Category: Encouragement Conference 2018

Some of the most encouraging times of the week were the moments we took to share prayer requests and to pray for needs within our missions family. Prayer is a reflection of our trust in God to answer and to meet our needs. As you think of those in our missions family, pray for God to encourage them and to do a mighty work through them.

Pray for our missionaries to have strong marriages.
Pray for wisdom for our missionaries as they raise children on the mission field.
Pray for the young children in our missions family as they face unique struggles growing up often without the encouragement of believers their age.
Pray for the older children now out of their parents’ homes, that they would remain faithful to the Lord as they make decisions about their future.
Pray for the grandchildren of our missionaries to come to the Lord at an early age, and for wisdom as grandparents seek to influence future generations from a distance.
Pray for those on the field to not be weary in well doing.
Pray for those on deputation to keep pressing towards the goal.
Pray for those on furlough to be refreshed and encouraged.
Pray for the health needs of those who are serving with physical difficulties.
Pray for strength and stamina for those serving in third world countries with few daily conveniences.
Pray for the churches who support our missionaries, that they would continue to grow in faith and in giving.
Pray for the Lord to call new laborers to the field to assist those in our missions family.
Pray for the executive board members as they make decisions that affect our missions family.
Pray for the staff members as they seek to meet the needs of those around the world.
Pray for those in the application process as they begin the next steps towards the Lord’s calling in their lives.
Pray for government leaders around the world as they enact laws that have ripple effects on the spread of missions.
Pray for eyes to see the opportunities that God presents to share the gospel.
Pray for relationships to be developed both for witnessing and for discipleship.
Pray for new churches on the field as they are growing and developing.
Pray for wisdom in counseling situations.
Pray for power to preach the word.
Pray for each individual to know God and to daily strive to become more like Him.

Each service included a message of truth to give hope in the face of the various emotions we experience. What emotion has you overwhelmed today? What truth from God’s Word will give you hope to rightly focus that emotion for good?

Michael West – Hope in the Certainty of God’s Promises

It is dangerous for us to not recognize that God is at work. But we must remember that our adversary is also at work. God promises to give us strong consolation, which guarantees we will have trouble. We know we have an adversary, but often forget his aggression, determination, and unwillingness to quit. We have a personal adversary. We need armor to stand against his attacks. Our enemy is not the people around us, but he is good at using people to divert our focus. We must not be ignorant of his devices. He is not omniscient, but he knows how to attack us because we let him know by our words and actions where our greatest temptations lie. Our enemy seeks to bring us to a place of discouragement and inability to do what God wants. But hope lies in the Word of God and we must flee to that place of consolation, encouragement, peace, and joy. What promise of God has ahold of you and will not let you go?

Anthony Hipps – Hope in Loneliness

 

Loneliness has many causes and cures. Four main causes are transitions in life, separation, opposition, and rejection. There is a temptation to withdraw into self to care for self, but this only makes us lonelier. When faced with loneliness we must realize there is a God. He hears, listens, and cares! We must maximize God’s strength. He has the power to help and is more powerful than your problem. We must utilize our time. Paul in his loneliness didn’t stop ministering, even in prison. We must sympathize with others in need. Those around us need the gospel! We must glorify God’s deliveries. Testify of His goodness in your life! When we remember that we have a God who cares, we realize we are never truly alone.

Danny Whetstone – Hope in Whom We Believe

We must not allow ourselves to become so tunnel-visioned on our ministry that we forget why we are ministering. What brought you to this calling? In his letter to the Ephesians, God commended their work. They carried out their duties. He praised their labor to the point of exhaustion. He noticed their separation from the world and recognized that they had not fainted. He loved what they were doing and how they were doing it, but was disappointed that their work had become more important to them than he was. His message was that they must remember what brought them there and repent for not loving him, or he would remove their candlestick. We must concentrate on loving Him who gave us these responsibilities and believe He is more interested in their success than we are.

Keith Klaus – Hope in Frustration

We don’t like to talk about emotions, but if you take emotion and feeling out of the Bible you would lose most of the Psalms. Things in our heart sometimes need to be closer to the surface so God can deal with them. Not many passages use the word frustration, but we can see how different characters dealt with it. Moses was frustrated for the right reasons when Israel refused to follow his leadership, but his response was wrong and had long-lasting consequences. Jonah was frustrated for all the wrong reasons, and his disobedience led him to the point of wanting to die rather than do God’s will. Frustration always starts small and then snowballs into something bigger. Martha and Mary were very similar in their words, but their actions showed that they dealt with emotions differently. Martha was motivated to work because nobody else was doing so. She made her problems worse by not speaking directly to Mary about the issue. Joseph too faced frustrating circumstances, yet his response was such that we don’t see his frustration. Martha accused the Lord because nobody helped her; Joseph glorified God as a slave. Martha went to the one with the authority to solve her problem; Joseph patiently waited for God’s timing. Joseph saw others who needed help. His lack of giving in to self led to a lack of bitterness in his life.

Fred Daniel, Jr. – Hope in Times of Hurt

If you are in the army you expect to be shot at. When serving in God’s army we should expect nothing less. Too often we desire to know God and the power of the resurrection, but we don’t want to also know the fellowship of suffering. Christ’s prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane shows us that He was fully man who suffered and was touched by all the feelings we face. He was a man of purpose. He came to minister and do the Father’s will. He was a man of prayer who gives us the example of fervent ongoing petitions. He was a man of preparation. He prepared His disciples for what was coming and prepared Himself for what the future held. He was a man of patience Who did not force the conflict, yet did not avoid it when it came. He was a man of prophecy as He interceded for those yet to be born. Since Jesus was successful against personal human hurts, it is possible for us to be as well.

David Price – Hope in Fear

We don’t want to admit fear, but it is something we all face. Real courage is facing fear with God’s help. Fear alone is not a sin. Allowing it to control you and keep you from doing God’s will is. The Old Testament is full of fear. Adam feared and hid from God. Jacob feared Esau and it led him to pray. The answer to paralyzing fear is the fear of the Lord. We must claim God as our refuge and hide not from the situation but in his strength. In Psalm 46, we see that we can overcome fear when we focus on the truth. We must be still and know that God is our hope and refuge. God is present, and He is good. He is peace. He is able.

John O’Malley – Hope in the Harvest

Psalm 126 gives us a glimpse at the greatest metaphor in scripture, that of the harvest for souls. We see the owner of the harvest. The guarantee of the harvest is that sowing works, the seed works, and the sowers will return. We see hinderances to the harvest. But we also see the hope of the harvest. We have hope that God will bless His seed. We have hope that God will save the lost. We have hope that God will bless our labor in our sowing, sending, and seeing God at work. The hope of the sower is that when we sow He grows, when we pray He answers, and when they believe they are saved.

Each service included a time of personal testimony where speakers shared something the Lord has been teaching them. What has the Lord been teaching you lately? How can you use that truth to encourage others in your ministry?

Andy Bonikowsky

God is always at work doing more than we think He is doing. In John 5:17, Christ reminds us that “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” When we read Romans 8:28, we often focus on the “good” and forget to focus on the fact that “all things work together.” God is the one who is working in the background to make the good happen. Psalm 121 tells us that God never slumbers and is never inactive. Our job is to be faithful. Only faithfulness will see the results of His work.

Roger Bergman

The Marines have a slogan that “Pain is weakness leaving the body.” While this may be needed to motivate individuals through boot camp, the truth is that pain does exist in life. We are all called to glorify God, not only through preaching the Word but ultimately through living a holy life. This requires hardship. We are to be strong in grace, not in ourselves. The courage to face hardship comes from God. When the enemy wins and lures us to sin, our hope is that we can repent. We must remember that it is God’s goodness that brings us to the place of repentance. Sin isn’t a failure that we can’t handle, but when we admit that it is sin we can cling to the goodness of God to allow us to repent. The weakness that is needed to repent is what will ultimately make us strong.

Markie Bullock

We are used to waiting on people and culture, but waiting on God is somehow different. We wonder if He is still at work. Yet the Bible teaches us that it is good for us to wait. The problems of waiting are that we don’t like it and it is hard. The problem of not waiting is that we then lean to our own understanding. Abraham believed God’s promise but didn’t wait for his timing and it caused unnecessary problems. Samson had all of the potential but not being willing to wait he killed that potential. There are promises of waiting. Waiting implies an expectation of something to come, and expectations make the waiting worth it. Waiting will give renewed strength. As Spurgeon wrote, “If the Lord Jehovah makes us wait, He is worth waiting for.”

Nathan Fry

We know we should be bold in our stand, but too often in an attempt to be bold, we become brash instead. Graciousness is more important than boldness.
Grace is intended for the foolish.
Grace is for those who need correction.
Grace is for our families.
Grace is for those who sin against us.
Grace is for those who don’t deserve it.
Giving grace when it is undeserved is the whole point! The greatest example of grace is Calvary, and Calvary is also the greatest example of love. Grace and love go hand in hand.

Roy Keiser

In II Corinthians, Paul wrote of his light affliction, yet as we study the context we realize that his troubles were anything but light. He faced much persecution on every side. When we trust God, we will never be crushed between the walls of affliction. In our eyes, any affliction we face is great! Yet when compared to eternity it is fleeting. Regardless of the situation, God wants us to pray through it, even if we feel it is nothing compared to what others face. Our trial is designed for us by God for a purpose. He wants us to seek him in it. Nothing is certain in life, and only God knows the outcome. We must pray. Each of us has our own testimony. We must be faithful to tell it as an encouragement to others.

John Iskat

God is more concerned about the man than the ministry. He doesn’t consider us a failure if we remain faithful. He hides his face from us to test our trust of Him. The stage of ministry you are in now is not the end of your story. Don’t doubt what God is doing. Don’t quit. Don’t stop. His work through you is not over.

*Bro. Iskat referenced the story of David and Svea Flood, missionaries to the Belgian Congo in the early 1920’s, as told in the book Fresh Power by Jim Cymbala. You can click here to read their story.

Stephen Knickerbocker

God gives and God takes away, and we must bless his name in either circumstance. God desires to sanctify the church and the minister. Sometimes the process of sanctification involves removal of what does not glorify God. A church that is small and united in Christ is better than one with large numbers and great divisions. God is in the habit of using small things to accomplish great things. Hope maketh not ashamed. Too often we are ashamed because we forget that God wants to change our situation from hopeless to hopeful. Sometimes sanctification involves adding good that isn’t there yet. God loves us where we are, but desires for us to be more like Christ.

Two of our speakers focused on the treasure we can gain from the Psalms. What treasures has God shared with you lately? Have you shared that treasure with someone else as a way to encourage them in their time of need?

Alejandro Sanchez – Psalm 42

The author of this Psalm was in deep sorrow. He had tears. He had lost his appetite. He was focused on self, which is a main point of depression. He had questions. But the answers are found here as well! When we face depression we must stop looking at self and put our eyes on God. We must stop looking at the past and look to the future. We must stop asking why and rest in God’s promises. When you don’t understand, it is best to trust the One who does. When you don’t know what is going on, trust the One who knows everything. When you don’t see what will happen, trust the One who sees everything.

Karim Dahdah – Psalm 65

Praise is a reaction to what God has done. Only those with experience can truly praise God. We are to pray in affliction, but we are to praise in all areas of life. We can praise God because He hears our prayers. He forgives our sin. He satisfies our soul when we are in his presence. He protects and supports. He is almighty. He is our provider. He has everything and can give us anything He wishes, so we must praise Him!

Our faith can move mountains, but it is not about moving geography, it is about moving obstacles of life.
Karim Dahdah

The truth doesn’t give you an excuse to be ungracious.
Nathan Fry

I’ve never yet seen the Lord use any man he didn’t crucify first.
Bill Wingard

All of God’s giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they believed God was with them.
Hudson Taylor

Don’t let God’s goodness in bringing you to repentance take away your courage.
Roger Bergman

Everywhere the perpetual endeavor of the enemy of souls is to discourage.
Amy Carmichael

Hoping in God may be the only thing we can do, but it is the best thing.
Alejandro Sanchez

Life is made of facts, faith, and feelings. Facts are the locomotive and feelings are the caboose. We must never let the caboose run the train.
John Iskat

God’s guarantee has no fine print.
John O’Malley