The Church in Antioch
Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2018 4:51 pm
A while back I did a study of every local church expression in the New Testament.
I suspected going into the study what my 'favorite' church would be, but the more I thought about it the more I realized just how much the Church in Antioch is my favorite church in the Bible.
They were the FIRST to aggressively witness to Gentiles
They were the FIRST to be called Christians
They were the FIRST to intentionally send out missionaries
In other words, they CONNECTED to people different from themselves; they GREW into a distinct demographic that looked like Christ to their neighbors; and they SERVED the world by giving and releasing their own resources for the good of the Kingdom and world.
I use this CONNECT, GROW, SERVE as a model for what I'd like to see happen in the churches I'm part of. But the Church in Antioch is the specific example I have in mind when I use those terms.
I suspected going into the study what my 'favorite' church would be, but the more I thought about it the more I realized just how much the Church in Antioch is my favorite church in the Bible.
They were the FIRST to aggressively witness to Gentiles
They were the FIRST to be called Christians
They were the FIRST to intentionally send out missionaries
In other words, they CONNECTED to people different from themselves; they GREW into a distinct demographic that looked like Christ to their neighbors; and they SERVED the world by giving and releasing their own resources for the good of the Kingdom and world.
I use this CONNECT, GROW, SERVE as a model for what I'd like to see happen in the churches I'm part of. But the Church in Antioch is the specific example I have in mind when I use those terms.