We Are Encouragers (Pt. 3 - Nehemiah)

Pastor Phil Derstine 5-31-26

Ezra rebuilt the Temple – Nehemiah rebuilt the Walls

  • Your Temple represents your FAITH (heart)
  • Your Walls represent your LIFESTYLE (character & conduct)

We Are Encouragers

  • Nehemiah 4:14 “Don’t be afraid of them.  Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”
  • Fight for your Family – Through encouragement (words of Faith). 
  • Encourage  1. To put courage in.  2. To stimulate by assistance, approval.
  • Discourage 1. The draining of courage.  2. To deprive of courage, hope, confidence.
  • Joshua 1:6,7,9,18 “Be strong and of a good courage…” 
  • Hebrews 10:24 “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,  (25) Not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
  1. Encouragers find their Place on the Wall – Family Encouragement
  • Nehemiah 3:1 “Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they built the sheep gate; they sanctified it and set up the doors of it. (2) The men of Jericho built the adjoining section, and Zaccur son of Imri built next to them.” 
  1. Encouragers are Sacrificial Givers – Monetary Encouragement
  •  Acts 4:36 “Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas, which means “Son of Encouragement, (7) sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.”
  • Acts 2:44 “All the believers were together and had everything in common.  (45) Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.” 
  1. Encouragers are Attentive Listeners – Caring Encouragement
  • James 1:19 “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
  • John 8:3 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery... (6) But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though He heard them not. (7) When they kept on questioning him, he lifted up and said to them, If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
  1. Encouragers are the Voice of Faith – Relational Encouragement
  • Luke 19:5 “When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus come down immediately.  I must stay at your house today.”
  • Ephesians 4:29 “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
  • John 4 – Jesus with the woman at the well.

The Ripple Effect – The Ministry of Encouragement keeps on Giving.

  • “Do unto others” Luke 6:31; “If two shall agree” Matt. 18:19; “In unity is the command of blessing” Ps. 133:3; “Give and you shall receive” Luke 6:38; “Blessed to be a blessing” Gen. 12:2.
    • Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”\
  • Romans 15:5-6 “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give us the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice we may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”