How to Encourage

It’s time to take the next step.  God has been doing remarkable things lately at Old Union Church, and he has more amazing stuff up his sleeve.

Last summer, we all knew things were declining at our church, but no one wanted to talk about it.  Either we hoped it was just a phase that we’d snap out of, or we were worried that there was nothing we could do.  In the fall, we began to look seriously at the concerns we had about Old Union Church.  We quit pretending they would go away if we ignored them.  But we still didn’t know what to do about it.  In January, God took advantage of our openness to his guidance by giving Old Union a theme verse: “Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are already doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).  There’s been a renewed level of excitement and energy in our congregation, and we’ve been thinking, talking, and praying about how this verse can point us into the future.

The next step is to move beyond talking and thinking, and to begin acting.  Our theme verse hints that our future endeavors will be rooted in what we are already doing.  We are already a beacon of encouragement for the discouraged and a place where broken lives can be rebuilt.  How can we become more focused on this mission and enhance our work to follow God’s calling?  Here’s how you can help.  In a spirit of prayerful reflection, write down your answers to the following questions:

1.    In what ways have you been encouraged and built up by the people and ministry of Old Union Church?

2.    What have you done in the past to encourage or build up other people, either individually or as part of a church project?

3.    How have you witnessed others being encouraged and built up?

4.    What can we learn from our mistakes?  What could we have done differently when we failed to encourage and build up people, or even discouraged and tore them down? 

When you’ve answered these questions, you will have a list of ways that Old Union encourages people and builds them up.  Your list may include things from receiving a get-well card to sending Operation Christmas Child boxes.  Please give your list to me or to a session member, preferably before the next session meeting on April 20.  Knowing what we’ve already done will give us clues about what we can start to do.

The session is also looking for people to be part of a team to organize new ventures in encouragement and building up.  We will begin with what we’re calling “small, low-risk experiments:” easy and simple things to try out to see if they work or not.  If they do, we can build on them.  If they don’t, we can learn from them to plan the next experiment.  Please let me know if you’d like to be part of this team.