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Acts 11:20-24 (NIV)
20 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.
21 The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people
believed and turned to the Lord.
22 News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and
they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
23 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.
24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a
great number of people were brought to the Lord.
Assignment: Write a report on how the
church in Antioch got started.
Let's head to Antioch and see if we can
interview any of the original church planters. If you were to ask around to
get the names of those who were the ones to plant this great church you would
be hard pressed to find a list of names. The church was launched as God's
people decided to obey God and seek to make much of Christ in Antioch.
The Scripture is silent as to the
individuals who started it all. All you would know is that a group of men,
recently converted, came to Antioch and shared Christ as they went about
their work days. A large number of people came to Christ and they found
themselves without the means to help them to mature. While they are
ministering in Antioch the news of this great outpouring of God's Spirit
reaches the church in Jerusalem.
Think of it, news about the tremendous
conversions makes it all the way to Jerusalem. How did the news travel? There
were no cell phones, twitter, facebook or newspapers, no mass communication
devices, only word of mouth. The conversions were so real and so many that
the culture of Antioch sat up and took notice. It was so powerful that this
news travelled all the way to Jerusalem by word of mouth.
The Church in Jerusalem sends Barnabas to
help keep order and when he comes he begins to share Christ and another huge
number of people are born into the kingdom. Once again no big names in the
church only those who were obedient to the Word find their way to Antioch.
There is such an outpouring of God that
Barnabas quickly sees that this is way beyond him. What made the soil in
Antioch so fertile? I believe it was the influence of pagan immorality that
prepared the people of Antioch for the gospel. They had tried everything else
and were still empty so when the gospel came to them they were already ready
to receive it because they had no other hope.
Perhaps God is allowing the immorality of
our culture to increase for this very reason, to leave all men without hope
except in Christ. There are many who are seeking to find life apart from
Christ and they are trying it all. They will soon learn that it is all an
empty and vain attempt to find life. Very soon they will be left empty and
broken and ready to hear and respond to the gospel. Let us take these days to
prepare ourselves in order to share Christ with all those that God will bring
across our paths.
Send us O God to the Lost and the Broken
and the Empty,
Pastor Phil
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