Skip to content Unstoppable: Encouragement - The Power to Empower Mar 5 · 38 min ...more
Unstoppable: Encouragement - The Power to Empower
March 5, 2024 · 38 min
Pastor John Mark highlights the need to actively participate in a Christian support system in our faith journey. He also reminds listeners to keep a proper perspective regarding difficulties in life.
Series "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton March 5, 2024 · 38 min · "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton
Pastor John Mark highlights the need to actively participate in a Christian support system in our faith journey. He also reminds listeners to keep a proper perspective regarding difficulties in life. ...more Show the full description Show less Pastor John Mark highlights the need to actively participate in a Christian support system in our faith journey. He also reminds listeners to keep a proper perspective regarding difficulties in life.
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John Mark is the Senior Pastor of the thriving Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, Texas, where he has served since 1995.
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The Give and Take of Christian Life 0:00 You glad you're in God's house today? Give God a hand. Man, as we jump back into our series that we started at the first year, I wanna invite you to reach and grab your copy of God's word and open it to0:11 first Thessalonians chapter 3 or open your Cottonwood Creek app and you can just follow all the verses along there. At the beginning of the year, we started, a series entitled unstoppable primarily because when we0:23 surveyed our congregation about their 20 22 and 20 23, they said they felt like anything but unstoppable. And so we wanted to go look at this amazing church filled with amazing people0:35 and see what we can glean from their unstoppable nature and see how we can apply it to our church, as well as to our lives individually. And what we looked at is Paul, on0:47 his second missionary journey, made his way through Greece, and he planted this church in Thessalonica. It was run out of town pretty quickly. And so what we're gonna read today is actually Paul worried0:59 about that church that they would leave their faith if they suffered persecution. Now, remember that church was filled up with a bunch of Hebrews and Hellenistic Jews, some Gentiles1:11 and some Greeks. Kind of a crazy collection of people, that God put together in a church in this city called Thessalonica that something happened that was really special. That instead1:23 of them being divided, they were absolutely focused and they were absolutely killing it. And so today, as we've looked at a number of other things, we're gonna read, that they were a model church. They were imitators of1:35 Paul as they imitated Christ. They received the message well. Today we're gonna look at the idea of in our Christian walk, there is always a give and take. There's a give and1:47 take when someone is going through something that I wanna be the giver, I wanna encourage them, I wanna take action, I wanna meet their needs, I wanna encourage them and strengthen them in their faith. But then when I'm1:57 going through something, I might also be a taker from time to time. And that's exactly what we see in first Thessalonians chapter 3 is that Paul shows us the perfect example,2:09 the model example of what it means to be a give and take Christian. But let's go back to, first Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 1 and remind ourselves of the story. It2:21 says Paul, Silas, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians and planted there just a couple of weeks. A riot broke out. They were, trying to be killed. So Paul and, the leadership team had2:33 to move on, but they left this church there. He says, to the church in the Thessalon of the Thessalonians, in God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, he says grace and peace to you. He says we2:44 always thank God for you and continually mention you in our prayers. In other words, always I'm praying for you. He says we remember before our God and Father your work that was produced by faith. These are all things we2:56 looked at in earlier messages if you missed them or online. Your work that produced your faith it was produced by faith. Your labor that was prompted by your love and your endurance that was inspired by hope3:08 in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now today, we're gonna, place kind of a high emphasis on Timothy. And we're gonna do that because as Paul we're gonna read here in a second. As Paul was kicked out of3:21 Thessalonica, he didn't stop working for God. He went to the next city, the next city, the next city. But he gets to Athens and he begins to be weighted down with worry and anxiety3:32 about the church that he planted in Thessalonica. And so he sends Timothy, who was the youngest member of the missionary team. Now, let let me tell you what we know about, Timothy. You may know there are 2 letters in the3:44 New Testament that are that bear his name, that were addressed to him, first and second Timothy. Beyond that, we know that his father was Greek, a Gentile, and his mother was a Hebrew.3:56 Alright? Then we see that he was probably saved, along with his mom and his grandmother, on Paul's first missionary journey. He was probably an older teen or in his young4:08 twenties, and once he got saved, he says, I want to join the missionary team. And they said, come on. And as you think about Timothy, now Timothy is being given an amazing task. So he was4:20 saved in Paul's missionary journey number 1. He is now on the missionary journey in number 2. And when we come to this word that Paul sent Timothy, this is the first time4:32 that Paul entrusts Timothy to do something by himself. And so I love this. We always need to remember, man, when someone is saved, we disciple, we encourage them, we send. They always need to be given4:44 an opportunity to go do something. And so Paul said, alright Timothy, you want to be part of the team? We're gonna stay in Athens. I'm gonna send you back to Thessalonica. I want you to go encourage them and strengthen4:56 them along the way. Now, here's what we know. Timothy stayed faithful through his whole life and ultimately became the pastor of the church in Ephesus. And that's where you get the letters to first and second Timothy5:08 where Paul is writing to this young Timothy and he tells him a number of things. He he tells him, listen, here's how you need to be a good pastor. Have a compassion for the sheep, love the sheep, but have a high value5:19 for God's word. He goes, don't let people look down on you because you're young or you're youthful. He says, listen, not only that. You need to make sure that as you teach scripture, you are also on the lookout for false5:30 teachers who teach another Jesus. He says, along the way, you need to be example to the flock. And he goes, listen. There are gonna be times when people go through some stuff. And Paul5:42 talked to Timothy as a pastor later on how to help people walk through some stuff. Some trials, some difficulties, some hardships, whatever it is. And so that's what we5:54 see in this passage, is the Thessalonians, this is kind of the beginning of Paul's heartbeat for Timothy. The Thessalonians are suffering great persecution, great struggles, and Paul sends Timothy to6:06 encourage them and check on them. Jump down a little bit further in first Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 6. We've looked at a number of these things, but I wanna focus in on 1 today. He says, you became imitators.6:18 We talked about the fact that, man, what does it mean to imitate Christ? That was a couple of weeks ago. And of us for the Lord as you welcome the message. We talked about if we're gonna be an unstoppable,6:30 church with a filled with unstoppable people, we need to be open to God's word, welcome God's word, have a high value on God's word. And he says in the midst of severe suffering with great joy given by the Holy Spirit,6:42 and so you became a model church to all believers throughout Macedonia and Achaia. Alright? So he says you're an imitator, you welcome the message, and what? You are a model church. Dive back6:54 in and notice what he says. You welcome the message in the midst of severe suffering and persecution. In other words, these believers in Thessalonica7:06 were suffering and persecuted for 1 reason and 1 reason only, because they were Christians. And you say, man, that that's all the way back in the New Testament. Let me just remind you, there is more7:18 persecution. Christianity is the most persecuted religion around the world, if you didn't know this. Christianity delayed just on, January the seventeenth, released an article that most7:29 updated statistics on persecution around the world. And you can go pull that and look that article up. But let me give you a couple of graphs and charts here that'll show you. Last year, when we think about it, look at7:40 this first chart here. Right there. That 1. That's the 1 I was looking for. Last year, we sit here in a country where we are7:52 blessed. That we don't have to worry. We don't think we're gonna have to worry, about the government coming in and attacking the church. Almost 14000 churches around8:04 the world last year alone were attacked simply because they are Christian churches in a hostile country or a hostile land. Alright? Let me give you some other8:16 statistics. There is more persecution across the world. Look at the chart of just the maps and you say, where is persecution? Most prevalent, pastor. Just look at it. If you take and go over near8:28 us, just look in Central America. If you look at Central America, you got Mexico, you've got Cuba, you've got Nicaragua, you've got Colombia. High persecution of people simply because8:40 they are Christians in Christian churches and worshiping God. Jump over to Africa. And as you just look through, the central part of Africa, you see Libya and Yemen and, Nigeria and8:52 Somalia and many others along the way. Jump over into Asia. Alright? And what would you think? North Carolina? Absolutely. Not North Carolina. North Korea. That's a different place. Anybody in9:04 here from North Carolina? Know that that we know why you're here. Lots of persecution out here over there. North Carolina. North Korea, Pakistan,9:15 India, Iran, and China. By the way, China, you see it's still yellow, but it will be red by next year. Because the oppression that has taken place for people because they are9:27 simply believers is gonna put them into the red category, no longer into the yellow or orange category. They had 1 of the biggest rise in persecuting as a government, persecuting Christians around their land. Let me tell9:39 you this. When you practice good stewardship and you give, a good portion of that every week and every month goes to support missionaries. You9:51 are supporting a number of churches and a number of missionaries through these red regions that we will never be able to put on our website because if they tracked them10:03 down they would go run them out or harm them. So when you give and when you are good stewards, you are, you are supporting missionaries who are serving at their own peril.10:14 Pastors who are preaching every Sunday at their own peril. Loss of their life. Loss of their family's life. You say, pastor, is it really that bad? Let me go to another chart, and I'll show you this.10:26 If you look across and think about that map, there are over 3 65000000 Christians in the world today that live in a place10:38 where it is basically illegal to be a Christian, that they face persecution and hardship. You say, how many is that? That means 1 out of every 7 Christians10:51 on the face of the earth today, alright, is facing some sort of persecution. Last year alone, you know, a lot of times we'll look in the New Testament and we'll see that Stephen was martyred or someone else was martyred11:03 or someone else died this way or that way. Last year alone, there were almost 5000 Christians around the world that were martyred for their faith, because11:14 they simply would not recount. They would not say okay to the government. They would not stop preaching. They would not bow down to a worldly authority, and almost 5000 that we know of.11:26 And by the way, if you go look at this article, they will tell you that these are bare minimum numbers. The numbers that are reported to them, the Open Doors Ministry that tracks11:38 all this, were way, way higher than the numbers I'm giving you right now. But they didn't become a number unless it was independently verified because some of these countries is so quiet that, man, for you to report11:50 something, you gotta be real careful to report it. So I'm telling you, these numbers are the bare minimum. There could easily be 400000000 Christians around the world that are suffering persecution, but it has to be12:02 independently verified. Let me give you another staggering statistic. Over 295000 Christians around the world were rejected from12:14 their homes simply because they were Christian. Then all of a sudden some government authority or tribal authority rolled in and said, you're a Christian. We're not. You're gone. Thanks12:26 for your house. And, by the way, we'll take your land. We'll take your cattle. We'll take everything that you have. Just be glad you're getting out of here with your life. You go look at the statistics. Some people will12:36 rape forced marriages to non Christians around the world. It is off the charts and these are all bare minimums. And say, pastor, why were they persecuted?12:50 Contrary to the narrative that so many people talk about in this country, these people were not persecuted because they were the people in power. They were not persecuted13:02 because they were rich. They were not persecuted because they were prudish. They were not persecuted because of the color of their skin. They were persecuted because they identified themselves as13:14 a Christian. And they said, God is our authority and Christ is our savior, our savior alone. Francis Schaeffer, a number of years back, talking about some of these totalitarian13:27 and authoritarian governments. He says, they will never accept Christianity because Christianity has an authority, God's word, by which Christianity can then judge the13:39 actions of the government. And that's what we see around the world, man. The the the we get to a place in government. We wanna be careful we don't get that way in our country. That if you don't tow the government line,13:51 the government will roll over you. How many of you understand what happened? That's happening all over the world, folks. And so as we think about today, when Paul talks about Christian suffering, man, if you stub your14:02 toe today, you are not suffering for Jesus. How many of us understand that? Whatever you're going through today, almost 5000 people lost their life for14:14 doing what you're doing right now and not recanting. 375000000 Christians right now are worshiping around the world fearful that the government is gonna come14:26 in and abuse them and take what they have simply because they are believers. So when we talk today about the give and take, certainly we're gonna contextualize it to where14:38 we are when we are going through trials and hardships and difficulties. Can I tell you, what they were going through in Thessalonica is way worse than than what we're going through here and what you and I will ever go14:49 through? But more than that, what if you were in 1 of these places where you could lose your life and you were engaged with first Thessalonians chapter 315:01 where Paul says, I warned you about severe suffering and persecution. What do we think about? Man, I didn't get the promotion. I'm suffering. I'm persecuted. What does someone over in China think about,15:13 I lost everything? So as we think through this, we're gonna contextualize it to us, but also remember, there's 3 75000000 Christians around the world who would love to have our15:25 suffering. Do we understand that? Who would love to have our problems? Who would trade our problems and the convictions that we had with theirs in a moment? And so15:37 as we dive into this passage, let's look at the give and take of the Christian life, and let's see it for what it really is. So here it is. Thought number 1, as we pick it up, the first thing we're gonna see, hopefully15:47 have your app open, is when we think about the give and take, notice Paul starts by trying to strengthen and encourage them. He's planted his church. He's gone on in his missionary journey. He's down in Athens. Pick15:59 it up as we read. Paul wants to strengthen and encourage them so they would not be lost in their faith. So here it is, verse 1. He says, so when we couldn't stand it any longer so here's what we're gonna read. Paul16:11 has gone on. He's down in Athens. He's planted more churches, but he has a heavy heart. An anxious mind about this church he loved in Thessalonica.16:23 And so what does it say? So when I couldn't stand any longer, we thought it was best to be left by ourselves here in Athens. Paul says, listen. I would love to come back by myself, but here's what Paul knew. He says16:34 every time I roll into town, they start throwing rocks and there's riots. How many of us understand? When we show up to town, they're teeing crumpets or donuts. Right? And Paul says, listen. I'd love to come to you, but16:45 we all know what's going to happen when I show up in town. There's going to be more persecution. So instead, he says, I'm going to do what is best. I'm going to send Timothy. No 1 knows. He's going to slip into16:57 town, and plus he needs an opportunity to grow in his faith and do something. He says, who is our brother and coworker in God's service and spreading the gospel of Christ? To what? Why did Paul send Timothy?17:09 To strengthen and encourage them in their faith. That's to give. Man, when we are surrounded by people that are hurting or are struggling, that we need to have a deep anxiety, a heavy17:21 heart, if we can step in and encourage them and step in and strengthen them. We wanna make sure that we're about the big gift. I wanna encourage them, strengthen them in their faith. Now continue to read on. He says, so17:32 that no 1 would be unsettled by the trials they are going to going through, for you know quite well that we were destined for them. Now if you wanna do17:44 something interesting, go back to that word unsettled. Put that word unsettled up there. You might wanna just, write this down, jot this down, or go look this up. That word unsettled is also used outside of17:56 scripture in Greek, literature. And that's the word that is used for a dog that has just gotten wet or just gotten out of the bath and he begins to shake. How many18:08 of you have a dog? How many of you know when you get that dog out of the bath or out of the shower or out of the backyard, you have that briefest of moments to get the towel over it or we all18:19 wear what they're wearing. How many of us know that? Alright. My wife has a Great Dane. That means that when that dog goes to shape, there's about 19 gallons of water that are gonna fill up everybody and every18:31 And so you know, once you turn that water off, you better be quick with that towel or you better be in your bathing suit. That's the word. Paul chooses that word. He says just like a18:43 dog shakes the water off of his body, we have to be careful because when we go through suffering or go through trials, they can shake us from our faith as well. And so I love that imagery.18:55 Paul says listen, Man, when we go through hardships, we go through persecution, we go through trials, what's a trial potentially going to do to us? Shake us19:07 from the faith. We talk a lot about shaking our faith. Right? Does that shake your faith? Well, what Paul's saying is don't let it shake you off of your faith. Man, so here's Paul.19:19 Paul's anxiety, the weight of them, concerned about them, Paul's worry for them led to an action. Now let me just stop right there. If you're19:31 anxious or worried about something or someone, take Paul's example. Go from just worrying or just being anxious to inaction.19:43 Do something. If you're worried about someone, if someone's on your heart, if you're concerned, maybe it's a son or a daughter or a mom or a dad or a friend. Man, if you've gotta wait, What did19:55 Paul do? Paul Paul said Paul says, listen. I am over here worried to death about you. So he puts his plan into action. And what was his action? He says, I'm gonna send Timothy to you and I'm gonna ask Timothy20:07 to strengthen and encourage you along the way. Here's the second thing as we just continue to read. So Paul, he was anxious, he was worried. He was worried that the church was collapsing and the people would be20:19 shaken off of their faith. And so, Paul sends Timothy to strengthen and encourage them. But he also does what? Paul reminds them that they were going to experience persecution. And so I20:31 want you to know here, child of God, I want to remind you, you will go through hard things in life. You will experience difficult things in life. I think we have to20:43 be careful that we don't man, God is a God who produces and pronounces favor on us, but God never said you and I would never go through trials. Remember what James, the brother of Jesus said? He20:54 says, Consider it all joy when you go through trials. Not if. We're all gonna have them, alright? So we wanna be careful about always thinking if someone even if someone's21:06 preaching, regardless how good their heart is, that that a Christian will never get sick or always get healed, will always get the promotion, will always get wealthy, will always get the let me tell you what. That's not21:16 what is said in scripture. Paul reminds them again, you will be persecuted. You say, where do you see this? First Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 4. Paul says, in fact,21:28 when we were with you, we kept telling you. What do you keep telling them? That you would be persecuted. My guess is when Paul was with them, they kept saying, yeah. We know. We know. We know. We know. We're gonna21:40 experience persecution. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then all of a sudden the riots happened. Said, what did you say about persecution? And Paul said, I kept telling you. Tell him God, let me just tell you. You're gonna go21:50 through some stuff. It doesn't matter if you're a baby Christian. I don't know what's between a baby. Adolescent Christian, a teenage Christian, or a mature Christian. You're gonna go through some stuff. And that's what22:02 Paul says. He says, in fact, we told you, kept telling you, told you over and over again, you'd be persecuted. You're destined to suffer. You're destined to go through hard things. He goes, and as it turned out that way,22:14 and it turned out that way as you well know. He says, for this reason, when I could not stand it any longer I love that second time Paul says, he said, I just couldn't take it. Anybody ever been that way? They did you're22:25 sitting there, you're thinking about something, thinking about something, you're kinda waiting to get word, you're waiting to get word, somebody tell me. Maybe someone's going in for an interview and you're just kinda22:32 sitting there and you go, man, just call me. And then they don't call you and think, well, it's gotta be bad news. Right? It's gotta be they would call me if it was good news. It's gotta be bad news. Well, I really don't22:42 wanna call them if it's bad news because they're probably Anybody ever been there? That's kinda what Paul was doing. He's going, Man, I just couldn't take it anymore. I loved you so much that I'd just sit there and I22:53 said, I gotta send Timothy. He says, so what? I couldn't take it anymore. I sent to find out about your faith. That's Paul Paul's primary concern. Why? I was afraid that23:05 in somehow, someway, the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might be in vain. Paul says,23:17 I just couldn't take anymore. I wanted to check on you. I wanted to see how you were doing. He says, my fear was that the persecution that I promised you was gonna come, once it came, that23:29 you would be shaken from your faith and our labor would be in vain. But he also added something else, and perhaps the tempter had tempted you to walk away.23:43 I I think anytime we go through some stuff, whether it's trials or hardships or persecution, loss of a job, cancer, broken relationships. I think we need to step back23:55 and ask who are we listening to in this season. And I think there there are 5 different voices that we can hear when we're walking through some stuff and you just might want to write these24:06 down. I will tell you 2 of them are always good. 2 of them sometimes are good and sometimes are bad. 1 of them is always bad. First of all, man, if I am going through stuff or if you're going through24:18 something right now, listen for God's voice. Just say, what is God telling me and teaching me and how is God trying to strengthen me in this stuff?24:31 And I will tell you, God, if he's speaking to you in that moment, in that season, he's always doing it for your benefit. He's always positive. Second, we want to be reading God's word. I want to hear the voice of God24:43 through scripture. I don't always just go and read about all the trials and all the hardships. Sometimes I'm just reading somewhere that has nothing to do with trials and hardships, but it seems to speak to my trials and24:52 hardships. So I always want to listen to God's word. God's word will always encourage you to grow. Here's number 3. You ready? When I go through difficulties and you go through difficulties, we have a tendency25:04 to listen to our self. How many of us know we have a little self talk going on all the time? Right? This is where we get in. First 2 are good. This can be good or bad.25:16 Alright. If you're going through a trial, a hardship, or difficulty, what is your self talk telling you? What is that inner voice saying to you? Alright? And I don't wanna get all mystical. I'm just saying it's real.25:28 Right? I know people that their own they are their own worst critic. How many of you know? That, man, they just they they just are attacking themselves all the time. They're tearing themselves down. That's why it's25:39 so important that we hear from God and hear from God's word about who we really are and we don't just listen to ourself. Sometimes, our self talk is great. Because we're sitting there like Paul saying, man,25:51 listen. I don't know why God has let me through this or taken me through this. But here's what I know. God wants me to get stronger in my faith, not be shaken off my faith like a dog shakes water off of its back. And he26:01 goes, beyond that, here's what I know. When I get on the other side of this trial, I'm gonna use this as a testimony for someone else. Sometimes we have some real positive self talk that I'm going through this.26:11 Sometimes, man, God doesn't love you. Sometimes our self talk, God doesn't love me. God loved me. He wouldn't let me go through this. Which brings me to a fourth category. They can be positive or negative too. It's26:23 the others in your life. Who are the other people in your life that are speaking into your life? Sometimes they're good. Sometimes they're bad.26:36 Sometimes the words that they say align with God's word and God's, God's voice in your life and sometimes they give us bad advice. I know probably many of y'all26:48 be shocked. I've had some bad friends in my life. How many of you know? They were usually the 1 that were right there with me at the scene of the accident in my life. Right? Right. And they're cheering. Right? Let's do26:59 that again. I'm like, no. I think we barely survived that 1. Right. There are times in our lives how many of you have teenagers? Don't you scare you're always scared because first of all, you got a27:10 teenager. That's bad enough. Right? Here's what I've known. Take 1 teenager, add 3 more. They're 4 times as likely to do something bad. Right? So we always27:22 talk to our kids about Man, even as adults, who are the others that speak into my life? Is there someone that's gonna speak God's word into my life, encourage me along the way, when I get discouraged, when I begin to27:33 struggle along the way? Man, who are the others that are speaking into my life? And are they speaking good thoughts or bad thoughts? Good words or bad you know, sometimes it's the others in your life will will27:45 change your self talk. There are some people that, man, they find themselves in 1 trial after another trial after another trial after another trial after another trial and it's always someone else's fault.27:57 And maybe it's that good friend that'll show up and say, You know, there's 1 common denominator in all the train wrecks of your life. You're driving the train.28:10 That's not easy to say, but there is a reality. That's where some people are. You say, Pastor, I thought you said 5 voices. Remember? 2 always positive. God's voice. God's word.28:21 2 can be good or bad, my self talk, the other self talk. Who's number 5 always bad? The tempter Paul talks about. Satan. The tempter who tempts28:33 you to leave your faith so that the word of God is in vain. Let me tell you what. Satan will always show up in your life and whisper lies in your28:45 ears. He will scream lies about you from the mountain top. He will say if God loved you, you wouldn't go through this, or if they cared for you or talk to you, you know, if that church did this, or if the pastor really28:57 did that. Man, and Satan is always gonna lie to you. And so we wanna make sure that I am not listening. And say you say, how can I make sure I'm not listening to the tempter? Well, make sure you're hearing God's voice,29:09 reading God's word. Your self talk lines up with God's word and those people that are speaking into your life are supporting God's word in your life. Then when Satan whispers something in your ear, you go, yeah, I'm29:21 pretty much out on that, Satan. That is not true and it's not what God says about me. Now, the next thing. Enough. So here, we've talked about the give. Alright? The give was Paul was anxious about29:33 them. They were going through persecution. I'm gonna send Timothy. He's gonna strengthen and encourage you. He finds out, man, sure enough, you've gone through the hardship. Now, here's the take. Alright? I29:45 love this. Paul ends up, instead of encouraging and strengthening them, he receives encouragement from them. Alright? You said, where do you see this? Look at it. Here's the take. We've seen the give. Now here's29:57 the take. Verse 6. But Timothy there's that young man. This is his first opportunity. But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought us good news about30:08 your faith and love. Your double targets. If you want to know what we always want to shoot at shoot at us at church, those are our double targets. Greater faith, greater love. Greater faith, greater love. Greater faith.30:20 He says, you nailed it. Bullseye. Double targets right there. He says, he has told us you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us30:32 just as we long to see you. Therefore, he says, brothers and sisters, in all of our distress, in all of our persecution, we were encouraged about your faith and because of your30:44 faith. Here's what Paul is saying. Paul is saying, you didn't know this, but when you were going through some stuff over in Thessalonica, I was going through some stuff over in Athens. He says, when you were being30:56 persecuted over there and going through trials over there, I was going through trials over here. He says, I sent to encourage you because here's what I know, 1 of the best things I can do when I'm in those seasons of31:07 anxiety and worry is not just stay in my anxiety, but choose an action to encourage someone else. He says, sure enough I did that and Timothy shows up and brings me way more encouragement31:19 than I ever could have given you. And so, what an incredible thought that here we are in the give and take. Paul wants to encourage and strengthen them because he took action. He31:31 ends up receiving encouragement and strengthening from them. Here's the lesson for all of us. Who are we encouraging?31:43 Who are you strengthening? Who's going through something that you're worried about? That you need to take action to encourage them. But it also is this way, it31:55 doesn't matter how young or how old you are, we all need people in our lives who will encourage us when we're going through this stuff and we're going through the difficulties and we're going through the32:07 hardship. So let me ask you a question. Who are you encouraging consistently and who are you receiving consistent encouragement from? We all32:18 need both. Is there someone here in here, you have this deep anxiety on what's going on in your life? Can I tell you? The best way to get over your worry and your anxiety is32:30 to do something for somebody else. That's what Paul said. He says, I was sitting over here, I could have wallowed in my persecution, my hardship, my anxiety, but instead I chose to try to strengthen and encourage you32:42 along the way so much so that I took away 1 of my best friends. Left myself a little isolated and lonely because I cared about you. Here's the32:53 fourth idea. Paul says, not only did you strengthen me when I wanted to strengthen you, not only did you encourage my faith when I wanted to encourage your faith, but here's the fourth thing he says. He says, you brought33:03 me joy. Joy that was immeasurable. Look at it, pick it up in verse 8. Paul says, for now we really live. Now just own that33:15 for a moment. Paul starts in verse 1 and says, when I couldn't take it anymore. I was burdened. I was broken. I was33:27 heartbroken for you because I was fearful that the persecution, the trials, the difficulties you were going through were gonna cause you to lose your faith. He says, that's how I started.33:40 This anxiety that was overwhelming, then I took action and now he says, man, now that I've gotten the report back, man, we really live since you are standing firm in the33:52 Lord. He says, how listen to this. How can we thank God enough? He says, how can I thank God enough for all that you are and what you've done? For you in return, for all the joy34:03 we have in the presence of our God, listen, because of you. Paul tried to strengthen them, encourage their faith, bring them joy. Guess what Paul got? He got strengthening from them, encouragement and joy from them. He34:15 goes, as a matter of fact, when I pray for you night and day, we'd see that if you read on. He says, my greatest joy is because of you. And so as we think through this, notice. Read on. For you are34:27 our joy in the very presence of God and it's you. He says, night and day, we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking34:39 in your faith. I love the way Paul ends that there and this is where we're gonna close. Is that Paul says, I was so worried about you that I had to do34:51 something about it. Maybe there's someone here that you've been worried about someone. Let me ask you a question. What are you gonna do about it? What are you gonna do about it? Say, Well, pastor,35:03 what I'm worried about is something going on in my life. Remember what Paul says? As we were experiencing trials and suffering and persecution here, we thought we would go ahead and encourage you. What are you gonna do35:14 about it? Beyond that, who are you juicing and encouraging in their faith and who's your encouragement? That's why we always push groups here at our church. We don't ever want anyone to35:26 be isolated alone. You can sit in a crowd this size and feel isolated and alone. You could be looking online and you could be isolated and alone. That's why we have groups on campus. That's why we have35:38 groups online. Why? Because here's what we know. There is a give and take that every 1 of us need to stand firm in the35:49 faith in those seasons of hardships and difficulty. It's 1 thing to say, Hey, I'll pray for you. And by the way, prayer is powerful, but it's way36:01 more to say, hey, I'm gonna do something. To make sure I move from anxiety to action is always the best way. And then Paul concludes it saying,36:14 I wanted to bring you joy, but instead you brought me joy. So church, that's our call. Let's be actively involved in the give and36:26 the take of our Christian walk in here, in our groups, at the office, in the schools, wherever we are. And in doing so,36:38 we will hit those double targets of faith and love. Let's pray. God, God, thank you so much for this day. God, thank you for the opportunity just to celebrate your goodness and your love. God, I thank you for a church in36:50 Thessalonica so long ago that even being so young and inexperienced in their faith, they were not shaken by37:02 the trials and the hardships and the difficulties they experienced. God, I pray for those 375000000 Christians around the world that experience hostility just because of their faith.37:14 Not because they have power. Not because they have riches. Not because of anything other than they say, identify me with Jesus Christ. God, we lift them up and we encourage37:26 them. We support them for our missionaries that are abroad and the believers that are abroad that we support financially, God. That's why we're good stewards. So we can encourage and connect with them. In Jesus' name37:38 we pray. Amen and amen. As you leave here today throughout this week, let's always thinking about the give and the take. Our altar team will be down here. If you need to make a decision for Christ, don't head to the37:50 door. God bless you. Have a great day.In this video 0:00 The Give and Take of Christian Life
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