While we may get discouraged from time to time, we must never allow discouragement to get a hold of us. There is a difference between you having discouragement and discouragement having you.

When you are discouraged, you are still in control, but when discouragement has you it has control.

So, we must never allow discouragement to get a hold in our lives. We must recognize it for what it is and deal with it through God’s word and God’s help under the leadership of the Holy Ghost.

Let me define discouragement in my own words. Discouragement is losing the desire and motivation to continue doing something that brings purpose and satisfaction to one’s life.  As we apply this to the Christian life and the church it simply means that one has lost the desire and motivation that they possessed win they first gave their heart life to God.

There was a time when people were thrilled about going to church and working in the services of God. They derived a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction from attending church and ministering to others. But as years went by they lost their desire and motivation to attend church any longer.

This sermon looks at practical lessons to take while you wait in your waiting season. 

Some people struggle mightily with this. They wonder, “When will my [marriage, relationship, job, career, etc.] be better than it is right now?” For many of us, we have a view of the future as a bed of roses. We want the good life without doing the hard work to get there. Waiting isn’t an end to itself. The Lord often makes us wait to refine our character and prepare us for what He has for us next; not what we want of Him.

You may be waiting on God right now. What should you do? Here is my counsel:

Do not fret against the Lord.

Do not panic.

Do not take matters into your own hands.

Do your duty each day as God shows it to you.

Surrender your life to the Lord—” Thy will be done.”

But what should you do while you wait? Ah, what a perfectly noble question that is. We want to do something, not just sit in silence. Very well, before you get out bed in the morning, pray this prayer: “Lord, help me to do my tasks today with joy. Amen.” Just do your job and do it with a smile while you wait on God.

Nothing is free in life except the gift of life in Christ. There is no free lunch anywhere. For every gain, there is always a measure of pain that precedes its realization. No pain, no gain! For every prize a winner takes, there is always a corresponding price to pay. There are conditions to meet, costs to bear, requirements and qualifications that must be satisfied in winning any great prize. Similarly, the race to destiny fulfilment is not without its associated price to pay.

Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from moment to moment, is given you by God. If you devoted every moment of your whole life exclusively to His service, you could not give Him anything that was not in a sense His own already.

– C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

This teaching is meant to help us be watchful in hearts. the heart can be deceptive and unless it is surrendered to God, it can lead us on strange paths.

We delve into understanding the MERCIES of God and how mercy and GRACE work together. 

Sister Grace takes us through the teaching on worship and the intricacies therein

Bro Glen takes us through the topic PRAISE and why it is an important aspect of the Christian life.