Be A Barnabas - Be A Bridge Builder

Now... Antioch is 734 kms north of Jerusalem! ... much further north than Damascus !

(Damascus is 324 kms north of Jerusalem)

Some folks from my island home of Cyprus – along with a few others from Cyrene (____?) planted a church in Antioch.

Some saw Antioch as a more suitable capital for the eastern part of the empire and to a certain extent they tried to make it an eastern version of Rome

Antioch is located in a fertile valley on the Orontes River, about 20 kilometers inland from the Mediterranean... ** and had about half a million inhabitants.

An example of its Roman architecture is the hippodrome of Antioch, built by King Herod... The “Circus of Antioch” was a Roman hippodrome used for chariot racing... It was a fantastic sports center... it measured 500 meters (1,610 feet) in length and 30 metres (100 feet) wide, - and could hold 80,000 spectators!

So, a Christian community began in Antioch!!!

Yes, all the while, persecution was hounding us and people were hunting us...

But Antioch became a powerful church – planted because of persecution – and, that’s where we acquired the name “Christian.”

Luke the historian (and author of Acts) says it this way - “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.”

... God’s presence – and the good news of the gospel was changing lives everywhere you turned.

Once more I quote from Luke; “a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.” (11:21)

There’s nothing like new blood to excite a church!

So, all of this caught the attention of the mother church in Jerusalem – and they sent me to Antioch to oversee this new community of believers... they needed teaching and leadership and that was how God was using me in those early days.

Barnabas became their first pastor.

“When I arrived I was so glad... I could see what “the grace of God had done.” (11:23)...

So... on behalf of the apostles in Jerusalem... I encouraged them “to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.”

And, while I was there a “great number of people were brought to the Lord.”

People kept getting saved... repenting of their sins and turning to Jesus!

There’s nothing more beautiful than seeing someone getting saved... born again – that’s how Jesus described it to Nicodemus...

(have you met him? Do you know him? Has your life been transformed by Christ?)

So, while there in Antioch... I was feeling the demands of ministry and needed help.

So I made a bold move... I travelled to Tarsus to recruit Paul – some people were skeptical – who could blame them?

I could have sent for help in Jerusalem – that’s where the apostles were.

But God led me to recruit Saul... it took me a while but eventually I did find him...I persuaded him to join me in Antioch.

Surprising you might say... I saw it as a great opportunity to encourage and empower Saul.

**Everyone needs someone to believe in them – and I believed in Saul- his conversion was real... his calling was real... his love for lost people was real.

Acts 11:25 - 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.