A daily, Bible-based message of hope and encouragement.
 A daily, Bible-based message of hope, encouragement and exhortation. Click here to support our ministry.The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber. <Previous Message · Archive edition Friday, August 16, 2013  "Not In Vain"  Listen to this message on your audio player"Your labor in the Lord is not in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:58).  This week our community paper featured a story about Lee Laverty, a woman from our community here in Mount Joy, who "has found her niche to help others." She voluntarily bakes fresh muffins for the Ronald McDonald House in Hershey and also provides muffins for the hospitality cart which makes its daily rounds at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital.We ourselves have been blessed by such thoughtful expressions when we stayed at Ronald McDonald House numerous times as Ester underwent five different heart operations as a baby and young child. Her recoveries were anywhere from one to three months so Ronald McDonald House became our home away from home. Churches and civic groups often brought in a meal for parents to enjoy. It provided a break from daily hospital food and helped with the expenses as well. We are pleased to see in print the acknowledgment of Lee's effort but we also consider how many never receive words of commendation. They may feel, "What's the use?" It's energizing when we receive words of affirmation for our labor of service but we know it doesn't always work that way. Sometimes we are left to wonder as our expressions of ministry and care for others so often have an unfinished and even unappreciated element.  For many years beginning in the early eighties Brooksyne participated in a ministry known as "Operation Sunrise". She became a "penpal" to a young Chinese student who had signed up to communicate with someone outside of mainland China in an attempt to learn the English language and culture.Her name is Yhang Sue. Due to religious restrictions imposed by her government and sensitivities Brooksyne had to be very careful as to what she shared, but in time was able to share her faith in Christ. This correspondence continued over 15 years. Yhang Sue eventually married and immigrated to Canada so we lost contact. One Christmas when we lived in New England we had gone back to the Midwest to visit our families. Our mail service was temporarily discontinued, but upon our return there was a letter lying on a chair on our porch from Yhang Sue. She must have either been down from Canada hoping to meet us or she had someone drop it off (it did not come through the mail). However the envelope had gotten wet and the return address was illegible. We thus were unable to follow-up and we have not heard from her since. We were concerned that she might interpret Brooksyne's failure to respond as disinterest.  This is an example of an incomplete story that took place in our lives. I'm sure all readers have them if you ponder a bit. A tract you passed out, a challenge to a fellow worker or neighbor to follow Christ, or some other means of extending yourself. One of these days we hope to hear from Yhang Sue again and get the rest of the story. Of course our foremost prayer is that we will hear that she has accepted Christ!Today many of you are involved in some type of ministry. Some of you are really seeing results. That's great! But some of you seem to be butting your head up against a stump (as a college history professor would often express). Nothing seems to be happening and you're hitting serious opposition. You may be discouraged. Today's Scripture portion is a timeless truth for servants of God. "Your labor in the Lord is not in vain." Above all let us stay faithful to our call and leave the results to God, knowing indeed that our "labor in the Lord is not in vain." Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber  Daily prayer: Father, like a farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains we too wait for the yield of good fruit that will be produced by our labor in Christ. As we extend ourselves to others we not only seek to be a blessing to them but we also honor Your name. Sometimes the results of our labors can be lost in the long wait. When that happens we're brought back to the Scriptural reality that nothing we do for Christ is in vain. It all counts and is credited to our account in the economy of God's kingdom. We look not for the applause of others, but for the affirmation of the Holy Spirit whom we seek to please in all we do. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.Today we would like to share some specific callouts of encouragement to those we know who labor in hard places and may not be seeing a lot of results, which can lead to that debilitating spiritual affliction known as discouragement: We consider:
Recent feedback: We appreciate the feedback we received the last couple of days, especially regarding the harder teaching we gave on Wednesday titled, "Dealing With What Is Falsely Called 'Knowledge'". We are blessed that many are staying true to God's Word and the faith once for all delivered to the saints. "Rough And Tumble" 65th Annual Threshermen's Reunion Lancaster County, PA Brooksyne and I share many of the same interests but we also support one another in those we don't. I try to patiently wait as she visits her favorite stores like Bath and Body Works or Yankee Candle and she walks with me through events that I enjoy. The week we went to the "Rough and Tumble" Threshermen's Reunion expo here in Lancaster County which has a huge demonstration of old steam machinery.  Coal-fired fire truck  All during the event you can not only see the stationary machinery but they are driving it around with lots of steam and smoke and whistles!  A section had old construction equipment like this steam-powered excavator.  A small gauge steam engine train.  Most of the machinery was running.  A Bluegrass band provided music  Rural Lancaster County view We saw this view in eastern Lancaster County as we left the "Rough and Tumble" steam machinery event. (Click on photo to enlarge) The "Rough And Tumble" event runs through Saturday in eastern Lancaster County. Here's the website. "It's Not in Vain" Video The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir "Kindness Boomerang" Here's a cute video illustrating that what goes around comes around... eventually. "Farther Along" Video Dailey and Vincent Yesterday I helped our friend Howard Blichfeldt set up his photo display at the Mount Gretna Outdoor Art Show. Mount Gretna lies in a mountainous area at the very southern tip of Lebanon County. See here for map. (Google) Howard became our friend about six years ago through daily encouragement and he permits us to occasionally use his photos on our website. He is an outstanding photographer focusing on nature. See here for his site. On many of his photographs he includes a Scripture verse. If you are in our area and may have interest in the Mount Gretna Outdoor Art Show info is here. Make sure and look up Howard! His photo booth is right along Rt. 117.   Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne. |
 Stephen and Brooksyne Weber (Click on photo to enlarge) "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update (Revised 12/31/12)  Are our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? Each weekday morning Brooksyne and I prepare these messages and distribute them at no cost to you and many others all over the world. We ask you to consider an offering to Daily Encouragement Net so that we can continue to prepare and provide this daily resource which is accessed by believers and seekers all over the world. Daily Encouragement Net relies solely on the generosity and financial support of its readers and podcast listeners. See here for more information on supporting this ministry. Gifts are tax deductible. Click here to donate online. 2013 YTD financial offerings to Daily Encouragement Net as of 8/15/13: $12,792.00 SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION  If a friend forwarded this to you, you can subscribe here.These messages are never sent by us unsolicited. It was sent to you because you either signed up to receive it OR it was forwarded to you. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed or as an email subscription through Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.) Cancel: These messages are only sent from us to people who request it; please accept our apologies if it reached you in error. You can unsubscribe from this list at any time. If you no longer desire to receive these messages you can remove your address from the list by merely using the link automatically inserted by the mailing list software at the very bottom of each email message. (To change addresses cancel your old address and then join again using your new address.) Weekly Version: The weekly version is intended for those who may not check their email regularly or who may desire less frequent mailings. It is Friday's message with a link to previous messages. To receive the free weekly version, send a blank email to this address. Daily Encouragement on Facebook and Twitter:  The daily message and prayer on Facebook. The daily message and prayer on Twitter.Reader Survey: Please take a few minutes to assist us in improving our ministry effectiveness by filling out this online reader survey. To take the survey click here. Please feel free to pass these messages on! Our other blogs: "A Daily Prayer" - A blog simply posting the daily prayer. We keep this up each day since it's merely the prayer from the Daily Encouragement Net message! "A Little Foolishness" - Humor/satire blog (a great outlet for non-serious writing but at times with a subtle message!) (Note: This material is satire!) "Clear Minded" - Longer, periodic articles on specific issues impacting the faithful believer and church. (Actually this is my intent but I haven't done much with it!) "Hymns of Hope" - Brooksyne along with two friends made a CD using classic hymns. Brooksyne tells the background story of the 11 hymns. All of these songs are also available for download on the site. Personal Mission Statement "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."  How to become a child of God Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version. Other versions are also occasionally used. © Copyright 2013 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved Daily Encouragement Net Stephen & Brooksyne Weber 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552  Endorsed chaplain "Living securely today anchored in God's solid foundation" www.dailyencouragement.net |
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