Bobby McDonald - The Power of Encouragement

Bobby McDonaldJune 5, 202314mWatch on YouTube

In this collectionBobby McDonald76 messages

Speaker: Bobby McDonald Title: The Power of Encouragement Date: 06/04/2023 Our Goal as Christians is this: To be an exact reflection of Jesus, the Son of God (Romans 8:29) We do this individually by growing in purity in our personal lives (1 John 3:2-3) We do this corporately by becoming fully functioning members of a local Church (Ephesians 4:11-16)

Summary

The central message emphasizes the necessity of encouragement, drawn from God's Word, to persevere in the Christian life and overcome sin. Discouragement weakens our fight against temptation and can cause our hearts to harden. True strength and hope come from clinging to God's promises and recognizing Him as the good doctor who enables us to persevere.

Outline

The message in plain words, in the order it unfolds. Select a time to jump the video to that moment.

Why we need daily encouragementThe speaker opens to Hebrews 3:13, explaining that God's word and encouragement help us overcome sin and persevere through struggles.

How discouragement leads to hardening in sinDiscouragement makes us weak against temptation and slowly dulls and hardens our hearts through the deceitfulness of sin.

The joy of the Lord is our strengthReferencing Nehemiah 8:10, Bobby notes that discouragement robs us of our strength to resist temptation, whereas joyful people are strong people.

The story of the back injury and hopeSharing a story about a friend told he would never run again after a back injury, Bobby illustrates how a word of hope completely changes a person's outlook and strength.

What if God never gave us encouragement?People rarely appreciate things until they are lost, prompting a fictional thought experiment about someone reading a Bible stripped of all its promises and hope.

Reading a Bible minus all of God's hopeThe man in the story reads the edited Bible and is left feeling hopeless, seeing only his sin and God's wrath without any comfort.

Discovering the God of love in the real BibleWhen given the real Bible, the man immediately sees God's love, eternal hope, and promises, transforming his entire perspective.

The law versus grace through JesusLooking at John 1:17, Bobby explains that the law showed us we were sinners with no hope, but grace, truth, power, and hope came through Jesus Christ.

Setting aside tough feelingsWhen trials come and feelings of doubt arise, we must set those negative feelings aside and focus on God's promises rather than our current emotional state.

The perspective of a championUsing an analogy about basketball commentators, Bobby notes that people who have won a championship know that struggles happen; the key is pressing through them.

Saved with difficulty and living by God's wordQuoting First Peter 4:18 and Matthew 4:4, Bobby reminds listeners that righteousness involves difficulty, and we live by every word proceeding from God's mouth.

Looking back with thanksgivingBobby concludes that if we do not give up and continue pressing on in faith, one day we will look back and see that God was doing a mighty work all along.

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Bobby McDonald - The Power of Encouragement

Bobby McDonald · June 5, 2023 · 14m

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