The Grace of God at Work
Acts: To the ends of the earth • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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If you were with us last week, you’ll remember the extraordinary scene in Acts 11:1–18.
Peter has returned to Jerusalem to explain what happened in the house of Cornelius
— a Gentile, an outsider
— and he tells them how the Holy Spirit fell on those Gentiles just as He had on the Jews at Pentecost.
It was the moment the early church began to understand that
the grace of God is not limited by race, custom, or background.
Peter’s closing words summed it up: “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18).
Now Luke moves the camera north, from Jerusalem to a new city — Antioch — to show that this was no isolated event.
God’s grace is on the move.
Persecution could not stop it.
Cultural barriers could not contain it.
The risen Christ is building His church.
And in this passage we see that His grace spreads, strengthens, and shares.
1. Grace Spreading (vv. 19–21)
1. Grace Spreading (vv. 19–21)
Let’s begin at
Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews.
Here Luke connects us back to Acts 8:1
And Saul approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
It’s worth remembering that Saul was central to that persecution.
but the point for now,
What looked like a disaster became God’s means of expansion.
Believers were scattered — but they didn’t scatter and hide,
as I think I might be tempted to do,
; they scattered with the gospel on their lips.
According to v29, They reached places far from Jerusalem
— the coastal region of Phoenicia,
the island of Cyprus,
and the great cosmopolitan city of Antioch, 300 miles to the north.
At first, they spoke only to Jews. But
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.
This is the first deliberate cross-cultural evangelism carried out by the church
- God’s people.
No apostles. No program.
Just ordinary believers, compelled by grace, opening their mouths.
You get the infectiousness of their motive - ‘telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.
Complelled by the Love and grace of Christ - and importantly compelled by love of the lost
- people not even of their own culture, race or creed!
And then Acts 11:21
The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
Behind every conversion,
every new believer,
every growing church stands the powerful hand of the risen Christ.
You can almost hear Luke smiling as he writes that even persecution couldn’t stop the gospel;
scattering only spread the flame.
As Those loved by Jesus loved telling others of Jesus,
and God’s hand is working.
It’s ofeten the same still today, the persecuted church often spreads quickly.
BEcasue if you belieev it in those circumstances,.
you really must see Jesus as good news - so you tell others.
In the early days of Christianity in China, fro example,
after missionaries were expelled,
many feared the church would die.
But decades later, when the doors reopened,
millions of believers were found meeting quietly in homes.
The hand of the Lord had been with them.
Grace does not depend on circumstances — it depends on God’s hand directing His people.
And that same hand is still at work.
When you share Christ with a neighbour,
when you pray for a friend overseas,
when you give to support gospel work
— you participate in that same unstoppable spreading grace.
Last night we were celebrating 16 years as GCWP
- ordinary believers moved by the hand of God,
we have now had a faithful gospel witness here in WP for 16 years.
We may feel small, weak, or even scattered — but God’s hand is mighty.
Grace is spreading.
Let’s be part of if this Christmas as we carol sing, and hand our invitations and seek to have conversations at the station in late December,. - Carols for Commuters.
2. Grace Strengthening (vv. 22–26)
2. Grace Strengthening (vv. 22–26)
News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
We see how united the early church remained - and how they sought to strengthen one another.
The Jeruslamn church sends Barnabas, whose very name means “son of encouragement.”
He’s the right man for the job — a generous, Spirit-filled believer, a Jew, a Levite even, but from Cyprus (Acts 4:36),
so culturally at home among Greek-speaking people.
When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.
What a great phrase — “he saw the grace of God.”
Grace can be seen — in changed lives, in new believers worshipping together across cultures, in love replacing hostility.
And Barnabas rejoices. He doesn’t impose Jerusalem customs; he delights in God’s work.
Then Luke adds,
He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
Barnabas embodies grace himself as well — humble, joyful, generous — and God blesses the ministry.
It’s worth pausing and pondering what is it that makes Baranbus a ‘good man’.
We have a snese of the phrase still today, honest, reliable, will do the right thing.
But the definition of being a good man here
has to be that he ‘encouraged people’ - not generally,
not scratching their itches,
not encouraging them in whatever they thought was best,
or made them happy,
but true encouragement,
so being a true ‘good man’ is to encourage people to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. v23
Men, in your homes and in the church, boys, when you grow us - do we aspire to be godly Good Men.
- are we encouraging (which will also have to include rebuke and correction), are we encouraging others to remain true to the Lord with all their heart.
Take your faith seriously - desire the Lord and his ways with a whole heart.
Repent and flee from sin,
reject temptation,
Live for Jesus alone,
and encourage one another to do these things.
pause
Now, remember who oversaw the persecution that caused this spreading of believers…
Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
Why fetch Saul?
Seems unlikley the believers who are spreading the gospel will greet him warmly given he’s the reason they had to flee Jerusalem!
But such is the grace of God,
That if we truely understand our own sin and therefore grace when Jesus saves us,
we ought to be able to forgive the worst of abuses from others.
Obviously if Saul was still ‘breathing out murderous threats’
then best to give him a wide birth -
but now a man of repentance, he can be trusted and welcomed
- if they are prepared to forgive as Jesus forgave them.
It’s unlikely we will come across a new CHristian who has ever abused us as severely as Saul abused the church
- ordering murders and unfair trials and imprisioning
- causeing them to flee all they knew.
But I hope it’s not unlikely, that we can forgive fellow brothers and sisters,
who have and do and will hurt us - just as Christ has forgiven us.
but back to the narrative:
Barnabas recognises that this growing, multi-ethnic church needs deep teaching and strong leadership.
He remembers Saul — the man who once persecuted the church but whom Jesus had called
But the Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.
Barnabas had been the one who first introduced Saul to the apostles after his conversion (Acts 9:27). He knows Saul’s calling.
So he travels the hundred miles to Tarsus to find him — a costly, time-consuming journey — and brings him back to Antioch.
It’s a wonderful picture of humility:
Barnabas isn’t protecting his own platform;
he’s trusts the gifts of others and expands the ministry team.
Together they spend a year teaching —
grounding these new believers in Scripture,
helping them understand who Christ is,
how the Old Testament points to Him, how to live as His people.
And the result?
“The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” (Acts 11:26)
The word “Christian” means “belonging to or follower of Christ.”
It wasn’t a name the church invented — it was given by outsiders.
The term likely began as a nickname or even gentle mockery — “the Christ-ones,” “the little Christs” — because their speech, conduct, and community life all centred so obviously on Jesus.
But it stuck, because this new community was so Christ-centred that no other label would do.
Pause -
So, What are we learning Here?
God’s grace is strengthening his church through partnership.
The Jerusalem church sends Barnabas;
Barnabas brings Saul;
together they strengthen Antioch in God;s word.
That’s why we invest in Church planting across London through Co-misison.
I bumped into Matthew Gill this week
- it’s of course a sadness for us that they have gone to help the plant in Hackbrdige - but it’s no loss really!
Christ is being glorified, the gospel is being spread.
It’s why we support and seek to send mission partners,
it’s why we invest in training pastors like Josh.
It’s why we do what we do as a chruch.
BEcasue we are Christains -
We want to speak, conduct, commune, train, invest all for Christ.
With our whole hearts.
And we touched on this - but notice the encouragement to be like CHrist in this passahge goes hand in hand with teaching,
That’s why Barnabus - the encourager - got Saul!
So they could teach and encourage more effectively.
The church grows not just by emotion of feeling good, but by instruction in the truth.
A grace-filled encouraged and strengthened church must be a Bible-taught church.
3. Grace Sharing (vv. 27–30)
3. Grace Sharing (vv. 27–30)
Finally, grace doesn’t just spread and strengthen — it shares.
During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
These prophets are part of the continuing fellowship between the two churches.
Then
One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.)
The Ancient historian Josephus records several regional famines in this period, especially around AD 46–47, which hit Judea hard.
So this prophecy probably came shortly before the famine struck.
The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
It is remarkable, that this young Gentile church, barely a year old,
immediately responds with generosity to believers hundreds of miles away — and Jewish believers at that.
They give each according to their ability — no pressure, no show — just grace sharing in action.
They send the money by trusted hands: Barnabas and Saul.
That means a long journey for them - but this is what brothers and sisters do!
This is what Christians do. They share the grace they have received with each other.
What a great example of unified love for fellow brothers and sister - even those they have never met.
In Christ - as Christians - they are one.
It’s like grown children supporting their ageing parents — not out of duty but love. The family bond compels generosity.
Grace produces compassionate action, not just emotion.
It bridges social and racial divides.
And it makes us more like what we are: Christians - like Christ:
It is a micro picture of what JEsus did for us
The Antioch Christians had money and were prepared to give it for the sake of fellow CHirstians’ welfare:
Just as CHrist
… though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
Grace makes givers.
You can’t receive the grace of Christ and stay tight-fisted.
True maturity is seen not just in what we know but in how we share the Grace we have received.
It’s why, while we are having a financial appeal at the moment,
the elders arn’t too worried becasue we know the vast majority of us as a church are desireing to be Christians - christ followers - generous as he is generous.
But more than that - there are suffering Christians all over the world.
While we can’t help them all - our world is too big
- when we have a need pressed upon us by connection or request,
We should respond.
A way we can do this is by helping Hannah and Sheldon raise money, (from our morning congregation)
they are collecting money, clothes and bibles to send to Sheldon’s family in Jamaica to be distributed to those who have lost everything in the recent hurricane.
We’ll get an email out this week so you know what they need.
What a great way for Christian's to support other Christians,
and the lost
- that the church there may have oppertunities to show the love of Christ and draw others to the gospel.
So all in all…
This is a A beautiful portrait of the church - as a result of the Grace of God
In Antioch we see grace spreading, strengthening, and sharing —
and through it all, “the hand of the Lord” guiding everything.
It begins with ordinary believers carrying the gospel wherever they go.
It grows through faithful leaders who rejoice in God’s grace and encourage as they teach His Word .
And it overflows in practical generosity that displays Christ’s love to the world.
Like throwing a stone into the middle of a still lake, ripples spread outward.
Antioch is the first ripple — and the ripples reach to the ends of the earth.
From Antioch will come Paul’s missionary journeys,
church plants,
letters,
and the global movement of Christianity.
We are a ripple here in WP - and as we seek to be Christains - chirst like followers.
The ripples - by God’s hand will keep rippling.
So let us remember that stone - dropped in the lake God’s grace displayed as Christ Crucified:
At the heart of it all is Jesus.
He is the One whose hand is with them (Acts 11:21).
He is the One whose name they bear (Acts 11:26).
He is the One whose generosity they imitate (Acts 11:29).
The grace of God is not an idea — it’s a Person.
It’s the grace that flows from the cross, where Christ gave Himself for Jew and Gentile alike,
where His blood created one new people,
and where His resurrection power sends His church to the ends of the earth.
Let us be followers of him.
gospel appeal
Maybe you’re here today, and you’ve seen this grace from the outside — you’ve watched it in others, but it hasn’t yet taken hold of your own heart.
The invitation of this passage is simple: “A great number believed and turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:21).
You can turn to Him today.
Jesus died to bring you into His family — not because of your background, your goodness, or your culture — but because of His mercy.
When you turn to Him in repentance and faith, for failing to love him previously,
the same grace that transformed Antioch will begin its work in you.
And for those of us who already belong to Him — let’s be an Antioch church:
confident in the Lord’s hand,
rejoicing in grace wherever it’s found,
eager to strengthen others,
and ready to share generously for the sake of Christ’s people and His mission.
Because the grace of God is still at work — and nothing can stop it.
PRAY
