People of the Bible: Barnabas

Who was Barnabas?

Barnabas was not one of Jesus’s twelve disciples, but he did play a major role in the New Testament and early church. We first see Barnabas in Acts 4 where he had sold everything he had and gave it to the disciples so they could use it for ministry. It was clear from early on that Barnabas was all in for God and willing to do whatever God led him to.

After this, we eventually see Barnabas team up with Paul on missionary journeys. They would go far and wide preaching and teaching the good news of Jesus. They would travel and establish churches for all the people that put their faith in Jesus. Barnabas played a critical role in these endeavors because he was a great encourager. Barnabas was not even his real name. He was given this name as a nickname. Barnabas means “Son of Encouragement”, and the other apostles gave him this name based on his heart to give and serve others continuously. Without men and women like Barnabas, ministry would not be possible.

Throughout his life, Barnabas served and led in different situations. While he was with Paul, he served as an encourager and a helper. After he and Paul parted ways, John Mark joined Barnabas. In this situation Barnabas served as more of a leader / mentor. Based on the circumstances, Barnabas could take a step back and help, or step up and lead, but he was always encouraging. He gave his entire life towards serving God. It shows us that we can be useful in any situation and should always keep a servant's heart.

It is no coincidence that the Holy Spirit is often described as a comforter, encourager, or a helper. These are things that everyone needs, and people like Barnabas are a joy to be around. We should learn from Barnabas and seek to encourage the people around us to be everything God wants them to be.

Service to men and to God is a vital part of human existence. Having a humble heart helps us encourage and serve other people. We see this clearly with Barnabas, but even more so with Jesus. Jesus came to earth not to be served as a king, but to serve as a servant. He gave his life as a sacrifice so that anyone who would believe in him would have eternal life. If the son of God was called to serve other people, surely we are too.

Key Takeaways:

• Be Encouraging

• Help Someone Else

• Live for God

Parents, 3treesKIDS will also be learning about Barnabas this Sunday, both in-person and online.

Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.

To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.

People of the Bible: Philip

Who was Philip?

The Philip in Acts 8 is not Philip the apostle. Because they have the same name, they often get confused. However, this passage is telling the story of Philip the evangelist. Here we see Philip being led by the Spirit to go and help an influential Ethiopian man understand the Old Testament.

The Ethiopian was traveling back from worshipping in Jerusalem when God told Philip to go walk by this man’s cart. As he was walking, Philip could hear the man reading from the book of Isaiah. Philip asked the man if he knew what he was reading and the man said that he didn’t. He then invited Philip to interpret the passage for him.

Philip explained the passage in the light of Jesus. He showed that man that everything in the Old Testament pointed to a Savior and that Savior was Jesus. The Ethiopian was convinced and he put his faith in Jesus. Philip had talked to him about baptism, and after the Ethiopian put his faith in Jesus he wanted to be baptized as well.

While they were riding along the road, the Ethiopian saw a body of water and asked if he could be baptized. So, Philip baptized the man and he went on his way rejoicing because of his salvation.

In this passage, we learn how vitally important it is to follow the Holy Spirit’s lead. The Holy Spirit knows everyone’s needs before we ever could. The Holy Spirit knew the Ethiopian man was curious and needed the Scriptures interpreted. Philip listened to the Spirit and it resulted in a man being saved. The same Holy Spirit is speaking to us today. The Spirit wants to do these same types of things through us, and he will if we follow his direction.

Another thing we learn is that Jesus is the figure being pointed to in all of Scripture. The Ethiopian was having a hard time finding out what the passage in Isaiah was talking about but Philip told him about Jesus. By knowing that Jesus is the Messiah, we can read all of Scripture and see him appear time and time again.

Finally, we learn that salvation brings rejoicing. The man was filled with joy that he had been shown the way to Jesus. When we accept Jesus as God’s son who died on the cross for our sins we can experience this same joy. We also have the opportunity to share the good news about Jesus with others so they can rejoice too.

Key Takeaways:

• The Holy Spirit Leads Us

• Jesus is the Good News

• Salvation Brings Rejoicing

Parents, 3treesKIDS will also be learning about Philip this Sunday, both in-person and online.

Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.

To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.

People of the Bible: Peter

Who was Peter?

As we learned in the disciples’ overview a few weeks ago, Peter was one of Jesus’s closest disciples. But that doesn’t mean that Peter was better than the other disciples or that he didn’t mess up as much. In fact, when we look in the Bible at the life of Peter we see that at times, he messed up pretty bad.

One of these examples comes from a well-known story of Jesus. Late one night, the disciples were in a boat and it was storming. They were afraid of the storm but when they looked out they saw something walking on the water. At first, they thought it was a ghost, but when it got closer they realized that it was Jesus and he was walking on top of the water.

Peter asked Jesus if it was really him to call him out on the water too. So Jesus calls Peter out onto the water and he begins to walk on it too. However, before long, Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and started to fear the storm again. When he took his eyes off Jesus he began to sink, but Jesus caught him and put him back in the boat.

We learn from this story how important it is to put our faith in Jesus and to keep our eyes on him. But we also learn that if and when we mess up, Jesus will always be there to pick us up.

Another account from Peter’s life is his denial of Jesus. Before Jesus was taken away to be crucified Peter told him that he would never leave him. But Jesus knew this wasn’t the truth. Jesus told him that he would leave him and even deny him 3 times before the night was over. Peter did not believe it at first, but before the night ended he had done exactly what Jesus said he would do. As anybody would be, Peter was extremely disappointed in himself.

Thankfully, however, that is not where Peter’s story ends. After Jesus’s resurrection, Peter gets to reunite with Jesus. And after Jesus ascended into heaven Peter became one of the biggest figures in the early church. He preached to thousands of people and talked about Jesus everywhere he went. In Acts, we see that Peter was bold in the way he proclaimed the good news about Jesus. Fear and doubt controlled him early on, but faith replaced those feelings and that gave him a boldness that led many people to Jesus.

Peter is one of the most well-known disciples, but he still messed up a lot. That is encouraging for us because we mess up a lot too. However, Jesus is always there for us. He is always there to pick us up, even if we have turned our backs on him. The key is putting our faith in him and allowing him to put a boldness inside of us that will urge us to testify about everything he has done for us.

Key Takeaways:

• Keep your eyes on Jesus

• Jesus helps us even when we fail

• Jesus gives us boldness

• Everyone Needs JESUS

Parents, 3treesKIDS will also be learning about Peter this Sunday, both in-person and online.

Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.

To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.