Model Church

We’re going to look this morning at a model church. It’s not a perfect church; there’s no such thing. If, by chance, you happen to find a perfect church, stay away. Don’t join it. You’ll just mess it up.

If you’re on the hunt for the perfect church, you’ll never find it. It’d be like going on a safari looking for unicorns. You’re going to find A LOT of horses sprinkled with glitter with horns glued to their heads, but you won’t find any unicorns.

Unicorns and perfect churches…you’re just as likely to find one as the other.

But there are churches that model biblical values and practices, churches we can learn from. One church in Acts is so influential—the church in Antioch—that it has lent its name to many a modern church (just do a Google search). It’s a model church and if every church modeled itself after the church in Antioch, we’d be much, much closer to doing all this properly.

If you have your Bible (and I hope you do), please turn with me to Acts 11. Keep your Bible open in front of you and follow along as we go this morning:

Acts 11:19–21 NIV

19 Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. 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.

After Stephen was stoned to death as the first martyr in the church, there arose immense persecution. Believers were scattered all over. This had the opposite effect the enemies of the church intended. Instead of squashing and eradicating the church, it grew the church. The persecution led to a spreading of the word among the Jews in various outlying regions like Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch.

[MAP]

Antioch was the third largest city in the Greco-Roman world. Only Rome and Alexandria were larger. Antioch was the capital of the Roman province of Syria and boasted a population of more than a half million people. Antioch was home to a palace and a hippodrome ( where you could put some money on “the ponies”; hippodrome is just Greek for horse track). There were theatres there, temples (to Artemis and Herakles). Occasionally, Antioch hosted Olympic-style games.

Antioch was a major hub of culture and commerce; it was a remarkably diverse city populated by Greeks, Romans, Syrians, Phoenicians, Jews, Arabs, Egyptians, Africans, Indians, and Asians. As such, there were many religions and all sorts of idolatry. People there worshiped Zeus and Apollos, Poseidon and Adonis.

All of this made Antioch a great place for a church. No more appropriate place could be imagined, either as the location for the first international church, or as the springboard for the worldwide Christian mission (Stott, The Message of Acts).

The church in Antioch changed the world. Antioch was the first international church. What made the church in Antioch so powerful? What are the ingredients of a church like this? They are so simple to understand, and yet difficult to apply. Each of these 4 points are going to seem very elementary, so simple they might even bore you. They are simple. But they are also exceedingly difficult to practice.

We need to pray for the grace of God as we seek to imitate this model church.

The church in Antioch is

An Evangelizing Church (11:19-21)

The church in Antioch started because a group of men had the courage and the willingness to travel to Antioch and to [tell] them the good news about the Lord Jesus.

These men from Cyprus and Cyrene broke through a major cultural barrier, following Peter’s ministry to Cornelius and his household.

Where others were spreading the word only among the Jews, some brave men took the gospel to the Greeks and explained it in a way that made sense to them.

Those who shared the good news with the Greeks living in Antioch didn’t go and speak to them about the Messiah; Greeks would have cared very little about the Jewish anticipation of the Messiah. What these evangelists speak to the Greeks about (v. 20) is the good news about the Lord Jesus.

Greeks would understand the idea of Lord. During the Roman Empire, the slogan of the day was “Caesar is Lord”. Now, they’re hearing that “Jesus is Lord”, Jesus is Master, Jesus is supreme, sovereign, Almighty. Part of the message to those living in Antioch is: “Jesus is Lord.”

The Good News—the Gospel about Jesus—is actual good news, not “You can save 15% on car insurance” or “Chiefs win the Super Bowl”, but GOOD NEWS with lasting, eternal implications: glad tidings about Jesus—the One who brings salvation, the One who stands in the place of ruined sinners, exchanging His righteousness for their sinfulness. The telling of this good news is always accompanied by joy. It’s Good, Joyous News.

As they shared the good news, as they evangelized the Greeks in Antioch, we read the Lord’s hand was with them.

This is our only hope for any sort of successful outreach. If the Lord’s hand isn’t in it, it won’t work. You’ll notice we don’t know the names of these men from Cyprus or Cyrene. Their names are known only in eternity. Their outreach efforts in Antioch would have ripple effects for years! And yet we know almost nothing about them…because it’s not about them! It wasn’t these men that saved the Antiochean people; it was the Lord and His hand with them.

But because the Lord’s hand was with them, a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

They had no plan. No program. No budget. Just a zeal for the Lord, being faithful to Jesus. And He worked through them in a mighty way.

The church in Antioch was started because there were some Christians willing to go and share the good news. The church in Antioch was started by evangelism and continued evangelizing.

A great number people believed and turned to the Lord.

The Antiochean church didn’t stop sharing the good news. It didn’t stop with just a few; the preaching of the gospel continued until news about this church—the first church made up of Jewish and Gentile believers together—reached the church in Jerusalem.

Chuck Swindoll writes this:

I have played enough sports, been in touch with enough coaches, watched enough games, and read closely enough to know that there’s one strategy that’s deadly. And it’s so subtle. You think you can win by doing it, but you lose. It’s called “sitting on the lead.” If you’re an athlete or a sportsman, you know what I’m talking about.

When I was in high school, our basketball team went to the Texas State Finals. In one state final game, we were ahead at halftime 26 to 18. The coach said, “Now we got ‘em. We got ‘em. Just take it easy.” You know what? We lost, 41 to 40. Why? Because we tried to sit on our lead. We thought we had them beat, so we played with a maintenance mentality.

A growing church never gets so far ahead that it can afford to “sit on the lead.” Complacency is a major peril to evangelism.

The church in Antioch was birthed by evangelism and it continued as an evangelizing church—great numbers of people were reached. The evangelized evangelized. Those who heard the good news shared the good news. Is that our story? Are we who have heard the gospel of Jesus sharing the gospel of Jesus with others? It sounds so simple—evangelism—but it’s a difficult practice to put into place.

The Antioch model is a good challenge for us in this and more:

Acts 11:22–26 NIV

22 News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 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. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. 25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 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.

A Teaching Church (11:22-26)

A new church with new converts needed a old leader. When the Jerusalem church, that is, the church where the apostles were elders and leaders; when the “mother church”, heard this, they knew they had to send someone to Antioch.

If you’re an apostle, a wise elder of the church, and you need to send someone to help, who ya gonna call?

Not ghost busters; but Barnabas! They sent Barnabas to Antioch.

Barnabas was glad to see what was going on in there, glad to see what God had done among them. Glad, encouraging Barnabas encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.

Barnabas was the man to send to Antioch, the apostles knew it, and the Lord intended it to be so. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.

In the time he was there, encouraging them to remain true, we’re told a great number of people were brought to the Lord. The Lord’s at work in Antioch, working through Barnabas.

Incredibly, Barnabas must have known his limits, because he heads to Tarsus to fetch Saul who had been there since those angry people had tried to kill him. Barnabas went to get Saul in order to bring him back to Antioch with him.

And for a whole year, Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people.

The key word here is teach. It’s instruction in the way of Jesus. Like kids need teachers in school, so the church needs teachers.

This is why we teach, systematically through the Bible. This is why a church pays a preacher to study and write and preach. This is why we have Bible studies and Sunday School, why we have tried to start Small Groups; not for social hour or current events lectures, but for teaching—Biblical, Christ-exalting teaching.

I promise you, you’re being taught by someone or something. The latest average has people today staring at a screen of some sort for 5 hours a day.

Be it your phone, tablet, TV, computer, how much of your day is spent looking at a screen? And how much time is spent reading your Bible? How much time in prayer?

You’re being taught by someone, I promise you. Is Facebook or YouTube teaching you, or is God’s Word? Is CNN or Fox News your teacher, your instructor, your mentor? Or are you learning about the Lord through the study of God’s Word and fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ.

You’re being taught by someone or something. You need to identify who really is your teacher, who really is shaping your thoughts.

The church needs teaching. This is why Barnabas went to pick up Saul; so the two of them could teach the disciples in Antioch, the students of Christ.

And, an interesting bit of trivia regarding Antioch, is that the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

They didn’t call themselves “Christians.” They were called Christians by others. They were, in the eyes of the people around them, “Christians” aka, “little Christs”. This label applied to them by the unbelieving public shows that the disciples there were beginning to have an identity of their own apart from other Jews. And it shows they were reflecting Christ and His ethic.

They had been discipled by Barnabas and Saul. They were Christians.

The disciples in Antioch received good teaching, good, Biblical instruction; the Lord’s hand was with them and the teaching they received had a profound impact on their daily lives. They demonstrated what they believed, by the grace of God; this is the impact of discipleship.

“Discipleship is anything that causes what is believed in the heart to have demonstrable consequences in our daily life.” - Eugene Peterson

They had been taught, and now they were teaching—in word and in deed—those around them.

Acts 11:27–30 NIV

27 During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 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.) 29 The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

A Giving Church (11:27-30)

Antioch is well north of Jerusalem, so when the text says some prophets came down from Jerusalem, it has to do with elevation, not direction. Regardless of what my beautiful wife thinks, not everywhere is “down” from where you are. We don’t go “down” to Kansas City (it’s up). We don’t travel "down” to my mom’s house (it’s over).

The prophets of God came and one of them spoke about a future financial disaster that would hit the whole region—over the entire Roman world.

These new disciples had decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. They had matured to the point of wanting to, desiring to give, to provide for other believers in a far-away place. They were taking care of a future need, preparing to help people they didn’t know.

This is something special, something supernatural. Only the Holy Spirit among Jesus’ people could produce this kind of action.

If you’ve been around little children, you’ve seen this a dozen times. One of the children has a toy he just loves to play with. He plays until it just about wears out. One day, it’s the once-loved toy is sitting in the toy box and nobody’s touching it. The kid’s not doing anything with it, hasn’t even thought about it, has no plans to play with it. And then, another kid enters the room and makes a beeline for that neglected toy no one’s playing with. As soon as the invading child touches it, the owner of the toy screams: “Mine! Mine! That’s mine!” and snatches it away, refuses to give it up.

When the adult in charge says, “Now, now. We need to share with our friends, let them have a turn,” it only serves to tighten the child’s grip.

Often, being forced to give results in a reluctant giving. “I guess if I have to. It’s mine, but I’ll maybe share some of it.”

Compulsion results in reluctance. Forced giving, being guilted into giving doesn’t work well.

The people of God—new believers though they were—heard of an eventual need, not even an immediate need, and they give as they were able. They weren’t forced. It wasn’t coerced, pass-the-offering-plates-around-twice kind of giving. It was joyful, voluntary, proceeding from a heart for God and His people.

2 Corinthians 9:7 NIV

7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

It’s an encouraging moment to see God’s people taking care of God’s people, giving selflessly, not under compulsion, but with a willing heart. The Antiochean church not only gives, but they send. Skip ahead, turn the page, look at the end of Acts 12 and the first few verses of Acts 13:

Acts 12:25–13:3 NIV

25 When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark. 1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

A Sending Church (12:25-13:3)

After an interrupting story in Acts 12, we have this summary statement about the church in Antioch with its prophets and teachers. It seems they appointed these men, these 5, as elders: Barnabas and Saul, Simeon, Lucius, and Manaen.

While the church was meeting, worshiping and fasting, listening to the Spirit, it became clear that the Lord has something in mind for Barnabas and Saul beyond the church in Antioch.

There would have been nothing wrong with their staying in Antioch; their lives would not have been wasted in the local church, serving and teaching the believers there.

However, they Lord wanted to send the two of them on mission, to reach other people, to minister to other peoples, to preach the gospel to more and more.

So the church in Antioch fasted and prayed and sent them off, as they had been led. They were committed to the mission, and Barnabas and Saul were, officially, missionaries for Christ.

A model church is a church committed to the mission Jesus gave us.

A famous artist once was asked to paint a picture of a dying church. It was expected that he would paint a small and humble congregation in a dilapidated building. Instead, he painted a large, stately building with a rich pulpit and magnificent stained-glass windows, thousands of people in attendance—and near the door, an offering box marked “Missions” with the contribution slot blocked by cobwebs.

A church with no giving to mission work, a church with no interest in reaching the nations with the gospel, a church that does not send its own to the field, is missing a vital component of what it means to be the church.

One of my dreams as pastor of this church is to see some of you go into the mission field, spending your life for the sake of Christ, preaching the gospel to people who have not heard His name.

Maybe it’s one of you young people—Evan, Izzy, Jarrett, Abi, Anna, Miracle. You never know. It’s a frequent prayer of mine; I’d love to see it. And our church would be behind you all the way—supporting you financially and prayerfully.

To send some of you off, like the Antiochean church sent off Barnabas and Saul—that’s a dream, not because I’m anxious to get rid of you, but because a church on mission sends its own to the nations with the gospel of glad tidings about Jesus.

A sending church reflects the missionary heart of the Father who sent heaven’s best for the good of the nations.

“God had only one Son, and He was a missionary,” said David Livingstone.

Jesus said, “As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.” (John 20:21)

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We’ll never find a perfect church or be the perfect church. It simply will not be. If you’re searching for the perfect church, you’re going to be searching forever and, along the way, you will miss out on the joy and blessing of being part of a local church.

We’re never going to be the perfect church. Not going to happen. For one, you have me as your pastor. We are not the perfect church, far from it, but we serve the perfect Savior, and we have the perfect gospel!

Let’s evangelize, telling our neighbors and friends about Jesus. Let’s teach one another about Jesus, from God’s Word. Let’s give to those who have need. And would God give us the grace and the desire to send our own to the nations with the gospel.

Would we be an evangelizing, teaching, giving, sending church—doing it all for the glory of God and the good of those who have not yet heard.

“Heavenly Father, we are not perfect. We are, in fact, perfectly imperfect. We are thankful to have this model church in Antioch to help us see what we need to be about. Help us to fix our eyes firmly on Jesus. Give us the grace to show and tell what Jesus has done. Open our hands and our hearts to give and to go, for Jesus’ sake and in His name. Amen.”