Step Up Part 3

Hello, hello friend. Thank you so much for tuning in here at Freelife Chapel where we help you discover and live the free life in Christ My name is Kati and I'm so glad that you're tuning in with us If you ever find yourself in the central Florida area come visit us. We want to connect with you face to face But until then visit our website freelifechapel.org to find out more about what's happening at your church There's a phenomenal message in store just for you. I hope you're encouraged for Christmas Kate of Elizabeth bought me one. I'm a dude that loves gadgets We're the dudes that love gadgets and the gadget guys. Okay. Yeah, I know there's probably some ladies too But yeah, it just it's a it's a it's a dude thing. So they bought me this this cool deal That's kind of for me, but not really It's so it's got this it's a it's a it's a battery It's like a bomb battery Like it's got a light on it. It's got it's got like like really really cool stuff on it like hey, how you like that? it's it's Kent does it turn off? Yeah. Okay. There you go. It's like it's cool. But but but what's it beyond the battery? What's cool about the battery is? It connects to some jumper cables Look at that and so that means if I find you stranded at Walmart I Can hook up this little bag carry this battery in my truck I can hook up If I can clip on to you and your battery I Can charge your battery and get you up and going you can say thank you later You're welcome It's it's not even for me. Really. It's it's to help somebody else Have you ever been trying to go somewhere? You got in your car try to start up and the battery was dead Anybody ever had a dead battery you've been trying to get to work Dead battery going on vacation Dead battery come in the church Yeah, call us. I got a I got a charger like like like there's like it's frustrating when you want to go But watch this the battery's dead when the battery's dead. You're going nowhere Can I tell you something?

when your battery is Dead your life is going nowhere and The thing that brings your battery back to life is a biblical word called Encouragement Encouragement I know it sounds so oh, yeah, I've heard about this word I know you got all your Tony Robbins videos you watch good for you. I've heard Oprah. Yeah, that's all good Everything Anybody I don't care if they're self-help if they're a doctor anything you've ever heard about Encouragement that is true. It comes from the Bible Encouragement is God's idea It's not the culture's idea. It's not just be a good person. No, that's it That's it. This is a biblical idea and I believe we have Underestimated its power and I want to talk to you about that today think about the word encouragement it has a prefix in and then courage to Put courage into something when you encourage somebody you're pouring courage into somebody who is Discouraged If you are discouraged you are depleted and since it takes courage to do anything in life You need to make sure that your courage tank is filled so you can go somewhere in life. We all need Encouragement would you turn to someone step aside you tell him you need to encourage me. Just tell him you need to encourage me Now Watch this watch this watch this First Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 11 read it loud with me read it proud. Here we go. One, two, three Encourage each other and build each other up Just as you were all ready to do Encourage each other watch and build each other up In

Encouragement is a builder it strengthens the structure and the foundation of who you are and When Paul was writing this to the church in Thessalonica He was saying Encourage and build each other up just as you are already doing It's interesting to me that he highlights what's already going on and tells him now do more of it. I Know you're encouraging now do more I know you're lifting each other up, but do more of it Paul is not highlighting prayer. I know you're encouraging others, but you need to pray more. That's not what he said. I Know you're encouraging each other, but You need you need to give more didn't say that serve more didn't say that read your Bible more didn't say that He said I know you're encouraging others. I'm telling you to do more encouraging That means encouragement is not just a nice thing to do Encouragement has a spiritual impact to it It's deeper than just making somebody feel good about today It goes deeper than that and we need to look at this Why was Paul encouraging the believers to keep the encouragement going because it's foundational to your life Today, I want to talk about this and unpack this for you. The first thing The first the first person the first thing you need to do with encouragement is number one encourage yourself Turn to someone tell him you got to speak to yourself. Sometimes you got to speak to yourself sometimes You ever done that you ever encouraged yourself You heard me say it before I've let myself voicemails Couldn't find anybody to encourage me. So I'll encourage myself Scott you good-looking devil you That was so please cut that do not show that ever for all of you online, I'm so sorry you just saw that Scott You're gonna make it today I Know they're on your nerves, but God's for you. You're gonna be fine. So I keep going fearfully and wonderfully made you got this I've left myself voice message like I did and after I get done laughing at myself, I start listening and you know what?

It dad gone helps Encouraging words are Powerful the Bible gives us a story in first Samuel where David and all of his warriors They left their camp in a place called Ziklag and they went out to battle when they came back They came back to find out that while they were gone one of the surrounding enemies to David the Amalekites came in and they completely Tore up stole everything in their camp and kidnapped the women and children David was a mess and even worse than that David's warriors his men Were off. I mean that they lost they lost it. They lost their minds They begin the Bible says they were crying. They were angry that all this range of motion They were going nuts and they directed it towards David and the Bible says that they talked about stoning David Now some of y'all going. Yeah, I've been stoned before. No, that's a whole different level of stone No, that's a whole different level of stone I'm talking about this this and this one like I we want to drop rocks on David's head We want to beat the life out of him because of what David did he led us out? left it exposed my wife and my kids are gone and The Bible says something really interesting in first Samuel chapter 30 verse 6. It says this David encouraged himself in the Lord his God Sometimes you've got to encourage yourself You can't wait on somebody to come around. You can't wait on somebody to call you send that text message You know what you need to hear, but let me ask you. Here's my question to you How how do you talk to yourself? Are you an encourager or are you? judgmental of you Do you see yourself as a failure Do you see yourself? Well, it's not fair It's not right. Are you heavy and hard on yourself? Do you not give yourself a break? Are you always throwing elbows on you? Like like you get 13 people give you a compliment on that on the hair change But one person doesn't like it and that one person trumps all 13 people and that's all that you think about all day long

Are you are you that person that your word is just it's just hard you to see yourself as a failure or or are your words Are your words strong are your words uplifting? Are you are you saying I know I fell down, but I'm learning I'm growing I'm discovering new ways to keep moving forward. I've never done that before but I bet I can learn I want to start something new when you hear a new challenge about something that you're not doing. Do you see this? Well, I'm a failure. I can't do that. Or do you say hey, that's something I need to try to start in my life How do you look at it? Is it half empty or is it half full? Which way are you looking at it? It's critical that you and I learn to use God's Word to encourage Ourselves, you know why? Because sometimes you and I don't even believe our own words Our words don't seem to impact us because we see ourselves so bad or or we we see ourselves as a failure I didn't get this done. I can't do that. And so we it's hard to even encourage ourselves In that and that's why we need the Bible because I need God's Word Word whose Word and opinion is higher than everybody else's, that can speak to my life because it's based on His love, His reputation, His faithfulness, and when I speak God's Word over my life, that's a different level of speaking and so sometimes you've got to speak to yourself, you've got to encourage yourself with the Word of God. This is, this is what Paul did in the Bible, in the book of Ephesians — 1 Corinthians, he starts talking like, what shall separate me from the love of God? He said nothing, trial, tribulation, he wasn't preaching a message, he was talking to himself when he could find nobody to speak life into him, he decided to speak life into himself talking about the faithfulness and the goodness of God. You and I need encouragement and sometimes it's got to come from us, you need to look yourself in the mirror and encourage yourself, sometimes you've got to do it. If you're waiting on somebody else to do it, it may never come. Number two, you've got to encourage others. I know, really deep, huh? Encourage yourself, but also encourage others. In Acts chapter four, this idea of encouragement is like taken through the roof. There's a guy named Joseph who was, who was working with the churches, loved God and,

and he was so powerful, watch this, in his encouragement of other people that all the leaders got around and say, yo, Joseph, come here, we've got to talk to you. What's up? He said, I know your government name is Joseph, but we're changing your name. You are now officially called Barnabas, Barnabas, because Barnabas means son of encouragement. You are now going to, your words, your presence, when you engage with somebody, you're such a life giver, you build people. They have a hope, they have a strength, they have a joy that they didn't have until you got there. Son, you've got to understand, what is on your life is changing people around you. We will now rename you Barnabas. And the Bible says in the book of Acts chapter 11, Stephen, after he was just stoned, after he had just been, Stephen was stoned for his faith, some of y'all need to come back to church, after he was stoned for his faith, all of a sudden the Christians in Antioch are like, man, we ain't going public with our faith. Are you serious? This is scary. They're killing Christians for their faith. And the Bible says that the church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to Antioch, go encourage the saints, encourage the believers to stand strong. And the Bible says in Acts chapter 11 verse 23, when he, Barnabas, arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to abide in the Lord with all their hearts. In other words, Barnabas showed up, he was on a mission, I want you to build the saints, I want you to encourage the people, give them a hope they don't have, give them a joy they weren't feeling, give them something to look at. And the Bible says he lifted them, he encouraged them in a time of fear and loss, encouragement showed up to turn the situation around. You can be going through a horrible scenario when encouragement shows up, you're better than you were. It may not have changed the circumstances, but you're better in the circumstances, you're

stronger in the circumstances, and as long as you stay strong, everything is going to be fine. But sometimes, you need a hookup. And you and I are to be these people that are walking around with our little hookup waiting to connect with somebody, who do I see that they are discouraged, their battery is dead, they're going nowhere, they have no hope, they've got no joy, they've lost their dreams, who can I connect to? Because God has put so much in me, I'm a walking life giver everywhere I go, looking to connect and pour this joy into somebody else. We need encouragers in our homes again. Like, in home, not like, you left your socks on the floor. They may have done it, but you didn't leave your underwear on the floor. I'm going to find something to encourage. Ladies, it's going to be hard encouraging your husband, I know, but just hang in there, just hang in there. But in our marriages, we need more encouragement. With our kids, oh heaven help us today. Our kids need to hear encouragement. Because social media and what's going on today and what they hear, it's so competitive driven and how they don't add up and they're not enough and I don't have this and I don't have that and I should be here and I'm not there. And they need to have mom, dad, look them in the face and tell them who they are and what they're doing and they're amazing and God's hand is on their life and there's a blessing. They're doing phenomenal. They're growing. Let them hear the encouragement. We need more encouragement on social media. We need encouragement while we're walking through Target. Tar-jay.

Like, like, like when you see somebody and the outfit looks nice, tell them, oh you're looking good. If you're a brother, you don't say that to a lady. You understand. Like, you can compliment another brother, but, but Cindy is notorious for this. You've heard me tell you. If she sees a lady in, in, in, in wherever she is and she's got, she got the outfit going on, Cindy will tell her, excuse me, come here. You need to know you got the, oh that's working right now. That, that looks good on you girl. She said, I thought it, but it doesn't do you any good unless I tell you. This, this, Cindy does this regularly. She will just pour into, and those people walk by and go, oh my God, they walk different when they're leaving. It's like, like they, they just, they just got that bump back. You understand. We need encouragement today. Why? Because encouragement is both a weapon and a wonder. There's things encouragement does that you don't even know. In fact, I want to tell you, it's a weapon because it destroys discouragement, but it's a wonder because it strengthens, connects, and creates community in a way you never realized. In fact, let me put it this way. Encouragement impacts two people, the person receiving the encouragement and the person giving it. Have you ever had someone cheer for you? Everybody ever play sports and you, you know, family showed up or cheerleaders, all that kind of thing? When I was in high school, that was back in the 1800s, 1900s, I got, I was, I was in high school and I, so we were the Radford, lived, grew up and went to high school in Radford,

Virginia. We were the Radford Bobcats, that's who we were. And I played baseball, that was my world. We were horrible. And so, but when I would, when I would step up to bat, they would announce, up to bat now, Thomas, number 15, shortstop. I get in my position, getting ready to hit. And I hear over on the sideline, how many of you ever met my mom? I'm, you know, my mom, Pastor Joy, okay. My mama had been an insurer all my life. My mom is like Jesus mama, Jesus mom, right, like just right there. And mom's got her hair stacked up high, PhD, Pentecostal hairdo, like that's my mama. And my mama's on the sideline, I'm in the batter's box, big game going on, and I hear this. Let's go, Scotty! Woo-hoo! Go, Bobcats! After I struck out, I went back to the, went back to the dugout and, and I would sit down, and my boys, they wouldn't even look at me. They would go, Thomas, your mom's here. I heard her well, I know what you're talking about. But on those occasions where I actually got a hit, like, oh my God, I hit the ball. And it's, I'm running to first, and I hear my mama, go, Scotty! Go, Scotty! Can I tell you, I put a little pep in my step when I heard my mama yelling. My stride was a little bit longer, I just, hey, and when I came sliding in, I popped up, look over, see if mama's looking, there she is, I see you, girl. Like, there's nothing like having mama cheer for you. When somebody cheers for you, it's just different, right? Can I tell you something?

When you're cheering or being cheered for, something is happening inside of you that you don't know. Hormones and neurotransmitters are wired. Wired you so that there be an explosion of hormones and neurotransmitters that when you hear Someone cheering for you or when you cheer for somebody else. I've wired you to come alive God did this I want you to understand Five key effects that I want to focus on here with cheering and encouragement number one oxytocin is Released in your body. It's called the love or the bonding hormone Cindy has a bunch of this flowing for me and the effects of this it promotes feelings of trust and empathy and it builds a sense of community and individuals connected together Then there's a dopamine hit that you go through when cheering happens. This is associated with reward and pleasure like ah That hits it creates a feeling of happiness Motivation excitement and it builds social interaction Then there's these endorphins that are released when you're cheered for and when you're cheering for somebody else And it's a natural pain reliever. It's it's a mood enhancer many times. It's called the runners high It's a sense of euphoria that that happens when you're cheering or being cheered for and then you've got this Epinephrine or the adrenaline that that hits and this is where's an increased energy and alertness preparing individuals for action and it creates excitement and then there's this Serotonin that hits when you're cheered for or when you're cheering helps to regulate your mood Emotions and social behavior and it promotes feelings of happiness on the inside When you cheer or when you're cheering for or you're cheered for Can I tell you This is one of the unknown unseen unrealized benefits of worshiping in church Do you know what praise and worship is cheering for Jesus and When I'm cheering for him, I feel better about me Why is that God wired you to be strengthened when you worship?

When I begin to praise him I connect different Have you noticed people who go to the ballgames and cheer? Enjoy the games more than those who go to the ballgames and don't cheer They're more into I mean, they're just like they're consumed with it Like the fans and the players are all one community. They're connected We we feel it like it's all one like there's like guys go to the next level girls Go to the next level when they got their team like they're all in what is that? Because the cheering and the receptivity it unites and it pulls together as one This is why it's important that when we come together on Sundays and we worship Jesus together Something happens in this room that the encouragement and the celebration it happens Physiologically neurologically it happens in the room and it pulls us together. That's why I encourage you Don't just sit and watch and listen to worship Open your mouth and begin to declare and cheer for Jesus for his faithfulness and his goodness It will change you and it will step up your life in him I don't praise him because I feel like it I praise him because I need to And that changes my life God wired you to receive encouragement When you give encouragement See some of y'all are kind of tripping on that right now You receive encouragement when you give it You don't have to wait for someone to give you encouragement if I'll encourage others I'll be encouraged myself So now Encouragement and feedback in my life is a byproduct of giving life to others I am brought back to life. You want to know what purpose in life is all about? Being a life giver to somebody else Finding somebody who was down somebody who's trying to do it alone someone who was discouraged and then they ran into you And all of a sudden because you ran into me and I happen to have a battery I've got more

Encouragement than what I need. So let me hook up to you and I can pour some into you. I am a Encouragement giver. I'm a donor. I'm a life giver. That's why I'm here Ladies and gentlemen, you've got to open your mouth and share get cannot we all are drawn. We're all drawn to encouragement Ladies, if you ever see your husband close to washing a dish Hercules Hercules a Hercules He'll be like, and you know what you're gonna find? Tomorrow he's gonna be standing in front of the sink again looking around for, is she gone? Oh, he'll start washing dishes like crazy because we all come back to a place of celebration and encouragement when you go to work tomorrow. Walk in the room going, hurt your knees, hurt your, find some people that you can encourage. Hey, nice outfit, I like that. Listen, the way you did that report, you did some extra stuff, how you put it, you bound it, you put it in that folder, it was next level. We didn't even ask for that. That was amazing, thank you. Thanks for raising the bar. Man, you make the place better. I love to hear your laugh. Your laugh is so, it just gives me joy to hear your laugh. That's some, find something to pour courage. It's not cute, it's not Dr. Phil stuff. This stuff is Bible, this is spirit, this is God that when we use encouragement in the proper way, it brings people back to life again.

Romans chapter 15, verse four says this. The scriptures were written to teach and encourage us by giving us hope. That means church ought to be filled with holy hype. When you come to church, you ought to feel better about you. Like, I'm not saying that we just, okay, anything goes. No, but what I'm saying is you are encouraged, you're built. You heard teaching and encouragement. Okay, I know we didn't do it right, but man, tomorrow we're gonna crush it, we're lifted. You don't need any church throwing elbows on you. How many of you know, you don't need anybody telling you what you did wrong because you already know what you're doing wrong in life. Where are you in this room right now? Wave your hand at me. Yes, you do. And you wanna point out my issues? I will give you more points and sub points below all those that you ain't even seen yet. I need some encouragement. I need someone who can lift me and push me forward. Hope for life comes with teaching and encouragement. Hebrews chapter three, verse 13, check this out. Read this with me. Encourage each other every day while you have the opportunity. If you do this, none of you will be deceived by sin and become stubborn. Look at this.

If we encourage each other, it fights the deception of sin in their life. You wanna tell me encouragement isn't powerful? You wanna tell me encouragement isn't spiritual? You wanna tell me encouragement doesn't really matter? According to that right there, anything that makes me stronger to stand against things of distraction and deception of breaking down and pushing back from God, anything that stops that, that's a blessing in my life. I don't only want that, I wanna propagate that in other people's lives. Encouragement does that. What does encouragement do for you and for others who hear it? It makes them aware of things they weren't aware of. Because when you highlight and you encourage or build them in an area that they, hey, I really like how you did this. I like when you said that. Man, the way you handled this situation was amazing. That was tough. But when you came through, boy, it was such a blessing. When you, all of a sudden now people have an awareness. I didn't even know that that mattered. I didn't know that. And people are doing better than they realize they are, but we have to help them see it. Number two, it brings correction and direction. That people move towards a place of celebration.

How about we catch our kids doing things right and celebrate that? If we're gonna correct them, that's fine. There needs to be some, hey, let's not do that. But how about if we make sure we got twice as much of you're doing amazing and I love you and I'm so proud of you. And man, this, and lift and build them. Let home be that place that they can escape to, not a place they have to run from. Number three, when we build encouragement, it brings belief. It elevates people's hope. They, okay, maybe tomorrow can be different. They begin to think different. Their faith comes alive. When we encourage people, their strength hits differently on the inside. The situation might be bad here, but they're stronger in the middle of it and they're pushing back. They're able to handle life. Their attitude changes. Their mindset, the atmosphere around them, instead of being so negative, now they're thinking positive. That's a game changer, folks. Encouragement brings action. People now wanna take a step and do what they never did. Try what they never tried.

You know what? I am gonna write the book. You know what? I am gonna, I am, you've encouraged me. I am gonna, I'm gonna try, I'm gonna start this business. I'm gonna do it. You know what? I am gonna start serving. I'm gonna go to a life group. I'm gonna sign up. You've encouraged me. You've encouraged me, I'm gonna give it a try. Encouragement pushes us into some places that we never would have gone had we not been encouraged to take a step. We need voices of encouragement in our life. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 24 really nails this down. Here's what it says, read it with me. And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love, how we can spur one another, encourage one another. Spurs on a cowboy's boots. When he's sitting on that horse and he wants that horse to go, all it takes is a mm. And I promise you, when those little spurs hit the hindquarters of that horse, he's gonna giddy up and go, it's time to go. There's nothing like a good kick every now and then. Right, right. We need it, and you can kick with encouragement,

you can kick with joy, you can kick with fear, or you can kick with faith, and they get two different results. Fear ends quickly, faith lasts for a long time. We always wanna kick with encouragement. We wanna kick by picking people up. We wanna kick with hope for tomorrow. Never kick, if you don't do this, that doesn't work, ladies and gentlemen. Let's bring that hope, that life, that joy, that strength, that believability that God is good, and this can turn around. We have to bring the encouragement to people's life. Every believer is called to be an encourager. Every believer is called to be a life giver, a hope dealer. We're called to cheer for other people. And maybe you're here today, and you say, Scott, I was never raised in that. I don't even know the language of encouragement. Never heard it, never experienced it, I was never encouraged growing up as a kid. Well, all the more reason for you to change something in your generation. It's time for some new things, and so how do you start? You start by encouraging yourself. Get used to hearing yourself speak life over yourself. We're doing good today. It's gonna be a great Monday. God is on our side, and if God is for me, he's gonna be with me, gonna help me all day long.

God's in our marriage, then encourage your spouse. When you say that kind word of encouragement to your spouse, once they wake up from that fainting spell, then encourage them to try it again, have them sit down this time, but pour more life. And then just try with the kids, or try with a friend. Shoot a text message, bro, praying for you today. That's it, that's encouraging. Just a little bump goes a long, long way. How do you learn to encourage? You learn to encourage by encouraging. You start, get the words out of your mouth. You can choose to encourage, or you can hold your words and allow the discouragement to continue. I've got a battery, you're broke down, but I'm not even gonna tell you about it. Hope you figure it out. How sad would it be for me to have the answer, to unstick your life, but I just drove right past you, holding the answer the entire time. Encouragement, you're wired for this. You are charged for this, and the opportunity to connect with somebody else's life, and connect them to the life source of Jesus on the inside of you, to bring them back to life again. Ladies and gentlemen, there's nothing like that in the world. I heard of a Native American elder that was sitting around a campfire with several other young Native American boys

that were on their way to manhood. He was pouring wisdom and thoughts of life into them. He looked at the boys and he said, inside of you there are two wolves. One wolf is good. One wolf is good, and the other wolf is evil. You've got both. One of the young men looked back at the elder and he said, sir, how do we know which one is going to win in our life? And the elder looked back and said, the one that you feed is the one that will win. You feed one and starve the other. Ladies and gentlemen, we have to feed encouragement, and when you get good at just those little bumps, if I'm thinking about you, I'm praying for you, every day of your life, you should spit an encouragement towards somebody, every day, on social media, in a text message, face to face, in a card, something to speak life over somebody because I need life in me and I need the explosion of cheering that happens inside of me. I need all of that myself, so let me create it in somebody else. and let me experience it so I can have everything that Jesus died to give me in this life more abundant. Would you please stand to your feet? We can live this thing strong, but there's some things we've got to decide to do to step up and move forward, and making this year a year where you're speaking,

encouragement, and giving life. Let that be your mark to the point that people maybe wanna change your name too. Father, today we declare that we're so grateful for your love and the words of life that you've spoken over all of us. We're here today because of the encouragement of your word. We're here today because of the hope and the strength we gain by reading your opinion about us. Your teaching and your encouragement have poured the hope of Christ in us that makes us know and believe we can live stronger than what our past is, and we move forward. Today, God, I pray that we wouldn't just be recipients of that, but we would also be givers of that. Help us to be life givers, hope dealers, that everywhere we go, we're a people of encouragement, that our voices are used to bring life and not death, to move people forward and not backwards, never to walk past somebody who needs it and I withhold it, but God, help us identify those in our life that we can encourage. Help us to be encouragers in our home, in our marriage, with our kids, with our friends, on the job, in church. Help us to connect and be those people that are giving it and receiving it. We'll give you praise and thanks for it in Jesus' name. Amen. Did I or did I not say you were gonna be encouraged?

Yeah. Feel free to check out our website, freelivechapel.org for more encouraging messages. Until then, I hope you have a great day.