PW Conference Session 2: Acts 9:26-28

Pinewood Conference: I Believe In You

Question:

1. What could happen if we chose to believe in someone that everyone else has given up on?
2. What if we chose to open a door for someone that everyone else is closing?
3. Or even crazier, what if you put your stamp of approval on someone everyone else is afraid of?

There’s something so powerful when one person says “I believe in you.” That’s it.

Question: Has anyone ever stood in the gap for you? Opened doors for you that otherwise wouldn’t have been opened?

Story: Todd Cox opening the door for me at Long Hollow

Passage: Acts 9:26-28 CSB

“When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, since they did not believe he was a disciple. Barnabas, however, took him and brought him to the apostles and explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. Saul was coming and going with them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.”

Pray:

Background:

Saul had recently made a RADICAL conversion. Prior to this moment, Scripture says that Saul was “eager to kill the Lord’s followers.” Whoa! He was a Pharisee among Pharisees. Well studied in the law and religious practices of the day.

On the road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to Saul and spoke to him. Jesus then made Saul blind for three days, only so that he might truly see for the first time. A brave soul named Ananias came and healed his blindness and spoke truth over his life.

“So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.”

‭‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭9:17-18‬ NLT

After preaching in Damascus he left for Jerusalem. The believers in Jerusalem were afraid of him. Very afraid.

Title: I Believe In You.

What could happen if we chose to believe in someone that everyone else has given up on?

Main Principle:

1. He believed in Saul before anyone else in Jerusalem
   1. “When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, since they did not believe (They didn’t believe) he was a disciple. Barnabas, however…”

   2. Illust: Let’s make it real talk. You’re known for being rowdy, aggressive, and a little bit of a wild card. You’ve built this reputation up with lots of late nights, crazy fights, and being less than honorable with members of the opposite sex.

      1. Fast forward to your Damascus Road moment and you try to walk into your local church where everyone knows you well. Maybe a little too well. As they say “your reputation precedes you.” People give you the “prove that this is legit.” Then the pastor comes up and affirms your transformation publicly before the haters. Things would change right? There would be a drastic shift. You go from shame and fear to fame and favor.

         3. I believe in you = Empowerment:

      2. If you want to become a successful leader then you have to understand the principle of empowerment. The only way to make yourself indispensable is to make yourself dispensable. The more you endorse & empower others and help them develop the more valuable you become in any organization.

      3. The same is true in the local church. We can easily stake our positions in the church and then try to protect our territory. But we are called to something so much more. We are called to something bigger than us. :)

      4. Barnabas was an encourager and empowerer. He never wasted an opportunity to build people up and add value to them.

         4. See the value in a dollar:

      5. The value of this dollar is predetermined. I can stomp on it, spit on it, I can even throw it in the trash, but then when I pull it back out, how much is it worth?

      6. Empowering leaders see the value in others even though the exterior is a little tattered. Even though the road to get here has been paved with fear, pain, and hatred.

      7. We often devalue ourselves as well, am I right? I’m too word to be used, my past is too ugly, my abilities are less than impressive… YOU’RE WRONG!!! YOU ARE BRAVE, YOU ARE STRONG, YOU ARE CHOSEN, YOU ARE ANOINTED, YOU ARE HAND SELECTED BY GOD FOR A PURPOSE, YOU HAVE THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD LIVING INSIDE OF YOU! STAND UP, RECEIVE YOUR TITLE AS A CHILD OF GOD AND LETS GO!!!!!

         5. Be bold, be the first to believe:

      8. It’s easy to step up and show your support to someone that is controversial or that has a past AFTER everyone else has given their support. But it’s another thing to be the first to step up and believe in someone.

      9. It’s also easy to show your support to someone that has a long track record of success. When you know it’s going to be the biggest win, who wouldn’t want to be the first to step up and show their support.
      10. To be an empowering leader means you have to be willing to take a chance on people.
      11. You have to be able to see the potential in people that nobody else sees and speak that potential over their lives.
      12. This is a risk because what if that person lets you down. What if that person doesn’t come through. The process is your responsibility, not the results! You could be responsible for inspiring a new leader to rise up and achieve more than ever thought possible. A rising leader never forgets the first person that believed in them.

      13. He endorsed Saul’s leadership to other leaders

          1. “Barnabas, however, took him and brought him to the apostles and explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus.”
          2. Can you imagine the apostles’ perspective of what was going on in this moment? Here you have the man that stood by and approved the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr and now is claiming to be a supporter of Christianity.
          3. Here comes Barnabas with Saul showing up at a gathering with Peter and the other apostles and I can imagine the silence that fell over the room. This was the moment that Barnabas spoke on Saul's behalf. Saul didn’t have to say a word. It was the character and reputation of Barnabas that opened the door for Saul to be accepted by the apostles and the church.
          4. There’s 2 points that I’d like to make about this interaction..

      14. First, empowerers work hard to maintain a reputation that is known for integrity and transparency. When someone untrustworthy speaks on someone else’s behalf it doesn’t carry much weight, but when someone of good character speaks, people listen.

      15. Second, empowerers are aware of their ability to open doors for others by leveraging their credibility. It’s not enough to just have a good name. You must leverage what you have for the better of others and the glory of God.

      16. He empowered Saul to reach his potential

          1. “Saul was coming and going with them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.”
          2. I believe that when someone is empowered, then they are given an opportunity to reach their full potential. The contrary is also true, that when people are not empowered then there are barriers created within the organization that hinder both personal and numerical growth.
          3. Paul and Barnabas worked side by side for years, even though they later parted ways over John Mark (Acts 15:36-40). After Barnabas endorsed Saul it allowed him to teach and debate freely throughout Jerusalem.
          4. A while later, Barnabas was assigned to help the church in Antioch and he reconnected with Saul, who was now named Paul. It was that action that empowered Saul to take his first assignment as a leader.
          5. Key Statement: To be an empowering leader you have to do more than just believe in someone, you have to come alongside them and help them become the leader you believe them to be.
          6. If you do this right then you will have the joy and privilege in watching that leader grow and make a greater impact than you could have ever made alone.
          7. When you empower other leaders you are not only helping others reach their full potential, but you are helping the organization as a whole make a greater impact and develop future empowering leaders.
          8. Because Barnabas was an empowering leader we have:

      17. “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.” - Romans 10:9-10

      18. “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” - Romans 10:15
      19. “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” - 1 Corinthians 11:26
      20. “Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, 5 is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. 6 Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
      21. 8 Love never ends.” - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
      22. He made the one who did not know sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
      23. “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body,[a] I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” - Galatians 2:20
      24. “For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.” - Galatians 5:1
      25. “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—9 not from works, so that no one can boast.” - Ephesians 2:8-9
      26. “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” - Philippians 1:21
      27. “ I am able to do all things through him[a] who strengthens me.” - Philippians 4:13
      28. “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:6-7
      29. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has[a] come!” - 2 Corinthians 5:17

Closing: What could happen if we chose to believe in someone everyone else has given up on?

Question: Who in your life needs to hear “I believe in you.”

Walking Points: *Keep these points simple and brief

1. Let’s be known as an empowering people. A church that doesn’t find a position and stake their claim, but a church that is constantly identifying and developing new leaders to take our place.

   1. You are important, you are valued, now go make someone else feel that way.

   2. Let’s be a church that sees the potential in people. Not only sees the potential, but speaks up on their behalf. “Barnabas brought and explained…” Let’s stand up for people and leverage our credibility for their benefit, their growth, and for God’s glory.

   3. A people of honor look to the potential in people, not their problems. They look to their future, not their past, not their present.

   4. Finally, let’s be a church that walks alongside one another for the long haul and presses in to make one another better. Remember, believing in someone is great, but helping them become all God has created them to be is much better.

   5. Since none of us have arrived, we get to elevate people, lift people, and more importantly empower people.