To Make It In Life In Need To Give Encouragement & Appreciation
Luke 17:11-19 Acts 4:32-37 10/21/2018
If you want to get more out of life, there are two traits that you will need to be a blessing and to be more blessed. Is there anyone here who does not want to receive all the blessings that God has for them. These two things will work for you whether you are a follower of Christ or not. They will leave you with far fewer regrets.
I can remember when I was about 12 years old. My mother wanted me to be able to earn some extra money so she sacrificed and brought be a brand new lawn mower so that I could do the neighborhood yards. She was so excited when she presented it to me and I was happy to get it. She asked me, how much money do you think you will be able to give me from your earnings.
I told her, I would have to pay for my gas and oil, and I would have to have some money for spending on some things I wanted to get, but if I had something left over, I would give it to her. She walked away sad. I had a sever case of unappreciaitis which I rergret to this day.
When you ask for the name of a great apostle in the Scriptures, the two names that most easily come to mind are the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter. But one apostle that plays a critical role in the New Testament is the Apostle Barnabus. Barnabus’s name means “Son of Encouragement.”
When the Apostle Paul was first starting out in his ministry, he became very discouraged. Before Paul became a Christian, he had a reputation of arresting Christians, putting them in jail, and voting in favor of them being put to death. Christians were terrified of him. When Paul became a Christian, many believers thought he was putting on act. They felt he simply wanted to get their names, find out where they live, and then sick the dogs on them.
Paul was very discouraged after becoming a Christian, because the people he use to hang with hated him as a traitor, and the people he wanted to hang with all thought he was a phony.
Along comes the Apostle Barnabus whom God sends to be an encourager to Paul. He embraced Paul when no other leaders would. When the Christians were terrified, again Barnabus comes with words of encouragement to them which removes their fears. His encouragement led to their acceptance of Paul, and the possibility for ministry for the Lord greatly expanded.
Barnabus’s original name was Joseph. But when the church had a financial need, he went and sold a field that he had and brought the money to the apostles and laid it at their feet to be used for others. He may have been the first to do so, since he is the only one named. From that moment of personal sacrifice on his behalf, Joseph became Barnabus, the Son of Encouragement.
Paul and Barnabus worked for a year together in Antioch with the first Gentiles to give their lives to Christ. Under their ministry so many people had their lives changed by the power of Christ, that believers were first called Christians in Antioch. “Look at those little messiahs running around” were the comments made by those outside the faith.
When Paul was journeying though the rough area of Pamphylia, wondering if it could get much worse in terms of travel and living conditions, Barnabus was there by his side. When Paul was ran out of the in Pisidia, they had to run Barnabus out too because he was preaching just as boldly. He was there to encourage Paul when they were chased out of Iconium.
They both were targets of an assassination plot for preaching. When Paul was stoned in Lystra, Barnabus was there to encourage him and to help him get back up. They even went back into a city together that they had been kicked out of previously. It was Paul and Barnabus together who encouraged the new disciples to remain true to the faith. They said, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”
Everybody that is involved in ministry needs a Barnabus in their lives to keep them going in times of difficulty and to keep them laughing when things are going well. We are very proud to say that you, the congregation of New Life At Calvary are our Barnabus in ministry.
We have come a long way as a church in our decisions to work together and to love each other. We have attempted to do new and different things. It could not have happened without the encouragement that you have provided to us as your leaders.
When we first started out in ministry in Boston back in the early 80’s, there was an elderly saint who did not hear to well or see to well, but she came to church almost every Sunday regardless of the weather. Her name was Mrs. Elliott. It wasn’t that she expected to hear a dynamic message each Sunday. I heard her tell another member, “we have to come to church so as to encourage the new minister.”
Nothing encourages us like your presence. We are encouraged when you show up for worship, for Life-Sharing and Pioneers, for bible study, for marriage sensation, for sisters in the Lord, for hot meals, for volunteer opportunities, for Men and Women meetings, and for choir and praise rehearsal.
Many people like to say, I’ll be with you in spirit. Barnabus did not send Paul his spirit from a distance, he was there by Paul’s side when he was able to be there. You have the gift of encouragement simply by choosing to show up.
We are called the body of Christ. How many of you are glad that when you wake up in the morning, all the parts of your body are still connected and functioning together. You are both encouraged and appreciative of the fact that they are still here. We are encouraged and appreciate the fact that you are still here.
We are encouraged by your willingness to serve the Lord by giving of yourselves in our young people through youth the music, teaching, and outreach ministries of the church. You see our purpose as pastors is to equip people for the ministry of Jesus Christ. The ministry of Christ comes in so many forms.
We are encouraged by those of you who do so many things in the background and never need to be noticed for it. Some of you will grab a broom or a mop in an instant when you see there is a need.
Some of you are eager to be the support people in your organization. You may never sing a solo, but you’re faithful to the choir, because you want it to be the best it can be for Jesus Christ. You’re like Barnabus willing to be in the background for the Lord.
Have you ever run into someone you went out of your way to do something for them, and they did not appreciate it in the least bit. As a matter of fact, they even complained about what you did, and felt you did not do enough. There was a person who was facing eviction if they did not pay their rent in two days. The person begged me to advance the rent money, and the person would pay the money back when they got their check in two weeks. Two weeks came and the check arrived, they took their check and went on a trip to Chicago to visit their family. I told the person, you lied to me, because you told me you were going to give the money back to the church when you got your check. The person told me, “I will never come back to the church because the pastor had called him a liar.” This person also had the disease on unappreciaitis.
Jesus ran into the same problem in one of our New Testament texts. There Jesus was minding his own business as he entered a village. A group of 10 men with the disease of leprosy started yelling at him from a distance. Because of their disease, they were kept in isolation from everybody else. The only friends they had were each other.
They wanted to be healed, and they knew Jesus was their only hope. They took the initiative and started yelling, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us! Jesus looked at them with a tremendous compassion for them in his heart. He said to them, “Go show yourselves to the priest.” As they went, the ugly sores on their bodies began to heal, the twisted hands began to straighten out, the blotches of skin color began to change, and they began to look just like everybody else.
They began to scream and yell, and give high fives. They began to think what they were going to be able to do now. They probably ran to the priest to get that stamp of approval. All of the ten did, except the one. The one remembered what his life had been, and that somebody had come along and made a difference. That somebody was Jesus.
Before he could think of how he was going to enjoy himself, he had to go find the one who made it possible. He went back to Jesus, and this time instead of yelling at a distance, he fell right at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. That one brought joy into Jesus’ heart.
Jesus says, “Something is wrong here. Were there not 10 people healed. Where are the other nine. Did everybody so quickly forget about God and saying thank you Lord, except for this foreigner.
You see the one who came back to say thanks, was supposedly the one that did not even know God. This man’s heart was filled with appreciation. Saints have you ever been so encouraged by a gift, that you forgot about the Giver It was because he returned with appreciation that Jesus told him, “Rise and go, your faith has made you well.” Learning to be appreciative of what God has done for us, and what others do for us is a major step forward in being made well.
When members in our families show appreciation for what we have done it makes us want to do even more. When a boss shows appreciation for the work we do, it makes us want to be even better employees. When we show appreciation to God for what the Lord has done, God delights to do even more. Wouldn’t you like for God to be able to brag on you, like He bragged on Job. “Have you seen my servant Job lately.”
We will be able to turn things around quicker in our church if we practice encouragement and appreciation a lot more. When was the last time you told someone in the church that you appreciated them serving you coffee hour, giving you a bulletin, blessing you in a song, teaching you in a class, or watching your car in the parking lot. Taking the time to be appreciative demonstrates the love of Jesus Christ .
Remember the words of Jesus, this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. By this shall all people know that you are my disciples. The most important thing that happens in our church on Sunday mornings is how we treat each other. We think coming to church is about what I get. It’s really about what I choose to give to others. Whatever you do to the least of these my brothers and sisters, you do it to me.
If you knew Jesus was going to sit down and talk with you about what you gave to the body of Christ today and to our guests, what would you do differently. Would you be able to identify parts in which you were an encourager or showed some appreciation.
We appreciate that we are your pastors. You did not have to choose us, but being led by the spirit, you believed that God had sent us here to make a difference in your lives. We appreciated your commitment to us, that as God prospered you, you in turn would be a blessing to us. We are humbled that each month many of you vote to keep us as your pastors, by contributing to the pastor’s full time salary fund. That fund does not increase our salary; it simply makes our salary possible.
We appreciate that we are part of a church that had made us feel as though we were a part of their families. We have had wonderful dinners in your homes, and on your lawns, after baptisms, weddings, and graduations. We have had many of you not wait for a holiday to do something nice, you simply baked us a cake or a pie and brought it to church.
Others have given us gift certificates to go out and eat. We really appreciate you giving us enough work to do to keep us running in order to run off all the calories you have attempted to have us eat.
We appreciate your acceptance of us and our families as not being perfect, but striving to show how Christ works in a home when things are difficult. You’ve allowed us to show you, that we have had the same family struggles that many of you have had.
We appreciate the pride you have in us as your leaders, and we’re are doing all that we can to live up to the hope and trust you have placed in us. We thank you for all the little things you do. I appreciate all of you who had to straighten out my tie during the day, or brush off my clothes because of something I went to clean.
We appreciate your willingness to look out for our emotional, physical, and spiritual health. We have had sessions that have always been willing to give us whatever time off we requested when we requested it, or to send us to whatever conference we wanted to attend to grow in the Lord. We are thankful that Session is willing to consider the possibility of a Sabbatical for us as leaders.
We appreciate your willingness to grow in God. We are church willing to look beyond yourselves in order to impact the lives of others. Some of you are making some real sacrifices to give New Life At Calvary a brighter future. Every time we as a congregation have accepted a challenge in faith, we have worked together to make it happen. Our last missions of improving our chapel, covering out pews or taking the gospel message to 2300 homes to let others know about Jesus, were done because of our desire to serve God. We are now being broadcast on the radio in Liberia and Sierre Leone in West Africa. We have a ministry presence in both Nigeria and India.
We appreciate the Spirit in this church, that if God has called us to do something, God will make a way for it to get done. Not having something has never kept us from getting a vision and believing that with God, all things are possible.
We appreciate being pastors of a church which boldly declares, “ In response to God’s love, our purpose is to love others, to teach the word of God and to reach the world for Christ. How can you become more of an encourager this week. How can you show more appreciation for what others have down. How can you practice this, before you leave the church today?
