A New Church is Born - 1 June 2025

God is doing a new thing.  Sing to the Lord a new song.These are themes consistent throughout the whole biblical story. It’s wonderful news if you’re in desperate need for change and it’s very disturbing for those who find change hard, no matter if it’s good or better. Maybe your like me and invest yourself deeply into wherever, whoever and whatever God plants you in. I don’t think it’s that bad a quality to have. It’s when God does something new and changes things without you realising that life becomes unsettling. As we work through the Book of Acts I want us to dwell on the end of chapter 11. It’s the moment when the church in Antioch began to blossom. It became a very significant church community. Sending missionaries throughout the Roman Empire, assisting other churches and was even the place where the name “Christian” was first used. The centre of God's work through the Holy Spirit had shifted from Jerusalem to Antioch. It was the third largest Roman city and now its ruins are buried under the modern city of Antakya on the border of Turkey and Syria. From the story of Antioch we learn that God’s work in the world was on the move. Things were changing fast. For the rest of the Book of Acts we now hear less about the disciples that followed Jesus around in Judea, less about Peter and less about the church in Jerusalem. We learn more about this new church, the missionaries they send out and their journeys. God is on the move. Are we excited about the movement of God today or do we long for the old days? Can we sing a new song to the Lord or perhaps we might be inclined to feel like a disciple who longs for the songs we use to sing when Jesus was still walking the earth? A favourite saying that Rev. Ashley Davis is from a minister who would finish his services with the words: “Let the Peace of God Disturb You Today”. Your brother in Christ, Benji