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Could go for some chick fil a nuggets. Oh, it’s Sunday.
Great company.
Middletown opening on my birthday.
Their is a pattern to the way it’s opened.
They do it a particular way because it works.
Remember that the very first week we started this series in Acts we talked about looking at the New Testament church so that we can compare ourselves to the priorities and the things that made them what they were. We see incredible movements of God in those churches and so we ask, “What was it about that church that made it special?”
We should compare ourselves to that church because those churches produced incredible fruit, and they were started by the very men that walked with Jesus. Those churches had men and women in them that saw the resurrected Christ and those churches saw the Holy Spirit move in incredible ways.
So we want to study that church because they go back the furthest, they are closest to the source, the source being, Jesus.
Remember the illustration we used the very first week of this series? We talked about water? And remember how we said that in order to get the purest water, to get water in it’s purest form is to get it at its source. The source. Whether it is the spring or the glacier, the closer you get to the source the purer the water will be.
The same applies to a story about someone. If you want to get the most accurate version of that story you get it from the person that it happened to.
And again, If we want to learn about what the church should look like in its purest form we look at the churches that started in Acts. If we don’t do that we struggle.
If we want to learn about what the church should look like in its purest form we look at the churches that started in Acts. Because those churches were started by the guys who actually heard the words of Jesus. What was important to them? What made them tick?
And so we study those New Testament Churches because they are the example of God moving mightily through the Holy Spirit from the very beginning. If we don’t do that we struggle.
Churches today struggle to try to find out what they are all about.
Rock Band
Children’s Ministry
Dynamic speaker
And listen, it’s not that those things aren’t important, they really are, but if we look at the first churches we really don’t see that.
We see them preach Jesus and give of themselves and the rest seems to take care of itself. As people surrender their lives to Jesus the natural result of that is a healthy and vibrant church.
And if we read through Acts we see that there is a pattern that emerges in the way churches exist. We see these cycles and patterns. And those patterns repeat themselves.
Remember we talked last week about how God removed the barrier between the Jew and the Gentile through the conversion of Cornelius and his family?
We see that now God is available to everyone and everyone has access to God when they put their faith in Jesus as their one and only savior.
19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
So talks about this church that starts in Antioch. Now Antioch is probably about not quite 300 miles from Jerusalem. Far away as far as ancient civilizations go.
And the very reason Christ followers ended up there was because of Stephen being executed. After that a great persecution started and the Christ followers leave Jerusalem to escape Saul who was arresting everyone who spoke of Jesus.
So people fled. Up to and over 100 miles they flee, and they begin new lives.
Well the great persecution started after that and the people, the Christ followers leave Jerusalem to escape Saul who was arresting everyone who spoke of Jesus. So people fled. Up to and over 100 miles they flee, and they begin new lives.
Now Antioch is probably about 125 miles from Jerusalem.
And we kind of just read over that verse and we don’t really think about it personally.
I just need to stop there and ask a question. Imagine if that happened to us. This morning, someone with authority, the police comes in and says, “beginning tomorrow you will be arrested because of your association with this church”. And you know that this is basically a death sentence. What do you do?
The rubber hits the road. You either deny Christ, or You run! You folks who are preppers are all ready, you know how to survive.
You’ve been buying up those MREs and you have the water filters and all of that. You are ready.
But you run away and start a new life. A new life! Tomorrow!
You don’t show up to work, you may not even get a chance to say goodbye to your friends. You leave your house and you go.
That is what happened to these people. They go because they are associated with Jesus.
But here is the amazing thing. This is amazing to me. They run over 100 miles away, start this new life, but they continue to bring that message of Jesus with them and they tell it to their new neighbors and when people hear about this Jesus who was killed and rose again… they believe in Him! And more and more people believe and what do you know? Another church starts!
But they bring that message of Jesus with them and they tell it to their new neighbors and when people hear about this Jesus who was killed and rose again… they believe in Him! They believe and the church spreads.
Is this insane? The reason they left in the first place was because of Jesus. Now they are either a little dense, or they really believe, what they believe. They cannot help themselves.
They go right back to sharing Jesus. And the new neighbors and the new friends, they believe, they believe and a new church, a new gathering spreads.
And this new church has made enough of an impression that Jerusalem hears about it, 200 some miles away and they know that this group needs help so they send this guy Barnabas to Antioch.
This wold be a tough assignment.
Antioch
To let you know a little bit about this Antioch. Antioch was the 3rd most important city in the Roman empire. It was incredibly important and was very luxurious, very modern, but it was completely immoral. Pagan worship, prostitution and corruption ran rampant. It was beautiful city, but it was terrible city too.
Imagine starting a church in that area.
It is said that the followers of Jesus were first called Christians at Antioch but make no mistake, they weren’t being complimentary. Apparently, the people of Antioch regularly assigned nick-names to people and people groups and they called them a word that basically means, those Christ folk. It was not a compliment.
There is no place beyond the reach of God.
This was not an easy place to be a Christ folk. But it is interesting that they were recognizable. People don’t give you a nick-name unless there is something about you that is different, something that gets you noticed.
Because they aren’t going to be able to thrive or even survive on their own if they don’t have someone with experience to help them. They need help. These are gentile believers who need help, they need discipleship. They send Barnabas to do the groundwork.
You run! You folks who are preppers are all ready, you know how to survive. But you run away and start a new life.
That is what happened.
So what do they do now? What do they do with this new faith? Because they aren’t going to be able to thrive or even survive on their own if they don’t have someone with experience to help them. They need help.
If we look at this pattern of the New Testament church we see that
There is Groundwork to be done.
:19-
19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
Jerusalem hears about this church and they are excited over it. Remember, no internet, no tv, no phones; no form of communication except for someone writing a letter that would have to be either walked or ridden on an animal to get to it’s destination. Even a letter was an investment.
So Jerusalem, the first church, hears about it and they realize that these new Christians are going to need help. They are like children that don’t quite know what they are doing yet. They have to have someone over them to make sure that they get this right.
This is important.
Whenever you have a person who is new in their faith they need to learn the truths of God. They need to learn about doctrine and how to live their lives for God. And the best way, the easiest way, the most fulfilling way is through a seasoned, a mature believer.
The fancy word for this is Discipleship. Remember that the word disciples means LEARNER. Be Disciples Make Disciples.
It basically means relationship. It means one person helps another person understand God better, they challenge them, they walk with them.
This is the groundwork that must happen in the church if the church is going to grow. And what I mean by growth here is spiritual depth, which, hopefully will turn into numbers because when people are growing in their depth in Christ they want to see others come to Christ. It is relationships that make the difference. It is the idea of that person that you can go to for help, for prayer.
It is relationships that make the difference. It is the idea of that person that you can go to to ask questions.
It is that person that you go to for prayer.
It is that person that you go to to receive encouragement. It’s a person who has gone through this before who you want to go to.
This is Christianity. It is relationships.
Discipleship is so important. Every person in this room including me needs someone in their life who has been there. Someone who is a couple of steps ahead and can lead us.
Could be a parent, a sibling, a friend, a pastor. We all need that in our lives and we all need to be that for someone else too.
Jesus modelled this. Jesus preached to thousands of people, but He spent the majority of his time with 12, and even more time with 3.
The relationship is so important in your walk, in my walk.
We need that too don’t we? We don’t become a Christian and learn everything on your own. This isn’t an online class that you take. You need to have someone help you. You need to have someone over you. Not to Lord over you but to love you and teach you and instruct you.
You need to have someone over you. Not to Lord over you but to love you and teach you and instruct you.
Paul would later instruct a young pastor named Timothy to keep this pattern in the church. The pattern of training up others.
2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
So the church in Jerusalem understands the need that this church has and so verse 22 says that they send Barnabas to Antioch. We know a little bit about Barnabas from other areas of Scripture. And they lay some groundwork to help the people.
And when that groundwork is laid, the pattern continues as growth is displayed.
2 Growth is expected.
Growth is displayed.
Growth is a natural process. Again, it doesn’t necessarily have to mean numbers but when people grow in the depth of their relationship with Jesus they will get a heart for people and want to bring them along.
When people grow in the depth of their relationship with Jesus they will get a heart for people and want to bring them along.
But growth can be challenging. Barnabas is this great man. He has to be patient.
His name means encourager. And this is great, because the church at Jerusalem could have sent any person to help this new Gentile church. But they chose Barnabas.
23 When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, 24 for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. 25 So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.
Barnabas is sent here, he is kind and full of grace and people respond. Wasn’t it wise of the Apostles in Jerusalem to send someone like Barnabas to this group? They could have sent a stodgy rigid rule follower but no, they sent a guy who was full of grace.
Funny that they use the word grace. There are many times when Christians, well-meaning Christians are trying to get people’s behavior to change in order to have them qualify to be, or to look like they are Christians.
We need to let the Holy Spirit change people. We tell people the truth, we love them but then we show them grace.
But even in this atmosphere of Antioch the church grew. They grew and grew and we are told that Barnabas looks for some help. He cannot do this thing alone.
To let you know a little bit about this Antioch. Antioch was the 3rd largest city in the Roman empire. It was incredibly important and was very luxurious but it was very immoral. Pagan worship, prostitution and corruption ran rampant. It was beautiful city, but it was terrible city too.
Imagine starting a church in that area.
It is said that the followers of Jesus were first called Christians at Antioch but make no mistake, they weren’t being complimentary. Apparently, the people of Antioch regularly assigned nick-names to people and people groups and they called them a word that basically means, those Christ folk. It was not a compliment.
This was not an easy place to be a Christ folk. But it is interesting that they were recognizable. People don’t give you a nick-name unless there is something about you that is different, something that gets you noticed.
But even in this atmosphere the church grew. They grew and grew and we are told that Barnabas looks for some help. He cannot do this thing alone.
We cannot do this alone either.
He calls on a man whom he met some years prior. It needed to be the right kind of man to help with this church. Someone who knows how to debate with Greeks and someone who knows the Lord. He chose Saul
He travelled to Tarsus to find the man who he stood up for years prior. Remember when Saul (we know him as Paul) was converted and everybody was afraid of him? Until Barnabas stood up for him?
This was probably about 7-9 years earlier. What has Paul been doing all this time? Probably preaching in his home town. But now Barnabas convinces Saul to come to this place Antioch and use your gifts there.
c’mon Saul. These people love the lord. And they are Gentiles. We need your help Saul. You are the perfect guy to help us out. These guys are hungry for the Lord and we need you. And so Saul goes with Barnabas to Antioch.
Can I blow your mind for a second? Do you realize that Saul is the one who caused them to flee in the first place? Do you realize that these people had to leave their homes, friends sometimes family because of the man that is with them right now? If that isn’t a beautiful picture of grace I don’t know what is.
And so verse 26 says that Paul worked with Barnabas for a year and taught many people there. And we know that they did some great work there because of what the rest of verse 26 says:
It is said that the followers of Jesus were first called Christians at Antioch but make no mistake, they weren’t being complimentary. Apparently, the people of Antioch regularly assigned nick-names to people and people groups and they called them a word that basically means, those Christ folk. It was not a compliment.
This was not an easy place to be a Christ folk. But it is interesting that they were recognizable.
People don’t give you a nick-name unless there is something about you that is different, something that gets you noticed. Right?
Nobody called me brace face, tinsel teeth, metal mouth, tin grin until I got braces. Nick names are not usually complimentary.
Nick Names are personalized. They are given for a reason.
The people of the city saw these Christ-folk and recognized them as something different. And then they made fun of them for it.
Called them Christ folk.
Christians didn’t call themselves Christians till much later. It was supposed to be a joke.
But what a beautiful joke.
Does someone look at your life and notice something different about you? If not, should they? Are you recognized as a Christ folk at your job? At your home? Stand up and be proud.
Even when the church was being made fun of, it grew and grew. And it grew because people loved God and they loved each other, and Jesus was doing something in their hearts.
And Barnabas and Saul were used by God in a mighty way there.
So the church grows, they are growing in their faith, they are becoming mature and something happens.
Do you realize that Saul is the one who caused them to flee in the first place?
So the church grows, they are getting mature and something happens. A prophet shows up. A prophet is one who speaks for the Lord. And this man named Agabus shows up and tells about a famine that is going to, hasn’t happened yet, but is going to take place and the church decides to help even before the famine happens.
A prophet shows up. A prophet is one who speaks for the Lord. And this man named Agabus shows up and tells about a famine that is going to, hasn’t happened yet, but is going to take place and the church decides to help even before the famine happens.
Generosity is natural.
27 Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). 29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. 30 And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
Acts
The natural reaction to need for the Christian is generosity.
This is another part of the pattern we see from the NT Church
14 Supply them liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to them as the Lord your God has blessed you.
Generosity is natural.
17 Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.
As we have been blessed we bless others.
Generosity is natural for the disciple of Christ. We know that God has given to us so that we can give to others. And yes, that includes the regular giving of the tithe but that is not what is going on here.
Generosity is natural for the disciple of Christ. We understand that God has given to us so that we can give to others. And yes, that includes the regular giving of the tithe but that is not what is going on here.
This is a need that has been brought up. It is a need that they have heard about, they consider it and they give as each is able.
This is a need that has been brought up. It is a need that they have heard about, they consider it and they give as each is able.
When you give you are really showing your heart. When you give you are displaying your faith and your love for God.
Now I love what is here
29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.
It would be unwise to empty the savings account. But in their hearts they wanted to give something. They looked and gave as each one was able.
If you aren’t generous, pray to become more generous. Seriously. Pray that. God will make your heart more generous, He will answer that prayer.
Sometimes you have to give with faith and then you see the blessing.
And listen, I am not talking about just being generous for this church. I am talking about being generous in nature because that is what God wants from His people.
I love that people give to our church. But there are appropriate ministries for you to give to so that you can be a blessing to others.
There are missionaries that are out there that are doing the work of the Lord and they desperately need help.
I know quite a few people who are evangelists and the only paycheck they receive comes from people. They don’t have a church to back them. They are on the road, travelling and blessing people and they do it for God.
One man I know has been doing it for 40 years. And God has always taken care of him. And he is one of the most generous people I have ever met. It makes no sense.
And sometimes we have to be generous in other ways. We can be generous in prayer. I desperately need your prayers. I do.
Maybe you can be generous in time, to help out God’s people.
So when we look at this church in Antioch we see this pattern that is all throughout the stories in Acts.
The Lord begins to move in the lives of people so the groundwork must be laid. Someone takes up the leadership and trains, they disciple others. By God’s grace they experience growth, and as they grow, as they abide in Jesus fruit shows up in their lives, in this case by way of generosity.
My prayer for our little church is the same. Be disciples, make disciples. We have to have the desire and the action to grow in discipleship.
And it is there. It is there in the women’s bible study. The mens bible study. The home groups. We can even meet one on one. But I a telling you, if you want to grow in your walk with the Lord, you aren’t going to be able to do much of it on your own. We weren’t created to be islands.
We are going to fellowship here in a couple of minutes. Take time to get to know someone new. Find a family that you don’t know very well and get together during the week one night. We don’t grow on our own, we grow together.