the church in antioch

If there’s anything that I’ve learned throughout this Acts series, it’s this: I haven’t lived for the moment. Each week, I learn a new lesson, a new understanding in my faith, and I always leave service wanting to learn more of God. Needless to say, there have been times where I felt the Holy Spirit really working in me during the response time, and I find myself leaving wanting so much more.

Leaving Sunday’s service, I felt once again God tugging at my heart.

As Josh mentioned during the service, there are three reasons why we, Christianity, exists.

The people, the disciples in Acts believed they were living the life of Jesus.

Every minute, every breath, was spent living out the Gospel. Ever want to look at how you can truly live out the Gospel? These guys had it right. They shared everything. They prayed together. They lived each moment together worshipping their hearts out. That’s where we need to be today. Not just raising our hands, tithing only what we want to give away, or putting a “church face” every single time we set our feet in the church. We need to live as the church; we must shift our mentality to think that way.

The disciples not only believed what Jesus taught them, but they were living it out in their community.

The presence and power of the Holy Spirit was living in them and enabling them to do God’s work. Through His presence, they were filled with a greater purpose; and through His power, they were able to bring thousands and upon thousands of commoners to Jesus — it spread like wild fire, and the world would never be same since.

There was unity in the body of the Christ.

The church in Jerusalem and the church in Antioch are a perfect example; though 300 miles apart, both of the churches were unified in the body of Christ (Acts 11: 19-30). How often do we think that our church, the way we practice our faith, is on a higher level than other religious practice within Christianity? As Josh bluntly stated, “We exist for the church; the church doesn’t exist for us.” Instead of separating ourselves from our brothers and sisters in Christ, let’s unite and be a family.

We have the same Father; therefore, we have the same purpose. So why are we wasting our time comparing our rituals, the way we worship, or even how we dress compared to the rest of the churches in the world. If our focus is on how we need everyone else to be like us in the church, than what Jesus did, why he came down in the first place, defeats the purpose. What we need to do is follow what the disciples did in Acts…because they got it right. If the Jesus we read in our books is the same Jesus now, why are we struggling to find our answers?

In the beginning of Acts, Jesus ascends into heaven, leaving the rest of the world’s fate in the disciples hands. What most people thought impossible, Jesus made it possible through them — from 120 to 3,000. And what we think is impossible is doable through the grace of God and presence and power of the Holy Spirit. So let’s continue this movement as the body of Christ.