Acts 11:19-30, 13:1-3, 14:26-28

In Antioch, ordinary believers discovered that enjoying their relationship with Jesus naturally overflowed into blessing others. By belonging together in Christ, they became a community that engaged their neighbors and even sent missionaries beyond their borders.

Following Stephen’s stoning (Acts 6), ordinary believers fled Jerusalem and found a new home in Antioch. These believers preached the gospel to Greeks as well as Jews, signaling a continued expansion of the gospel beyond ethnic lines. In Antioch a multi ethnic church was formed which is significant because at this point the early followers of Jesus were still primarily Jewish, with a few exceptions. In Antioch Greeks and Jews were engaged with the love of God and formed one community, united in Christ. Imagine how this impacted Paul as he was later sent out from this church and spread the gospel throughout the Roman world! Through prayer, Scripture and the Holy Spirit, these ordinary believers became a sending hub. Their example shows us how we too can bless our neighbors and community by living faithfully and lovingly in the places God has placed us. 

Just as in other locations, the early church in Antioch demonstrated how God works through faithful everyday people, even in complex or unfamiliar cultural settings. The church wasn’t made up of rulers or elites; their identity in Jesus set them apart and empowered them to engage neighbors in new ways. Their enjoyment of their relationship with Jesus didn't fit the world’s models so much so that the world created a new category for them, “Christians.” 

They relied on the power of the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures and prayer to discern how they should engage their neighbor and the world. The believers in Jerusalem heard about all the things God was doing in and through them, and sent Barnabus to encourage them. Then Barnabus went to find Paul and bring him to Antioch where they ministered together. The church in Antioch then becomes a missionary sending hub for the early church. 

God repeatedly advances his mission through all sorts of people, people leading the “wrong” kind of lives, reluctant people, people who have recently come back to him, people who listen for God’s voice and take faith-filled risks, people who use their home and their wealth to generously support the church and mission of God, people who use the disruptions in the lives as channels of God’s love to their neighbors, people who make their primary identity with Jesus. 

Dear Jesus, Thank you for the journey you’ve had me on the last three weeks. It’s been three weeks of seeking you and enjoying your presence more fully in my life. Thank you for my church family that I get to journey with. My heart swells when I think of all this and how you’ve used ordinary people to advance your kingdom simply by relying on the Holy Spirit, responding in faith and engaging their neighbor. As these three weeks draw to a close continue to create in me a heart that finds joy in you, a joy that can’t be contained and spills over to my church family and my neighbor. Amen.