VITAMIN E
Acts 4:36-37; Selected Passages
By Oscar P. Lopez Jr.
PROPOSITION: Something good will happen if we are going to encourage others.
INTRODUCTION:
1. Greetings.
2. Discouragement: Where most Christians fall.
Encouragement: What every Christians need.
3. Read Acts 4:36-37
4. Who is Barnabas?
- Son of encouragement.
- First in line of the prophets and teachers (13:1)
- A Levite and a native of Cyprus.
- He could have been dignified and demanding.
5. Proposition / Title
6. If Barnabas is an encourager, who are the people he encouraged? Or if we are to be an encourager, who are the people should we encourage? What good will it do to those people I encouraged?
7. Transition: What we are about to learn today is the ministry of encouragement. Let us learn from Barnabas.
VITAMIN E
PEOPLE WHO NEED ENCOURAGEMENT
I THOSE WHO NEEDS PEOPLE’S TRUST. (Acts 9)
A. PAUL
1. His conversion experience.
2. His struggle & persecution as a new convert.
Paul needed to prove himself to the disciples that he really have given his life to Jesus. That he really is now a true believer of Christ. In his early Christian life some Jews plotted to kill him. And hoping that if he will go to his fellow believers, they will trust him Paul is now more than three years in the Christian life yet the disciples did not easily trusted him. What does Paul need at that moment? Encouragement!
When Paul needed someone to encourage him, Barnabas came to the scene (v. 27). Barnabas took him. He became the spokeperson of Paul to the apostles (Peter and James. The others are not around then. Cf. Gal. 1:18,19). Probably, Paul and Barnabas were both students of Gamaliel in the study of the scriptures Also, Barnabas could have been at Damascus when Paul experienced conversion and shared of his experience. Barnabas knew Paul needed someone on his side as a new believer and for others to believe him. There and then, Paul started to preach boldly because he had received the encouragement he needed that time. He again received a plot to kill him. He was sent to Tarsus, his homeland.
B. ILLUSTRATION
C. APPLICATION
1. Always be aware of new comers.
2. Beware of “Tayo-tayo” (my-group attitude, others are not welcome).
3. To trust someone is to know the person. It’s but natural not to trust a person easily, yet we should not close the door to listen to the person. Know him personally. And be his advocate when people does not want to believe him.
4. We need to trust one another. In order to do that. We need to encourage one another to share our lives to the church.
II THOSE WHO NEEDS RECOGNITION (Acts 11:19-26)
A. BELIEVERS IN ANTIOCH
1. They are part of those believers who scattered after the death of Stephen.
2. These are some of the believers of Jesus who boldly preached the gospel even to the Greeks. Most of the believers who scattered preached only to the Jews then.
3. They are doing the ministry with their whole heart. The hand of the Lord was with them. People came to trust Jesus. Yes, they have the Lord on their side yet they need to be recognized. Someone who will encourage them.
4. News came to the Jerusalem church, who are they going to send? Someone with the ability and the gift of encouragement
They sent the right person...Barnabas!
5. Barnabas reaction: HE WAS GLAD and encourage them to remain faithful.
6. Some negative reactions…
To his excitement to the ministry at Antioch, he went to Tarsus to look for Paul. He brought Paul to Antioch and there they taught the Christians for one year. Barnabas did became an encouragement to the believers in Antioch, where believers of Christ was first called Christians.
B. ILLUSTRATION
C. APPLICATION
1. Recognition is not just to flatter a person.
2. Recognition is not a prize for your work but an encouragement to continue in the service.
3. Recognition should be given to everyone no matter how small or insignificant the work a person did.
A tap on the shoulder. A word of encouragement. A simple smile saying you are recognized. A note or even a text. You will never know the strength you are giving to that person who might be in the tip of falling apart. Just encourage!
III THOSE WHO NEEDS A SECOND CHANCE
A. JOHN MARK
1. The evangelist; Mark (Marcus, #Col 4:10 etc.) was his Roman name, his Jewish name was John.. He was the son of Mary, a woman apparently of some means and influence, and was probably born in Jerusalem, where his mother resided #Ac 12:12 He was cousin of Barnabas. And it is probable that it was here that he was converted by Peter, who calls him his "son". He went with Paul and Barnabas on their first journey (about A.D. 47) as their "minister," but from some cause turned back when they reached Perga in Pamphylia.
2. Three years afterwards a "sharp contention" arose between Paul and Barnabas #Ac 15:36-40 because Paul would not take Mark with him. He needed a second chance. He needed an encouragement from someone...Barnabas is the one!
Once, Mark made his mistake. But it does not mean he would make the same mistake again. Though he could do it, he needed to be given another chance to prove himself as a minister. Paul was strict enough not to bring him. Not that negative at all. Paul just wanted to give Mark a lesson. And that he does not want another mistake. But Barnabas was an encourager. He could not do nothing but to be an encourager to someone who needed a second chance.
B. ILLUSTRATION
C. APPLICATION
1. No condemnation.
2. Never judge someone.
3. Always give a second chance. Mistakes means there is always a second chance.
4. If someone makes mistakes, be an encourager. Go with him and be his guide. Never close the door to him. Remember all of us are vulnerable to mistakes.
CONCLUSION:
What are the prize of encouraging a person?
To yourself, nothing! Encouragement should be given freely without expecting something in return. It is grace to the person being encourage. Not because the person deserves it but because you simply wanted to be God’s instrument of His strength by encouraging a person who needed it.
To the person being encourage, HE IS ENCOURAGE! All of us has a weakness. We sometimes fall down the Christian life. There are trials and struggles in the Christian life. When we received encouragement from others, we gain strength to go on with the race.
Who needs encouragement? Those who needs to be trusted. Those who needs recognition. And those who needs a second chance.
And most of all you and the person seating next to you!
Be like Barnabas! Be an encourager! And see what the Lord will do to the person you encourage!
