Note: This day (Thursday, June 11, 2026) marks the minor festival of the church year for Saint Barnabas, Apostle. The following is a devotion from Richard E. Lauersdorf’s With Our Eyes on Jesus.
“Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord” (Acts 11:20-24).
To what kind of congregation do you belong?
A big one steeped in years of history or a small one just starting out? One in the Midwest where our synod is well known or one out in the coastal areas where WELS (Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod) means nothing? One worshiping in an impressive facility or one meeting in temporary quarters?
It doesn’t really matter much, does it? The more important question is, What do we want our congregations to be? Let’s take a look at the congregation in Antioch, where Barnabas worked, and find some answers.
One growing in God’s Word
What did Barnabas find when he arrived in Antioch? News had filtered back to the mother church in Jerusalem about this young congregation, composed of Jewish Christians whom persecution had scattered from Jerusalem and of Greek converts with whom they had shared their faith in their newfound home. Of course, the mother church was vitally interested. For the congregation at Antioch was the first major attempt at bringing “the good news about the Lord Jesus” to non-Jews. So Barnabas was sent to take a look.
The first thing Barnabas noted was “evidence of the grace of God.” He looked beyond the growing number of Christians in Antioch to what had made them such. It was God’s grace, his undeserved favor, that had sent the Savior for them and then also the Spirit to bring them to faith in the Savior. What a pastoral heart Barnabas had to note not just the numbers but God’s grace behind them.
What else did Barnabas find in the Antioch congregation?
Obviously, congregation members who were interested in learning more about their salvation. So Barnabas, aided by Paul, worked in their midst a full year, teaching them and “encourag[ing] them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.”
Again, what a pastoral heart Barnabas had, one that yearned to lead people even closer to Jesus and that knew how to do it, through patient instruction in God’s Word. Also, what a congregation that was, one eager to follow their leader into the Word. As always, the Lord had chosen the right man for this new mission field, big-hearted Barnabas, whose name means “son of encouragement.” Also as always, the Lord’s blessings followed as these new Christians were fed with the Word.
What would Barnabas find if he were to visit our congregations?
Hopefully, Christians who are eager for the Word. Christians who say to their pastor, “Come on, feed us, not just with the minimum calories necessary but with as many as possible in as many ways as possible.” Christians whose homes are miniature churches where the Bread of Life is sliced thickly each day for themselves and their families. Christians who want to grow in God’s Word, beginning with me!
One going with God’s Word
Barnabas found something else in that Antioch congregation. He found believers vitally interested in sharing “the good news about the Lord Jesus.” Growing in God’s Word oneself and then going with that Word to others are inseparably linked. The more hearts grow in faith and knowledge of the only Savior, the more they yearn to share this treasure.
Those Jewish refugees from Jerusalem had carried God’s Word with them, not just so they could still have it, but so they might share it with others. When in Antioch they reached out to others with that saving Word, it was not just to their own kind, but to the Gentiles, something almost unheard of at that time. Jesus died for all, and those who have Jesus reach out to all, regardless of how similar or dissimilar they may be.
What would Barnabas find if he were to visit our congregations?
Hopefully, ones that are on fire with desire to go out with God’s Word. The sign at the exit from the parking lot of one of our churches in Florida said simply, “You are entering the mission field.”
What a reminder!
Our congregations are not some kind of bunker in which we hunker down for safety but substations to power us for our mission. Just as in Antioch, our congregations are there to help us grow in God’s Word so that we might go out with God’s Word. Also just as in Antioch, our communities are increasingly composed of people who are different from us.
So what? Souls come in only two kinds. Either they are dirtied by sin’s curse and are being consumed by death’s gangrene, or they are cleansed and healed by the blood of the Lamb. What we do with God’s Word makes the difference! Only the Holy Spirit, as he did in Antioch, can bring sinners to faith, but this he does through “the good news about the Lord Jesus.” And that good news he has placed into our hands.
What do we want our congregations to be? Please, Lord, let them be growing in your Word and then going with your Word, beginning with me.
Prayer:
Oh, teach us, Lord, that we may teach the precious truths which you impart,
(Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal 561:3,4)
And wing our words that they may reach the hidden depths of many a heart.
Oh, fill us with your fullness, Lord, until our very hearts o’erflow
In kindling thought and glowing word your love to tell, your praise to show.
Amen.
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Want to learn more about the minor festivals of the church year? Beloved NPH author Richard E. Lauersdorf’s With Our Eyes on Jesus contains 35 excellent devotions, including the one you just read, based on what Scripture says about the saints and their connection to the Savior to remind believers of God’s amazing grace.
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