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This excerpt of THE AMAZING POTENTIAL OF ONE SURRENDERED CHURCH (p. 91) explores how the Antioch leaders may have “heard” from the Lord.

There are those who say that God has given His full revelation in the 66 books of the Bible, and that any further “listening” to God is not only unnecessary but heretical. Truly, God’s revelation is complete (Revelation 22:18). Yet, our resurrected Savior is the living Head of the Church, and the lead Shepherd of each local church. We should pursue a closeness and immediacy with Him such that we receive guidance for each and every step of our ministry. In this sense, the Spirit of Jesus willingly leads the church that is united in prayer and humble before God, eagerly seeking His direction.

How did this happen at Antioch? Was the Spirit’s voice audible to all or even one? Was a prophecy given by one of the leaders? We don’t know. But we do know the Spirit worked in all of their hearts until His directive was evident to all of the leaders. It may be that as they prayed, the Lord brought to mind the grace of the gospel that had come to them as Gentiles. The Spirit brought to mind the Lord’s commands to “make disciples of all nations,” and the promise that He would make them witnesses “even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). God had shown them that Barnabas and Saul were a compatible and trustworthy ministry pair, for they had faithfully dispatched the gift to Jerusalem. And just as importantly, the church had seen that they could continue in ministry even when their two founding leaders were gone.

Out of the melting pot of these realizations, the Spirit began to burden Barnabas and Saul with the thought of thousands of Gentiles who had not yet heard of the cross of Christ. A new “calling” emerged within them. The other elders, realizing they had received this grace, knew they were now responsible to convey that same grace to others. So, by mutual understanding, the elders knew the Holy Spirit was asking Barnabas and Saul to launch out in a new ministry. “Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away” (Acts 13:3).

FOR DISCUSSION

How would you describe the listening capability of your leadership team? What conditions are right for the Holy Spirit to clearly guide you as a church and leadership team? What obstacles might block the Spirit’s guidance within your leadership team?

Excerpt from THE AMAZING POTENTIAL OF ONE SURRENDERED CHURCH (p. 93)

 The believers in Antioch surrendered their two key leaders, and thereby became more of what God wanted them to be. They illustrate what the parable of five loaves and two fish looks like when acted out in a church setting. Like the lad who did not withhold his lunch, the five elders did not cling to their two beloved leaders, and God multiplied their sacrifice so that multitudes of Jews and Gentiles were spiritually fed. In fact, we today are still enjoying the feast of their surrender and obedience.

In the process, the Antioch elders remind us of a lesson we may have forgotten: Our tested people are our most valuable resource. The one thing God required of them was their proven leaders.

Today we are very possessive of our good leaders. We willingly spare our mediocre leaders, but we’d never think of giving away our exceptional leaders. Yet this may be the very sacrifice God requires. This may be the kind of calling that moves our church from being preservation-oriented to being mission-oriented.

FOR DISCUSSION

What people resources has God given your church at this time? How is God preparing them for greater service?

The vibrancy of a congregation depends on the willingness of its leaders to seize their call to surrender. An excerpt from THE AMAZING POTENTIAL OF ONE SURRENDERED CHURCH (p.97).

When a church, in obedience to God, gives sacrificially of its best people and resources in order to launch a new ministry initiative, it unleashes a process of spiritual fruit-bearing that multiplies indefinitely. The Holy Spirit’s strategy of multiplication of disciples and churches has proven effective since the Day of Pentecost. Any church, large or small, will find God’s favor when they look for ways to have global impact through evangelism, discipleship, and church multiplication.

No church better illustrates this than Antioch. In surrendering Barnabas and Saul to God’s calling on their lives (Acts 13:2,3), they gave a gift greater than they could possibly have imagined, for the ministry which began that day not only took the gospel to many cities during their era, but has now spread to many countries right up to the present time. More than any other act of the Antioch assembly, their risky mission initiative illustrates the amazing potential of one surrendered church.

FOR DISCUSSION

1. What positive dynamics are sustained in a church that has an ongoing heart for spreading the gospel to areas and peoples that still need to hear it in a way they can understand?
2. What negative dynamics result from becoming inward-focused, lessening the outreach and mission mandate?

We should expect both resistance to, and acceptance of the good news of salvation. An excerpt from THE AMAZING POTENTIAL OF ONE SURRENDERED CHURCH (p.19).

The only reason any church has the right to exist, much less advance, is that its Founder and Head has authority over the whole world. That statement will earn a scoff from cynics, but it accurately reflects Jesus’ own statements. Christ’s authority gives a church the proper perspective on why and how it should operate.

Jesus commanded us, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). The “therefore” thrusts us back to the basis for such an outrageous command. The reason we have the right and responsibility to make disciples for Jesus in every nation without exception is because Jesus has been given authority in every nation without exception: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18).

Since the Father has granted the Son such global authority (and commensurate responsibility), the Son in turn has inducted believers, the Church, to discharge His plan and to do so in His delegated authority.

PRAYER APPLICATION

A season of prayer could focus on asking Christ’s saving authority to become known in specific families, neighborhoods, ethnic groups, etc. which surround your church.

An excerpt from THE AMAZING POTENTIAL OF ONE SURRENDERED CHURCH (pp.24-25).

In fact, we should focus less on numerical growth and more on having the hand of the Lord with us. If we have His benevolent hand, we will see the numerical increase He desires. And numerical increase without His blessing—which seems quite possible—is merely a shadow of a church, lacking the substance of God’s favor.

This should lead us to learn from Antioch what it means to have the Lord’s hand with us.

The hand of the Lord, in and of itself, is not a desirable thing. We sometimes see God’s hand against the nation Israel (Ezek. 3:14) and against false prophets (Ezek. 13:9). Even in Paul’s upcoming ministry, the Lord’s hand of judgment (through blindness) will be upon Elymas the Magician (Acts 13:11). So, we only want the hand of the Lord if it is with us.

What does that look like? The hand of the Lord is with a church as He chooses it and uses it as His instrument. This is the sense in which the phrase is used of John the Baptist’s ministry (Luke 1:66). The hand of the Lord is with a church when God is making Himself known to them in a real way; this is Ezekiel’s sense of it in Ezekiel 3:22 and 8:1. And here in Antioch, the Lord’s hand is evident, not only in the numerical growth, but in the entire story of the church—both the outward results and the inner conditions. That’s why we must read between the lines to discover the spiritual environment that God granted them.

In our churches today, we are very keen to have numerical growth. But we might be closer to the target if we ask God to reveal any ways we are preventing His hand from being with us.

FOR DISCUSSION

A lengthy session could be given to praying and discussing how this applies to your church, both historically and at present. What seasons in your church’s past were characterized by God’s favor? What can be learned from these observations?  To what degree do you feel the hand of the Lord is, or is not, with your church now?