A growing church - Day 1

Acts 11:19-26 (New International Version)

The Church in Antioch

¹⁹Now 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. ²⁰Some 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. ²¹The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

²²News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ²³When 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. ²⁴He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

²⁵Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, ²⁶and 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.

Since we've never lived in Israel, the names of places can all run together. But the Bible records them for a reason. Antioch wasn't in Israel; it was in Syria. It was filled with Gentiles, not Jews. The gospel was bursting past the borders of ancient Israel and beginning to spread to the rest of the world. All of a sudden the makeup of the church was becoming remarkably diverse. There were people of all kinds coming into the church - so many that they were becoming a totally new entity. And once their numbers became large enough, people invented a name for them - a name you and I now share with these early followers of Christ: Christian.

How do you react when people who are very different from you join your church?

Do people in your school see a difference between Christians and non-Christians?

Do your actions show that Christians are different? How?

Week 17: A growing church

The church at Antioch

MEMORY VERSE
The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
(Acts 11:21)

INTRODUCTION
I don't know about you but I'm continually amazed at how quickly babies grow. You see them one month, and they're small and helpless. Then just a few months later, they're walking, talking and generally creating havoc wherever they go.

Amazing.

Most of us have stopped growing by now, so maybe we don't appreciate this as much. I'm sure God meant for babies to stop growing at a certain point, but not the church.

In Acts 11:9-26, we see the Church multiplying and growing exponentially as the gospel moves into new areas. This growth is explosive as the Church tears down the barriers of cultural prejudice, geographical isolation, racial division, and social opposition. This is what God desires for his kingdom - to be continually expanding and bringing more people into the knowledge of Christ.

The same Holy Spirit who inspired this expansion is continuing to work in us today. Many of the barriers faced by the early Church members still threaten us, but they can be torn down just as easily through the Holy Spirit's power.

This week we're going to find out that God wants to use us to reach the world by multiplying the number of believers in our churches.

From Jews to Gentiles, Day 5

⁶So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"

⁷He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

(Acts 1: 6-8)

God could have sent Jesus to every part of the world to tell them about salvation, but instead God chose to send you. Part of our job as the church is to take the message of Jesus to all those who've not heard it. There are more than 1 billion people on the planet today who literally have no idea who Jesus is. They have no hope that they can be saved from their own sin. God is sending us out - just as he sent the first disciples - to share the good news with a lost world. God loves them and desperately wants them to know salvation. If this is God's heart, then it should be ours as well.

Have you felt God calling you to share the gospel with people outside your culture?

How can you do that this week...this month...this year?

Ask God to show you where he wants to use you.

From Jews to Gentiles, Day 4

³ Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city—a visit required three days. ⁴ On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." ⁵ The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

⁶ When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. ⁷ Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh:
"By the decree of the king and his nobles:
Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. ⁸ But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. ⁹ Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish."

¹⁰ When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.

Jonah 4

Jonah's Anger at the Lord 's Compassion

¹ But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. ² He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. ³ Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live."

⁴ But the LORD replied, "Have you any right to be angry?"

(Jonah 3:3 - 4:4)

Most of us know about Jonah's aquatic adventures (see Jonah 1 and 2)), but here we find the rest of the story. When Jonah finally obeyed God and preaches to the Ninevites, they changed their ways. Instead of being thrilled, Jonah pouted. He hated the Ninevites and would rather have seen them destroyed. Again, here we have an example of God's compassion for all people, even a brutal people such as the Ninevites.

Prejudice has no place in the church because it has no place in the heart of God. If god can forgive all people, then we must as well. But if the prophets can suffer from prejudice, then so can we.

If God told you to share his love with someone you really despised, could you do it?

Ask God to change your heart so you can love the people the way God does.

From Jews to Gentiles, Day 3

¹My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ²He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

³We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.

(1 John 2:1-3)

Humans are diverse. We have different languages, heritages, customs, and appearances. We live in different environments. But there's one thing we all share in common: Our sin nature. It affects everyoen, and in that respect it's the great equalizer. No one can say she is without sin, and no one can overcome it by her own efforts. John reminds believers to remember where they came from (they used to be lost in sin) and to keep doors open for others. Jesus came to save people who are struggling with sin. That includes everyone. If we're going to be the church of Jesus Christ, then our doors have to remain open to everyone.

Now that you are saved, do you tend to look down on people who aren't?

Ask Jesus to show you how to love all people, not just those you love now.

From Jews to Gentiles, Day 2

The Call of Abram

¹ The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.

² "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.

³ I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."

(Genesis 12: 1-3)

Peter thought God's openness to the Gentiles was new, but God had wanted this from the beginning. Abraham was the father of the Jewish people. (Remember that children's song "Father Abraham"?) God told Abraham that he'd father a nation and his children would be special - God's people. But look at today's passage. God told Abraham his desire: That "all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (verse 3). This was God's plan all along - that everyone could be blessed and have a relationship with him.

If God loves everyone, then how should you treat people outside your race, color, or national background?

Pray that God will help you realize that all people are God's people and that the biggest difference is that some are lost and some are saved.

From Jews to Gentiles, Day 1

Peter's Vision

⁹About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. ¹⁰He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. ¹¹He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. ¹²It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. ¹³Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat."

¹⁴"Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean."

¹⁵The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."

¹⁶This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

¹⁷While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's house was and stopped at the gate. ¹⁸They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.

¹⁹While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Simon, three men are looking for you. ²⁰So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them."

²¹Peter went down and said to the men, "I'm the one you're looking for. Why have you come?"

²²The men replied, "We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to have you come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say." ²³Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.

Peter at Cornelius' House

The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went along. ²⁴The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. ²⁶But Peter made him get up. "Stand up," he said, "I am only a man myself."

²⁷Talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. ²⁸He said to them: "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. ²⁹So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?"

³⁰Cornelius answered: "Four days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me ³¹and said, 'Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. ³²Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.' ³³So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us."

³⁴Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism ³⁵but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. ³⁶You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. ³⁷You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— ³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

³⁹"We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, ⁴⁰but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. ⁴¹He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴²He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. ⁴⁵The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

Then Peter said, ⁴⁷"Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have." ⁴⁸So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

Acts 10: 9-48

You have to give god credit for being dramatic. But why all the theatrics here? Because this event was a big turning point for Peter - and for Christianity. Peter had followed the Law, and as far as he understood it, there were some things you could and couldn't eat. The same was true for people: Some were considered to be God's people, and some were not. In even simpler terms: Jewish people were, and everyone else wasn't. So God started with something less important (food) and then moved to something very important (people) to help Peter understand. Petergot the message: God loves all people - not just Jews - and God wants all of them to be his people. Peter resisted this thought at first. But it was unmistakable what God was telling him, so he changed his mind. God's love is for all people, not just a chosen few.

How would you react if God asked you to change your mind about something you've always believed?

Is there any place in your life where you believe some people are more important than others? Why?

How does this passage help you deal with that?