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Encouraging Words, PO Box 2035, Mission Viejo, CA (2026)

01/05/2026

Carrying the Gospel Around the World
By: Darlene Sala
January 5, 2026

In 2001 Charlotte suffered a major stroke that resulted in her losing not only her speech but the use of both legs and one arm. But Charlotte was determined not to give up on life. In spite of her disabilities, she believed she could still fulfill her desire to share the Gospel with those who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus. And Charlotte found a way to do just that. She learned about a project to make leather bracelets that have five colored beads strung on them to present five facets of the Gospel message.

The yellow bead prompts the question, “Have you ever thought about heaven where the streets are made of gold?” The black bead reminds us that in our present condition we can’t go there because of our sin. The red bead represents the good news that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and his blood washes away our sins. The white bead symbolizes that Jesus’s sacrifice makes us clean. The green bead reminds us we can now grow daily in our relationship with Him. Missionaries distribute the bracelets all over the world to children and adults alike.

Using her one good arm and her mouth, Charlotte has made over 45,000 of these bracelets.[1] That means that she has literally carried the Gospel message around the world, not letting her handicap keep her from responding to Christ’s command, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15).

Charlotte’s example speaks to all of us who are tempted to give one excuse or another for why we can’t share Christ with others. The writer of Proverbs prompts us that “He who wins souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30). If Charlotte can do it, so can we.

[1] Glenn Burris, Jr., The Foursquare Church “Weekly Prayer Guide,” September 21, 2009, accessed September 21, 2009.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/carrying-the-gospel-around-the-world/

12/29/2025

This is What You Can Learn from Sunflowers
By: Darlene Sala
December 29, 2025

Ever see sunflowers growing in someone’s garden? You probably noticed that they almost always face toward the sun. In the morning, young sunflowers face east, slowly turning west as they keep their faces toward the sun throughout the day. Then, during the night, they reverse themselves, so they’re ready to do it again the next day. Why do they do this? Because they innately know that the more sunshine they get, the better they will grow.

When sunflower plants are grown indoors, in a short time they stop this habit of always trying to face the sun, and consequently they grow at a slower pace. You never find sunflowers looking down at themselves to check if their stalks are too thick or their leaves are wrinkled, (as we often do). Nor do you see them looking at one another to see who is growing best. Their faces are fixed on the sun, even as our eyes should be fixed on the Son of God, Jesus, our Savior.

A spiritual principle in Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus.” When we keep our eyes on the Son of God, we don’t get discouraged. If we focus on ourselves, we will get depressed. If we focus on others, we will often be disappointed. If we focus on Jesus, we will be encouraged, for Romans 5:5 tells us He is “the God who gives perseverance and encouragement.”

Helen Keller, who was blind, once said, “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows. It’s what the sunflowers do.”[1]

Remember the lesson of the sunflower. Throughout our day, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus.”

[1] Helen Keller, https://emilygibby.com/blog/2016/06/08/2016-6-7-life-lessons-from-a-sunflower-personal-gettoknowelovephotos/, accessed 11-30-2020.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/this-is-what-you-can-learn-from-sunflowers/

12/22/2025

Find Out How to Grow in Grace
By: Darlene Sala
December 22, 2025

In the last verse of the last chapter of the last book the apostle Peter ever wrote, he gave us some valuable instruction. He said, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18 NIV). What did Peter mean about growing in grace and the knowledge of Jesus?

A sermon by famed preacher C. H. Spurgeon helped me understand what Peter was telling us. First, Spurgeon says, “Do not suppose that persons grow in grace according to their years. Some grow faster in grace in five minutes than others do in fifty years.”[1] He learned this from his own experience. “I have sometimes grown more in grace in one hour,” said Spurgeon, “than I have at other seasons in a week, a month, or a year.”[2]

Second, Spurgeon says that growth in grace is intimately connected with growth in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We may always test whether we are growing by this question: Do I know more about Christ today than I did yesterday? Do I live nearer to Christ today than I did a little while ago? For increase in the knowledge of Christ is the evidence as well as the cause of true growth in grace.[3]

“May God grant to you, dear friends, to grow in the knowledge of Christ! Read the Scriptures more. Ask God the Holy Spirit to give you a fresh sight of Calvary; … live with Jesus, and near to Him; and … you shall each one of you grow unto the stature of … Christ Jesus.”[4]

Two simple directives: grow in grace, and grow in the knowledge of Jesus, and your life will be transformed. You can start that growth today!

[1] https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/growth-in-grace/ / , accessed 9-17-20, p. 3
[2] Ibid., accessed 9-17-20.
[3] Ibid., accessed 9-17-20, p. 5.
[4] Ibid., accessed 9-17-10, p. 8.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/find-out-how-to-grow-in-grace/

12/15/2025

The Importance of Thankfulness
By: Darlene Sala
December 15, 2025

Driving through rural Connecticut, I noticed highway signs directing people to the Thankful Arnold House—brown signs that denote a place of historical significance. I couldn’t help wondering who Thankful Arnold was, what happened to make him thankful, and why is his house significant? My curiosity was piqued enough to do some probing on the internet for answers.

As it turned out, Thankful Arnold was a woman who lived with her husband, Joseph, in this house built in 1795. “It’s an utterly typical home of an utterly typical family in early New England.”[1] Thankful, her daughter, and her granddaughter each served as head of the household—three generations of women.

Thankful—what a fascinating name for a child! Could it be that her mother was exceptionally grateful for the safe arrival of her baby daughter in those days when childbirth so often resulted in the death of either the baby or the mother? Perhaps she had given birth to several sons and was now happy to welcome at last a baby girl. We don’t know.

But what a delightful name for a baby—Thankful! In this era when a child is sometimes viewed as an interruption to a woman’s successful career, or a financial burden to a dad who is barely making ends meet, we need to be sure our children know we’re thankful for them.

Remember that when parents brought their children to Jesus, the disciples reproved them. When Jesus saw this, “he was indignant. He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them’“ (Mark 10:14).

Your children are your most valuable possession. Today would be a great time to tell them how thankful you are for each one.

[1] Elizabeth Malloy, as told to John Fiske, ‘Who Did It – and Why? The Riddle of Thankful Arnold House,” http://www.antiquesjournal.com/Pages04/Monthly_pages/feb08/thankful.html, accessed October 3, 2009.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/the-importance-of-thankfulness-2/

12/08/2025

What Do You Plan on Doing Next?
By: Darlene Sala
December 8, 2025

Eric Denton can’t help all of the poor in Mexico, but he’s making a tremendous difference for the ones he does help. He and a team of 28 people from the church he pastored in Riverside, California, went on a building mission. They started with just two homes in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the Mexican border town of Tijuana. One of the homes was for a family who was living under a tree—a single mom trying to raise 3 kids, working all day while the kids fended for themselves.

Ten years later, when Eric visited the families living in those two homes, they greeted him with joy. They laughed and cried together, amazed at the way a house could change their lives. But there’s more. Eric and his volunteers have built a church, as well as a residence for 30 homeless, hopeless kids. And another building has gone up to house 36 abandoned infants, giving these tiny bundles life and love. All of that in ten years! Eric asks, “What can happen in 10 years? Lives can be changed. Our lives—and the lives of those we touch.” [1]

Is there a project you’ve been putting off? Something you sense God wants you to do? Ten years down the road you’re going to be the same age whether you accept that challenge or just live your life in a routine way.

In Psalm 90, Moses wrote, “We live to be about 70. Or we may live to be 80, if we stay healthy. But … the years quickly pass, and we are gone” (Psalm 90:10). Accept the challenge of Eric’s words, “What do you plan on doing with the next decade of your life?” Your decision can make the difference between a mundane, ordinary life, and one of purpose and meaning.

[1] Eric Denton, Siempre Update, an e-newsletter published on the internet on March 19, 2009.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/what-do-you-plan-on-doing-next-2/

12/01/2025

The Lord Needs You Right Where You Are
By: Darlene Sala
December 1, 2025

Wanting to give her daughter a beautiful wedding in spite of a limited budget, the mother of the bride gathered blossoms from friends’ magnolia trees, and the night before the wedding, banked the front of the church with the luscious, creamy-white blooms.

The next morning, when she opened the sanctuary door, all the beautiful white flowers were black. An electrical storm during the night had knocked out the air conditioning system, causing the flowers to wilt and die.

Dashing outside, she prayed, “Lord, please help me find someone willing to give me flowers!” Seeing a house in the distance with magnolia trees, she approached and knocked. An elderly man answered. Responding to her plea, the man beamed, “I’d be happy to!”

She said, “Sir, you have made the mother of a bride happy today.” “No, Ma’am,” he said, “You don’t understand. You see, yesterday I buried my wife of 67 years. For the last 16 years, she was ill and she needed me. But this morning I sat in my house crying, ‘Who needs an eighty-six-year-old worn-out man? Nobody!’“

“About that time, you knocked, and said, ‘Sir, I need you.’ When I handed you those magnolias, I decided I’m needed. My flowers are needed. Why, I might have a flower ministry! I decided I am going to serve the Lord with my flowers!”

The week before Jesus was crucified, He sent His disciples to borrow a donkey on which He would ride through the city. He told them to tell the owner, “The Lord needs it” (Luke 19:31). The Lord needs you, too. Regardless of your age or resources, He wants you to offer yourself to Him to bless others. He can use you today to minister to people in need.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/the-lord-needs-you-right-where-you-are-2/

11/24/2025

How to Respond to God Opening and Closing Doors
By: Darlene Sala
November 24, 2025

George, a young man in Greece, was planning to attend Bible college when the scholarship he was counting on was inexplicably cancelled. Frustrated and disappointed because of the closed door, he enlisted in the army to fulfill his nation’s required military service. George eventually completed a law degree with distinction.

After graduation, George found himself in the midst of a hotbed of religious persecution against the evangelical church in his country. Pursuing his convictions, he took on a series of assignments on behalf of Evangelical Christianity. He was arrested over 30 times for his religious activities.

When the Athens 3 Trial made global news, George became a part of the legal team in the center of this religious controversy. Believers around the world gave so much attention to the situation that the authorities asked George to tell everyone to quit sending letters. The missionaries were eventually acquitted.

Today, George does not practice law, but he still preaches, mostly in the church he established in Athens—currently the largest evangelical church in Greece with over 1,000 in weekly attendance. He has given birth to 18 congregations in Greece, and his own church translates the Sunday messages into eight languages for the people groups that God has attracted there!

George’s experience reminds us that instead of looking back, we should look forward to the possibilities that God may have for us. Jesus said, “See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it” (Revelation 3:8 NKJV).[i] Perhaps today God will open a special opportunity for you. Keep watching.

[i] Glenn Burris Jr., Foursquare Church Weekly Email Prayer Guide, May 11, 2009, accessed May 11, 2009.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/how-to-respond-to-god-opening-and-closing-doors/

11/17/2025

Praising God Day and Night
By: Darlene Sala
November 17, 2025

Psalm 92 says, “It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night” (Psalm 92:1-2).

We all know it’s good to praise the Lord. But I’m fascinated with these verses that tell us to proclaim His love in the morning and His faithfulness at night.

Declaring His love puts our lives in perspective. When we think about how much God loves us, we’re compelled to show Him love by how we use the day He has given us. The Bible says, “He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them” (2 Corinthians 5:15). The principle of living for Christ instead of ourselves affects every decision we make in a day. Living for Christ is life in its highest form. Living for ourselves brings neither happiness nor significance.

Remembering how much He loves us will help me get through the day whether it goes as I planned or is total chaos. If your boss questions your motives, at least you know that the Lord loves you and values you. If your teen gives you the cold shoulder, you still know God cares.

Then in the evening, thank Him for His faithfulness. Thank Him for the good things that happened to you today. And if your day held pain and disappointment, thank Him that He was faithful to get you through it. Even Jesus said, “I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day” (Luke 13:33).

Not a day goes by but what we have something for which to praise the Lord. David said, “Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever” (Psalm 145:2).

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/praising-god-day-and-night/

11/10/2025

God Wants a Relationship with Me
By: Darlene Sala
November 10, 2025

Imagine being able to have anything you want—anything. No limits in size or amount or intricacy. You could just “speak it” and it would be in existence. That’s how it is with God. The God of the universe can create anything He desires. And He did.

The part about this that amazes me is that He created US. Knowing the free will He gave us would result in our rejecting Him and choosing our own way, He still created the human race. Why did He do it?

As incredible as it may be, God created us because He wants to have a relationship with us. Knowing from the very beginning that Adam and Eve, our earliest forebearers, would sin and break that relationship with Himself, He still created us.

There was a tremendous cost to this plan. God would have to pay an incredible price to redeem us from our fallen or sinful condition so that He, a holy God, could have fellowship with human beings once again. The price was the death of His Son on the cross to pay for our sins. The Bible tells us, “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation” (Colossians 1:22).

He did all this because He wants us for Himself. Scripture says: “But now, this is what the Lord says, He who created you, O Jacob, [and] he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, … I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine’“ (Isaiah 43:1).

I am His! He wants me! In spite of all my imperfections and limitations and “warts”, He wants me! Thank you, Lord!

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/god-wants-a-relationship-with-me/

11/03/2025

Do You Ever Feel Invisible?
By: Darlene Sala
November 3, 2025

There are times in my life when I’d just like to be invisible. I don’t want to hear anyone call my name for help, or ask me one more question, or expect anything from me. Do you ever wish you could just stay in bed and pull the covers up over your head for the entire day?

Well, few of us have that luxury. People are depending on us. We can’t risk losing our jobs. So we keep going.

There is one place, however, where you can go to hide. You can run to God, as a baby bird runs to its mother and hides under her wings. Psalm 91 tells us this: “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart” (Psalm 91:4).

For a baby bird, under its mother’s wings is a place of safety, warmth, and comfort; a place of closeness to the one who can take care of its needs. For us, being under God’s wing also means safety and comfort and provision, as well.

The Psalmist David wrote, “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8).

God says, “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you” (Isaiah 66:13).

The apostle Paul wrote, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

When an eaglet is under his mother’s wing, it’s dark. Sometimes under God’s wing we can’t see anything either, but we know that He can see what is ahead and He will protect us. Peace comes because we know the one who cares for us. Run to Him for refuge.

Listen at: https://ow.ly/TYvF50XkFsN

10/27/2025

Teaching the Next Generation
By: Darlene Sala
October 27, 2025

Over a hundred years ago, a baby girl was welcomed in Saskatchewan, Canada and named Audrey. She grew up on the Canadian prairie, learning at an early age to churn butter and to bake bread in a wood stove.

Audrey was my mother. She was raised in a Christian home and accepted Christ as her Savior at special meetings that were held in her town. There she met a young pastor named Guy who began to show an interest in her. The favorite family story is how after spending the evening at her parents’ home he managed to take home one of her shoes—which meant, of course, that he had to return the next day to give back the shoe—a good excuse to see her again. I’m not sure he realized they were her only pair of shoes!

Eventually her family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where Guy conducted special services in her church. She was asked to play the piano for the meetings—which again brought her to the attention of the young minister. To make a long story shorter, on July 3, 1935, they were married.

I’m so thankful for a Christian mother and grandmother on both sides of my family. What a heritage! Now our three children also love the Lord—and 8 grandchildren have been raised to know Him well.

If you are a parent or your life involves children, take note of these Bible verses and underline them. Found in Psalm 78: “We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done ... which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so [that] the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children” (Psalm 78:4-6).

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/teaching-the-next-generation-2/

10/20/2025

What To Do When You Feel Like Giving Up
By: Darlene Sala
October 20, 2025

Asaph, who wrote many of the Psalms in the Bible, was discouraged, so discouraged that he had about given up on God. In Psalm 77, Asaph asks five questions that convey the despair he was feeling: “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” (Psalm 77:7-9). Asaph tells us he cried aloud and couldn’t sleep. He was in a bad way!

One of the reasons I love the Bible is that it’s so honest. If a person was “fed up” with God, you’ll read about it in God’s Word. I believe it’s an indication that He wants us to be honest with Him about our feelings.

Maybe you’re feeling the same way Asaph did, wondering if God has forgotten you because you have a big need in your life that is still unmet. If so, don’t stop with the first part of Asaph’s Psalm 77, because Asaph goes on to give us the solution.

He writes, “I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High. I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. . . What god is great like our God?” (Psalm 77:10-13) And then he goes on to list some of the wonders God had done in the past.

Say, what wonders has God done in your past that you haven’t thought of about lately? He is still the same God today.

Hold on! Know that He hasn’t stopped loving you or forgotten you. In His time, He will answer with exactly what you need, for there is no other God like Him!

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/what-to-do-when-you-feel-like-giving-up-2/

Encouraging Words

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