Sunday, July 21, 2024 AM
DESTINATION 2024: CommUNITY Matters – Growing Together (part 2)
Mike Teel, Pastor
FOCAL PASSAGE:
17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. —Philippians 3:17
GROWING TOGETHER BY BEING
1. THE
–We all need models to help us mature.
–Christlike character is built through relationships, not isolation.
2.
SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES
–We always grow faster and stronger with living, breathing examples who can model for us the spiritual disciplines we want to incorporate into our lives.
–Sometimes we need more than explanations, we need examples.
3.
FOR FOLLOWING CHRIST
–Who are your models for following Christ? Who are you watching and learning from?
–Here is a tougher question: Are you an example for anyone else?
4. THE NEED FOR
–Not only do we need models to grow, we also need mentors.
–Mentors are people who have followed Christ longer than we have and are able to share their life lessons – both victories and defeats.
–Life is too short to learn everything by experience!
GROWING TOGETHER BY
EACH OTHER
11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. —I Thessalonians 5:11
1.
TO KILL OR GIVE LIFE
–We have the POWER to kill or give life.
–Many of the messages we hear from the world today are the killing kind.
–The Bible says in Proverbs 18:21 (Msg)
21 Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.
–Our words may be the only encouraging thing some people hear in a day.
2. ENCOURAGEMENT
BY CHRIST
–We see an example of encouragement in Luke 13, where Jesus heals a woman who’s been unable to stand up straight for 18 years.
10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. 14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” 15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” 17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing. —Luke 13:10-17
–Jesus healed her physically, but he also built her up.
3. ENCOURAGEMENT’S
–In the New Testament, the word “encouragement” often means “to come alongside.”
–We become encouragers when we stop looking down and start looking up and out!
4. BE AN
–How about it? This week, will you become a consistent source of encouragement to those around you?
–It’s a choice on your part: you can lift a person’s spirit, change the atmosphere of your office, or lighten the burden of someone who passes through your life.
Here are some steps to get started:
COMMIT TO ENCOURAGEMENT – From this day forward agree: “I’m going to build up the people around me.” Can you imagine the impact that would have?
VALUE OTHER PEOPLE – We know that people are valuable to God, and if they are valuable to Him, they should be valuable to us. An encourager works hard at bringing out the best in others.
FOCUS ON WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT – When Jesus healed the “Daughter of Abraham” He focused on what was really important. To be the encourager God wants us to be, we may have to change our priorities or adjust our schedules.
LIVE IT OUT
Let me encourage you to consider a personal relationship with Christ if you don’t already have one or renew your relationship!
Who is someone God has placed on your heart who could use a word of encouragement this week?
Who is someone you would like to spend time learning how to live more for Jesus?