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Acts 4:32-37

The Makings of a Great Church

Good morning church, this morning we are going to

continue our Study of the Book of Acts.

We are going to look at a few verses this morning, that

will show us the zenith of the Church Age, and

unfortunately as quickly as it reached its peak in purity

and purpose it began its decline.

These verses will show us the Makings of a Great

Church, and after Luke records for us what made the

early church community so wonderful, he will give a

specific example, using one prominent believer’s life,

the man named Barnabas.

Let’s go to the Lord in prayer before we get into the

Word.

We will be finishing Acts chapter 4 this morning, as we

look at verses 32-37.

Let’s read the whole section, then we will come back

through and break it down.

Sharing in All Things

4:32 Now the multitude of those who believed were of

one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that

any of the things he possessed was his own, but they

had all things in common. 33 And with great power the

apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord

Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. 34 Nor was

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there anyone among them who lacked; for all who

were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and

brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, 35

and laid them at the apostles' feet; and they

distributed to each as anyone had need.

36 And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the

apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a

Levite of the country of Cyprus, 37 having land, sold it,

and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

So, let’s remember what has led up to this moment.

The church has been expanding and growing in

numbers as Peter and John, and the other believers

began to preach the Gospel with Boldness.

Remember after Jesus Ascended into heaven, the

disciples waited for the Promise of the Holy Spirit.

On Pentecost, the Spirit came in a spectacular way, as

wind blew through the upper room, and something

like flaming tongues leaped above their heads.

They began to preach the Gospel, and even speak in

other languages.

Thousands came to faith in Jesus Name, and we got

the first glimpse of the early Christian Community

about this time, where the Luke records.

Acts 2:42-47 And they continued steadfastly in the

apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of

bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every

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soul, and many wonders and signs were done through

the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together,

and had all things in common, 45 and sold their

possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as

anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one

accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house

to house, they ate their food with gladness and

simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor

with all the people. And the Lord added to the church

daily those who were being saved.

It was a glorious beginning, and it was a high moment,

and things climaxed even further when the Leaders of

this new Jesus Movement headed to the Temple at

3pm one afternoon to pray, and Peter filled faith,

made eye-contact with a Lame man, crippled since

birth, and Peter, in the Name of Jesus healed the man.

And things were going so well for the church, but then

came the counter attack from the enemy, the devil’s

first assault against the infant church, would be in the

form of hostility and threats.

And after this crippled man’s life was restored and an

incredible healing had taken place, the religious

leaders in their jealousy called together the High Court,

to examine these men and this miracle.

They cared nothing for Truth, but they only wanted to

silence these Tradesmen, and to devalue their ministry

and stop their influence over the people in Jerusalem.

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They threatened them, and demanded with the

Authority entrusted to them, that they stop preaching

in the Name of Jesus.

The disciples politely refused, and they accepted the

promised persecution that would come upon them.

It was not a shock to them, Jesus had already

forewarned them…

John 15:18-21 "If the world hates you, you know that it

hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the

world, the world would love its own. Yet because you

are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world,

therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the

word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than

his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also

persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep

yours also. 21 But all these things they will do to you

for My name's sake, because they do not know Him

who sent Me."

This World hates our God, because it is under the sway

of the devil, and because this world hates our God, we

are not shocked when it hates us.

And even with the opposition here, the young church

grew, thousands more came to faith.

And the expansion of the early church was

phenomenal, and understand the quick expansion as

we will see in future studies in Acts, can be attributed

to mainly persecution.

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Church don’t fear persecution, don’t fear this worlds

anger and rage, we have the witness of history, God

has always used what the devil meant for evil, for His

Good and unto His Glory.

Understand the persecution will only intensify in Acts,

and it will even cause the Christians to have to flee

from Jerusalem, and when they do the Gospel will

spread like wildfire, in Samaria, in Antioch, which was

the largest city in Syria, and the center for the Greek

Culture.

Then Christians will take the Gospel even further, they

will be driven around the Shores of the Mediterranean

Sea, and then to the whole world.

Persecution rather than hindering Christianity, aids to

the spread of the Gospel.

It serves another purpose as well, it deepens the Christ

Followers commitment.

When persecution hits, there can be no half-hearted

church-goers, you are with God, or with the World.

Luke 16:13 "No servant can serve two masters; for

either he will hate the one and love the other, or else

he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You

cannot serve God and mammon."

And remember last time we were together, the

hypocritical religious leader’s threats did nothing to

hinder the disciples, they immediately found the

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church, and started a prayer service with the other

believers.

The early church found strength in their fellowship, no

amount of threats and government restrictions on

gathering together could keep them apart.

And remember they did not pray for deliverance, but

they prayed for Boldness in the face of threats.

And we ended last time with God assuring them that

their prayer was answered, with another dynamic

showing of the Promised Helper.

Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where

they were assembled together was shaken; and they

were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the

word of God with boldness.

Jesus also Promised them that in the face of

persecution, God’s Spirit would come upon them.

Jesus said in… John 15:26-27 "But when the Helper

comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the

Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will

testify of Me. 27 And you also will bear witness,

because you have been with Me from the beginning.

It was a powerful time, and Luke will now record for us

some details of the church life immediately after this

first assault by Satan.

And it is the pinnacle, and the striving point for any

Body of Believers to attain too.

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Of course, our fallen nature is continually battling

against this better way, and next week we will see the

unity an love did not last that long.

But I know personally, there are times in the Church

experience where I have had glimpses and even good

stretches of time where we see what things can be

with Christ at the center, and the Holy Spirit leading

His people.

Let’s consider now the heart that these early believers

had for one another.

Look now again at verse 32…

4:32 Now the multitude of those who believed were of

one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that

any of the things he possessed was his own, but they

had all things in common.

The first thing we notice, what pops off of the text

here, is the Unity of the Early Believers.

Their hearts were knit together in their faith in Jesus

and their times of fellowship were so genuine and

sincere, ruled by love for one another.

In the Bible, the word heart indicates the “wellspring

of our being.”

This is the part of our existence that God is after,

where true religious experience plants its roots in a

person.

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This is the place that dictates our actions, and where

our beliefs are lived out from.

The church in its beginning was united, joined together

in the deepest part of their being.

This bond still exists 2000 years later in the church,

how else would the church still be in existence today

with such unparalleled opposition continually coming

against it?

We see it today still, you meet someone, and before

anything is said, you sense an oneness with them.

This was a powerful reality for Jessica early on.

And seeing this love and unity through her eyes early

in our faith, ingrained its reality so deeply into my

heart.

You see I was raised in the church, I knew church

people, I knew Christians my whole life, I was a

prodigal, and when we came to the Lord, I knew my

way around the church and knew the talk and lifestyle

that was expected.

But Jessica, she never heard too much about Jesus

growing up.

In fact, her father revealed to me the reason why.

He said he did not want to impose any belief upon

Jess, and he wanted her to find her own way in life.

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He knew about Jesus, but never mentioned Him to her,

the only time being when he took her to see the

Passion of Christ.

But when Jess came to Jesus, she did not understand

Christianity fully nor the extent of the church, really

she only encountered Christians in our little church in

Havasu.

Shortly after we came to the Lord, we went on a

mission’s trip to the Philippines, and on the way to LAX

we stopped at Calvary Chapel Montebello to join them

for their Sunday night church service.

And there she saw hundreds and hundreds of other

Christians praising her Jesus, and she had an

immediate connection and love for these other Jesus

Followers.

She was overwhelmed to tears to see so many people

praising her Jesus.

Then we stepped of the plane in the little airport in

Dumagete in the Philippines, and there was the church

people gathered there to greet us.

Christians across oceans, and speaking a different

language even, and Jess just felt an immediate

connection, and a deep, deep love for them.

It is so supernatural, and anywhere you go in this

world, and you find Christians, the Church, there is this

supernatural connection, this immense bond of love

and unity, it is incredible, it is indescribable.

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We went to Russia, the same thing, our hearts are knit

with the Church there.

I remember in Israel, the first time I went, we came

across some Messianic Christians, and an instant bond

was created, as we prayed together to our Lord.

In Mexico, South America, in Europe, any place I have

gone, this truth is inescapable, the Church Age, for

which we live, is one of the Greatest times in Human

History, for this experience to be available to us.

This Bond in Christ, as many of you know, it can be

deeper than blood relatives, for we are bonded by the

Blood of Jesus Christ.

It has brought about this sweet Koinonia, this deep

fellowship, through God’s Spirit.

And because of this deep bond and unity, we see in the

rest of that verse that when they saw a need, they did

whatever they could to come alongside their brothers

and sisters that were in need, to help them out.

When this kind of bond is ruling in God’s People, we

feel each other’s pain and worry and even each other’s

lack.

Understand too the early Christian charity was toward

other believers, I am sure they had outreach, but the

early model for Benevolence was to those within the

church.

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Gal 6:10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do

good to all, especially to those who are of the

household of faith.

The Love and Charity taking place within the Church

was to be a draw to those outside to come to faith in

Jesus as well.

Today, the church has lost sight of this, there is a lot of

social justice crusades today, and boisterous numbers

given about church outreach, but rarely anymore does

the church give the Gospel out.

They pass out sandwiches or hotdogs to the needy, but

never try to reach the heart issues of sin, or leading

others to belief in Jesus Name.

What good is a full belly with an empty soul, what

good is making humanity more comfortable, if they go

to hell at the end of it all?

In our relationship with those outside of the church,

Gospel preaching should be first, this is the Biblical

model.

The early church created a community of love for one

another, and the needs were met within that

community, and this drew others into it, by the droves.

Jesus explained this to the disciples, that this would be

the witness of the church…

John 13:34-35 "A new commandment I give to you,

that you love one another; as I have loved you, that

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you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that

you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

This is Agape Love, a social and moral love, this is a

charitable love, and the church is to be of one heart

and one soul, and we are to take care of each other.

Now, as we mentioned before, this was not an early

form of Communism, this was Commonism.

Their possessions were not seized from them, their

personal property did not become the property of an

evil ruling class.

No they willingly gave to the common good of the

church.

Communism says, “What is yours is everyone’s.”

Christianity says, “What is mine is yours.”

We will see next time that the sale of their own

properties were used to help others, and we will see

that it was not obligatory but on a volunteer basis, this

was not mandated by the Apostles.

They were so spurred by their love for one another,

they helped one another, even at a great cost to

themselves.

There is no greater outreach and opportunity for the

church to be the Light, then when people are drawn to

our love for one another.

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The early church modeled this love and ministry to one

another, and it was a testimony to the world about

what it means to live a changed life in the love of God.

Humanity has this deep need to belong.

People look to fill this need through various ways,

some go from one relationship to another, never

finding satisfaction, some drown themselves in the

party scene every weekend, going from one club to

another, to bar after bar, looking to find this

satisfaction of belonging somewhere.

They just cannot miss the next party, because they fear

missing the connection they are longing for.

Some join gangs or other groups that are like them.

My father-in-law told me when he returned home

from Vietnam, his country betrayed him, hurt him,

blamed him, and unfortunately it was a Biker Club that

took him in, and although he called them brothers that

scene did not even fulfill his desire to belong.

Not until he came to Jesus, did his life find purpose and

meaning, he found the ultimate brotherhood.

I remember in his final days, in the hospital, a man

asked him about his tattoos and the affiliation they

represented to those outlaws, and he boldly said, “Oh

that, that is nothing, I belong to Jesus now, I am a

Christian.”

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But, you see we each have this longing to belong

somewhere, and the ultimate fulfillment is found

among the Jesus people.

There is no other group on this planet so diverse, so

different from one another, so opposite, we differ in

opinions on many things, we like different foods, we

have different customs and yet we all come together

unified under the Banner of our King Jesus.

You know, before Jesus died, and rose and returned to

heaven, He prayed for us, His Church, and this was His

prayer for us…

John 17:21 that they all may be one, as You, Father,

are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in

Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

Our Oneness, was to be a witness, the draw to this lost

world…

And Our King uses us collectively, really a group of

misfits, a group of outcasts as far as the world’s

standard is concerned, and our God uses us as a

Billboard for His Glory.

The early church’s bond of love and unity allowed for

great ministry to continue as we see now in verse 33…

33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to

the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was

upon them all.

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Because the Holy Spirit was moving among them and

they were correctly ministering to one another, God’s

Power was unleashed through their ministry.

And as we study through the Book of Acts over the

months to come, we will see that God will use these

early believers in historic and powerful ways.

But also understand this same Power is available to us

today, when we let His Love impact the way that we

live and act toward one another.

God still uses His Church today as His means of

ministry and outreach.

Notice the word power here, the root for the Greek

Word here is where we get our Word in the English,

Dynamite.

This is explosive power, and with this dunamis, this

dynamic power they gave testimony to the

resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

It is the New Life that Christ offers the Believer that

gives the Church the Boldness to preach this reality.

Paul explained it like this…

Rom 6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him through

baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from

the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also

should walk in newness of life.

In Christ we experience this resurrected life, our old

man is put to death.

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You see if the resurrection of Jesus Christ did not

happen, I am still a meth addict, If Jesus did not raise

from the dead then I am still a liar, a foul-mouthed

drunkard, a lowlife.

But because Christ is risen from the dead, He in turn

has put that Old Man to death and Raised me up New

in Him.

Today I can boldly preach the reality of our Risen Lord,

because I was raised with Him, I was given this

resurrection Power, that gave me victory over those

things that once held me bound.

2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new

creation; old things have passed away; behold, all

things have become new.

Notice this important reality here at the end of verse

33, Great Grace was upon them all.

This literally means Mega-Grace.

Grace is the gifts and favor that God pours out on my

life and your life which are undeserved.

Jesus came to free us of our sin, to empty us, then to

pour His Grace on our lives.

His Church is only His Church, because of the Grace

that we are Saved by, Healed by, and Nurtured by.

And because of this Mega-Grace poured out in our

lives, in turn we offer the same the Grace to those

around us.

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The hearts of the early Christians were full of God’s

Grace and that it overflowed to those around them.

I hope and pray that this Church, if we are known by

others by anything, it is that Mega-Grace is upon us all,

and shown through us all.

There is nothing Greater than showing Grace to

someone who does not deserve or expect it.

Nothing will change or impact a person’s conscience

more than being shown this Unmerited Favor, and

given Grace.

Church when in doubt, always lean toward Grace over

Judgement, and you will have the heart of your God.

May our church be known for Mega-Grace.

Look now at verses 34 and 35…

34 Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for

all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them,

and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold,

35 and laid them at the apostles' feet; and they

distributed to each as anyone had need.

We see a generous, giving spirit permeated God’s

People.

Now to be clear, not all the homes were sold, not

everyone sold their possessions, only as the Lord led,

and the need arose, people willingly did this.

The overall principle here is one of caring for one

another.

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This includes material care.

This continued throughout the early church age in

various different ways, even as the church spread to

other regions, some of these regions helped other

impoverished regions.

The Macedonian church begged Paul to allow them

this privilege of giving.

Paul used them as an example in 2 Cor. 8:1-5

Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace

of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: 2 that

in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy

and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their

liberality. 3 For I bear witness that according to their

ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely

willing, 4 imploring us with much urgency that we

would receive the gift and the fellowship of the

ministering to the saints. 5 And not only as we had

hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and

then to us by the will of God.

They saw it as a privilege to share in their material

giving.

Of course, the conversion of the wallet is the toughest

for many churchgoers.

Money seems to be the last stronghold in the heart of

some today.

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It was Martin Luther who first spoke of three

conversions: conversion of the heart, conversion of the

mind, and conversion of the purse.

The early church gave and gave generously to the work

of the Lord.

I know the happiest believers are those who live open-

handed, they are free of the burden of selfishness, and

they are free to live generously.

I was speaking to a brother in the kitchen in the other

building over in the Children’s Ministry.

And he gave me his testimony on about the conversion

of his wallet.

And he said as I have heard many others say before,

once God freed him of his selfishness, and he started

giving to the work of the ministry, he said he soon

found out that he could not out give God, the more he

gave, the more God put in.

He told me he has had no greater joy in is finances

then to be able to give to the church and others.

And the joy was evident in his life as he expressed his

story to me.

The early church knew this reality as well, they freely

and liberally gave to the work of the ministry, and next,

Luke will give us a glimpse of this by introducing us to a

leader in the early church, who deeply cared for

others.

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36 And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the

apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a

Levite of the country of Cyprus, 37 having land, sold it,

and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

Now Joses or Joseph, who we will know as Barnabas

for the rest of Acts, is one of my favorite guys in the

Bible.

Luke singles him out here as an example from among

those who were donating their proceeds from their

property sales in Jerusalem.

He will actually become a pretty prominent leader in

the early church.

Here Luke gives some background on him.

We see he was a Levite, or from the priestly lineage.

He like Paul was not born in Israel, but was a native of

Cyprus.

And we see he was given the name Barnabas by the

Apostles, which means Son of Encouragement.

The Greek Word is (par-ak'-ley-sis) which means

comfort, consolation, or exhortation.

Understand this is the same root word that we get

Parakletos from, which is the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said in John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth.

It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go

away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I

will send Him to you.

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The Helper in the Greek is this Parakletos or

Comforter.

So, we see the type of character that Barnabas had, as

his name’s description was much like the ministry of

the Holy Spirit.

He is one who comes alongside of another to

strengthen and facilitate their walk with God, in order

for them to be of a greater use in the Kingdom of God.

When I was framing houses, the Truss Company that

would send out the Trusses that framed the Roof,

would bring the stack of Trusses on a big truck, and

they would roll them off of the truck pretty intensely,

as the truck sped forward, the trusses would slide off

the big flat bed and come crashing onto the ground.

And the crane would then lift them up to us on the

walls in packs, they were in a certain order, and you

had to put them up in that order.

But because they came crashing off of the truck like

that, every now and again a Truss would be broken,

now we could not stop the progress of the building

project to have the Truss yard make another Truss, we

had to keep moving forward.

So the easiest fix, was to nail a long piece of wood

along the broken piece.

I would shout down to the ground guy, “hand me a

cleat.”

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And you see I would nail very quickly this cleat

alongside of the Truss and we would frame on.

The Truss was strengthened by the cleat.

You see Barnabas was the cleat, or parakleysis, he

came alongside and was an encourager, and helped

strengthen other people, and held up those who

needed it.

And Barnabas was a picture of what God’s Spirit was

doing among the early Christians.

This coming along side of and encouraging was vital to

the life of the church and the mission of the church.

We will see later on in our study of Acts that Barnabas

had no ambition, but he thrived in helping others to

succeed in ministry.

He was the greatest assistant pastor, a model assistant

worker.

Personally, I always wanted to be a Barnabas, in reality

I saw myself, and understood my gifts from the Lord as

being in an assisting role.

In the beginning I learned to watch Pastor Ray in

Havasu or my father in Apple Valley, and I would study

their routine, so I could just stay ahead of them.

If Pastor Ray was filling up the water jugs one week, I

made sure he never had to do that again.

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I remember my father sweeping the parking lot in

Apple Valley one Sunday morning, I made sure that he

would never have a reason to sweep again.

I loved that role as assistant, helping the Leader to

Succeed in his calling.

I pictured myself retiring as an assistant pastor, and I

was content with that.

Personally, I like the behind the scenes stuff, I didn’t

mind teaching every now and again, but I thought I

was more suited to hold someone else up in that

ministry of the teaching role.

And now that God has called me to the Senior Pastor

role, I have found that it is still a support role, although

God has entrusted me with a lead position, the

scriptures are clear that even in this position, I am

assisting.

Eph. 4:11-12 And He Himself gave some to be apostles,

some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors

and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the

work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ

You see a Pastor’s role is to equip and edify others for

the work of the ministry.

My role is to come alongside and to teach the Word in

way where it is applicable to everyday life, and in a

way that equips and empowers you all for the work of

the ministry.

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And it does not matter what part of the Body God has

called each of us, the True Model of the church is that

no matter what position we hold, we serve each other.

And every week, as I am in my office preparing the

sermon to preach, at about 7 am here on Sunday

morning, I start noticing the cars pull up, Billye and

Clyde are bustling over there in Grace Café getting the

coffee and goodies ready, Randy and his team of

Ushers are out in the courtyard with coffee in hand,

usually solving all the world’s problems, then the

Sunday School Teachers start showing up, then the

Greeters, all while the worship team is practicing.

There is a team of workers, and leaders and pastors

that all have this paraklesis heart.

And more and more of you are stepping out in faith to

serve our Lord in the church here, and it is incredible

to be a part of.

We are all called to have this Spirit of Encouragement

and we work alongside of each other for our Lord.

Barnabas was an incredibly gifted man, we will see the

disciples will entrust him with prominent ministry.

Later on in Acts, as the Gospel began to spread it reads

in…

Acts 11:22-24 Then news of these things came to the

ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out

Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. 23 When he came

and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and

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encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they

should continue with the Lord. 24 For he was a good

man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great

many people were added to the Lord.

He had a dynamic and fruitful ministry.

The church sent Barnabas out to encourage the new

believers.

He was a capable man, and didn’t shy away from the

ministry.

We might be tempted to think God will use him to

start church planting across the world.

But the text goes onto say…

Acts 11:25-26 Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to

seek Saul. 26 And when he had found him, he brought

him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they

assembled with the church and taught a great many

people. And the disciples were first called Christians in

Antioch.

Barnabas actually sought out the one who was called

to the Gentile ministry, Saul, later Paul.

Barnabas was more than qualified for the ministry to

the Gentiles.

But Barnabas also knew although he was qualified to

do the work, he was called to the supportive role to

that of Paul’s ministry.

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Barnabas shows us the true character of somebody

who is in this encouragement ministry, this assistant

ministry.

He was not ambitious, but held others up.

And the early church thrived off of this idea of drawing

strength from one another, encouraging one another,

carrying one another’s burdens and pressures.

This is the model church, this is the makings of a Great

Church, and I pray that this is what Calvary Chapel

Victorville strives to be.

A church that is unified under the cause of Christ, a

generous church, a giving church, a sharing church, a

church with Mega-Grace, and preaching Boldly, in the

Power of the Holy Spirit.

Working together to complement one another in the

overall ministry.

When we work together with this Paraklesis mindset,

of coming along side one another, encouraging each

other, personal egos have no room to start competing

with each other.

Understand something, every one of you here this

morning have gifts and talents given to you from our

God, they are all different and vary in degree and

quantity.

But if we were to get out a piece of paper and map

them all out, we would find that they are all designed

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to complete the work that God wants us to do here in

our community.

Some of you are Children’s ministry teachers, some of

you are deacons, and some are elders or even pastors.

Maybe you are gifted evangelists while others are

equipped to worship, play an instrument, to help in the

Audio Video ministry, others are equipped to give

financially.

You get the idea, we are all called collectively to serve

our Lord with what He has entrusted to us.

We are all a part of what God is building here, His

Church.

We are all gifted to compliment and assist one

another, to be Barnabas’.

We live in such an individualistic society, that is about

getting more likes and followers, but here in the

church, we work together to reach and meet the needs

of this community.

Ronald Regan once said, “There is no limit to the

amount of good you can do if you do not care who gets

the credit.”

We can learn much from the early church’s example,

and we can learn much from Barnabas, the Son of

Encouragement.

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Our love for one another can be lived out in such a

way, that we become a billboard for Jesus to this lost

world.

Be encouraged in your faith this morning, understand

your calling, and put your hands to the plow with us, as

we collectively stay busy about God’s business.

You will not find true satisfaction in your life, until you

are completely committed to the cause God has called

you too, His cause, the cause of Christ.

Maybe this morning you are not a Christian, please

know, God has brought you here for a reason this

morning, He drew you here for a reason, He is calling

you to Himself, to receive this wonderful Grace that He

offers you.

I hope that God has revealed Himself to you this

morning, if He has respond to Him, there will be men

up here during this last song, please come up and give

your life to Jesus.

And join yourself to this group of misfits, we are

imperfect, but we will endeavor to love you selflessly

and we will commit to doing this journey of life with

you.

These people here are some of the most wonderful

people I know and have known in my entire life.

Join in this family with us this morning by committing

your life to Jesus.

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Let’s pray!

Whatever your prayer needs are this morning, come

up, these men are here to pray with you this morning.