233 – Christians at Antioch

Acts 11:19-30

The killing of Stephen started a great persecution. Therefore, some believers went north to a city called Antioch. When they first got there, they preached only to Jews, but eventually they shared the message of Christ with Gentiles as well.

God honored this and gave great power to their teaching. Many Gentiles put their faith in Jesus. 

The church in Jerusalem heard about what happened and felt they needed to investigate, so they sent Barnabas. When he got there, he watched what the church was doing—and found that God was blessing them with abundant grace!

Barnabas was thrilled, so he encouraged the believers. He told them to always follow Jesus and remain true to what the Lord taught. The people responded to the teaching of Barnabas because they knew he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.

This resulted in even more people coming to Christ—in large numbers. Barnabas soon realized he needed help. So he went to Tarsus and found Saul. The two of them returned to Antioch, and for a full year they worked together with the believers. They taught large crowds of people.

It was in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

The Lord revealed to the church in Antioch that there would be a great famine. When it came, it was especially bad in Judea.

The Christians in Antioch were concerned about their fellow believers in Jerusalem. They took a collection, and every family gave according to their ability. Then they asked Barnabas and Saul to take their offering to the church in Jerusalem.

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