The King's Church in Ilford
The following is the text of the talk given on 22nd March 2009 by Georges Kisolmbola
"An Attitude of Outreach"
An Attitude of Outreach
Reading: Acts 11:19-30; Act 13:1-3
A friend was in front of me coming out of church one day, and the preacher was standing at the door as he always is to shake hands. He grabbed my friend by the hand and pulled him aside. The Pastor said to him, "You need to join the Army of the Lord!" My friend replied, "I'm already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor." Pastor questioned, "How come I don't "see you except at Christmas and Easter?" My friend whispered back, "I'm in the secret service." (By Unknown)
Antioch the capital of the East called "Antioch the Beautiful" had a population of 500,000 people in 1st century and was the least likely place to find the most powerful Christian fellowship. It was also cosmopolitan, with large Jewish, Syrian, Greek, & Roman communities. Antioch's citizens had gained a reputation for pleasure-seeking & low morals. Something familiar?
Yet, we find that in the midst of the paganism and prostitution the mighty Church of God arose. In Acts 11 We see a transition from an emphasis on Peter to an emphasis on Paul. We see a transition from an emphasis on the Jews to an emphasis on Gentiles. And we see a transition from an emphasis on the Jerusalem church to an emphasis on the church at Antioch. From this point on, with the exclusion of Acts 15, the church at Antioch holds centre stage throughout the book of Acts.
It is evident from these texts that the church at Antioch had an attitude of outreach; an attitude that we would do well to imitate. 1st we find that the church had:
1. AN EVANGELISTIC NATURE
It started out as an exclusive witness. These Jews were scattered because of the persecution in Jerusalem. Luke tells us that they were witnessing only to their fellow Jews. All of us are prone to give the message to those who are most like us. In fact, most of us have a comfort zone, and if we're doing any witnessing at all it most likely is taking place within that comfort zone.
What happens when we're willing to step outside that zone. Verse 20 tells us that some bold believers from Cyprus & Cyrene started telling the Greeks the good news about Jesus. And what was the result in verse 21 tells us.
When we're willing to break out of our comfort zone God is willing to break down barriers to the Gospel. In 13:1-3 we have believers of many cultural backgrounds worshipping together and God broke down the cultural barrier. God will break down the cultural barrier in Ilford when we are willing to love those of different from us. The cross of Calvary was for the benefit of all humankind. At some point in each of our lives we have rejected the Gospel; Until God broke down our spiritual barriers in us.
The church at Antioch understood that its primary purpose was to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to anybody & everybody. They were evangelistic in nature, because they allowed God to knock down the walls that separated them.
The 2nd reason the church at Antioch had an attitude of outreach was because of:
2. A SOUND DOCTRINE
The Jerusalem Church sent Barnabas, the encourager, to check on the power of evangelism that had been released in Antioch.
Barnabas rejoiced in what the followers of Christ were doing there. But he also discerned that they needed help in that secular city where political intrigue, cults, & sensuality abounded. Who could give them that help? Who had the intellectual training, Roman citizenship, and spiritual power, to establish a beachhead there? Who, but Saul? Barnabas went to Tarsus to call Saul into active ministry. The years of preparation had made him ready. His mind was alert with Christ. And his will was under the control of his new and indwelling Lord. Luke tells us in 11:26 "for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people." Can you imagine having Paul as your personal instructor in the things of God? These people were sound in doctrine.
The Christians in Antioch had won many to the Lord. Evangelism hasn't taken place just because someone has given their life to Christ. A big part of evangelism is edification--building up a believer in the faith. So we are to win people to Christ, yet we are to instruct those new believers so that they will have a solid foundation for their faith. They need to know what and why they believe.
The result of Christians not being grounded in sound doctrine are believers who are so shallow in their understanding of the faith that they will fall prey to every new idea and teaching that comes along. We must teach those we reach so we can build them up in the faith like the Christians at Antioch.
The 3rd thing that gave the church at Antioch an attitude of outreach was:
3. A BOLD CHARACTER
In 11:26 Luke declared, "The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch" ; Meaning Christ-people.
Luke doesn't tell us how the disciples got the name. Some feel that God gave it to them. Others believe that is was a nickname given in contempt and mockery, which the disciples transformed into a title of honour. Still others believe that they got their name because they were always talking about Christ as their leader.
How they got the name "Christian" is not as important, however, as the way in which they lived up to it. The boldness of these believer's witness and lifestyle caused the citizens of Antioch to recognize them as the people of Christ.
Restoring the biblical meaning to the name "Christian" will only happen when those of us who claim to be Christians begin to live every dimension of our lives as ones who belong to Christ.
The 4th ingredient in an attitude of outreach is:
4. A CARING ATTITUDE
Along with their courageous character, the Christians at Antioch had a caring heart. In 11:28 Luke referred to a prophet who came to Antioch and predicted a great famine that would especially affect Judea. How did the Christians at Antioch respond? Each of them, according to his income, pledged an amount of money for a relief fund to be sent to Judea.
The Christians at Antioch recognized the fact that they were a part of God's family. As brothers and sisters in Christ, they could be open about expressing their needs and caring in meeting those needs.
In the short time I've been here I've seen that in many ways King's Church is a giving church. You have helped people in need. You lifted up the broken hearted. You have reached out in many ways in which I'm sure I'm not aware. But we must never get to the point where we begin to pat ourselves on the back for what we've accomplished. There is always more to be done. There are always more people in need. We must learn to care enough for those who are in need that we are willing to give of ourselves to meet their needs like the Christians in Antioch.
The last thing we see that brought an attitude of outreach was:
5. A MISSIONARY SPIRIT
In Acts 13 we find the final ingredient of this great church (READ v.1-3).
The Christians in Antioch were missionary in spirit. Luke described the significant step of setting aside Paul and Barnabas for a missionary expedition. I doubt at this time they had any idea of the tremendous impact they were going to have on the world.
The Christians at Antioch took missions seriously. The Spirit told them to send Barnabas and Paul, so that is what they did.
Missions are not just sending a check out to a foreign missionary once a month. True biblical missions is taking those whom God has set apart from our fellowship and sending them out into the world with a gospel to proclaim. There might be some sitting here this morning that God is calling to go out in the highways and byways of the world, and it is up to us to support them.
The ratio of non-Christians to Christians in the world population increases with each passing year. The church so desperately needs to be missionary in spirit. What we need is to catch a vision for the world like the Christians at the church in Antioch.
Conclusion:
Today we can look out into our world and see that there's not much difference between us and the city of Antioch. We are known for our wealth & immorality. We live in a land that in a way promotes self-worship, sex-worship, and degradation. And in the midst of the paganism and prostitution of our day, I wonder if the mighty church of God is not ready to turn this world upside down for Jesus Christ? How about the King's church? Do we move out into the world in the name of Jesus to conquer? Or do we stand on the sidelines and watch as the world around us perishes. The Antioch church chose to take their world for Christ. What are we going to do? The choice is yours and yours....and mine. Let's glorify the Lord by having an attitude of outreach.
