Encourage Each Individual

1 THESSALONIANS 3:1-3

"Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we decided to be left alone in Athens; and we sent Timothy, our brother and co-worker for God in proclaiming the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the sake of your faith, so that no one would be shaken by these persecutions. "

Some time ago one of my clergy colleagues wrote to tell me that he wished to be a “Barnabas” for me. I was puzzled, what did that mean? I knew that Barnabas traveled around with Paul. But I didn’t really know that much about him. After some study of the Bible I found that Barnabas is a name given to a man named Joseph who was from Cyprus. The name Barnabas means “Son of Encouragement.” Now that’s cool! Don’t we all need someone in our life who is there to encourage us? Barnabas is introduced to us one who gave all he owned to the church (Acts 4:36) The following are some verses from Acts that talk about Barnabas.

Acts 11:25 “Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul”

Acts 13:1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the ruler,a and Saul. 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.

Acts 14: 12 “Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.”

Clearly for the Early Christian Church Encouragement came from supportive relationships. When the work was hard, when life was difficult the apostle Paul was encouraged by in faith by relationships with others in the faith community.

LUMC has been called to encourage others on their faith journey.

One task for the encourager is to discover what inspires a particular individual. What is inspiring to one may not be inspiring to another. One person might be encouraged in faith through music ministry and another through mission projects. One person might be encouraged through visitation ministry another through Bible study.

One result of encouragement is the discovery of new hope and with it new life. One dilemma often faced within mainline churches is that good and faithful people sometimes forget how their life has been transformed by faith. For Paul and the Apostles the transformation is clear. The risen Christ has revealed to them God’s kingdom on earth and they live in that kingdom each day.

Encouragement grows from one individual to another.

When I played soccer in Junior High I was most proud of when I received “most inspirational” award. I was so proud of that. I played soccer for three years, never scored a goal. I wasn’t the most talented player on the team, but there were some on the team who found my relationship with them to be “inspirational.”

Encouragement comes out of relationship.

We know that we need affirmation. Each of us have emotional and spiritual bank accounts that we keep. Sometimes we have separate accounts for different relationships. We know what it feels like when those accounts are full and when they are empty or even negative. Its not fair but reality is that it takes more encouragement, affirmation and love to fill the account than criticism, disregard, or neglect takes to empty it. Healthy people find ways to develop relationships that fill the bank account and they fill the bank account of others. To be a "Barnabas" for another means that we are working to keep the bank accounts full.

Encouragement helps us experience the Holy.

When we build up one another in Love we create the community of the Kingdom of God. I believe people are looking for authentic communities where all people can grow in love