This morning I am speaking at Zion Bible College, which is a ministry training school just north of Boston, MA. My talk today is part of the START EVENTS series – which is sponsored by the CHURCH MULTIPLICATION NETWORK. These START EVENTS are designed to connect with college students and help them begin dreaming about one day planting a church or participating as a part of a church planting team.
My message is based on the passage in Acts 11 where Barnabas finds Paul and brings him to Antioch, where together they work on planting this new church. When Barnabas goes to Antioch and this new church gets planted in this completely unreached area, there are several things that are set into motion.
#1 – NEW LEADERS WERE RELEASED
Paul gets his start in ministry in this new church plant. We cannot underestimate the value of this moment in church history. Paul goes on from there to plant churches all over Asia and into Europe. Paul pens much of the New Testament. Paul helps us understand the theological connections between the Old and New Testaments.
He gets his start in a church plant!
#2 – NEW MINISTRIES WERE LAUNCHED
Whatever Paul and Barnabas came up with in terms of their ministry plan was so transformational that the unbelievers in the city nicknamed the members of this new church – ‘Christians’ or ‘little christs’. That is pretty impressive! People were so changed by the ministry of this church plant that those who were being saved were being accused of looking a lot like Jesus!
#3 – NEW RESOURCES WERE TAPPED
The very end of Acts 11 concludes with a curious observation. There was a famine in the land of Judea (where the original church – the Jerusalem church existed). This new church in Antioch takes up a collection to send back to their parent church in Jerusalem to help them during this crisis. The daughter church was helping the mother church during a difficult time.
#4 – A CHAIN REACTION WAS SET IN MOTION
Read on into Acts 13 and you can see that this church plant in Antioch sends out the first recorded ‘intentional church planting team’. Barnabas and Paul are sent from that new church into the regions beyond to preach the gospel and plant churches. Because of the mission of this church plant in Antioch, the gospel eventually makes it way into Europe and then hundreds of year’s later makes it across the ocean to North America.
It all began with this church plant in Antioch.
