All Disciples Show (Part 2)

Amen, amen. Children, we are ready for Children's Church at this time. You may make your way up here with Miss Savannah and Miss Catherine today.

! We are so thankful for our children and all that they are getting to learn about who Christ is and all that he's done for us.

And so we are so very thankful for that.

Last week, we talked about the importance of having mentors in our life.

The importance of having people in our life that we can go to, that we can bring our concerns to, that will open up with us, that will share with us, that will give us advice, that will be there for us.

And this week, as we continue to talk about the fact that all disciples show, we're going to be talking about the fact that disciples show others.

We are to be involved in other people's lives. We are to engage them in the culture.

And I was reminded of when I was first really shown the importance of this.

When I was first shown how impactful this can be in our lives.

It was actually when I was in college, going into my senior year of college, me and a couple of my close friends had the opportunity to go spend the week with a man by the name of Chuck Wood.

Now, none of you, I'm sure, know who Chuck Wood is.

But Chuck had just retired from the Army and where he had spent the last half of his career as an Army chaplain.

Before that, he spent the majority of his career as an enlisted man going through ranger school and then becoming a ranger instructor.

And so he was this man's man.

And we got to go spend this week with him.

And during that week, we actually stayed on cots in his garage.

And then we would go along with him on all the things that he was doing.

All the people he was going to see.

And during that week, he told us over and over again the importance of meeting with people.

The importance of having people that you're pouring into, that you're investing into.

And it wasn't just something that he said to us.

This was something that he showed us with his life.

This is something that he not only poured into us that week and modeled for us individually.

But we got to have a firsthand account.

We got to witness how he did this each and every day.

This wasn't just something he did while we were there.

This just wasn't a show that he was putting on for people as they come in.

This is how he lived his life.

And during that week, he told us the importance of this.

And he says, this isn't just something that I've come up with.

This isn't just something that I'm saying is important.

This is something that we see throughout Scripture.

And I can remember he said, let's take a look at Jesus's life.

Let's just take a look at his life.

Yes, Jesus would minister to the multitudes.

Yes, Jesus would preach sermons to thousands of people.

Yes, he would do those big events.

But that's not where he spent most of his time.

He said, look at Jesus's life.

He did those things.

But he spent far more time with those disciples that went around with him.

And even more than that, he was very intentional about those 12 apostles that were very close to him during his ministry.

And then even on top of that, the three that he really poured his life into, Peter, James, John, those that he really built those relationships with.

And Chuck said, he says, this is the model that has been given to us.

This is God's plan.

And so we must be a part of that.

And so there are many different places that we could go to in Scripture to see how this is God's plan for reaching the lost, reaching the nations.

And we could easily look at Jesus's life.

But for our time this morning, I want us to look at a relationship.

I want us to look at how this played out in some people's lives.

And so for our time this morning, I want us to take a look at Paul and Barnabas's life.

You know, many times when we think about Paul's life, we see him in the driver's seat.

We see him as the mentor in the relationships.

We see him as the one who is showing others how to live and to follow his example.

And we definitely see this play out in Paul and Barnabas's relationship, especially later on.

But at the beginning, what you see is Barnabas giving Paul an example.

What you see at the beginning is Barnabas coming alongside him and encouraging him.

And so I want us to take a look at the beginning of their relationship and then over a couple different places throughout their relationship

and see the importance that we have of meeting with people, of showing people, of investing in their lives.

And so to do this, we're going to start our time looking in Acts chapter 9.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

So if you have a copy of God's Word, I want you to go ahead and open there with me to Acts chapter 9.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

But then we're also going to look at the next few chapters of Scripture all the way to chapter 13

to look at how this played out in Paul and Barnabas's life.

But to begin with, what we see is that showing means we must see those God places in our lives.

Showing.

In order to show, we must see those that God has placed in our lives.

And we get this from Acts chapter 9 verses 26 through 30.

Acts 9:26–30

Right here through 31, it says this.

And it says,

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up.

And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Now I want to take for just a moment, I want us to consider the situation as it is to the apostles.

You have the arch enemy of the church coming in and wanting to meet with you.

You have the one who had over and over again persecuted Christians, who was there as Stephen Stoney,

who was approving of that execution there.

You have the one who was traveling around trying to squash this movement of God's people,

this movement of the church, and throw those individuals in prison.

And so you have this person who had seen the example of persecuting the church over and over again.

You have this person who is now coming in, and rightfully so, they were a little bit concerned.

They were a little uneasy about what was going to take place.

But their caution needed to give way to their Christ-like behavior.

Their caution needed to give way to their Christ-like behavior.

And here in this passage, Barnabas steps in and he speaks up for Paul.

This simple act, that otherwise seemingly minor detail, just this one little portion of Scripture,

this one little verse in this section, it ends up having and leading to a lifelong friendship in Paul and Barnabas' life.

In this very small section of Scripture, Barnabas steps into Paul's life

and shows him very quickly what it means to extend the grace that he had already been shown in his life.

In a very quick way, in a very ordinary way,

he steps in to show God's grace, show the grace that he had already been shown in receiving Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

In this seemingly small act, God uses it in a powerful way to encourage Paul.

You see, oftentimes we gravitate towards the exciting stories in Scripture.

Those powerful stories of martyrdom or mass conversions or miracles.

But much of the Christian life is oftentimes doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality.

Much of the Christian life is doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality.

Faithful Christian living doesn't always look extraordinary.

I love how Tony Morita, he says it this way.

He says,

Even better, I love how Frank Craddock, he put it once, he said this.

He said,

To give my life for Christ appears glorious.

To pour myself out for others.

To pay the ultimate price of martyrdom.

I'll do it.

I'm ready, Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory.

But he says,

We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking a thousand dollar bill and laying it on the table and saying,

Here's my life, Lord.

I'm ready to give it all.

He says,

But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to the bank and has us cash that thousand dollars in for quarters.

And we go through life putting out 25 cents here, 50 cents there.

Listening to the neighbor's kids' troubles instead of saying,

Get lost.

Go to a committee meeting.

Give a cup of water to a shaky old man in a nursing home.

Usually, giving our life to Christ isn't glorious.

It's done in all of those little acts of love.

25 cents at a time.

He said,

It would be great and easy to go out in a flash of glory.

It's harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul.

And I would add to that, that the way that people have the courage to go out in a blaze of glory,

to go out in martyrdom,

is because they have been living a life of pouring out their life a quarter at a time,

25 cents at a time, saying yes to God.

See, many times we make discipleship harder than it needs to be.

We think we have to have all of the answers before we begin.

We think we need to know all the ins and outs of discipleship before we even begin this process,

before we even take that first step of taking people in.

We have to have it all figured out.

The problem is, if that were the case, we would never begin.

We would never start.

And so we've got to simply take that first step and begin with a relationship.

Something small.

And so I want to ask you the question,

How are you preparing to serve God right now?

How are you preparing your heart to be able to spend time with God and then spend time with others?

Are you stepping in and meeting needs as you see them?

Because the truth is, if you are a follower of Christ, you have a testimony.

You have a way in which God has been working in your life,

and now He has called you to show that to others.

He's called you to live it out and show it to others.

Be intentional to see others.

You see, many of the leaders in Jerusalem saw Saul's past.

They saw his past and looked at him in light of that.

They saw what he had done, the things that he had done,

and not what Christ was doing in his life.

Barnabas saw the potential.

Saw that God was at work in his life and began to invest in his life.

And think of the difference this small investment made in his life.

Think of the difference this small investment made in the kingdom of God.

How God would go and use this small investment to reach a lost and dying world.

May we see as God sees and not as man sees.

I'm reminded of the story of when Samuel goes to Jesse and saying,

one of your sons is going to be the next king.

And he begins having his sons walk there in front of him, pass in front of him.

And Jesse had some impressive sons.

These sons who were tall, who looked like king material,

who looked like they could be the next leader.

But then this is what we read in 1 Samuel 16, 7.

He says,

But the Lord said to Samuel,

Do not look at his appearance or the height of his stature,

because I have rejected him.

For the Lord sees, not as man sees.

Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

I want to encourage you today.

Keep your eyes open to those who God is putting in your path.

Don't have something set in your mind,

thinking that you've got to wait for the next Billy Graham to come along,

so that you can make a name for yourself and ride their coattails and say,

I had a part in his life.

No, look at who God has placed in your life.

Be obedient to those who have come into your life.

And parents, I've got a great place for you to start.

If you're a parent, then you have some people in your life

that I can promise you without a shadow of a doubt,

God is calling you to invest in their life,

to pour into them, to show them what it means to follow Christ.

But I want to encourage you, don't let it stop there.

Be open.

Maybe it's someone at work.

Maybe it's a neighbor.

Maybe it's a college student, a church member,

someone else that everyone,

someone that everyone has overlooked,

someone that everybody said,

it's not worth the time and invest in them

because God does not look at the outward appearance.

He looks at the heart.

And he can do amazing things with people who have a willing heart

and a heart to serve him.

So pour into their lives

and look for those that God has placed there.

As we continue looking at Paul and Barnabas' relationship here,

we also see this.

Showing means we must recognize the gifts in others

and encourage them.

We must recognize the gifts in others

and encourage them.

This is something that Barnabas did well.

This is something that he was, after all, the encourager.

If you go back to Acts chapter four,

you'll realize that his name is actually Joseph,

but he goes by his nickname Barnabas,

which means the encourager.

He's someone who encourages so much

that this becomes what everybody refers to him as,

as the encourager.

And so before we look at Acts 11 right here,

I want to give you a little bit of background information.

Persecution had led many in the Jerusalem church

to disperse, to scatter.

And some of those that were being scattered

made their way up to Antioch.

Now at Antioch, God began to work and move in a mighty way.

In Antioch, God was working and moving.

And so the church in Jerusalem wasn't exactly sure

what to do with all these new Gentile believers.

And so they sent Barnabas to go check things out,

to see what's going on.

And this is where we pick up in Acts chapter 11,

Acts 11 · chapter mention

starting in verse 19, it says this.

Now those who were scattered because of the persecution

that arose over Stephen,

traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch,

speaking the word to no one except the Jews.

But there were some of them,

men of Cyprus and Cyrene,

who on coming to Antioch,

spoke to the Hellenists also,

preaching to Lord Jesus.

And the hand of the Lord was with them,

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

The report of this came

to the ears of the church in Jerusalem.

And they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

And when he came and saw the grace of God,

he was glad and exhorted them all

to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose,

for he was a good man,

full of the Holy Spirit and faith.

And a great many people were added to the Lord.

And so Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul.

And when he had found him,

he brought him to Antioch.

For a whole year they met with the church

and taught a great many people.

And in Antioch,

the disciples were first called Christians.

The church in Jerusalem

heard that there was something going on in Antioch.

God was moving,

was what the report was coming in.

And so they decided to send someone to investigate it.

The situation is similar

to the conversion of the Samaritans.

Many in the church in Jerusalem

weren't exactly sure about the Samaritans

coming to faith in Christ.

And so in Acts chapter 8,

Acts 8 · chapter mention

they sent out Peter and John

to go investigate these conversions

that were taking place among the Samaritans.

And now they hear about these Gentile believers in Antioch.

And so they send Barnabas to check on things.

Once in Antioch,

Barnabas, without hesitation,

begins to rejoice at what God is doing.

When you think about all the people

they could have sent to Antioch

to investigate this,

praise God they sent Barnabas.

Praise God they sent the encourager.

One who is looking and seeing how God is moving,

who's not going to go and say,

hey, well, these people aren't Jews.

I'm not sure that they can come to faith in Christ.

These people don't look like us.

These people don't act like us.

We're not sure that what's going on.

But he went there.

He saw the Holy Spirit moving

and rejoiced and praised God

and encouraged the church.

What a beautiful picture we see taking place here.

Barnabas could have easily remained the authority

on all matters concerning this church.

He could have been the one

that everyone looked to for answers.

But he saw God doing something special here.

And he went to get a good friend.

He traveled to Tarsus,

which was about 100 miles away.

And he found his friend Saul.

It had been a long time

since Barnabas had seen Saul.

But Barnabas knew the potential

that Saul had had before the apostles did.

He knew his call to reach the Gentiles.

He knew that he was a brilliant theologian.

He was exactly what this world-reaching congregation needed.

They needed a Saul.

They needed a Paul here to come in.

So for an entire year,

they met with the church and taught the church.

It was during this time

when everyone else started noticing

there was something different

about the believers in Antioch.

And it says,

And in Antioch,

the disciples were first called Christians.

The people in Antioch

were looking at this church

and they're thinking,

something's different about them.

And so the people there,

not the believers,

not the Jews that were there,

but the people in the community

began looking at them

and they recognized

there's something different.

And so they started calling them

the Christ ones,

the ones who follow Christ.

Antioch was a special place.

God was doing a mighty work in Antioch

that would literally change

the course of Christianity.

In fact, if you take your Bible

and if your Bible has some maps

in the back of it,

it most likely will have maps

of Paul's first, second,

and third missionary journeys.

I encourage you to look at

where they all start.

Look at where they all begin.

They begin in Antioch.

They begin with this church

sending them out

to take the gospel message

to the nations.

Antioch needed a strong

theological foundation.

Did Barnabas understand

all that was going on?

Most certainly not.

But he knew that God was at work

and that he decided to join

in what God was doing.

And he also knew

that this man from Tarsus

that he had encouraged earlier

could play a significant role

in the life of this church.

This is a great reminder for us

to recognize the gifts

of those that God has placed

in our lives

and encourage them

to use them.

Give them an opportunity.

See what God has blessed them with

and encourage them to use it.

Encourage them to use

those gifts and abilities.

And Barnabas could do this

better than anybody.

He was this encourager

who recognized the needs

that they had in Antioch

and he knew Paul's strengths

and he knew that this

would be a great fit

and God would be glorified.

And so finally,

as we look at Paul

and Barnabas' relationship,

we see this.

We see the fact that

showing means going together.

Showing means going together.

And this will be a great lead-in

for the next two weeks

that we're going to be discussing

in this discipleship pathway

of the importance of going.

But it's a reminder for us

as we see the importance

of showing.

I want you to look

at the first three verses

of Acts chapter 13.

Acts 13 · chapter mention

First three verses says this.

It says,

Now there were in the church

at Antioch prophets and teachers,

Barnabas, Simeon,

who was called Niger,

Lucius of Cyrene,

Mania, and a lifelong friend

of Herod the Tetrarch,

and Saul.

And while they were worshiping

the Lord and fasting,

the Holy Spirit said,

Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul

for the work to which

I have called them.

Then after fasting and praying,

they laid their hands on them

and sent them off.

There is so much

that we can recognize

about this church

in these few verses.

This church had a heart

for the nations.

In the church,

it was the church at Antioch,

not the church in Jerusalem,

that would become a catalyst

for a worldwide missions movement.

In Jerusalem,

the church was struggling

with some things.

They were caught up

on some racial things

of trying to figure out

if these new converts

needed to be circumcised or not.

They were struggling

with other people

other than Jews

coming to faith in Christ.

And so they were struggling

with these things.

But in Antioch,

we see from this passage

that there was a diversity

in leadership within the church.

In Antioch,

we see that the leadership

consisted of Jews,

those from Cyprus,

several mentions

to those from North Africa,

those with money,

those without money.

It shouldn't surprise us

that this church,

a church with such diversity in it,

this church is the church

that birthed a worldwide missions effort.

Paul and Barnabas

could have some strong disagreements.

I don't want you to,

I don't want to paint a picture

for you here that wasn't true.

Paul and Barnabas,

they would go on

to have some strong disagreements.

Paul could be abrasive at times.

Don't want you to think

this is always easy to do this.

He has strong convictions

and he has strong ways

of sharing those convictions at times.

But here's the thing,

the church needed this.

The church was at a point

where it needed

strong theological convictions,

strong theological truth.

And God also knew

that he needed a friend

to be there with him through this.

Yes, they struggled at times.

They had ups and downs

in their friendship,

but what they had in common

would allow them

to continue to serve together.

Throughout their relationship,

Barnabas went from mentor

to taking more of a supporting role.

What a great example for Paul.

What a great example

for this church planner

who is going into different regions,

who is establishing the church,

who is taking this role

of mentor and leader in it,

and then passing the torch

and supporting and encouraging the church

through writing letters,

through other visits.

What a great example for him to follow.

God works and moves

in those intentional relationships.

I told you earlier about Chuck Wood

and our time together,

but during that week,

he also gave me a book.

He encouraged us to read a book.

It's a very short book,

and if a short book even scares you,

there's even an abridged version

of a short book,

but in this book,

this is a book by Robert Coleman

titled The Master Plan of Evangelism.

In this book,

Robert Coleman,

he makes some very astute observations

from Scripture

and calls the church

to put those into practice.

In fact, Billy Graham

not only wrote the foreword to this book,

he said this about it.

He said,

few books have had as great an impact

on the cause of world evangelization

in our generation than this book.

And in this book,

Robert Coleman says this.

He says,

it all started by Jesus

calling a few men to follow him.

This revealed immediately

the direction

his evangelistic strategy would take.

His concern was not with programs

to reach the multitudes,

but with men

whom the multitudes would follow.

Remarkable as it may seem,

Jesus started to gather these men

before he ever organized

an evangelistic campaign

or even preached a sermon in public.

Men were to be his method

of winning the world to God.

And that is still his plan today.

of us,

men and women,

investing in the lives

of other men and women

who will then go

and invest in the lives of others.

This is God's plan

and it has not changed.

This is the way that he reaches

a lost and dying world

is through relationships.

It is my prayer

that as we become more focused

on being a church,

that is focused on discipleship,

discipleship,

that is focused on knowing

and growing

and showing

that it will lead us

to going.

It is my hope

that this is something

that becomes

more and more characteristic

of our church,

that we are ascending people,

that we pray

and fast

and ask God

to raise up individuals

that have a desire

to take the gospel message

to those that have never heard it.

It is my prayer

that we are a church

that seeks

to plant other churches.

It is my prayer

that we are a church

that seeks

to come alongside

struggling churches

to revitalize them,

to breathe new life

into them,

to encourage them.

This is both exciting

and challenging.

It is exciting

to see what God is moving,

how God is moving,

but it is challenging

because often times

it takes us

sending out

our very best.

The church

sent out Paul

and Barnabas.

If you were to think about,

if you were to ask a pastor,

hey, who do you want

to send out?

Who do you want to go for?

Paul and Barnabas

are probably not

on the top of your list.

We want to hold on

to this brilliant theologian.

We want to hold on

to this encourager

who is constantly encouraging.

God is using them

in mighty ways here.

We don't want to get rid of them.

Look at all that

they're doing here.

Lord, Lord,

take Gertrude,

the complainer.

Take her.

Please tell me

there's not a Gertrude

in this room today.

But we want to take those,

but don't send out

our very best.

But yet,

this is what we see

taking place.

This is how we see God

moving and working

is sending out

those very best.

And as we have this desire

for discipleship,

God will work in our lives.

He will move us

to have this heart

to send out those

that will go

to where God

is leading them.

This passage reminds us

that we must continue

to raise up

and send out workers.

This is what churches

with a focus

on discipleship do.

They send out.

They grow.

They understand.

They know.

They grow.

They show others.

And they go to the nations.

This is the product

of a church

that is focused

on the discipleship.

A church that does

discipleship well

will be a church

that sends people

to the nations.

That sees the lostness

around them

and seeks

to meet those needs.

So this morning,

I want to encourage you

to pray.

I want to encourage you

to pray

for those

that can come

into your life

that can show you

what it means

to follow Christ.

Pray for those

that God has placed

in your life

that they can be

an encouragement

to you

that can challenge you.

But also pray

that your minds,

your eyes

will be open

to see those

that God has placed

in your life.

That you won't

just be someone

who takes this word

and does nothing

with it,

but you show it.

You invest it.

You pour into

others' lives

so that they can go

and do the same.

And so I want to

encourage you

to pray.

Pray that our eyes

will be open.

Pray that as we

see those

that God has placed

in our life

that we can be

an encouragement

to them.

And pray that God

will give us

the boldness

and courage

to go with them,

to model for them,

to show them

what it means

to follow Christ.

Father,

we thank you

so very much.

thank you

for what you

have shown us

and the example

that you've given us

of what it means

to be a follower,

that you invested

in people's lives,

that your plan

to reach the nations

was people.

It wasn't big events

or large gatherings,

but Lord,

it was investing

in people.

Give us that heart.

Give us a heart

to see those around us,

to see those

that you've placed

in our lives

and to step in

and be those

encouragers

in their life.

Lord,

give us the boldness

to do that.

Lord,

I pray that if there

are those here today

that don't know you

as their Lord and Savior,

Lord,

that would be

where they begin.

That would be

where they start.

That would be

what they place

their hope

and their trust

in today.

And Lord,

I pray that you

would help us

to come alongside them,

to show them

consistently

and constantly

what it means

to follow you,

to point them

on a regular basis

to you

as the source

of their greatest hope

in this life

and joy.

So Lord,

we thank you.

We thank you

for the example

you gave us.

We thank you

for the examples

you give us

in Paul and Barnabas

looking at their life.

And Lord,

I pray that as we

look at their life,

we would be challenged

to go and do the same.

Thank you so much

for Jesus.

And it's in his name

we pray.

Amen.

I want to invite you

to take your

Baptist hymnal out

and turn to hymn

number 255

at the cross.

I want to encourage you

to, as we stand together,

if the Lord is speaking

to you,

respond as we stand

together and sing.

Amen.