Be a Great Encourager - Share Generously and Speak up Positively

Pray – (1/2 minute)

Read – (2 1/2 minutes) – “Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.” (Acts 2:42-46)
      Passage: Acts 9:19b-31

        Someone observed that many people who a members of a church “stop at nothing when it comes to giving.” Giving is a hard spiritual discipline for many believers, but it is an essential one for spiritual growth and it is a characteristic of great encouragers. God created you and He wants you to enjoy this world. He simply wants you to put Him first, trust Him as a provider and be a partner with Him to carry the gospel to the world. Giving is a big part of that. Barnabas understood that principle and He joyfully gave out of the resources God had provided to Him. Your hands are a source of encouragement when you give.

Just as your hands are a source of encouragement, so are your lips. Acts 9 gives the record of the conversion of Saul on the road to Damascus. Sometime after that, Saul went to Jerusalem to join in with the believers there, but because he had been such a fierce persecutor of the church, they thought he was lying about his conversion and just wanted to infiltrate the church in order to arrest more people. Barnabas was the one who stood up and spoke up positively for Saul. Without Barnabas’ affirmation of Saul’s conversion, the church would have kept him out and all the things Saul ended up doing may not have been done. The words you speak can build up or tear down. They can encourage or discourage. Be a great encourager and speak up positively to others and build them up in the Lord.

Apply - (2 1/2 minutes)
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Pray - (1 1/2 minutes)