How Full Is Your Bucket Series

We are relational beings and we want people to relate to us. That’s how God created us. It’s how we are all wired. Some need more contact, more encouragement than others, but we all need one another. Adam was the great creation of God, yet on his own he felt all alone, he wanted another person to share life with, another person to live in community with, to share dreams and hopes and just simply . . . life with one another. I believe Adam, and ultimately Eve, needed one another and needed one another to be an encourager.

It’s interesting that one of the spiritual gifts is the gift of encouragement. I find it unique that God saw fit to really make some people gifted in knowing how to say the right things at the right time in order to encourage others.

After reading that book and another by Donald Clifton, called Now, Discover Your Strengths, it seemed to me the writer of Hebrews had bucket filling in mind with the words that were written in this and in other sections of Hebrews. He tells us we need to consider . . . consider how we can spur one another on toward love and good deeds. After rereading this passage, I don’t know if it hits you, or if you find it strange, that the writer of Hebrews used the phrase, LET US CONSIDER. It seems like a simple little phrase, but why not just say,

‘Let us spur one another on toward love and good deeds.’ That would have been more direct and to the point, but that’s not what is said. We are reminded to consider, to think it over, to study . . . how to spur one another on. When was the last time we gave it some serious thought about how to encourage one another, to say good things to motivate someone and to help them feel good about themselves.

You see, when we are encouraged, we are much more apt to want to do good things, we are more apt to feel better about ourselves, and when we feel good, it becomes more difficult for satan to throw those road blocks in our way. We find we have that extra skip in our step. And it feels good.

We need to be encouraged, nobody is immune, we all need it and you know what, it’s contagious. Imagine a church where people are focusing on the positives, a work place where people are not filled with griping and complaining, an activity that is just plain fun.

We had that yesterday, at the Sheldon’s, we did a lot of laughing as we celebrated Octorberfest at day early. We have people in this church who are encouragers,

people who are looking for the good things, we need to celebrate and party in the name of Jesus Christ.

Oh, dear friends, in a few moments we will take communion, we are reminded of the encouragement Christ offers us, what His life and His death and His resurrection mean for us. That is the same life giving hope that we are also called to give to one another.

So, as we come to the end today, we will literally take 2 minutes in silence and take out that drop that is in your bulletins and write a note to someone. Write a quick note to someone in this church, to someone in your family, to a good friend . . . and remind them of their beauty as one of God’s children.