BULLETIN ARTICLE – 24 June 2018

In this modern day and age, what defines a growing and loving Christian church? Some indicators that people commonly use to judge what they deem to be a good church span from how good the teaching is (which can be quite subjective), to how large the congregation is and to the style of worship (traditional vs contemporary). While these qualities may appear to be either positive or negative descriptors to you, our outlook may actually be largely shaped by a mix of cultural preconceptions of what church should be like, hearsay from other Christian friends and how well we perceive we ‘fit’ into the church.

The church in Antioch, Syria, as described in Acts, was a prime example of what a loving and growing church was like. Made up of Jews and Greeks, this church was an unexpected fruit from the bitter root of persecution, as Stephen’s martyrdom had scattered the Jewish Christians about 700km from Jerusalem to Antioch in Syria. It was there, in a faraway and non-Jewish culture, that the Antioch church, by the grace and mercy of God alone, managed to blossom as a good example for us today.

Some of the great hallmarks of the growing and loving church in Antioch, filled with the Holy Spirit, are:

1. The church was true to Jesus with all their hearts and sincere in their worship and gratitude to God.
2. The church saw great numbers of people brought to Jesus – evangelism for the church was very much in their DNA.
3. The church had much Christian teaching and learning about Jesus taking place – “Barnabas and Saul taught great numbers of people.”
4. The church was generous and full of practical love to other churches in financial need – “The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea.”

Question for us today: would you consider BKC to be a growing and loving church? How should we pray and grow to be more like the church in Antioch and become a shining 
beacon for Jesus?