 Amen, Acts chapter 28, so it's our second week in Acts chapter 28. So Paul has shipwrecked on the island of Malta and he is now getting ready to leave. We're going to start out in verse number 11. They catch a ship out of Alexandria and they are able to get off of this island that they were shipwrecked on after being there for three months in verse number 11. The Bible says in three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria which wintered in the Isle whose sign was Castor and Pollux and landing at Syracuse we tarried there three days. So now they're on their way to Rome, so they're heading north, north towards Rome and from thence we fetched a compass and came to Reguium and after one day the south wind blew and we came the next day to Petioli and when we were found brethren, we found brethren, we were desired to tarry with them seven days and so we went towards Rome. So they asked, they were asked to stay on their way to Rome. They were asked to stay with these brethren that were on the way to Rome and look at verse number 15. The Bible says in from thence when the brethren heard of us they came to meet us as far as Appi Forum and the three taverns whom when Paul saw he thanked God and took courage. So this is what I'm going to talk about tonight. We're not going to get any further than this. We're going to talk about Rome next week. We'll finish out the book of Acts next week. But really I was kind of, I had this message just, I felt late on me about this situation that Paul found himself in verse number 15 here where the Bible says that these people, the brethren came from these far places. They heard that Paul was on his way to Rome and they met him on his journey and for that the Bible says he thanked God and took courage. So tonight I want to talk about the ability to encourage as Christians our ability to encourage. Today we have Christians where some of us have been saved for longer than other people but the first point I want to make tonight is that we all have the ability to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ. What does encourage mean? We look at this idea, how the Bible puts it here on verse 15. It says Paul took courage. Paul was given courage. It literally says he was given courage. He took courage from these, this brethren that came to see him. Basically it encouraged him is what the Bible is saying here. A synonym for encourage, you turn to Acts chapter 4 if you would. Turn to Acts chapter 4. So what does it mean to encourage or to give courage? A synonym for that is to embolden, to embolden someone. Now to embolden someone, that's a synonym for encouraging someone is to give them boldness. So we're talking about giving courage or giving boldness and I can't read you the amount of verses in the Bible that talk about how necessary it is for the Christian to have boldness. In the book of Acts, it's all over the book of Acts. I'll just read you a couple of verses if you're in Acts chapter 4. Look at verse number 29. The Bible says, And now Lord, behold their threatenings and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word. So the Bible here is saying, you know, we've already gone through this chapter. You know, they're just, I mean, this is a common theme throughout the book of Acts. Whoever it is, whether it's Peter, the disciples, James, just all the disciples in Jerusalem, you know, the disciples in Damascus, in Antioch, wherever they are, that's how the church in Antioch got started because they were being persecuted. They got flushed out of Jerusalem and they went north to Antioch. But what the Bible here is saying is that they're asking for boldness or courage. They need boldness and they need courage to keep speaking the Word of God. They're getting beat down for it. They're getting physically harmed for it. They're being chased and murdered and killed. And it's just a couple of chapters down the road that Stephen has literally martyred for boldness, for preaching the Word of God. Alright, verse 31 of the same chapter. And when they prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. And they spake the Word of God with boldness. So their prayer was answered. They were given that boldness by the Holy Ghost. In Acts chapter 28 verse 31, I'll just read it for you, will you? They're probably there preaching the Kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him. Just talking about how he's just being bold and he's using this courage that he took in verse number 15. Turn to Proverbs chapter 28. I'll read for you Ephesians chapter 3 in verse number 12. Boldness and the need for boldness is all over the Bible. It is necessary for the Christian. In Ephesians 3, 12, the Bible says, in whom, talking about Jesus, we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. Now look at Proverbs chapter 28 and look at verse number 1. Look at Proverbs chapter 28 and look at verse number 1. This verse really wraps up the need for boldness as a Christian right here. The Bible says, the wicked flee when no man pursue it, but the righteous are bold as a lion. So the Bible here is saying that the wicked people, the unsaved, they're going to be afraid of everything, they're going to be scared of everything. It's like, but the righteous, the saved, the Christian, the Bible believing Christian is bold as a lion. The point of trying to get you to understand at the beginning of the sermon tonight is that boldness is necessary for the Christian. It's the fuel that we run off of. It's the fuel that we run off of as Bible believing Christians. If we're going to live this Christian life, and I mean talking about living the Bible, if we're going to do the Bible, if we're going to do what God says and live this way and separate this way and serve this way and raise our children this way, it's going to require boldness. We need that. We need that fuel in our lives. And the Bible here is saying in verse number 15 of Acts chapter 28 that the brethren gave this courage to Paul. They gave this courage to Paul. He took courage from them. He took boldness from them. You say, Paul, doesn't he just have an infinite amount of boldness? No, I mean, Paul needs boldness. Paul needs courage. He needed that encouragement from there. Another thing I want to point out before we even get started with the sermon is that these disciples, these brethren, they were able to give Paul boldness through their actions. They gave Paul boldness through their actions, not just their words. I'm sure they said encouraging things, but you'll notice in Acts chapter 14 and 15 that it says they came from all these different places. They actually, they took great action to come and see Paul, and that was very encouraging to him. They gave him courage from that. It was their action. It kind of reminded me when I was reading this, it kind of reminded me, I wrestled from the time I was in first grade till the time I was a senior in high school, many, many years. And I remember after I was done, I was graduated from high school. I saw my wrestling coach, and I told my wrestling coach, who was my coach for many years, throughout high school and even in my junior high years, I told him, I said, you know all those times that I was in a wrestling match and you were yelling from the sidelines. And even like my dad would be yelling from the side of the mat, I never heard a word that any of those guys said. I told my wrestling coach that. I said, you know, I was like, I never heard anything you told me. You know, during the match. You know, during between periods and things, I understood what he was saying there. But during the match, it was like, I can't remember one thing I told him that you told me. But you know what mattered was the actions, what mattered was the training, what mattered was, you know, the things that were actually done. So the point is, Paul was emboldened. He was encouraged. He took courage through the actions of the brethren. That's what was important. Okay. Actions speak louder. The Bible talks about that all over the place. All right. What did they do? They showed up. They traveled there. They came to see him. All right. So look, I want to give you some points about encouragement tonight. Who needs encouragement? Who needs encouragement? The first point, I mean, that I already kind of told you is that the nice thing about encouragement in the Christian life is anybody can be encouraging. Anybody can be encouraging. It doesn't matter if you've been saved for a day. It doesn't matter if you've been saved for 20 years. You can be encouraging. That's one thing as a Christian. Look, a lot of things, like to be a really good, like veteran soul winner, that takes a lot of work and a lot of just, just knocking doors and just a lot of experience to do that. But look, to be encouraging, you can do right now. I mean, baby John encouraged me right before the service started. I mean, I walked by him and like, I was just like, hey, and he's like, I mean, that was encouraging to me. But the point is that even just somebody visiting a church can be encouraging. Anybody can be encouraging. This is something you're like, what can I do, you know, to help my brothers and sisters be encouraging. You can do it. Anybody can be encouraging. If you've been saved for five seconds, you can encourage your brothers and sisters. In Christ, a great example of encouraging your brothers and sisters is soul winning. I mean, you all have felt it. You've all gone out soul winning with a group of 15, 20 people and just have a great time out soul winning with a bunch of people. That is very encouraging. Like last Sunday was really encouraging soul winning. I mean, it's always good to go soul winning. Don't get me wrong. But it's more encouraging when there's more people out there together doing it. I mean, it's an encouraging thing. This is where silent partners can be very encouraging. You don't have to be a talker out there just being there. I have a friend in Sacramento. He's just a silent partner. He's been a silent partner for as long as I've known him. But it's very encouraging to go soul winning with him. He just encourages you as you go. So the point is encouraging your brothers and sisters is very important in this Christian life. And soul winning, look soul winning is a perfect example of how we can encourage one another. We all need encouragement. But I'm going to start tonight with the people that need encouragement the most in our lives. And then I'm going to kind of work down the line. And let me just say this. I'm going to give some specific examples tonight. These are not anecdotal. I have seen every single one of these examples. I'm going to get some horrible examples of the opposite of encouragement tonight. And I've seen every single one of these things happen. And you're going to listen to these really bad ones up front. You're going to be like, oh, that's terrible. But I'm going to get to yours. And I'll even talk about some things that I've changed in my life as far as encouragement and making sure that I am an encouragement to the people that I need to be an encouragement to in my life. This is super important in the Christian life, folks. The first people that I'm going to talk about tonight that need encouragement is your kids. I want to talk about tonight turn to Ephesians chapter 4. And I'm going to spend a lot of time on this one. But our kids need encouragement. And I'm going to explain why they need encouragement first. And then I'm going to tell you some things that you can do to stop the encouragement of your kids to actually work against that encouragement. Turn to Ephesians chapter 4. Look, your kids need discipline. And the Bible says that. The Bible says that you should discipline your children. Your children should obey you. Your children, if they do not obey you, the Bible says you should spank your children. You know, you should do this. If you don't discipline your children, the Bible says you hate them. I mean, this is how serious the Bible is about this. But look, here's the thing you need to understand. Don't be all negative raising your children. Your kids need encouragement in their life. Your kids need to know, look, unless you have some kind of child that's just wrong all the time and does everything wrong all the time, nobody has that type of child, by the way. But be encouraging. You know, it's don't be all negative. Yes, there is the sit up straight and chew with your mouth closed and brush your teeth and all these things and do your chores and all these different things. But, you know, do this, do that, but there must be some positive. There must be some encouraging. There must be a good job. You know, there must be hey, you did that right. Hey, thanks for doing that for me. You know, there has to be some positive when you're raising your kids. Are you in Ephesians chapter four? Ephesians chapter four. I got messed up here. Hang on. Ephesians, actually, Ephesians chapter six. I'm sorry. Ephesians chapter six. You got to have some positive in your life when you're raising your kids. That's the point I'm trying to make. But really, what I want to talk about tonight is the spiritual encouragement of your children. And you're going to keep your place in Ephesians chapter six and you're going to go to Matthew chapter 19. I kind of need to go to these places at the same time. I want to explain to you something tonight that you need to understand about children. And this is why I hope I can explain this properly. Because it's super important that you know this about your kids. I want to explain to you why, and if you're a soul winner, you are really going to understand this. But I want to explain to you one thing that you will notice out soul winning. If you've been soul winning, one thing that you will notice is that kids want to come to a Bible believing church. You will see this with kids on the street. You will see this with kids in homes, they want to come to church. They want to be here. You say, why is that? And you know what? When they do come here, they love it here. They're not saved. They've maybe even never been to a church, but they will come here and they will love it here. Why? Why? Especially the young ones. You say, why is that? I mean think about it, kids that have never been to a church, they'll come here and they will love it here. You will see kids out on the street and they will just be like, we want to come to your church and we want to come and they'll be asking their parents to come. Are you in Matthew 19? Look down at Matthew 19 verse number 14. This is why. We need to understand this so we can understand our own children. Look at Matthew 19 verse number 14. Matthew 19 verse number 14, the Bible says, but Jesus said, suffer the little children and forbid them not to come unto me for of such the kingdom of heaven. So the disciples were kind of shooing the kids away. They were trying to get close to Jesus and Jesus makes this profound statement here. And he says, no, do not let them, do not push them away because he says, of such is the kingdom of heaven. You know what he's saying and this is very similar to the philosophy that I taught in the age of accountability sermon but what he is saying is that the nature of children is the nature of heaven is what he is saying. This is why you will see kids that want to be in church and the younger they are and the less influence that they've had from the outside world the more that they will want to be in that church. Turn to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6 but you just remember of such is the kingdom of heaven. You see they're pure they're undefiled. This is why the Satan worshiping reprobates of this world are after them because they are pure and they are undefiled and Satan wants to corrupt what is not corrupted because as such is the kingdom of heaven and Satan wants to destroy that. So when everybody's shocked today about oh why are the they're all confused and they're all shocked why are the LGDPQT whatever trying to get into all the schools they don't have any kids they don't have children by the very unnatural state of them they don't have children no they want your children why? Because this is Satan's agenda that's why. It's to corrupt because as such is the kingdom of heaven and Satan is trying to destroy the kingdom of heaven in everything that has anything to do with it but as such is the kingdom of heaven that's the children and that's why the children want to be in church. By default here's what I'm trying to get you to understand by default children have a desire for the things of God. Thank God for that. What a blessing that is. That's why they love a biblical church that's why they want to come here and it's heartbreaking when you see kids out soul winning that want to come to church whose parents will never bring them. I was a few months ago a few months ago I was out soul winning and kind of a rare situation happened to me where I can't remember who I was with but we walked up to this driveway and there's this kid out in the middle of the driveway maybe 12 or 13 years old and I asked him if his parents were home I asked him if his parents would mind if I talked to him I told him who I was and he said no and he was super interested the boy wanted to hear what the Bible had to say I opened the Bible to show it to him and he said this kid's walking around this front yard like a normal kid and he says you have to hold the Bible closer because I can't see it he's blind he gets saved my wife and I go and we do follow ups the next week with this family I'm thinking about this kid and we go to his house and he's now there with his brothers and his mom and he's told his brothers everything about the conversation that we had in his driveway you know he doesn't know enough to give the gospel but he's told them about this guy who was the pastor of this church that came and showed him about Jesus and he's got saved and we're excited about his brothers and we saw him there and he's just begging his mother can we go to church? but you know we've never seen him look it's it's heartbreaking because they want to be here but this is why because why do they want to be here because as such is the kingdom of heaven that's why that's why they want to be here are you in Ephesians 6 look at verse 4 this is our job we must understand this about our children and this is why the bible says this it says you fathers provoke not your children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord the bible here is following up with Jesus said in Matthew 19 saying as such the kingdom of heaven it's there for you to protect it it's there for you to protect it God saying protect what's already there is what he is saying you say man these people are terrible they won't bring their kids to church they won't nurture this desire for their children to come to church and learn about the Lord but you know what even christian parents can fail at this and I'm going to give you four categories that I have seen specifically christian parents fail at and I'm going to start with the worst ones and you're going to you're going to listen to the worst ones and these are not anecdotes I've seen this these are not anecdotes you're going to hear these worst ones and you'll be like they're terrible but I'm going to get to yours I'm going to get to yours and I'll even tell you where I've changed some things in my life because of this christian parents fail at nurturing protecting what God put there in the children they fail at that the first one is this and this is the worst this is the worst christian parent this is the worst christian parent they punish their children using spiritual things turn to hosea chapter 8 the bible says the opposite of the nurture and admonition is you provoke your children to wrath but turn to hosea chapter 8 and verse number 7 hosea chapter 8 and verse number 7 these christian parents they will use what God put there as leverage against their children and it's wicked as hell to use what God has put there and asked that they put in their protective custody to use it against their children this is the parent that says you listen to me or we're not going to church you do that again and we're not going to church you ask about going to church and we won't go they punish using the bible write bible verses you messed up write a bible verse 150 times let's take a wonderful good thing and turn it into a horrible bad thing you're not going to that activity that you want to go to unless you do what I say they punish them using the spiritual things they take that leverage that they have they were given this thing that God put there and that they are supposed to protect and build and they use it to their own advantage it's wicked it's wicked as hell but I'm sick of seeing it but let me tell you something this might be the most the biggest example of hosea 8-7 where these people they're sowing the wind they have sown the wind the bible says the bible says they have sown the wind they will reap the whirlwind if you remember in Matthew 18 and Luke 17 Jesus says if you cause offense to one of these little ones it would be better if a millstone were hung around your neck we always apply that to reprobates and people that would actually physically hurt children but you know what damaging your children spiritually is causing offense to them you know what that means they have sown the wind and they will reap the whirlwind you know what that means that means that the price they will pay a price and this is true and I don't want to see it and but I'm going to see it and I'm going to continue to see it as long as I see this thing happening they will pay a price that they never would have agreed to pay if they would have known what they were doing you say that's crazy that's crazy no one in this church would ever do that here's another one and this is kind of a crazy one too just talking bad about church in your home is something that will damage that in your children it will turn church into a bad thing for them but I've seen this as well you can see the kids turn it's heartbreaking it's heartbreaking it defiles what was supposed to be encouraged what was supposed to be built and strengthened God helped the people that turn on every church you know God helped their children because they're sowing the wind they're just sowing the wind and sowing the wind and sowing the wind and they're going to reap the whirlwind because they're damaging what God put there they're damaging what God put there for them to protect how about this one there's a little kid I can even remember examples of this one how about parents that just argue over church maybe one parent's into it one parent not so much church just becomes a matter of strife in the home you know what that does that means that damages what's inside them and church equals strife to the kids even these smaller things look this spirit that they have the Bible literally says as such is the kingdom of heaven do you understand what you have in your kids as such is the kingdom of heaven every unsaved 5 year old 6 year old 7 year old 8 year old 9 year old that we meet out on the street as such is the kingdom of heaven that needs to be built and protected it's already there you literally have to ruin it I mean that's hope for the future at least look as a pastor I've grown in this area over the last 4 or 5 years and I haven't been a pastor for 4 or 5 years but there are many ways look and first of all my kids whether they like it or not there's many ways my kids are in the ministry with me and my wife she's in the ministry with me but I have to be careful of the attitude I have around the kids I mean my kids are older my kids are stronger because they're older and they're more mature than like a pastor with little kids but look I'm still much more careful about this than I was at the beginning of this whole thing I have to be because here's the thing and you know what pastor a good little piece of wisdom that he told me like because here's the thing folks in the ministry and I know that I can't explain this to you but in the ministry there's always ups and downs there's always some people that are up and some people that are down that's just the way it is all the time what if I walked into my house and I was just focusing on the downs all the time pastor he meant to put it to me this way and I hope he wouldn't mind me saying this but he would say to me sometimes you know what problem B becomes problem A you know what he's saying that there's always going to be problems and I could just go and my kids could you know the kids could see the church the ministry equals dad stressed out all the time that's what they could see they could see that this Christian life that they're in this ministry that they're in just equals bad just equals stress and sadness I need to protect the kids from that you know I need to get to this in a little bit but I need to protect my wife from that too look there's always going to be ups and downs and guess what here's the thing we are strong they are not is what we need to understand and if such such is the kingdom of heaven it is such a great gift we need to look we not we need to not only protect it from the corruption and the sickness and the corruption of Satan's world we need to protect and nurture the spiritual desire within them so I hope you think about these things tonight guess what though if you do protect it if you do protect it no matter how you're feeling or where you're at guess what you will succeed and they will grow up and they will learn to serve the Lord on their own and it will work if it's protected if it's nurtured if it's what is encouraged if they take courage from you they will be strong but they aren't now and that's what you need to understand about your children here's the least extreme version of this and if I haven't gotten you so far I'm going to get you here the least extreme version of this is you know just with just when you're in a spiritual valley in your life when you're in a spiritual valley in your life you know if you get in a spiritual valley in your life to get out of it as soon as possible but if you are in a spiritual valley in your life don't drag your kids down into the valley with you because the thing that you have to understand is you are stronger than they are and if you drag them down into the valley you will bounce back but there will be damage that is done there there will be damage that is done whatever they will always remember that valley that you are in and look they will be the spiritual this as such as the kingdom of heaven will be scarred a little bit and we need to protect it as good and as perfectly as we possibly can so look just here's a couple of rules here's a couple of rules for you tonight you're like okay here's the first rule don't ever use the fact that as such as the kingdom of heaven in your children don't ever use that against them ever that's an easy one and then rule two look because if you do do that if you do do that you will pay a price that I guarantee you were not willing to pay if you do that and the second one is just you need to do everything you can possibly do to encourage to strengthen to nurture this God given gift that they have this desire that they have you need to talk to your kids too because that will always give you a measure on where they are and I've been doing this for years and years and years with my kids just talking to them what do you mean how was your day today how was your day at church how's everything going how was your activity that you went to how are these things I'm annoying about it I really am I still talk to my older kids not so much Garrett but I still talk to the older kids about this actually smiling because I annoy her and I'm like okay scale one to ten and I just keep going she's like dad you have your finger on the pulse of this there's a method to the madness there's a reason that I do it because I want to know if there's something going on where I'm not doing a good enough job and you need to know what's going on with your kids and even when your spiritual life is suffering and I hope nobody's spiritual life is suffering but even if your spiritual life is suffering don't bring your kids into that because they can't sustain the hits that you can so look let's go back to Paul let's go back to Paul the ultimate way to encourage how do I encourage my kids how do I encourage my family the ultimate way to encourage is to be present the ultimate way to encourage is to be at those activities with them don't discourage and use an activity that they want to go to at church as something to punish them be there with them be part of it be present you know let them know that you know what when we're at church, church is good when we're doing spiritual things spiritual things are good we're going soul winning look you may feel like going soul winning some days where it's like I don't really feel like going soul winning today look you may not admit it but you're going to feel like that every now and then and you know what you put a face on put a face on why they can't take the hits like you can you can have a bad day and you can be stressed out about things and you don't have to just let everyone know about everything be there with them be present just like the people with Paul in verse 15 how did he take courage from there they were there they came there they were there and they were positive you know what what the kids see this is all good for us encourage your spouse turn to first Peter chapter 3 turn to first Peter chapter 3 look wives wives should encourage their husbands you say whoa what does that mean wives should encourage his leadership is what they should do you know there's two different perspectives it's really interesting on this one on the whole you know biblical perspective of the wife is to just submit that's what the Bible teaches you know the Bible doesn't condone some wife bossing her husband around the husband's in charge that's what the Bible clearly teaches that's what God wants the man's in charge the wife though you know the world doesn't understand this because the woman out in the world the feminist today is like the opposite of the Bible woman today is the opposite of Proverbs 31 she's like I'm not listening to that idiot I'm not going to listen to that fool I'm not going to let that you know I mean that's how they feel about their husbands and they look at a Christian woman that would decide to submit to her husband's leadership and they can't even it's another dimension to them they can't understand it whereas the Christian woman's like yeah I'm going to listen to my husband because my husband's awesome he's a good leader he's a Bible reading Bible knowledgeable he's a believing Christian he's a strong Christian man they can't fathom that they can't see it it's two completely different perspectives but the wife should support her husband's leadership turn to 1 Peter chapter 3 husbands look at verse number 7 it says likewise he husbands likewise he husbands dwell with them according to knowledge talking about the wives giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel husbands need to defend and protect their wives role they need to defend and protect their wives because let me tell you something your wife is under attack today your Christian wife is under attack your Christian homeschooling wife is under attack by just about everybody today outside of the walls of this Bible believing institution right here your wife is under attack and she's the weaker vessel you know what they're gonna attack her and that's why we need to protect our wives and our children because you know what Satan's coming out he's trying to come in through that way because it's the easiest way in you know lead in a positive way be an encouragement in a positive way you know what your wife doesn't need to know every single thing that you're stressed about at every single moment I'm not saying hide things from your wife that's not what I'm saying but what I'm saying is you have to take into account that she is weaker than you what does that mean she is emotionally weaker than you she is physically weaker than you and she is spiritually weaker than you you say oh I know some wife that's way more spiritual than her husband this is the way the hierarchy is supposed to be you're supposed to be the spiritually, physically and emotionally strong one you don't need to go and like panic your wife over every tiny little thing be some baby that comes home and sits on the couch and just blurts out everything every baby concern you have because you know what you're gonna do you're gonna do the same thing to your wife that I was talking about doing to the kids you're gonna tear her down you're gonna break her because she's not gonna sit there and say oh you're stressed about all this and this and the business and the finances and all this and what and she's not gonna sit there and be like it's gonna be fine this is gonna be fine she's gonna be like we're toast you're gonna break her because she's the weaker vessel that's what the bible is saying so being encouragement to her maybe be stronger yourself maybe go talk to you know a brother in christ and you know get some encouragement from there if you need a pat on the head or whatever you need or call me or whatever but don't just stress your wife out with every little tiny thing that you're worried about you know what be there you say how do you encourage your wife be there show up sit next to her for 10 minutes just plop down right next to her on the couch what are you doing you know what that will do that will encourage her encourage your wife be there satan's coming for your wife and satan's coming for your kids he's not coming after the strong spiritual christian leader of his household he's looking for cracks and the bible is telling us that it's our job to make sure that these things are short up to protect our children in all ways spiritually protect them to protect our wives in all ways physically emotionally, spiritually and encourage them look it's hard this homeschooling is hard it's hard I mean we've got two kids in school right now and if you're doing it correctly it's very hard and it's very stressful this is why I never really started never really went home and did remote work because I was just in the way and I wanted my wife to not be stressed out and I wanted her to be able to continue doing her things and I just stay and I just encourage and encourage and I encourage and I help where I'm needed to help but I don't get in the way and I don't mess things up I encourage it's hard if you're doing it right a good christian mom has major responsibilities despite what Satan will tell you despite what Satan's little minions and I don't care what forums those little minions come in all these little snide comments from your relatives or your friends or whatever this is how it happened to us all those little snide comments were sneaking all the time very discouraging that's where you need to step in and stop those things as the leader and then encourage the point I'm trying to get across tonight folks is that encouragement in the christian life this giving of courage this giving of boldness is absolutely necessary and this is what Ecclesiastes 4 is talking about where it says two are stronger than one and a three fold core is not quickly broken it's saying diversify your strengths when you're up two of us will hold you when you're down two of us will pick you up if you're by yourself and there's no one to encourage you this is the person oh I'm gonna leave a good church and I'm gonna move here and I'm gonna go soul winning by myself no you won't you might for two weeks you might for two months but it's incredibly discouraging if you don't have people around you giving you that fuel that you need which is boldness God knows this this is why you know he shows us that even Paul for crying out loud even Paul the strongest evangelist that anybody could ever think of took courage from people he needed courage from people and look I'm trying to get you to understand that no matter who you are no matter how long you've been saved you have the ability to give that courage and give that boldness we have the ability to give that boldness to our children to protect their spiritual kingdom of heaven nature that they have and keep that pure and keep that undefiled we get that from each other we get that from each other be an encouragement think about this let's bow our heads