Luke tells us the story of Paul’s second and third missionary journeys in Acts 16-19, and he has primarily focused on Paul’s ministry to unbelievers. Now in chapter 20, as Paul’s third missionary journey comes to a close and he begins to head back to Jerusalem, he highlights Paul’s ministry to believers. Paul’s model for ministry always included both non-Christians and Christians.

Likewise, we should strive for a balance of sharing the gospel with unbelievers and ministering to believers. So, in today’s text Luke shows us two ways in which we minister to other Christians: encouragement and support. As Christians, it is our ministry to encourage and support other Christians.

1.) As Christians, it is our ministry to encourage other Christians. (1-3,7-12)
Paul had planned to leave for Macedonia and eventually head back to Jerusalem much sooner, but the riot in Ephesus held him up for a few months. Once the uproar had quieted down and the church was fairly stable, he felt like it was time to proceed with his original plan. Before leaving, he called for the disciples to gather so that he could say “Goodbye” and encourage them one last time. They had just been through a riot and were no doubt still facing the lingering effects of persecution. The Greek word translated her as “encouraging” is “parakaleo” which literally means to urge, console, comfort, and cheer up. It was vitally important to lift the spirits of these believers to help them keep the faith in the midst of darkness and difficulty.

Luke uses this same word “parakaleo” again in verse 2 in reference to Paul’s ministry to the churches in Macedonia and Greece. He shared “many words of encouragement to the people” because they were suffering in various ways. It was not popular to become a Christian in these cultural contexts. Conversion and baptism often invited harassment, abuse, and sometimes all-out persecution. These fledgling churches were small and new, and they needed all the encouragement they could get. In addition to verbal encouragement, we can assume that Paul encouraged them by simply spending time with them, praying with them, and sharing God’s word with them. The first time he entered these cities his goal was to evangelize non-believers; this time his goal was to encourage the believers.

In verse 12, he uses the word “parakaleo” one more time. The believers in Troas were greatly encouraged when Paul raised the young man Eutychus from the dead. This all happened one Sunday when Paul came together with the church at Troas to worship. They celebrated communion together and Paul preached. Since he was only going to be there for the day, their meeting continued throughout the day and even into the night.

Now even though there were many lamps all over the upstairs room where they were meeting, there was a young man named Eutychus who had heard enough of Paul’s preaching for one day, and somewhere around midnight he sunk into a deep sleep. It is bad enough that he fell asleep when listening to one of the greatest preachers in the history of the world, but what makes it even worse is that he fell sleep while reclining against a third story window. He fell the whole way to the ground and died. If there was any doubt that he really died, we must remember that our narrator, Luke, was a trained medical doctor. Surely, he confirmed the young man’s death.

Once the man was pronounced dead, Paul came down, embraced the man’s body, and miraculously brought him back to life. You would think that after such an occurrence they would have called it a night, but they took him back upstairs, gave him something to eat, and Paul picked up right where he left off and continued preaching to daylight. After Paul left and they took Eutychus home the whole church was encouraged by what they encountered.

Now before I apply this idea of encouraging other Christians, there is another important lesson to learn from this story: Don’t fall asleep in church! Now I know that it would be extremely difficult to imagine anyone falling asleep in any of my sermons; they are so interesting, inspiring, and invigorating, but I guess if someone could fall asleep during one of the Apostle Paul’s sermons, I guess it is possible for someone to fall asleep in one of mine.

But I want to give you all fair warning: If you do doze off, slouch down, bump your head off the pew, and fall over dead on the floor, don’t expect me to come running over to you, give you a hug, and bring you back to life. I don’t have the gift of healing like Paul, nor am I as compassionate as he was. There you have it: Consider yourself warned!

Well, we better get back to what this passage is really teaching us. Luke uses the word “parakaleo” three times to describe Paul’s ministry to believers. Therefore, we would be wise to follow Paul’s example for our own ministries. Yes, sharing the gospel with non-believers is important, but so is encouraging those who already believe. Just take a second and look around at the faces of your fellow believers; we all have problems; we can all use a little encouragement. While you’re looking at them why not just say, “I’ve got problems, I could use a little encouragement!” Make sure it is someone other than your spouse; they already know you have problems.

We all go through times in our faith and life when we have doubts and experience depression. We all struggle with sin and sometimes wonder why God allows bad things to happen. We know we need encouragement. So do other Christians!

Think about it for a minute. Is there anyone in your life who you know could use a little encouragement? Is there anyone that you haven’t seen at church for awhile and you wonder how they are doing? Is there anyone that you work with or go to school with that you know is going through a difficult time?

There are many ways we can encourage other believers. We can give them a phone call or make something for them. We can visit them and simply spend time with them. Personal presence and verbal encouragement are so powerful! We can also encourage others by sending them a card or writing them a letter. Did you know that while Paul was in Ephesus he wrote 1 Corinthians and sent it to encourage the believers at Corinth?

Paul made a lot of personal sacrifices to encourage other Christians. Are we willing to sacrifice some of our personal time and resources to encourage other Christians? Don’t leave church this morning without having at least one person in mind who you are going to encourage this week! As Christians, it is our ministry to encourage other Christians!

2.) As Christians, it is our ministry to support other Christians. (4-6)
As Paul began to make his way back to Jerusalem he was accompanied by a host of converts from each of the geographical regions where Paul planted churches. Luke names them individually and tells us where they are from, but why? What difference does it make for us to know who these men were and where they were from? It makes sense when we understand the broader context of Paul’s journey back to Jerusalem.

Luke doesn’t mention it here, but we learn later in Acts 24 and from Paul’s letters that he went back to the Gentile churches to ask for financial contributions to support the poor Christians in the church at Jerusalem. This offering would be a tangible expression of the solidarity of the Gentile Christians with the church from which the gospel first radiated. The long list of companions in verse 4 probably represents the churches that made contributions. Almost all of Paul’s Gentile churches are mentioned, therefore signifying the strength and scope of the support for the Jerusalem church. Paul and each of these Christians saw it as their ministry to support other Christians.

Just like Paul and the other Christians, it is our ministry to support other Christians. There are many ways for churches and individuals to do this, but let me make a few recommendations. For individual Christians, supporting our local church where we are members should be our top priority. This is the center of our Christian community and it is where we gain the most personal benefit to our faith. Nothing should take precedence over the faithful and generous support of the local church.

It is also wise and good for individual Christians to support Christians outside the context of the local church. This could happen by pledging support to a foreign missionary, supporting a child through an organization like Compassion International, supporting a rehab facility like Teen Challenge, or something else. Very few of us have the means to support all of these, but we can at least support one or two in addition to our local church.

Likewise, our church can support other Christians in a variety of ways. I think it is helpful to use that same distinction of local and foreign for the church. We should always be ready to respond to needs of fellow believer’s right here in our own church and community. If someone loses their job or their house burns in a fire, or some other disaster or emergency comes up, our church should be ready to offer support.

It is also good for us to think beyond our local context as well. There are fellow Christians who are serving the Lord all over the world who need our support. Again we can’t support everyone, but we should be supporting someone. I am so glad that when a need arose in the Jerusalem church, the Gentile churches responded with financial support but they also sent a personal representative.

I have to be honest with you this morning, I have felt God challenging my heart in the area of financial support this year more than any other year of my life. I want to say to God, “Whoa, hold up a second, don’t you know that we are in the middle of an economic collapse?” but the reality is that he already knows that! I want to tell him, “A financial crisis is the time to hunker down, cut costs, and protect what you have,” but all I hear him saying is, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also!” I have had to ask myself, “Where is my treasure? Where is my heart?” When we see other Christians and ministries struggling, it should cause us to count our blessings and be even more generous with our support. As Christians, it is our ministry to support other Christians!

How are we responding to the needs of other Christians? Are we offering generous and faithful support? Or are we too busy trying to protect what we have?

Yes, Paul always balanced his ministry by ministering to Christians and non-Christians alike. When we think about ministering to other Christians, encouragement and support are two wonderful ways to do it. As we close in prayer today, I would like to ask us to spend a few minutes in silence before God as we discern who in our lives might need some encouragement and support.

But before we do, consider these words by American writer and poet William Arthur Ward:
Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you.

Let’s pray.