Teaching Text

Acts 11:19-30; 12:25-13:3

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

News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 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. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

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.

During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 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 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. . . .

When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark. 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. 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.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

Sermon Recap

This Sunday, Pastor Jon Tyson continued our series through the Book of Acts, The Fifth Act, with teaching on the history altering birth of the church at Antioch in Acts 11-13 and the roles Barnabas and Saul played in expanding the Kingdom from there. Following the rise of persecution in Jerusalem, followers of Jesus not only began to go to the ends of the earth, but to try and make disciples of all nations as Jesus commanded them, now that the Holy Spirit had been given to the Gentiles. Antioch marks the first place that the Gospel was actively being shared beyond the Jewish community, and it led to a radical move of God that transformed a nearly godless city to the place where believers were called “Christians” for the first time.

Pastor Jon presented Antioch as a case study for God moving in a city and the key factors that ushered in such a radical shift. First, the disciples that came to Antioch focused on sharing the message of Jesus. They believed that the Gospel was truly good news for all people, they offered it freely, and many people turned to the Lord to form a unified church despite their widely diverse backgrounds. Like these disciples, we must share Jesus’ message widely in our city, believing that the Gospel has the power to change everything for anyone, no matter their past or current circumstances.

Second, Pastor Jon noted that the men who initially shared the Gospel in Antioch are unnamed, ordinary men in Scripture, not the leaders of the Church or religious professionals. Leaders driven by personal humility and iron will to see communal goals reached will often go unknown in history. However, the Church in the West has often fallen into waiting for a “hero” leader to emerge, organizing around them like worker bees in a hive, and wasting the spiritual potential of whole bodies of believers. Moves of God that create lasting impact must be carried out by ordinary people, bringing whatever they have, and offering it up for God to use.

In line with this, the third key was empowering leadership. Barnabas is sent to Antioch after news of the move of God reaches Jerusalem, and he immediately sees the grace of Christ at work in people’s lives. Barnabas stayed to encourage the new church to continue following Jesus with all their hearts, but he also recognized this was an environment that could release the destiny of another leader: Saul. Remembering God’s promise that Saul would be a chosen instrument among the Gentiles, Barnabas set off to find Saul in Tarsus and bring him back to Antioch. This moment marks the beginning of the end of what we see of Barnabas’ ministry in the book of Acts, because he chose to empower Saul instead of clinging to leadership for himself. Pastor Jon pointed out that unleashing greatness in ordinary people was actually the ministry model Jesus put into practice with the disciples, and called us to do the same. We must be a church that aims to release destinies of all kinds of people, calling out their potential in the Kingdom, even before they might know Jesus.

These key factors resulted in a move of God that brought multitudes to the Lord, unleashed radical generosity in the city, and required a new name to be invented for the believers in the city— Christians. Our church is committed to building a hub like this in New York, where we have a stable center with timeless theology and resources with an innovative edge that is open to the Spirit and taking risks with God. Pastor Jon exhorted us that there are no small people and no small places in the expansion of the Kingdom, but we must determine to consecrate ourselves and what we have for the Lord’s use. Every day, we must rise hungry to see the Kingdom of God break in, and faithfully follow where He is inviting us to lean in.