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An Update to the Encouragement Equation

stephenlawes — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 01:00:05 +0000

Four or five weeks ago I developed a new science I called Encourageomics. As the basis for this new study I came up with what I called the Encouragement Equation which was U + 2PE = 3PE. This equation stated that when U (you) encourage two people (2PE) that three people are encouraged (3PE) because when you encourage others, God will encourage you. While God was certainly implied in this equation, He was not specifically stated and so I have decided that the original Encouragement Equation needs to be amended. You see, it is extremely important that you always keep God in the equation. Adding God appropriately into the encouragement equation took some thought. You just can’t add God in on the same level with U or PE. After much thought, I determined to adjust the equation to look like this:

In this equation, when U (you) with the power of God, (demonstrated as G in exponential form, because God’s power is exponential) encourage two people (2PE) then three people are encouraged (3PE). This equation seems to demonstrate the Ministry of Encouragement very well and I encourage you to incorporate it into your life.

An Encouragement Equation Update from Steve Lawes on Vimeo.

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Have You Encouraged Two People Today

stephenlawes — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:29:58 +0000

The series on The Ministry of Encouragement continues on the Preaching in Shorts site. We want to encourage you to go and check out the series so that you can Become a minister of Encouragement. We also want to remind you of the foundational things that you need to be dong every day to get your own ministry of encouragement established. The first of these foundations that you need to establish in your life is being thankful. You will not be able to be an effective encourager unless you are a grateful person. To help you do this, we encourage you to start every day by being thankful for at least five things. This is an important habit to develop in your life as it will have a significant impact on your perspective throughout the day. As with any new habit, it takes time to develop. To help develop this habit, we suggest you tape an index card to your bathroom mirror that reminds you to be thankful. Here is a little video that might also help:

Once you get being thankful established you can do everything good. With that in mind, the next foundation to get established in the ministry of Encouragement is to encourage at least two people a day. You may want to put another note on the bathroom mirror that says, “Have you encouraged two people to day”? If the answer is no, then you better go get on Facebook or do a little Tweeting and get those people encouraged. Remember that when you encourage two people, three people are encouraged. Our hope and prayer is that people all over the world will see and recognize the importance of being a minister of encouragement and that we can establish a powerful ministry of encouragement around the world to advance the Kingdom of God.

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The Encouragement Equation

stephenlawes — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 20:52:29 +0000

As the Ministry of Encouragement teaching continues on the Preaching in Shorts website, a new encouragement equation has been developed. This equation “U + 2PE = 3PE” is the foundation for a new science called encourageomics. The equation states that if you(U) encourage two people every day (2PE) then three people end up being encouraged (3PE). How does it work? The underlying Biblical principal for this equation is found in Luke 6:38:

Luke 6:38 (NIV)
38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

When you encourage people, God will encourage you! If you haven’t been watching or listening to the Ministry of Encouragement series on Preaching in Shorts, then we encourage you to go and watch or listen to them today. And remember, start every day by thinking about five things you are thankful for, and encourage at least two people a day!

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The Ministry of Encouragement Series has Started

stephenlawes — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:06:48 +0000

The Ministry of Encouragement preaching/teaching series has started and we invite you to check it out. Our hope here is that everyone who desires to become a minister of encouragement will take some time to watch or listen to the series. You can find the messages on the Preaching in Shorts site (www.preachinginshorts.com) or you can click on this link: Ministry of Encouragement Part 1. Part 1 is an introduction to the series and deals with the question, “why is the Ministry of Encouragement important”?. During the message you are asked to do two things. One of them is to begin to memorize Hebrews 10:19-25:

Hebrews 10:19-25 (New International Version)
19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

The suggestion is to learn these verses by memorizing one verse at a time during the course of the series. For this first week you should memorize Hebrews 10:19:

Hebrews 10:19 (New International Version)
19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,

The other thing is to take a quiz to see how prepared you are for the Ministry of Encouragement. We will reproduce the quiz for you here but encourage you to go and watch or listen to the message as well.

How Prepared are You for the Ministry of Encouragement?

1. Do I speak more words of encouragement than I do of criticism, complaint or correction? Y / N

Be honest with yourself. What is the ratio?

2. Are people more cheerful when they are around me? Y / N

Do people like to be around you or do you actually draw all the air out of the room?

3. Would my family consider me to be an encouraging person? Y / N

This is where you would go to see if your answer to number one is correct.

4. Do I apologize to people after I have been negative or discouraging or complaining? Y / N

When you realize you have fallen into the grumpy trap, do you go and make it right?

5. Have I been diligent in encouraging people I am regularly in contact with? Y / N

People at work, people in church, Winn Dixie cashiers.

6. Do I pass along good news and let gossip stop with me? Y / N

Or do you do the opposite? Good News stops with you, but gossip flows like a river.

7. Is my conversation with friends generally building up other people? Y / N

Are you bonding illegitimately by judging other people with other people?

8. Have I recognized how encouraging God is to others as well as to me? Y / N

Or am I in the trap of the grumpy 24 hour a day bad news cycle?

9. Does my impatience/anger/selfishness get in the way of encouraging other people? Y / N

Is it all about me and what I want?

10. Am I patient in spending time with and listening to God so He can encourage my heart? Y / N

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Encouragement is a Ministry for Everyone

stephenlawes — Tue, 25 May 2010 00:09:49 +0000

One of the things that makes The Ministry of Encouragement so exciting is that everyone can be involved. Unlike some ministries that require a certain set of gifts and talents, everyone can be a minister of encouragement. These verses clearly lay out your qualifications for the Ministry of Encouragement:

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (My Paraphrase)
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all encouragement, 4who encourages us in all our troubles, so that we can encourage those in any trouble with the encouragement we ourselves have received from God.

God has encouraged us so that we can encourage others. Since we have all been encouraged by Him, we can all be Ministers of Encouragement. Start today by thinking about five things you are thankful for (this will help you to get the right perspective), and then ask God to help you think of two people who you can encourage. Then go and do it. If you are still stuck, maybe a little humor will help you get started. Check out the video below:

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An Encouraging Video

stephenlawes — Thu, 13 May 2010 23:45:30 +0000

This video was taken during our Easter baptism at Bahia Honda in April, 2010. I would encourage you to watch it because I believe you will find it extremely encouraging. Twenty three people are baptized, some by themselves, some as couples, a mother and daughter, a father and son. Each time I watch it I am blessed and reminded of the goodness of God in our lives. Take the four minutes and give the video a viewing.

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Laying the Foundation for the Ministry of Encouragement

stephenlawes — Tue, 11 May 2010 20:25:03 +0000

For the the last month I have been talking about the importance of the Ministry of Encouragement. To get the ministry started I have been encouraging everyone to do two things;

Start every day off by thinking of five things you are thankful for

Encourage at least two people a day

These are two foundational pieces of getting involved in and having an impact in the ministry of encouragement. I am now working on putting together a teaching series that will set out the scriptural foundation and importance of the encouragement ministry. This ministry is vital to the health of the church and yet I believe it has been widely ignored and needs to restored as one of the most prominent ministries that the church can undertake. Everyone, regardless of their gifts and talents, can be involved in the ministry of encouragement. Read these verses from the book of Hebrews:

The writer of Hebrews puts the ministry of encouragement alongside our acceptance in Christ and the promise of eternal life with Him! My prayer is that we would all become ministers of encouragement to let people know the Good News of God’s amazing love for them.

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If You Don’t Have Something Good to Say

stephenlawes — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 23:12:43 +0000

If you don’t have something good to say, chances are you won’t have much impact in the Ministry of Encouragement. There is a short post and video on A Jesus Moment called Telling it Like it Could Be that you might want to read and watch. The article suggests that there is something better than just telling it like it is, which is telling it like it could be. This is important in The Ministry of Encouragement. We need to be speaking words that build people up, that encourage them to persevere and to press on. So often, we have used our words for negative reasons and hurt people rather than bless them. We have used sarcasm to say things that really don’t need to be said. We have offered criticism where none was requested. There is so much power in our words. Let’s make the decision to speak words of life and blessing and not words of death and destruction. Always speak the truth, but speak it in love.

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The New Testament Verse by Verse Bible Study Part 63 John 17

stephenlawes — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:26:11 +0000

In this Bible Study series on Internet Pastor we will be studying through the New Testament verse by verse. You can watch or listen to the study by going to the Online Church page.

John 17:1-26 (NIV)
1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. 6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name–the name you gave me–so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. 13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

John chapter 17 is the conclusion of the time that Jesus spends with His disciples preparing them for what was about to come. This entire chapter is a prayer. His concern for His disciples, and ultimately us is displayed in His concern and passion. Knowing what He was about to experience, the cross, the humiliation, the betrayal, He takes the time He has left and devotes it to the care of His disciples.

John 17:1-5

Jesus begins His prayer by praying for Himself. Which is a good place to start prayer, and by which He gives us a picture of our lives as His disciples. Just as He would bring glory to the Father by completing the work He had been given, Jesus would then be glorified in the Father’s presence. Jesus life had a purpose, even though His time here was momentary, and then He was taken by the Father when His work was finished.
Our lives here, are momentary, they have a purpose, and when we have completed out task we will also be taken by the Father to be in His presence.

John 17:6-19

Jesus then goes on to pray that God would protect His disciples as they live in a fallen world. His prayer includes that we would be sanctified by God’s truth. His word is truth. Let me take a moment again to encourage you to read His Word, so that you would know the truth, and that the truth would set you free. He also prays that we would be sent into the world, not isolate ourselves from it, but to live as His witnesses in the world. This is not accomplished by legalistic, self-righteous, Pharisee type behavior, but by living and loving well and extravagantly. Being vessels of God’s grace and mercy, and letting people know how much God loves them and that He has made a way to have relationship with them in Christ. Being sanctified by His Word allows us to live by doing the next right thing.

John 17:20-26

By living out the call to be His ambassadors, we are continuing to advance the Kingdom of God. Jesus emphasizes that He was praying not just for the disciples, but for “those who will believe in Me through their message.” That includes you and I and all the believers throughout the centuries. Isn’t it cool to be a part of His story. The church continues to grow and multiply as Jesus continues to reach out through us.
All of this is made possible as we continue to live in Him, as we find life in Him, knowing that he is our source, and that we will be with Him forever.

Come back often to see the latest sermons or bible studies on your Online Pastor site. We are blessed to be your Pastor Online!

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Sundays Coming – Part 3

stephenlawes — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:21:21 +0000

This newest series of messages on Internet Pastor is called “Sundays Coming”.

The night before Jesus Christ was crucified He made a very strange statement that nobody who heard it understood. He said,

John 14:19 (MSG)
19 In just a little while the world will no longer see me, but you’re going to see me because I am alive and you’re about to come alive.

What in the world did He mean? They’re thinking, “We’re already alive. What does He mean when He says, ‘You’re about to come alive.’”

Easter is about coming alive. Jesus Christ defeated death and rose again. Almost everybody knows that part of the Easter story. What most people don’t know is the second part of the story. That involves you.

2 Corinthians 5:15 (MSG)
15 He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.

What is this better life?

Many people come to the Florida Keys to live “the good life”. Beautiful weather, laid back attitude, living on or near the water, etc. And compared to most of the world, you’ve got it good. You’re living the good life.

But what if there was something more? What if beyond the good life there was a better life? What if you were missing out on something that you didn’t even know about? What if God had intended more than just the good life for you but He intended the better life. Wouldn’t you want to know about it? Of course you would and so would I.

We often settle for less because we don’t know that there’s anything better.

I believe that God brought you here today to the Vineyard Community church on Easter Sunday so He could let you in on a little secret. There is something better. There’s way, way more than just the good life. That’s ok but there’s far more than that. You were made for more than just The Good Life – looking good, feeling good, having the goods. That’s ok but that’s not all there is to life. There’s way more than that. There’s The Better Life.

What is this better life that Jesus Christ offers us? It’s three things.

1. It’s a new start

1 Peter 1:3-4 (MSG)
3 What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, 4 including a future in heaven—and the future starts now!

The better life is not just an addition to your old life, something you just tack on. It’s a whole new deal. It’s brand new. God wants to give you a brand new life. A cosmic do-over. Remember do-overs when you were a kid. A game would get started and you would lose too quickly and you would ask for a do-over and you would usually get it. In Christ, we get a do-over. God says I want to give you a brand new life. I want to give you a chance to start over. I want to give you a chance to begin again. That’s the starting point of a better life. We’ll just give you a brand new life. It’s incredible.

Summarize the Jesus Story

2. It is lived in grace

What does that mean? The Bible says this,

Ephesians 2:4-7 (NIV)
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Living doing the next right thing. Sometimes messing up, asking for forgiveness, yielding to the Spirit and doing the next right thing.

3. Filled with energy

Here’s the good news. The same power that He demonstrated when He raised Jesus Christ from the dead when He came back to life to prove He was God, that same power is available to you on a day by day basis.

Romans 8:11 (MSG)
11 It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!

You’ve got a choice. You can go through the rest of your life trying to live the good life, disconnected from God’s power or you can live the better life plugged into God’s power. It’s your choice.

Come back often to see the latest sermons or bible studies on your Online Pastor site. We are blessed to be your Pastor Online!

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