Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen’s death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews. However, some of the believers who went to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching to the Gentiles about the Lord Jesus. The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord. When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw this evidence of God’s blessing, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord. Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord. Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul. When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.) During this time some prophets traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them named Agabus stood up in one of the meetings and predicted by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world. (This was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius.) So the believers in Antioch decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters in Judea, everyone giving as much as they could. This they did, entrusting their gifts to Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders of the church in Jerusalem.
Acts of the Apostles 11:19-30 NLT
We learn here that there was not only one early church, but many early churches (and one Church, united in Christ). The Spirit was moving in the lives those who came to Jerusalem for Pentecost (Acts 2), and when they returned home, they started churches on their own. They didn’t have any of the Twelve disciples as their leaders, but they followed the Spirit, obeyed God’s Word, and appointed their own leaders. They saw themselves as connected to Jerusalem – receiving Barnabas and Saul and being willing to send money to the poor in Jerusalem. In chapters 10-11 we saw how hard it was for the church in Jerusalem to preach to Gentiles; the Spirit had to directly lead them and intervene. The Christians in Antioch just preached to the Gentiles naturally! Sharing Jesus was natural for these early disciples – they followed Jesus so much that people called them “Christians,” meaning “little christs.”
The Holy Spirit is still leading us to share Jesus with those we know and interact with. We don’t need an angelic visit, we just need to see how God is working and share Jesus naturally – seeing openings in conversations, caring and praying for people, and giving gentle invitations. There are always reasons to resist that we can find, or we can make the choice to tell the world about the love of Jesus.
What holds you back from sharing your faith with others? How can you be like the Christians in Antioch and naturally share Jesus with people today?
