Video Transcript: Introduction and Finding a Positive Narrative About Others

Hi, I'm Henry Reyenga, president of Christian Leaders Ministries. And I want to  welcome you to this mini course, nine ways to build others up. I don't know  about you, but sometimes it's not easy to build someone up. A sort of bad day  happens or someone pushes in triggers you in the wrong way. It reminds you of  a negative experience you had when you were a child, or that you had last  week. I remember in the second grade, my teacher went out of her way in a field to me, it seems to me to knock me down, Henry, you're never going to amount  to anything. And I remember feeling so depressed. And that carried over for a  few years, my early education, I just hated school, until an encouraging teacher  walked into my life. In fourth grade, a encouraging teacher like Henry, you can  do it. And I remember thinking that the dark days of schooling are over. Now I  like it. And I looked through my life in the ministry, and I can see that a lot of  people and maybe you know what I'm talking about, have had a lot of negative  feedback, a lot of correction, but not correction to build you up. But correction  just to knock you down. Maybe somebody was jealous of you growing up,  maybe you were in the wrong crowd. Maybe you lived on the wrong street, or  you lived in the wrong economic group. So you felt the pain of discouragement.  And now you grasp because Jesus Christ has changed your life that you want to be an encourager. So in this mini course, we are going to talk about the topic of  encouragement. Each time we're going to talk about one of nine topics. Let's  first of all, look at encouragement itself. I Thessalonians 5:11, the apostle Paul  says, Therefore encourage one another, and build each other up, just as in fact,  you are doing. The apostle Paul was the model church planter, the apostle who  proclaimed Jesus Christ everywhere on Earth. In those days, he was the guy  who understood about raising up leaders and building a movement for Jesus  Christ. And it's interesting that when he talks to the Thessalonians, as he's  reproducing next generations of leaders, he says, excel at encouragement,  encourage one another, build each other up. The Greek word there is that word  that you lift others. To be an encourager to build somebody else up means that  you yourself, need to know your position in the whole world of reality, and here's  your position. Christ Jesus died on the cross, He rose again from the dead. He  established a relationship with God the Father, and we hear in the book of  Romans, Romans 8, that we cry, Abba, Father, we are connected. We are born  into a new reality, we are changed. The reason we encourage one another is  because we ourselves at our very core, have been encouraged by the gospel,  born again to a new attitude. I have found over the years, that people who are  beat down, who stay beat down who cannot find the peace and joy in God is  very difficult. I found it's very difficult for them for you to encourage anybody  else. In fact, a different mindset often occurs, the mindset of one upping one  another. The mindset of you know, I'm not happy, why should you be happy?  The mindset of keeping score, you know, if that person encourages me, I'll  encourage them back. But a person, a minister, who has been ministered to 

your sins completely paid for. You have a forgiveness, forgiveness ethic, a  person who sees the world, you know, there's the old song See the Sunny Side  of Life. Why is because your whole identity is different. So when you look at  others, you have resources that come through the power of the Holy Spirit  through a changed life. So with that, learn to excel at encouragement. And we're here to talk about the nine ways that you can build one another up, but  foundational to all those ways is the art of encouragement. If you cannot figure  out how to for real be an encourager. And maybe that starts with yourself.  Maybe you are a self loather. Your self talk is that of knocking yourself down.  Maybe somebody in your life knocks you down, maybe your parents, maybe a  teacher. So it starts to ask the Lord right there, Lord, help me to excel in  encouragement and know that I am your child. Because it's very difficult,  impossible, to fake encouragement when you are a self loather. So before we  talk about the nine ways to build one another up the foundation be  encouragement, I like to have a prayer for you right now. And for me, that maybe we need some healing. Maybe we need to bring something to the Lord, let us  pray. Oh, Lord, as we begin this mini course, on lifting others up, building others  up. Lord, if there's something in us, a hurt from second grade, a failed marriage  hurt a self loathing attitude. Lord, if there is something, a bitterness that holds us back, as we begin talking about excelling, at encouragement in various ways,  and practical ways to build others up, we ask Lord, that you will come and heal  our hearts. Help us now relieve the pain, relieve the bitterness. Help us feel help us realize, in our very will help us know the power of the gospel that has  changed us. So we can become encouragers in Jesus name, Amen. So let's talk about how to excel at encouragement. And let's look first at this first topic. And  that is to build others up. Find a positive narrative about others, no matter who  you're talking to find a positive narrative. And when you're talking to others, have that positive narrative, in your very speech about others. Acts 9:27. I love this.  But Barnabas took him. It's talking about Paul, the apostle Paul, and brought  him to the apostles. He told them how Saul in that time he was named, Saul  before he was changed his name change to the Apostle Paul. He told them how  Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him. And now in Damascus, he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. I don't  know if you see totally what's going on here. But every time I read this, I am  encouraged. Here is a Jesus hater. A persecutor of the church. Someone that in  every way should be feared, should be ran away from Saul as he was known  before his name was changed to Paul was a serious threat to Christians.  Anyway, Barnabas, the Son of Encouragement, as he's called, gets to know  Him. And when it's time for him to meet others, he finds the narrative that is  most appropriate to build up. Saul, who becomes Paul, who becomes Apostle  Paul. Who writes the words that we started our mini course on about  encouraging one another, as in fact you are doing is that that seed of that 

passage goes back to Barnabas, who found a narrative and was able to be  encouraged, encouraged and encouragement. So how do you find a narrative  about somebody? Well, first of all, you look at your own narrative. Again, we  talked earlier about if you have a self loathing narrative, it's hard to be narrating  the positive and seeing the positive in others. So first of all, remember that your  own self talk is crucial here. But as you are receiving the grace of God, and  basking in the Gospel, when people are in your life, look for the positive  narratives, look for what God is doing. Now, when I say this, somebody might  say, Well, be careful, you know, you also must point out phonies, and false  prophets. Yes, I understand that. But we're talking about people that are seeking to walk for the Lord here, we're talking about a general lifestyle, a general  lifestyle toward those you don't know, you know, we hear in the Bible to be  careful in how you act toward outsiders, making the most of every opportunity.  So what you're doing is having just an attitude that you are going to look for the  positive in people. So the first of the nine principles in this course, is find the  positive narrative about others. So how do you do that? Well, you find the  positive narrative, by actually getting to know them. You find the positive  narrative, by spending some time with them, and asking questions and  becoming a listener. The positive narrative, I find is easier to see than we think.  So the first very important point in this course and we're going to end it here is to develop ways to find positive narratives and others. And when you do, it will  change your life and it will change the lives of those around you. So as we begin this course, encouragement, as in fact you are doing and find the positive  narratives in others. And when we come back in our next lesson, we're going to  take this further in deeper, exploring the nine ways of building others up