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VPC 2.0 Daily Devotional-48

by David Joynt on November 20, 2020


ACTS 4:36 | 36 There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”).

 Finally, encouragement for the first Christians came from people who practiced it. Barnabas was named “son of encouragement,” first for his generosity. Later for his capacity to see the Spirit at work among Gentiles and his friendship with the persecutor-turned-preacher, Saul of Tarsus.

 Not everyone has every spiritual gift. That is why we are interdependent as a faith community. But everyone can exercise the gift of encouragement.

 Are you a daughter or son of encouragement?

 How do you exercise that gift?

 

Tags: encouragement, gift

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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