So this morning we're continuing on our One Another series,
looking at God's invitation to community and what it means to
be a people marked by love. So the scripture today is First
Thessalonians 5/8 through 11. But since we belong to the day,
let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate
and hope of salvation as a helmet.
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive
salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
He died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may
live together with him. Therefore, encourage one another
and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
This is the word of the Lord. All right.
Mike is taller than me, but he very kindly put this back into
place. How are you guys doing?
Good morning. See if you can get this to
capture my voice. So if we haven't met, my name is
Mandy, I'm on staff here at Reality Church Boston, and today
I will be continuing our sermon series on the one another verses
in the New Testament. So that phrase one another,
appears dozens of times, especially in Paul's letters,
and it serves as a reminder that the Christian life is not meant
to be lived in isolation. All of the things that were
called to all the virtues that are part of following Jesus,
like love, service, hospitality, patience, humility.
These all require engaging in community, actually.
Is that what have I told Josh earlier, I think I'm just going
to hold this. Is that crazy?
Yeah, OK. I was very supportive.
You guys are great encouragers. So this is already going to go
really well because the topic that I'm teaching on today is
encouragement. But just thinking about the one
and others of Scripture, I find it fascinating that when Jesus
departed this world, what he chose to represent him and to
carry on his mission in this world was not one person or one
practice, but a community. Now, some of us might prefer it
if our spiritual lives were more like a marathon, like the path
of transformation might be long and grueling, but you just have
to run it alone, and all you have to do is just make it to
the end. That doesn't appear to be God's
plan. Christianity is not a solo act,
and God appears to intend for a community to be a major part of
what changes us. God calls his church to be a
testimony. To who he is to the world.
And Jesus's first disciples were this kind of ragtag group of
misfits who didn't have much in common except for their
conviction that Jesus was the savior of the world.
But through his Holy Spirit, he transformed this community into
a community that radiated such compassion and generosity and
reconciliation and joy that everyone around them stopped to
take notice. And so that is the kind of
community. That we are called to become as
Christians. So as we explore these one
anothers of Scripture, our goal is to cultivate a more vivid
picture of Jesus's idea of church, the wild and messy and
beautiful community that he had in mind.
And as we live in Jesus ways, we'll discover how his version
of community fosters transformation and makes the
love of Jesus more tangible to others.
As I said today, the theme that I am teaching on is the call to
encourage one another. So I'm just going to stand here
and encourage you all for the next night, 25 minutes nonstop.
I am so proud of you today just for getting out of bed.
You are all winners in my book. Your hair looks great today.
There's more of that came from, so just you wait in all
seriousness. I was actually thinking about
this this morning as I was preparing for this sermon.
I wrestled a lot with the worry that encouragement could come
off as kind of a fluffy topic. Like basically we were just
going to read through a series of motivational posters.
You know the ones there would be like a picture of an eagle
flying and it just says like dare to soar.
Or I this is this is the one that I've seen more often
probably than any other. It's like this poor little Kitty
that's like hanging on to a rope by his like little tiny claws
and it says perseverance and I'm like, okay, that's a nice
sentiment. But like someone needs to rescue
that poor cat. Like is he okay?
Why is he still hanging there? So today our goal is to try to
move beyond the platitudes and the kind of surface level pep
talks and instead to try to uncover the reason.
The Scripture has so much to say about encouragement because it
has a lot to say about encouragement.
In fact, in the New Testament, encouragement is basically
presented as this foundational practice for Christian community
that we would be mutually encouraged by 1 another's faith,
that we would strengthen each other's souls.
That's from Acts chapter 14. I love that phrasing.
Strength One another's souls. Strengthen 1 another's souls and
that we would charge each other to walk in a manner that is
worthy of God. So before we really dive into
our text and the Word today, let me just take a moment to pray
for these things for us and to ask Jesus to meet us through His
Word. Let me pray for us, Lord God, we
thank you so much that you are a God who sees everything and who
knows everything, Lord. And so we know that when you
speak a word of encouragement to us, God.
That it is completely grounded in reality.
It is completely grounded in truth.
It is a word that can we can rely upon.
And Jesus, I just want to ask right now that you would speak a
word of encouragement to each of us, to the unique obstacles that
we're facing, to the burdens that are on our hearts, to the
challenges, to the confusion, to anything that we're carrying in
today that feels messy or muddled or tangled.
Lord, we ask that you would speak truth to us and to help us
to hold fast to who you are. And what you are calling us to
do and how you were calling us to engage in this world, Lord.
And we also want to ask that you would make these words from from
throughout your Scriptures. That you would make these things
true of us. That we would be a Church that
is mutually encouraged by 1 another's faith.
That we would be a Church who strengthens 1 another's souls,
And that we would charge each other to walk in a manner worthy
of you. Or would you be present to us
this morning and help us to really had just received from
you the word that you want to speak?
To pray all those things in Jesus name.
Amen. Amen.
So as Mike read earlier, our main scripture for today is from
the book or actually the letter of First Thessalonians.
And so to appreciate what this letter has to say about
encouragement, we could use a little context on why it was
written. So the author is the Apostle
Paul, who was an early follower of Jesus.
He was a missionary, a church planter, A preacher, and the
writer of much of the New Testament and the recipients of
this letter. For the Christian Church in
Thessalonica, which is the capital city of this Roman
province of Macedonia. So we actually get the full
story of Paul's journey to Thessalonica and act seven
teens. We know a lot about what was
going on there. We learned that Paul and his
crew of fellow missionaries are traveling throughout the city.
They're sharing the good news about Jesus, how he was the son
of God and yet he suffered for us and died for our sins.
And he was raised to life to bring us the gift of new life.
So both Jews and Greeks are hearing this news and both are
believing in Jesus and deciding to follow him.
But it doesn't take long for Paul and company to also make
enemies. So some of the Jewish leaders
are so jealous that they stir up a violent mob and they accuse
the Christians of proclaiming a king other than Caesar, meaning
Jesus, which makes these Christians dangerous in the eyes
of the Roman government. And so, so much conflict arises
that Paul and the others are actually forced to flee the city
and to leave the brand new Thessalonian church behind.
Now, this is hardly anyone's ideal church planting technique.
In case you're wondering, we have this newly formed community
made-up of people from different cultural and political and
religious backgrounds, and they have very recently renounced the
idols they used to worship and put their faith in Jesus.
And now, immediately, they're facing persecution.
And then soon after that, their leaders are kicked out of the
city. So Paul is understandably
worried. Will this church be okay?
Will they hold fast to their faith?
Or will they cave and compromise under pressure from the Roman
government? So since Paul is basically
persona non grata in the city, he decides to send Timothy back
to check on the Thessalonians, and Timothy comes back with a
glowing report. Not only is the church
surviving, they are thriving. They are enduring persecution
bravely, even though members of their community were likely
martyred. They've become known throughout
the entire region as a church that is marked by joy in the
face of affliction and evident love for one another.
And in response to this wonderful news, Paul sits down
to write them a letter. So we can already kind of
anticipate based on this context why for Thessalonians would be a
letter of encouragement. Because Paul is super encouraged
by the faith of the Thessalonians and he wants to
encourage them to continue on in their faith.
But Paul also takes this opportunity to address some of
the concerns that were causing the Church anxiety.
So first of all, the Thesalonians understanding of
the afterlife was a little fuzzy, and with all the
persecution that was happening, they were thinking a lot about
these types of questions like. What does it mean when Jesus
says that he's going to return to the earth and glory?
And when is that going to happen?
What happens to those who have already died, even died for
their faith? And how can those who remain
know that they're living faithfully and that they'll be
welcomed into Jesus's Kingdom? So the Thessalonian church is
marked by joy, faith and love. That's already a reputation that
they have, but they're also struggling with confusion and
uncertainty, so they're in need of reassurance that they're
suffering. Is not in vain.
So Paul's letter meets this church in the midst of the
complications of real life. And so his goal throughout this
entire letter is to fortify, to kind of build up or to increase
the Thessalonians faith. And Paul does that by calling
them to reanchor themselves in what's true and to remind one
another of what's true. And so this is at the heart of
the call to encourage one another encouragement.
Has the ability to reshape the story that we're telling
ourselves about our lives, about our future, and about God
himself. So encouragement.
The Greek word used here is para kaleo, and that can basically
mean to come alongside alongside someone, or to address them with
words of exhortation or comfort or instruction.
So there's this element of soothing and consoling, but
there's also an element of building someone up and calling
them forward. So even if we look at the
English word. To encourage someone literally
means to put courage into them, to kind of infuse courage into
them. And this is so important because
the Christian life, if you're going all in, if you're going to
commit to wholeheartedly following Jesus, it requires
courage. Jesus is going to ask you to do
things that you're not sure you're capable of, to give to
others as if their needs or your needs.
To serve and to welcome those who can't offer you anything in
return. To forgive that person.
To cross those uncrossable social, racial, and
socioeconomic barriers. To resist temptation, to believe
in supernatural evidence of God's presence and grace, and to
live as if sin and death don't get the final word.
Jesus calls us to drop our comfortable, self, indulgent,
often self-serving ways, and to follow him.
And he calls us to pursue a transformed life, not just for
our own sake, but for the sake of others.
And that requires courage. So what we learned here in First
Thessalonians and in many of Paul's letters is that Christian
community needs to be a place where our courage is renewed,
Where the words that we speak to one another reanchor us in
truth, where we are built up and propelled forward to keep
walking in faith So we can see Paul actually modeling this type
of encouragement here in Chapter 5.
And the text kind of gives us a sense, based on what he's
saying, of the types of questions that the Thessalonians
were probably asking. So, for instance, how can we
persevere in the face of such opposition?
Well, Paul says to put on faith and love as our armor.
Because walking in the ways of Jesus will strengthen you.
The more that you follow him, the more you will experience his
goodness, and the more your trust will grow and your fear
will fade. How can we know what is waiting
for us after death? But Paul says, remember that
Jesus has offered you eternal life as a free gift.
Your hope of salvation is like a helmet that reminds you that no
lasting harm can befall you. So rest in the truth that you
are safe in Christ. How can we as a church, live in
a way that reflects our faith? Encourage one another.
Rehearse what is good and true again and again as a community.
Speak to each other in a way that builds up your faith, that
revives your hope, your words. Have the power to speak life to
others, so use them to strengthen one another.
So these words that Paul is saying in this chapter, they're
such beautiful life giving words.
And I just love the idea that's being put forward here of this
community that proactively seeks to fill one another with courage
and with hope. So it's so different from the
world around us and how we often deal with the messiness and the
complications of life. So in this world we are
constantly faced very real reasons for discouragement.
For feeling overwhelmed by the problems of the world, or
feeling weighed down by repeated disappointment.
And I've noticed that modern American culture often defaults
to one of two approaches. These are the two that stood out
to me as I was thinking about this.
So what kind of treat them like 2 archetypes.
Like two kind of like characters that represent a way of being in
the world, So let's call them, for the sake of this
conversation. The cynic and the optimist.
So the cynic is able to look at harsh realities in the face.
But that's all they can see. So the cynic sees the brokenness
in this world, but they think, how can things possibly get
better? I've heard someone referred to
cynicism as disillusioned idealism, which I think is an
interesting take. So really, cynicism is a defense
mechanism. If you expect the future to be
bleak and for people to be horrible, perhaps you can shield
yourself from disappointment and pain.
But you've also shielded yourself from hope.
Because hope requires openness, vulnerability, Hope takes
courage. So the second archetype is the
optimist. In this case, I am defining
optimist in a very specific way, not trying to be down and all
kinds of positivity. But I'm talking about an almost
kind of aggressive optimism that deals with the hardships of life
by trying to paint over them with bright, rosy colors.
So when I lived in Southern California, I noticed this much
more this kind of pervasive cultural tendency to refuse to
talk about anything negative, almost as if avoiding the topic
could make the actual negative situation just disappear.
There's this scene in the TV show Ted Lasso, and they've made
it into a meme, so I feel OK referencing it, but I am sorry
if you haven't seen it yet. But the main character?
Ted. Is having a conversation with a
therapist, and she's inviting him to open up and to face his
difficult emotions. So she puts a box of tissues in
front of him and he immediately takes it and just hurls it
across the room into a trash can.
So that's basically the kind of attitude that I'm referencing
here, like hardships, heavy emotions, harsh realities, just,
you know, no thank you. But those two perspectives, and
in particular, blind optimism, doesn't work.
We may think we've created a sunny, sadness free world for
ourselves, but we've actually created is an inner volcano, a
lifetime of pressure from stuffing or pain down until we
finally can't take it anymore and all the feelings just
erupts. But I think that the Bible
invites us to a third way that actually combines the strengths
of the cynic and the optimist, because we need the Cynics
willingness to face reality as it is.
And we need the optimists kind of readiness to believe that the
future can be brighter than what we see right now today.
So as I was reflecting on this, there was a particular Bible
verse that came to mind that I think this is a kind of concrete
example of how Jesus engages hard realities and Active hope
at the same time. And so the verse is John 1633.
I'll read it to you, but this verse is actually personally
significant to me. It gave me.
A lot of encouragement in my early days as a Christian when
becoming a follower of Jesus had caused tension in my
relationships, especially with my friends and my family, and at
times definitely made me feel really alone.
So in this passage in the chapter, the chapter and John,
Jesus knows that he's going to be arrested and he predicts that
his disciples will scatter and leave him alone, but he will not
truly be alone because the Father will still be with him.
And so Jesus says that he's telling his disciples all these
things, so that in him. They will have peace.
And then he says this. In this world you will have
trouble. But take heart.
I have overcome the world. So this is a simple but a
powerful statement. And there are three things that
Jesus does here that I want us to notice.
The first he acknowledges reality, second he pivots
towards hope, and 3rd he anchors us in a greater truth.
So Jesus first acknowledges reality.
So the approach of blind optimism that will ultimately
come up short because we can't effectively deal with pain by
just dressing it up with bright, shiny Lisa Frank stickers and
hoping for the best encouragement is shallow.
If it attempts to erase what is true.
And it is true, as Jesus says, that in this world you will have
trouble. And what I appreciate is that as
we walk with Jesus and as we learn from his teachings, we'll
notice that he never asks us to pretend.
He never tells us to act like things are not what they are.
Instead, he gives us real reasons for courage and a solid
foundation for hope. So this is the second thing that
happens. Jesus pivots towards hope.
He doesn't dismiss the difficulties, but he then shifts
our attention with these anchoring words.
But take heart. It is a call to courage.
It's a challenge to cynicism and despair.
He's basically saying in this world you will have trouble.
That's true. But that's not the end of the
story. There is more to come.
There is a reason for hope. There's a way to move forward
with courage. So Jesus ends this exhortation
by saying, I have overcome the world.
What a crazy thing to say. I have overcome the world and
only Jesus can say that. In other words, this world that
is full of trouble doesn't get the final say.
The pain you experience, the obstacles you face, the new
reasons for anxiety that just seem to pop up every day, Jesus
has overcome them all. Jesus has done battle against
fear, discouragement, despair, and hopelessness, and He has won
through his perfect life, His sacrificial death, His glorious
resurrection. He overcame sin and death, He
broke their power and he is even now assuring our world towards
healing. He is making every broken thing
new, and that includes you and me.
So our hope is in the fact that even though we will have trouble
in this world, even though that is true, there is another, more
ultimate truth. There is a truth that reigns
supreme above our temporary troubles, so that as followers
of Jesus, our troubles don't get to define our lives.
Through Jesus, we find reason for courage as we follow Him as
He teaches us to see things through His perspective.
We will experience the renewal that he is bringing about more
and more. So take heart.
Jesus has already overcome. And so this is the third way of
seeking true encouragement, to face life with courageous hope.
And it's worth noting that a powerful encouragement does not
necessarily have to be long and intricate.
It can be straightforward and simple.
And I remember a while ago, I was having a conversation with a
friend who's a great encourager. And as I had shared with her
about this recurring theme in my life, basically feeling like God
was inviting me to live with more courage.
And there have been many situations where I felt like the
Holy Spirit has prompted me to kind of pause, look at my
situation and to notice what path my fear is telling me to
take versus what path my faith may be telling me to take.
And so at these crossroads, I'm basically facing this call to
ignore the voice of fear and to choose to be brave, to make
decisions based on my values, based on how Jesus instructs me
to see the world, and to trust that as I walk in faith, even if
my legs feel shaky, God walks with me.
So I was with my friend, and I was telling her about one of
these crossroad moments, and I was facing a decision, and I
wanted to choose the brave thing, but I was also afraid of
the consequences, because I knew that the brave choice was also
the harder choice, as it often is.
And I had, you know, the small inner voice exhorting me to be
brave. But I also had this louder
internal voice that was like, or you could give up and just hide
under your bed covers, eat some Ben and Jerry's, and maybe your
problems will go away with time. So that was clearly not the
voice of wisdom, and I knew that.
But I just needed a friend to speak out loud against the voice
of fear, to just affirm the hard decision and to give me the
strength I needed to move forward.
And so that's exactly what she did.
And later on, I was texting her kind of like updates and new
prayer, prayer requests, and she sent me a text that just said
this. You are so brave and so loved.
And it was such a simple statement, but I still think
about those words all the time because that was exactly what I
needed to hear. You are so brave.
You are so loved when we are battling against discouragement,
when we have so many thoughts swirling around in our brains
that it's hard to know what to listen to.
Sometimes we just need someone to speak clear and simple truths
over us, just to quiet all the noise.
We need someone to remind us of what's true, because often the
truth that we need to find strength and comfort and peace
is right in front of us and we've just forgotten it.
So maybe we need to be reminded of the times that we've already
been brave. And I don't know your story, but
I know that in this world, each one of us faces troubles, loss,
betrayal, injustice, neglect, very real reasons for anxiety.
And yet we're here against all odds.
We have chosen to follow Jesus. We have chosen to gather here in
the hope that he will meet us and remind us that he is near.
We have chosen to keep living by faith, to let go of our old
ways, and to embrace the new life that Jesus offers us.
And we don't have to worry about tomorrow because God is able to
supply new courage for whatever you may face.
So remember how Jesus has met you when you needed fresh
strength. Remember that he is already
overcome. You can choose hope, you can be,
and you are brave and you are loved.
Maybe that's the reminder that you need today, that Jesus does
not give or withhold love from us based on what we do or what
we bring to the table. He responds to us based on who
He is, and he is love Incarnate. He has given his life for us,
and God's Word says that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
rulers, nor things present or things to come, nor height, nor
depth, nor anything else in all of creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
You are so, so loved. So that day those words were for
me, but today they're also for you.
And that's the beauty of encouragement.
We are simply sharing the same truths with one another over and
over until what's true about God and what's true about us starts
to recolor our vision in these kind of ultimate reigning
truths, become a part of how we automatically, intrinsically see
things. So how can we grow in our
ability to act as encouragers? Well, first, I I think that just
naming this as a value is an important step.
Realizing that words do have power, they can tear us down,
but they also have the power to build us up and to give us life.
And this is especially true when we ask God to guide our words.
So throughout the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is often
referred to as paracletas, which comes from the same root word as
the word we talked about earlier, paracleo, which means
to encourage. So the Holy Spirit is an
encourager, A comforter, an intercessor, And he empowers us
to do the same work and to fill God's people with courage and
hope. And we can learn to listen for
His leading and how to strengthen and how to comfort
others. And we can look to Scripture,
which is just overflowing with words of encouragement that we
can take to heart. And let's shape the way that we
think and the way that we speak. So this week, as I was
reflecting, I was looking back at times on my life where I
received encouragement just when I needed it, at times when God
maybe delivered a timely word or the comforting presence of a
friend. And it just revived my hope,
revived my courage. And I was kind of just starting
to look for patterns, like what kinds of reminders helped to
shift my perspective when I was at a low point?
So I noticed three things, and I feel like I'm always picking 3.
It's not intentional, I promise. Like, I just can't help it.
Maybe it's a holy number. I don't know.
But there are three core truth that stood out to me from those
moments of encouragement. And so the three things are
this. First, that God is with me, God
is with me. Second, that God is in control.
And 3rd that God is good. So these are three very simple
but essential truths. God is with us.
God is with you. God chose to send His Holy
Spirit to dwell within us, to never be apart from us.
There's so many dark and heavy moments in my memory where the
one thing that made the biggest difference was just experiencing
God's presence anew. Just being reminded that he is
with me. And I'm constantly surprised by
what I can survive and what Jesus followers in general can't
survive, just by knowing that God is with us, that he walks
the the long, hard roads alongside us.
So when everything is just, like swirling like a storm around
you, God is your anchor, your safety, your security.
God is with you, and God is in control.
God's sovereignty, his his supreme power and authority, is
something that I return to all the time, especially when I feel
helpless in the face of circumstances that I can't
change And in times when my vision has kind of been clouded
by fear or pain. There's this one phrase that
often comes to mind for me, and it's that God is not done
working yet, because sometimes we make assessments of our
situation based only on what we can see here and now, But God is
able to move and shift things in ways that we cannot see and that
don't make sense to us. So anytime we think we've
arrived at the end of the road, that there's no hope or no way
forward, we need to remember that God has all the time and
resources in the universe at his disposal, and he's not done
working yet. God is in control and God is
good. God is in favor of our
flourishing, and that can be so hard to remember when we are
still waiting to see how he can possibly bring good out of a
hard situation. I remember there was a time when
I was really struggling with disappointment, to the point
where I was having trouble even praying.
I knew that I needed to. I knew that I needed to sit down
and talk to God and just bring to him all the things that were
on my heart. But I just felt so much internal
resistance. That was difficult for a while.
Finally, I ended up just sitting down and just telling God what's
on my mind, which is that it just didn't feel like he cared
about me or about what I wanted. And in response, this reply came
so clearly. It's so interesting.
I don't know if this has happened to you, this like,
moment where you're like, there's this, like, sudden burst
of, like, very clear wisdom and you're like, that's not from me.
I don't know who it's from. Maybe it's from the Holy Spirit.
But basically, the reply was this, I know it feels to you
right now like I'm the like I'm the antagonist in this story,
but I'm not. I'm with you and I'm for you,
and that never changes. And the realization that I had
at that moment was that I was seeing things upside down.
I had translated, not getting what I wanted to, meaning that
God didn't care. Instead of believing that God
heard my prayers and was answering them according to His
wisdom and His patience, which far exceeds mine.
So with time we often begin to see that God's ways were better
than our ways, and that He truly does work all things together
for good for those who love Him. Because God is good, God is with
you, God is in control. God is good.
So to end our time today in the Word, I want to invite you all
to join me in an exercise. It's very brief.
And then we'll transition after that to a time of worship
through song and through prayer, as usual.
But right now, I'm going to ask you to just engage your
imagination for a moment. So if it's helpful for you, you
can close your eyes to eliminate distraction, whatever you think
would be useful. So we're just going to take a
moment and bring to mind a situation in your life where you
need encouragement. Whatever is coming to mind
first. A situation in life where you
need encouragement. Maybe it's a difficult situation
at work. Maybe it's that you're out of
work, you're looking for a job you have been for some time.
Maybe it's a challenging relationship or a heavyweight in
the life of someone you love that you can't lift for them.
Maybe it's an unfulfilled desire.
Maybe it's a recurring experience of anxiety or shame
in your life. So whatever is coming to mind
right now, imagine it as if it's literally a wall in front of
you, a literal obstacle in your path.
Now I'm going to speak the same words that we've been talking
about and just imagine speaking these words to that obstacle to
that wall and just watching it crumble away word by word,
moment by moment, truth by truth.
God is with me. God is with me, he tells us.
His very name is Emmanuel. God with us.
Even when I can't see him, even when I can't understand how he
is working, God is here. God is in control.
God has not ignored my struggles.
God has heard my prayers and he is not done working yet.
God has not reached the end of his plans or his resources, and
I have yet to see how faithful he can be.
God is in control and God is good.
God is my help and my encouragement when I'm in need.
He is a God of redemption and he can and will work all things for
good. He is for me and not against me.
God is good. Amen.
Let me pray for us now.