"The Ministry of Encouragement" Ephesians 6:21-24

God’s people continually need encouragement. You do. I do. Our missionaries do. In the mission of God, it is easy for Christians to forget that God has designed the church to build one another up and to encourage each other in the faith. This side of heaven, the Christian life is fraught with perils. We are in a spiritual battle. It is often discouraging and tiring. Yet, we are not alone in this.

We have been studying this letter to the Ephesians because it contains the call of our Waterbrooke Church mission to be “compelled to love one another.” Encouragement is a clear way to love each other.  Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus from a Roman prison with the goal of encouraging and strengthening the brethren and to encourage them to do the same. Even though he himself was in the precarious position of being in chains for the gospel, he knew enough about how tough it is to live for the kingdom of God even when you don’t have chains. God’s people need to cultivate a consistent environment of mutual encouragement and edification. 

This week’s message, from Ephesians 6:21-24, is called “The Ministry of Encouragement.” In Paul’s final words to the church at Ephesus, we can see the kind of encouragement that we all need. Let’s pray for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that we might learn to encourage one another in living out our great calling to be God’s people, His bride, in a broken and needy world.