Time with Abba, Singing Praising 親親爸父，唱詩歌頌 : DAY 392 - Come forward to Be Barnabas (請按此處收聼廣東話Cantonese podcast click here)

Saturday, June 15, 2013

DAY 392 - Come forward to Be Barnabas (請按此處收聼廣東話Cantonese podcast click here)

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Today's Reading: Acts 11:19-30

** If you would like to learn a simple and good way of Daily Devotion method please read my “Count Down 5” from my Devotion on Fire blog:

http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html .

To use this simple and good way of Daily Devotion method please click this link:

Subject Shifting Devotion.pdf.

Please click this link to read Acts 11:19-30

English(ESV): http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts 11&version=ESV
Chinese: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts 11&version=CUV

Bible Study

This passage tells us the importance of Barnabas in the Early Church and how Christians are being called Christians because of him.

N.T. Wright's says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N._T._Wright):

N.T. Wright. Acts for Everyone, Part 1. Louisville,KY:Westminster John Knox Press, 2008, p.174.

Luke did not mention what Barnabas actually did in Antioch. What Luke mentions is that Barnabas and Saul stayed in Antioch "with the church and taught great numbers of people" for a whole year. And Luke tells us the fruit of that one whole year: The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

How lovely and glorious could that be if other people, Christians and non-Christians describes the brothers and sisters from your church, "They are really good Christians."

Are you being described as a good Christian?

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage of scripture we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU

Spiritual Journal

What I heard from Jesus today is: Come forward to be Barnabas

What I got from Jesus is an invitation to you for coming forward to be Barnabas. What is that? Follow Barnabas good examples:
1. Be a good and faithful disciple of Jesus and being filled with the Holy Spirit
2. Have the gift of discernment to know where God is working and join in.
3. Always spotting someone God prepared for him to mentor and be willing to spent time to train his trainees(Saul/Paul and John Mark).
4. Be willing to participate in team ministry as in teaching, preaching and training. A whole year in Antioch.

Today Jesus leads me to think of our English ministry. For many years Richmond Emmanuel Church was lack of faith to hire a full time Youth Pastor because we thought we did not have enough money. We did that 2 1/2 years ago and employed Pastor Josh Siu from Toronto. At the same time God gave us two young adults to go to Regent College. I led them to attend the Holy Trinity Church Brompton Leadership Conference in London, May 2011 and they were being fired up, formed a powerful team ministry starting with the three of them and now trained 12 young adults to be leaders. At last, we are having a vibrant English worship with more than 40 to 50 English speaking people each Sunday. Who are the Barnabas? First it was our Pastoral team, Rev. Eliza Poon, Jim kelly(at that time English Ministry in-charge and now Children ministry in-charge) and me. Then Josh training Ignatius and Damon(our two Regent students), then Josh, Ignatius and Damon training 12 other young adults. See the picture of our English Worship just two weeks ago. Now we have the English worship on the second floor with almost a full house worship of 40 to 50 people. Then at the same time(11 a.m.) we have our Cantonese Worship in the Sanctuary with around 300 and a 8:30a.m. Cantonese worship of around 60.

When you look at those pictures, don't forget that that is a very, very hard work starting from Jim and me five years ago. We had around 10 to 15 for the first three years. We did not give up, praying and discerning where was God working, changing our service time from Sunday 5p.m., to 4:30p.m. to 2:30p.m. then now 11a.m. Really a long and winding road! We have made lots of mistakes but we dared to make those mistakes and now we have at last a breakthrough! What's the key of our breakthrough? Jesus told me today that it is because we have lots of Barnabas!

Yes, come forward to be Barnabas!