Study in the Acts of the Apostles

1. Study in the Acts of the Apostles Presentation 24

2. A Dynamic Church Chapter 11v19-30 Presentation 24

3. Introduction The church is not making the inroads into secular society that it once did. With this in mind we turn our attention to the church at Antioch- a dynamic church that grew at an incredible rate. Antioch was the third most important city in the Roman Empire. The persecution of the church in Jerusalem had caused some Christians to move there [v20] and they began to share their faith. God worked in the hearts of their hearers. A little church was planted, which would become one of the most influential in church history. It eventually had 100,000 members worshipping in a building much larger than San Sophia in Istanbul. What can we learn from this remarkable church? Presentation 24

4. A Church That Communicated The church in Antioch was not planted by an apostle, or even by a recognised evangelist like Philip. It made such an impact that the church leaders in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to investigate what was going on. Were the reports they had heard exaggerated or true? The success of the church in Antioch did not lie in an appealing publicity package causing everyone to join “the latest craze”. Do you remember the hula-hoop craze, the yo-yo craze, the Rubic cube craze? If you get your publicity right you can convince people to buy into the most amazing things. But you can't build anything that endures by encouraging people to jump onto a popular bandwagon. Popular bandwagons change! Presentation 24

5. A Church That Communicated What then did Barnabas find? Look at v23, "evidence of the grace of God" What does that mean? If you have driven past a building site recently you may have noticed evidence of construction. Large pieces of earth moving machinery, workmen, building supplies, boards bearing the name of the construction company. It is obvious that there is a building work in progress. Well, in the same way, Barnabas found evidence of God at work on the building site of people’s lives. The fruit of God's Spirit was in clear evidence. God's grace: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control, were placarded in these people’s lives. Presentation 24

6. A Church That Communicated The gospel changes people! Sadly, it is possible to recite the creeds of the church and to have a fantastic knowledge of the Bible and yet to have no experience of God's grace in one’s life. It is the grace of God that both communicates and commends the gospel to men and not any amount of modern gimmicks. The great tragedy of the church is that we have come to rely on these other things. Where there is a decreasing evidence of the grace of God in our lives, we must not expect to be effective communicators of the gospel. Presentation 24

7. A Church That Communicated How do we know the Christians in Antioch got their message across and arrested the attention of an immoral and secular society? cf. v26 .... Antioch was famous in the ancient world for giving nicknames to all sorts of groups. The term ‘Christian’ coined by the inhabitants of Antioch was originally given as a term of abuse and ridicule but the Christians wore it as a badge of honour. They were happy to be identified with Jesus Christ. Do our lives display God’s grace so that we arrest the attention of those around us? Are we seen to be different? Presentation 24

8. A Church That Communicated It is important that this difference is demonstrated in an unselfconscious manner. As soon as we become self-conscious in our determination to draw attention to our Christian profession something is terribly wrong. In Antioch in the 5thC a man called Simon Stylites lived for years on the top of a stone column. While he was seen to be different but that act in itself could not be compared to displaying the grace of God. There is something suspect about Christians who have to do cranky things in order to show they are different. Presentation 24

9. A Motivated Church Secondly, note how this church was motivated. Barnabas encouraged them to remain true (or to cleave) to the Lord with their whole heart v23. You might find it strange that a church that was doing so well was exhorted in this way. Surely, such exhortation is for churches where there is evidence of spiritual decay? Why does Barnabas tell them what they already know and have put into practice? Paul writes, "it is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you" Phil.3v1. The human heart can quickly cool and lose its ardour for God. Both Scripture and history is full of examples of Christians who began well but ended up nowhere spiritually because they failed to take this sort of exhortation seriously. Cf. 2Tim.4v10 Presentation 24

10. A Motivated Church Now pay particular attention to the content of Barnabas’ exhortation. They are not called upon to cleave to a building or an institution but to a person, to ‘the Lord’. How easy it is to miss this. How easily we depersonalise Christianity. Many seek to reduce it to a relationship to a set of rules, a denomination or a building but there is no authentic Christianity without there being a living relationship with Jesus. Why are so many people happier talking about doing something for ‘the church’ than they are about doing something for ‘the Lord Jesus’? Presentation 24

11. A Motivated Church The Christian’s motivation not only depends upon such exhortation but also upon an understanding God's purpose. If there is no teaching or discipling given along with exhortation, then frustration results. Christians become dispirited if over a long period of time, they are exposed to nothing but exhortation.. Where all of the church’s emphasis is on evangelism and exhortation to the neglect of sound teaching then weak Christians are produced. Barnabas understood this and went to Tarsus to secure Paul’s help with teaching. The force of the Greek means he made ‘a diligent search’. Tracking Paul down involved great effort but Barnabas considered it would be worth it! Presentation 24

12. A Motivated Church This congregation was exposed to intensive apostolic teaching for a whole year cf. v26. Foundational principles were being laid in their lives. They came to understand Christian doctrine and the dynamics of their faith. They were grounded in scripture. We must not underestimate the value of this for the more we come to grasp what God has done for us the greater will be our desire to serve him with our whole hearts. In the early history of the church when other churches were cooling in their zeal, the church at Antioch kept going. Why? They were grounded in God's word. This is why Biblical exposition should always be the church’s priority. Everything else flows from this! Presentation 24

13. A Church Which Served Once a congregation shows evidence of the grace of God and it has been grounded in God's Word and is constantly exhorted to a personal commitment to Jesus, then it begins to look beyond itself, for areas of service. It becomes a church with a mission, a church intent upon service. The church at Antioch was like that. We read in v28 that the church became aware of a famine about to sweep through the Roman Empire. Those who have read the novel "I Claudius" or watched the TV series will have seen the horror of this universal faminegraphically depicted. Or think of those suffering famine in the horn of Africa today! Presentation 24

14. A Church Which Served The church in Antioch would soon be affected by this famine. Did they put our own interests first thinking that they would meet the needs of others with anything left over? That is often how the church responds but not the church in Antioch. They pulled in their belts in order to help the church in Judea. [Many in Judea had sold their possessions in order to provide financial help for convert pilgrims during the first Pentecost]. What made the church in Antioch respond as she did? They worked out the teaching they had received from Paul and Barnabas. Theysaw themselves as a part of the body of Christ. The foreign Christians in need were their brothers and sisters! Presentation 24

15. A Church Which Served Today there is an unfortunate polarisation between those who say, “We are far too busy showing our concern for the spiritual needs of others to bother with their material welfare" and those who reply, “We are far too involved with the material needs of others to be concerned with their spiritual well-being". Both attitudes are wrong. We dare not emphasise the one at the exclusion of the other. The church in Antioch held the two together. In Ch.13 they commission missionaries to travel to the unevangelised regions of the world thus showing a spiritual concern for men and women who had never heard the gospel. They lived for the day when, “the earth would be full of the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea”. Hab. 2v14 Presentation 24

16. Conclusion The church in Antioch has a place in history as a church that made a significant impact for God. Do we share those ambitions for our church? Does the world see evidence of grace in our lives? Have we responded to exhortation to cleave to Jesus? Do we have an appetite for God's word? Do allow God’s Word to shape our response and service as we recognise both the material and the spiritual needs of those around us? May God help us to be that kind of church. Presentation 24