The First Christians
Acts 11:19-29
June 30, 2002
Intro:
A. [illustration]
John Bisagno former Pastor of Houston’s First Baptist Church tells the story of his coming there to candidate for the position of pastor many years ago.
He said that as he entered the auditorium it was dimly lit, with just a few people huddled together.
They were singing an old slow funeral type song that was depressing.
Later that day he took a walk in downtown Houston and came upon a jewelry store.
It was some sort of grand opening and there were bright lights and a greeter at the door to welcome you in with a smile.
Inside there was a celebration going on.
There were refreshments and people having a good time talking and laughing with each other.
They welcomed him and offered him some punch.
He said that after attending both the church and the jewelry store, if the jewelry store had offered an invitation, he would have joined the jewelry store!
B. What kind of church do you want to attend?
1. What kind of church do you think most people want to attend?
2. Is Somerset that kind of Church?
C. Let me say a few things about the Restoration Movement as we begin…
1. Somerset is part of what is known as the Restoration Movement.
2. The Restoration Movement is a body of churches whose intent is to restore the church to its original condition.
3. We want to continue working to make the church today as much like the church of the NT as we possibly can.
4. Today we are going to read about the church in the city of Antioch where the believers were first called Christians.
5. I believe there is some important things we can learn from the First Christian Church.
6. You will see that one of the most prominent characteristics of that First Christian Church was that it was a large, growing church.
7. There at least three things that I believe we can learn from them; first…
I. Evangelism brought great numbers.
Acts 11:19-21, Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. 20 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. 21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
A. Now lets start with verse 19…
1. First Luke tells us that the scene is changing from what we have been studying in the last chapter and a half.
2. The story in chapter ten and the first half of eleven is about salvation coming to the Gentiles.
3. The story takes place in three cities: Caesarea, Joppa, and Jerusalem.
4. Cornelius lived in Caesarea and Peter was in Joppa at the home of Simon-the-tanner.
5. Peter went to Cornelius’ house in Caesarea and shared the good news of Jesus Christ and for the first time, Gentiles received salvation.
6. Then Peter was called to a meeting in Jerusalem to explain his actions.
7. But now in verse 19 we come to another story.
8. Luke now is harkening back to chapters seven and eight.
9. In chapter seven, Stephen was stoned and after that, great persecution arose against the believers.
10. Acts 8:1-3, And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
11. And in our text today verse nineteen says, Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews.
12. Luke is going to tell us a story now about some things that happened in the city of Antioch.
13. He’s referring back to the persecution to tell us why there were believers there in Antioch and the reason is because they had fled to Antioch to evade the persecution in Jerusalem.
14. This city was located about 200 miles north of Jerusalem.
15. Because Luke had just told the story about salvation coming to the Gentiles, he pointed out that up till the time of this story, salvation was still only being preached to the Jews in Antioch.
16. However verse 20 tells us that some believers from Cypress and Cyrene came to Antioch and started preaching to the Gentiles as well.
B. And then verse 21 tells us The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
1. I read Acts 8:1-3 a moment ago about the persecution that arose after the stoning of Stephen; now listen to Acts 8:4, Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
2. Clearly that verse applies to the believers in Antioch.
3. When the believers came to Antioch, they preached the word.
4. They told others the good news about Jesus Christ wherever they went, including Antioch.
5. They clearly were concerned about evangelism.
6. Evangelism was a priority for them.
7. Telling people the good news of Jesus Christ was important to them.
C. Because they made a priority of talking about Jesus, the Scripture says the Lord’s hand was with them and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
1. So what do we learn from the believers in Antioch, we learn that if we make a priority of evangelism, God’s hand will be with us and great numbers will believe.
2. Now who were these people who were telling the good news in Antioch?
3. Remember Acts 8:1 says, On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
4. So it wasn’t the church leaders who were doing the evangelizing, because they were still back in Jerusalem.
5. It was the people in the pews who were telling people about Jesus Christ.
6. And when they did, the Lord’s hand was with them.
7. And when they did, great numbers of people believed.
D. Jesus said in John 12:32, But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
1. Now Jesus was literally talking about Himself being lifted up on the cross, but it can be truthfully stated as well that if we will lift up Jesus in our conversations, He will draw people to Himself.
2. The people in Antioch lifted up Christ in their conversations with the people in the city and Christ drew people to Him.
3. God’s hand was with them as they told others about Christ.
4. Great numbers believed as they told others about Christ.
E. That’s what the first Christians did, are we doing that?
1. Are we lifting up Christ? Are we telling people the good news about the Lord Jesus?
2. Ephesians 5:15-16 says, Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
3. Are we making the most of every opportunity to share Christ with those around us?
4. Do we realize the shortness of our days and the seriousness of the eternity of people?
5. We’ve got the same good news that the Christians in Antioch had, don’t we?
6. We’ve got the same God in heaven, don’t we?
7. Are we just making excuses about not knowing enough about the Bible?
8. Are we just making excuses about not wanting to offend someone?
9. Are we just making excuses about prejudging how they are going to respond?
10. Friends, can I tell you that none of that matters?
11. So what if I make a fool of myself—at least I’m a fool for Christ!
12. So what if a few get offended if great numbers believe?
13. So what if we are afraid they might not accept Christ, what if we shared and they surprise us because God’s hand was upon them?
14. Friends there are a few situations where it is best not to share Christ at a certain time—but they are just that FEW! There a few times when the timing is not right!
15. But you know what? The Scripture is still true that says For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2)
16. When you hear a voice that says you shouldn’t share the gospel with someone, you need to know that most of the time that’s Satan!
17. You know the truth is that there has to be a pretty good reason for not telling someone how much Christ has helped us and how He can help them as well!
18. There has to be a pretty good reason for not saying how powerful Christ is.
19. There has to be a pretty good reason for not talking about God’s love and faithfulness.
20. Do you see how much Satan has a hold of us?
21. Do you see how Satan has tricked us into not talking about our wonderful Savior?
22. What reason can you think of why God wouldn’t want us to be talking about Jesus?
23. Now don’t get me wrong there are some, but we’d better make sure that it is God that is leading us to not talk about Christ.
24. What I’m saying is that we have things exactly backwards: our tendency is to not talk about Jesus unless God really convicts us, but the way it ought to be is that it should be our normal tendency to talk about Jesus unless God convicts us not to.
25. Our normal tendency ought to be just like Peter and John’s.
26. Listen to what the Scriptures say after they had been arrested for talking about Jesus in Acts 4:18-20, Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. 20 For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."
27. Shouldn’t that be our normal tendency?
28. Oh that it would be said of us as it was of them, that we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard about Jesus!
29. And when we cannot help talking about our Jesus, the Lord’s hand will be with us.
30. And when we cannot help talking about our Jesus, great number will be brought to the Lord.
II. Encouragement brought great numbers.
Acts 11:22-24, News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
A. Now we have Barnabas back in the picture again.
1. We were first introduced to Barnabas (whose real name was Joseph) back in chapter four.
a. Joseph was one of the ones who sold a piece of property and gave the money to the church.
b. And Luke tells us that the apostles gave him the nick-name: Barnabas.
c. Barnabas means "son of encouragement."
d. Joseph was such an encourager, they started calling him son of encouragement.
2. The next time we see Barnabas is in Acts chapter nine after the conversion of Saul.
a. The same Saul that was there at the stoning of Stephen and then began the great persecution of the church.
b. But He got saved on the road to Damascus in Acts nine.
c. Saul began preaching Christ to the Jews immediately in Damascus, but they became angry with him and conspired to kill him.
d. So Saul fled to Jerusalem.
e. However, when he got to Jerusalem, the believers in Christ did not believe that he was really saved and thought he was still trying to get them.
f. But Barnabas showed up and took Saul and brought him to the apostles.
g. Barnabas reached out to Saul and got the others to accept him.
h. The man who had sold a piece of property and gave the proceeds to the church and became such an encouragement to the believers was now an encouragement to Saul.
3. Now in chapter 11, Barnabas has traveled to Antioch.
B. And absolutely nothing has changed about Barnabas.
1. Barnabas is still encouraging others.
2. The believers in Jerusalem heard about the great numbers being brought to the Lord in Antioch and so they sent Barnabas to encourage them.
3. Barnabas encourage them to remain true to the Lord with their whole hearts.
4. The Scripture says Barnabas was a good man.
5. Barnabas was full of the holy Spirit.
6. Barnabas was full of faith.
7. Barnabas was an encourager and again the Scripture says that as a result of Barnabas’ encouragement, great numbers were brought to the Lord.
C. Now let’s think about encouragement for a few minutes…
1. Webster’s New World Dictionary says that encourage means, "to give courage, hope, or confidence to; embolden.
2. Barnabas certainly did those things.
a. Barnabas gave courage to those in Antioch.
b. Barnabas gave hope to those in Jerusalem.
c. Barnabas gave confidence to and emboldened Saul.
3. We are called to do those things as well…
a. We need to give others courage.
b. We need to give others hope.
c. We need to give others confidence.
d. We need to embolden others.
4. I believer greeters are an important ministry in the church.
a. I believe we need a strong group of greeters to bring a feel of hospitality to the church.
b. We are currently in the process of reorganizing our greeters and we are looking for some outgoing people with a flare for hospitality.
c. I believe that greeters should have an attitude of service and representing Christ.
d. I believe greeters should treat everyone from infants to pastors as important people.
e. I believe greeters should make all people feel appreciated.
f. I believe greeters should understand that an ounce of encouragement on their part can often be worth a pound of preaching.
g. I believe greeters need to speak about what Christ and the church has done and not about themselves.
h. I believe greeters need to make people aware of the restrooms and classrooms.
i. I believe greeters need to understand that for newcomers, first impressions are very important.
j. I believe that greeters are an important ministry in the life of a growing church.
5. But I also believe that if the greeters are doing a great job but the people in the pews drop the ball, the greeters ministry will be for naught.
a. I believe that the people in the pews need to pick up where the greeters leave off.
b. I believe the church should be hospitable towards everyone.
c. I believe the church should do everything it can to make newcomers feel welcome.
d. I believe the church should do everything it can to make members feel welcome.
e. I believe the church should have an attitude of service and representing Christ and not just showing up to see what we can get out of it for ourselves.
f. I believe the church should treat everyone from infants to pastors as important people.
g. I believe the church should make all people feel appreciated.
h. I believe the church should understand that an ounce of encouragement on their part can often be worth a pound of preaching.
i. I believe the church should speak about what Christ and the church has done and not about ourselves.
j. I believe that the church should be a place of friendliness, compassion, concern, and encouragement to one another.
k. I believe that the church should be nick-named "Barnabas!" Amen?
l. And I believe that when the church becomes a place of encouragement, great numbers will be brought to the Lord!
m. And it all starts with me and it all starts with you.
n. We can’t sit around waiting to see if everyone else is going to start becoming an encourager because it will never happen.
o. But each one of us has to decide in our own hearts that we are going to become a Barnabas.
p. And when that happens, I believe great numbers will be brought to the Lord.
III. Equanimity brought great numbers.
Acts 11:25-30, Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 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. 27 During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 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.) 29 The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
A. Equanimity means an evenness of mind.
1. And in the first church, they were of the mind that team work was important.
2. There was equanimity in that they believed they were working together as team for the cause of Christ.
3. There weren’t inflated egos that said one part was more important than another part.
4. They had an evenness of mind that said they were all equal co-workers on the team.
B. First we see the equanimity of Barnabas and Saul.
1. The believers who first went to Antioch brought great numbers to the Lord.
2. Then Barnabas came to work with them and he too brought great numbers to the Lord.
3. Then Saul came and worked together with Barnabas and great numbers were taught the Word of God.
4. There was no room for egos, because there was too much work to do to quibble over who was greater or who had the most people.
5. There was equanimity between Barnabas and Saul.
C. Then there were prophets who came.
1. Again they weren’t there on an ego trip.
2. Through the HS, they predicted a severe famine.
3. The Christians worked overtime to provide for people who were hurt by the famine.
4. The Christians worked hard to look out for the needs of others and not just for the needs of their growing church.
5. The Christians brought their gift and Barnabas and Saul delivered it.
6. They all worked together as team to further the kingdom of God and as a result, people received help.
D. Therefore we see that no one is more important than anyone else in the church.
1. From these first Christians we learn that there is no room for runaway egos in the church.
2. From these first Christians we learn that there is no room for people who have to be appreciated in order to participate.
3. From these first Christians we learn that there is no room for lone ranger ministries who function simply to further their own cause.
4. From these first Christians we learn that there must be equanimity in the church for the Lord’s hand to be upon us.
5. From these first Christens we learn that when we are working together as a team great numbers will be brought in.
Conclusion:
A. [Make Yourself at Home, SOURCE: From Rebecca Manley Pippert. Out of the Saltshaker & into the World : Evangelism As a Way of Life. Intervarsity Press, 1999. p 260.]
Becky Pippert, is a Christian author from Naperville, Illinois.
While doing campus ministry she met a student named Bill on a college campus in Portland, Oregon.
Bill was brilliant, and always looked like he was pondering something deep.
He had messy hair, and the entire time she knew him, she never saw him wear a pair of shoes.
Rain, sleet, or snow, Bill was always barefoot.
While he was attending college, he had become a Christian.
At this time, a well-dressed, middle-class church across the street from the campus wanted to develop more of a ministry to the students.
They weren’t sure how to go about it, but they tried to make them feel welcome.
One day Bill decided to worship there.
He walked into this church wearing his blue jeans, T-shirt and of course no shoes.
People looked a bit uncomfortable, but no one said anything.
So Bill began walking down the aisle looking for a seat.
The church was quite crowded that Sunday, so as he got down to the front pew and realized there were no seats, he just squatted on the carpet – perfectly acceptable behavior at a college fellowship, but perhaps unnerving for a buttoned-down church congregation.
The tension in the air became so thick one could slice it.
Suddenly an elderly man began walking down the aisle toward the boy.
Was he going to scold Bill?
Becky’s friends who saw him approaching said they thought, "You can’t blame him. He’d never guess Bill is a Christian. And his world is too distant from Bill’s to understand. You can’t blame him for what he’s going to do."
As the man kept walking slowly down the aisle, the church became utterly silent.
All eyes were focused on him.
You couldn’t hear anyone breathe.
When the man reached Bill, with some difficulty he lowered himself and sat down next to him on the carpet.
He and Bill worshipped together on the floor that Sunday.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.
B. Do you realize what we have really learned from the first Christians?
1. We’ve seen that evangelism brought great numbers.
2. We’ve seen that encouragement brought great numbers.
3. We’ve seen that equanimity brought great numbers.
4. But what we’re really seeing is that when we quit worrying about ourselves so much and start talking about Christ and encouraging others as we work together as a team, God will do great things!
5. I say let’s restore Somerset to the original condition of the first Christians.
6. Let’s have a church full of Christians like the first Christians!
7. Let’s evangelize!
8. Let’s encourage!
9. And let’s have equanimity!
10. And I believe that when we get ourselves out of the way, God will do great things—just as He did for the first Christians!
