Encourage-[en-kur-ij] to inspire with courage, spirit, or confidence.
The enCourage Blog is weekly dose of encouragement in a world that is often filled with bad news. We offer life-giving entries each Monday and Thursday written by gifted women from across our denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). You can subscribe below to have them delivered to your inbox. With hundreds of blog pieces, you can search on a variety of topics in the search bar above to read and share with friends. Christina Fox, a gifted author, serves as our enCourage General Editor. If you are interested in submitting a piece, you can contact her at cfox@pcanet.org.
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On Minds Set Above
ELIZABETH TURNAGE | CONTRIBUTOR “Just Do It.” The iconic Nike slogan has inspired millions, not only to work out, but also to purchase the swoosh-branded gear. Unfortunately, many Christians have unknowingly adopted a similar “Just Do It” mindset when approaching the gospel command, “Set your minds on things above” (Col. 3:2). But here’s the problem: apart from first resting in the gospel reality of our union with Christ, we cannot carry out this command. As we slow down to consider the context of Paul’s words, we find something far better than mere motivation—we find the hope-filled reality that empowers and invites us to set our hearts and minds on the things above. The Hope-filled Gospel Reality As Paul so often does in his epistles, he begins by proclaiming gospel realities (also called “gospel indicatives”), naming what is true of us because we are united with Christ. He then follows these realities with gospel commands (also called “gospel imperatives”). To fully understand and live out Paul’s exhortation to “Set our minds on things above,” we must first consider our identity in Christ. In Colossians 1-2, Paul describes our new identity in Christ: we have “faith in Christ Jesus” (Col. 1:4), we have been made “mature in Christ” (Col. 1:28), and we “walk in him” (Col. 2:6). In Him we also have “redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14), and in Him, we are reconciled with God (Col. 2:21). Most importantly, our citizenship has changed. Because of Christ’s work on the Cross and our faith in Him, we have moved from the “domain of darkness” to the “kingdom of his beloved Son” (Col. 1:13-14). We have been “buried with him in baptism” and “raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead” (Col. 2:11-12)....
Summer Study on Colossians and Philemon: An Interview with Sarah Ivill
CHRISTINA FOX|EDITOR The 2025 recommended summer Bible study for PCA Women’s Ministries is Colossians and Philemon: That in Everything Christ Might be Preeminent by Sarah Ivill, Below you’ll find an interview Christina Fox did with Sarah about the study and her writing process. Christina: When you work on developing a Bible study, what is your study process like? Do you have a particular pattern you follow? Favorite commentaries? Sarah: I do have a particular pattern that I follow. First, I read the book of the Bible I'm studying in its entirety to get the big idea of the book. Second, I make an outline of the book so that I know which chapters I will cover for each lesson. Third, I study the specific passage of Scripture for the lesson and then read commentaries on it. If I have to choose a favorite series of commentaries, I like the Reformed Expository Commentary series published by P&R Publishing. Fourth, I write study questions for the women to answer and notes for the women to read. Finally, I go back through the lesson with an editorial eye. Christina: You have written a study on every book of the Bible. Was that a goal you had that you worked toward? How did that develop? What does it mean to you to have completed it? Sarah: To write a study on every book of the Bible was a desire that grew out of my love for studying God's Word. I wanted to learn God's Word and then share what I had learned with others. As I was nearing completion of the project, I felt grateful that God had given me the opportunity to do it, but I also felt sad that it was coming to a close. Spending those years writing studies on each book of the Bible was immensely satisfying, as God's Word pointed me repeatedly to Christ in the midst of my own sin, suffering, and service. There is no other book that I would rather be reading. The Holy Scriptures are majestic and pure. They comfort and convict. The Bible is "no empty word for you, but your very life" (Deut. 32:47). Christina: As someone who has studied and taught on the Bible for many years, what is something new that you learned while working on this study for Philemon and Colossians?...
Rest and Renewal in Christ
MARIA CURREY | CONTRIBUTOR Summer is upon us and with it comes vacations and times to get away. What speaks rest and renewal to you? Soothing surf-sounds and sand in your toes? Cruising to your dream destination with vacation days sprawling ahead? Manis and pedis at the spa? While rest and renewal may imply luxurious escape, there is a much deeper, eternally lavish rest and renewal offered in Christ. God offers lasting treasures. He gives us physical, spiritual, and emotional rejuvenation, perfectly portioned time which we are encouraged and exhorted to set apart. Rest and renewal are given within God’s pace of grace, gifts wisely given and guarded, when and IF we choose to receive them. Creator Rest Where do we first see rest and by Whom is it reflected? God Himself models rest in Genesis 2:2-3, "And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” If God rested after creating, should we not also rest after we work? Do you have a sanctified day of rest? A day set apart to be holy, for sacred purposes...
Life After Cancer
MARISSA HENLEY|GUEST Editor's Note: Below is an excerpt from Marissa's newly published devotional, After Cancer: Thriving with Hope (P&R, 2025), used with permission. Filled with both dread and hope, I forced a deep breath through my anxiety-stricken lungs and stepped into the counselor’s office. Almost two years had passed since I had been diagnosed with a rare cancer called angiosarcoma. The chemotherapy, clinical trial, radiation, and surgery had ended about a year prior, and my scans showed no evidence of disease. Some days, I was thrilled to be alive. I felt happy, grateful, and free. Other days, I felt like cancer still had me in its suffocating grip. The new perspective that made me grateful for each day also made me greedy for years I wasn’t sure I’d get to enjoy. Cancer had been purged from my body, but it wouldn’t leave my mind. I was tired of feeling consumed by cancer. A few minutes later, I sat on the counselor’s sofa, telling my story through tears. I started with the facts: The lump in my breast. The phone call two weeks later. The internet search that revealed a grim prognosis. The oncologist at MD Anderson Cancer Center who looked me in the eyes and said, “I can cure you.” The months of chemotherapy. The clinical trial that took me away from my three young children for weeks and weeks as I received treatment in Houston, six hundred miles from home. Radiation and surgery, also in Houston. God’s faithfulness and provision through dark days of suffering, sickness, and fear. But my story was more than those facts. Fear, grief, and trauma interwove through those details, but I often buried my emotions as I shared the happy ending of my story. I talked freely about the when, where, and how, but I didn’t think people would want to hear the questions I wrestled with daily: Why? What now? I often separated the facts from my feelings when I told the story, but in the safety of the counselor’s office, my emotional turmoil rose to the surface and overflowed...
I Will Sing
SHARON ROCKWELL | CONTRIBUTOR When I hit a recent milestone birthday, my children made sure that I was celebrating for a full week. There were new surprises each day. My favorite was a poster board they created with their special memories about me, one for each year. My daughter wrote this as one of hers, “I loved that you sang hymns to me while you were fixing my hair for Sunday School.” I had almost forgotten about that! And it is funny that she would remember those times since I cannot carry a tune. But the words of those hymns and their truths are embedded in her memory, and now she sings those same hymns to her children! Ministry Through Song In Exodus, Moses led the people in song, a hymn of praise, to celebrate God parting the Red Sea and protecting the Israelites from Pharaoh’s army. Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously. the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God and I will exalt him. (Exodus 15:1-2)...
Church for the Super Busy Family
KATIE POLSKI | CONTRIBUTOR I was a few minutes early to our weekly Bible study when a fellow mom came and sat next to me, letting out a defeated sigh. Noticing her exhaustion, I gently asked if everything was alright. “Yes,” she answered apathetically. “I just don’t think I can keep coming to this study, though. We are just so super busy right now.” I felt frustration surface, and not because she might not return, but because I was overwhelmed as well, and she beat me to the complaining. I showed up that morning feeling utterly depleted, running on fumes myself. But I also lamented that returning the sentiment would only turn into what has become a “typical” suburban exchange: “How are you?” “Great; just super busy.” But I told her anyway, admittedly with an edge to my voice: “Yeah, I’m super busy right now too.” The Hidden Barrier to Church Connection Busyness. Everyone experiences it, in some season or another, because it is inevitable. There is work to be done, deadlines to meet, people to connect with, children and grandchildren with activities and responsibilities, and then… there is our church. During busy seasons, it’s easy to let church and community take a backseat. But it’s in these very moments of overwhelm that we need the church the most. As I sat in that Bible study with my friend, I was reminded of the power of consistent involvement—not just for spiritual nourishment, but for the encouragement and strength we draw from one another. I needed to be there amid the busyness. The church is God’s provision for our spiritual growth and need for community. As Hebrews 10:24-25 reminds us, we are called to “stir up one another to love and good works” and not neglect meeting together, especially as the days grow darker. The strength we need for the day-to-day grind comes from the body of Christ. One of the primary reasons people leave a church is because they do not feel connected to the body of believers. During our 25 years in ministry, if a family has not relocated, feeling disconnected is the main reason families give for leaving the church or looking elsewhere. If this has been the case for you, it may certainly be due to an unwelcoming community or because of leaders who do not set the precedent for a hospitable environment. But often, disconnectedness comes from a lack of involvement, and lack of involvement is blamed on a full schedule....
