Be a Great Encourager - STand Firm Theologically and Support Believers Redemptively

Pray – (1/2 minute)

Read – (2 1/2 minutes) – “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”
(2 Timothy 4:2-3)    
     Passage: Acts 15:1-21; 36-41

         As the early church saw more and more Gentiles believe in Jesus, one of the biggest issues was the teaching of some Jewish believers that salvation came through believing in Jesus and in following the Jewish laws. Barnabas and Paul went to Jerusalem for a conference to deal this this issue. They stood firm theologically that the gospel message was that salvation came by grace through faith in Christ alone without any work on our part.
        After that conference, Paul wanted to go out on a second missionary journey with Barnabas to check in on the churches that had been started. Barnabas wanted to take Mark, who had quit on the first journey. Paul refused and the two ended up going on separate missionary journeys – Barnabas with Mark and Paul with Silas. Mark would later write out the first Gospel account and at the end of his life, Paul would make a comment that showed that he came to trust and value Mark. (2 Timothy 4:11) Encouragement doesn’t hold someone down for past mistakes. It is ready to help restore and renew a person in service. Be an encourager and let God use you to help others grow in Him.  

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Pray - (1 1/2 minutes)