Nicknamed

Every Wednesday, we review the previous weekend’s message. This past weekend, I talked about the life of Barnabas and our need to encourage others. We looked at several scenes where he encouraged others ... Peter and James in Acts 9:26-27; Luke and Saul in Acts 11:19-26; and Mark in Acts 13:4-5,13; Acts 15:36-39 ... but I wanted to focus on the two verses that introduced him.


Acts 4
36 For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means “Son of Encouragement”). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus.
37 He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles.


Nicknamed. Every once in a while, it is good to step back and honestly evaluate our life. Here is a unique way to do it. If I surveyed the five people that knew you best, what one word would they use to summarize you ... to “nickname” you? For Barnabas, it was the word “encouragement”. What word would you want it to be? What do you need to do to maintain (change) that nickname?