The Power and Practice of Encouragement – Part 2

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

~Marin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), Baptist minister and civil rights activist

“Don’t dig up in doubt what you planted in faith.”

“Leave it all in the Hands that were wounded for you.”

~Elisabeth Elliot (1926-2015), missionary, author, and speaker

“Correction does much, but encouragement does more.”

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), poet, playwright, and novelist

“…a Christian lives not in himself, but in Christ and in his neighbor. Otherwise, he is not a Christian. He lives in Christ through faith, in his neighbor through love. By faith he is caught up beyond himself into God. By love he descends beneath himself into his neighbor. Yet he always remains in God and in his love, as Christ says in John 1[:51], ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.’”

~Martin Luther (1483-1546), German reformer

“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), American philosopher and essayist

“…the Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him. He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged, for by himself he cannot help himself without belying the truth. He needs his brother man as a bearer and proclaimer of the divine word of salvation. He needs his brother solely because of Jesus Christ. The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother; his own heart is uncertain, his brother’s is sure.”

~Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), German pastor-theologian executed for his opposition to the Nazis

SERMON PASSAGE

Hebrews 10:19-25 (ESV)

Hebrews 10

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 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.

John 15

26 But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.