Being A Godly Partner In The Ministry

Lessons from the life of Barnabas

Text: Acts 4:36

I. INTRO
Read “successful co-founders and why their partnerships worked” article
It’s amazing how great things you can accomplish when you have a reliable partner with you.
In the Bible, one of most probably greatest partnerships we can see is the partnership
between Paul and Barnabas.
Barnabas is not a person you notice that much in the Bible
Barnabas’ basic info in Acts 4:36
Today, we will learrn about how to be a ministry partner just like how Barnabas became a
partner with the apostle Paul.

II. CHARACTERISTICS OF BARNABAS ON BEING A MINISTRY PARTNER

A Partner in the minisry:
1) Uplifts others (Acts 9:27-30)
Read from v.26 throughout v.30
Have you ever experienced a time when nobody believed in you? (Read v.26).
It’s disheartening and even causes you to give-up. Paul indeed experienced it and he is
still a new believer. Of all the people that did not believe on him it has to be the disciples
(the church).
In v.27, Barnabas took Paul, and brought him to the apostles and he uplifted him in front
of everybody. This verse is the only the second time that his name was ever mentioned in
the Bible.
Barnabas believed in Paul when others did not. As fellow believers, let us learn to believe
in others. Nothing is more encouraging when a person believes in you and uplifts you in
front of others. When people puts your brother/sister down, defend him/her. When
people talks negative things about your brother/sister, disagree with them and uplift
your brother/sister even when he/she is absent.
2) Is an encourager (Acts 9:31; 11:23-24)
Can you imagine a ministry partner who is a discourager? Whenever you want to do
something for the work of the Lord, he/she does not believe and even discourages you
from doing it.
In Acts 9:31, his declaration of Paul’s work encoureged the entire church. We can see in
the verse that it even led to converts in the church! In Acts 11:23, He encouraged the
brethren to cleave (stick) unto the Lord.
As ministers, we should also learn to be an encourager. It could mean a lot to someone
because we don’t know what they are going through. Encourage them to stick to the
Lord. To focus on serving God. We are not pleasing men, but we are pleasing God.
Colossians 3:23 – “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto
men;”. Don’t be a discourager, be an encourager.
3) Rejoices in the ministry (Acts 11:23)
Read from v.19-23.
When Barnabas saw the fruits of the ministry, he was GLAD.
Do you rejoice when the church is being productive? Do you rejoice when people are
being witnessed? Are you glad when others are serving the Lord? You should be. It is
 hard to be a partner in the ministry when you yourself are NOT happy when others are
serving God. To be a a great ministry partner, you should be GLAD when others are in
service.
4) Considers his fellow laborers (Acts 11:25)
When Barnabas saw the ministry being productive, he thought of Paul. In the verse, we
can noice that he himself went to Tarsus and called him. He could have sent a messenger
or a brother to call him and go to Tarsus, but he did’nt. Instead, he diligently went to
Tarsus and called Paul himself. There are about 86.640 miles between Antioch and
Tarsus. About the distance between Baguio and Hundred Islands. Walking would take
about a day. He valued Paul and considered him to be a part of the ministry.
When someone wants to serve God in the ministry, we should be the ones to be
encouraging them to be involved and serve in the ministry.
5) Values the ministry (Acts 11:30; 15:26)
Read from Acts v.27, The Bible says that they have been sent to be carriers of reliefs to
the elders in the church at Judaea. Not to preach, but merely distributors. Barnabas
surely knew it, but he still went and ministered anyway.
When it comes to the ministry of the Lord, nothing is great or small. Whether you sweep
the floor or you teach in Sunday school, it is still a service for the Lord. Whether you
preach the gospel or distribute reliefs, as long as you do it for the Lord, surely you will be
rewarded in heaven.
One way to reflect your value in the ministry is that you do it excellently. Do you think
when someone did a lousy job that they value their ministry?
6) Forgives the fault of others (Acts 15:36-38)
Read from v.36.
In this passages, we can see how Barnabas wanted to have John Mark with them but Paul
did’nt. Paul told Barnabas that John Mark did something wrong so he did’nt want him to
go with them. Surely Barnabas knew it as well, but he still DETERMINED to call John Mark
with them. This led to their separation of routes and Paul ended up taking Silas with him.
Even though John Mark did wrong to them, he still wanted to take John Mark. This shows
of how forgiving Barnabas is as a ministry partner. As ministers of Christ, let us also be
forgiving to others of their faults and mistakes and give them a chance to serve God in
the ministry.
Maybe one of the hindrances of serving God in His ministries in our full capacity is when
we have an unforgiving heart. Not forgiving others is really dangerous and might even
plant hatred in our hearts. Let us learn t overlook the flaws and faults of others and
rather look for what is that good in them and magnify them. To be a godly ministry
partner, we must not be a wall but rather be a bridge.
III. CONCLUSION
SUCCESSFUL CO-FOUNDERS AND WHY THEIR PARTNERSHIPS WORKED
https://www.businessinsider.com/10-successful-cofounders-and-why-their-partnerships-worked

Bill Gates and Paul Allen

Company:Microsoft
Year Founded: 1975
Although it can be dangerous to mix friendship and business, the two pulled it off thanks to a
shared obsession with computers and a passion for entrepreneurship.
Once Gates left for Harvard, Allen followed him to the Boston-area and they began plotting
business ideas. With Allen's encouragement, Gates took the plunge, dropped out of college, and
created Microsoft.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin

Company:Google
Year Founded:1998
Larry and Sergey met at Stanford's PhD program in 1995, but they did not instantly become friends.
During a campus tour for doctoral students, Brin was Page's guide-- and they bickered the entire
time. Despite their quarrel, the two found themselves working on a research project together.
Their paper, "The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine," became the basis
for Google.

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak

Company:Apple Inc.
Year Founded:1976
The two Steves became friends at a summer job in 1970. Woz was busy building a computer, and
Steve Jobs saw the potential to sell it. In a 2006 interview with the Seattle Times, Woz explained, "I
was just doing something I was very good at, and the thing that I was good at turned out to be the
thing that was going to change the world...Steve [Jobs] was much more further-thinking. When I
designed good things, sometimes he'd say, "We can sell this." And we did. He was thinking about
how you build a company, maybe even then he was thinking, "How do you change the world?"

Evan Williams and Biz Stone

Company:Twitter
Year Founded: 2006
Having both spent a decade in the blogging business, Stone and Williams are equally
knowledgeable about the platform. Williams realized Twitter's potential and entrusted Biz with the
micro-blogging site as a side project. Mutual respect, camaraderie and ambition have encouraged
the two to stick together and achieve business success.