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The church of Antioch is described in details in the Book of Acts and we can follow\u00a0it since its formation until it became\u00a0a very strong\u00a0one, having a great\u00a0impact on the mission of the first century. <\/span>I suggest you to see how it developed and established its form of organization, so that we can\u00a0take practical lessons for a better organization of our local churches.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Even if it seems strange, the\u00a0system of organization has not played the primary role in\u00a0church planting, rather, there was present no organization in the beginning. <\/span>The essential role was played here by a good discipleship\u00a0that the apostles\u00a0had done\u00a0in\u00a0the Church of Jerusalem, where they gathered daily in the courtyard of the Temple and taught the disciples from the Scriptures.<\/span> Here\u2019s how\u00a0the church\u00a0of Antioch has been planted:<\/span><\/p>\n So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone.\u00a0But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus.\u00a0And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>(Acts 11:19-21)(NASB)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Since \u201ca large number of people believed and turned to the Lord\u201d, it was a great need that the process of discipleship would\u00a0set up\u00a0well\u00a0for good a spiritual growth of each Christian and of the whole church.<\/span> Here\u2019s how events have evolved further:<\/span><\/p>\n The news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch.\u00a0Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord;\u00a0for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord.\u00a0(Acts 11:22-24)(NASB)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Apostles sought to fulfill a need and they sent Barnabas to help organize the church\u00a0in Antioch.<\/span><\/p>\n Barnabas, being a strong leader, has identified the greatest need for\u00a0of the church of Antioch and the man who could help him the best in fulfilling this need.<\/span><\/p>\n And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul;\u00a0and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers<\/strong>; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. (Acts 11:25-26)(NASB)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Efforts of the leaders were directed\u00a0to\u00a0teaching people\u00a0the Word of God and not to developing a sophisticated system of the church\u00a0organization.<\/span><\/p>\n It is sad to see how some leaders and church planters\u00a0do not consider discipleship as\u00a0the most important\u00a0and seek some \u201csecret\u201d of the church organization that will bring success and growth.<\/span> When growth is the result of studying the Scriptures, the new organization or reorganization actions are taken not because they\u00a0have been read in a book or heard at a conference, but to fulfill specific needs of the saints, as in the church of Antioch:<\/span><\/p>\n Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.\u00a0One of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world And this took place in the reign of Claudius.\u00a0And in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea.\u00a0And this they did, sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders.\u00a0(Acts 11:27-30)(NASB)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In chapter 11 of the Book of Acts we were told that Paul and Barnabas taught many\u00a0people from Antioch during a year.<\/span> Thus, new teachers\u00a0could grow up\u00a0and take over the administration of\u00a0the local church ministry\u00a0and let Paul and Barnabas go on mission.<\/span> This involved new actions within the\u00a0local church organization:<\/span><\/p>\n Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.\u00a0While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, \u201cSet apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.\u201d\u00a0Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>(Acts 13:1-3)(NASB)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Actions\u00a0of organization and reorganization were done under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and not just of human initiatives.<\/span>\u00a0It is good and necessary for any church to fast and spend time in prayer when facing a need that requires a reorganization in the ministry.<\/span><\/p>\n Translated by Felicia Rotaru<\/em><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The church of Antioch is described in details in the Book of Acts and we can follow\u00a0it since its formation until it became\u00a0a very strong\u00a0one, having a great\u00a0impact on the mission of the first century. I suggest you to see how it developed and established its form of organization, so that we can\u00a0take practical lessons […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":56255,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[126],"tags":[10044,10045,10046,10047,10048],"class_list":["post-56254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-answer-from-the-bible","tag-church-organization","tag-church-of-antioch","tag-antioch","tag-organization-in-church","tag-importance-of-discipleship","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChurch Planting \u2013 the result of good disciples<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Establishing the discipleship process was the purpose of the organization<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Teachers \u2013 the greatest need of the church<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Saints\u2019 needs generated the actions of\u00a0organization<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Mission involves continuous local church organization<\/span><\/h2>\n
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