What does it mean to be a “Barnabas?” Listen as Pastor James shares how Barnabas was an encourager, what it takes to be an encourager, and the incredible value of encouraging others.

Scriptures Referenced

Acts 2:5, 4:32-37, 9:26-28, 9:31, 11:19-26, 13:2-3, 15:36-41; Romans 12:6-8

Key Insights

• An encourager walks in a spirit of generosity.
• An encourager is someone who deposits life, hope, and courage into others in such a way that it inspires them to be better and go further than they would have otherwise.
• An encourager instills confidence in someone.
• An encourager extends grace.
• Every day we are fighting a battle that others know nothing about.
• It takes the Spirit of God in someone’s life to encourage others in a world full of discouragement.
• God works even through conflict and disagreement.
• Sometimes it’s the smallest things that make the biggest difference.

About Springhouse

If you’re looking for a church in Smyrna, TN that is focused on Loving Big, Living Truth, and Healthy Family, we’d love to connect with you. We are home to a vibrant children’s ministry, powerful middle school and youth ministries, and incredible ministries for men and women of all ages. Our local and global outreaches include partnerships with missionaries in the US and abroad, Isaiah 117 House, local retirement communities, and more. 

Additionally, we are home to Springhouse Theatre, an award-winning theatre in the Nashville area. Through the theatre, we serve both the greater Nashville theatre community, and thousands of patrons each year, and we are expanding our vision to impact the culture through the arts into additional mediums and through an expanding network of relationships.

We would love it if you would consider joining us in person for one of our Sunday gatherings.

Additional Resources

• Follow the podcast to listen on the go
• Tithes & Offerings
• Join our livestream
• Church website
• Download the church app

Gathering Times

• Sundays, 9:00 AM
• Sundays, 10:30 AM

Contact Info

Springhouse Church
14119 Old Nashville Highway
Smyrna TN 37167

615-459-3421

CCLI License 2070006

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- Well good morning Springhouse.

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It's a good day to be in the house.

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Welcome back ladies from your retreat.

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Lot of sea of blue in here.

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For joining us on live stream,

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we're glad that you're joining us today as well.

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A couple of things before we get rockin' and rollin' here.

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Next Sunday is October 6th,

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and we are going to have a Springhouse picnic

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immediately following this gathering, okay?

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So we want you to invite your friends and your loved ones.

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Come, you don't have to bring anything,

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but an empty stomach and ready to go and fellowship.

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If you've been looking for an opportunity

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to get to know some people

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and spend some time with people here at the church,

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it's an excellent way to do so.

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Breaking bread together is always in order,

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and it's wonderful.

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So come and be a part of that next week.

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It will be immediately following this gathering.

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Second, we are opening this month

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a parent's day out here at the church,

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and so we want to make sure that you at Springhouse

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have the first opportunity to have those spots.

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But we are opening this month,

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and as we open this month,

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we're gonna begin advertising to the public.

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And if you're interested in that,

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Lisa, would you stand for just a second?

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This is Lisa North, she's over our PDO.

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And so if you have questions or anything, see Lisa,

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and she will get you the information that you need, okay?

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Does that sound good?

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All right.

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We are continuing our series, His Church,

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and we are going to jump into Acts 11 today.

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Next week, we will be in Acts 14.

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So if you're following with us,

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you know that we kinda got a little bit out of order,

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but we are doing 11 today, and we'll go into 14 next week.

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And so if you're reading with us, that would be great, okay?

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Today, I am super excited

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because we don't get to hear from James Jansen

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in this platform very often,

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but today we're gonna hear from him.

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Would you come here for a second, James?

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I wanna tell you how much you mean to my life.

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You're very important to me,

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and I can't imagine doing this journey without you.

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One of my favorite things about you here at Springhouse

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is the way that you see people.

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There's not a stranger that passes by,

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and as I have seen you and your family,

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your precious family, walk through these doors

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each week so faithfully,

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I notice that there are people here

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whose lives have been significantly changed for eternity

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because of your fingerprints,

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because of the words that you bring,

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because of the example that you set,

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because of the faithfulness that you display.

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We have the most incredible youth group

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because we have incredible youth pastors

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who love the teens beyond anything else,

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and it's evident in what you do and what you say

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and how you order your steps.

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You're one of my favorite people on the planet.

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I love you, buddy.

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Guys, would you all stand and let me,

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let's pray over this guy before he brings the word.

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Father, I thank you for my friend,

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and I pray, Lord, today that you would anoint him.

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I know he has prepared a word for us,

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and I ask, Lord, that we receive it, God.

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Holy Spirit, flow through James.

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Use him mightily, God,

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and thank you for the mighty warrior

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you've supplied to this house.

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In Jesus' name, amen.

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I love you.

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- Excuse me while I go cry in the corner for a little bit.

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Thank you, Kevin.

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All right.

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Good morning, church.

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How's everybody doing this morning?

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All right.

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This morning, my prayer is that you would be encouraged.

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This morning, I hope that you see the power of encouragement

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through the life of an encourager,

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and we're gonna be talking about in Acts chapter 11.

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And then I pray that you would see ways

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in which you yourselves can be an encourager

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to those around you, amen?

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All right, so like Pastor Kevin said,

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we'll be in Acts chapter 11.

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However, I'm a little sporadic, all right?

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Like some context.

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So we're gonna jump to four.

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We're gonna jump to two.

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We're gonna read out of nine,

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and then we'll follow up at the end with 15, all right?

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So make sure your Bibles are prepped and ready,

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and let's get after it, okay?

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Acts chapter 11, if you would stand,

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and we'll read it together.

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Chapters 19, or verses 19 through 26.

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It says, "Now those who had been scattered

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by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed

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traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch,

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spreading the word only among Jews.

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Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene,

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went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also,

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telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.

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The Lord's hand was with them,

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and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

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News of this reached the church in Jerusalem,

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and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

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When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done,

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he was glad and encouraged them all

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to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.

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He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith,

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and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

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Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,

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and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch.

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So for a whole year, Barnabas and Saul met with the church

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and taught great numbers of people.

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The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch."

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You can be seated.

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So Christians, we are Christians, amen.

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Back in that day, Christians was almost a derogatory term.

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It was kind of a put down.

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It was an insult.

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Before they were known as Christians here in Antioch,

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they were known as Nazarenes,

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primarily because Jesus came from Nazareth.

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So they called followers of Jesus Nazarenes.

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Also, they were called followers of the way.

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When Jesus came and preached at the Sermon on the Mount,

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he said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.

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No one comes to the Father except through me."

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Followers of the way is also to what they were referred to.

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They were persecuted by both Roman officials

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and Jewish officials.

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So it wasn't just one sect.

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It wasn't just one group.

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It was a whole group of persecution.

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They were generally not liked,

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but let's, like I said, give you some context.

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We're gonna jump back to chapter four.

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It says, "All the believers were in one heart and mind.

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No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own,

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but they shared everything they had.

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With great power, the apostles continued to testify

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to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

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And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them,

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all that there were no needy persons among them.

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For from time to time, those who owned land or houses

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sold them, brought the money from the sales

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and put it at the apostles' feet.

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And it was distributed to anyone who had need."

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Now this is where we first meet Barnabas.

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It says, "Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus,

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whom the apostles called Barnabas,"

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which means son of encouragement,

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"sold a field he owned and brought the money

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and put it at the apostles' feet."

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Now, Joseph is a very common Jewish name.

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Lots of Jewish people named their sons Joseph.

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It means to lift up, to add increase.

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It means to encourage.

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And it was just a name that a lot of people had.

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So when the disciples nicknamed Joseph Barnabas,

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it was because they saw him in a way, in the same way,

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and as a son of encouragement.

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The nickname Barnabas means son of encouragement.

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And so the disciples calling him that was just kind of like,

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okay, this is confirmation.

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Your parents named you to add to, to lift up,

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to add increase.

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Now we're calling this out in you as well,

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son of encouragement.

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So next part of this is he actually decides to sell a field

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that is family owned.

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And this is important to note that the field's land

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was an inheritance.

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Land was passed down from generation to generation.

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So this land had probably been in Joseph's family for years.

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He'd, you know, his father, his grandfather,

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and all those before him.

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So for him to say, you know what,

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I'm gonna get rid of this land

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and I'm gonna bring all the money

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and put it at the disciples' feet

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was an extremely courageous act in that day.

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It was a sacrifice or a giving

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that was supernatural almost, right?

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A generous giver is who Barnabas was.

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So, an encourager walks in a spirit of generosity.

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Each one of us in this room are encouragers.

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And when we are encouraged somebody,

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we are generous with our time,

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we're generous with our words, our thoughts,

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even our gifts, right?

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The things that we give,

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it doesn't always have to be monetary, right?

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The things that we give sometimes mean more than money.

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Amen?

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So, again, give you a little bit more context,

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back in back up in Acts chapter two.

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Now we read here that all the God-fearing Jews

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from every nation were in Jerusalem at one time.

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This was during the time of Pentecost, okay?

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So all the Jews from every nation came back.

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What happened at Pentecost?

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Pentecost, the Holy Spirit broke out, right?

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3,000 were added at a single night.

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I sometimes think,

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and I read my Bible a little bit different,

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but I sometimes think I'm like, okay,

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was Joseph here then?

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Was Joseph in Acts chapter two?

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Is this where he heard about Jesus?

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Is this where he was filled with the Holy Spirit?

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Is this why he was flowing in such a generous spirit?

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I think that maybe he was there

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as Peter was preaching outside of the temple,

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and he saw the lame man pick up his mat and walk, right?

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I think that that could have been what happened.

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Now, that's just speculation,

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'cause it doesn't tell us in the Bible,

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but there was a reason that he walked

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in such a spirit of generosity.

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Barnabas lived wholeheartedly for Jesus.

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He was known as an encourager, son of encouragement.

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This is what we read, an encourager, as a definition.

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An encourager is someone who deposits life, hope,

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and courage into others in such a way

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that it inspires them to be better and go further

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than they would have otherwise.

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Barnabas believed that everyone

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was someone who needed encouragement.

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So the question I ask is, who is a Barnabas,

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or who are the Barnabases in your life?

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Now, I think about my life,

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and I grew up in a really competitive household, okay?

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I got a brother and a sister here.

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They can testify to that.

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We were always in competition,

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trying to get one up on the next, right?

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And it really didn't breed an environment of encouragement.

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Go figure. (laughs)

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But what happened is, whenever I left my father's house,

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I left home, I experienced a level of encouragement

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that was unmatched, it was like none other.

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And it all came through a guy,

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he's actually not my father-in-law,

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it's this guy right here.

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His name's Kirk Whitworth.

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Kirk, in 2005, showed me what encouragement was.

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It was every word that came out of his mouth.

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I was 20 years old at the time, and I was struggling.

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I was living a life not for the Lord,

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and I was working at UPS at the time,

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and I said, "You know what, God?"

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This was abnormal. (laughs)

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"You know what, God?

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"If there is anything else for me,

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"then bring it, and I'll quit UPS."

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Right, and so I started working with Kirk

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in November of 2005.

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I acted on that pretty quickly,

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'cause a month later, I went to him and I said,

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"Hey, just so you know, I'm quitting UPS,

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"and then I'm gonna come on with you full-time."

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And he said, "Oh, really?"

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(audience laughs)

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He said, "What happens if I don't have any work for you?"

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I said, "Well, I guess we'll put our heads together

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"and we'll figure it out."

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(audience laughs)

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That was another encouragement that I learned from Kirk

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from very early on.

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He said, "Well, let's put our heads together,

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"we'll figure it out."

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So one of the things that he taught me, I used for him.

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(audience laughs)

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I remember one time, I was tasked to go

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and put some countertops on at a house for a kitchen,

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and I didn't know how to put countertops on,

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I'd never done it before,

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but I thought, you know what?

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Countertops are thousands of dollars,

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and if I mess up, it's gonna be bad.

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So I called Kirk and I said,

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"Hey, just to let you know,

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"I'm a little bit intimidated about these countertops.

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"I don't wanna mess up, you know?

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"If I mess up, it's gonna cost the company thousands."

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And he said, "Don't worry about it, man, just go for it.

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"You can do it."

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(audience laughs)

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Now let me tell you, the confidence that I got from him

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at that moment was like,

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"Man, this guy really doesn't care about money."

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(audience laughs)

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But really, it was that he saw something in me

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that he wanted to nurture, and he wanted to build up.

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And when he gave me that confidence,

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I was like, "Okay, let's go."

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Let me tell you, I messed up a lot of stuff.

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(audience laughs)

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It wasn't those countertops,

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but all the trial and error that took place

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over the next couple of years

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was a tremendous impact in my life,

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and I'm super grateful for it.

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I think we all wanna help others.

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We all wanna be a part of the solution, right?

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So it's actually a heroic thing to do,

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to step out, to say, "I wanna give you all of my confidence.

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"It's okay if you mess up.

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"Go and run.

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"Run full steam."

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That's the heroic thing to do,

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and that's what Kirk did for me.

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A hero says, "I'm gonna do the unselfish thing

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"and a culture of selfishness."

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A hero also accepts responsibility

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in a fear-driven culture.

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This is an offensive position.

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It's a position that he took.

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It's a position that he instilled in me,

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and I now hope to take it as well.

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We take this stand because as Christians,

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we're called first to love.

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We're called first to love,

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and then we're called to have compassion for the lost,

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compassion for others.

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So as we get back into the Word in Acts chapter nine,

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we read about Saul.

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He's still Saul at this time in Acts chapter nine.

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He is going through a battle.

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He just saw the risen king on the road to Damascus.

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He was blinded and went to Ananias.

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Ananias prayed for him.

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Scales fell off of his eyes.

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He was filled with the Holy Spirit.

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Automatically, his response was to go get baptized,

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and then he starts preaching.

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He starts preaching to the Jews in Damascus,

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and they didn't like it.

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No, they did not like it at all.

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They said, "Who is this preaching in here?"

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And so they ran him out,

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and Scripture actually talks about the disciples

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taking him and putting him in a basket

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and lowering him outside of the city walls

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so he can flee for his life, right?

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So then he ends up going to Jerusalem,

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and we pick back up in Acts chapter nine, 26 through 28.

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It says, "When he came to Jerusalem,

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"he tried to join the disciples,

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"but they were all afraid of him,

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"not believing that he really was a disciple.

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"But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles.

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"He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord,

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"and that the Lord had spoken to him,

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"and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly

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"in the name of Jesus.

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"So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely

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"in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord."

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This guy right here is another Barnabas in my life.

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(laughing)

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This guy right here was one of the first people

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that I met in coming to Springhouse in 2015.

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2015 was nine years ago, and I met Justin

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at his son's second birthday party.

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Noah is now 11, and so yeah,

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this is how we became in a life group,

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and then we started walking together,

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working out together, doing life together.

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We coached on the same football team together,

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and now we serve at the same church together.

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Justin is a extreme encouragement in my life.

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He encourages me to be better.

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He encourages me not in a soft way.

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Not in a soft way.

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If anybody knows Justin, Justin,

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as a matter of fact, let me tell you,

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I told Justin that I wanted to make better choices

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in my eating, right?

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And so he knew this, and I am opening a bag of chips,

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and I'm walking around, I got this bag of chips,

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and he comes and slaps the bag of chips out of my hand

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and says, "No, no, you don't get to do that.

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"You told me that you wanted to make better choices

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"when it comes to your eating."

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That's the type of encouragement that I need.

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That's the type of encouragement

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that I definitely needed at that time,

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and we all need a Justin in our lives, amen?

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He also taught me, and this was early on,

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he taught me that when I drop my excuses, I find results.

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And so I live by that now, I'm like,

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"Okay, I can't make an excuse for this

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"because Justin said that I will find results."

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And then Justin called me higher.

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See, it was about a year or so

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after I started attending Springhouse,

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and we were going to this Breakfast Blend Ministry group.

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It started at nine o'clock in the cafe.

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There was about 70 to 90 people at any given time,

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and everybody would bring breakfast, it was great.

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We'd come in there for a Bible study,

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and Justin was running it at the time.

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And he came up to me and he said,

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"Hey, man, I want you to pray about sharing your testimony."

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I looked at him like, "What?

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"My testimony, do you know the things that I've done?

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"You know what I've walked through?"

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And he did.

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And so I was like, "Yeah, let me pray about it."

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It's a Christian response, let me pray about that, right?

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And so after a couple weeks, Justin's asking me every day,

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"Hey, what do you think, what do you think?"

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And I'm like, "I don't know, man, I don't know."

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And then I finally felt something.

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I was like, "Okay, I just need to share it.

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"I need to share it.

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"I love that he has this confidence in me to share.

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"I'm really trusting on you, Lord."

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And so I share my testimony, and I'm a ball of tears.

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I can barely get through it because of what the Lord's done

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and how I'm just telling everybody, you know,

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all of my business.

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And then afterwards, I look up and I see a room

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full of people who are the exact same posture as me, crying.

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And eight people came up to me after that, primarily guys.

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They came up to me and said, "Hey, I just wanna let you know

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"I'm struggling with this, I did this,

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"and man, what you just shared encourages me to share,

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"to be vulnerable, to open up to other people,

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"to allow others in.

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"Thank you for encouraging me."

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It was at that point that I said, "Okay, God, I get this.

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"This is powerful.

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"This is more than just me.

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"This is bigger than my life."

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So it was from that point that I said,

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"Okay, if you got something for me to share,

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"then I'll be obedient."

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And I failed 'em.

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I failed 'em.

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I haven't shared some things that I wanted to.

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Just in passing, even, when the Holy Spirit prompts me,

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and I'm not obedient to just go and tell that person.

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But sometimes that's all it takes, is a couple seconds.

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Maybe a minute.

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That helps somebody get past something

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that they didn't think that they would be able to.

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This is why it's so important to share.

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Every day we're fighting a battle

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that others know nothing about.

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Unless we allow 'em in.

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We're fighting a battle.

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Each one of us in this room, we're fighting a battle.

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It could be the smallest thing.

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It could be talking about where you're gonna eat

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after church with your wife or your husband.

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It could be the littlest thing.

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Or it could be this big thing right in front of us

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that we can't even see past it because it's so eclipsing.

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It just takes over our whole view.

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We don't know unless we're vulnerable and we share.

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About three or so months after I share my testimony

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and breakfast plan, I said, "Yes, Lord, I wanna serve.

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"I wanna do something in this church.

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"I wanna be a servant for you, God."

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And so I went to, probably went to Justin.

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I'm not sure who I went to, but I went to somebody

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and I said, "Hey, where can I serve?"

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And I was put on the greeting team.

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And let me tell you, if you have not served

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on the greeting team, opening doors for people,

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learning their names, talking to them,

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encouraging everyone who passes in and out of this building,

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you need to do it.

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I met more people just in that brief stint of time.

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I wanted to continue serving in the greeting team.

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But I was called to the youth group.

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And I love these kids.

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I love 'em with all my heart.

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But man, there's something about those doors.

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There's something about each face that you get to see

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and communicate with that's walking through this building.

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So I was encouraging people, welcoming them in church.

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And all of a sudden, one day,

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this guy came up to me after service.

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And I was at the door and he came up to me,

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grabbed me by the arm and he said,

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"Hey, I just wanna let you know that whenever I walked in,

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"you opened the door for me."

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He said, "You put your hand on my shoulder

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"and you looked me in the eyes, man,

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"and you said, 'Good morning, welcome in.

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"'I'm glad you're here.

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"'I'm glad you're here.'"

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He said, "You don't know what that did, man.

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"I was in a deep, dark place and I had lost hope.

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"I didn't know if I was gonna make it to tomorrow."

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He said, "But no one has told me,

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"I'm glad you're here in years.

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"No one has given me the encouragement

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"that that little word was this morning."

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And the next Sunday, he came back.

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And the next Sunday, he came back

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and we became a constant source of encouragement

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for one another because of this interaction.

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And I just thank the Lord so much

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for that small little moment, that small little moment,

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because it formed something in me and him

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that we can't deny.

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So as Christians, we need to be looking for opportunities,

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always looking for opportunities to encourage one another.

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We don't know what other people are going through.

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To a lonely person, it could mean everything.

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To a grieving person, it could be the world.

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So let's not,

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let's not get into our own things.

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Let's be open and vulnerable, amen?

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All right, so it takes the Spirit of God

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in someone's life to encourage others

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in a world full of discouragement.

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Did you know that encouragement is a gift of the Spirit?

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It is a gift of the Spirit.

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So when you have the Spirit of God,

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you're gonna operate and you're gonna flow in those gifts.

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So as you receive, you give, amen?

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Romans 12, six through eight says we have different gifts.

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According to the grace given to each of us,

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if your gift is prophesying,

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then prophesy in accordance with your faith.

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If it is serving, then serve.

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If it is teaching, then teach.

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If it is to encourage, then give encouragement.

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If it is giving, then give generously.

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If it is to lead, do it diligently.

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If it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

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The attitude of an encourager see people,

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doesn't see people how the world sees them.

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The attitude of an encourager sees people

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the way Jesus sees them.

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So picking back up in Acts chapter nine, it says,

Speaker: 00:27:16

then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria

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enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened,

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living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged

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by the Holy Spirit.

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It increased in numbers.

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So Saul had been, went to Jerusalem

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and then started preaching in Jerusalem,

Speaker: 00:27:37

enjoyed a time there of preaching,

Speaker: 00:27:39

and then, guess what?

Speaker: 00:27:41

He encountered another battle.

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They didn't like it.

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They wanted to kill him.

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So they fled him out, and it says that the apostles

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took them to Caesarea and then to his hometown of Tarsus.

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Tarsus was Paul's hometown and a place

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that he probably hadn't been in a while

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because of all of his journeys,

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first being one that was killing Christians

Speaker: 00:28:05

and now one that is proclaiming the name of Jesus, right?

Speaker: 00:28:10

So then Barnabas says, I'm going to your home

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and I'm gonna pull you up out of that mess.

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I'm gonna take you over to Antioch

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where there is a harvest.

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And I'm not talking about right up the road, all right?

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The Antioch I'm talking about was a big city.

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It was a port city.

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It had lots of people coming in, going out, right?

Speaker: 00:28:38

But Saul at this time was still at home.

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Saul was at home.

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How many of you have heard of the phrase

Speaker: 00:28:46

home is where the heart is?

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How about this, home is where you make it.

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Yeah, home is where you make it.

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It's safe, home is a comfortable place.

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Home is familiar.

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But in Saul's instance here,

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it could have been an isolated pit.

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It could have been a locked fortress.

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It could have been a deep cavern.

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Guys, this guy is ready to go

Speaker: 00:29:15

and deliver the word of the Lord,

Speaker: 00:29:17

but he is running from his life

Speaker: 00:29:19

and he's in his home all by himself.

Speaker: 00:29:22

He's hiding out, but Barnabas goes to pull him up

Speaker: 00:29:28

and take him over to Antioch.

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Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,

Speaker: 00:29:35

and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch.

Speaker: 00:29:37

So for a whole year, Barnabas and Saul met with the church

Speaker: 00:29:40

and taught great numbers of people.

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The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

Speaker: 00:29:45

Barnabas and Saul are then commissioned from Antioch

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after about a year of preaching there.

Speaker: 00:29:54

They're commissioned to go and bring gifts

Speaker: 00:29:56

to the elders in Judea.

Speaker: 00:29:58

And so they hit the mission field.

Speaker: 00:30:01

Barnabas and Saul become traveling partners.

Speaker: 00:30:04

They start the journeys together,

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go and preaching the name of Jesus

Speaker: 00:30:08

in the towns and the cities along the way.

Speaker: 00:30:11

And it's time, right?

Speaker: 00:30:15

So in Acts chapter 13, verses two and three, it says,

Speaker: 00:30:19

"While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting,

Speaker: 00:30:22

"the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me, Barnabas and Saul,

Speaker: 00:30:24

"'for the work to which I have called them.'

Speaker: 00:30:27

"So after they had fasted and prayed,

Speaker: 00:30:29

"they placed their hands on them and sent them off."

Speaker: 00:30:32

This is what they were doing.

Speaker: 00:30:35

In their missionary journey,

Speaker: 00:30:36

they were setting apart them for the journey.

Speaker: 00:30:39

To set apart means to dedicate for a special purpose.

Speaker: 00:30:44

So they gave them gifts.

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They said, "Here, this is your mission, now go."

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We also see that Saul is first called Paul

Speaker: 00:30:53

in this missionary journey.

Speaker: 00:30:55

And also, when they came back,

Speaker: 00:30:59

they took a guy named John Mark.

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And if you read in the book of Mark,

Speaker: 00:31:06

this is the same guy, the name John,

Speaker: 00:31:10

but actually they call him Mark.

Speaker: 00:31:12

So, Acts 15, 36 through 41, it says,

Speaker: 00:31:17

"Sometime later, Paul said to Barnabas,

Speaker: 00:31:20

"Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns

Speaker: 00:31:23

"where we preached the word of the Lord

Speaker: 00:31:24

"and see how they were doing."

Speaker: 00:31:26

Paul is setting them up.

Speaker: 00:31:27

Let's go on our second missionary journey now.

Speaker: 00:31:29

I'm ready, let's go.

Speaker: 00:31:30

That was so much fun the previous time, let's go again.

Speaker: 00:31:33

Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them,

Speaker: 00:31:38

but Paul did not think it was wise to take him

Speaker: 00:31:41

because he had deserted them in Pamphylia

Speaker: 00:31:43

and had not continued with them in the work.

Speaker: 00:31:45

They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company.

Speaker: 00:31:50

Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus,

Speaker: 00:31:53

but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers

Speaker: 00:31:57

to the grace of the Lord.

Speaker: 00:31:58

He went through Syria and Cilicia,

Speaker: 00:32:00

strengthening the churches.

Speaker: 00:32:03

So, the traveling partners, Paul and Barnabas,

Speaker: 00:32:08

had to split ways, why?

Speaker: 00:32:10

Because Barnabas took up for Mark.

Speaker: 00:32:14

Barnabas gave Mark a second chance.

Speaker: 00:32:18

But this also created two missionary efforts.

Speaker: 00:32:21

See, this was the Lord's plan all along,

Speaker: 00:32:24

'cause the two of them only could travel so far,

Speaker: 00:32:26

but when the disagreement happened,

Speaker: 00:32:28

it split the two parties up,

Speaker: 00:32:30

and then they went on their own missionary journeys,

Speaker: 00:32:32

and guess what?

Speaker: 00:32:34

Many were reached for the kingdom.

Speaker: 00:32:38

God works even through conflict and disagreement.

Speaker: 00:32:41

Barnabas saw Mark's, I'm sorry,

Speaker: 00:32:48

Mark failed, but Barnabas did not see him as a failure.

Speaker: 00:32:52

Barnabas saw past his mistakes.

Speaker: 00:32:56

He saw past the flaws,

Speaker: 00:32:59

and he saw him as Jesus would see him.

Speaker: 00:33:01

He gave him a second chance.

Speaker: 00:33:03

See, when someone feels like a failure,

Speaker: 00:33:07

it's easy to call them out.

Speaker: 00:33:10

It's easy to see the failure,

Speaker: 00:33:14

and then sometimes we even act on it, and we call it out.

Speaker: 00:33:16

Speak words that bring life.

Speaker: 00:33:21

Let's be a people that speak uplifting words,

Speaker: 00:33:24

encouraging words, words that bring healing, not hurt,

Speaker: 00:33:28

words that don't cause destruction, but build up.

Speaker: 00:33:36

We must always remember that life and death

Speaker: 00:33:38

are in the power of the tongue,

Speaker: 00:33:40

and our words can build someone up or tear them down.

Speaker: 00:33:45

You're chosen.

Speaker: 00:33:49

You're called for his purposes.

Speaker: 00:33:51

You are free from sin.

Speaker: 00:33:52

You're created for good works.

Speaker: 00:33:54

You're God's temple.

Speaker: 00:33:56

You're forgiven.

Speaker: 00:33:57

You're more than a conqueror.

Speaker: 00:33:58

You're not condemned.

Speaker: 00:34:00

You're a new creation.

Speaker: 00:34:01

You are redeemed.

Speaker: 00:34:03

You are one with Christ.

Speaker: 00:34:04

You are safe in Christ.

Speaker: 00:34:06

You are victorious, and you are a child of God.

Speaker: 00:34:10

These are the words that we should be speaking

Speaker: 00:34:14

over one another right out of the truth of God's word.

Speaker: 00:34:19

Amen?

Speaker: 00:34:20

- Amen.

Speaker: 00:34:21

- Sometimes it's the smallest things

Speaker: 00:34:24

that make the biggest different,

Speaker: 00:34:26

a small word, a simple phrase, a thought even.

Speaker: 00:34:32

Kind of like this match.

Speaker: 00:34:35

It's really small.

Speaker: 00:34:37

This match doesn't really have any power, right?

Speaker: 00:34:43

It's simple, but when struck on the box here,

Speaker: 00:34:48

this match actually causes a flame,

Speaker: 00:34:55

and it has the power to burn down cities, forests, acres.

Speaker: 00:35:01

Guys, this match, this fire is destructive.

Speaker: 00:35:04

The same is with our words.

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Our words can cause destruction.

Speaker: 00:35:09

Our words are small, just like this match, it's small,

Speaker: 00:35:14

but if this flame gets anything else, it will spread.

Speaker: 00:35:19

It'll cause destruction.

Speaker: 00:35:21

So let's remember that.

Speaker: 00:35:27

Sometimes it's the smallest things

Speaker: 00:35:30

that make the biggest difference.

Speaker: 00:35:32

It could be the encouragement

Speaker: 00:35:36

that someone needs to keep going.

Speaker: 00:35:38

It could be in the form of our giving as well,

Speaker: 00:35:45

like just a couple of dollars.

Speaker: 00:35:47

It's not much, but if everybody pulled a couple of dollars

Speaker: 00:35:52

in here, we'd have a big pile of money

Speaker: 00:35:55

that we could really bless and encourage some people with.

Speaker: 00:35:57

Amen?

Speaker: 00:35:58

- Yeah.

Speaker: 00:35:59

- Amen.

Speaker: 00:36:00

When we give our strength to others,

Speaker: 00:36:03

invest our confidence in others,

Speaker: 00:36:05

we leverage our influence for others,

Speaker: 00:36:08

and we believe in others and give second chances,

Speaker: 00:36:13

it's the Barnabas thing to do.

Speaker: 00:36:15

Each one of us in here are Barnabases to someone else,

Speaker: 00:36:22

and we have people who are Barnabases in our lives.

Speaker: 00:36:28

Now, it could be in the smallest way,

Speaker: 00:36:33

but I want us to ask ourselves a question today.

Speaker: 00:36:36

How can I encourage someone today?

Speaker: 00:36:39

How can I, what thing can I do today?

Speaker: 00:36:45

And you know what?

Speaker: 00:36:46

If we're coming from here,

Speaker: 00:36:49

then it could get muddled up.

Speaker: 00:36:54

But if we go here and we ask the Lord,

Speaker: 00:36:56

Lord, show me, highlight people in my life

Speaker: 00:37:00

that have been Barnabases, God, show me someone

Speaker: 00:37:03

that I can go and be a Barnabas to,

Speaker: 00:37:05

it'll start here, right, and it'll work its way up here.

Speaker: 00:37:09

And then we have a choice to be obedient at that point.

Speaker: 00:37:12

I want us to point out those people who are Barnabases

Speaker: 00:37:19

and those that need a Barnabas in their life as well.

Speaker: 00:37:25

Everyone can be an encourager.

Speaker: 00:37:28

So we're gonna take the next couple minutes,

Speaker: 00:37:32

and we're gonna end the service this way.

Speaker: 00:37:34

I believe Springhouse is a source of encouragement.

Speaker: 00:37:39

I believe this place is a refuge for others.

Speaker: 00:37:44

And so as the worship band begins to play

Speaker: 00:37:48

in this final song, I want us to take the next five

Speaker: 00:37:51

or so minutes and just stand up, go and encourage

Speaker: 00:37:55

someone today, go and pray over somebody today.

Speaker: 00:37:59

Ask the Lord who it is that you're supposed to go

Speaker: 00:38:03

and encourage right now in this moment.

Speaker: 00:38:06

This space is open and free.

Speaker: 00:38:09

Move about this space and go be an encourager.

Speaker: 00:38:14

And after we get finished, we'll give you a blessing, amen?

Speaker: 00:38:18

Amen.

Speaker: 00:38:19

(gentle music)