BUILD UP One Another

We've been here at St. Paul's, the Barnett family.

We've been here for three months.

And one of the things that was not written into my contract,

but strongly suggested, was to take part in a thing called park runs.

Has anybody heard of park runs?

Yes, some people.

What park runs are they?

They happen at 7 a.m. on a Saturday morning.

And lately it's been quite cold at 7 a.m. on a Saturday morning.

And it's a 5K run.

And there's actually a number of people from church that do it.

And you could do it too, if you like.

And so I was heavily encouraged by the team to join.

And look, it's nice to get out and run first thing in the morning.

It's pretty cold and exhausting.

But it's all about the last 200 meters.

Not just because they are the last 200 meters,

but also what happens on this run is you kind of,

you crest a hill and you come down these last 200 meters

and there is the finish line.

And there are all these people standing there shouting encouragement.

You can do it.

Come on.

Don't stop now.

Why are you lying down?

Get over that line.

It spurs you on.

It helps you put on a boost of speed to get over the line.

It is great to be encouraged.

And it's great to encourage.

It is great to build up.

And it is great to be built up.

Because our words are powerful.

They can spur people on.

They can encourage.

They can build up.

But our words can also tear down.

Our words can cripple.

You are a hopeless runner.

Don't even bother finishing.

We're going home.

You can walk home.

I wonder which of these two is the more natural way of speaking for you.

Is it encouraging or is it tearing down?

Is it speaking in passive, aggressive ways that damage?

Pointing out people's faults and niggling at one another.

When we come to the Christian faith, it is often described as a race.

It's not quite the same as a 5K park run at 7am on a Saturday morning.

But the whole life.

The race following Jesus is not over in 30 minutes.

It's 30 years, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 years.

And in that time, we may fall down.

We may stumble.

And we are going to need to be picked up many times in our lives

if we are to make it to the end.

That last day when we either meet Jesus when he returns

or we die and we meet Jesus.

And the challenge for us today is to think about

how we use our words as we run this race.

It is easy to tear down, to cripple,

and to cause people to stumble with our words,

not even thinking about what we say.

It is much more difficult,

but so important to be shouting encouragement to one another

as we head toward Jesus.

And so let me pray as we have a look at God's word

as he speaks to us today.

Let me pray.

Dear Heavenly Father,

we ask that you would help us to consider our words,

help us as we consider how we encourage and build up one another.

Lord, we know that you love us so much.

Help us to love each other with our words as well.

And we ask this in your Son's name and for your glory.

Amen.

And so we're going to be considering why we should encourage people,

and then there'll be some helpful tips to encourage people.

And so firstly, encouraging one another is what Christians are supposed to do.

Hebrews chapter 10, which was read for us,

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

is this great passage of the Bible,

which explains what the sacrifice of Jesus has done

and how it brings forgiveness.

And so the author gets to the implication in verse 19.

And it starts with therefore,

because Jesus has sacrificed himself.

His sacrifice is once for all.

We don't need to continually make sacrifices.

Therefore, we are to do these things.

And the author of Hebrews has the phrase,

let us,

and he has the phrase since.

So have a look from verse 22 with me.

If you've got your Bibles open,

if not, please open them.

And if you need a Bible.

So since we have confidence to enter the most holy place,

two,

let us draw near to God.

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart

and with the full assurance that faith brings,

having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience

and having our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess

for he who promised is faithful.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on

toward love and good deeds.

Not giving up meeting together,

as some are in the habit of doing,

but encouraging one another.

And all the more as you see the day approaching.

There are three commands,

three lettuces,

if you like to eat lettuce.

There's three let us.

First of all,

let us draw near to God.

Let us hold to the hope we have in Christ

and let us encourage one another

and spur on and build up.

Now, I'm sure that if you've been in church

for any length of time,

you've heard of those first two.

Drawn near to God.

Run away from your sin that so easily entangles.

God has done so much for you.

Don't chase after other things

and hold to the hope we have in Christ.

Don't hope that other things will bring you joy.

These are very common themes in the Bible.

And they're things we talk about here

at St. Paul's regularly.

But it's the third command that we're going to focus on.

The author of the Hebrew adds

that we should be encouraging one another,

that we should be spurring one another

to love and good deeds.

It's right up there in importance

with drawing near to God

and holding to the hope in Jesus

to encourage one another

and to draw near and hold hope.

And we see the same theme

running through 1 Thessalonians

that Adrian read from chapter 5.

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.

Encourage.

Build up one another.

This is what a Christian does

because Jesus has died for us.

Just like obedience

and sharing the gospel

are the right response

to God's love and grace,

so is encouraging one another.

Now, you may not know this

about Steve Jeffery,

but he is actually

a pretty good runner.

You might not know.

He's been away.

He's probably been running a bit.

I don't know if he's beaten his PB.

Maybe we can ask him later.

He has.

Congratulations, brother.

But not only is he a good runner,

he knows how to run.

And so on my first park run,

on my first time running the park run,

Steve was running next to me.

And it was encouraging

and also quite annoying

because I had to stay with him.

He's like,

come on, keep running.

Don't stop.

I was like,

oh, I just want to lie down a bit.

And I'm not sure if you run,

but I always run faster

when I'm running with someone else.

As we run the Christian race,

as we are heading to Jesus,

how great is it

that we can run alongside one another?

It does not need to be a lonely run,

but it's a partnership.

And look, let me plug community groups again.

These are a great place

to run the race together.

having people in your corner,

standing on the sidelines

or next to you as you run,

encouraging you

when following Jesus is hard.

It's hard to be a Christian.

You encourage them

when they stumble

and your brother or sister

fall into sin

and they do something stupid

and you pull them out.

They can challenge you

when sin takes over.

They love you in despair,

laugh with you

when you are laughing

and cry with you

when you are crying.

Christians are saved

and united with one another

to encourage one another

and to build up each other

as we run this race.

And so that is the first reason

why we run.

We run because

that's the first reason

we encourage one another

and that is because

it's what Christians do.

The second reason

is because the end is near.

So these two passages,

Hebrews 10, 1 Thessalonians 5,

they give us another reason

to encourage one another.

Hebrews 10,

let us spur on one another

to love and good deeds

and encourage one another

all the more

as you see the day approaching.

That day is that day

when Jesus returns.

1 Thessalonians 5,

because the day of the Lord

is coming,

we should therefore

encourage one another

and build each other up.

Both of these passages

tell us to encourage

and build up one another

because the end is near.

It's just like those last

200 metres of that park rung.

We are close to the end

of this race.

Now we don't know

when the day of the Lord is.

We don't know the day

that Jesus will return.

And in the same way,

we don't know

when we will die.

We don't know

when God will call us home.

But what we do know

is that Jesus could return

at any moment.

It could be

this minute.

I feel like pausing

for a whole minute

and saying that I won't.

Now the end might not

feel like it's soon.

It might feel like

it is a long way away.

But because it is soon,

we need to be ready.

We need to be waiting

for Jesus to come back.

We need to be expecting

Him to come back.

And we need to be

encouraging one another

to keep trusting in Jesus.

Keep drawing near to Him.

To keep holding on to God.

We need to have

another person focused

that says,

I'm going in this direction.

Come with me

as I follow Jesus.

And so we encourage

one another

because the end

is near.

And third,

we encourage

and build up

one another

because the race

is hard.

Hebrews 3 says,

encourage one another

daily

as long as it is

called today

so that none of you

may be hardened

by sin's deceitfulness.

Encourage one another

because our sin

wants to deceive us.

We live in a time

when we are distractible.

I've read some studies

recently

and they suggest

that our attention span

because of technology

is now shorter

than a goldfish.

I'm not sure

how you feel about that.

I'm not sure

if you feel like

I'm going to go

and beat those goldfish.

but our attention span

is now

less than nine seconds.

It is easy

for us

to get distracted.

We are just easy

to get distracted

and it's easy

for us

to get distracted

by sin.

Running

in the wrong direction.

Instead of following

Jesus

we turn around

and want to chase

something else.

We're to run

following Jesus

obeying him

because he died

for us

but we turn around

and we chase

our selfish desires

that war within us.

In that direction

I'm not pointing

at anybody in particular

in that direction

is all the money

and power

that I can have.

If I have all the money

I want

I can have all the things

I want

and if I have power

I can be in control

and I can chase

all the sex

that I want.

The race

following Jesus

is hard

and so we need

people

to encourage

us to keep going.

We do it

in general ways

to everyone

from up front.

I'm hopefully

encouraging you

right now

to keep running

the race

but we also

need the people

in our lives

to keep pointing

us to Christ

and to say

following Jesus

is worthwhile

even when

it is hard.

But we also

need encouragement

in our lives

because we also

receive many

hard words.

We live

in a broken

world where

everything calls

us to despair.

Everything

points out

that this world

is broken.

It calls us

to selfishness.

Sin

it steals

our joy

our bodies

are breaking

down

our plans

falter

our dreams

die

our

resolves

weaken

our

perspective

dims

there is

suffering

there is

persecution

there are

trials

it is pretty

simple

life

can suck

being a

Christian

is not

always easy

there are

very real

problems

in our

lives

we might

find it

easier to

just

sit down

and think

this race

following

Jesus

is just

hard

life

is busy

so

maybe

I'll just

have a

week off

church

and it

turns into

two weeks

maybe I'll

just

stop going

to community

group

because I'm

tired

and all

these things

end up to

isolation

and distance

from the

people

who help

us keep

going

we need

to build

up

we need

to encourage

and we

also need

to be

encouraged

because when

encouragement is

absent from

church

when encouragement

is absent

from us

as people

we'll feel

unloved

unimportant

useless

and forgotten

God knows

that we

are people

who need

a daily

reminder

of his

grace

and so

he calls

us to

encourage

each other

every day

until

his son

returns

so we

encourage

first of all

because it's

what a

Christian

does

we

encourage

because the

end is

near

and we

encourage

because life

is hard

but what

does this

look like

now that

we know

we are

to do

it

what does

it actually

look like

to encourage

someone

let me just

quickly read

the start

of a couple

of Paul's

letters

the welcomes

to his

letters

I'm not sure

if when you're

reading Paul

you just

skip through

the start

of Paul's

letters

and get

to the

good stuff

let me

just read

from

1 Corinthians

1

1

I

always

thank

my

God

for you

because

of his

grace

given

you

in

Christ

Jesus

for

in

him

you

have

been

enriched

in

every

way

with

all

kinds

of

speech

and

with

all

knowledge

God

thus

confirming

our

testimony

about

Christ

among

you

therefore

you

do

not

lack

any

spiritual

gift

as

you

eagerly

wait

for

our

Lord

Jesus

to

be

revealed

that's

1

Corinthians

3

tell me

if you

pick up

any

themes

as we

go

through

Philippians

1

I

thank

my

God

every

time

I

remember

you

in

all

my

prayers

for

all

of

you

I

always

pray

with

joy

because

of

your

partnership

in

the

gospel

from

the

first

day

until

now

being

confident

of

this

that

he

who

began

a

good

work

in

you

will

carry

it

on

to

completion

until

the

day

of

Christ

Jesus

1

Thessalonians

1

we

always

thank

God

for

all

of

you

and

continually

mention

you

in

our

prayers

we

remember

before

our

God

and

Father

your

work

produced

by

faith

your

labor

prompted

by

love

and

your

endurance

inspired

by

hope

in

our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

lastly

Colossians

1

we

always

thank

God

the

Father

of

our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

when

we

pray

for

you

because

we

have

heard

of

your

faith

in

Christ

Jesus

and

of

the

love

you

have

for

all

of

God's

people

the

faith

and

love

that

spring

from

the

hope

stored

up

for

you

in

heaven

did

you

get

any

common

thread

anyone

it's

not

rhetorical

you can

shout

out

at

me

that's

all

right

yes

what

was

a

common

thread

praise

Jesus

Paul

thanks

God

he

makes

it

really

clear

who

he's

thanking

he's

thanking

God

that's

that's

the

first

way

that

we

to

think

about

encouragement

we

thank

God

and

Paul

makes

it

really

clear

who

gets

the

glory

the

glory

all

goes

to

God

these

aren't

words

to puff

up

someone's

head

to make

their

ears

too far

apart

from

last

week

and

second

he

tells

them

what

they're

doing

right

the

Colossians

church

in this

case

they're

trusting

God

the

Thessalonians

are

working

hard

the

Philippians

well

they've

been

great

partners

so

thank

God

tell

them

what

they're

doing

right

and

third

Paul

acknowledges

that

it's

all

God

who

enables

them

to

do

this

it's

God's

gift

from

Colossians

their

faith

sprang

from

heaven

their

faith

was

not

from

themselves

this

is

a

great

picture

of

what

building

up

and

encouraging

another

person

could

look

like

can

you

imagine

if

you

were

these

churches

and

you

got

that

letter

from

Paul

that

would

have

been

wonderfully

encouraging

start

with

thanking

God

be

specific

but

we

do

need

to

be

careful

to

be

encouraging

and

building

up

in

the

Lord

and

not

just

building

up

a

person

in

their

self

confidence

and

their

own

ego

because

flattery

and

encouragement

are

two

different

things

flattery

or

even

compliments

can

be

a

motivation

to

be

liked

I

could

say

who

can

I

pick

on

Adrian

Adrian

you

just

your

haircut

is

just

glorious

your

head

is

just

a

beautiful

circle

and

look

at him

he's

smiling

he's

going

red

in

the

face

but

it's

flattery

he

feels

nice

and he

likes

me

that's

that's

all

that

interaction

is

flattery

can be

superficial

it is

quick

it's

immediately

satisfying

look

he's

still

smiling

that smile

might be

there for

another

30

seconds

but

encouraging

and

building

up

is

loving

truth

telling

we live

in a

time

where it's

really

easy

to be

encouraged

and built

up in a

little

way

by social

media

you

post

a

picture

or

you

write

a

comment

in

the

hope

that

you

will

get

liked

I

really

want

people

to

like

this

pretty

picture

of

myself

I

spent

four

hours

putting

on

makeup

got

the

right

filter

in

this

modern

socially

connected

world

the way

that we

affirm

and

encourage

one

another

is

just

by

clicking

a

button

and

saying

yeah

I

like

you

and I

like

this

photo

so

here

you

go

I've

affirmed

you

I've

built

you

up

aren't

I

a

good

friend

no

number

of

likes

is

going

to

satisfy

a

person

even

if

I

get

100

or

200

likes

there's

always

a

desire

for

more

maybe

if

I

put

another

photo

up

tomorrow

with

a

cute

dog

I'll

get

even

more

likes

maybe

take

the

right

photo

of

my

food

I

wonder

what

would

happen

what

would

happen

right

now

if

I

took

a

photo

a

selfie

of

myself

with

all

of

you

beautiful

people

and

put

it

up

on

Facebook

I

wonder

how

many

likes

we

could

get

I

wonder

how

people

would

respond

to

that

so

I

want

to

do

this

experiment

if

I

can

I

want

to

see

how

many

likes

I

can

is

anybody

give

consent

to

taking

a

photo

it's

kind

of

hard

to

get

all

of

you

in

so

which

part

of

the

church

should

I

get

these

ones

here

there's

no

one

here

sitting

in

this

spot

how

about

I

if

I

come

down

and

do

this

okay

now

I'm

not

going

to

encourage

you

to

go

and

like

it

if

you

see

that

photo

on

Facebook

later

it's

up

to

you

but

clicking

on a

photo

is

easy

you

can

come

back

tonight

to

church

and

see

the

results

but

it

is

much

harder

than

just

clicking

on

a

button

to

actually

encourage

someone

encouragement

that

says

I

thank

God

for

the

person

he

has

made

you

to

be

I

appreciate

you

and

I

appreciate

how

you

serve

with

the

gifts

that

God

has

given

you

it

is

much

harder

than

clicking

like

but

it

is

also

much

more

important

it

speaks

to

the

person's

heart

it

speaks

to

the

person's

skills

and

the

way

God

has

made

them

and

we

might

think

look

I'm

just

not

good

at

that

speaking

words

of

love

that's

not

my

love

language

I'm

not

good

at

that

so

it

doesn't

matter

I'll

love

people

in

other

ways

I

won't

speak

to

them

but

I'll

buy

them

a

gift

God

tells

us

that

we

need

to

speak

words

of

encouragement

and

to

build

up

one

another

now

one

of

my

issues

personally

has

been

that

my

sense

of

humor

means

that

I

often

make

jokes

at

other

people's

expense

you

can

know

if

I

like

you

because

I'll

put

you

down

and

make

a

joke

at

your

expense

that's

historically

Adrian

smiling

at

this

isn't

that

a

shame

that

he

knows

this

it's

really

hurtful

because

what

I'm

doing

is

I'm

tearing

someone

down

making

a

joke

about

them

laughing

at

them

to

build

myself

up

I

have

sarcastic

humor

that

jokes

oh

you're

great

at

something

you're

you know

Adrian

you've

got

a

circle

for

a

head

or

whatever

I

said

before

and

that

got

a

cheap

laugh

but

I

put

people

down

to

build

myself

up

I'd

like

to

blame

all

the

sarcastic

English

humor

I

watched

growing

up

but

it

is

just

my

fault

it

is

something

I

still

struggle

with

putting

other

people

down

to

make

myself

feel

more

valuable

so

I'm

really

aware

of

it

and

there's

another

name

that

people

use

for

it

these

days

they

call

it

banter

I

don't

know

if

you've

heard of

the word

banter

young

men

in

particular

will

rip

into

each

other

and

say

all

kinds

of

hurtful

things

but

they

argue

it's

playful

it

doesn't

matter

we're

just

joking

around

what

are

the

words

that

are

coming

out

of

our

mouths

are

they

designed

to

build

up

or

do

they

tear

down

at

the

expense

of

someone

else

encouragement

is

shared

in the

hope

that

it

will

lift

someone's

heart

towards

God

it's

evidence

of

God

working

in

their

lives

to

help

them

see

how

God

is

using

them

it

points

a

person

to

God's

promise

that

assures

them

that

all

that

they

face

is

under

God's

control

let

me

encourage

you

make

encouragement

a

daily

discipline

for

some

here

encouragement

is

just

what

you

do

some

people

are

really

great

encouragers

you

may

be

sitting

here

going

yeah

I'm

great

at

encouragement

I'm

already

good

at

this

but

I

think

for

many

of

us

you're

more

like

me

we

tear

down

because

it's

far

easier

we

need

to

make

it

a

daily

discipline

to

encourage

to

text

to

email

or

even

do

it

in

person

and

we

need

to

pray

to

God

to

show

you

who

needs

encouragement

you

never

know

who

in

your

life

is

really

struggling

who

is

stumbling

who

needs

to

be

contacted

and

when

you

do

a