Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: Church

Is the CHURCH still Christian?
What makes a church Christian? Can we tell from it’s SIGN on the DOOR or internet invitation? Does a traditional denomination make a church Christian? OR does its NAME etched in its brand guarantee preaching of Biblical Christianity?

Defining & Refining CHURCH Labels

As we observed last time concerning labels like ‘evangelical Christians,’ labels don’t generally describe individuals accurately. So too, the names of local churches may appear to be faded remnants of the past or clouded virtual pictures.

Is the Evangelical Christian?

Last time I asked a personal question about evangelicals.

Today, however, we will address the body of believers who evangelize the Lord Jesus Christ, those we corporately we call ‘THE CHURCH.”

Church

So how is a godly Christian to know if OUR church preaches the Lord Jesus Christ according to Biblical Christian teaching of two millennia since the resurrection of Christ Jesus?

We have no idea what communicable doctrines a local church may preach, teach and spread into our local and distant communities.

Who are those Christians in that building?
```
I've even wondered this myself about our local gathering of christians and others in weekly worship, social gatherings (formerly called fellowship {archaic}) and sermon discussion classes (formerly labeled Sunday school {also archaic}) or Bible study {an inappropriate label for any group in a church willing to grow our church vision of Evangelicalism}.
```
Who are those christians in our church this week:
- Members?
- Attenders?
- Seekers?
- Unbelievers
How many of them are there?

Did they applaud the music?

What do they do when it’s not Sunday?

Will they bring someone else next week? (After all, that’s what evangelical christians are supposed to do.)

And what was it that preacher said? …

Let’s sort out a few common terms before proceeding further.
```
Definitions are my own. 
Accompanying questions are my personal musings about these same 'religious' terms.

Dictionary definitions (sometimes linked to source) typically include various shades of grey [gray] as is so popular in a world of tolerance accepting many truths - truths which cannot all be true. As you may or may not realize:

DICTIONARIES provide varying definitions of 'religious' terms which often illustrate editor bias against the LORD GOD and JESUS CHRIST. 
```
CATHOLIC, Orthodox & Protestant
- Catholic – In a word, Universal or Everybody, but generally used exclusively to mean ROMAN Catholic Church under universal authority of the Bishop of Rome (THE Pope).
- Orthodox – Generally viewed as VERY culturally TRADITIONAL worshipers in various Eastern regions, i.e. Russian, Greek; also Jewish, (even Sunni Muslim!) (more)
- Protestant – They protest against:
  - Catholics (mostly),
  - authority (generally),
  - other denominations (frequently) and
  - the sins of others (especially) who ought to become more like them.
Christianity is the world’s most popular religion – with over 2 billion followers. Christianity is the main religion in Northern America, South America, Europe, and parts of Australasia and Africa. Christianity has recently been seen as a religion that acts as a bastion of peace – though tragically, Christians are officially the most persecuted people worldwide.
GENERATION95 with list of the 10 largest denominations
```
Does this help?
Do you have your own take on Catholicism, Orthodoxy or Protestantism to SHARE in a COMMENT (please)?

Now that we have outlined the BIG divisions of religions, let's get into some of the CHURCH NAMES (denominations, etc.)
```
Protestants / Divided
```
Partial List:
Protests of Protestants tend to lead to exponential multiplication of church names ~ (add 'ism' for its religion name) 
```
- Lutheranism (You know, followers of that Protesting Catholic who famously nailed 99 PROTESTS demanding Reformation.) – 16th c. German
- Moravianism – 15th c. Bohemian Reformation (before Luther)
- Calvinism – 16th c. France – God is King and the Bible’s authority reigns over kings (and church leaders)
- Anglicanism – 16th c. England, founded by Henry VIII,
  - further advanced in 17c. by King James (of Bible fame)
  - (Episcopalism – US after their 18th century secession from the King of England)
- Puritanism – 17th c. Puritans (kicked out of England) desired to further refine the reforms of the Protestant Reformation
- Quakerism (Friends) – 17th c. England (Anglican dissenter), George Fox evangelizes in the Colonies
- Methodism – 18th c. English missionaries, the Wesley’s, evangelizing colonies in America
  - Pentecostalism – 20th c. America, incl. Holiness Pentecostals, Assemblies of God & others
- Presbyterianism – 18th c. Scotland – Presbyters (select Elders) run the church, not Bishops
- Baptists – (‘Baptism‘ better-defined; Many ‘isms’ emerge from the waters of the Baptists.)
- Anabaptists – 16th c. Dutch, including Mennonites and Amish
- Adventism – 19th c. – Worship on Sabbath (Seventh Day), Jesus is coming soon (i.e. Millerites)
Protestant Denominations

I’ve attempted a BRIEF personal impression of ‘major’ Protestant Denominations (divisions of theological thought). For more information view my source for most: Protestantism and open additional link to Major Branches.

BUT don’t let that SIGN on your Local Church mislead you.

There is much more to Protestant theology (the study of God) than simply knowing what denomination a local church promotes. (That’s why choosing a local church can be so confusing.)

Where do Protestant Denominations draw their lines in the sand?
Evolving Revelations of God?
Several compatible truths?
Limited application of the Bible?
Is the Bible infallible?
What translation is accurate?
Can a preacher paraphrase the Bible?
Does God speak through the words of Scripture or the ideas of Scripture or perhaps both?
How does the Holy Spirit impact worship?

Where does Evangelicalism fit into a contemporary culture of Christianity?

Evangelicalism

It’s NOT a denomination or limited to certain Protestant churches. In fact, Evangelicalism is a movement within Christianity not unlike the charismatic and neo-charismatic movements of the twentieth and earlier centuries. And like any movement – religious, political or cultural in nature, its course continually alters.
```
I make no claims of expertise on Evangelical Christianity, but defer mostly to one of two sources in what is to follow:
Evangelicalism from multiply-sourced Wikipedia and EVANGELICALISM DIVIDED - A RECORD OF CRUCIAL CHANGE IN THE YEARS 1950 TO 2000, by Iain H. Murray. - RH
```
Anyone born in the late 20th century or 1950’s as I was will likely picture one preacher as an icon of Evangelism: Billy Graham.

Graham was a Southern Baptist, but listen to his statement to an audience at the principle Roman Catholic University in the United States:

I have no quarrel with the Catholic Church.
Billy Graham, at Notre Dame, 1978

Evangelical Christianity

The secularism of Christianity and the Church is one of the evil tendencies of the day, and is one phase of universalism which the church is now called upon to oppose.. The Papal Church once sought to make Christianity a universal religion by adopting Pagan rites and ceremonies.
Wm G. T. Shedd, The Presbyterian Review, 1886 – source – ix
```
Evangelicalism is by no means non-controversial. - RH
```
‘We should be asking: What is a Christian? How can we get forgiveness of sins? and What is a church?’
D. Martyn Lloyd Jones – Evangelical Alliance Conference, 1966- source

Evangelists – εὐαγγελιστής

Evangelists preach the GOSPEL! Tyndale, of 16th century English Bible fame, called these evangelicals ‘gospellers.’

all the churches of the Reformation were ‘of the gospel’ in their creeds and confessions..
by 18th c. ..there were may pulpits from which no gospel was heard and when the evangel was recovered a term was necessary to distinguish its preachers from others.
They were the evangelicals.
EVANGELICALISM DIVIDED – p.1
```
It explains much. Even though your CHURCH or Protestant Denomination may claim to orthodox Christian doctrine like the Anglicans and Presbyterians of the 19th century, your local church pastor may not preach the Gospel. Your local preacher may not even be a Christ-believing shepherd and preach from a vision of his own rather than the Good News of the Bible. - RH
```
Such a divide away from evangelicalism lies in the tempting of certain preachers to veer away from Scripture toward modernist philosophies questioning God’s sovereignty over the free-will of humankind.

Experience, not teaching, has to be the object of the preacher, ‘the real thing in the religious discourse is an imparting of the religious consciousness’.
Evangelism Divided, p.11, citing an author separating biblical revelation from Christian feeling

Belief is NON-essential for christian worship. (Perhaps Jesus will give everyone a saving grace later.)

‘an atheist who lives by love is saved by his faith in the God whose existence (under that name) he denies.’
William Temple, Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, 1934, – source p.12
- How can evangelicalism be said to represent Biblical essentials?
  - IF one regards as Christians
  - AND works alongside with
  - those who actually DENY these essentials [gospel belief]?
- How can Christian fellowship exist independently of any common commitment to such belief?
- An Evangelical is a person who believes truths essential to salvation and has experienced their power in his own rebirth.
Here is the great divide. The ecumenical people put fellowship before doctrine.
We are evangelicals; we put doctrine before fellowship.
Lloyd-Jones, Evangelical Unity: An Appeal – source pp. 45-46

And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.
Acts of the Apostles 2:42 Legacy Standard Bible

Further Division

I believe that there is an intolerance of plain, sober, instructive Christian teaching from the pulpit, which is one of the worst signs of the Christianity of this generation.
Alexander MacLaren :: A Fourfold Cord (Acts 2:42) [MacLaren was a Baptist preacher in 19th c. England]
```
Iain Murray, Presbyterian preacher at 2000 member National Evangelical Anglican Congress, Nottingham England - 1977
```
- What if the first need of the Church and the nation was not Christian unity but the recovery of Christianity itself?
  - In that case the question, ‘What is a Christian?’ demanded a very different order of priority. p.150
When churches loose their influence, when the Christian message ceases to arrest the indifferent and the unbelieving, when moral decline is obvious in places which once owned biblical standards — when such symptoms as these are evident, then the first need is not to regroup such professing Christianity as remains.
It is rather to ask whether the spiritual decline is not due to fundamental failure to understand and practise what Christianity really is.
Iain H. Murray, Evangelism Divided – Retrospect: A Different Approach p. 151
```
The urgency of our wrong retrospect on what Evangelical Christianity really is seems even more pressing for the 21st century 'evangelical christian' forty years after Murray stated its importance.

Roger@TalkofJESUS.com  
```
Revival of Evangelicalism

Murray continues to make his case for Biblical Evangelical Christianity, a case with which I whole-heartedly agree. – RH

But if the New Testament does settle the question, then we have no liberty to redefine, ‘Christian,’ in terms which neither Christ nor his apostles ever authorized.
source p. 151

Paul writes in his first letter to Timothy of “God our Savior,” who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth. – 1 Timothy 2:4 LSB

Peter asks new-born Christians (that is, born-again Christians) to ‘long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have TASTED THE KINDNESS OF THE LORD [pointing also to Old Testament Scriptures]. – 1 Peter 2:2b-3

THEN, as Murray points out: This precious value, then, is for you who believe. – 1 Peter 2:7a AND from the Gospel of Luke 14:26 with the Lord Jesus instructing his Apostles in the cost of discipleship: “If anyone comes to Me, and does not [by comparison] hate [family we love]..even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.
```
Murray continues to make a Scriptural case for Evangelical Christianity. 
```
WHY would any 21st century Evangelical Christian imagine any other way to evangelize the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ WITHOUT accurately pointing to the BIBLE?

On the basis of these facts [Scriptures listed by Murray] the New Testament shows that one sure test of a Christian profession is how that person reacts to the Scriptures.
Evangelism Divided – A Record of Crucial Change in the Years 1950-2000 – Iain H. Murray

Evangelizing the Pulpits of ‘Evangelicals‘

I offer here one closing thought to preachers in the pulpits of our 21st century Christian, Protestant Churches who belatedly have a ‘come to JESUS moment’ in considering the many Scriptural examples of evangelicalism.

Orthodox Evangelicalism

Looking for something to preach that will evangelize unbelievers to become members of your local church?

Preach Scripture (as written).

GOD has more credibility than YOU. So if you want to draw more worshipers to Jesus Christ, PREACH JESUS CHRIST from Scripture. It’s our most orthodox method to bring fellow sinners into our church.

Orthodox – definition

IF you read some 21st century definitions of Church, Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Evangelical, and OTHER religious terms, you may discover bias of a world listing it as archaic.

Orthodox faith in Jesus Christ from the Bible remains constant even during tides of contemporary ‘christian‘ movements.

Webster’s 1913 Dictionary offers an enduring definition of Orthodox which Pastors may want to consider prayerfully.
1. Sound in opinion or doctrine, especially in religious doctrine; hence, holding the Christian faith; believing the doctrines taught in the Scriptures; – opposed to heretical and heterodox; as, an orthodox Christian.
2. According or congruous with the doctrines of Scripture, the creed of a church, the decree of a council, or the like; as, an orthodox opinion, book, etc.
3. Adhering to generally approved doctrine or practices; conventional. Opposed to unorthodox.
Orthodox Evangelicalism preaches and teaches the Gospel through Scripture.

All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness
2 Timothy 3:16 Legacy Standard Bible

WHAT do YOU and YOUR CHURCH Evangelize?
August 6, 2022
Did God really say, Church?
Yes! God said, “CHURCH.”

Let’s be clear up front. I can assure you through Scripture (the written word of God we call THE BIBLE) that our Creator said, “Church.”

So that we are on the same page (so to speak) I will get to a written definition of Church shortly. But first — and perhaps more importantly — I have a question to ask YOU.

WHO is Asking?
- Why is THIS important?
- Does the person asking you about “Church“ really want to know what God said?
- OR
- Is this question of theirs a veiled dismissal of God
  - AND built on a premise opposed to the Authority of God’s Word?
Who believes that God created the CHURCH?

FIRST: Most likely NO ONE has asked you about your “church.”

If you made a list including one hundred [100] from your neighborhood, work and extended family,
- HOW MANY would even ASK YOU ANYTHING about CHURCH or GOD or Jesus Christ?
Perhaps, one?
```
(Not even Christians of our church typically engage each other in conversation about 'church'  beyond the walls of the church building or in our mortal time beyond a single worship service duplicated twice on Sunday.)
```
SECONDLY: IF you ever hear a person ask you about your ‘church‘ and Scripture ,

ASK YOURSELF, “WHO IS ASKING?”

You probably know several variations of the original QUESTION directly from your Bible.

וְהַנָּחָשׁ הָיָה עָרוּם מִכֹּל חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל־הָאִשָּׁה אַף כִּֽי־אָמַר אֱלֹהִים לֹא תֹֽאכְלוּ מִכֹּל עֵץ הַגָּֽן׃
Bereishit (Genesis) 3:1 :: Westminster Leningrad Codex (WLC)
```
Of course most of us cannot read the original so we must rely on a translation of Scripture (me included)-- but (keep in mind) -- 

NO man or woman can claim truth while they reconstruct Scripture into words they want the Bible to say. 

WORDS have both meaning and intent. Therefore a preacher or teacher of the BIBLE MUST stick to preaching or teaching from a reliable English translation AND NOT SUBSTITUTE your own 'better,' less-offensive words.

The BIG QUESTION of THE DECEIVER goes something like the reconstruction by Satan sketched out (and linked) below.
```
Does the preacher of the Word who shepherds your church have the integrity to ALWAYS use the written word of God from the Bible as written?
Roger@TalkofJESUS.com [Your response or question by email is welcome.]

Questioning and Reconstructing God’s Word
```
An example from Genesis 3:
```
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.

And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said,
Genesis 3:1b NASB95

‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
```
Again, WATCH OUT! Whenever you hear anyone ask, 'has God said...'
```
“Church“

Call it what you like, but different people mean different things when they say, ‘church.’

This is so even for members or attenders of the very same church. So let’s settle on some standard definitions of our references to ‘the church.’

ἐκκλησία – ek-klay-see’-ah [feminine noun]

Strong’s G1577 – ekklēsia [click for complete definition of ‘church’]
- a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place
No mention of the ‘church building’ here, although this ‘public place’ could be a building, tent, other home or anywhere two or three ‘citizens’ are gathered together.

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; G1577 and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Gospel of Matthew 16:18 KJV – first use of the word ‘church‘ G1537 ekklēsia in the New Testament

Christians and unbelievers alike think of CHURCH as an exclusive reference to a building or place where JESUS worshipers gather together as a ‘religious’ routine typically on Sunday only.

However, a deeper look into how ‘church’ is used in the Bible — Old Testament AND New — will reveal a more significant connection of this ‘gathering of citizens’ to the LORD God.

Gather me the people together – קָהַל

The summons or call to worship is from the LORD Himself!

The first reference to the ‘church’ or gathering in the Greek Septuagint comes from the LORD through Moses. Each assembly of the hebrew people, the citizens called out of Egypt and frequently out of their tents in the wilderness, was called by the LORD GOD.

The LORD calls out the CHURCH, a chosen company of worshipers of the LORD our God.
```
View a link to these references from the Septuagint in the common Greek of the first century Roman Empire when Israel no longer existed and JESUS taught in Galilee, Samaria and Judea.
```
“Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when the LORD said to me, ‘Assemble the people to Me, that I may have them hear My words so that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’
Deuteronomy 4:10

“The LORD gave me the two tablets of stone written by the finger of God; and on them were all the words which the LORD had spoken with you at the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly..
“This is in accordance with everything that you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Do not let me hear the voice of the LORD my God again, and do not let me see this great fire anymore, or I will die!’
Deuteronomy 9:10; 18:16

It’s pretty serious business:

However, the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will wipe him out of My book. But go now, lead the people where I told you. Behold, My angel shall go before you; nevertheless on the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.”
Exodus 32:33-34 NASB20

— a chosen citizenry created in the image of the LORD against whom they turn (again and again)

שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד׃
“And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 6:4 :: WLC; 6:5 NASB20

Then God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live will see the working of the LORD, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you.
Exodus 34:10 NASB20

— the LAW of the LORD our God (broken again and again)

“Be careful that you do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst.
Exodus 34:12 NASB20

— covenant, solemn promise after solemn promise (broken again and again)

“For when I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to their fathers, and they eat and are satisfied and become prosperous, then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and spurn Me and break My covenant.
Deuteronomy 31:20 NASB20

AND even in the New Testament

— an often apostate church continually asking, “DID GOD REALLY SAY?“

I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel, which is not just another account; but there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
Paul’s letter to the Church at Galatia 1:6-7 NASB20

Did Scripture really say..?

Second Letter of Paul to Timothy

3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

YES, God — JESUS — really did say, CHURCH.

Scripture — spoken by the LORD, written in the Law and the Prophets, preached by the Lord Jesus Christ, taught by the Apostles — Scripture affirms Christ’s Church already built by HIM and in no need of tearing down out of a lack of faith.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man [messenger] of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV

Why do you ask?
```
"Did God really say, Church?" is our first post for a NEW TalkofJESUS.com SERIES, addressing philosophies and questions underlying intentional deconstruction of the 21st Century Church.
```
Talk of JESUS .com

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
July 9, 2022
An Antioch Blueprint of Church Evangelism
Antioch – a Crossroads Church of the Gospel

And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.
Acts of the Apostles 11:26 ESV – [CLICK HERE for other versions]

‘Christians’ – an all-too-familiar label ‘christians‘ don’t understand

Hundreds of disciples of Jesus Christ were first mocked in Antioch as ‘Christians.’ The Church now claims this defining label as our connection to Christ.

You know this Scripture concerning the label ‘Christians.’ But do you know the significance of Antioch, this place where the church was first called ‘Christians?’

Gentiles and Jews Regenerated in the Holy Spirit

IF you have been following our series in Acts from Luke’s historical account of the first century Church you will have noticed a new testament of the Holy Spirit beyond Jerusalem.

The resurrection of Jesus becomes a New Testament of Good News to the world; grace to gentiles in various places — fellow sinners who now identify in Him and by the power of the Holy Spirit with a regenerated remnant of faithful Jews who worship their Messiah Jesus.

Let us continue in Acts of the Apostles where we left off as Peter defends his actions in Jerusalem.

Can anyone withhold Baptism from Gentiles?

“..who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” – defense of Simon Peter in ACTS 11:17b NASB

Acts 11: continued in Antioch
```
Listen to a very Jewish glance at this same response of Simon Peter to the Jews. (Of course Peter is a jewish disciple of Yeshua [יְהוֹשׁוּעַ].)
```
17 “If then Hashem gave the same matanah to them as also to us after believing in Moshiach Adoneinu, who then was I to stand in the way of Hashem?”
Gevurot 11:17-30 [LINK to: NASB;KJ21;OJB;SBLGNT]
Orthodox Jewish Bible
```
Did you get that, you goyim 'christians' who did not know the significance of Antioch in calling you Christians along with our remnant saved by our Messiah? 

JESUS came in Person, was sacrificed on a gentile Roman Cross and rose from the grave in Body and Spirit for YOU as well! 

You gentiles are also CHOSEN! Simeon Petros has witnessed this amazing new sign.

So from Antioch -- we too proclaim Christ to the Nations and your world as well.
```
When they heard these things they fell silent.

And they glorified God, saying,

“Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Acts of the Apostles 11:18 ESV
Ἀντιόχεια (Antioch)

A Roman crossroads of cultures

Antioch was third largest city in the Empire, behind Rome & Alexandria

It’s population is estimated to be a half-million people (some free and some slave)

Comparabl population to 21st c. Atlanta GA US or

Latur India 501,664

Xuancheng China 500,734
```
This Ancient Roman road connected Antioch and Chalcis.
```
Diaspora, (Greek: “Dispersion”) Hebrew Galut (Exile)

Seleucus founded a number of new cities during his reign, including Antioch (300 BC), Edessa and Seleucia on the Tigris (c. 305 BC), a foundation that eventually depopulated Babylon. (source: wikipedia)

The Jews of Israel (Samaria) culturally had changed since its defeat eight centuries Before Christ.

The Jews of Judah (Judea) also changed culturally when forced east six centuries before Christ.

Before Rome, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Egypt and especially various Greek empires influenced Jews living throughout the world.

Kingdoms of Alexander the Great
356-323 Before Christ included:

Macedonia, Egypt, Persia & Asia
Cultural History of 323 BC

This is RECENT HISTORY to the JEWS of every land, including Hasmonean Judea under the rule and control of the powerful military of Rome. The tolerance of culture in Antioch looked back to the golden age of Alexander much in the way as any city in the US would look back to our recent cultural history, including those with similar populations such as: Atlanta, Kansas City, Mesa, Sacramento, Omaha, Colorado Springs, Raleigh and Virginia Beach.

Put your witness as Christians into this parallel context to Antioch:
- AD 40 – Peter in Antioch (AD 2022)
- Jesus earthly ministry (AD 2010’s)
- 323 BC – Death of Alexander (AD 1600’s)
  - (The 1600’s in the US include familiar cultural history like: Jamestown VA Colony (of England), Hudson River exploration by Dutch; various wars between European empires and local native nations; several colonies and cities founded; Harvard University founded by a Congregational minister; Salem witch trials by the Puritans)
Antioch, at the crossroads between the nations, stood as the place where Christians could take the Gospel in any direction into all the world.
Talk of Jesus .com

The Church in Antioch

.. and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. Acts of the Apostles 11:25b NASB

The Cultural Richness of Antioch

ACTS 11:

19 So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia [21st c. Lebanon], [island of] Cyprus, and [in 21st c. Turkey] Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone.

20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene [coast of 21st c. Libya], who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks [Hellenists or Greek-speaking, racially and culturally gentiles traditionally separated from jews] as well, preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus.

21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.

The Antioch Blueprint

An Antioch-like church gets involved with people. We must learn how to live with and speak winsomely to unbelievers.
Tony Merida – LOVE YOUR CHURCH + 8 Great Things about being a Church Member
```
Due to the doctrinal importance of this Antioch model for the Church, I will quote extensively at this juncture from LOVE YOUR CHURCH [also linked above] and CHRIST-CENTERED Exposition - EXALTING JESUS IN ACTS also by Tony Merida. - RH
```
- Gospel Intelligibility – verse 20
“We don’t read here about ‘Christ Jesus,’ ‘Messiah Jesus,’ or ‘the anointed King Jesus.”

Why? This isn’t a Jewish crowd. This is a Gentile crowd, unfamiliar with the promises that God made.. to send his anointed Messiah King.
Tony Merida – LOVE YOUR CHURCH; p. 146
- The title kurios,Lord, was commonly spoken in Antioch
  - The titles Messiah or anointed King (Christ, in Greek) only spoke to Jews familiar with Scripture.
- The Lord’s Sovereignty – verse 21
The Lord Jesus is the hero of the (gospel) message.. and the source of power.. Jesus was building his church right in hedonistic Antioch.
CHRIST-CENTERED Exposition – EXALTING JESUS IN ACTS; p. 159 – Tony Merida
- Accountability – verse 22
22 The news about them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch.
```
Note that accountability comes before encouragement in the Apostolic model of the Church.
```
- Encouragement – vs. 22-24
They weren’t Jewish. Antioch had no Apostles to lead them. So the Apostles sent Barnabas, a trusted and faithful disciple of the Apostles’ teaching to Antioch and he could verify the faith of these gentile believers of the Lord Jesus.

23 Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and faith.

And considerable numbers were added to the Lord.
- Instruction (Teaching or Doctrine) – vs. 25-27
25 And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch.

Barnabas, a Levite familiar with priestly Jewish Law and resident of nearby Cypress, seeks out Saul, an expert in Jewish Pharisaical teachings of the Law and Prophets who he had earlier encouraged after Paul encountered the risen Jesus on his way to persecute disciples of The Way in Damascus.

And for an entire year they [Barnabas & Paul] met with the church and taught considerable numbers of people
Acts 11:26b – NASB

Jews discipling Gentiles! In Antioch, a huge hedonistic Roman city!

Teaching is a critical component of disciple making. Listening to music alone will not disciple new believers. Neither will merely attending church services. Christians need to know and learn how to apply Scriptures. Each of us needs faithful instruction in God’s Word.
Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary, p. 162

ALL came to know that these growing crowds of Antiochians who gathered with Barnabas and Saul spoke of the Lord Jesus. Yet these new gentile disciples came to understand this Lord as the same Christ Jesus, King of the Jews (as Pontius Pilate had said).
- Fruit – v. 26
‘The saints in Antioch so identified with Jesus that fellow Gentile observers called them, “little Christs.”
- Does anyone, my fellow follower of Jesus, call you a ‘little Christ?”
Tony Merida points to this key ‘turning point’ in history: [p.162–3]

The followers of Jesus were so different from the culture around them that citizens had to develop a third classification of people — something new beyond the Jew or Gentile distinction..

The church in Antioch was like an embassy of the kingdom of God.
Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary, p. 163

ACTS 11:26c
..and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
July 2, 2022