Where did the term “Christian” originally come from and what did it mean back then? Is that the same thing it means to be a Christian today? What then are the marks of true Christianity as found in the book of Acts? Join Pastor Jim for this insightful study from Acts 11:19-30.
Sermon Notes
The first “Christians” were marked by:
1. Visible grace
“The holiness of the church means that life, as well as truth, marks Christ’s church; the behavior of Christians in the world must be remarkable enough to cause grudging admiration, astonished curiosity or threatening hostility.”
Edmund Clowney
The Church
2. Missional
“The Church is the pilgrim people of God. It is on the move – hastening to the ends of the earth to beseech all men to be reconciled to God, and hastening to the end of time to meet its Lord who will gather all into one.… It cannot be understood rightly except in a perspective which is at once missionary and eschatological.”
Leslie Newbigin
The Household of God
3. Focus on the Lord
“In the New Testament, all the focus is on the reality of the glory of Christ, not the shadow and copy of religious objects and forms. It is stunning how indifferent the New Testament is to such things: there is no authorization in the New Testament for worship buildings, or worship dress, or worship times, or worship music, or worship liturgy or worship size or thirty-five-minute sermons, or Advent poems or choirs or instruments or candles. In fact, the act of getting together as Christians in the New Testament to sing or pray or hear the word of God is never even called worship.”
John Piper
4. Diversity with a deep unity in Christ
5. Expansion and opposition
6. Compassion toward the needy
“Our calling and purpose as followers of Christ is to love God completely, to love self correctly, and to love others compassionately.”
Kenneth Boa