Pastoral Contact – The Birth of A Missional Church
Reread Acts 11:19 – 30
“People can build many social constructs but only with God can they build a church.”
People have built many wonders over thousands of years. They built great pyramids, giant walls, colossal tombs, and countless pagan temples that appear ornate and fantastic. For over 2,000 years people have constructed churches of various shapes and sizes. Believers have hidden in tombs to worship. They made churches from private basements and living rooms. Some have converted former pagan temples and built structures ranging from shacks to grand cathedrals.
Not every building called a church was one. The difference showed in the Spirit of the leadership and people. When the church in Jerusalem heard about the growing church in Antioch, Barnabas traveled 300 miles to learn if this was a church built by people or one built by the Holy Spirit.
Upon learning the Antioch church was comprised of believers, evidenced by their demonstrating fruit of the Spirit doubtlessly, Barnabas knew the glory of God was on them. Together with Paul, these believers were held accountable, educated, empowered, and dispersed further with prayer of building additional churches equally Spirit-filled.
Dive Deeper:
Matthew 13:1 – 9 “That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”
Ephesians 4:11 – 14 “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”
Practical Application:
- If a person calls themselves a believer, they should demonstrate evidence, or Spiritual fruit, such as hospitality, humility, joy, a sense of peace toward others, meekness, and other virtues described at the Sermon on the Mount.
- Multiple gifts are required for spreading the gospel message, which is what Christ commanded His followers to do. They are believing, teaching, evangelizing, and pastoring.
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