The Bible says in Acts 2:47 that “the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” The first century church grew quickly as those new believers told others about the death and resurrection of Jesus. The small group of believers gathered in Jerusalem had turned into literally thousands of people. The gospel, however, was not to stay in Jerusalem! In fact, as the little band of believers was persecuted, the gospel began to spread all over the Empire. . .wherever these believers went!
The church literally began to multiply.
In Acts 13, we have an example of the first sending, multiplying church. This congregation intentionally sent two of their best leaders, Barnabas and Paul, to other places to start other churches and spread the gospel far and wide. Indeed, through the work of these two leaders, hundreds of churches were birthed and thousands of believers began to follow Christ!
This church had a vision that was bigger than itself.
What are the characteristics of a sending, multiplying church? What made this church willing to give up it’s best leaders to be sure that the gospel got to as many people as possible? Today, we will examine the first sending, multiplying church, and seek to have the same passion for Christ that literally allowed them to impact the entire known world for Jesus!