1. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is inclusive.
2. God blesses churches and individuals that are obedient to His word and leadership.
3. Acts 11:19-30 places great emphasis on human participation in the divine drama.
4. Acts 11:19-30 also places great emphasis on the dynamic life of the community of faith.
5. Churches can either offer the Gospel to everyone or exclude certain groups with the life-saving message
6. The early church knew the power of preaching Christ
7. Our message to the masses must include repentance that leads to eternal life in Jesus Christ.
8. Our message must be clean and concise to the masses.
9. Our message must be two fold:
a. “Everyone who calls on the name of Jesus shall be saved.”
b. “Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in the name of Jesus Christ to all nations.”
10. “To make disciples of all nations God’s people have to make personally and subjectively real the transcendent values that they would readily affirm to be objectively real.” (Dr Bradley Chance)
11. Early churches were interested in the success of their sister churches.
12. The Gentiles needed the Good News and the community of Jerusalem needed food.
13. True fellowship in our church is a gift from God and requires love and compassion on every members’ part.
14. Believers are to have their eyes and hearts open to the needs around them.
15. Churches must determine which of their values will guide their worship and outreach.
16. Persecution strengthened the First Century church.
17. Barnabas means “Son of Encouragement” Barnabas was a “bridge builder.”
18. Barnabas did not seek glory for himself.
19. Any church that is filled with a plethora of Barnabas’s will grow and minister in a mighty way.
20. Antioch was a town of 300-800,000 people. It was the 3rd largest city in the Roman Empire.
21. The church in Jerusalem was known as the “Mother Church”
22. The presence and evidence of God’s grace in a church is very attractive to guests and potential members.
23. We must ask ourselves the following question: “Do I really believe in the power of the Gospel to change lives?”
24. God’s Spirit seeks to open peoples’ hearts so that they will want to demonstrate generosity.
25. Outsiders were the first to give followers of Christ the name “Christian” What a great compliment!
26. The word “Christian” means “belonging to, identified with Christ”
27. God is never limited by time, circumstances, or crises.
28. Our view of a crises articulates what we really believe about God and His power.
29. Churches grow whenever their members grow in their love for people and whenever they grow in their generosity.
30. Encourage your class to identify the “sons or daughters of encouragement” in our church.
Comments