Encouraged or Discouraged?

Today, I want to encourage you. And I mean that in the literal sense. To encourage means to give courage. This isn't encouragement designed to make you feel good about yourself, it's affirmation designed to give you more boldness, to take more risks, to give you courage to do what you couldn't do otherwise.

The opposite of encouragement is discouragement. Which, naturally, means feedback that results in you losing courage, losing the willingness to tackle issues.

That's why this week has been so refreshing for me and others at Connexus. We took some big steps in faith last year, and while we've had some real highs, we've had moments where it was downright discouraging and scary to live this kind of mission.

This past week, in some small but important way, we've gotten a glimpse into how God is using a tribe of people who call Connexus home to shape live change over the last year. I was so excited for our team – our volunteers, congregation, staff and elders. Their courage is making a difference!

I want to share those findings in the hopes that they will encourage you to think about how God is using you. The whole exercise will take 2-4 minutes. If you're ready, jump here to read this week's posts on the Connexus blog. You'll read posts about how God is impacting lives, how the ministry at Connexus impacted people, some phrases that summarize the life change and more.

As I read some of the comments, I was amazed at how many stories God is writing that none of us have heard yet. And yet the are incredibly meaningful to God and to the person/people involved.

We all run into this coming weekend feeling some emotion. If you are encouraged, don't let the encouragement simply make you feel good, let it give you more courage to step out into new places with Christ. If you are discouraged, ask God for more courage. He's probably using you more than you think.

Encouraged, or discouraged? Regardless of how you feel, I promise you God wants to encourage you to take more risks, to trust Him more. Because He – guaranteed – is willing to use any life surrendered to Him.

You’ve prepared your sermon. You’re ready for Sunday... Or are you?

The #1 factor people look for in a church is the quality of the preaching. In fact, 86% of people choose a church based on that.

So if you step back and take a look in the mirror for a moment...

Does your sermon prep get the time it deserves?

And when was the last time you took a big step forward in becoming a better preacher?

Most Pastors aren't happy with the answers they give to those questions.

How to preach more engaging, memorable, and relevant sermons—starting as early as this week.

Now, take a minute to imagine feeling confident that your message would connect on Sunday morning, knowing you’d deliver it clearly and truthfully.

It’s time to ditch the random, stressful, and last-minute approach to becoming a better preacher and communicator.

Get a proven method to preach sermons that reach more people and grow your church in The Art of Preaching. It's the only program trusted by 3,000+ pastors over 5+ years—no matter the denomination or church size—that will transform your preaching from preparation to delivery.

You’ll save hours each week with a better sermon prep process.

You’ll write messages people remember for months… or even years.

You’ll deepen your own connection with the text, seeing things you never noticed before.

You’ll be able to (finally) deliver your message without using notes.

You’ll preach sermons that reach more people and transform the lives of churched and unchurched people alike.

You’ve prepared your sermon. You’re ready for Sunday... Or are you?

How to preach more engaging, memorable, and relevant sermons—starting as early as this week.

Carey Nieuwhof