It was church planting in its simplest form. People moving to a new community telling new friends and acquaintances about the Good News of Jesus with passion and enthusiasm. They didn’t just tell their “own kind.” They told everyone. Perhaps it was the change of environment that caused them to change their “normal” practice. Perhaps they’d been so transformed by Jesus they couldn’t keep their mouths shut. But the amazing response of the people of Antioch coming to Jesus in Acts 11 seems to have been the results of a few things. First, God had turned up the pressure on the followers of Christ in Jerusalem through persecution. It forced them from their comfort zones. They were so uncomfortable that they left fled their homes, businesses and families to find a safer place to live. Not exactly a picture of boldness.
Second, when those early disciples arrived in their new locale, they poured out the Good News of Jesus to everyone who’d listen. They didn’t sit on their hope and faith; they expressed it openly without regard to the class, race, background, or position of their listener.
Third, the text says that the “hand of the Lord” was with them. God was working through them. He was actively involved with them, moving among them. This wasn’t just an experience. It was the hand of God at work. When Barnabas, the representative from the Jerusalem church, arrived on the scene to check things out, he noted the grace of God at work in people’s lives. He went and found his buddy, Saul (Paul), and together they held out and up the Word of God, preaching and teaching Jesus. It’s interesting that they didn’t do programs, concerts, events, or build fancy buildings. They simply told the Good News of Jesus. Wow! Would that actually work today?
The thing that catches my eye as I peruse these verses is the presence of God in the lives of His followers. Barnabas, the displaced disciples and even the former Christian persecutor, Saul (Paul), demonstrated the life changing power of Christ in their hearts and told of their experience. The results were obvious. A GREAT number of people, from all walks of lives, came to embrace Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
It causes me to pause and ask the question, “is the hand of the Lord on me and my church?” Do people experience the power and presence of Christ in my midst, among my church? Is God’s Spirit evident in me and my church? Are lives really being transformed by Jesus? Do I, do we, have the passion, enthusiasm, exuberance about Jesus and His Good News? Am I relying too much on programs, buildings, services, advertising instead of just telling people about Jesus? Would the name, “Christian” been ascribed to my church for the first time in history?
God, more than anything else I want to see people coming to Jesus. I want to see lives transformed by Christ. I want your hand on me and my church. Move me, move us out of my/our comfort zone. Allow your Spirit to flow out of me with the message of your Good News.
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