I came across and interesting statistic from the Barna Group the other day. These guys are Christian pollsters. They gathering data on all kinds Christians trends. It= s a very interesting web site. I got lost in it for about a half hour the other day. But one statistic which I found very interesting is that only 8% of the population fit into a category Barna called Evangelicals. What I found interesting about this group is not that they considered the Bible the inspired word of God, or not even that they believed in the trinity, heaven and hell. The deity of Christ, virgin birth, bodily resurrection all that same as us. But what struck me as important is these people were known as encouragers. These people, and I hope we all fir into this category that Barna calls evangelicals, actually go out of their way to pay a person a compliment. I was working on a different lesson when I found this statistic and it kind of jumped off the computer screen at me because this was what I wanted to talk about today.

Lives are changed through the miracle of encouragement . In fact encouragement  is the essential nutrient for growing a positive attitude and for improving life. And the old saying it is better to give than receive is doubly true when it comes to encouraging. Nothing boasts moral more than words of encouragement .

The nastiest job I have ever had was cleaning out under the skip in a mine. When the kids were little I worked in the mine during the winter when the woods were shut down. And this mine had a vertical shaft that was about 400 feet deep. Then we tunneled off half a mile. Anyway we would dump the ore into the skip and haul it up to be processed. Well every time we dumped the ore cars a handful or so would slop over the side into the sump area that was 15 feet deep, where the water would collect to be pumped out. 6 feet above the skip was a platform for the miners to ride up and down on, but after 500 or a thousand ore cars were dumped those handfuls that spilled over started to pilling up and pretty soon the skip wouldn't get low enough to let the guys off. So we had to muck out the sump. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but you had to be there. First off this mine made must have made 200 gallons of water a minute and to get in the sump was like standing under a fire hose. But to compound this. The smell of water would lure these big bull frogs over to the edge of the shaft and they would plunge in. Not knowing the water was 400 feet below. Thumping on the timbers on the way down. And they would bloat and float around in this sump. And the stench would make you want to gag. I was low man on the totem pole so when the sump got full, into the sump I= d go, with my bucket on a rope and shovel, with just a head lamp for light. All morning I shoveled under that fire hose. Wore a slicker suit but still there wasn't a dry spot on my body. It was just a miserable job and worked as fast as I could just to get it done. The boss was a old guy, never really said anything very encouraging. It was like you only moved 60 tons today. But he came out at the end of the shift and looked down in the sump, and said man I don= t think that sump has been that clean sense it was new. My drowned rat self was ready to jump back down in that hole and do it again.

Words of encouragement  mean so much. I=ve talked about this before and I= m bring it up again because it= s so important. I=ve said before compliments are like passing out flowers, or for you the guys steak dinners. But we need to take this to the next level. And not just compliment our brothers and sisters but encourage them. This is the nicest thing we can do for one another.

It applies to every area of our lives. If we want to have a healthy happy family, a great marriage relationship, a healthy workplace, a strong loving church we need to practice being encouragers. When we do this we free people up to become the best they can be. The greatest good we can do for another is not to just share our riches, but to reveal to him his own.

Everyone is painfully aware of their own flaws, and nobody really likes or appreciates it when we share with them that we know what they are, but to complement someone on their strengths just brightens their day, and you make a friend.

Years ago they did an experiment to measure peoples capacity to endure pain. They stood them in a buckets of ice water. It was discovered that if there was someone offering words of encouragement the people could stand in the water twice as long. That=  s how powerful our encouraging words can be.

Words of encouragement  let people soar with the eagles. But it= s awful hard to soar with the eagles when we are stuck on the ground with a bunch of turkeys. Walt Disney said there are 3 types of people. One type is just self absorbed, they only care about themselves. Then there are the naysayers. He said to stay away from the them and surround yourself with third type, the encouraging people. The you can do it folks. Sometime this is not always possible so we need to be an encouragement to ourselves.

Paul gives us some tips on this. In Romans we are told to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. When we become a Christian we have a hope and a future. We become children of God, the creator and sustainer of the universe. This is huge. We are no longer pond scum, but now we are princes and princesses. Our father owns the cattle on a thousand hill and the wealth in every mine. I= m not perfect and neither are you but God loves us and He= s not through with us yet. One day we will stand with Jesus spotless and perfect. If that doesn=  t put a smile on your face I don= t know what would. In fact if you guys were Baptist you could say amen right here.

Even if we are surrounded by naysayers, in fact especially if you are surrounded by naysayers, remember the promises of God, think on these and encourage yourself with the words of scripture.

One of our text I would like us to look at today in found in Philippians 4:8 which is on page___ of your pew bibles.

Philippians 4:8 Finally brothers what ever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is praiseworthy- think about such things.

Finally brothers, Paul has come to the climax of his teaching on spiritual stability here. Which amounts to peace of mind. Finally. If you missed out on everything else he said pay attention here this is the summation. Then he goes on to list all the good things we are to think about. What is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, praiseworthy. And not just think about these things, meditate on them, dwell on, some translations use. This is being transformed by the renewing of your mind. This is being an encouragement  to yourself. It= s not, oh I= m lousy at that, or no body like me everybody hates me I think just go out and eat worms. No think about what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable and praiseworthy.

I mentioned a couple months back to start your day thanking God for all the blessing He= s given you. Add to this remembering all the promises of God, and you will be encouraged. Never will I leave You, never will I forsake you. I am with you always, I go to prepare a place for you. When we see him we will be like Him. On and on. These are written for our benefit that we might be encouraged. So even if you are surrounded by naysayers we can be somewhat of an encouragement  to ourselves.

Sometimes though, we need to hear an encouraging word. Even the great apostle Paul may have been feeling discouraged for the response he was getting from the Athenians. He was pouring his heart out, and all they wanted to do was listen to the latest ideas, and few responded. So he sent Timothy for a visit to the Thessalonians. Paul felt a deep bond with them and news of their well being be an encouragement  to him. Rather than trying to deny he felt discouraged he took care of it and sent word for some encouraging news. Cheryll has a friend she walks with on Mondays, and she called before I had left one Monday said, A  She needed her Cheryll fix.@ She needed to be around someone who was a cheerleader, an encourager. We all need these people in our lives. And not just us, but everyone who is still breathing.

Wouldn't it be great if we were known, in the community, as a whole church full of encouragers. This is what being a contagious Christian is all about. It really takes so little to make a person happy. Just a touch, if we know how to give it, just a word fitly spoken, a slight readjustment of some bolt or pin or bearing in the delicate machinery of the persons soul.

So how do you recognize a person who needs encouragement ? I just gave you a hint. It= s easy, that person is breathing. We all want to be a positive influence in other peoples lives to leave our mark on the world.

Benjamin Franklin wrote, A We must give account for every idle word - so too we must for every idle silence. @ 

A couple business professors Gary Hammel and CK Pra-ha-lad wrote about an experiment that had been conducted using monkeys. They were locked in a room with a tall pole in the center. Suspended at the top was a bunch of bananas. One of the hungry monkeys climbed up the pole and just as he was reaching out to grab a banana he was doused with torrent of cold water. Squealing he scampered back down. Each monkey made a similar attempt, and each one was doused with cold water. Finally they gave up any attempt at feeding themselves, and never attempted to climb the pole again.

One by one the researchers replaced one of the original monkeys with new one. Each time as it started to climb the pole the other monkeys would drag it down before it could reach the bananas . In time the room was filled with monkeys that had never been doused with cold water, but still none of them would climb the pole even though, none of them knew why.

Sometime we can feel like those monkeys. We live in a world where people hold us down when we want to climb and reach for our dreams. The cure for this, is encouragement. Encouragement changes everything. By encouraging others and creating an atmosphere of encouragement  for the people around us we have the power to improve the lies of others.

Turn with me to Ephesians 4:29 pg__829B Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that they may benefit those who listen. And then he goes on to say and do not grieve the holy Spirit. Not only are we not to use crude or hurtful language we are to develop speech that is pure, helpful, and pleasing to God. Did you notice the three characteristics of wholesome speech. #1 It builds other up, this is what I= m trying to get us to adopt. These are words of encouragement . Build up is the opposite of tearing down right. As Christians tearing down should have no place in our speech. But only what is for building up. #2 According to their needs. Everyone needs words of encouragement . #3 that it may benefit those who listen. Some translations say give grace to those who hear. We live in Graceland so our speech should reflect this. Cutting remarks have no place in Christian speech, but only what is good and edifying seasoned with grace.

I would love to start a compliment club. Ever hear of this? A Compliment Club is a group of people who pay an honest compliment to 3 people, you can increase the number if you want, but to be in the club you must do at least 3 a day, not a week. Some people think that to see an obstacle or a flaw is a sign of maturity and insight; But anyone with average intelligence can do that. God wants people who see beyond the obstacles and flaws, who encourage others to be all that they can be.

Let me just take a, for instance. Your wife doesn't need to hear that she= s getting a little pudgy and it looks like she has a little hail damage on her thighs. She is already painfully aware of that. What she needs to hear from you is, how special she is and how thankful you are that God gave her to you. She has the prettiest eyes, the nicest smile. If you= re married to her there better be a hundred things you can compliment her on.

I just used wives because these are the people who are most important to us, but the compliment club needs to start at home. Wives; husband; kids; parents; grandparents; uncles; aunts; the dog. Well maybe not the dog. Then go to every person we come in contact with. Remember there is not a person breathing that will not benefit from this. We can transform our community. Wouldn't it be great if we were known to everyone around us, as encouragers? Then we can let them in on another little secret, that we learned from the Barns Group. We are encouragers because we are evangelical Christians. People want to know how much we care before they care how much we know. If we are to impact our little corner of the world for Christ we need to care like He cared. Be an encourager, join the compliment club.

People are basically insecure but we can give them confidence

People like to feel special we give them value when we pay them a sincerely compliment. People are looking for a better tomorrow we can show them hope. People need to be, they want to be understood, we must listen to them.

People are self centered so remember this and speak to their needs first.

People get down hearted, this is when we encourage them.

People want to be on the winning team, so we just help them win.

People desire meaningful relationship, we can provide them a community.

Be an encourager. Join the compliment club.