[Mike Phelps] As Mr. Myers said, this is my farewell message, it's probably not the last you’ll ever hear from me, I hope not, but it is for a bit. I thought a good appropriate message on my farewell would be something like diving deep into the seventy-week prophecy in Daniel. So, if you guys can all start… no, I'm just teasing. Somebody… well, I won't go into some of the other jokes people gave me. I don't have that good of a joke repertoire like Mr. Myers does.

I need to tap into his streamline, somebody is shaking their head “no.” I see. Okay, well, I better get on to the message then. As many of you do know this is our last week as a resident of the state of Ohio. I thought I was going to get the emotion out this morning, so I’ll put these here… no.

Leaving our home area has been something that I've only done one other time, that's when I went away to college for a few years. And in that time it was a wonderful experience to grow, I had learned how to do laundry, how to cook a lot of my own meals. Mom had taught me well, so I was pretty okay. I helped my roommates a little bit during that time though, because they didn't know how to cook. But it was a great opportunity to go home but that’s... to come back home, but that's the only time I've been away from home.

This has been where I've been born and raised and it's been a wonderful place to be spiritually fed, as well, through the years of the Church and then where we are at still today. I've thought quite a bit about what I'd like to share today in the message. It's been several months since it was announced and we were asked to relocate to Michigan to continue to serve the brethren there. And so from February up until now, the thoughts have been through my mind of what do you share with God's people that… “You don't want to make a message that’s solely about me. You want a message that's going to lead people to God's Word and the truth that's in His Bible, but also to take pause and to say farewell to a group that's been super supportive and been so much a part of our family here.”

And so as I've thought through it over several months, snippets from the book of Ephesians has entered my mind quite a bit. There are several passages there that are really encouraging and great for a farewell message, I believe. And so, today we'll look at the book of Ephesians, a letter that Paul wrote to the Church in Ephesus. Because it's a church where Paul, unlike a lot of Paul's other letters, they're addressing normally quite a few issues or issues going on in the Church. But the book of Ephesians is not one of those, it's a letter of encouragement to those who were believers in Ephesus. In it, Paul describes what a Church of God should look like and how each of us as believers should interact as a living body of Christ on earth.

So what better way to say farewell from an area than to offer encouragement and to remember who we are as God's people and to continue and to encourage you, and us, and me, to continue on, to continue pressing on. So, today I'd like to leave you with a message of encouragement from my heart to yours that we each remain established in the faith encouraging one another always. So what is encouragement? It's pretty straightforward, encouragement is what we offer to others when we want to strengthen them or to give them courage to do something that's normally difficult.

A practical example of this is, where you have a friend that's running a race and you know they've trained for a long time for this race and it's pretty daunting on them, so you get up early that morning and you drive over to the course, and you get your coffee on the way because it's those races normally start early. And you're out there and then when they run by, you shout out their name and tell them to keep going. And then you jump in your car and you drive a mile down the race still and you jump back out and you do it again because you gave up time to be there for them. It's something that you wanted to do, you wanted them to succeed and you wanted to be part of that encouragement for them.

The English word encourage comes from an old French word encourager, which means to make strong or to hearten. None of us are immune to trials and even pretty strong persecutions at times. This has been the walk of so many Christians, so many of us here, so many of our family members but it's not just us, it's been all of humanity, all the way back to the Early… New Testament church, they have persecuted in far worse ways than even we have been today. So, persecution and trials is not something just that unique to us. Life isn't easy… always easy but it's never perfect.

Life is never perfect for us. Encouragement is something needed for all ages and something that we can all give to each other. For our children, we don't just give encouragement to our children, they can offer encouragement back to us.

It's beautiful when you see a young child that starting to be able to talk and starting to be able to relate their emotions, and their feelings and they thank somebody and they encourage somebody. Maybe it's another friend, maybe it's a sibling, maybe siblings don't encourage each other too much, I don't know. But they do and that's beautiful when you see young children being able to encourage other children, and then we as parents always encourage our children as well. That's one of the neat things having the teen program today to see… give an opportunity for teens to stand up in front and to share their camp stories.

And for us to encourage them before camp, after camp, through their whole life, it's the same thing with their Sabbath school program that we do once a year. When we recognize the teachers and those who have gone through the Sabbath school, those who have memorized their books of the Bible and that we can encourage them and say, "Way to go! Good job!" And the teens that graduate from high school at that same ceremony, it's wonderful because they've done a huge accomplishment to graduate high school and we should be encouraging them and complimenting them on that. And then what do we do to top it all off? We have a big grill-out out back to just put the cherry on top of that day. It's just a wonderful opportunity that we have to encourage our family here, our young adults, and our teens.

We must remain in a constant relationship with others in our church here. This is why isolating ourselves or becoming upset and deciding not to come to church is so damaging because it's through this common bond, this unity that we have that we are strengthened. We are encouraged by others who have walked similar walks to ours when we're having a rough day, they're there to encourage us and lift us up. That's why this Body, this getting together on the Sabbath day, getting together for Bible studies is so important, it's so important, it's critical to our health. Because when we get divided off, that's where we become weaker over time and Satan gets an avenue to work into our lives and can discourage us and potentially keep us from even wanting to come back.

So, this is where we need to be and why relationships are so important.
It's one of the aspects that I've always enjoyed with… the aspect of giving encouragement is one of the parts I've always enjoyed with giving sermonettes. I think back to the first time I was asked to give a sermonette, it was when Mr. Denny Luker was our president and he was in their area. And he had a way of them, and those who knew him had a way of just encouraging, just exuding this love.

And he comes up to me one day and says, "We got to get you on the speaking schedule." And the first thought that came to my mind is pretty much what I said back is, "I don't think that's how I serve, I've worked with the teens and I've worked with the young adults and I do other things here in the congregation. I just don't know, I don't know if that's how I serve." And knowing Mr. Luker, if you could envision him, he would say, "Yeah, that's nice but we're going to get you on the speaking schedule."

And so I hope there'd be a disconnect between him and Mr. Myers at some point but it didn't happen. I got that email and I'm on it, and I'll never forget that first Sabbath, I'm standing here behind this podium, many of you were probably here. First message in front of my home congregation and in the front row is Mr. and Mrs. Luker, and I remember at one point making eye contact, in the middle of a message and making eye contact, he was sitting right there in the corner and he's nodding. And I'm thinking, "Wow, if the president of the church is… with all of his experience, all of his love, all of the emotion that he just gives so freely is nodding with my message, I must be doing something okay." And that moment of that encouragement is something I'll never forget and it's one of those moments that is so powerful to share with others.

But the important aspect with the sermonette is that it's a moment that the sermonette speaker gets to encourage God's people, the corrective messages are reserved for the pastor, it's not for the sermonette period. And so, when we get an opportunity to pick a scripture and to dive into it and to figure out a way to encourage somebody, that's fun. That's something I've always, always enjoyed and as I've expanded out to the sermon length now, it's still an amazing opportunity to offer encouragement from God's Word because we all need encouragement, who doesn't need it? And so it's a wonderful opportunity as we share God's Word whether it's from the lectern or personally in your lives with others to share this powerful message, the powerful hope that we have from God.

And so that's why I want to focus on this today. In Romans 12, we'll look at where Paul lists encouragement as one of the spiritual gifts. This is in Romans 12 and we'll start reading on verse 4. Romans 12:4, "For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching, he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness."

I've a New Living Translation version, starting in verse 7, "If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly."

But it's a gift of encouragement just something that only certain people have, that only certain people are to be encouragers among the body, let's consider this for a moment some of the other gifts listed here. What about giving only for those who have that gift or leading, or showing kindness, or showing mercy? Is that only for those who are given that gift as Paul mentions here? No.

All those who have been given these specific gifts are not the only ones to do them. We have God's Holy Spirit inside us and that power can transform our lives to develop all sorts of the fruit that we know from Galations 5 and also all of these gifts that God has given. So God has given all of these gifts and these are special for all of us to work and to develop on. These are all aspects of our Christian calling and therefore, something that each of us are to have and to do daily. We must be developing these traits in our way of thinking and it must be something that we desire to add to our lives.

We have been blessed here in this area with people who have so many of these gifts that we just went through. Being here, born and raised, you see all the time in the high level of expectation that's been set over the years. Men and women who have been diligent to God in His way of life, those who have not wavered with the waves that come as we heard in that… in the special music, in that song, the waves that come and try to battle us around, we've seen so many people. You all know who these people are, you look around and you see them amongst us here. It's beautiful when we think through and we see that the expectation that we each strive for continues to be set higher because we each strive further and harder in our lives.

It's beautiful to see in the expectation that bar, that level of achievement keeps getting moved up and keeps getting moved up because we still have a ways to go to measure up to Christ. But we keep pushing that bar as Christians and we keep pushing that bar as a Body, and it's beautiful and we see that and it's wonderful. We all know someone who is a good encourager here. We've had contact with that person.

We know someone who has served well in this congregation. We know someone who teaches others well, maybe it's in Sabbath school. We know some have true leadership talents and they serve with a godly heart. And then we know so many that exude kindness, that are sincere in asking how has your week been and then if you share a trial or difficulty, they don't just look over your shoulder and walk away, they want to know. These aspects are beautiful and we have them right here, it's truly been wonderful to be part of such an amazing group here in Cincinnati.

And so I only encourage you to keep it up, to keep it up. Because God has put us into each other's lives for a wonderful reason and as I said already, one of those reasons is to offer encouragement. This has been the case since God created Eve to be a wife for Adam. Eve was to be his helper, she was also to be his encourager. And so all the way back to the beginning of man and woman, we know that encouragement has been a part of relationships that God has ordained.

A powerful example that we have recorded for us is a relationship between Moses and Joshua, recorded in Deuteronomy 3, so we can start turning that direction. Deuteronomy 3, and we'll read in verse 28 because here we're about to see where Moses was told by God to encourage and to strengthen Joshua as he was to lead Israel into the Promised Land. Deuteronomy 3:28, "But command Joshua," and this is the Lord speaking to Moses. "But command Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you will see."

We see here the connection between encouragement and strengthening. God knew exactly what was in store for Joshua. He knew what He would be asking him to do and what the task would be that was set before him. So, He instructed Moses to first encourage Joshua. God wanted Moses to be an instrument that would provide Joshua the encouragement he would need to go forth in the role he was being asked to serve in.

It's the same for us here, that God allows us to work intimately in one another's lives, not just from a distance, not just from across a room or via email or some other technology but to be intimately involved in one another's lives. But it takes us opening our lives to others, opening our trials, opening our difficulties that we have gone through with others. As we've gone through in our lives to open that up with others so that they can offer encouragement. Because if we keep it closed up, keep it tight to our chest, there may not be an avenue for somebody to offer that encouragement. So we have our part to do but that's what God wanted for Moses to do for Joshua, to offer that encouragement that he would need.

The second thing He said is “to strengthen him.” True strength comes from God and Moses was to remind Joshua of God's promises of His mighty hand, of His deliverance. Anytime we are given a big task to do and somebody says, "I need you to do this." What's the first thing that normally… well, if you're like me, I can tell you what normally happens, is I feel this weight that kind of resonates around my shoulders, this pressure, this stress of “how am I going to do it?”

I like to have things ironed out, I need to plan and I like that to tackle big projects. And so my mind starts going, “How am I going to handle this? What do I need to get in place? Can I do this? Do I have the mindset? Is this too much? Do I have to say no?”

We normally do feel pressure when something new comes our way and it's understandable because we do ask ourselves that question, "Can I do this?" I think back again to that first time I gave a sermonette message and you guys are a tough crowd. I don't know if you know that or not. You see a lot of men and women who have served this church area diligently over the time, over the years, some have seen me grow up from that little blanket I've mentioned this before.

And when we used to get together downtown, Cincinnati was only place that could hold all the people in Cincinnati. The Convention Center or Taft Theater, we needed a theater to hold our congregations and many of you know that many of you lived in those areas too, whether you're from Cincinnati or from anywhere. There's a wonderful time, it was the time that was awesome to be in. And I remember at those Feast days or the Holy Days of the chorale starting to sing, 80 person chorale and I would stand up and stand on the little chair because I was just a little guy, and that's how I had to see what was going on. I remember that and many of you have seen me grow up from that.

You've seen me with a bad attitude on a basketball court as a teenager, some of you. I didn’t have… I had a real competitive spirit and no talent and those two things do not go well together, shows a fruit of attitude problems. But you saw me grow up in that way, you were there to encourage me, some of you. And it's a place where I called home was my congregation, place where I felt comfortable, place where I could make mistakes and it's wonderful that we have these things. Some of you out there, I still am only allowed to call you “Mr. and Mrs.” and that's a good thing.

I think my mom might come up and grab me by the ear still, if she heard me say anything other, call you by your first name. And then there's my family. It's been wonderful to be part of a congregation that has your family. It's unlike any other experience but our family grew through God, our family grew through the Holy Spirit, and then this became our family.

And it's wonderful and it's powerful, and not a day goes by that we don't reflect and appreciate just the blessings that we have in our life to be part of this group. So, I was saying, it can be really tough to do something new when you feel like this is all you can do, or that you don't have it in you. God knew what was being asked of Joshua and he most likely felt the weight of the role before him. So God instructed Moses to encourage and to strengthen Joshua.

Now, this is a bit of speculation because it's not in our Bibles, but I think there are some private conversations that most likely happened between Moses and Joshua. Because after all, they were human, they were like me and you. There were probably times where Joshua probably felt the weight of what was being put onto him. He may have even said to Moses, "I can't do this, I don't know how I'm going to do this. What if this happens, what do I do? Or what if this happens, what do I do?”

And yet what position was Moses in at this point for Joshua? He was to encourage him, he was to strength him. Probably in these private conversations, there were times where Moses recounted, "Yeah, I know what that's like. I was at that burning bush. When God said, ‘You need to do this. And that I said, ‘I don't have a strong voice, I am not good with my words.’"

And he probably shared a story of having to stand in front of Pharaoh and to be strong and courageous and to follow God's instructions. And when he led God's people, Israel, out of Egypt, that must have been something like, "How do you move that many people? How do you carry that weight on yourself?" He probably recounted the story of the crossing the Red Sea and seen God deliver all of His people, including Moses himself. Using these examples, he most likely did encourage Joshua, probably said, "I know what's going through your mind right now but you can do this, not by your own might but by the mighty hand of God."

We see later in Deuteronomy 31 where Moses brought Joshua before all of Israel, we can begin turning in that direction too, to again encourage and strengthen Joshua, and in turn to also encourage and strengthen all of Israel. This is Deuteronomy 31:7, "Then Moses called Joshua," actually let’s read verse… no this is fine. In 31 verse 7, "Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all of Israel, 'Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.'"

He most likely did this to encourage Joshua publicly, so that Israel knew that this was being tasked and given to Joshua. And that Moses was the one giving him the encouragement but also pointing back that the true encouragement comes from God. He is our Deliver, He's the one that helps us when we have these difficulties. As Moses reminded Israel, it would be God that would do all the mighty works before them so that they could inherit the land that God had promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and to all of their descendants.

This past year, I had a pretty neat opportunity to teach the A.B.C. class a few times, I was a substitute teacher. It was daunting at times coming in and unlike here where nobody raises their hands, you get questions asked back of you as you work through that. But it was a wonderful opportunity, it was a great class, and as I had this opportunity, friendships were built. Friendships were strengthened when you share meals at lunch and you hear of stories and you tell of your own personal stories as you teach some of the lessons, it's really neat.

And at the end of the year at the banquet, the closing senior banquet, the class bought Mr. Preston and myself a small gift just as a token of their appreciation. And I'm not totally sure how they found this or found out about this, it might have been through Laura, but this is my favorite Bible verse from Joshua 1:9. And they got a little plaque that's going to go on my desk, and when we get settled in up in Michigan because I want to be reminded of this. From Joshua 1:9, "Be strong and courageous, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

It's a neat token that they shared with me this year and it warmed my heart. Because this is a scripture that I've had to look to, I've had to lean on this past year. Because when you're asked to switch a career and you go into ministry, all of a sudden you feel the weight and you start figuring thing that I have to carry this weight. It's my weight to carry because God's called me to this way of life, but then quickly I realized I can't carry this, this is God's weight to carry.

I'm a tool in His hand, He's the driver, I'm the co-pilot. And when you realize this and you realize that there's going to be times you're going to have to be courageous, we all have to be courageous at times. And you realize in those moments of courage, it's not us, we can't carry that weight. We have to stand firm, but then God provides deliverance.

We see it time and time again, we can go through this whole room. Everyone has stories of being courageous for God and then watching His mighty hand deliver us. These are those moments of encouragement when somebody is low, somebody tripped, somebody skinned their hands and their knees spiritually and they need to be lifted up that we can offer because we've been there, we've seen God work in our lives. And this is where the Scripture and other moments like this, we are to be reminded to be strong and to be courageous and to encourage others with that same words.

In Romans 1, Paul addresses the strength that comes from encouragement and the source of true strength. Let's turn there over to Romans 1:11. Romans 1:11, this is Paul's letter, and he says here in Romans 1:11, "For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established — that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and of me." Paul needed encouragement and he knows that encouragement comes from God's Word. He wanted to impart this encouragement on those in Rome but he also wanted encouragement from God's Word back to him.

You know, how it goes, you share a message, you share encouragement with somebody many times that encouragement comes back especially when you relate and you use God's Word is saying, "Yeah, that time this happened and I drew on this scripture.” And you're encouraging somebody but at the same exact time, that same scripture is now refilling your encouragement tank a little bit. It's powerful when that happens, but Paul was doing this so that they may be established. When we see something established, we could also say that that item is strong. In Greek, the word established could also mean “to fix, to steadfastly set, to strengthen.”

Many times we see this with companies that say that “We've been in business or we've been established since 1905.” And then you think through, “Well, that must be a strong company to have that type of success. They know what they're doing to still be in business that long, that's a company that has been established.” Paul did desire to strengthen and establish those in Rome through encouragement and the gospel message of Jesus Christ. And in turn, like I mentioned, Paul desired to be encouraged by the believers because he knew and sharing God's Word with them, he would be encouraged himself.

So we also see this in the Ephesians 3. Let's start looking there, it's another letter that's we already mentioned from Paul. It’s here in Ephesians 3:14, it's not the same Greek word that we just read for established but the principle was very similar, and we'll look at that here. This is Ephesians 3:14, "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man.”

The New Living Translation says, "He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit,” in verse 17 “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love." This aspect of being rooted here could also mean to become stable, and grounded could also mean to lay a basis for, lay the foundation, lay the ground to settle something. So Paul could have easily said here that “You'll be established in love.”

You see that connection between being established and being rooted, being grounded. I bring all this up because Paul was using encouragement to set firmly or to establish those in Rome and in Ephesus on the hope that comes only from faith in God through the love of God. He wanted them to be encouraged and he wanted them to be grounded, strong, solid, not moving, not letting the waves that come from life to push them over and just cast them off into darkness or some dire situation, but to have firm roots to be grounded. But he was doing it through encouragement and reminders of God's Word. There's a special power that comes from encouragement, I'd like to again continue looking at Ephesians 4, as we consider this aspect.

This is Ephesians 4:1, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” This aspect… this is one of my favorite passages from Ephesians. This aspect of oneness that you and I have, this aspect of oneness that all believers of God have, there isn't multiple bodies, there isn't multiple little groups here and there.

When you have God's Spirit, we're united together, when we have His power working inside of us, His hope, everything that is one of Him, we are one as well. This is that unity that we get to be part of in that power because we have each, as it says in verse 1, we have each been chosen by God to be His ambassadors to the world, not only as an example of things that we don't do but equally power of the things that we do do daily to represent His way of life to those around us, we are to be that example. And a quick read of verse 2 again, "with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love… bearing with one another in love." None of us will ever be perfect on this earth, we can strive for perfection but we can't achieve it.

I'm not perfect, I don't know if that’s a surprise to anyone but I'm not, you're not and so that's why when we read through this type of a passage where we have to be longsuffering bearing with one another in love, we're reminded that we do have to bear with one another and love. It's easy for us to find faults with others to see their weaknesses, that's why Paul says we have to be patient, we have to be gentle. This is why we have to find ways that we can encourage someone through their weaknesses.

We all have our weaknesses and it's when these weaknesses show up, that those moments that we need encouragement the most. This is that power of encouragement to get back up, to keep pushing forward, to crawl forward at times because that's all we can do. But it's that encouragement that we need to just keep moving forward, to work harder and to put more of our faith and our trust in God that He will be the strength and the Deliver that we need. And this is where the Holy Spirit will step in to help us to find the right type of encouragement that others need because we know what type of encouragement might help us in our situation, but the Holy Spirit knows what type of encouragement others need.

And when we have this opportunity and we're drawing on the Spirit and we're connected to God, He can give us that power to know the right words. To remember back of to the stories or the examples from our own lives that you haven't thought of for years, but when you meet with someone and you're talking with them and you're trying to think, how can I be encouraging? And then all of sudden that story pops back in your mind and you're like, "Yeah, I remember being right where you're at," or maybe you don't remember being right where they are at but you remember God's principles, His promises. “Yeah, what you're going through is tough but He will never leave us, He will never forsake us.” And that there is a finish line and we have to make it there.

This is the power that the Holy Spirit has to work in our lives when we empty ourselves of our motives and give ourselves to one another. When we change our mindset from a selfish mindset to one of love, God has plenty of room to work with that type of an attitude, that type of a Spirit. And that's when we can listen to the Holy Spirit, we can listen to the prompting that it does as we try and work to encourage others. And so, many times this is exactly what the other person needs and ends up being the encouragement that helps them.

This is the oneness referenced so many times through this passage because when it really comes down to it, we're all in this together. This isn't one little island of some people over here and one little island of some people over here, this oneness of spirit, this oneness of Body, this unity that we have pulls us together so that we are all one together. Continuing on Ephesians 4:14, "that we should no longer be… that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ — from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself and love."

Individually, we each know our weaknesses, we know where we fall short but as a Body, as a group of believers, we form one Body in Christ. And in this one Body, we can find the encouragement and the strength that we need to handle, walking a similar path to what each other walks in this life. We are all united in purpose and that purpose is to live to the fullness as children of God and the gift we receive is eternal life with God the Father and Jesus Christ, doesn't get any better than that. To be children of God, to inherit everything that He desires to give us, to live in unity and peace with Him for eternity, that's a blessing that we have already ready for us. All we have to do is to keep going, keep fighting, keep struggling against ourself and against any outside pools that try to separate us, try to discourage us and that's why we need this encouragement.

And if we stumble, others are there to encourage us to continue and if we exceed, some of those same people are there to say, "Keep it up, keep it up." Because we need encouragement both in down times and when we make those right decisions and the strength of the whole, the whole moves forward together, even when individually sometimes we fall. Because as we move as a unified body together, one may trip, one may fall but we pick them back up and we keep moving forward as a group, as a Body, no one's left behind. We work, we strive and we pull for each other, this is why verse 16 is so powerful and so needed for each of us to believe. Let's read it one more time, "from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself and love."

The growth of the Body is the moving forward of the Body as a whole, united in one Body and to build on the aspect of being knit together, I want to turn to Colossians, you'll have to put your finger here I think because we'll be coming back to Ephesians in just a minute. Colossians 2:1, here, Paul again offers encouragement showing that the unity that exists in the Body in the fullness of God the Father and in Jesus Christ is powerful, very, very powerful and that encouragement brings forth a ton of this unity.

In Colossians 2:1, "For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all the riches of the full assurance of the understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge."

This aspect of “being knit together” in Ephesians 4:16 could also be rendered compacted as the King James version reads, compacted, no space in between, it's like that garbage compactor. It takes garbage but then when it compacts it down there's no room in between, there's not a lot of air even in between these things, comes together in a firm union. A tightly woven fabric is another example, like those really nice bed sheets at that nice hotel that you got to stay at once in your life, you'll crawl in and it's nice, it's comfortable. That fabric is so tightly woven together, so tightly, there's no air in between, you're not getting a breeze through it, it's super tight. And that's that aspect of being knit together, there's no space in between. This is the strength that we have in each other.

In Ecclesiastes 4:12, it references a braided cord, you can put that into your notes. I'll read the scripture, Ecclesiastes 4:12, "Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” We've all hauled materials, we've all bundled something up at one point or another and we put that twine or that rope around it. And we're carrying that bundle and all of sudden it breaks, should’ve had a bigger rope, should’ve had a better rope.

And so next time, we become wiser and we find a rope that is intertwined better, that is braided better, it's a thicker rope. “This ones going to hold the load, this one is going to sustain what I'm trying to do.” We've all had this experience in our life and this is an example, great analogy because we have lived this, we understand what this means. Sometimes we encounter others who have broken under the weight of their own trials, they need to be reinforced, to be made stronger and we can be part of this process as we come to their aid and offer encouragement. Again, ultimate strength comes from God, but God has placed us in each other's lives to be a tool in His hand.

Late in the book of Joshua, we have recorded an account of Joshua issuing a charge to Israel as his life was nearing its end. This is in Joshua 23. Joshua was encouraged at one point by Moses, we've read through that account already and now here, Joshua is now passing on similar encouragement on to Israel — on the leaders and the elders that are there. This is in Joshua 23:6, actually we'll start verse 1 first. "Now came to pass, a long time after the Lord had given rest to Israel from their enemies round about, that Joshua was old, advanced and age.”

In verse 6, and this is Joshua now speaking, "Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, and lest you go out among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not make mention of the name of their God's, nor cause anyone to swear by them; you should not serve them nor bow down to them, but you shall hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day. For the Lord has driven out from before you great, great and strong nations; but as for you, no one has been able to stand against you to this day. One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, as He promised you. Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the Lord your God."

It's interesting as I mentioned, Moses passed encouragement and strength on to Joshua and now Joshua was passing encouragement and strength on to the next leaders to these elders, to the rest of Israel to keep pressing forward. It's a neat aspect that that's how encouragement works, we don't just wake up one day and get encouragement and that's all we need in life. We have teenagers, we have young adults who are stepping into more leadership roles, they're wanting to serve the Church, they need that encouragement. I was once that young adult, I was once that teenager.

And that power that I was given by somebody's encouragement is one that I can't explain. You can't replace it, you can't just go out to the store and buy it, and that's a responsibility that we all have to be encouragers as not only to one another or peers but to remember that we all need encouragement. That this is an amazing opportunity in the example we have, Joshua received encouragement, he then is now passing it on as his time is coming to an end.

As Joshua encouraged them, we are also to be courageous as we stand and hold fast to God in our lives. We are to depend on God to fight our battles and to be our defender to not take things into our own hands because God is the one who avenges His people, we must never forget that God avenges His people. And we are to love God with our whole heart, our whole mind, and our whole soul. And this is the encouragement that we must pass along to others as they follow behind us.

It takes strength to hold fast as mentioned in verse 8, and sometimes our strength can waver. This is again why encouragement is so needed for each of us during our own difficult times. We are called to be strong and courageous as Joshua was told to be and as we pursue our charge from God, we must also be encouraging to others and remain strong and courageous as well. Throughout all our transition, as I mentioned, it's not always been easy. There's times that life hit us hard, doubt enters your mind maybe.

I know I had it a couple times, but I quickly had to push it out because you can't have doubt when you're serving God because there is no doubt in God. He is so strong, so able, and if this is where He wants you, there's nothing that's going to stop Him. There's nothing going to stop Satan. There's nothing that's going to stop anybody if this is where God wants you. It's that power that we have and through this transition, you have been a help to me as well.

We've had family that's been great and encouragers personally, but then collectively our big family has been there for us through these times, through prayers, for Kelsey’s school, for our home to sell, for our next home to appear on the market. We've got countless stories. I could spend an hour just trying to share with you the fingerprints of God that we've seen all over things. And so much of that has been through your prayers and we just thank you so much for that, for the concern, the outpouring of love, the encouragement, the attaboys. It means the world to us and we thank you for that, we want to take a moment as Laura, Kelsey, and I to thank you for your involvement in our lives and the encouragement that you have given us because it's been so needed and it's been so powerful for us.

And so, thank you, it's exactly what we needed and it's exactly at those times that keep at it that we desperately needed to hear. Because we're excited for Michigan, there are some wonderful opportunities that await us. Wherever God's people are, it's where we want to be. And we all know that we visit congregations, the warmth, the love, the concern, the outpouring. I can't count how many people have been praying for us there to find a house, and so we were excited to share with them when we did walk in a house because those prayers were going up the encouragement.

And so, it's an amazing opportunity that we have before us but each of us get opportunities before us to serve God daily at school, at work. We have opportunities here and we must never forsake what we've been given by God to serve. The ways that He has invited us personally to interact with one another, maybe it's encouraging, maybe it's strengthening and showing kindness, maybe it's a leadership as we saw through some of those gifts back in Romans. But God has called us all to serve Him and He's called us all to be tools in His hand. The Master Craftsmen is God, we want to be that sharp tool, we want to be that non-rusted tool, not the one that's bent.

We want to be that effective tool in His hand, and each one of us wants to be that. And we serve as our part in the Body letting God be the Master Craftsman as He uses us to continue doing His work. It's powerful and it's an amazing opportunity that not only we've been afforded but everybody here. And so, we encourage you to continue on as we all go our separate ways but we're still unified, we're still the one body.

If we jump back into Ephesians again in chapter 5. If you still had your place there, Paul encourages those in the Church to continue their walk in Christ. In this, in chapter 5, we have a practical example of how to encourage others. He encourages in three ways that we're going to read through if you'd like to make note of them in your notes. The first way that Paul encourages is he offers encouragement to walk in love, to walk in love, this is Ephesians 5:1, "Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be even named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, or covetousness man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”

Paul is saying as children, as we are children, we should be imitators of our father just as our own children often are imitators of us, good or bad, but we have an awesome Father who has no bad side. If we are imitators of God, it is only good that we can imitate. God so loved us and the world that He offered His own Son that we may be brought close to Him, a personal relationship given His Spirit as a down payment for eternal life, it's a huge blessing that we have. Our life then must also be lived as a sacrifice for others and offering encouragement as we all strive against selfishness and become more self-sacrificing in others' lives.

There is no room for uncleanness or bad speech among the body but edifying words, building up words, encouraging words that will help them on their journey. The second way that Paul offers in encouragement here in Ephesians 5 is to walk in light. We read this in verse 8 of Ephesians 5. "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For to shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light."

If you've heard me speak a few times, this is also one of my favorite scriptures to turn to. Because we see that contrast of light and darkness and that darkness cannot exist where there is light. Light forcibly forces out and pushes out the darkness, it's a wonderful way how we have this in our own lives as we have the example, to be flipping on that light switch and what happens? But then the spiritual aspect, that light will force out the darkness as we let that light into our hearts.

We are to live a life of light, radiating God's light from the inside out and offering encouragement to those who need to see the light of God. We don't have to go far outside of our walls here to see that the hope is not where it needs to be in the world. Hope on money, hope on material things, hope on relationships, we know that all those fail. We've struggled against some of those ourselves but in the many that are outside of our walls need this promise, they need this hope, they need this encouragement, this light that eludes… that exudes from us.

They need to see and they need to hear it, that's why our media production group is just so wonderful to see all the encouragement that comes out from that group, the encouraging messages to change lives because of what God says to do. The power in His word, the light that exudes from His word becomes part of who we are. We live this, we change, we work at it and so many in the world needs to see this light exuding from us. And we have this awesome opportunity to through God's power to allow Him to impact others' lives in a powerful way. We must remember that we are to encourage others to walk in the light.

The third way that Paul offers encouragement is to walk in wisdom. We see this in verse 15, Ephesians 5:15. "See then that you walk circumspectly," my margin says carefully, "not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, which is dissipation;” or it's a wasted way of living, “but be filled with the Spirit."

And then notice in verse 19 how they were to speak to one another, "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Psalms and hymns, now that's encouraging. We get that opportunity when we sing praises to God to recount Scripture, to sing praises to Him through these hymns. It's a wonderful way to share God's Word as we do when we share Bible verses with others. We send a short snippet just hoping that maybe it'll brighten their day a little bit, but it's a reminder of a way that we can be encouraging to others right here.

Paul is speaking with a sense of urgency, recognizing that we don't have time in our lives to be wasteful. We don't have time tomorrow just to deal with the lot of the things in life because you know what happens? Tomorrow then turns into the next day, and then the next week, and the next month. Before we know it, time is slipped away from us and what we originally wanted to do never happens.

There is a sense of urgency that we must have, that we don't fill our lives with foolish things. But we double-down our efforts because life can be difficult for us and for others. Acting wisely and encouraging others to act wisely as well protects us from outside influences that can take hold of our life and lead us down a path that separates us from God and from one another. We need this unity, we need this encouragement. Things of the physical world may produce a temporary high or a good feeling like wine does but being filled with the Spirit produces a lasting joy and unites us and draws believers together.

In life is not always, it's not always easy to give thanks always as Paul referenced in verse 20. As I've already mentioned, sometimes life hits us very hard, it adds a weight that is sometimes feels too heavy to bear. And when we see the weight in others, the bearing, the weight that they're bearing, we have an opportunity to offer encouragement. We must offer help and we must find ways to encourage.

And like I mentioned, maybe we can relate because we've been through a similar walk or maybe we can empathize with them because we can put ourselves in their shoes. We haven't walked their walk but we can imagine how tough that would have to be and so we try to relate, we try to draw near to them and to encourage them as they allow us to. Or maybe we just offer those reminders of God's promises in His Word.

Like Paul, Laura and I, Kelsey as well, would encourage all of us, encourage you to walk in love, to walk in light, to walk in wisdom. As you have displayed time and time again over the years, being part here we've seen it. We've seen it firsthand and we know it, so we encourage you to walk in love, walk in light, walk in wisdom. I'd be remiss if I finish this message without giving a reminder that in our lives, God is the ultimate encourager.

God is the ultimate encourager, there's a couple passages I'd like to turn to. The first one is 2 Corinthians 1. 2 Corinthians 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.”

“Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.” God is our ultimate comforter when we deal with tribulation. He is the one that provides our strength and the one who lifts us up. He's the one that we pray to and we ask these things from, but He's also given us each other and He can work through us and He can use us to be that conduit to offer encouragement.

We must remember that we are tool in the Master's hand. We can serve and we can work and we should, but ultimately, God gets the glory because anything good that comes from our lives, we didn't come up with, this isn't my logic, it's not my wisdom, it's God's. And we must remember that when we allow Him to work powerfully in our life, He then gets the credit. He is the one of true and ultimate encouragement.

The second passage, let's turn to 2 Thessalonians 2:16. 2 Thessalonians 2:16. "Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work." We receive that comfort in our hearts from God, it's another pointed scripture, so many that we could turn to. Don't have enough time.

If all we ever had in our life was encouragement from God, that's all we would need. Our hearts would be full, they're overflowing and there would be no need for anything else, we would be completely provided for, and so often God does offer us that level of encouragement right when we need it most. But God has brought each of us together, He has put into our hearts the ability to share encouragement. He has given us the gift of encouragement to use for the benefit of each other and for ourselves.

God has brought each one of us together and into the lives of each other. We are the Body of Christ, it's a wonderful blessing to be part of something so special and priceless that only God can build. This is only by His hand and only by His might. Encouragement should never be something that we take lightly or for granted, it's a gift that God gives us and one that we must freely give to others. It offers us the ability to fight against the attacks that we encounter daily and as we are unified in the love of God, it provides the power we need to remain strong in the faith.

Let's look at one last scripture in Colossians 2:5, I'll try to get through this last section. Here in Colossians 2:5, the apostle Paul again phrases something better probably than I could, a way to say goodbye. We want to once again thank you for all the encouragement, all the support, and all the love that you’ve personally shown to Laura and to me as we've battled through some difficult times in life. We had our share of trials, there will be more. But through your love, your prayers, and your support, you've meant the to world to us.

It's what we've needed and each of you will be dearly missed, and each of you will hold a very special place in our hearts. So I'll leave you with the words of Paul in Colossians 2:5, which sums up our feelings as we make the transition to Michigan, "For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ."