Someone Believed in You. Now Do This for Someone Else. | Pastor Steve Poe

you even believed in yourself, someone who looked at you and they looked at your situation and they said, "You've got this. I know you can do it. Don't give up. Don't get discouraged." Maybe it was a parent or a teacher or a coach, a pastor, a spouse, maybe a good friend. And they just said the right thing at the right time and it inspired you. It opened up your eyes to the possibilities in your life and it changed the way you think about your life and the way you think about your future. I've had that kind of experience, actually. I can tell you today that I am in leadership and I am in ministry because of a businessman that I didn't really know who came alongside me when I was 16 years old and encouraged me. You see, I was a typical teenager who didn't have very much ambition. If you asked me what I wanted to do with my life, I would shrug my shoulders and say, "I don't know. I have no idea. I'm not sure." But our church was a church of about 400 people and there was this businessman in our church that I didn't really know. His name was Mr. Hunt, that's all I knew. I never even had a conversation with him and one day he comes up to me. He approaches me. He church and he says, "Steve, I've been watching you and I want you to know that I think you have a lot of leadership potential," and I'm kind of like, "Okay." And he said, "If I were to give you a book, would you read it?" One of the guys, I was 16 years old, I wasn't doing a whole lot of reading back then. And yet, I had never had anyone tell me that they believed in me. I had never had anyone tell me that I had potential to be a leader, and I'm, to be honest with you, at that time, probably wasn't real sure what that even meant.

My parents loved me, my grandparents loved me, but no one had ever told me I had potential to be a leader. So I said, "Sure, I'll read the book." And so he gave me this Christian book called The Greatest Salesman in the World by Augment Dino. I still have the book to this day. And you know what? It was a good book, but it really wasn't about the book. It was this guy's encouragement that had the greatest impact on my life. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I can remember I can, if I think about it, I take myself right back to the day. I'm sitting on the edge of my bed, 16 years old, sitting on the edge of my bed. I finished the book. I put it on my nightstand, and I'm sitting on the edge of the bed staring out the window for I don't know how long. I just couldn't wrap my brain around the thought. This guy, this businessman, this professional guy believes in me. What does that really mean for me? For the first time in my young life, I began to believe that maybe, maybe I could do something significant with my life. I mean, if this businessman thinks I'm a leader, well, I don't know, maybe I am. Guys, I can tell you, it changed the course of my life, and that's why I'm so convinced that coming alongside people with words of encouragement is one of the most important things that every one of us can do. Words of encouragement are like a fresh drink of water on a hot day. In fact, I believe that encouragement might just be the greatest need of our day. There are so many people today that are discouraged. There are so many people today that are struggling, and they just need to hear someone give them a word of encouragement. I promise you that in a room this side, there's many of you today that are battling with some

discouragement. Maybe it's a marriage that's hurting or an illness. Maybe you're struggling with low self-esteem or insecurity. I mean, seriously, guys, is there really anyone in this room that wouldn't appreciate a word of encouragement, even when you think you're okay and somebody comes along and encourages you. It just gives you a little pep in your step. It just helps you to feel a little bit better. You know, Paul instructed us in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, he said, "So encourage each other and build each other up just as you are already doing." William Arthur Ward said one time, "Flatter me, and I may not believe you, criticize me, and I may not like you, ignore me, and I may not forgive you, encourage me, and I'll not forgive you." So this last year we've been, if you've been around North you, you know, we've been looking at men and women of faith. These are people in the Old and the New Testament that were ordinary people, just like you and me. Nothing really significant or special about them other than they trusted God. And because they believed God and stepped out in faith, God was able to use them in some incredible ways. And so the idea of this series was maybe these men and women will inspire us. Well, today I want to introduce you to a man who epitomizes this attribute. there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas, which means son of encouragement. He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus. Now what a lot of people don't know is that his real name was Joseph, but the apostles gave him a nickname. They called him Barnabas. Why did they call him Barnabas? Because it tells us the word Barnabas means son of encouragement. And Barnabas lived up to his nickname. And he became, guys he became one of the most influential men of the New Testament, not because he was a great preacher or some strong leader, or because he demonstrated some event or big moment of faith, but because he was such a great developer of people. Listen guys, I think one of the

most overused tools, or used tools in the enemies toolbox, is discouragement. Because discouragement can drain the life out of the most gifted and talented individuals. It literally can choke out all growth and bring progress to an absolute standstill. It can render a Christian powerless and ineffective. And so I would ask, are you discouraged today? Are you discouraged today? Because I know some of you are. Friends, here's the danger on that. When we're discouraged, we don't pray like we should. We let our Bibles lie on the shelf. We don't step out in faith and trust God like we normally do. When we're discouraged, we stumble back into some of our old sins and some of our old destructive habits. I know, because I've experienced it many, many times in my life. But when someone comes alongside us and they share a word of encouragement, it helps us to do what? It helps us to defeat the lies of the enemy. It helps us to fight those battles. Listen, guys, I don't care how strong you are or how strong you might think you are. Every one of us need words of encouragement. Without them, it's easy. Listen, it's easy for negative emotions to consume us. Words of encouragement, what they do, they give us hope. They remind us of truth, and they motivate us to do good. Mark Twain once said, "I love it." Mark Twain once said, "I can live for two months on a good compliment." I think that's true. I think I can, too. My wife's a great encourager. I always want to hear what she thinks after I preach a message. And so the other day, I said to her, "What'd you think of the message?" And she said, "Steve, it was really good." And I said, "Really?" I said, "What would you like about it?" She said, "It was short." So I said that last night, and when I went out in the four-year afterwards, a gal came out, a lady came up to me, and she said, "It was really a good message." And I said, "Yeah, it was short." She goes, "Oh, no, it wasn't short." Sandy is my number one cheerleader. So from Barnabas' life, I want us to look at a couple of character traits that are typical of someone who is an encourager. So I'm saying, listen to me, I'm saying that if you are an encourager, because some of you would say, "Yeah, I think I'm an encourager," if you are an encourager, then you will see these three traits in your life. The first thing you will see is that an encourager is a generous person. An encourager is a generous person. Listen, guys, there's over 34 references to Barnabas in the New Testament, and all but five of them appear in the book of Acts. Now, first, we turn to see Barnabas, as I just said, in Acts 4, where Dr. Luke, the author of Acts, has been writing about the incredible

sense of community and fellowship taking place among these early Christians. And so if you've read the book of Acts, which I hope all of you have, that's exactly—that's the theme of the New Testament Church. I mean, it was ripe. It was people were excited about all that God was doing. And so that's what Luke is writing about. People were encouraging one another by sharing their wealth with those that were in need. Well, Luke gives us a specific example of someone who's demonstrating that type of generosity. In verse 37, it says, "He sold a field," this is Barnabas we're talking about, "He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles." So right out of the gate, we see that Barnabas is a man of generosity. We see the Barnabas is a giver. By his actions, we can see that he loves God more than he loves his money. And what we find in the New Testament Church is that generosity—hear me on this—generosity is often a tangible expression of encouragement. I'm going to say that again. Generosity is often a tangible expression of encouragement. In other words, someone that's an encourager is also a very generous person with other people. And we also know that generosity is the love language of Christianity, isn't it? It says, "For God so loved the world, He gave." Barnabas sold a piece of property and he gave the proceeds to the poor. We don't know if Barnabas was a wealthy man who gave out of his abundance or if this was a major sacrifice for him. We just don't know. But what we do know is that he saw a need and he responded with a significant gift. And his generosity basically says to those believers that are struggling, "You matter to me." Barnabas just saying, "I see your need and I want to help you." Listen, guys, nothing encourages someone like the generosity of another person. You know what? It's one thing to say you care, but it's quite another thing to demonstrate it. James, who's extremely blunt, talks about it in chapter 2 when he says, "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and elite food." If one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is that?

So James isn't criticizing words of encouragement. He's saying, "If we seek a genuine need and have the ability to do something about it, and yet all we do is offer sympathetic words, then have we really demonstrated love? Have we really demonstrated faith?" Guys, generosity puts feet to our faith. Barnabas demonstrated true encouragement when he sold a piece of property to help those people that were struggling, to help those people that were in need. Friends, if you really want to encourage someone, it's often going to take more than just say, "Oh, I'm sorry you're hurting." Sometimes it means you need to pay a bill. Sometimes it means you need to bring a meal or fix a car or financially help them through a difficult time. I mean, come on, think about how encouraged you would be if you were without food and someone bought you something to eat. All of a sudden, when that happens, all of a sudden there's this sense of relief. Maybe someone really does care. Your fear that you might be experiencing is replaced by hope. Listen, I could give you so many examples of generous people at Northview Church. I mean, I really could. I could just go on and on with examples. I could tell you stories of how they've used their generosity to live spirits of others. But one example that came to my mind is Kevin and Rochelle Ryder. These are both such strong encouragers anyway. That's just who they are. Several years ago during COVID, they made a decision to encourage and help the homeless, to encourage and help those that were hungry. You see, they own two restaurants, so food service, it's what they do. And they started this not-for-profit ministry called Feeding Neighbors. And today, it's making a significant impact on over 16 different organizations. And together with some of their friends, listen to this, they're giving over $200,000

a year in food, fixed food, cooked food every year. Over $200,000 every year. Can you see what my point is? Can you see how their generous spirit is encouraging a whole lot of people? Guys, I just want you to see that encouragement comes with the spirit of generosity. Okay, another character trait that comes with the gift of encouragement is being trustworthy. If you're an encourager, you're a trustworthy individual. Barnabas was known as a man that people could trust. Several times in Scripture, we find him being called upon to do jobs that required people to trust him. Guys, please hit me on this. One of the greatest compliments you can receive from anyone is if they say to you, "You know what? I trust you. I trust you." Because if someone trusts you, it means that they have complete confidence in you. Trust impacts us 24/7. Trust impacts us 365 days a year. It affects the quality of every relationship we have, of every communication, of every business venture, of every effort in which we are engaged. Listen, positions come and go based on trust. Popularity rises and falls based on trust. In fact, all healthy relationships are built on and sustained by trust. Friends, you cannot. I mean, I think you know this is true. You cannot experience a healthy marriage if your spouse doesn't trust you. You will not have respect from your employees if they don't trust you. You will not lead people to Christ if they don't trust you. Guys, it's hard to encourage someone if they don't trust you too much. One's called The Speed of Trust and the others

called Trust and Inspire. Both of them by Stephen Covey and their secular books, but I'm telling you, I think every leader, it should be required reading for every leader. The speed of trust and trust and inspire, it's all about the importance of trust in our lives. Barnabas was a leader in the early church. And his words carried a great deal of weight because why? Because they trusted him, he had credibility. Because he was a man that people could trust. In Acts chapter 11, we find there was a new church in the city of Antioch. The mother church in Jerusalem wanted to send someone they could trust Antioch to encourage these new believers. So they decide maybe we should send Barnabas. In Acts chapter 11, it says when the church of Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw this evidence of God's blessing, he was filled with joy and encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord. Barnabas was a, I love this. Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord. Notice this says Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. I love that description, friends. Are you known by your friends as someone that's full of the Holy Spirit and faith?

Listen, it doesn't say that he was the smartest guy in the church or that he was a great preacher or that he was a dynamic leader. It simply says he was a good man. Barnabas had established a name for himself as someone who could be trusted, as someone who was trustworthy. What about you? Did the people that you rubbed shoulders with day in and day out, would they define you that way? They said, oh yeah, he's a trustworthy individual. I trust him. Later in the same chapter of the church at Antioch called, they collected an offering to give to the church in Jerusalem to help them through some difficult times they were going through and they needed someone to transport to take the offering to them. So once again, who do they call upon? They call upon Barnabas to do the job. Then later in Acts chapter 15, we read there was a theological debate that arose in the church. The church needed somebody trustworthy to handle this situation. Who did they call? They call Barnabas. His fellow believers knew they could depend on him to help settle these issues. They knew that he was reliable

and they knew that he was trustworthy. And then later when revival broke out in Antioch, the church in Jerusalem heard that the Gentiles were coming to Christ and they wanted to know, is this revival legit? Is this the real thing? So once again, they said, let's send Barnabas to check it out. Why? Because they knew they could trust him. They knew they could take him at his word. Listen guys, if you wanna make a difference in your world, then just know that, listen to this, please, just know that character always comes before competency. I can teach a person to do a job. I can help them to be competent, but I can't help them with character. Character always comes before competence. Character always comes before influence. You must build a reputation of being trustworthy and honest before people hear me before people are gonna rely on you. People are not gonna rely on you, depend on you if they don't trust you. We also saw it earlier in Acts chapter nine. This is a great story. Saul was traveling with the authority. Remember this? Saul, who soon would be called Paul, but Saul was traveling with authority

to have Christians put to death. He's on his way to Damascus when God knocks him off his high horse. He blinds him and then he says to him in Acts chapter nine, he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? So the soldiers traveling with him lead him on, they take him by the arm, they lead him to Damascus. And the Lord tells Ananias about Saul in verse 11. The Lord said, go over to straight street to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He's praying to me right now. But Ananias, he's skeptical because Paul's reputation of killing Christian was well known and it's kind of like, I don't trust this dude. I don't think so God and God's telling you need to do this. Verse 15. But the Lord said, go. For Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings as well as to the people of Israel. So Ananias obeys God, he goes and he finds Saul and he prays for him. And God heals his eyes, he heals Saul's eyes and Saul now becomes Paul. He begins to share his story in synagogues. But the people were skeptical. It's like, I don't think so, I don't trust this guy.

This guy's put some of my friends in prison. I don't trust this guy because he has a reputation. The Jews were making plans, so therefore the Jews are making plans to kill Saul. But he learns of their plan and he escapes by being Lord in a basket through the opening in a wall. He then travels, he goes on and he travels to Jerusalem, and he tries to join up with the apostles. I'm sure he's thinking, well, at least the apostles will accept me and take me in. But they were just as skeptical as everybody else. They were afraid of him. I mean, again, this is the guy that thrown people in prison. This is the guy that gave the permission for Stephen to be stoned and martyred for his fight. So no one is ready to trust him. But everyone trusted Barnabas. In Acts chapter nine, this is when Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe he had truly become a believer. Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus and how the Lord had spoken to Saul. He also told them that Saul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus in Damascus. So Saul stayed with the apostles and went all around Jerusalem with them preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.

So Saul tries to share his story with the apostles and they're like, I don't think so. There is no way we trust you. And then Barnabas steps up and says, "Guys, you can trust him." He really did have an experience with the Lord because Barnabas had been proven trustworthy. So they trusted what he's telling them about Saul. Again, what about you? Are you trustworthy? If you went to defend somebody would people believe you because they know you tell the truth? Do people take you at your word? Are you the kind of person that's known to keep his promises and to tell the truth? When you say you're gonna do something, are you the type of person that follows through? Are you the same person and private that you are in public? Listen friends, in a world where promises are broken so easily, trust where the people shine like lights in a dark room. And yet, let me just say this. You don't build that kind of trust in a day. You build that kind of trust over a lifetime of honesty, over a lifetime of walking faithfully with Jesus. So there's one more character trait that I want you to see in people with the gift of encouragement. And that is people with the gift of encouragement will always see the best in others. You know, there's two different examples or two different times in scripture

that we find him standing beside other people when they needed a friend. The first time we just talked about, we just read about that. And that was at the conversion of Saul who would eventually be known as Paul. As I said earlier, there were many people that were skeptical of his conversion, but Barnabas always tried to see the good in others. And he stood beside Paul when he needed a friend. Well, there was another time that Barnabas encouraged someone and that was with a young man by the name of John Mark. John Mark was zealous as a believer, but he was very young. He was already traveling with Paul and Barnabas in ministry. But then there was this division concerning John Mark. In Acts chapter 15, he says, "After some time Paul said to Barnabas, "Let's go back and visit each city "where we previously preached the word of the Lord "to see how the new believers are doing." Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark, but Paul disagreed strongly. Since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work, their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus. Paul chose Silas and as he left the believers and trusted him to the Lord's gracious care. We don't know exactly what happened that upset Paul so much about John Mark,

but whatever it was, he didn't watch John Mark traveling with him. Some believe it was because he was so young and immature, maybe he was a bit of a mama's boy, we really don't know. Paul was adamant that they weren't gonna take John Mark and it caused a rift between Paul and Barnabas. So much so, they decide to split up. They're getting ready for their second missionary journey and they decide to go separate ways, separate directions. But guys, that's really the point I'm trying to make. Encouragers like Barnabas have a way of seeing the best in people. They have a way of seeing other people the way that God sees them. Paul, I believe this kid has a great deal of potential. So I'm going to take him with me." So basically Barnabas is saying, "John Mark, I just want you to know that I've got your back." The same way he said it to Paul just a few years earlier. And of course, because of his encouragement, think about this, because of Barnabas' encouragement, John Mark would one day become a leader in the early church and would eventually do what? He would eventually write the Gospel of Mark. In fact, we later see that Paul changes his mind about this kid. 2 Timothy chapter 4, "Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry." That's the type of encouragement that all of us need to be showing. Somebody once said that, "Encourages are a lot like God's jumper cables for the church. If you've ever had a dead battery in your car, you know, the short-term solution is for another car to pull up alongside your car and to hook up a set of jumper cables." Well, guys, that's what encouragement does. It comes alongside another person, and words of encouragement become like a jumper cable. It motivates them to move forward. I love this quote from author Wilford Peterson.

It says, "Words of encouragement fan the spark of genius into the flame of achievement." One of the most powerful things that we can do, bar none, is just encourage someone. And here's the thing, every one of us in this room can do it. You can't use the excuse, "Well, I'm not gifted enough." Every one of us can speak words of encouragement. It doesn't take any special skill. It's just looking for ways to lift people up. I love this statement Florence Litour makes in her book Silver Boxes, The Gift of Encouragement. She says this, "Do you know someone who has a strong weight? Do you know someone who has a song waiting to be sung? Some aren't waiting to be hung. A piece waiting to be played. A scene waiting to be staged. A table waiting to be told. A book waiting to be sold. A rhyme waiting to be read. A speech waiting to be said. If you do, don't let them die with a music still in them. Encourage them to be all that God made them to be. Guys, I just want to challenge every one of you in this room. To think of one person in your life right now that needs to be encouraged. And I would imagine that right now as I'm saying that, a name is in your head. You're thinking of a spouse, of a friend, a co-worker, somebody that's discouraged for one reason or another. And I just want you this week to be determined and make up your mind that I'm going to encourage somebody. I'm going to find somebody that is discouraged and I'm going to speak some words into their life that will encourage them. Someone that needs me to come alongside them. Maybe they need a prayer or an email. Maybe you need to take them to lunch or just sit down and listen. I challenge you this week, encourage that person. But on the flip side, maybe it's you.

Maybe you're the one that needs encouraged. Maybe you're the one that's discouraged. You see, sometimes guys, our worst critic is staring back at us in the mirror. You know, maybe you've looked at your reflection and you've said some of the cruelest things. You feel worthless. Why do I even try? I fail at everything I touch. I'm not sure that God even cares about me anymore, friends. Please hear me. That is not the way God sees you. Josh Wilson wrote a song called "How Loved You Are." I want to play it for you. I want you to watch the screen, the images, but I also want you to listen to the words of the song. There's so many lines. I would love to quote back, but I love the line. It said, "What would Jesus do if he heard me talking to me like I do?" I've said to you so many times throughout the years that you basically will hear three voices in your life. You hear your own consciousness. You hear the whispers of the Holy Spirit and you hear the lies of the enemy. Jesus made it very clear to us that Satan is a liar who's out to steal, kill, and destroy. And again, I think his most used tool in his toolbox is discouragement. and some friends this morning, I just want to remind you. Please, with every head bow. He loves you more than you could ever begin to imagine and he has a purpose and a plan for your life. How many of you this morning I want to pray for you. How many of you this morning would raise a hand up and say pastor I'm discouraged today. Just raise it up, lift it up. I'm discouraged today. I've been discouraged maybe for a while, maybe for a long time. Whatever reason, maybe just in the last couple days, whatever reason, just raise your hands up. It doesn't feel like anyone cares. Maybe if you're around that person and you know they're discouraged, just reach over and put a hand on their

arm. I'm gonna pray for them. You know they're discouraged. Just reach over and put a hand on their arm. Father, I just want to pray for each person to raise their hand today. God, I don't know what burdens that they're carrying. I don't know what is heavy on their heart that others might not see. I don't know what their disappointments are. I don't know what their prayers that haven't been answered are. I don't know what their wounds that are not healed but God you know all about it. God, I pray for those that have questions with no easy answers and I'm asking your God that you'd help them to see that they're not forgotten. God, those that have heavy hearts, I just pray today that you would be their comfort. I pray for those that feel weak in faith that you would be their strength. I pray for those who are confused that you would be their guide. Help them to know, dear Lord, that you have not forgotten them and in this painful moment of their life, this time of discouragement, help them to know that their story is not over. You're still writing their story. Give them grace and courage to trust you and they can't see what lies ahead. Surround them. O God with your presence. Help them to know, dear Lord, that at our darkest moments you're still there. Again, help them to know they matter to you. Thank you Jesus. We love you and we praise you. We just ask it all and the name of your son Jesus. Amen.