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REFLECTION

The theme for our reflection is the church gets established. We are told the church is established in Antioch as a result of believers fleeing from persecution and boldly preaching the Good News to the Gentiles or Hellenists at Antioch. Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord” (Act 11:19-21)

Dear friend, the church in Antioch was established as a result of evangelism or through the preaching of our Lord Jesus to the people. It took the boldness, the willingness and the hand of the Lord to establish the church at Antioch. This means that no human being has the power to establish a church on his or her own, the Church is established by the Lord through believers who avail themselves as instruments of transformation. We are only vessels, instruments or tools of transformation and grace being used to the glory of God. It is erroneous for a human being or a group of people to claim ownership of an established church or to ascribe the title founder or founders of a church to him or herself or themselves respectively. The appropriate phrase is the messenger. We are only carrying the Gospel as messengers to wherever it will be accepted. Jesus is the founder because He first saves us and uses us for His glory to preach and expand His church. Jesus is the founder and establisher of Church and its branches across  the world no matter their nomenclature and structures. Jesus is the one who died for our sin therefore anytime we gather or fellowship as a church, we congregate in His name and not in the name of the preacher, the so called human founder or the person whose house or land the believers gather to worship. It is also of relevance to note that the church is not the building we gather in but it is the assembly of believers. The church building is different from the church, the church building is stationary but the church is a living organism, it is mobile and its power is the Holy Spirit.

It is of great importance to note that after the church had been established, Barnabas and Paul later came to teach and disciple the new converts or believers to firmly root their faith in the Lord. “The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.”(Acts 11:22-26). Discipleship is a continuous integral process of an established church. A Church established without Discipleship is like planting a seed without nurturing it to grow into a fruit-bearing tree. For an established church to have a strong foundation, the new believers must be equipped and nurtured with the Word of God and Biblically sound doctrines. The teaching or nurturing must be done by people filled with the Holy Spirit, who have indepth knowledge of Scripture, Divine Revelation and imitators of Christ in every sphere of their lives. May the Lord establish new Churches through us to His glory. Shalom.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, use us as instruments of transformation to preach the Good News to continually establish and expand your church in the world so as to save the lost and revive the those who are dead to sin. Let this be the focus of the church and every believer. Amen