### Quotes for Outreach

1. "There is a God who cares, a God who knows, and a God that loves you so much that he will sit in it with you. In July last year, I did some mental health first aid training, and the instructor said something very striking, and it was quite similar. It was very similar to what Ben said. She said, Sometimes you just need to sit with a person in the rubble." [36:36] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




2. "We sympathise and we empathise with those loved ones. We empathise with others. We see people in war-torn areas. We see people with terminal illness. With relational struggles. We see the need and we want to do something about it. Well, so does Jesus. He knows, not just sympathises, he knows what you're going through. He walked his entire life in our shoes. As the saying goes. He did that to know your suffering and to know what we need. He knows it personally. What we need is hope." [42:25] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




3. "We don't have to fear because unlike on the television series, we are not alone. He's got this. He's with you and he won't leave you. You know what? Maybe it's not fear that stops you from interrupting your day to comfort another. And these next two examples that I'll give you do come from personal experience, so please forgive me. The first one is bitterness. Does anyone have that needy person in their life? The one that is always asking for help and never says thank you? Well we can get bitter and resentful and that is not of God. Just keep being there for them." [47:21] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




4. "God is good. He is good despite all this. A good God created a good world. With good people in it. To do good work. So that we might live a good life. This is a quote from John Dixon. God is good. And there is always a choice for us to do good as comforters. As I said we can't always fix the problem. And often it may be that we need to refer people on to others. We might just be able to pivot and send them on to others who have more expertise. We could do that. But God might step in and do something too. So it is always good to pray. It is good to ask." [49:00] (48 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




5. "We are provided comfort by the God of comfort in order to provide comfort to others. The Paracletos sits with us in the rubble as we come alongside others. Jesus relied on the Holy Spirit's comfort and guidance and so should we. We need to be aware of our fears and our biases in order to comfort well. We are promised his presence, his guidance and peace in all situations. All we need to do is pray. And most importantly, providing comfort is a witness to the love of God in your life and an opening to a conversation about God entering into theirs." [57:10] (51 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




### Quotes for Members

1. "In week one, Ben introduced us to this key verse. And he spoke to us about the Paracletos, the comforter, and explained that in this Christian life, we should not expect to be comfortable. He also gave us some clarity around the Greek word paraclete, which is a verb to comfort and encourage others. We can be paracleted by somebody else. Then week two, Sandy looked at the comforter, the Holy Spirit in us. She walked us through some passages in James, in the New Testament that reminded us that we will have trials, we'll have temptations, suffering, and even persecution. But we should trust God in our situation and that it is possible to find joy." [34:19] (51 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




2. "Now, I want you to look at it once more. There are actually three people in this picture. There's you. There's the other. And then there's God, the Holy Spirit. We can't see him. But he is there. We know he's there. Thank you. The third person of the Trinity. He comes and he lives in us. He comes alongside us when we are alone. But also, we comfort others. He is our guide. We don't have to do this alone." [38:09] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




3. "Jesus relied on the Comforter. Strange, isn't it? But he did. He relied on the Comforter. He was fully God and fully human. And was himself comforted by the Holy Spirit on many occasions. So what did he do when he needed comfort? I don't know. I'll give you an example. There was a time when he received the news of his cousin's death. That was John the Baptist. And what he did, he'd retreated to a solitary place. And we can confidently assume that he prayed. When he was pressed and pressured by the crowds, he prayed." [39:32] (39 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




4. "We also have a responsibility to listen and be obedient to the Holy Spirit whispers. It's little nudges. His whispers, his nudges. Even if we don't understand we don't want to. This is the reality. Often, I just don't. We don't listen and we don't act. It's a reality, isn't it? Are you agreeing with me here? You think, yes. I don't. And I wonder why. Why do we balk when we, when I see someone upset? Why? Or we know that they need to be heard. Why don't I just pick up the phone? Why don't I just get in the car? Why do I sometimes turn the other way?" [43:10] (55 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




5. "We are promised his presence, his guidance and peace in all situations. All we need to do is pray. And most importantly, providing comfort is a witness to the love of God in your life and an opening to a conversation about God entering into theirs. So as you go through this next week, pray for opportunities to show God's love by offering comfort to someone else. Sometimes all you can do is be with someone. You know what, if you're confident in this, you may also consider volunteering. There's a great book called Careline, there's Lifeline and you might be able to comfort many if this is something that you find okay." [57:44] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

Well, welcome, everybody. And welcome online. Great to have you here. You are so much a part of this community. There's a lot of people here today, given how cold it is, isn't there?

All right. Well, before I start, the most important thing of all, can I pray?

Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you for what you're about to teach us today. Lord, prepare our hearts. Prepare our hearts to receive what it is that you want to show us and let nothing distract us along the way. Holy Spirit, come, let us hear your voice. We ask this all in Jesus' name.

Okay. Can I read you something beautiful, if I may? Yes, there's a few yeses in the house. That's good.

All right. If you've been following the series, you might have heard this one before, but I'm actually going to read it from the message version of the Bible. It's 2 Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 1.

All praise to God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah. Father of all mercy, God of all healing counsel. He comes alongside us when we go through hard times. And before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times, so that we can be there for that person, just as God was there for us.

We have plenty of hard times, hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort. We get full measure of that too. When we suffer for Jesus, it works out for your healing and salvation. If we are treated well, given a helping hand, an encouraging word, that also works to your benefit, spurring you on, face forward, unflinching.

Your hard times are also our hard times. When we see that you're just as willing to endure the hard times as enjoy the good times, we know you're going to make it, no doubt about it.

I love that version. This is the key verse that we're focusing on in a series about the Paracletos, the God of comfort. And we're in week four.

Okay, so let's recap. In week one, Ben introduced us to this key verse. And he spoke to us about the Paracletos, the comforter, and explained that in this Christian life, we should not expect to be comfortable. He also gave us some clarity around the Greek word paraclete, which is a verb to comfort and encourage others. We can be paracleted by somebody else.

Then week two, Sandy looked at the comforter, the Holy Spirit in us. She walked us through some passages in James, in the New Testament that reminded us that we will have trials, we'll have temptations, suffering, and even persecution. But we should trust God in our situation and that it is possible to find joy.

Then just last week, our Wayne, he gave us some real stories of how God entered into his life and provided comfort, not only in his distant past, but his recent past, today, and even into the future. Please go back, if you haven't seen any of those, and have a little look on our website. Find the link, and you'll find it in the On Demand section.

So today, I'd like to hone in on the idea of us paracleting others. My husband and I are a bit of alone junkies. I don't know if you've been watching the series Alone. Has anyone heard of it? Anyone here? Yes, a few. If you're online, just say yes into the chat.

So we've been watching that, and if you haven't been watching it, basically, they take 10 people and they dump them at the worst season of the year in the most difficult terrain in the world. They dump them on the west coast of Tasmania in one of those.

Anyway, a lot of things will take them out: heart attacks, grizzly bears, because they did it in America too. And you know what? You know what takes them out the most? Being alone. That's what takes them out the most. That's very striking.

So Ben said something really interesting in week one that sat with me. He said, "There is a God who cares, a God who knows, and a God that loves you so much that he will sit in it with you."

In July last year, I did some mental health first aid training, and the instructor said something very striking, and it was quite similar. It was very similar to what Ben said. She said, "Sometimes you just need to sit with a person in the rubble."

And it made me think, and there's an image that will come up on the screen, and I drew this in response to that comment. This is what paracleting looks like to me. And if we can keep that up on the screen there for a little while.

In July last year, sorry, it made me think, but tell me, where does this image take you? Which one are you in the rubble? Are you the one being comforted? Does it take you to a time when you needed someone else beside you? Or is your world a little bit like this right now? It's hard. You might be having problems with your health or with finances or with relationships. Is this you right now?

Or are you the comforter? Are you the other person? Have you been given opportunities recently to come alongside and be with someone else?

Now, I want you to look at it once more. There are actually three people in this picture. There's you. There's the other. And then there's God, the Holy Spirit. We can't see him. But he is there. We know he's there. Thank you. The third person of the Trinity. He comes and he lives in us. He comes alongside us when we are alone. But also, we comfort others. He is our guide. We don't have to do this alone.

Now, in this key passage that I read earlier, Paul was writing to the Corinthian church and they were suffering. And he showed how he himself, Paul, had gone through some hard times. And this was for a reason. It was to equip and to prepare him to comfort others. He didn't come up with the idea on his own, however. He learnt it by listening to the Bible. He was listening to the Holy Spirit and learning from the life of Jesus.

So now, let's look at how Jesus interacted with the Holy Spirit. Jesus relied on the Comforter. Strange, isn't it? But he did. He relied on the Comforter. He was fully God and fully human and was himself comforted by the Holy Spirit on many occasions.

So what did he do when he needed comfort? I don't know. I'll give you an example. There was a time when he received the news of his cousin's death. That was John the Baptist. And what he did, he'd retreated to a solitary place. And we can confidently assume that he prayed.

When he was pressed and pressured by the crowds, he prayed. In Luke 5, verse 16, it says, "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." And once he did that, once he prayed, he then did something amazing. If you read in that passage, he performed a miracle and fed 5,000 people. Cousin just died, he prayed, he received comfort, and he fed 5,000 people.

Here's another example. His friend Lazarus died, a very close friend. He was deeply distraught. He prayed and then he thanked the Father for having heard him. And then he went on to raise him from the dead, as you do. Amazing. He prayed and then he went and did something amazing.

And finally, he prayed in the Spirit, in his Spirit, to the Father in Gethsemane. He was about to face something horrible, a Roman flogging and a crucifixion. He sought comfort. He wept, he pleaded, he responded in obedience then to the Father. The Paracletos was with him.

On each occasion, if you look back on those, Jesus proactively prayed and sought counsel and comfort in order to comfort others. He fed them. He healed them. He died for them. He died for us. Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Father are one.

However, it is true that Jesus, as a man, lived his life fully dependent and obedient to the Father. This is the model. It's the model that he gives us. Pray and be equipped with Holy Spirit power, Holy Spirit words, Holy Spirit discernment. We have everything that we need in order to be able to comfort others. And we want to.

It hurts, doesn't it? Doesn't it hurt when we see our family member or people we know hurting? It hurts us. We sympathize and we empathize with those loved ones. We empathize with others. We see people in war-torn areas. We see people with terminal illness. With relational struggles. We see the need and we want to do something about it.

Well, so does Jesus. He knows, not just sympathizes, he knows what you're going through. He walked his entire life in our shoes. As the saying goes. He did that to know your suffering and to know what we need. He knows it personally.

What we need is hope. What we need is peace and the tangible presence of God. Have we not all craved that? In this fragile and uncertain world, we all need the good news of Jesus. We also have a responsibility to listen and be obedient to the Holy Spirit whispers. It's little nudges. His whispers, his nudges.

Even if we don't understand, we don't want to. This is the reality. Often, I just don't. We don't listen and we don't act. It's a reality, isn't it? Are you agreeing with me here? You think, yes. I don't. And I wonder why.

Why do we balk when we see someone upset? Why? Or we know that they need to be heard. Why don't I just pick up the phone? Why don't I just get in the car? Why do I sometimes turn the other way? Have a think.

I want to ask you to do something now. If you're bold, type this in the chat or tell the person next to you. What stops you from comforting others? Have a little think about it. Give you about 20 seconds. What stops you from comforting others?

It was surprisingly quiet. What stops us from comforting others? Well, you know what? There are some fair and some reasonable and some justified reasons, aren't there? And I'm going to give you a couple.

The first one is that you are committed. You may have others in your immediate care already. And when faced with a situation where you have to comfort somebody else, it doesn't work, does it? To step in for someone else may cause you to neglect the people that you're already comforting for. That's justified and that's reasonable.

And here's the second one. You are unable. You may be mentally or physically unable to comfort due to illness, trauma, or any other reason. To step in could do you harm or do others harm too.

Peter Cesaro, in his book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, it's a good book, he points out the dangers of being emotionally unhealthy when trying to comfort or pastor others or generally in relationships. If we don't know ourselves well, if we don't have a healthy relationship with God, our comforting ability won't be stopped, but they will be limited.

And let me speak just for a moment as a nurse and as a previous atheist. I was an atheist for 36 years. Christians don't have the monopoly on comforting. I know that because I worked as a nurse for 40 years and I comforted people during that time. But you know what? It is so much more difficult without God.

So let's look at the other reasons. And a little disclaimer here. These were really, really easy to list because you know what? I've done every single one of them and some of them more than once. And it's mostly about fear.

Why don't we comfort others? It's because of fear. Fear that I won't have time to stay. I won't be able to stop because I'll be late and I'll let other people down. Fear that I will cause harm. I'll say the wrong thing. Or I'll do the wrong thing. Fear that I can't say or do anything that will help fix the problem. I can't do it. I don't have what it takes.

Fear of being hurt. I can't deal with anyone else's pain because I've got so much pain of my own. Do not fear, it says in the Bible. Let us not undermine or underestimate the ability of God to eradicate your fear. He can do that. The Bible is full of those do not fear passages.

We don't have to fear because unlike on the television series, we are not alone. He's got this. He's with you and he won't leave you.

You know what? Maybe it's not fear that stops you from interrupting your day to comfort another. And these next two examples that I'll give you do come from personal experience, so please forgive me.

The first one is bitterness. Does anyone have that needy person in their life? The one that is always asking for help and never says thank you? Well, we can get bitter and resentful and that is not of God. Just keep being there for them. Keep loving, keep caring and keep sharing that hope that you have.

Maybe it's not that. Maybe it's self-righteousness. I've recently started working with people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and you'd be surprised how often I hear this comment when I mention this to people. "Well, they brought it on themselves." You heard that before? Or "poor decisions reap consequences," you know.

You heard that? You know it's quite clear in the Bible that we are not to judge but to love others unconditionally. No matter what. Loving others is actually a command from God himself.

You know this is all a very big topic and I'd really encourage you, I can't unpack it here today, but I'd encourage you to bring it up in your connect group, in your life group and explore this a little bit further if you can.

God is good. He is good despite all this. A good God created a good world. With good people in it. To do good work. So that we might live a good life. This is a quote from John Dixon. God is good. And there is always a choice for us to do good as comforters.

As I said, we can't always fix the problem. And often it may be that we need to refer people on to others. We might just be able to pivot and send them on to others who have more expertise. We could do that. But God might step in and do something too.

So it is always good to pray. It is good to ask. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are littered with examples of how Jesus acted in response to very practical problems. He stepped in. He healed people. But if he doesn't, you can rest assured that he will make it count. And he is sure. He is still good.

He makes us promises that we can count on. He says that he will never leave us. And in return, he asks us to be present with others. And in this partnership, he provides his presence, his guidance and his peace.

Sometimes we are tangibly aware of his presence when we pray. Has anyone ever felt that? Yeah. Yeah. And with the confidence that this presence, with his presence, that it brings, we are able to be obedient and choose to be present with others.

In that space, in the rubble, God provides. He provides guidance in acquiring what we need, hope in his promises, particularly in the promise of salvation, but also peace.

Now last week, Wayne spoke of the peace he received after being reminded of a prophetic word that he had received years before. God's peace. In August last year, I was given my own God-given peace whilst I was in hospital. God's peace. I couldn't and I still can't explain it. It's of God.

So take a few seconds now, only a few seconds, and think of a time when you felt, when you felt God's peace. Or maybe if you don't know God yet, you could think of a time when you witnessed somebody else talking about unexplainable peace. Why are they peaceful in this? Just take a few seconds.

Something come to mind? Yeah? That memory, that memory, that thought that you have and are reflecting on right now is likely the presence and the peace of the Paracletos, the Comforter.

So far, we have learnt and we know that we should comfort others, that we can comfort others. And just briefly now, I'd like to talk about how we can comfort others.

I'm a first aid trainer. It's part of what I do when I'm not here. I often speak about attending to people's physical needs. You know, giving them a pillow or, you know, putting a sling on them, providing wound care. What are their emotional and mental needs? Sometimes people just want to be heard or have a shoulder to cry on.

In my training slides, in my PowerPoint slides, there's a line that says, "Reassure the casualty." And at this point, I usually ask the class this. I say, "What do you think you could say or do that would reassure the casualty?" To which they usually roll their eyes. Or they go, "Help's on the way."

I say, "That's... Help's on... Or here it is. It's going to be okay." Yeah, no. Most people are really not reassured by that comment as they know too well that they're in a lot of trouble. Especially if the situation is very serious.

But you know what? There are promises from God throughout the Bible that are very reassuring and they're well worth repeating. And this is the first one. And I offer this in first aid. I use non-biblical language, but I offer it.

It speaks of a time when Joshua, a leader, was about to embark on a very scary adventure. He was about to move the whole Israelite nation into a completely unknown land. And his mentor, Moses, was dying and wasn't coming with him. That's scary.

And here is the promise. It's from Deuteronomy 31, verses seven to eight. Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all of Israel, "Be strong and bold. For you are the one who will go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their ancestors to give to them. And you will put them in possession of it. It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you. He will not forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed."

Moses makes it quite clear to Joshua that he is in the care of the all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present God. So I tell my students to reassure those in their care by saying exactly the same.

"Hello, my name's Tracy. I've got some first aid training. You know what? I'm going to stay with you. I'm not going anywhere. Whatever happens, I'm here."

And I'm going to stay with you. So when... That is really reassuring, would you agree?

So when you're faced with a situation that requires you to come alongside someone else and you're frightened, then you need to pray. And my suggestion is to pray something similar to the following.

"Lord, help me to stop and listen well. Holy Spirit, be with me. Guide my words. And when it is the right time, it is the right time to speak. If it's appropriate and always with consent, pray out loud. If it's not, then just pray silently to the Holy Spirit. Invite the Holy Spirit into the space that you're in. Ask for his intervention. Ask for his provision, his healing.

And remember that ultimately the deepest need of anyone on the planet is the good news of Jesus. So be prepared. Be prepared and ready to give an answer for the hope that you have in Christ Jesus. It is the ultimate witness to the hope-filled life that your friend desperately needs.

So to summarise, to wind it up, we are provided comfort by the God of comfort in order to provide comfort to others. The Paracletos sits with us in the rubble as we come alongside others. Jesus relied on the Holy Spirit's comfort and guidance and so should we.

We need to be aware of our fears and our biases in order to comfort well. We are promised his presence, his guidance and peace in all situations. All we need to do is pray.

And most importantly, providing comfort is a witness to the love of God in your life and an opening to a conversation about God entering into theirs.

So as you go through this next week, pray for opportunities to show God's love by offering comfort to someone else. Sometimes all you can do is be with someone.

You know what, if you're confident in this, you may also consider volunteering. There's a great book called Careline, there's Lifeline and you might be able to comfort many if this is something that you find okay. I've got a slide at the end with the details.

But you know what, most people are a little nervous about sharing Jesus with a friend by using the G word. I'd like you to consider the My Friends course that's coming up soon. Planting Hope is a resource that we're producing at the moment for connect groups, for life groups.

And this material is about equipping us to have the skills to pray and care for others. Please consider. Talk to someone about this. Talk to me. I'll be here up the front and there'll be others. Come up, we'll just wave and catch our attention. We'll come to you.

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your Holy Spirit. Thank you that not only do you comfort us when we need you, but that you comfort us and come alongside us as we comfort others. We do not need to do this alone. Help us to pray often and to turn to you when we're in need. Give us confidence to trust you always in these situations. I thank you, Lord. Help us to abide in you. In Jesus' name.