Today's Passage - Acts 11:25-30

Acts 11:25-30   Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.  During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.  One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.)  The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea.  This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.   This passage specifically mentioned that "disciples were called Christians first at Antioch."  In other word, they were not called Christians before.  The English word Christian consists of "Christ" and "ian."  "Ian" means the small one, so "Christian" means "little Christ."  We hear the word Christian so much that we don't think much of it.  If someone asks you whether you are a little Christ, you might hesitate and don't know what to say, but every Christian is supposed to be live the life of a little Christ in order to bear good witness for the Lord.   Many would say that living in the time of the early church is much easier, because when we live in the US we need to face our boss' mood, bills at home, pressure at work, and kids who are difficult to deal with - there are just too many difficulties!  Even when we are in fellowship, we complain and whine to each other.  I've found that Silicon Valley is a crib for cultivating spiritual babies, because it's so easy to self-pity in this environment.  We should no longer be spiritual babies who live in self-pity.  Jesus Christ is victorious, so nothing can separate us from his love, all chains can be broken by Him, and all burdens can be borne by Him.   Speaking of making excuses, the early church had far more excuses than we do.  Most of the believers in Antioch were those persecuted back in Jerusalem and made to escape.  They faced cultural differences, pressure on making a living, burden from family, plus putting life at risk.  They were not better off than us, but they all had the same determination, which was to live like Jesus no matter what the circumstance was.  Do we have the same determination in our life?  When others saw that the church of Antioch was like Christ, they called the members of the congregation Christians.  When will we stop making excuses with how busy we are or how much we are hurt, burdened and stressed?  Can we simply stand up and live by the principles of God so that we may be good testimonies for Him?                                                                                                        Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, we thank you, and we know that if we live to testify for you and set good examples, we can draw thousands to you.  As we are called Christians today, help us to live like Christ each and every day.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!     Participate in Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - by Donating a Seat for a future new believer!