Good morning and welcome to worship. We are in sermon series through the Book of Acts and today we look at the incredible story of the church in Antioch.  Jesus told the disciples the day he ascended into heaven, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Mt 28:18-20

Prior to that he said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8

He told Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that he sent his One and Only Son that whoever believes in him might not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to condemn it but to save through him. John 3:16-17

Saved from what? Good question! Somebody once said to me, “I’ve got everything I need. What do I need to be saved from?”  Good question! The Bible has two clear answers…

 

First, you need to be saved from the righteous wrath of God poured out against all sin. God is love, but God is also absolutely just. If that were not so, his love would be meaningless. He placed the judgment that stood against you on his own Son and Jesus willingly took it for you. One day, we all stand before God to give an account of our life and what we have done with the salvation he has offered us. If we reject his salvation, we will stand before his wrath.

 

The second answer is that Jesus came to save us from our empty way of life.  Anybody here familiar with the empty way of life? Remember these lyrics from Johnny Lee?

 

Every human being is looking for something nothing in this world can satisfy. The reason why is because God has made us for himself. Money, sex, power will never satisfy the emptiness within us. Only the Lord can fill that hole within us and satisfy our deepest need.

 

The Bible isn’t the story of God looking for somebody having fun and then slamming them. It’s the story of God seeking out his lost children and calling us home. On the cross, he paid our debts. He sets prisoners free; he unshackles us from our shame, heals us from our addictions, and drives out our fear. He’s on your side.  Do you know anyone who needs to hear this stuff?

 

Open your Bibles to Acts 11:19.  Those Jewish Christians driven out of Jerusalem following the stoning of Stephen traveled across the Mediterranean basin – Phoenicia (Lebanon), the island of Cyprus, and Antioch in modern day Turkey.  Mostly they witnessed to other Jews but some witnessed to Gentiles, too. And many of these believed and turned to the Lord.

 

The city of Antioch was one of the 3 greatest cities in the Roman Empire. It was a center of commerce, culture, politics. It stood at a crossroads of the ancient world. It was in this place that Jews and Gentiles were first drawn together by the Holy Spirit into one church.

 

It’s now nearly 10 years after the resurrection and news has reached Peter and the church in Jerusalem of an incredible move of the HS among both Jews and Gentiles in Antioch. So they send Barnabas to check it out. He’s the one the disciples nicknamed, “The son of encouragement”. 

When things got tough you could always count of Barnabas to have an encouraging word. He was always the first to invest himself in whatever the Holy Spirit was doing. He was trusted for his maturity and wisdom. He was the right guy for the right time.

 

When Barnabas arrived in Antioch, he was amazed! The Lord was obviously at work!  People were coming out of their empty way of life and into faith in Jesus. Miracles were happening, new life was sprouting up. Jesus was obviously here and at work among these believers.

 

Under his leadership the church continued to grow and mature and many were brought to the Lord. So many, in fact, that he needed help. So Barnabas hopped on a ship and made the 100 mile journey across the NE end of the Med to find Saul in the city of Tarsus. Many Christians were still suspicious of Saul, but not Barnabas the encourager. Together, he and Saul taught and discipled the young believers in the church in Antioch for over a year.  

 

It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called “Christians” -“Jesus people”.  The name was both derogatory and positive!  We experience the same thing today! Are you a Jesus freak? Halleluiah!  So what do we see in the DNA of the church in Antioch that is helpful for our congregation this morning? I see 6 things!  The Christians in Antioch ...

 

1. Understood that the Gospel is for all people.  The church was born on Pentecost Sunday in Jerusalem among Jews gathered from around the Roman world. But were it not for what the Holy Spirit did in Antioch and the Jewish Christians who witnessed to the Gentiles there, the church may have remained a Jewish sect and eventually died out. But God has called us together for the sake of those who aren’t here yet. The health of our congregation depends upon our willingness to include those who are not part of our “church culture” or community.

 

2. Saw themselves as a movement, not an institution. The church is an organism rather than an organization. Too often, once the church gets firmly established, control replaces mission as our primary emphasis. The way we’ve always done things takes over and we lose our willingness to flex and respond. We begin to see the church as our own, rather than God’s.

 

3. Expected opposition and weren’t intimidated by the mess!  Most of these new Christians in Antioch had come out of paganism. They had left everything to follow Jesus. Many Christians still do today. They faced persecution and hardship, yet they found Jesus sufficient. They didn’t know anything about the “church culture”.  They said and did things that made the traditional Christians cringe.  They stepped on some toes, hurt some feelings. Broke some traditions.

 

Yet this church in Antioch decided to love these new believers fresh out of paganism and welcomed them into their community. Renovation always makes a mess, and the renovating work of the Holy Spirit is no exception! Are we willing to participate in the renovation work of the Holy Spirit in people’s lives even when it makes a mess in our community and routine?

 

4. Stayed centered and rooted in the Word as their sole authority and power!  Antioch was a center of pagan philosophy and religious cults.  The young church soon realized if they were to have any power in their witness to the Gospel, they needed to stay centered in the Word of God.  Every cult boasted of its own spiritual experience.  But “try it and see if you like it”  or “have it your way”  theology always leads to bondage, not freedom.

 

Only Jesus can set us free, only his Word is trustworthy and true. In the midst all the voices clamoring to be the way to satisfy our deepest desire, only Jesus is the real deal. For these new Christians in Antioch, many of whom were struggling to come out of deep deceptions, the truth of God’s word was their only hope and anchor.

 

5. Sought to find and develop new leadership!  A missionary church is a growing church, not just in numbers, but in the spiritual maturity of its members. People learn by doing. Paul and Barnabas taught, not just to inform, but to equip people for ministry and leadership in the church. The prepared them and send them out to serve in the world. They got that from Jesus!

 

6. Looked beyond themselves and practiced generosity and servanthood.  Missional churches give of their time, talent, the treasure for the sake of God’s kingdom.  One of my Bible school teachers used to say, “You get as you give what you get.”  The Antioch Christians were generous investors of what God had given them.

 

When they heard through a prophetic word that a famine would soon come on the whole Roman world (which included them) instead of hoarding, they took up an offering for the ones they thought would suffer most, the Jewish Christians still in Jerusalem.

 

Martin Luther said that the pocketbook is the last place to be converted!  Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there is your heart also.”   God obviously doesn’t need our tithes and offerings, yet he commands us to bring our offerings – why?  Because we need to give! Giving and serving are part of becoming spiritual mature.  A missional church can be identified by line items in their annual budget!  The same is true of a growing Christian. What would your budget show?

 

In the mission statement of CLC, we commit ourselves to living worship, growing faith, serving fellowship, and sending saints.  We see these four commitments in the church in Antioch.  It wasn’t perfect,  but it was clear in its mission.  Who is it that the Lord is calling us to make room for at CLC? Are we willing to put up with the mess and inconvenience that comes with opening up our fellowship to those who have never been here before?  Are we willing to study the Word so that we can better articulate our faith to others? Are we willing to humbly serve so that we might grow in our skills for ministry? Are we willing to invest in our time, talent, and treasure in taking the light of Christ into the world – just as he did for us?  I believe we are! Let’s keep it up!