We all have times of discouragement. Sometimes they are the result of unmet expectations. We can be let down by people we love, We can be tired, frustrated, afraid or from failures that have happened. There are many causes to discouragement but we can’t let it develop into depression. 

By definition: Discouragement refers to the feeling of losing confidence and enthusiasm. It often arises from disappointment or setbacks, leading to a state where motivation is diminished. The condition of being discouraged; Something that discourages; a deterrent. The act of discouraging, or the state of being discouraged; depression or weakening of confidence; dejection.

Discouragement is one of the most disabling emotions in our lives. It is not an intense state of mind, but a subtle one, which affects your actions, thoughts, and routines of day to day life. Discouragement makes you cancel plans, cease to want to start projects, pull the blanket over your head, and it can isolate you. 

We are looking at Nehemiah’s experience with discouragement..

There are times in life, when things don’t go the way we hoped. Maybe as a youngster you had it all figured out. You knew what you wanted to do with your life or what you wanted to be. I remember as a boy wanting to be a race car driver. I’m rather glad that didn’t happen!

Somewhere along the way, things happened that derailed your plans. Sometimes before we come to faith in Christ, we are going down certain paths. Once we put our faith in Jesus, we may change our plans and desires to align with His. We begin to realise that He truly has a plan for our life. The Bible says that He has had plans for us since before the foundation of the world. Good works for us to walk in. 

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

We are His masterpiece! It is disheartening when things don’t go as planned. We can become discouraged or worse, disillusioned. The enemy can begin to come against us with despair and hopelessness. He desires to amplify our problems and wants us to ignore God’s power and plans. We can become tunnel-visioned and see things in a skewed fashion. We are encouraged to renew our minds. We need to see things from God’s perspective. This requires faith. We need to trust that He is at work, even in the difficult times. We have to trust that He is looking out for us and has our best at heart. 

We have seasons in life. I have mentioned this the last few weeks. Some seasons are fertile and abounding, while others are desert-like and tough. God is ever faithful through them all.

As we are well underway into this year, let us not forget that we have been talking about being overcomers. To truly overcome, you have to undergo. This is one of the least favourite parts of our Christian walk. Jesus assured us that in the world (as long as we have breath in our lungs and are alive) we will have trials, trouble and persecution. This is a given for a Christian. We are warned many times that there will be times of trial and testing.He endured all these same things. Many times in life we are in a battle. We want to have God fight for us, and He does, but other times we have to strap on our armour, take our shield, sword and other gear and march out to fight the enemy. There were times in Israel’s history, as they marched out to fight, God destroyed the entire army of the enemy and they just mopped up. Other times they had to physically fight. Other times they were told to stand still and watch as God delivered them. We need to always be obedient to whatever plan or strategy God gives.

For each of us, we have different seasons in life. Sometimes everything appears to be blooming and fertile, other times we are in a dry place. God gives showers of blessing on our dry and weary souls. Listen today and be encouraged by this week's message.

Pastor Sandra Schafferius brings a powerful message this week. Be encouraged as you listen. Stand upon the promises that God has given you!

As we celebrated Mother's Day, we look at two women in the Book of Judges that God used in unexpected ways. Be encouraged at we look at their stories.

As we just had Purim, we recount the amazing story of Queen Esther and her taking a huge risk of faith to save her God's people.

This message is by Ikhide Ehimiyein and speaks about overcoming the world. Listen today to be encouraged by this week's message.

Jesus spoke to farmers about sowing, reaping, seedtime, harvest, planting, wheat, tares, fields etc. We call starting a new church, ‘planting a church.’ No one would expect immediate harvest from a newly planted shoot or seeds. Any farmer knows that farming is really hard work and it takes time. They are up before the sun and usually still out long after the sun has set. Whatever they’ve planted will take time to grow, mature, ripen and produce fruit.

This year I feel that our theme and word for the church is overcome. It is a great relief to finally overcome an obstacle, especially one that has held you back or prevented your victory. Currently the Olympics are happening. They often tell heartwarming stories of people who have overcome great difficulties to be able to compete. Often we celebrate with them on achieving victory, or we share their heartbreak as they fall short. Everyone loves an underdog story where the deck is stacked against them but they fight through it all and win. We have God for us so who can be against us?

In life, there are many obstacles and hindrances. We can come up against a thing again and again. We can believe that we can never defeat it. The truth is, with God’s help, nothing is impossible! 

Jeremiah 32:27 “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?

We explored Freedom in Christ and with God’s help, we can finally be set free. We no longer have to carry those things year after year. We heard testimonies during the course from people who did experience Freedom in Christ. 

Today I want to look at how Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith.