Acts 11:26

"and when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that even for. whole year they were gathered together with the church, and taught much people, and that the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch"Gathered together with the church" Here is an example of. preacher working with. congregation for an extended period of time. We find the same thing in Acts 18:11; Acts 20:31. Reese notes, "New Testament evangelism was not limited to one or two weeks of protracted effort by an itinerant evangelist each year!" (p. 420). The above expression also infers that the congregation regularly gathered together (Hebrews 10:25). "Taught much people" May refer to grounding the new converts in the faith and or teaching unbelievers. "Disciples were called Christians first in Antioch". number of commentators contend that the name "Christian" was originally. title of contempt that the enemies of the Church gave to the disciples, in contrast to this view, Reese notes that the word "called" in the above verse is almost always used in the New Testament to mean "divinely called" (Matthew 2:12; Luke 2:26; Acts 10:22; Hebrews 8:5; Hebrews 11:17; Hebrews 12:25). God Himself says that the name is very honorable (1 Peter 4:16 "but in that name let him glorify God"). "We may be sure that Christians, followers of Messiah (the Christ) is not. name likely to have been given by Jews" (P.P. Comm. p. 359). "To whom Christ was the interpretation of Messiah, and who would not have bestowed the name on those whom they despised as apostates" (Vincent p. 506). "The thought is Jewish, denoting the Anointed One; the root, Christ, is Greek; the termination, ianoi, is Latin" (Boles p. 185). "From the Latin form of the word Christians, followers of Christ (like Herodians, followers of Herod)" (P.P. Comm. p. 359). The expression "Christian" is only found two other places in the New Testament (Acts 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16). "It marked out the disciples as being above all the people, the followers, the servants of Christ" (Stott p. 205). So why do people (professing to be Christians) assume religious designations other than the one that identifies them as the people who belong to Christ?

FAMINE IN JUDEA