The God and His Family Series consists of 16 episodes. In the New Testament, one of the most common descriptions of God and his people is that of a family. This series is designed to talk about that relationship in detail.
Jesus introduced the concept that God is three spirits in one – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. From that terminology, God is a family.
Jesus and the New Testament writers often use family terms to describe the relationship between God and his people. They draw on relationships such as: father, children, sons and daughters, and adopted sons and daughters. These relationships not only imbue privileges, but also confer responsibilities.
It’s hard to see in English but Jesus sometimes refers to God as his Father and sometimes as “Daddy.” Part of the Good News of Jesus is that God can also be our Father and Daddy.
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Barnabas was one of the most influential Christian leaders in the early church. He was Paul’s mentor until midway through the First Missionary Journey when it seems that Paul started surpassing him in influence. The Bible continually shows how much Barnabas was empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The first mention of Barnabas is Acts 4:36 when he gave his property to support the needs of the first church members. The follow-up story of Ananias and Saphira makes it clear that the generosity of the early church members was Spirit led and empowered.
The next mention of Barnabas is Acts 9:27 where Barnabas introduces the newly converted Paul to the apostles. The context of the story shows that Barnabas was well acquainted with the apostles and that his request for them to accept Paul carried a lot of weight. At that time in the early church, these sorts of things happened because of the influence of the Spirit.
