“Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you.” William Arthur Ward.
When I was a young man of 20 year’s old living in Missoula Montana, I attended Emanuel Baptist Church. There I met the wife of a Missionary, and her name was Mrs. Barbara Brammer. She would greet me at the door and shake my hand; my hands were rough from building roof trusses at a local company I worked at. She would tell me how good it was that I worked so hard, and that God would bless me for my effort. She always had some kind of encouraging word for me personally. I have never forgotten her, because she encouraged me as a young man to keep working and following the Lord. I married a woman with the same spirit as Mrs. Brammer. This next week Hope and I will have been married 31 years and I thank the Lord for such an encouraging helpmate in my wife Hope. She encourages me to keep working and to follow the Lord.
So today, before you leave this most blessed church would you please make a real effort to pick someone out and encourage him or her in Christ Jesus. It will never be forgotten!
Pastor Mark