We Are Called to the Ministry of Reconciliation

Once again, some of you who are at Bible study at the Nimitz have heard a little bit of this, but again, bear with me as I discuss this with those who weren't there at the Nimitz study. From time to time, perhaps there's been somebody in your life who assumes the position of heavenly sandpaper. They just know that they are the ones to smooth out your rough edges. This person is an expert at finding your faults, no matter how minute, and focusing on that fault or faults with laser-like precision. Their ministry toward you is one of disapproval, maybe even condemnation, leading to ill feelings, perhaps even discouragement. And, of course, this person is eminently qualified since they themselves are perfect, they themselves are without fault, and they take long walks on Lake Michigan, contemplating your sins. The result of all this abrasion is anything but refining, it's anything but helpful, it's hurtful, it goes against the grain, it strips away self-worth, it tears you down both physically, emotionally, spiritually, and every other way. Now, God does hold us all, brethren, accountable for how we use our words. Excessive, critical words do not come from the heart of the wise. Neither do they reflect the heart of God. Now, notice I'm saying excessive, critical words, words that wound. Now, there is a place for proper, godly correction, and for plain speaking. But we're not talking about that here, we're talking about excessive, critical words coming from a harsh attitude, a judgmental attitude, a looking down the nose type of an attitude. Now, I'd like you to turn over to Acts 4, and let's take a look at something quite different. Acts 4. Acts 4, and verse 36. And Joseph, who's also named Barnabas by the apostles, which is translated as son of encouragement, a Levite of the country of Cyprus. So here we've got a man whose name was Joseph, or Joseph, as other places describe him. But the apostles called him Barnabas, the son of encouragement. Now, this is a very interesting man. A very interesting man. Turn over to Acts 9, and see just a little bit of a vignette as to how he was so encouraging. Acts 9. You know that the Saul of Tarsus was going and making a great havoc of the church. We see in Acts 9 how God strikes Saul of Tarsus down. He becomes converted. He wants to join the Christians and worship, just like everybody else would like to do. But of course, a man like Saul, who had done so much to wreak havoc on a church, it wasn't so easy to bring him in. So when Paul had returned from his lengthy stay in Arabia, where he was taught by Jesus Christ himself for three and a half years, we see that in Galatians chapter 1. Won't be turning there. But when he went to Jerusalem, the people there weren't so quick to want to bring him into their fellowship. Look at chapter 9 of Acts, verse 21. Then all who heard were amazed that it is not he who destroyed those who called on his name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests.

So people are really afraid, and properly so, of Paul. But notice verse 26 now. And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. It did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles, and he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, how they had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. So here we see the son of encouragement saying, you know what? I'll vouch for this man. And Barnabas wasn't going just to any group of people here. He was going to the apostles, who God had given supernatural wisdom to understand how to properly run the church, as the church was just getting off the ground. So Barnabas stands with Paul. He vouches for him. And that was encouraging. When everyone else is looking down on a person, but somebody stands up for you and vouches for you, that's very encouraging. Verse 28. So he was with them. Paul was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out. Barnabas was so successful that in his encouragement to Paul and his standing for Paul, that Paul was able to become a part of the group there, able to come and go as he pleased. It's not to say that people stole it and have their questions or concerns or worries. I'm sure being human, they did. But in terms of God helping Paul out through Barnabas, it was a great help. Let's turn now to Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4.

Starting in verse 11. Something we've read so many times in the past. But there's something here that we want to take very careful note of. Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 11. And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. So here we've got various types of ministers who are serving in various capacities in the church.

And notice the reason for this. For the equipping of the saints. The ministry is here to help equip you as saints. And notice what we are to equip you to do. For the work of ministry or for the work of service. And drilling down even further, the ministry is to equip you so you can serve. And notice the end of verse 12. For the edifying of the body of Christ. So part of my job, part of Randy Delosandro's job and Galen Morrison's job here as ministers of the Gospel is to help equip you to serve. So we build up the body here in Beloit, Wisconsin. Verse 13. So we all come into the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man.

To the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So once again, the ministry is here to help us grow in maturity. And certainly, I believe Mr. Morrison and I know myself, I believe both of us very strongly.

We very much wish for your prayers so that we can fulfill our duties to help you, to equip you properly due to the things that God would like you to do. Verse 14. That we should no longer be children tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men and the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. No, we want to make sure you know the basic truths. You know the foundation that you're solid with doctrine.

And again, I go back two years ago, back in the early 1990s, I remember getting a pastor general's report, not from Herbert Armstrong, but from the next guy. And he said, you know, fellas, we don't need to be preaching doctrine to the people. This is an early 90s. We don't need the people. No doctrine. Let's not preach doctrine.

Let's preach Christian living. Well, why were they saying that in the early 90s? Because in the mid 90s, they were going to go away from doctrine. And they were hoping that all of you would be foolish. They were hoping all of you would be caught unaware. You weren't, but too many people were. Too many people were. So there was a... I used to hold a lot of those old pastor general's report, and I say one time, I went back and looked through those early 90s, and I thought, you know, there's definitely a pattern here.

And it was a very sinister pattern. But our job is to make sure that you're very, very stable and doctrinally speaking. You know, and of course, it was... When we were told, and I didn't follow that advice, but when we were told, don't preach doctrine, preach Christian living. Well, what is Christian living based on? Christian living is based on proper doctrine. So it didn't make sense, but that was the whole thing. The whole thing didn't make sense.

Verse 15, but speaking the truth and love may grow up in all things into him who is the head Christ. So again, this is, you know, what we're striving to do here in the services, helping for maturity, for growth, for equipping you to serve and serve in the way God would have you. And notice verse 16 now. From whom the whole body joined and knit together by which every joint supplies. That's talking about you. You are to supply something to the local Beloit congregation. According to the effect of working by which every part does its share.

That's you. Every part does its share. Its share of what? The share of the work of the ministry we saw in verse 12. Your share of edifying the body of Christ that we saw in verse 12. So you're going to be supplied something, and of course you were supplied God's Holy Spirit. According to the effect of working by which every part does its share. And notice the end result causing the growth of the body for the building up, the edifying of itself and love.

What we're looking at, brethren, here in Ephesians chapter 4, is we're looking at a portion of what our calling is. And our calling, your calling, all of our calling, is to take our rightful place in a community of encouragers. The Beloit congregation, every congregation of God, should be a community of encouragers. And so today, my point is this, if you like to take notes, you might want to write this across the top of your paper. My theme for the sermon is this.

We have been called to the ministry of encouragement. We have been called to the ministry of encouragement. And don't let the word ministry spook you. The word simply means service. You know, I could just as easily have said, we have been called to serve by encouraging. And all of us can do that. That's not something that we, it should be foreign from us.

Now, many times, I think it's good for us to have a contrast. You know, here's what we should do, here's what we shouldn't do. And I want to do that with the sermon today. And take a look at, you know, because we want to talk about how to be an encourager. We want to talk about the heart of an encourager today. And that will be toward the latter portion of the sermon. But before we get there, let's contrast what a critical spirit is. We don't want to have a critical spirit.

And today, what we see in Washington, D.C., is nothing but a critical spirit. I mean, last evening, I was watching Fox News. They were giving an update on the Republican congressman who was shot. And then they played audio of one of the Democrats who said, I wish he would have been killed. Now, you know, that goes beyond politics. That just simply goes beyond politics. But it shows the age in which we live.

We've got people who are willing to sell our country out so the current president would look bad. And I don't care who the current president is. And I don't care if it's a Democratic president. You know, this is our country. And we should respect our country in the Bible says that we should be praying for the king. It doesn't mean we've got to agree with the king, but we want to be praying for the king. But what is a critical spirit? Well, in sports in England, they've got the Wimbledon tennis championships.

And as the two people are there playing tennis, or if it's twosome and not mixed doubles or doubles, you've got a judge. And it's the job of the judge. And the judge has earned that place through years of knowing how to watch tennis, what the rules of tennis are, and so on and so forth. And if a ball is hit out of bounds, and sometimes, you know, you need to have a really careful eye to see that, the ball is hit out of bounds, the judge will cry out, fault!

And that's his job. It's his job to look for faults. Unfortunately, we've got other people in the world who love to sit up on high and watch your life, and they want to look at your faults. And they want to come to you and say, you know, you've got some real issues there, buddy. And as I was saying at the Bible study the other day, I said, it's not happened here in Beloit. It has not happened in Chicago. But I remember other places I've served where I've said, I would just love to go to services and not be insulted. Just, you know, Mr. Elsandra, when are you ever going to start giving some real meat?

Or, you know, you're too fat, or your wife's too fat, or your wife dresses funny, or whatever. Or the one that really would get to us is, you look so tired. You look so tired.

I can laugh about that when people come up to you the week after. You look tired. You look worse than last week. You know, there comes a point where, you know, that has been said to my wife and I. You look worse than last week. Well, maybe we should just walk out the door, you know. So you've got people with the critical spirit. Let's look at Romans chapter 14.

Romans 14 and verse 10.

But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. A critical spirit is an excessively negative attitude with harshness in judging and condemning.

We don't want to... that's not the heart and mind of God. We don't want to go there. Now, what's an encouraging spirit? What's an encouraging spirit? This is what we want. Even, you know, we may not remember our earliest years, but surely we remember our children's earliest years or our grandchildren's earliest years. And when you see those little grandchildren, for example, you go visit your kids and their kids come out. What do they like to do? If they're drawing something, grandpa, grandma, come look at what I drew! And they want to bring their little thing and, you know, you say, oh, that's an elephant. Oh, no, that's something else. You can't make out what it is. But you try, and they may be hurt that you can figure out that it wasn't an elephant.

But they want your approval. They're looking for encouragement.

You know, the same thing is true. You know, they just maybe learned how to swim. Hey, look at me! Look at me! You know, they are able to swim two strokes. You know, they move two feet, but they want encouragement.

Encouragement is something that we all can do, but we've got to look for the proper ways of doing it.

The proper ways of doing it. 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5.

1 Thessalonians, chapter 5.

Again, notice Paul talking to the church here, a church he loved very much.

It wasn't a perfect church. It was in Thessalonica that Paul had to, you know, work as a tentmaker because people thought maybe he was in it for the money.

Not everybody, but enough where he felt he had to call over to the church and fill up high, which he did on a number of occasions, say, you know, I don't want to ask these people to support me with their tithes because they're new. They're not understanding things. So would you help me out?

And so Paul had to do that. But notice what it says here, chapter 5, 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 11. It says, therefore, comfort. And the word here is encourage. Therefore, encourage each other and build up, edify one another, just as you also are doing. So again, we are a church of encouragers. We are a congregation. We are a community of, we should be, of encouragers.

The Greek word for encouragement is paraclesis. Paraclesis, and you know, the Holy Spirit's called the paracletos, so the same family of words. Paraclesis, which means a calling to one's aid to give comfort. And in this Greek, that's what the word encouragement means, a calling to one's aid to give comfort. Para, meaning beside, callio, which the word is made up from, to call, to call beside, to comfort. Let's look at 2 Corinthians chapter 1. 2 Corinthians chapter 1.

The two verses I'm going to read, verses 3 and 4, every place the word comfort is mentioned is a word for encouragement. There's a family of words, not always the same exact word, but it's a family of words that mean encouragement. You can check that out later on in the year Strong's. 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all encouragement, who encourages us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to encourage those who are in any trouble with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God. So again, the call has gone out from God to us to be an encourager. And surely, as you have gone through various trials in your lives, one of the things you've enjoyed is coming to services, being with your brothers and sisters, the encouragement you get when you come to services, and we want that always to be so. We want to get rid of the... You know, again, there is a place for a proper godly correction. There is a place where going to your brother and speaking shoulder, you know, straight from the shoulder. There's a place for that. But, you know, for every one time we do that, probably nine other times, we should be going and giving encouragement. John chapter 14. John chapter 14. Verses 26 and 27. John 14, 26. But the paracletos, the helper, the encourager. Again, that's the word helper and encourager that's the same family of words. But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things I've said to you. And now notice verse 27.

One of the things that results as God's Spirit is comforting and encouraging us, there's a fruit that is born. Verse 27. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you.

Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let your heart not be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

And brethren understand, Christ is talking about peace and in a short time he's going to be crucified. He knows the kind of death he's going to face. He's the one who inspired the scriptures who detailed the kind of death he was going to face. But he also realized God's Spirit was encouraging him to see the big picture that without his sacrifice we would not have eternal life.

And so he was at peace with that. So brethren let's consider something. God has given us his Holy Spirit. That Holy Spirit is there to comfort us. We as Christians, because we have the indwelling of that Holy Spirit, the very presence of God, we are to be we are empowered to be an extension of God's comforting ministry. You know many times people want to serve in a church.

You don't need to have your name on some organizational chart somewhere to serve in a church. You've got God's Holy Spirit. That Spirit in you is a spirit of encouragement. And we need to use that Spirit with one another to be able to help.

One last section here before I get into what a heart of an encourager is. Again, I think so many times it is so beneficial to have a contrasting view of things. Let's couple three points here about the differences between a critical spirit and an encouraging spirit. Number one, a critical spirit focuses on others' faults. A critical spirit focuses on others' faults. An encouraging spirit focuses on serving people who have those faults. An encouraging spirit focuses on serving.

Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Now, we're going to return to that thought a little bit later on when we're looking at the heart of an encourager. But we're looking at humility here. We are, as Christians, are to be humble in our approach one to another. Not haughty, humble. And note in verse 4, let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but also for the interests of others.

That's what an encouraging spirit does. An encouraging spirit focuses on what we can do for others, not say against others or criticize and condemn, but how can we help? You know, brethren, as I say those words, I critique myself because I think all of us in this room have been guilty of having too much of a critical spirit from time to time.

I don't think anybody gets a free pass on this one. I think we all can get rid of some critical aspects of our nature because it's human nature and to bring in God's nature, more of God's nature, which is an encouraging spirit. Number two, a critical spirit ridicules others.

A critical spirit ridicules, whereas an encouraging spirit builds up others.

An encouraging spirit builds up others.

That's why we come to services. We want to build one another up. We saw that in Ephesians chapter 4.

In your notes, you might jot down Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 24. Hebrews 10, 24.

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.

Hebrews 10, 24. Notice the way that's phrased. Let us consider one another. We come to services not with a critical eye, but with an eye. How can I be of service to each person in the Beloit congregation? How can I stir up this one? To love. How can I stir up this other one to good works? Something that's positive and upbuilding and uplifting. How can I be an inspiring part of the Beloit congregation? And, brethren, I'm not saying you aren't. I enjoy coming to this little congregation very, very much. It's a high point of my week, knowing I'm going to be coming here. So I'm not saying we're failing in this regard. Please don't misunderstand where I'm coming from. As I've used the expression over in our Spokesons Club in Chicago, the guys there do a marvelous job in their public speaking. And I say, but my job as the director of the club is to help improve, to take you from an A to an A+. And I said, I enjoy the game of golf. Now, I'm not nearly as good as Roger over here. He'll never want to play golf with me. He'll get a good laugh out of it watching me play. But even the best golf pros who make millions of dollars a year, even they will have a pro that they consult. Because, you know, they may be not playing up to their level. And so the pro will just break down everything they're doing. Well, are you are you holding the club right? Are you standing properly? I mean, basic stuff. Are you standing properly? Are you taking the club back properly? What's your swing plane like? There's all these things. But the point is, even a multi-million dollar pro needs help. And all of us, every one of us in this room, can be a better encourager. I think I can safely say that. Number three.

A critical spirit lacks mercy. A critical spirit lacks mercy. Whereas an encouraging spirit responds with mercy. An encouraging spirit responds with mercy.

James chapter 2. James chapter 2, and verse 12 and 13. James 2 verses 12 and 13.

So speak, and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty, for judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. But notice, mercy triumphs over judgment. Mercy triumphs over judgment. And we're so happy at pass over time that mercy triumphs over judgment, because we are weak, fallible people. And we need to appreciate that about one another. There's an old saying that you've probably heard before. Certainly, it's something that is very true. This was drilled into my head the early years of my ministry, because one of the things I was always fearful of is going on a visit to see you as members, and that you were going to ask me some question about some minor prophet someplace that I had not read in the last five years, and ask about some king or something like that. Now, some guys are really good with that. I'm not, but I became very comfortable with the fact that if you ask me one of those kinds of questions, I'll say, you know what, that's an excellent question, and I'll get back with you, because I don't know everything off the top of my head. But what was drilled into me was this statement, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

If you know you're being loved, you can overlook an awful lot of things, an awful lot of things. When I was in West Virginia, the pastor that was my neighbor, his sermons, and I heard many of them over the years because we'd have WYU activities together, and we'd all take turns speaking, but his sermons were absolutely boring.

It's as interesting as a dried-out old boot. But you know what? The members of his congregation wouldn't want any other pastor but him, because he was such a caring individual. When he would visit you, the empathy, the being able to relate to the person he was talking to, the love that exuded from this person, they didn't care. I mean, they would like to have had better, more interesting messages. Side note there, just because a person is a boring speaker doesn't mean you can't be fed. Because I've known a number of fellows who, again, were boring, but boy, if you listened to what they had to say, there was some real meat there. And so that's on us to make sure we're properly listening. But the people understood how much he cared, how much his wife cared, and that meant so much to them. Now the ultimate example we have in terms of an encourager is Jesus Christ.

Philippians chapter 2 and verse 5. Philippians 2.5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And he was the ultimate encourager, the ultimate encourager. Okay, having gone through all that, that has brought me to the what I feel is the heart of the sermon today. And that is, what are the characteristics of the heart of an encourager? We've been called to the ministry of encouragement. But what kind of heart do you and I need to have so we can be a proper encourager?

An encourager, number one, and I didn't number these so I may get the numbering wrong as we go through this. An encourager has to have a humble heart, a heart that sees its own shortcomings.

You know, brethren, before we can move to serve other people, we need to know where we stand ourselves. We need to know our point of origin. We need to know where we're coming from, if we're going to properly move forward to help somebody. We need to get our bearings. We need to recalibrate our thinking. And we do that, recalibrating our thinking by appreciating the fact that the Great One is Jesus Christ and not us. And whatever help we give to somebody needs to be coming from God's Word, the Scriptures, through the Spirit of God. Not through your Spirit or my Spirit.

We need to make sure that as we are helping people, encouraging people, that we are showing how insignificant we are, but how significant God is. And so an encourager has to have a humble heart. Psalm 139 verses 23 and 24. Psalm 139 verses 23 and 24. Let me read it for you. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxieties. And see if there's any wicked way in me. And then notice how he finishes. And then lead me in the path and the way everlasting.

So the psalmist here is asking God to humble him, to show him his weaknesses, to show him where he's at. Again, if we're going to move out to serve others, we have to have our proper bearings. And as the case almost in everything, it all starts with humility. It all starts with humility.

Secondly, an encourager has to have a compassionate heart. An encourager has to have a compassionate heart. And that's a heart that actively cares about people.

Now you walk into services and you tell somebody that you just lost your job. You actually lost your job some time ago. You didn't want to tell people and bother people, but you're about ready to lose your house. And then the next word out of the person's mouth you're talking to, well, where do you want to go for dinner?

You know, that's not a compassionate heart. And a compassionate heart is a heart that really cares.

And again, brethren, we can go to God in our prayer life and ask God to give us that heart.

You know, maybe we tend to be a little standoffish. We all have different personalities.

Some of us are very warm and loving souls. Others of us are probably about as warm and loving as a sepulchre by nature. You know, that doesn't mean we can't learn. That doesn't mean we can't ask God to help us. And again, I'm not making fun of anybody. A lot of this is how you were raised.

A lot of this is how you were raised. I've known any number of people over the years where in my mind I was criticizing who and what they were before I actually got to know them. It's so easy to judge a book by its cover. And as one person in particular, I thought really a lot of ill toward. And then I found out this person's background. And I thought, how dare I be so presumptuous as to think those negative thoughts where if I had this person's background, I wouldn't be nearly the person they are. So we must understand that people are the way they are, largely as a result of how they were raised, the influences in their life coming up.

Maybe a person isn't as warm and fuzzy because they were abused as a child.

So we've got to be careful about some of these things. But again, that doesn't mean that the Spirit of God can't flow out from us and be compassionate in our own way. In our own way. Collagion, Chapter 3.

Collagion, Chapter 3, Verse 12. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies. That's the Spirit of compassion. Tender mercies. Kindness. Kindness is when we do something good for somebody who's done ill to us. We're being kind to them. And you know, people may disagree on all sorts of doctrinal issues. You may be working with somebody or a co-worker at work or a next-door neighbor or a family member. They may not agree with us in terms of our doctrinal beliefs. But one thing they cannot disavow is when we are kind to them. Kindness is a language all to itself. Atheists enjoy kindness. Humility, meekness, and long-suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you must also do. So here we see an attitude of compassion. Verse 14. Above all, these things put on love, which is the bond of maturity, the bond of perfection.

Number three. An encourager has to have an understanding heart, an understanding heart.

And many times if we want to properly serve somebody, we've got to draw them out.

So many times people use the analogy of an onion. You can meet somebody and it's like you're seeing the outer layer of that onion. But you have to keep on peeling different layers and going deeper and deeper and deeper into the persons who the person is to really understand.

We need to make sure we're listening not only to what people are saying on the surface, but be asking God to help us appreciate why are they saying this? Where are they coming from?

What are their needs? You know, the Bible says out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

When people are actually talking to you, they're saying a whole lot, not just with their words, but with where they're coming from.

Many years ago, a fellow by the name of Gary Chapman wrote a very interesting book.

I'm sure you've all heard of it. Probably a number of you have it on your shelves at home. It's called The Five Love Languages. The Secret to Love That Laughs. Five love languages.

In his book, Mr. Chapman points out that there are different ways that we show love to one another.

The way you show love may be totally different than the way your mate shows love.

And sometimes people will be frustrated because they're not receiving love the way they feel they should be giving it, but their mate is giving it the way they feel is proper.

And so it's kind of a miscommunication. The gears aren't quite meshing.

The Five Love Languages, and it's not that all of us need just one of these. There might be some we have in combination. But some people feel love is giving. Giving. Gift giving. They feel the heart of love is a spirit of giving. And so the way they show love towards you is they want to give you things. They want to give you presents. They want to do for you in terms of giving symbols of their love. Now, if you're the kind of person who feels that same way, then you're really happy. But maybe that's not who you are. Maybe you feel you're not being loved when your mate is, or somebody in your life, a family member, is striving to love you the way they appreciate love themselves. A second quality or language of love is quality time.

People feel, you know, to give you their undivided attention is the ultimate in love.

Now, maybe the person you're close to is giving you quality time, and you're expecting gifts. See where the conflict comes in sometimes? A third language of love is our words of affirmation. Building up. Encouraging. Your mate or your friend is trying to encourage you. But again, you want quality time. So sometimes you think they're not loving you. They're doing their best to try to love you, but they're doing it their way. They're doing it their way. Fourthly, acts of service. You know, I want to do something that pleases my wife. I want to do something that pleases my husband. I want to do something that pleases my children.

So you're doing these things, but what they want are words of affirmation.

So again, maybe the gears are not quite meshing. And fifthly, physical touch.

People feel a sense of safety. They feel a sense of security when they've got that physical touch.

You know, maybe you're the kind of person who needs you. You're a touchy-feely person.

And you know, the person that you want to do that, they're a gift-giving person. Or they're an acts of service person. Doesn't mean they don't love. They're just not showing you love the way that you would like to see it. But that's where as husbands and wives and family members, we talk to one another. And we express those things to one another. Proverbs chapter 20 in verse 5.

Council in the heart of a man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out. So part of our job as encouragers is to draw the other person out. What's making them tick? How can I better serve them?

Okay, the next on the list. I've lost track of the numbering here, so forgive me.

An encourager has an appreciative heart.

An encourager has an appreciative heart.

And that's a heart that sees the God-given worth in everybody.

An appreciative heart. Now this is really tough. When somebody gets on your nerves and they're standing on your last nerve, it's tough to have an appreciative heart.

Now in our culture, worth is many times established by the price you pay for an object or a service. What do we pay for it? Brendan, let's think about other human beings.

What payment was made for those human beings? The sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The sacrifice of God himself with his own blood.

Let's turn to Romans 6.

Romans 6 and verse 23.

Romans 6, 23. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Recognize that Jesus Christ established worth in every person by giving his life for those people. And those people are going to someday be sons and daughters of God. So our challenge, and many times it's a great challenge, is to treat everybody with that kind of feeling. Especially somebody who gets on your last nerve.

Now, somewhere down the road, there's a sermon I'm going to pull out from the past.

And the title of that sermon is, How Do You Deal With Difficult People You Must Deal With?

You know, some people you can... I don't need to see that guy. I don't need to see that lady. I can kind of sidestep them. But what if you are... you know, this is somebody you work with day in and day out. Or this is a next-door neighbor. Or somebody in your family. A child. A grandchild. And they're difficult. And you can't get around it. And how are you going to deal with that person? Well, we'll give a sermon on that sometime down the road.

Next, an encourager has a praising heart. A praising heart. A heart that sees the positives. Again, it's not wrong to see where people need to change and grow. We want to be able to see those things.

How we work with that is another matter. An encourager has a praising heart. So we need to avoid the temptation to catch people when they're doing something wrong. But instead, encourage them when we see they're doing something right. And especially if we drill down on that thought. We want to praise others. Proper praise. We're not talking flattery here. We're talking proper praise. And there's a difference between the two. Instead of praising outer characteristics, you know, they look good. They've got attractive clothes. They drive a nice car. Well, not everybody is handsome. Not everybody is pretty. Not everybody has a nice car or a nice home.

Those are physical things. But we can praise their character. We can praise their character.

You know, we can say, you know, I really appreciate the fact that you are a wise person. You've given me some really good counsel over the years. I appreciate that all the trials you've been through, your perseverance staying with the faith. So many other people would have left the church long ago, but you've hung in there over some very difficult times. Philippians chapter 4 and verse 8.

Philippians chapter 4 and verse 8.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure and lovely and of good report, if there's any virtue, if there's anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things.

Now, Paul who wrote this was not a goody two-shoes. Paul who wrote this spent time in jail.

He was stoned. He was shipwrecked. He was beaten with rods. He was let down in a basket over a wall.

He is a man who knew what life's hard knocks were and people who gave him those hard knocks. And yet, notice what he says for us to concentrate on. Concentrate on the positive.

Lastly, an encourager has a discerning heart, a discerning heart. We kind of touched on this a few moments ago. A heart that sees the deepest unmet needs of others. What's really there?

How can we understand the other person? Let's not shoot from the hip. So many times when we shoot from the hip, you know, I don't know how many times you've shot a weapon or whatever in, you know, Butch Cassie and a Sundance kid, they were good at shooting from the hip.

Most people when they shoot from the hip, they miss. They don't hit the goal. They don't hit the target.

We don't want to shoot from the hip. We want to seek to have understanding. We want discernment.

We really want to realize who these people are and be able to help them at their point of need.

Philippians chapter 4 and verse 19. We read verse 18 a moment ago. Philippians chapter 4 and verse 19. And my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

So if we have a need, if we don't think we're discerning enough, we can go before the great God and ask for that gift. And of course, he may give it to us by going through various trials and various other exercises that will help us grow in that gift. But if we're truly wanting that gift, God will give it to us. He may not give it to us the way we, you know, he's not going to just put on a bow and hand it to us. There's going to be some work involved, maybe some heartbreak involved, maybe some real sweat and tears involved, but God will answer that prayer.

I'd like to recall something that took place many, many years ago. It was a man who gave a few words of encouragement to another man when this other man was feeling very low. And I quote, When I decided to meet Babe Ruth and obtain an autograph from him, I couldn't have selected a more inappropriate time. It was a balmy evening in May of 1935. Earlier that day, the great home-run slugger had struck out three times while playing for the Boston Braves against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The fans have booed him unmercifully. As I was to learn, he was feeling pretty low.

I went to the Babe's hotel in Pittsburgh that night and phoned him from the lobby.

I collect autographs, I told him. And he replied, Are you sure you want my autograph? He grunted. I assured him I most definitely did. So the Babe gave me his room number and invited me up.

He told me the door was open. I was just to walk in. When I entered the room, I was sad to see the King of Swat wearing an old blue robe lying on the Davenport, the picture of dejection.

He was then 40 years old, and his career was all but over. He signed his autograph beneath his picture in my book. Then he looked up and said, I feel terrible. Not only did the fans boo me, but some idiot spat on me. I guess the cheap blankety-blank was mad because he paid to see me hit a home run. I tried to console the big-leg slugger by saying, Forget today, tomorrow's another day. I have enough confidence in you to predict that tomorrow you'll be the hero of the game.

So, a few words of encouragement. Babe Ruth said, Do you really mean that kid? He said, Yes, I do. Well, I'm going to autograph this baseball, too, that was used in batting practice, Babe said. The man said, I went home that evening thinking about the Babe and hoping that my prediction would come true. The next afternoon, I anxiously tuned in the game. Babe Ruth was making a comeback. He hit three home runs, his second being the only ball ever hit over the right field grandstand at Forbes Field. He was a hero once again. Those three homers, number 712, 713, and 714, turned out to be his last.

The date was May 25, 1935. Eight days later, he retired.

All because somebody gave him some words of encouragement.

Brethren, we have been called to the ministry of encouragement. We are a community of encouragers. This is something each and every one of us can do. This is something each and every one of us can learn to do better. I feel this congregation is an encouraging congregation.

But we can do better. Just as the golf pro needs his own golf pro, we can do better with this. So let's go to God in our prayers. We want to serve God. We want to serve as people. And one of the greatest ways we can do that is to be an encourager.