Encouraging Others

You are listening to a message from Thrive Community Church, a church located in Southwest Florida. For more info, visit us at thrive-fl.org. We are in our sixth, I know, sixth week of our series called Neighborhoods to Nations as we look through the Book of Acts. And the historical reality that we've been looking at is that the first three centuries, the first 300 years of the church saw explosive growth. And the question has been why? And today we're going to learn a little more about that why, what was going on in the people of God in the Book of Acts, and what happened. One of the most significant developments we're looking at today in the Book of Acts, chapter 11. Now, when you read this passage, you might just pass right on by it thinking nothing of it. It seems so matter-of-fact, whereas it's really not at all. Because in Acts, chapter 11, we find ordinary people, ordinary followers of Jesus. Not apostles, not deacons, not people trained or appointed in any form, but just followers of Jesus sharing the gospel with Gentiles. And not just any Gentiles. Like last week when we talked about Cornelius, the Gentile was a God-fearer, somebody who already believed in the scriptures, the Old Testament and the God of Israel. But this time now, it is Gentiles in Antioch that would be considered polytheists. They have no concept, no clue as to the God of Israel or the scriptures or anything else. So I think we can learn a lot from this passage. Probably too many things. We're going to focus on just a part of it. So we're in Acts, chapter 11, verse 19 to 26. Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people, and in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. Great passage. We get to look at a lot of things. I like what David Platt, he wrote a book called Radical, pretty well known in evangelical circles now as a pastor. He said this in a recent message I heard him preach, I want to be part of something in the church that can only be explained by the hand of God. Have you ever felt that way? So often we can kind of come up with marketing, we can come up with all sorts of reasons why some things are happening and why not. The book of Acts is filled with things that can only be explained by the hand of God. And I am praying that that happens here in the United States and across the world right now. David Platt, when he was talking, was referring to movements he saw when he went over into India, and among the Christians there. And when I went to India back in, I think 2006, to visit Christians and Christian missions there, I felt like I was in the middle of the book of Acts as well. And God was doing things there that only we see in the pages of the book of Acts. Church under severe persecution, under severe trials, and yet the hand of God was with the people in such a way, and many, many people were coming to faith on a regular basis across that nation of polytheists. 1.4 billion people, and Christianity explodes in that place, even now under severe persecution these days. That was going on in the book of Acts here in a city called Antioch. A church was being born under a crucible of persecution because they had all fled out of Jerusalem after Stephen was stoned. And it wasn't that the apostles came, it wasn't that the deacons came, it was that ordinary Christians came into Antioch and started to share the good news of Jesus with people who had never even heard of the God of Israel. There were no programs, there were no marketing campaigns, there were no buildings, there were no budgets, there were no strategic plans, no attractive events, just ordinary people sharing the joy that they had in Jesus with others with great compassion, great courage, and an amazing result. I pray it's happening with us too. Now we can focus on a lot of things in this passage. This church is phenomenal. It becomes a hinge point in this whole letter. It becomes the transition from the neighborhoods to the nations. And it also becomes where we see the first multicultural church come together. You can read about who's all involved, and all of a sudden they have to be called Christians ...