There is no greater time in the life of a Jesus follower than when we are able to worship God together.
Nothing should get in our way of Worship.
Nothing should hinder our joy in being together.
Worship takes the focus off of me and places it on God.
When we take the focus off self and focus on God, what he is doing, where he is moving, and how he sustains us it encourages our soul.
Can I tell you something else?
I don’t want this to sound mystical or magical, but there is something more to worship than what meets the eye.
There is more than meets the eye when we join in worship.
This isn’t just a physical gathers of physical people.
We engage in Spiritual Worship.
Where our hearts and souls commune with God and the saints that have gone before.
There is a great cloud of witnesses Heb 12:1 worshipping God as we worship God.
This isn’t simply a gathering of people at FBC Louise.
But when we worship together we join the angels, creation, those that worship now, and those that have gone before.
In Tandem and with one voice we cry out HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the Lord God Almighty.
This is a taste of whats to come when we all get to heaven.
One of the ways we express our Worship of God is through the Lord’s Supper.
In Acts 20:7 they call it the breaking of Bread.
The reality is that Scripture never gives us a prescription for how often we should participate in the Lord’s Supper.
Unfortunately, many baptist churches take it to the extremes and only celebrate the LS every quarter, twice a year, or some only once a year.
I believe this is a way that some churches want to distinguish themselves from the Roman Catholic Tradition.
There are many objections to doing the LS more often. Here are a few:
it will lessen the meaning.
People will get tired of it.
its too much work.
Takes too long.
I don’t think that any of these are good arguments against the frequency of the LS
Most scholars believe that the early church took the LS every Sunday that they met.
They believe that the LS was a central part of the worship time.
What is the Purpose of the LS?
Proclamation
Remembrance
Hope
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
The Lord’s Supper is where we can see the Gospel on display.
Through preaching we hear the gospel
Through Witnessing we proclaim the gospel.
Through reading and studying the bible we read the gospel.
Through the Lord’s Supper we See the Gospel.
The Body and Blood of Jesus poured out for my sins.
Reconciling me and you to God through his sacrifice.
So we are encouraged in worship through gathering together to celebrate Jesus resurrection, through partaking of the Lord’s Supper, and also through the preaching of God’s Word.
“Paul Talked with Them”
Paul was talking with them about the Word of God.
This is interesting phrasing b/c though there was certainly preaching going on, this also means that there was a back and forth.
Paul was literally dialoguing with those present.
he wasn’t just preaching a sermon, but he was fielding and answering questions.
This is an important part of Christian Worship.
In fact, if you have spent anytime at all with me this is a passion of mine.
I love asking and answering questions.
I love preaching, but I love dialogue more.
But all of us have to know and acknowledge that our source of encouragement comes from the Word of God.
The bible shows us God’s power, direction, and guidance throughout all of human history.
The bible shows us that God’s word never failed.
The bible shows us that no matter how discouraged, overwhelmed, or what kind of storm we are facing that God will never leave us or forsake us.
But the only way we can know and hope in these promises is if we know what God has said.
We should be excited about hearing the Word of God Preached.
We should be excited about studying the Word of God.
We should be excited to talk about the Word of God.
Now, I don’t think they would have sat there and just listened to Paul preach for 12 hours or so.
I know that he was gifted and smart, but even he had limits.
Conversations can go deeper and be more meaningful than sermons.
That’s why we provide those opportunities for you to ask questions with SS and GG.
Luke then highlights an incident that displays God’s Power and care for his People
8 There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered.
9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead.
10 But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.”
11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed.
12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.
Encouraged by God’s Power
Luke lets us in on something that happened that night while Paul was with them.
Luke tells us that the room where they were meeting was filled with lamps.
These were oil lamps that made the air thick with smoke.
So You-ti-kus went and sat at a window.
Luke tells us that Eutychus was a young man, somewhere between the age of 8-14.
His name means Fortunate...
He wanted some fresh air.
He had spent all day working in the fields, but he came to hear Paul speak.
He knew that this was a once in a life time event, b/c Paul was going to leave the next day.
But “as Paul talked still longer” Eutychus was getting sleepy.
And Eventually he was overcome with sleep and fell out of the 3rd story window to his death.
We can trust that he was dead, because of Luke account.
Luke was a Doctor. Luke knew when someone was dead.
Eutychus was passed out or unconscious.
He was dead.
But God wasn’t done with Eutychus.
God wanted to demonstrate his power over death for this group of people to see.
He wanted to Encourage them through the miracle he was about to perform.
So Paul, rushes downstairs, wraps his arms around the child, and the Lord revives him.
This shows us that God has already conquered our greatest enemy, death.
Our God raises the dead.
He encourages us that one day we will be resurrected with him.
That is our greatest encouragement.
That God is the God of Life.
He may not raise the dead physically much anymore, but every time a person cries out to him in repentance, they are raised to life.
We are dead in our trespasses and sin. But Christ makes us Alive in him.
This should be our greatest encouragement.
God saves sinners.
God gives us to one another.
God calls us to worship him.
God calls us to praise him.
Why?
Because he is worthy of praise.
He is worthy of worship.
He is worthy b/c he has taken what is dead and made us alive.
Our Life in Christ is why we worship.
The resurrection of Christ is the reason we worship.
God has shown us that his perfect love casts out fear.
His perfect love holds us close.
His perfect love takes us from children of wrath to Children of God.
Be encouraged brothers and sisters.
Christ is king. He reigns for evermore.
He sees you. He loves you.
Be an encouragement to one another.
We all need to be like Jerome Avery.
We need to run along side one another and shout “You got this b/c God got you”
If you don’t know this Jesus we proclaim.
If you have never turned away from your sin and called out to Jesus.
He is offering himself to you right now.
You are broken, rebellious, and sinful.
You are separated from God.
You can never be good enough to please God.
But God is rich in mercy and grace.
God has provided a way for you to be welcomed into his family.
He did that through the sacrifice of Jesus.
Jesus is the bridge that can provide for you eternal life.
He is calling out to you. Will you answer him?