What a profound gift and refreshment affirmation is! In fact, affirmation and encouragement is one of the greatest gifts you can give to someone. We so desperately need courage and the truth of who God has made us to be.

In general, as a people of American culture, we have become experts at being critical and tearing people down. It is easy to see the dirt, what’s wrong with someone, if we are looking for it. As a Christian our duty is to affirm the people around us, to become experts at seeing the gold in people.

Mark Twain stated he could live on one good compliment for two months! Compliments are so powerful! And yet what we are talking about is even more powerful than a compliment.

Barnabus was known as the “son of encouragement”. He became famous for showing up at just the right time and speaking just the thing that was needed. He often visited the sick and downtrodden. A powerful example of his encouragement can be seen when Paul first walked on the scene. Paul was the newbie, but Barnabus recognized the gift and calling in his life and lifted him up on his shoulders and into the lime light. Barnabus was not concerned about his own influence but about encouraging the people around him.

Jonathan, King Saul’s son also had this selfless encouraging nature. He should have been the rightful heir of the throne, but he recognized that God had anointed David as the next king. In 1 Samuel 23:15 Jonathan speaks powerful words of encouragement to David during a time when David was weary and discouraged from being harassed by King Saul. Jonathan said, “Don’t be afraid. Saul won’t get you. You will be the next king and I will support you.”

Wow! Jonathan was a true friend to David and God. Loving David and tending to God’s kingdom was more important to him than his own place of influence.

The Bible says where envy and jealousy is there is chaos and every evil thing, but when we take our eyes off of our own “kingdoms” and place them on God’s Kingdom we can walk in the light of the glorious truth and be powerful encouragers.

True affirmation is to give support, confidence, or hope to someone, to acknowledge the gift of who a person is. Affirmation is to declare the truth about something. It is not flattery, but discerning what is truly valuable about someone.

Part of the truth of affirmation is encouraging someone by reminding them who God is in their life and that He is faithful in every situation. Words of prophecy can be very encouraging. They point to what God has said and is saying about the past, present and future. God’s word is encouraging because it takes our focus off of our own shortcoming and places it on the strength of God. He is faithful to complete the work He began in us!

The Christian life is a journey and a battle. Discouragement causes people to draw back and doubt themselves. When you encourage someone you impart courage to them to keep moving forward. Is there someone in your life you can encourage that seems to be drawing back from the fray?

Hebrews 3:13 says we should encourage one another every day. Who can you encourage today? Target someone and follow through!

Confrontation.

Not a fun word for most people. In fact often people would rather choose slavery than to deal with conflict and change. Why?  Confrontation is uncomfortable and isn’t very much fun!

Exodus 13 reveals why God had to take the Israelites through the desert for so many years. When they first came out of Egypt they were not ready for the fight. God could have taken them straight there if He wanted to, but it would have done no good. Even when they finally did arrive after taking the long way they were afraid and did not want to fight. They had to learn the hard way as they wandered around for 40 years!

When we value our comfort more than glorifying God and accomplishing His purposes in our lives through obedience a deep disillusionment can begin to set in. The most content people in the entire earth are those who have learned to walk in obedience to God.

If you feel far from God and feel as though you have lost our way, sometimes the thing to do is to go back to the place you stepped off the path.  Try to recall the last thing God spoke for you to do and do it!

Some of us have a perspective into the lives of people around us and can see them stepping off the path, but are too uncomfortable to saying anything about it. For good reason: we may have tried it in the past and had a bad experience. Like a child who grabbed a dog by the ears and got bit in the face, we cower at the thought of it. But when we truly love someone we will find the courage to speak out. In fact, a bi-product of love is confrontation.

Think about this: If you saw someone stepping off a path and about to step on a rattle snake, if you didn’t yell “Look out!”, you would not be a very caring person.  If they were a loved one you would be out of your mind not to intervene. Perhaps if we get a renewed perspective on the serious devastating effects of sin and folly speaking out will come naturally.

Even so, we must be wise and loving when we speak the truth. The Bible says an offended person becomes like a well fortified city that cannot easily be sieged. Unfortunately many people are like fortified cities, defensive and not open to feedback (and for good reason with the way Christians have communicated truth to them!)

The people who have become the most effective at confronting others have allowed God to first confront them! In fact Jesus gave this as the first step for confronting someone:  first remove the plank in your own eye and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Only in brokenness, when we realize our great need for the mercy of the Lord, can we truly confront people in the right spirit.

As a church family we must value truth and be willing to get uncomfortable and “real” with each other. It’s important for us to keep in mind that if we don’t speak the truth we will not grow.  We won’t grow without speaking the truth or without hearing the truth.

Eph. 4:15 says, “but, [we] speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ.”

Ok so here is a checklist before confronting someone:

1) Have I put down the pointing finger and allowed God to shine the light on me and my actions?

2) Is my heart right?  Do I have judgment towards them? Do I feel genuine compassion and love for them?

3) Have I presumed things or looked at a situation entirely from my perspective?

4) What are my motives for talking to them and what would be the most effective way to speak to them? What questions could I ask them?

5) Have I prayed about the situation? What do I feel the Lord is saying about the situation?

This past Sunday we enjoyed ordaining Nathan Cornett as the Grove Youth Pastor!

We are excited about adding Nathan to our team! We have hired him on staff part time to oversee High School and Junior High and help organize our young adult leaders.  We are confident a “door for effective ministry” has been opened to us for children and youth in our region and that God has called Nathan and Joanna to aid us in that ministry!

Nathan is dear to our hearts and we have long noticed his shepherd’s heart and love for youth. He earned his BA in Biblical Studies with an emphasis in Youth Ministry from Christian Heritage College and his MA in Organizational Management at Ashford University. Nathan helped out quite a bit with the youth at Foothills Church and worked as a leader for Youth Ventures there. Nathan and Joanna are also very passionate about missions and we know that they are going to play a role in keeping us focused on expanding God’s Kingdom on the foreign mission field.

Welcome  aboard Nathan!! We are excited for what God is doing with our youth!

Recently John’s brother, Mark Hoffman, came to speak at the Grove.

One of the main points he made is that contentment is not dependent upon what you get but what you are grateful for. He proposed that a lack of gratitude is at the root of our nation’s slide away from greatness and until we begin to be grateful we will not make a u-turn and return to greatness.

Gratitude is a virtue that leads to every other virtue, the soil in which every good thing grows. Thankfulness will bring God’s peace and blessing into our lives.

And yet thankfulness does not come natural to us!  In Luke 17 Jesus healed 10 lepers. Think about the reality of what He did for them! Lepers in those days were cast out of society. They had to watch different areas of their flesh rot away as they were rejected, humiliated, and alone.

Jesus came along and changed their lives forever. He healed them and sent them to the priest in order that they could be deemed clean and restored to society.  Only one returned to say thank you. Jesus said, “Were there not 10 that were cleansed. Where are the other nine?!”

Mark declared that this story shows it is 9 times easier to be ungrateful as we go about our lives than to be grateful. Part of the reason for this is that we are blinded to the reality of what Christ Jesus has done (and continues to do) for us.  Instead our eyes get filled with what isn’t right.

Think about one of the main vices that infuriated God as He lead people out of Egypt toward the Promised Land: complaining. Their eyes were filled with lack in the moment and they were ready to forsake God and go back to Egypt! Their attitudes were offensive to Him.

Jesus spoke in a parable in Mathew 13 of seeds that fell in different types of ground. One of the seeds fell on stony places where there wasn’t much dirt. They immediately sprung up because they had no depth of earth, but when the sun came up they were scorched and withered. They had no root.

Many Christians have a shallow revelation of Christianity and never lose their self-centeredness. Rather than deepening root in good soil, Jesus becomes another means to their own end. When times get tough and they don’t get what they want they can distance themselves from God, even to the point of forsaking Him.

If you find your passion for God withering during tough times, be militant about cultivating a heart of gratitude. There are plenty of things to be thankful for even during the most frustrating or painful days! Let’s make 2012 a year of abundant gratitude as we anticipate tremendous breakthrough!

What an amazing celebration this will be. If you want to get baptized or have your child dedicated please call John Hoffman 619.787.9606

Wow, all 16 campsites we reserved  have all been taken. Wish we would have reserved 25!!!!  We will next time. If you want to try to secure your own spot you can try to go to the Santee Lakes web site.  We will be in sites 115 through 130 on Memorial day weekend May 27-30. Good hunting!

We will celebrate God’s favor on us and the amazing building He’s allowed us to use, so that we would,  ”KNOW HIM AND MAKE HIM KNOWN”. Think of it as a house warming party without the gifts. This is the week to invite all your friends and neighbors who don’t have a church.

Stay after church on Sunday January 23rd and enjoy!!! These lunches are so simple and yet they give us such a great opportunity for community.  I hope you will plan on coming and make sure to bring a dish to share. The church will provide the meat and drinks. Please call/text Crystalyn Parks 619.981.9610 and let her know what you can bring or just sign-up after any service. Yes, you can just come even if you can’t bring any food. We just want to get to know you!