These Fifty Years!

From the Church of Paul the Apostle, Antioch, Syria

Is.43:21 The people called by My Name will declare My praise.

These Fifty Years God has revealed Himself through Jesus Christ through His body the church. We meet daily in individual homes, and all gather together on the first day of each week, although it is not a public holiday. We call Sunday the Lord’s Day, reminding us that on that day Christ arose. Central to our Worship Service is the breaking of bread-fellowship meal, preaching, Bible reading and prayer culminating in Holy Communion or “Eucharist” (a Greek word meaning thanksgiving) celebrated by those previously baptized. At Antioch, we are united in Biblical doctrine and under the authority of our Spirit-filled leaders, careful to avoid sectarianism, remembering the apostle Paul’s reprimand to the church at Corinth for having cliques: “for Peter”, “for Paul” and “for Apollos”. Each church member takes the Bible seriously. We have steadfastly guarded against internal heresies like Jewish legalism and philosophical Gnosticism. Persecutions, and even martyrdom, have not lessened church growth and the spread of Christianity in our region. Witness, prayer, fellowship, and worship are resulting in both evangelistic and cultural impact in this cosmopolitan third-largest city, in the Roman Emperor Titus’ empire. Some converts, both Jews and Greeks, came recently from Pompeii and Herculaneum, fleeing the volcanic eruptions of Mount Vesuvius.

Twenty-Five Years After The Crucifixion, Paul began to travel through the Roman Empire. He preached in Cyprus, Asia Minor, crossed over to Greece, then returned and reported to us in Antioch. As you know followers of Jesus were first called Christians here at Antioch. Two years later, Paul was arrested and taken by ship through treacherous storms to Rome, the capital city. There from prison, Paul wrote to the Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.”

Fifty years After The Crucifixion, despite widespread persecution of the church, the body of Christ, undaunted, still expands. Of the Twelve Apostles, only John, the beloved elder, remains. Paul and Peter have been executed in Rome, and Andrew in Greece: proving that our salvation is worth both living for and dying for. Paul knew of the darkness but also saw the light. He wrote: "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me… For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Here in Antioch, Jesus has proven true to His promise in raising successive under-shepherds for His flock. Christianity, being a faith for all people, frees us from the danger of becoming a mere sect of Judaism. The new law of love leads us to keep the moral law out of love for God, rather than out of a form of reluctant obedience. Our goals are deeds of charity, church planting, teaching and strengthening believers, winning new converts, and tending to the spiritual welfare of believers. As Christians, we separate our lives from ungodly practices, but not from non-Christian people. We take responsibility for the poor and fulfill our civic obligations and taxes. The Good News of Salvation, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, continues spreading to the peoples of the Roman Empire and across Western Europe.

You might say that our beloved Master’s charge: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; is being followed. God has proven Himself faithful! “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

“Zenas, Church Secretary, AD 80, Antioch, Syria”

aka. Laurence Wedderburn