Stay True to the Lord

In one paragraph

This week the pastor walked through Acts 11:19-30, the story of the early church scattering north from Jerusalem and the gospel taking root among Gentiles in Antioch. He traced how God used persecution and ordinary believers to carry the message outward, and drew a straight line from that first-century story to what First B is called to do right here in Jackson and around the world. The passage...

Read together

1. Revelation 22 invitation to worship, 'let anyone who is thirsty come'
2. Psalm 150 let everything that has breath praise the Lord
3. Hebrews 10:23 let us hold unswervingly to the hope that we profess, for he who promised is faithful
4. 2 Corinthians 9 giving should not be under compulsion but a predetermined matter of the heart
5. Acts 10 Peter's vision of the sheet, the gospel is for Jews and non-Jews
6. Acts 11:19-30 main sermon text, believers scattered to Antioch, Barnabas sent, Christians named
7. John 3:16 God so loved the world, whoever believes will not perish but have eternal life
8. Romans 15:13 benediction, may the God of hope fill you with joy and peace

Talk about it

1. The pastor pointed out that God used the persecution and scattering of believers after Stephen's death to spread the gospel further than it might otherwise have gone. Can you think of a time in your own life when God used a painful or difficult situation to accomplish something good you could not have foreseen?
2. The text says the power of the Lord was with the believers who shared their faith in Antioch, and a large number of people came to believe. The pastor said not to underestimate the power of your own witness and your own story. What holds you back from sharing what God has done in your life, and what might help you take that step?
3. Barnabas encouraged the new Gentile believers to stay true to the Lord rather than telling them how things were done in Jerusalem. What does staying true to the Lord look like practically for you right now, especially in a hard season?
4. The pastor described Barnabas as a catalyst whose Christian witness drew people to the Lord, and then asked the question, how can I be a Barnabas today? Who in your life right now could use a word of genuine encouragement, and what is one concrete thing you could do for them this week?
5. The believers in Antioch responded to news of the coming famine by sending relief to brothers and sisters in Judea, asking in effect what Jesus would do in that situation. The pastor talked about participating in what God is already doing, starting right here locally and then outward. Where do you sense God at work around you right now, and how might you join in?