Auto Generated Transcript
Hey, I’m going to invite you this morning to Acts chapter 11 is where we’re going to be together today. Acts chapter 11. And my time is a little bit tighter this morning because of our we had some special music that it was far more important to celebrate. So that was beautiful to see, wasn’t it? I mean, I think we have we have no room on our stage. That’s what I found out is we got a we got a lot of kids. You guys are good at that. So well that’s wonderful. That’s next generation right in the Lord. And so it makes me thankful. Thankful for you, thankful for our families. And so Acts 11, I think is a critical part of Scripture to consider when we think about future generations for the cause of the gospel. And if you remember, Acts chapter 11 is on the backdrop of something significant that took place. Starting in chapter ten, we read about the conversion of a man named Cornelius, who was a Gentile who came to know the Lord. Acts chapter ten. That story follows all the way to verse 18 of of how the church, Their eyes were opened to the glory of God, made known not just among the Jewish people, but also the Gentile people. And when Jesus came to, to Jerusalem and, and was crucified in Jerusalem and the early church started sharing the gospel, the question became like, how far is this gospel going to go in radically transforming the world? And as persecution broke out in Christianity the Jewish people started to scatter.
Those that embraced Jesus started to scatter. And as they did, they started to share the gospel wherever they went. And what they came to discover is Gentiles were transformed in the gospel, too, especially this man named Cornelius. And one of the things we saw about Cornelius is he was a centurion. He was a very influential man in Roman society. And when he comes to know the Lord, not only does his family know the Lord, but also those around him, and opened their eyes to the possibilities of what God desired to do. And in seeing that they were seeing the way that the gospel was to to spread around the world. And today, as we look in chapter 11, we’re going to see how this one particular city, known as Antioch, became a hub of gospel influence through this world. In fact, Antioch during this this first century was the third largest city in the Roman Empire, the first being the capital, Rome. And then you had Alexandria, Egypt, and some debate whether or not Istanbul and Constantinople was was the third largest city. But most believe it was this, this city that we’re going to read about today. Antioch people speculate that the population of this city was somewhere between 300 and 500,000 people, and so roughly about half the size of Utah County. Right. And and so the, the, the ability to influence the world when you when you see a city’s heart given over to to God becomes powerful because not only does the city know the Lord, but it also begins to influence the region around it.
And so Antioch becomes this place of of major gospel influence. It becomes a hub for the sake of the gospel, much like people today might refer to Lehi, Utah, now as a tech hub, and we talk about the idea of being a hub. It’s to collect. It’s to to gather, it’s to train and it’s to send out. And it’s the same for us as God’s people. We’ve been invited to belong. When we gather in his name, we grow in the Lord and what God does in us he desires to do through us. And so what is it as you look at this, this city of Antioch, we’re going to find it’s it becomes so influential that this is the place where Paul does ministry. And then as he’s doing ministry in the city, he’s then sent out from this church to then go on his missionary journeys, which we’ll read out, read about through the rest of Acts. Not only does Paul go, but Barnabas goes with him on the first journey, and then on the second journey, Paul goes with Silas and Barnabas takes a man named John Mark. And they continue on these journeys, and it just spreads throughout the Roman Empire. And these this church, highly impactful in this city for the sake of the gospel, not just in this region, but but throughout the world.
And when you look at this, this the influence of the church in Antioch, and we recognize and we follow the same God today, and he still desires to move in that way. And so when we talk about being a gospel hub where we’re really asking the question, God, how can you use me? How can you use us collectively to to live so inspired in the power of the gospel and what it can do, that it makes a difference in this world? I mean, rather than just sit back and complain about the way life is going and how I don’t like society for whatever reason. How can the Lord use me to make a difference in what he desires to do? How can God use Alpine Bible Church to to to see the Lord make a difference in this world and and the way he desires to move? I mean, there’s all kinds of ways you can live your life and the way that you choose or what you choose to make your life about. But it reminds me, there’s a there’s a quote by Francis Chan, and he’s not the first one to say this quote. There’s a few other variations of it, like D.L. Moody has one that’s very similar to this. But he he says this our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.
I think it’s critical for us to just consider what is the pursuit of my life about. And sometimes when it comes to the thought of the American dream, and we think about meeting God face to face one day, it’s as if we might expect that when I see God one day, he’s going to base the success of my life by how much I accumulated stuff. And I tell you that God’s interests are not the same as human interests. The measure of your life is not going to be based on the accumulation of things. Now, if God allows certain things to pass through your life, wonderful. But the hope of that is that you would use it for his glory to the blessing of others. I mean, God’s primary call in your life is to know him, and in knowing him, how he uses your life then to to glorify him in this world. And that’s what transforms lives. And so God has given you certain abilities and talents and resources. And what does that look like for me? To be a hub for his glory? We’re going to look at the the Church of Antioch fairly quickly and understanding this, but what are markers of a major gospel hub? Let me give you point number one. It starts this way outward. Thinking outward. Thinking. Now there’s a difference between the mentality of the world and the mentality of the gospel.
A life in Jesus and and how God changes our perspective from a very me centric identity to a to a God centric identity, which becomes an other centric identity. And if we’re not careful, there’s some methods in a worldly way of thinking that might appear outward in its pursuits, but often the motivation behind the outward thinking in a in a worldly perspective are still selfishly motivated. And what I mean by that is we might look beyond ourselves when we’re apart from Christ. But the reason we often look beyond ourselves is we’re trying to find a reason to validate ourselves and purpose through what other people say about us. And the the meaning they might attribute to our lives. So maybe we’re looking outwardly, but truth be told, the reason we’re looking outwardly is because we’re still staring back inwardly and wanting to feel important. But in the life of the Christian, it’s unique from that. In saying, man, I’m able to think outwardly in my life because I really don’t need the things of this world to validate who I am, because my life has been filled up in the richness of who Christ is, and there’s nothing this world can offer me that’s going to give me more worth and value than what is what Jesus has already poured upon me by giving his life, that I could find freedom in him, the forgiveness and hope that only Christ can bring. But it’s because the richness of Christ is so blessed my life and filled me up with the goodness of who he is that I’m able to pour my life out for the benefit of others because I don’t need them to validate who I am, but rather I’m here to give myself away for the glory of God to the benefit of others because of the richness that I have in Christ and in that richness, then I can think beyond me.
And this was a mark of the early church. If you see in Acts chapter 11, verse 19, it says, 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 the Jews. So here it is, a difficult moment for the church. We’ve looked at this persecution, this start in Acts chapter six and seven, when Stephen becomes the first martyr and the church begins to scatter. And this this difficulty didn’t prevent them from still sharing the thing that defined them, who they were in Christ. And so they began to to scatter about but and thinking outwardly, even in moments where things are being taken from them in verse 20. But there were some of them men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who 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.
In verse 21, the men of Cyprus and Cyrene came to Antioch. When it says, they’re sharing to Helenus, here’s what they’re really saying so far up into this point, what you’ve read about is what’s referred to as God fearers like there are the Jewish people, and then there are the God Fearers. The God Fearers are people who are endeared to the to the Jewish way of life, but haven’t become Jews. Right? So they, they, they love the Jewish God. And so they’re seen as God. Fearers when it talks about hellenists, there’s this is what they’re saying is these are pagan people living wild lives. This is this. They’re not even familiar with the Old Testament. That’s who it’s talking about in this, in this part of the story. And yet they’re still sharing the gospel with them, and their lives are being transformed when when it’s talking about these different regions, I think it’s it’s important to recognize he’s not just tossing out names to toss out names in regions where these people are coming from. He wants us to understand just how quickly the gospel is going around the known world. In fact, if you I don’t know what happened, take me back to the map from that demon possessed computer. It’s like. That was weird. But when you think in in terms of of where God is making a difference in this world, the idea of Jerusalem, much of the traveling took place up to the north and then west of that.
And and you see places like Phoenicia and then Antioch, which we’re going to look at. We’re looking at that particular town today. Tarsus is where Paul’s from. Cyprus is where Barnabas is from. And then out of nowhere, way out in left field, you get the town of Cyrene, right? And you look at and you think, wow, that’s incredible how that happened. And all the way out to Cyrene. And they even want you to particularly know people from Cyrene are sharing with Antioch. And it’s almost like they just skipped over Jerusalem, right? It’s like, wait a minute. All this has happened in Jerusalem. How is it already gone from Cyrene back to Antioch? I mean, it’s amazing lives radically transformed in the Lord. Because I would say for for us, when we talk about outward thinking or any of these five points that I’m going to share with you this morning, I want us to know the motivation behind all of it is not just about obedience to do these points. This really becomes an outflow of God’s people when they love Jesus. And so when your life is deepened in the richness of Christ, this is the evidence of what that life looks like. So this morning, I’m not just I’m not saying here’s a religious law to abide by these five points. What we’re really saying is continue to fall in love with Jesus, grow in your relationship with the Lord, and in growing.
This is how your life’s going to look. It’s going to become outward thinking, other oriented because your life has been so filled with Christ. You want others to experience this too. And when you look at places like Cyrene, who who went from transformation in Jerusalem of the church started to Cyrene to back to Antioch. I mean, it’s amazing when you trace that thread in Scripture, like for example, in Acts chapter two, it tells us during the Passover celebration and the Feast of Booths, the early church the Jewish people had gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the holidays. This is when the Holy Spirit on Pentecost ascends and life is radically changed in the Lord. It’s transformed. And among that group of people, you have a different list of all sorts of different people, including in verse ten, people from Cyrene, which is a long way to travel. How did people from Cyrene get there? Well, at the end of the gospel of Mark, it tells you in Mark chapter 15, verse 21, when Jesus was was going to the place where he would be crucified, we know the story tells us he couldn’t completely carry the cross there. So what are the Roman soldiers do? They picked an individual to carry it. And who do they pick? A man named Simon from Cyrene. Now, when? When this man carries the cross Mark at the very end of chapter 15, verse 21 says something interesting.
It says he was the father of Alexander and Rufus to carry his cross. Now when I read that, I think, who cares, right? Like, why would I care? I mean, it’s nice, I guess, to know that Simon was one that carried the cross. He was a man from Cyrene. But why does Mark want me to know that detail? And then why does he even want me to know that he has kids named Alexander and Rufus? Like, why should that matter to us? But then when you start to to read how the story unfolds, you realize what the writers of the New Testament are doing. They’re showing gospel influence, because when you get to the book of Romans chapter 16, Paul says it like this. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord and his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. The reason Mark is talking about Simon’s son is because there is a gospel thread of transformation that’s taking place not just in Simon’s heart, but the way he’s influenced his family for the sake of the gospel. And that’s beginning to impact regions in this world. As Rufus goes forward sharing the gospel and it’s impacting generations. And guys, I would say it’s the same for you and the way that God wants to use you in this world, that you would impact the region in which you’re you live and and not only that, that you would make a generational impact in this world, that your lineage would know Christ and the decisions you’re making, even even for the early church expense to themselves, they knew what defined them was was Jesus.
In fact, when I think about the the Great Commission for all believers, what God calls us to at the very end of the Gospel of Matthew, he tells us, go into this world and make disciples. Alright, so the calling of the Lord is to take what God’s given me and impart it to others. As I’m growing in Jesus, I impart what I possess in Christ. And and so I get to share that with others. I get to make disciples. But but here’s the interesting thing. We sometimes read this verse, and I think in my mind, people read it like this that I haven’t been making disciples. But now that I know this is what Jesus called us to do, I need to make disciples. Truth be told, you’re always making disciples. The question is, what kind of disciple are you making, right? So, so what Jesus is saying to us is he’s he’s saying to us, we need to be intentional in the discipleship of the way we’re conducting our lives, right? The formation of what’s happening in the heart of the people. And I can tell you, if you’re worrying this morning, well, how how am I making disciples? What am I making disciples of? I would say it like this it’s what you’re passionate about and what you love people around you.
It doesn’t take them long to discover what you really care about, and in so doing, the desire you have towards that thing begins to shape them in some fashion or form. They’ve got to decide how they want to conform to it because of a relationship with you. Because to be close to you, they understand that you care about whatever that thing is. And so it influences them in some regard. Some embrace it fully in order to relate to you. Others just see it as well. That’s that’s kind of them. They’re unique, but they’ve got to respond to it in some way because of the influence that you’re having on them. So so you’re making a disciple of something. And what are you making a disciple of is whatever you’re passionate about. And if Jesus truly matters to you, then the evidence of who Christ is should be made known as you’re thinking outwardly. And so for the early church, this is the way that they they carried their lives as this outward thinking of of how to live intentionally for the sake of Christ, imparting what they possess in Jesus. Number two, they’re faithfully encouraging. They’re faithfully encouraging, really, to see the movement that started in Antioch. It came through the strength of one individual, and I think it shows the power of an encourager. Right? It shows how it really just takes one encourager, seeing the potential in someone or a group of people to help spark that passion further.
And for Barnabas, this is what he represented. He was certainly an individual of encouragement. It says in verse 22 the report of this what happened in Antioch came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. So here’s the church in Jerusalem where everything starts. They hear great things are happening in Antioch. Oh, what should we do about it? We should send someone. Who should we send? The encourager, right? We want to see that perpetuate. And so they send Barnabas. And in verse 23, when he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad and exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. I mean, he inspired him to stay on this course. Here’s the thing that’s great about Barnabas is when it comes to being an encourager, that his his name, Barnabas literally means that. And and that wasn’t his original name. In Acts chapter four, it tells you his original name was Joseph. But the early church saw the way that God was going to use him and the way God did use him. And so they’re like, let’s we just need to change your name because this is who you are wherever you go. I mean, we just feel like we’re we’re enriched people having been in in your presence. So this was a representation of the way Barnabas conducted himself. Now, let me just say, for all of us, you might even think in your own friend circle, there are some people that are just better at being Barnabas than than others.
But truly, God calls all of us to be encouragers. And and I want us to recognize that when we talk about encouragement. I’m not talking about flattery, right? Because there’s a kind of encouragement that’s just empty. And it’s when you you might even say it. Maybe you’ve even done it in your life. Like this feels weird. I’m just going to say something encouraging. And you said it, but everyone was like, nobody believes that, right? You’re just you are full of it. Like you’re just making it up. You’re just speaking positive things that have nothing to do with anything, right? Like it’s like it’s trying to ignore the situation. Right? So so when we talk about encouragement, we’re not talking about just be dishonest with circumstances and only say positive things. That’s that’s not what the word encouragement means. Encouragement talks about being honest, but but also seeing the potential of what God can do in the situation as we surrender to him. It doesn’t mean you ignore what’s happening. In fact, I think because of what we have in Jesus, we can approach those things boldly. So I would say like this if I gave it very practical, practically, I would say some people might say like this, you’re great, right? They just might just give you that positive thought. You’re great.
And everyone’s like, look at that. Like, they are not doing great right now. Like they are They’re making some terrible choices, you know, or some bad things have happened. This is not great, right? Like, but but sometimes we might think encouraging just means you show up and say that and and that may not always be true, but but here’s what we can say is that God is faithful. And therefore you can take the next step. Right? It’s it’s not it’s not because of who we are, but because of who he is. Right? The idea of an encourager, he does a wonderful job, or she does a wonderful job of really taking our eyes off ourselves and putting it on the Lord. Because to be honest, anything we do successful in Jesus is not because of us, but because of him. And the idea of encouragement carries two thoughts with it. One is you speak courage into the life of someone else and get this, not because of who they are, but because of Christ, who Christ is. So you speak courage in the life of someone else, but also the word encourager. It also comes to the same from the same Greek word for where we get the Holy Spirit and the idea of the Holy Spirit. He certainly empowers us, encourages us, emboldens us for what God calls us to do. But the Bible also promises he walks with you. He’s with you. Wherever he goes, you go.
Right. So the Holy Spirit is with you in life. He’s permanently indwelling his people. So the idea of encouragement is not only you speak courage and life of someone, but you come alongside them to help them along. There’s a I was thinking of an example this this week of rope bridges. It’s a weird thing to think of an example of, but rope bridges, if you’ve ever if you’ve ever seen a rope bridge or walked across a rope bridge, people that are afraid of heights, I can promise, probably have never gone across the bridge. Right? But when when the world started to open up to more and more travel, and as people got braver in the parts of the world they would go to, there were people that began to explore and get to remote parts of civilizations and find there was a tendency for those that lived in mountain lands to travel from one place to another through rope bridges, and even today, if you go to the Himalayans, there are villages that are so remote that the only place, the only way to get to them are through rope bridges. But in documenting about these travelers, when they would begin to explore these far regions, they discovered that when people would first encounter these rope bridges, that that being travelers, they were excited to go across, but often reluctant. And the way they were able to travel across those bridges is not simply because someone said, you can do it right, like go do that, but because someone was willing to walk with them across that bridge, encouraging them each step of the way.
Guys, it’s the same for our faith journey, speaking courage in the lives of people not because we’re great, but because the Lord’s great and we put our eyes on him. It gives us the strength to move forward. Our tendency when we lack encouragement or boldness is that we’ve internalized it. We’ve become anxious. We’re very self-focused, right? But then we understand as Christians to be successful in God’s called me to do in this world. It was never about me, but rather resting in him and so trusting that he’s sufficient. In fact, when you read passages of the Bible like Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 12 Bible students, if they’re familiar with Hebrews chapter 11, if I said, give me one way to summarize Hebrews chapter 11, people quickly say it like this. Oh, it’s the Hall of Faith. Absolutely. That’s the Hall of faith. That’s where that’s where they listen. Hebrews, all of the great saints before us who have fallen after the Lord. And it’s encouraging to us, you see this hall of faith. But but I want you to know, in looking at other people walking faithfully, yes, that can be encouraging. But the whole point of Hebrews chapter 11 is to remind you of Hebrews chapter 12. It’s not just simply about looking at other people and what they did, but Hebrews chapter 12, it says this now run the race set before you, looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith.
And so the declaration for your life. It works like this, that the reason they were able to be so successful in chapter 11 is because they didn’t take their eyes off the Lord. And it’s the same for you and for me. It’s not just giving words of flattery being an encouragement, but but rather finding how our lives rooted in Jesus gives us the strength to move forward and recognizing he’s with us wherever we go. When you look at the life of Barnabas, this is who he was. In fact, verse 24 says, for he was a 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. I mean, verse 24, what is really saying is Barnabas was a man that just dripped the sweetness of Jesus wherever he went, because he spent time with the Lord, and therefore it gave him this confidence as he moved forward, as he rested in the strength of God, and he was able to impart unto others what he possessed in the Lord. So much so that he saw the potential in Saul, even when no one else did that, that he went to the region of Tarsus where Saul was from, who had just recently killed Christians.
But his life was radically transformed, and Barnabas knew God could use him. And encourager sees the potential of what God can do. It’s not to say they’re blind to the problem, but it’s more than just recognizing the problem. It’s seeing the solution that Christ can bring and moving forward in it. So the early church was was they were encouragers. Number three, they were fully committed. They were fully committed. I mean, when when Barnabas went to this church, look what it says. He exhorted them to remain faithful to the Lord and steadfast with steadfast purpose. Look, sometimes I recognize when we read a statement like that as Christians, and then we look at our Christian journey, we might think, but I am God’s biggest mistake, right? Because when I followed Jesus, my my life is all over the place and there’s just inconsistency in my faith pattern. And why would God want to use me? But can I just speak some encouragement to you this morning and say to you, you’re thinking too much about you? The Bible tells you his mercies are new every morning. Great is his faithfulness. You might have a checkered past. You might have messed up a thousand times yesterday. But more than anything today, what Jesus wants is you. Your heart surrendered to him. You can’t undo the past, but you can choose how you respond today. And what God wants today is for you to know him and to walk with him in your life.
And so for the early church, this was the decision that they’re making in this moment as as Barnabas encourages them this way, their pursuit again is to be faithful and steadfast. I mean, even Even if you’ve messed up in your life. The Bible tells you, look, don’t run away from God. Don’t walk in penance towards God thinking that you owe anything. The Christ has. The Christ on the cross has covered that Jesus has paid for your life. So rather than run from God, repent from the things of this world and run to God so that you find it tells you in Hebrews chapter four verse 14, grace in your hour of need. God wants you near him, because he knows in being near him that’s where he changes your life. And so for the early church, they’re they’re fully committed, half hearted. Christianity is not what God calls us to. There is no joy in that. As Jesus has given his life for you. He calls you to give your life in response, and the early church steps in this way. Number four, this church was actively growing. They were actively growing. It tells us in verse 25, 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. So here it is, this church giving their lives to the Lord, and they’re just soaking up the richness of who Christ is in their lives.
So that as they’re being filled up, they can be poured out for the glory of God. And it’s the same for you. I mean, if you spend time with Jesus, you dig into God’s Word as God molds His Word in your heart, you have something to impart to others. And this is what’s happening to early church. So much so that this is where they’re first called Christians. It’s interesting, if you take time in the New Testament to to research the word Christian, you’ll find for for us that is that is honestly the most uncommon word used to describe God’s people. The body, the church born again believers. I mean, the way followers of the way. That was the popular phrase in the book of Acts. Christian was probably the least popular in the New Testament, but for some reason that’s the most endearing term that we use today, which if you label yourself Christian, I think that that’s wonderful. I’m glad you find that term endearing to you. I can tell you for us in our in our modern day world, that word has almost become a junk drawer word that people just kind of toss it around if it’s convenient for them. I think it’s more important for us to discover who is Christ, really, because there’s a lot of people that describe themselves as Christian have no idea who Jesus really is.
So just because you might find the term favorable, I think it’s important to ask the question who you are really in the Lord? Do you know the Lord? But this word Christian in this particular moment begs an important thought for us and a question to consider, because it’s believed in the first century, when this term Christian was used, it was actually used as a derogatory term. It was used in a way to mock Jesus’s followers, to look down upon them. But the church loved it and they embraced it as a way to acknowledge, yeah, that’s it, make fun of us. But that’s this is who we are. We do want to be identified in Jesus this way. Look, I want you to know this. This is not some kind of campaign that they set out in order to to brand themselves this way. They’re like, they didn’t get together in a circle and say, you know what? What should we call ourselves? I got it, let’s start a social media movement that lets people know our name is now Christian, right? That’s not what happened. What happened was they were living their lives in honoring Christ. And other people saw that and they gave them this label. This wasn’t something they put upon themselves. This is what people around them recognized and attributed to them. Because if you didn’t carry the label Christian and people looked at the life you live.
How would they describe you? What would they say about you now if your first word was a dirty word and just. But this becomes important for us to think about as God’s people. In fact, if you if you think of that, here’s the early church living their lives in a way that the world sees them and says they’re like little jesuses, what would people say about you? And if when people think about you, if they don’t think about a life that’s following Christ, it becomes a place to reflect in our own hearts. Like, what about me? Do I need to better align with Jesus so that when people think about my life, they see the sweetness of who Christ is? Like, where do I need to go back in relationships and say, I got this one wrong and I’m sorry? How how can I best honor the Lord in my life to those around me? And this was the church in Antioch. They laid their life down for the sake of Christ. They were actively growing. I need to give you this. This last point. Last point is this. They were they care for those struggling. They care for those struggling. You see this with the early church. Now in these days, prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One named Agabus stood up and foretold by the spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world. So the disciples determined every one according to his ability to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.
And they did so, sending it to the elders by the by the hand of Barnabas and Saul. I don’t have a whole lot of time to dig into this, but I do want us to recognize when your life has been richly transformed in the greatness of who Christ is. You’re going to see the importance of every human being in this world, and you’re going to recognize who we are in Jesus is the far most important thing about us. And so therefore, the way I represent him to others matters. People matter and whether they embrace them or not. I can love them as Christ loved them. I mean, the evidence of your faith in Jesus is how you care for people when you stand nothing to gain from them because of what Christ has done for you. And so the early church certainly lived their lives this way, and it radically transformed the world around them. So much so that in in the early church, in the in the fourth century, there was a, a tremendous plague that took place. Excuse me, the third century, there was a tremendous plague that took place. And it was so devastating that entire cities collapsed, priests ran away, families abandoned the sick. But the early church chose to stay. They stayed, they served, and they even died doing it. And one of the early church fathers known as Dionysius, he said this Christians took charge of the sick.
Attending to the to the their every need. Many losing their lives. And in this particular moment, certainly the church was losing their lives temporarily on this earth. But ultimately they knew what they had in Jesus endured forever. And so they, they, they willingly gave of their lives for the benefit of, of others. And there’s a historian he recently passed away known as Rodney Stark. He was an American sociologist of religion, and he studied early Christianity and asked the question, what? What caused the church to grow? How are they able to make such a radical difference? And he said it like this Christianity didn’t grow despite the plagues. It grew because of them. The gospel spreads the fastest. When the church refuses to save save itself. Who is willing to lose for Christ? Your willingness to give yourself away for the glory of God to the benefit of others is how transformation takes place. An American Dream is all about what you can get accumulating to prove. But the life of Christ is about what he gave for the benefit of those around him. And the gospel story continues to be retold in his people as we surrender our hearts for the glory of God to the benefit of others. We think about the church in Antioch. Why were they able to make a difference? Outward thinking. Faithfully encouraging. Fully committed. Actively growing. Caring for those who are struggling.