Gifts of Encouragement and Teaching | Gifted Week 4 Part 1 Sunday

Gifted 4 - Teaching and encouragement

Just a reminder that the course is made up of three different parts, the six Sunday messages, six midweek videos, and then we're also doing 36 devotionals six per week from our gifted workbooks. We are in week four of our Gifted series.

If you're following in this workbook, we are on page 10. That is the place to write down today’s notes from this message.

‘How to Grow Your gifts of Encouragement and Teaching’.

So far, in the series, we've covered three gifts: The gifts of Prophecy, Mercy, and Service.

Remember, in Romans 12, there are seven all together, and we said at the beginning of the series that we've all got these seven, but they're just in different ratios.

Rom.12:6-8 

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Let’s read it again:

“We have different gifts, according to the Grace given to each of us. If your gift is teaching, then teach, if it is to encourage, then give encouragement.”

Out of interest, how many people watching this or seated here have gotten your top three? The gifts of teaching or encouragement? Because these are once again, awesome gifts, just like the other five.

So once again, let’s look at these two gifts using three headings:

1. What are these gifts?

And here's a brief definition of teaching: ‘The gift of teaching is gathering and communicating information to others for their good.’

• So it's not just getting information, it's communicating it on to others, for their good.

Now, this can be done in many ways of course.

• People with this gift high up on their list, often are people who ask lots of questions, and are eager to validate things that they hear. They are very eager to distinguish truth from just hearsay, or untruth.
• Another word you can use for this gift is ‘inquiring’. And people that have this gift high up, have very inquiring minds and they love to learn.
• It's not necessarily that they want to know everything about everything. But in their areas of interest, they are driven to understand complex concepts, and break them down into easy-to-understand ‘chunks’ for others.

What a great gift to have as part of the local church.

Now, for many people who have this gift, it's there with them for their whole life. And if you have it before you come to meet Jesus, you would have had a very inquiring mind.

• Once you come to meet Jesus, chances are your interest turns to really understand the Bible and explain it to others.
• This becomes a major driving force apart from the other areas of interest that you might have. It gives you delight, it fills your bucket, and really excites you.

Now, this gift is at its very best when it can help other people have a ‘lightbulb moment’.

• When you're explaining something to somebody else and you see the lights go on in their head.
• When your explanation or your insights help somebody else to get it, that makes you come alive if you've got this gift very high up.

Now, it's important to note that this gift does not need to necessarily be expressed from a stage or in front of a group. There are many people who have this gift high up that they kind of have this deep down thought: “Unless I'm in front of a big audience, this gift isn't really finding expression.”

Well actually, we would have to say that this gift of teaching is at its most potent potential in one-on-one conversations, in explaining to others.

But in some ways this gift applies to all of us, whether you've got it in number 1 or number 7, because even an eight-year-old can teach a four-year-old how to tie their shoelaces.

We can all pass on knowledge that we've got. We can all help other people have lightbulb moments.

In reflecting on this gift that I'm so grateful to others who, over the course of my life, have kindly and humbly shared knowledge with me, even unintentionally.

For all of us, and in many ways, those things that others have said and written have shaped the people that we are today.

We should all be incredibly grateful for this gift operating over a lifetime of our involvement in the local church.

We know those people who listen to all these complex ideas, breaks them down and communicates the gist of it across to us. We almost feel like we’ve read the books, listened to all the podcasts ourselves.

The Gift of Encouragement.

Let's give a quick definition for encouragement.

Earlier on in the series we said that encouragement is ‘building others up.’

Now we add to that definition: ‘Giving courage to others, particularly in tough times’.

You will see if you look at the definition, the word courage is right in the middle of the word encouragement. And that's what it is about.

• The gift of encouragement is about giving courage to the intimidated and hope to the disheartened.

In the world we live in, there is so much emphasis on the bad news. And so many things are indeed broken. And in that kind of world, this gift, the gift of giving courage to others, we could say, is worth more than gold.

• Many people seem to have this default tendency towards negativity, towards cynicism. And many of us sadly see the proverbial ‘hole’ instead of the ‘donut’ of all that God has done for us.

A prophetic voice in our church had a vision of a body with several boils on it. Those boils were gossip, slander and backbiting. The I was seen taking a bandage and going to wrap it, but the Lord said don’t bind the boils because He wants to lance them with the sword of Truth. The muck needs to come out healing and restoration to take place. Discouragement comes when those words of gossip, slander and backbiting hurt the church and the heart of the Lord. Repent of all negative ‘pulling down’ language and choose to allow fresh water to flow from your heart!

• It comes from a judgmental and divisive spirit – that seeks to separate, cause suspicion, and drive a wedge between people…
• By contrast, this gift of encouragement comes through people who are looking to lift others up; who are looking at the positive of what God is doing, rather than just the negative; who, instead of being cynical, are living encouraged, and they are people who are looking to lift others up, build others up, and fire others up.

Just imagine the potency of this gift in someone’s life!

I remember vividly in my rugby playing days two such different responses to lining up on the side of the field with the opposition before the game started…

• First one was my debut for Edenvale Panthers in Nelspruit against the Lowveld Combined side. They were easily a head taller than each of us – but our captain, Hein Oosthuizen, gave us courage and we won that game in the rain 3-0.
• Secondly was later that same year when our captain was injured and we were playing Union at their field. I asked Hein who’s captaining the side that day because I’d heard the guys talking about how tough the fixture was going to be. He just smiled at me and said we’d see. To my surprise in the changing room it was announced that I’d be captain! I didn’t even know the team I was playing with. Needless to say, nothing I said worked and we got a hiding!

So much came down to much – or how little – courage was being spoken by the group.

In an unhealthy state, this gift can actually diminish the trials and struggles of others. It can just kind of steamroll over what others are going through. “Ah, don't worry, it's all going to be fine.” - that's not actually the gift of encouragement.

The gift of encouragement, when it operates in the way that it's meant to, it comes alongside others gently and kindly. It hears them out and then looks for small or big ways to help those people become all that God has designed them to be.

I'm so grateful for this gift of encouragement in the life of our local church. So many people bring this gift to the table. And I have needed to be encouraged and strengthened so many times – and wonderful encouragers have been there to help me on.

• We all need those people who, when we’ve had a single interaction with them, we’ve walked away, feeling more courageous than we did before.

You’ll read in your devotional about the incident in Acts 16:22-40, where Paul and Silas are badly treated and still find the gift of encouragement in themselves - regardless of their personal circumstances – to encourage the brothers and sisters who needed it.

Compare that to Jesus’ admonition on what comes out of the heart in Matthew 12:34-37  

“For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The powerful gift of encouragement vs its shadow side!

2. Jesus Himself is the supreme teacher, and encourager.

Of course, Jesus is the supreme example of all of these gifts.

But today, let's look at him as the teacher, and the encourager.

He is the supreme teacher; He is the supreme encourager.

He, of course, is the greatest teacher that ever walked the face of this earth.

But I'd like you to notice when you think about Jesus, and reflect on the Gospels, that when He brought this gift, He interacted with many different kinds and types of people.

• He related with the rich and the poor; the young and the old; the men and women; people of diverse cultures. There’s no limit to who you can encourage…

And if we are looking to use this gift, we would do well to do the same - to interact with people that are very different to us, and trust God for the ability to communicate His truth in a way that helps them have a lightbulb moment.

Let’s also notice please; that when Jesus taught, He used different methods to get His message across.

Many people think that the way to get the message of the love of Jesus across is to kind of just use this giant hammer of persuasion and argument. And interestingly, Jesus didn't.

The primary way – and He used many different ways of communicating truth - but His primary way, was parables. He told ‘story pictures’ to illustrate usually a single point, borrowing from day-to-day things that others were familiar with.

Matthew 13:34 

Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables. He did not say anything to them without using a parable.”

A friend of mine recounts a conversation that happened in the life group that he attended. They were grappling with this idea of how does God speak to us.

And one of the guys in the group, who himself was grappling with this idea said, “I've been thinking about it this week.” And he said, he pulled up his phone out of his pocket, he said, “I have a cell phone in my pocket here.” He says, “I can at the touch of a button dial and speak to my brother who lives in the UK. I don't have a clue how that technology works. I just push the button and I talk.” And he said, “As I'm thinking about it, I don't sit and wait to understand everything before I talk. I talk. And chances are I will then understand more….”

He's given a brilliant parable. He went on to say, “When I talk to God, I shouldn't try to understand it all. I should just open my mouth and talk.”

You see, he was using, in some ways, a gift of teaching to illustrate a complex truth in a very simple way by using the ‘parable’ of the cell phone to communicate.

What an awesome story.

What about Jesus as the great encourager?

Not only was He the supreme teacher, but Jesus was the supreme encourager.

You see, Jesus’ followers in those days, got so easily anxious and afraid - pretty similar to many of His followers like us today.

In one particular story; Jesus sends them out on a boat into the middle of the Sea of Galilee, and He goes up the mountain to pray.

In the middle of the night He walks out on the water to them. They are terrified. They've never seen this before. And their first thought isn't, ‘Hey, Jesus is walking on the water!” Their first thought is, ‘There's a ghost!’

And listen to what Jesus says to them. It says 

‘But Jesus immediately said to them, “Take courage. It is I. Don't be afraid”.’ 

(Matthew 14:27)

Remember, we said the gift of encouragement is bringing courage to others.

• Jesus didn't just say those words to them. He's saying it to every one of us now, “Take courage. It is I. Don't be afraid.” And this applies to whatever it is we going through at any given time.
• Peter responds quickly. Matthew 14:28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
• And Peter gets out the boat and literally walks on the water. And then if you are familiar with the story, remember he sees the wind and the waves and he begins to sink as he cries out.

And Matthew records that this happened in Matthew 14:31

“Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.”

It says “Immediately, Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.”

Let’s notice the ways that Jesus encourages us.

1. He speaks His words to us. And He says, “Take courage, it is I.”
2. But there's other times when you feel like you’re drowning, and He reaches out His hand and He grabs hold of you and He says, “I've got you.”
3. There are also times when He does exactly that through His body, the church – you and I…

Jesus, the great encourager, is the One throughout all of human history (1) who speaks, (2) the One who holds, (3) the One who reaches down and grabs hold of our lives.

• And where we have anxiety and fear, He fills us with courage, and as we receive encouragement from Him, we can bring encouragement to others.

We as Jesus followers should be of the most courageous people in the world - because the King of courage fills us with His courage and invites us to pass it on to others.

3. Thirdly and finally, These gifts are powerful. So go ahead and change the world.

Regardless of where they come on your list: These gifts are powerful, go ahead and change the world.

• Imagine, if through this series, every one of us could grab hold of this idea that we get to share God's truth with others in big and small ways.
• We would be engaging in world changing activity, through the gift of teaching, especially one on one.
• And imagine if we could grab hold on to this idea that God's courage flows into me and so it should flow through me. That gift of encouragement is a world changing powerful gift. I should go ahead and use it.

Let’s focus, as we close, on the gift of encouragement.

There is this tragic story in Numbers 13 and 14. God has brought His people out of the land of Egypt and brought them all the way to the promised land, to the kind of the edge of it, which was at the Jordan River.

And God says to Moses, “I want you to send 12 leaders across and go and have a look at that country”. And they go.

You see God had already promised it to them. He said “I'm going to give you this country.’”

• These 12 leaders go over and they have a long tour and they see a whole lot of things. The Bible says that they saw these huge giants; and they saw these very large bunches of grapes and lots of fruit and fruitfulness in the land.

These leaders come back and then give their reports to the entire nation that are standing there waiting.

And two kinds of reports come out of these 12 guys. Two of them, named Joshua and Caleb say stuff like this;

Numbers 13:30 

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it”.

A man who has got a gift of courage and encouragement!

And it says; 

Numbers 13:31-32

But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored.”

It's interesting that we can sometimes learn more about a gift from viewing it in its incorrect use.

You’ve got two guys bringing encouragement, but you've got ten men bringing anti-encouragement (discouragement) and their voice carries a louder sway.

The result is that instead of having courage to do what the Lord’s called them to do, the Israelites get the courage NOT TO do it.

Conclusion

You and I have got a choice of what we see. Do we see the giants or do we focus on the grapes?

We have got a choice as to the words that we're saying out. The encouragement either to do what God has said, or to send people away from it. This became a self-fulfilling set of anti-encouragement.

God was angry that these people did not obey Him, so for 40 years they wander around in the desert.

As it turned out the desert was more deadly than the giants in the land.

If those 12 guys could just have seen things the way God saw them, then all 12 could have spoken with one voice, words of courage and “guys we can do this”, and 40 years would not have needed to be wasted!

Every single one of us have got a set of eyes and we've got a voice.

Who we see and what we see determines what we say.

And you and I can very easily look at all the stuff that's going wrong, all the stuff that is not working well in the world, and we can speak that stuff out and become the voice of anti-encouragement.

OR, We can lift our eyes to The Encourager and allow His words:

“Take courage. It is I. Don't be afraid.”, to shine through in every situation.

We can become the voice of courage into our situations and into our world.

Very often the negative words we speak become self-fulfilling prophesy over our own lives… Because they influence our thoughts, which then influences our actions and decisions.

When we are facing any situation, let’s get God’s view on the situation.

This gift of encouragement, if it's your number one or if it’s your number seven; Let's allow God to strengthen it and put courage into us - so that our lives moving forward are the courageous, God-centred, ground-taking kind of lives that He designed us to have.

The opposite of that is to live in fearfulness and smallness. To back away from what God wants us to do.

Can you see why this gift is so powerful and so important in the church?

Do you see why the gift of teaching is so world-changing?

The same voice that spoke to the disciples, in the in the wind and the waves, speaks to us. And he says, “Take courage, it is I, don't be afraid.”

We get a choice whether we walk towards that voice, or walk away from Him.

Father, we thank you and we pray, every single one of us, and we ask that Your courage would fill our hearts and would fill our lives.