20th November 2022 Infill Service - YAsmin Chaffer - Mission Mindset, dealing with discouragement

So Dave asks, I will just share briefly something I mentioned to Dave before

the service. We've got a friend who lives in Singapore and he shares mine

and Simon's messages out. He is quite connected with fellowships and like Far East

Dasia and India, and he messaged this morning that there's a lot of new

groups in India with new believers, hundreds of new believers for listening to the

messages. So I just think, praise God. Coming from this little place

in Eghum, the word is going out to India and beyond. So to

those of you listening in India and elsewhere, are very warm welcome to you.

So the message today is about mission mindset, dealing with discouragement. So

the daytime Bible study on Tuesday, someone mentioned that dealing with discouragement would be

a useful topic to cover on the Sunday morning, and it just felt right

for me to do so. I immediately thought about how when you're focused on

a mission, whatever mission the Lord has laid on your heart, discouragement is

something that can affect us all at times, be it an attack from the

devil through people and all circumstances and all not managing our thought lives well.

Firstie, I just want to look briefly at what is your mission. Although

it's been said over these last couple of weeks, I think it's worth repeating.

People often think of mission in terms of evangelizing, which is obviously the

mission, the commission that Jesus set for all disciples when he said in Mark

sixteen, verses fifteen to sixteen, that's Mark sixteen, fifteen to sixteen.

You are to go into all the world and preach the good news to everyone

everywhere. Those who believe and are baptized will be saved, but those who

refuse to believe will be condemned. They will go to hell. It's not

a nice thought, but it's a truth, and we need to be open

about it. The good news is that Jesus really is the son of God.

He really did come to earth as a baby and live a sinless life

then die on the cross. Death was the punishment for our sin, which

Jesus took upon himself for all mankind. Sin is basically everything we've ever done

or will do that breaks the law of love. Love God, love others,

love yourself. The good news, the great news is that Jesus commissioned

us to share is that Jesus rose again, and he lives, He overcame

death so that we too can live eternally with him, starting even now.

Our part is to believe in him and what he's done for us, and

ask him to be lord of our lives, of our hearts, and ask

for forgiveness when we get it wrong, and choose to believe and receive it

when we ask, regardless of how we feel, because the Lord is ever

ready to forgive us. Our mission is to share this truth and be wise

about how much we share with whom, and when following the leading of the

Holy Spirit. Praise to God. The Holy Spirit lives in us when we

accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, so he's there to lead us.

That is our mission in summary. But how where we take it into the

world is about our specific mission, if you like, that which God calls

each one of us to do where we are in our sphere of influence.

In John four thirty four, and this is the Ampli translation John four thirty

four, Jesus said to them, to the disciples, my food is to

do the will of Him who sent me, and to completely finish his work,

and the classic amplified translation that reads, my food my nourishment is to

do the will the pleasure of Him who sent me, and to accomplish and

completely finish his work. This is the ultimate mission statement, isn't it.

It's the catch all mission statement, the ultimate aim and goal that we would

do well to apply to our lives. My food, that which nourishes me,

gives me strength and energizes me each day, is to do the will

the pleasure of Him who sent me, and to completely finish his work.

Jesus, our role model in every way, lived to please God and not

give up. If we're not clear specifically what God's will is for our lives

at this point in time, that which is a constant, that which is

true through every season of life, is to live according to God's directions and

instructions in the Bible, the Word of God. We'll only really get them

down into our spirits, into our hearts as we spend time reading the Word

or listening to it and thinking about it, meditating on it. Your mission,

your holy ambition, doesn't have to be big in the eyes of the

world. Holy Ambition is the title of chip Ingram's book and his Bible study

that we've just completed in the daytime Bible study, for example, supporting on

the parents. Maybe your mission or part of your mission or holy ambition right

now, given the value that the Lord puts on each individual, such deed

died for each one, that's significant. I'm not going to look at the

subject of what is God's will for your life today other than what I've just

said broadly, because I believe that the Lord wants me to focus on our

mindset with regards to our mission and specifically dealing with discouragement. Whatever your mission,

it's so important to hold on to the truth in two Corinthians twelve and

verse nine, and I'm reading from the NIV, that's two Corinthians twelve,

verse nine. My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made

perfect in weakness, and it's worth continuing on with the rest of the verse.

Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so

that Christ's power may rest on me, or as another translation says, so

that the power of the anointed my to overshadow me. Honestly, I've not

got to the stage of both being my weaknesses yet, but in certain situations.

In particular, I've been very aware of my weakness and dependence on the

Lord and have rested. I've been at peace in the knowledge that I am

complete in Him, even when I've felt so inadequate. We're designed to live

dependent on God, but sometimes we're more aware of it than others. Boasting

about our weaknesses in this context is about openly acknowledging them to the Lord,

not trying to hide them and put a good face on a situation. Look

at the consequence the reward. Christ's power, the power of the anointed One

will rest on you or overshadowy. The definition of the word overshadow includes to

cause something to seem less important or noticeable. In other words, when we're

open with the Lord about our weaknesses, when we acknowledge our need of him,

his power causes our weaknesses to be less important or noticeable. The apostle

Paul puts it this way in Two Corinthians twelve and verse ten. When I

am weak, then I am powerful. Sounds upside down that it's true.

Whilst it's human instinct to hide our weaknesses, it's so worth being real with

God, especially as he knows the whole truth about us anyway, and our

hearts and our situations, and he loves us just the saying. When I've

only had the strength the energy to consider the next step ahead at the most

certainly not the whole picture. I've rested in the knowledge of God's character,

knowing that he knows me and loves me completely. Sometimes you don't feel him

as such, but you can rest in the knowledge of his character, knowing

that he knows and understands everything. When I know and understand so little,

as it says in Deuteronomy thirty one and verse eight in the Christian Standard Bible,

that's Deuteronomy thirty one and verse eight, the Lord is the one who

will go before you. He will be with you. He will not leave

you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged. I'm going to

read that again. The Lord is the one who will go before you.

He will be with you. He will not leave you or abandon you.

Do not be afraid or discouraged. Those who have seen I don't know if

it was on the family photo album or not. Actually this morning, but

I went to the Philippahanna concert on Friday night. For those who haven't had

of her. She's a Christian singer and songwriter who's been here before. She

and her husband's are known to Dame Julia, and she's got several CDs she's

written I think about three books. Anyway, She sang one of my favorite

songs of hers, You're Still God. These are some of the lyrics which

I won't attempt to sing to you because I won't do it justice. Though

I can't see what's before me, I know that I can trust your heart

and this one truth will be my story. You still rain and you'll still

God. I will declare that you are with me, though voices whisper that

you're not. You'll never leave me nor forsake me. Because you still rain

and you'll still God. I will declare that you are with me. What

we say matters. We can encourage ourselves by speaking truth like this lyric,

God is with me, You'll never leave me nor for sainty. Or we

can discourage ourselves by talking the problem unduly and getting our eyes off the greatness,

the love and the power of our God. It's fine to share and

be real, but it's important to be aware of what we're focusing on.

Think about who goes before you think about who has promised to be with you.

Think about who will not fail you or abandon you. The one perfect

Father, the one who is love, the one who is omnipotent, omnipresent

and omniscient, all powerful, present everywhere, and all knowing. Therefore,

don't be afraid or discouraged. This is just one way we can deal with

this discouragement by focusing on and meditating on and thanking God for his character and

promises. I know I've said it before, and many of you probably do

it, but it's so good to pray scripture God's word because it keeps us

focused on God and the truth of his word and reinforces it in our hearts.

For example, thank you, Heavenly Father that you go before me.

Thank you that you are always with me. Thank you for your promise that

you will never leave me nor abandon me. Therefore, I refuse to fear

or be discouraged. Another way of dealing with discouragement is to consider our perspective

on our situation, our mission, whatever that might be, how does God

see it. It's worth remembering that our current hardships may hold the keys to

our future. Joseph is a classic example this, as we see in Genesis

thirty seven onwards, sold into slavery by his brothers, he kept a good

attitude and served his slave master. I'm just going to read a little bit

of his story from Genesis thirty nine, verses two to five, and I'm

reading from the New King James version. That's Genesis thirty nine, two to

five. The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man,

and he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian, and his

master saw that the Lord was with him. It will be visible to others,

and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand.

So Joseph found favor in his sight and served him. Then he made him

overseer of his house, and all that he had put under his authority.

All that he had, he put under his authority. So it was from

the time that he made him overseer of his house and all that he had,

that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake, And the blessing

of the Lord was on all that he had. Slavery is wrong. Let

me be really clear about that. William Wilberforce was a great man and politician

who lived in England in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. After years

of campaigning, Wilberforce's Bill to end Britain's part in slave trading was passed in

eighteen oh seven. A further Act of eighteen thirty three provided for the emancipation

of slaves in British colonies. And rightly so, and I appreciate that there

is such a thing as modern slavery, which is equally wrong. What I

am saying is that God did not abandon Joseph in this very difficult and wrong

situation. He didn't fix it right away either, But in Joseph's case,

his hardships proved to be great training ground for his future as Prime Minister of

Egypt. Through his hardships, Joseph learned both to serve and to lead.

The two go hand in hand. Joseph's leadership skills were honed when he was

wrongfully thrown in prison, as told in the latter part of Genesis thirty nine,

and the Lord gave him favor with the prison warden, who put him

in charge of all the prisoners. In my opinion, it took a lot

of humility on Joseph's part to make the most of the favor that God gave

him, to keep a right attitude when he was wrongfully imprisoned, so that

Joseph served God well where he was not what you'd call conventional training for the

role of prime minister. But God thinks outside the box. So Joseph learned

through experience that God was with him and learned both to serve and to lead

well with God's favor upon him. God's part in this includes some of his

promises to us too. God has promised to be with us, as we

see, for example in Jesus' commitment to us in Matthew twenty eight twenty.

So that's surely I'm with you always to the very end of the age.

That's not a small thing. Surely I am with you always to the end

of the age. We also have God's favor, a promise that we can

declare over ourselves to help anchor this truth in our spirits. Psalm five and

verse twelve in the Amplified reads, for you a Lord, bless the righteous

man, the one who is in right standing with you, which is our

position in Christ. You surround him with favor as with a shield. For

you, a Lord, bless the righteous man. You surround him with favor,

with the shield God's favor protects us. When I said it's worth remembering

that our current hardships may hold the keys to our future, I was actually

quoting Cory teen Boom. I'm currently reading the Cary Temboom trilogy. As many

of you know, she was a Dutch believer who with her family worked in

the resistance in Holland during World War Two, hiding Jews and other workers in

the resistance, and when betrayed, they are sent to concentration camps. In

the second book, The Hiding Place, Corey says, today, I know

that memories are the key not to the past, but to the future.

I know that the experiences of our lives, when we let God use them,

become the mysterious and perfect preparation for the work He will give us to

do. I didn't know it then that there was any new future to prepare

for in a life as humdrum and predict as mine. Is this something in

your current situation, circumstances mission that God is using to prepare you for your

future? In chip Ingram's book Only Ambition, he notes a common pitfall that

can lead to discouragement. It's discouragement from within expectations versus experience. If the

distance between the two is short, we call it a minor adjustment. If

the distance is great, we call it disillusionment, which can obviously be discouraging.

Chip says this, when we step out in faith and commit to doing

whatever it is by faith, unconsciously, we may start thinking, since I'm

sure that this is God's will and I'm going to do it God's way,

life will probably or should get better. God is going to bless me and

everything will work out well. The truth is God does what he promises,

but we often misinterpret his promises. We want God to bless us according to

our definition, God will honor and bless our obedience and faith. But life

usually gets harder before it gets better. Why because our lives often need reconstruction

from the ground up, not just a bit of redecoration a paint job.

We don't deal with deep issues such as lust, rage, sharing our faith,

or making major decisions without running into serious opposition. I would add to

that that facing up to such issues, being honest with ourselves and as appropriate

those around us can be painful. Be kind to yourself, but don't duck

the issues, don't hunt for issues. But if if God is bringing stuff

up, deal with it. Be it by yourself with the Lord, or

sharing as appropriate with a trusted friend or counselor get help if you need it.

It's worth it. Our next point is again about discouragement from within the

fear of failure. Don't be afraid to fail. Proverbs twenty four, verse

sixteen in the NIV says, for though the righteous falls seven times, they

rise again. If who falls the righteous, for though the righteous falls seven

times, they rise again. Philip Hannah in the concert on Friday night,

said, it's not about how often you get knocked down, it's about how

often you get back up. That was in her introduction to her song come

Back Fighting. I was talking to someone, yes sir, the gym,

and she said she failed her driving test four times. It sounded like being

over cautious had something to do with it, but she persevered and passed the

fifth time. She's retired now, and given her husband doesn't drive, it's

such a blessing that she does because it means that they can easily visit family,

grandchildren, et cetera. If she hadn't persevered, it would have had

quite a significant impact on the quality of their lives now. Joyce Meyer,

the American Christian author and speaker, says this in one of her devotionals.

It isn't possible to find out God's plan for your life without making a few

mistakes along the way. History books are filled with stories of great men and

women who did incredible things, but prior to their achievements, they failed along

the way. Thomas Edison tried two thousand experiments before he successfully invented the light

bulb. Abraham Lincoln lost several elections before he became the President of America.

We wouldn't have heard of either of those men if they'd quit before they achieved

success. God has created us to keep moving forward towards his plan for our

lives. He wants us to face new challenges, try new things, experiment,

and be creative. Don't be afraid when you fail, your success might

be right around the corner. I think it's important to not anchor your identity,

your sense of self worth, in either your failures or your successes,

but in who God says you are and what he says about you in the

Bible. My next point is about discouragement from without, in other words,

from others. I'm going to look very briefly at Neemyah. The Book of

Nearmiah was written approximately four hundred and twenty three. Near Maya was cup bearer

to King Arthur Xerxes, the first of Persia. My understanding is that the

cup bearer was the chief financial officer and bearer of the signet ring, as

well as wine taster. In other words, his job was to sample royal

beverages to test for poison. According to the NIV Cultural Background Study Bible,

the Wall of Jerusalem was destroyed by Nevuqneza and remained in ruins for almost one

hundred and fifty years due to a mixture of apathy and fear, leaving the

city vulnerable to attack. Near Mayah was presumably living comfortably in the palace in

Persia, but when he heard of the state that Jerusalem was in, he

was really grieved and fasted and prayed. The result was that he ended up

going to Jerusalem to oversee the rebuilding of the city walls. Near Maaya had

to deal with mocking from three guys some ballot his chief political opponent, as

well as to others. To Baya and Gisham when they hear of the plans

in Near Mayah two in verse nineteen, it says they laughed at us and

despised us. Another translation says they mocked and ridiculed us. That's tough to

deal with when you're already stepping out in faith on a project, especially a

big one like this. But Nearby didn't just step out based on his emotions.

He grieved at what he heard, but didn't just get going because he

was upset about it. And neither did he just stay upset and do nothing.

He fasted and prayed. I believe that this time with the Lord gave

him the confidence to respond as he did in Near Mayah two and verse twenty.

The God of the heavens is the one who will grant us success.

His servants will start building that you have no share right or historic claim in

Jerusalem. Fasting and praying and listening to the Lord will really help us to

have the confidence to stand on what the Lord has said to us. If

people mock and ridicule us or put us down when we're doing what we know

is right. The mission that God has put before us that we know is

ours to do as it says in Nearmia two and verse twenty in the classic

amplified translation, the God of Heaven will prosper us. Therefore we his servants

will arise and build. It's about having that confidence in the Lord to carry

on. Psalm five from verses eight to nine in the Holman's Christian Standard Bible

is so good that Psalm five, from verses eight to nine, it says,

Lord, lead me in your righteousness because of my adversaries, make your

way straight before me, for there is nothing reliable in what they say.

We would do well to remember that for near Mayah. It didn't just stop

there either. We too, may have to deal with discouragement from the same

people more than once too. Near My Chapter three is great because it tells

us about the many people and families who were galvanized into action and did their

part, but their enemies heard about it and were angry and the taunting intensified.

This is how they dealt with it, which is a great example for

us. Near My four and verse nine in the Christian Standard Bible says,

so we prayed to our God and stationed a god because of them. Day

and night, pray and be watchful and do what you need to do to

protect yourself. So to summarize having a mission mindset dealing with discouragement, remember

two Corinthians twelve, verse nine. My grace is sufficient for you, for

my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more

gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. So

just three points to think about. Thank God for his character and his promises.

Get God's perspective. Your current hardships may hold the keys to your future,

and don't be afraid to fail. I'd just like to finish with Psalm

one hundred and twenty one versus one to two, and I'm reading from the

NIV that Psalms one hundred and twenty one versus one to tea and lift up

my eyes to the mountains. Where does my help come from? My health

comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. Our part is

to lift our eyes up above our circumstances and above our feelings. Recognize that

we have help. There is one who is always ready, able and willing

to help us. And he is closer than a brother or a friend.

The Holy Spirit is our counselor He's our comforter. He's our strengthener, he's

our helper, he's our advocate, he's our intercessor as maker of heaven and

earth. Absolutely nothing is too difficult for the Lord. I'll finish with a

quote from Corey Tamboo. There was a point in the Nazi concentration camp when

Corey turned to her older sister Betsy and said, I can't go on,

and Betsy replied, there is no pick so deep that God's love can't reach

you. You are complete in the Lord. Thank you. M hm h

m hm mm hmm. I want to say, as a community, as

friends, as people, it's not just about yourself being discouraged, but looking

at others around you too and recognizing that actually sometimes they need encouraging, not

to be discouraged. It's it's sometimes we have to say it more than once.

Sometimes we have to help people up. We have to help people up

again and then again, and probably inside with saying I'm not again. Do

you know what the enemy loves to discourage, and so we should love to

encourage. Just just just let oh we're here again, guys. Let's let's

pick people up, Let's encourage people, Let's get people to lift their eyes

and look to the hills from whence it comes to their health breakthroughs? The

great thing to celebrate, God answered prayer. Great things to celebrate, So many things