Barnabas - The Life of an Encourager

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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

Speaker: 00:18:34

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

Speaker: 00:23:28

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,

Speaker: 00:24:30

"you opened the door for me."

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He said, "You put your hand on my shoulder

Speaker: 00:24:36

"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

Speaker: 00:25:16

and we became a constant source of encouragement

Speaker: 00:25:20

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?

Speaker: 00:26:08

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

Speaker: 00:27:20

enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened,

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living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged

Speaker: 00:27:26

by the Holy Spirit.

Speaker: 00:27:27

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,

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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,

Speaker: 00:28:02

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.

Speaker: 00:29:12

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.

Speaker: 00:29:42

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,

Speaker: 00:30:06

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.

Speaker: 00:30:46

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.

Speaker: 00:35:07

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)