"But there were some of them...who came to Antioch and began...preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. The news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch. Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord. And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch." Acts 11:20-26, NASB.
A true, New Testament church plant is full of Spirit-filled believers who share the Word of God. When they do, people come to know the Lord Jesus. There, I said it. It should not be a shocker but unfortunately, we herald many church plants who may be creative but that don't have the blessing of Christ. If you are planting a church, Acts is the place to spend some study time. Church planting is not easy. It never was and it never will be. But the only way to do a church plant is with the Lord and His blessing. We see that the early believers at Antioch began by preaching the Lord Jesus. They reached, sent, witnessed, rejoiced, encouraged, remained true, brought, met, taught and were known by who they taught; they were known as Christians.
You may not be planting a church but wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I pray you are with a church and being a part of the work of the church. I pray the Holy Spirit is helping you to rid yourself of anything keeping you from doing the main, hard work of preaching, teaching and encouraging people to the Lord Jesus Christ. May we be strong believers and strong reproducers. May He help us to build strong church plants and strong churches that honor Him and Him alone!
