Epaggelia

Barnabas & Silas were examples of the kind of Christians God want us to see Christ in. They help beautify and strengthen Christ’s family. The Apostles and Elders of the early church needed Leaders who could help them make the message of Christ come alive in the community by working with the church in performing good deeds which physically helped move a spiritual message and Kingdom, See Acts 15:22, “ Then the apostles, the elders, and the whole church decided to choose some of their men to send with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. These were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, who were leaders among the brothers. The leadership of Barnabas & Silas doesn’t mean they were appointed to a public office in the church, like Apostles, Elders and Evangelists, holding scriptural criteria and qualifying marks of character like them, but it does mean they were recognized by the church as multiplying their talents which God used to put them in a ministry leadership position, “among brothers”. Every congregation of the Lord’s Family needs brothers who will lead in support of evangelism!

Problems can arise, which should be expected, and with love & patience, we will see solutions and blessings, if we follow Christ and prayerfully help grow the fruit of the Spirit. Paul had a problem with Mark, which seems awful in the moment, but later blessed the church as a whole, because Barnabas showed Paul how to treat Mark who was struggling with a problem, which Paul didn’t know how to deal with, see Acts 15:37-40, “Barnabas wanted to take along John, who was called Mark, but Paul did not think it was right to take along the man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and who had not gone with them into the work. The disagreement was so sharp that they parted ways. Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus, while Paul chose Silas and left after the brothers had entrusted him to the grace of the Lord.” Every congregation will have family problems that they don’t know how to deal with, we simply need love & patience to help us grow in the grace & knowledge of Christ to find the solution, see 2nd Timothy 4:11 & Colossians 4:10

When persecution arises against the church, our Leaders need support. Silas was a supporting leader that suffered alongside the Apostle Paul, See Acts 16:22 & 25 “The crowd joined in the attack against them. Then the magistrates had Paul and Silas stripped of their clothes and ordered them beaten with rods.…around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them”. God uses leaders to keep the church encouraged through persecution. Praise has been used by God during war, with great success for centuries and will continue in us and in our children, King Jehoshaphat saw it in 2^nd Chron. 20:1-29, being one of many incidents of praise used in victory against God’s enemies. Joshua saw it, Deborah saw it and David did too, 1^st Kings 1:5-53. Today the church sees, feels and experiences personal problems which bring great pain to us. The influence of the Devil in the world does this to us, sin is very real in the world we live in. Without the example and power of praise in the lives of leaders, we will weaken, fall and fail to stand-fast in the good fight of overcoming evil with good. The Christian soldier’s description begins with “TRUTH” and ends with “PRAYER”, Ephesians 6:10-18. Keep praising Him who upholds us, Colossians 3:15-17. Every congregation should have leaders who are skilled in praise & encouragement like Silas & Barnabas, they are needed! Without them, we are in danger, believe it and praise God with them in order to be more than a conqueror, Romans 8:37.