GREAT GOING! KEEP GOING!

Clarence Thomas grew up in the rural South. He overcame poverty and racism to contribute to our society, and now serves as one of the Justices on the Supreme Court. He gives thanks to God and Sister Mary Virgilius Ready and the other nuns who taught at his school. They stood like a wall against the hopelessness that gripped the community around them. He remembers well!

"They were tough. They taught discipline. They said, ‘You can do it.’ But mostly they said, "You WILL do it!" Against all odds, those godly women would say to their school children, all poor, most of them black, constant words of encouragement: "You will succeed...We believe in you... We insist that you believe in yourself."

What a message for anyone at any time and in any place. "We believe in you- Believe in yourself!" It is a good one for you and me. Imagine what great things could happen if we sincerely encouraged each other: GREAT GOING! KEEP GOING! I look at you here in Central church. My, you are beautiful! Old and young, men and women, rich with experiences, if not income. Differences can be seen - of course! Affirmed and celebrated - a must! You see, we all stand on equal ground before the cross of Jesus. Since we are one in Christ, encourage one another to BE ALL YOU CAN BE IN CHRIST- DO ALL YOU CAN DO FOR CHRIST.

So many people we know need a word of love and hope - a gentle push forward. When I pray through our church directory. I spread out your names before God. I ask Him to lift up each of you, no matter what you are facing. We tend to forget our Lord is right in the middle of our struggles. I forget, too. When I am feeling the struggles so many of you are going through. I too, need encouragement. And when it comes, it is like fresh water on a hot day! I come to you to encourage you today in Christ. Christ believes in you! I believe in you! Believe in yourself! Great going! Keep going! I hope you will take that word to encourage another - TODAY! We continue to work through this marvelous letter to the Christians at Philippi. We enter the joy of encouragement!

"If therefore there is any ENCOURAGEMENT IN CHRIST,..MAKE MY JOY COMPLETE BY HAVING THE SAME MIND AND LOVE, UNITED AND INTENT ON ONE PURPOSE.." Our purpose? Simply this: to lift up Jesus Christ in our own lives and in the life of our church. Anything less is not good enough! We cannot do this on our own. We need each other to tell us, Great going! Keep going! Do this and great things will happen in your life and in your church!

But stay alert: "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, count others better..." I’ve seen these two enemies work hard to discourage or destroy persons and churches. People get crossways with each other. Instead of talking together, they talk about each other - gossip and slander! Trouble! Focus on getting more members or more money! Trouble!

One pastor could say nothing right in the eyes of one of his members. Every sermon, every suggestion, in fact anything at all, was wrong as far as this fellow was concerned. Finally, the pastor tried to see his antagonist. He knocked on the front door, but no answer. He knew the man was home. The front door had an old-fashioned key hole, so the pastor knelt down to see if any movement could be seen. He stared right into the white of the eye of this dear man. "Sir, you better get up real fast, because this is the first time we see eye-to-eye!"

We like our comfort. We guard it. When conceit joins in with selfishness, it is worse. One rich fellow was on his deathbed. He called for the pastor, "Pray for me to get well. If I do, I’ll give $100,000 to the church with no strings attached." The pastor saw no way the fellow was going to make it through the night. But he agreed to pray. Amazing! The man recovered. About two weeks later the pastor reminded the healed man of his promise to God and the church. "I said that?" replied the recovered man with shock. "Wow, I must have been really sick!"

Paul knew the high cost to persons or churches who fought each other. Time and energy are spent to win. People get hurt. People throw insults directly, or behind the backs of those they are supposed to be building up. They call it "mud-slinging." I remember one minister friend warning about that: "Mud slung is ground lost!" Paul had a friend with the name, "Son of Encouragement." Barnabbas stood before the apostles and said, "Paul’s o.k. We can work together!" Don’t you think it is better to encourage? How should we begin (again)? Let me suggest just two ways.

FIRST, SEE WHAT A PERSON CAN BE IN CHRIST. It is easy to see where they are. Look at anyone that way, and no one will be anything! But see what a boy or a girl, a man or a woman CAN BE IN CHRIST, and you get their attention. We will see great things happen here, if we take the time to lift up one another. Sometimes, I think the world does better than us!

There was the problem child, Albert Einstein. Four years old before he could speak; seven years old before he could read and understand his reading. Had to be tutored in math. Yet, say his name, and he is connected with brilliance in mind and math and understanding of how our world works. Beethoven. His professor of music informed the parents that a career as a composer was just out of the question. Good thing he was deaf to that report! Thomas Edison. One of his teachers declared his future to be that of a chimney sweep. Today, he is considered one of the world’s greatest inventors. Picasso. Born premature, and was left to die on a table by his mother who saw him to sick to make it. How great that some people did not listen to those critics. Someone said, "Great job, keep going - you can do it!"

One fellow on holiday at a coastal resort came upon a crowd of people around a small sailboat. A lone boat-builder and sailor was about to launch his small homemade boat for a risky trip across the ocean. The small crowd tried to discourage him from his adventure. "You’ll never make it." "You’ll die of thirst." "You will run out of food." "Your boat can’t take it!" After listening for a time, the singular tourist elbowed his way to the front of the crowd. He called out to the brave sailor as he pushed away from shore: "You are incredible! You can make it! It will be the adventure of your life. Go in safety and care and God go with you!" (Bauknight) The Church should be the model for such behavior! When we have the Lord Jesus, we have in us the greatest Encourager who whispers, "Great going! Good job! Keep going for Me!"

Sadly, we don’t always live up to our leader and His life in us. Take Gert Behenna. Gert was a very rich woman. She was also a drunk, a drug addict, and very lonely without hope. Then, one day, she happened to hear of the wonderful, saving love of Jesus Christ. With support from Sam Shoemaker, Episcopal priest and supporter of A.A., she embraced and was embraced by our Lord Jesus Christ. The wonder of her salvation never wore off. But her joy stopped at church.

"I had never been to church in my life. I remember how eager I was to get to church that first Sunday after Jesus entered my life. I had just experienced almighty God - me, miserable me! I was just beginning to know what joy really was." Eager to get to church, she wanted to talk with persons who had known the love of God for many years. "What ecstatic people these Christians will be," she bubbled within herself. She admitted her own fear that those Christians would embarrass her with their love and enthusiasm. But she found out something else.

"Bowed heads, long faces, death-type whispers," she reported later to Shoemaker that, "I expected to be showered with love and affection and praise for making this great decision. But no one welcomed me, no one spoke to me." Almost everywhere she went the scene was repeated more or less the same way. She asked herself, and those who would dare to listen: "How could they come into God’s presence every Sunday without breathing in joy that danced in the air?"

Please encourage the ones right in front of you regularly!

You see, we are incredible people when Jesus Christ rules in every heart. Look around you. Here is the greatest place to begin the practice of encouragement. His joy comes when we share with others the strength we received when we first accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

SECOND, LOOK FOR COMMON GROUND OF COMPASSION. It is too easy to get on the battlefield of competition. Marriages gone bad show a battlefield approach. One couple was trying to get the good "put-down" on the other. Their funny lines at each other that cut to the heart. She said, "You make me wish I could lower my IQ so I could enjoy your company better." He came back: "Before we married, your chin was your best feature; now it’s a double feature."

Instead of seeking common ground, they seemed to enjoy their battleground. But it hurt! It has been proven, encouragement is like peanut butter on a piece of bread. The more you spread it, the better it sticks together. Like holding hands. It’s so much better than punching each other.

May I encourage you to look for common ground with your mate...with your children ...with those you work with. In Christ, we have the best common ground imaginable! Let’s not waste our wonderful opportunities to say or do something that will make a difference to them...to us, and who knows...to the world! Did you know that there are some people sitting quite close to you who need encouragement. This one is ready to risk his future on a promise from God. Another struggles to overcome the besetting sin of alcohol. And that one is lonely. No one has spoken to her in her neighborhood or in her church. What an opportunity we have!

I have provided you with a little tool to get you started on this great adventure of encouragement. This little tool might help you become an encourager, or if you are one already, a ready-made tool to keep going. An ENCOURAGEMENT card. Note that one side is blank. You can mail it to someone. In this case, it would be good to identify yourself. Nothing wrong with that! On the other side the phrase, GREAT GOING! KEEP GOING! And then, an opening line that you can fill out: The Lord brought you to mind, and I want to encourage you today in ______. You do the rest! You might be amazed how they will maybe see what they can become!

You will build up another in Christ, you will help keep a strong, healthy and joyful people of God! And your joy will be complete!