Acts 11–14 reads like a string of mission updates. It’s a montage of snapshots of ministry before Acts 15, at which there is a really important meeting within the new church about how to incorporate Gentile believers into a church still heavily influenced by their Jewish background.
If we zoom out, this section is telling a unified story. It’s a turning point where the Jesus movement stops being a localized Jewish renewal movement and becomes a multi-ethnic, Spirit-driven alternative to Empire. Acts 11 to 14 answers a really important question:
“What should the Kingdom of Jesus look like as it spreads into the world of Empire?”
Acts 10 showed Cornelius and Peter figuring out that God was for the Gentiles too. Peter has a vision of God telling him not to call things unclean when God has made them clean. This is where we pick up today. I need to read the whole chapter for context.
The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was.
I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’
“I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ “The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.
“Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house.
He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’
“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?” When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
The Church in Antioch
Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews.
Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.)
The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
By the time we get through the end of chapter 12 next week, we are going to see the church do four key things as it’s getting off the ground.
· Proclaim
· Provide
· Pray
· Endure
Today, we are going to talk about the first two.
The Church Proclaims (invitation)
We have seen multiple times in Acts how important it was that God’s people understood the universal invitation to all people to become part of the Kingdom of God. They had to set aside cultural prejudice (Gentiles) and religious prejudice (Samaritans) as they took the good news of the Gospel to “the ends of the earth.” They are living out the reality that the Gospel of the Kingdom is not a possession for God’s people to guard; it’s an invitation to extend to all.
No more favoritism or discrimination. No one was too high to need the gospel, or too low to receive it. No one was a lost cause; no one was too far gone to deserve it. The result?
“A great number believed and turned to the Lord.”
The Spirit was already ahead of the church. It wasn’t the church’s job to decide who would or could be included; it was the church’s job to discern where God was already inviting people and join in with what God was already doing. And it turns out, God was doing this everywhere.
This is an important contrast to empires, which build nations by drawing lines, excluding outsiders, and building a hierarchy of value (who is most important vs. least important).
Jesus creates a Kingdom where insiders invite everyone outside to join, from every tribe, nation and tongue, with all sharing the value due the imago dei.[1] Paul insisted that an important part of God’s plan would be revealed when this kind of generous invitation happened.
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth… remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility…
His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.
For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. (Ephesians 2:11-20)
Something similar appears in Galatians 3:
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26-28)
The early church stopped asking, ‘Should they be invited?’ They should. “Can they be integrated?” They can. Through the transforming power of Jesus, we are all made one in Christ.
The Church Provides (care)
We see at the end of Acts 11 that a famine is coming, and the church in Antioch sends relief to Judea. The Kingdom of God invites us into a new economic reality. It’s not a world with a hard line between “this is mine” and “that is yours.” We have been initiated into a community of “us” and “ours.” I don’t mean this like Communism. I mean this like what Christ-like communalism demands.
Biblical communalism is the voluntary sharing of possessions, resources, and life, driven by agape love and spiritual unity, as practiced by the early Jerusalem church. It emphasizes collective responsibility, supporting the needy, and prioritizing the community's well-being over personal interests, rooted in the concept of koinonia (fellowship/communion).[2]
We can talk more in Message+ what this could look like today. For now, let’s just focus on the principle. Generosity is not optional for sincere followers of Jesus. We follow a generous Savior, and we pay it forward, sometimes literally.
So, put those two together, and this is what it looks like when the Way of the Lamb takes shape in a community:
Its invitation is as wide as the world. The doors of the church stay open just like the gates to the city in Revelation.
It gives instead of hoards. Money and things are not goals in the Kingdom of Heaven; they are gifts, tools to be used on God’s behalf.
* * * * *
Time to make it practical.
First, are we inviting everyone to meet Jesus and join us in feasting at the table of His goodness and love? According to the Bible, “whosever will may come.” That’s a pretty broad category. There is no, “Except THAT Samaritan,” or,“Except THAT sinner.” No one is outside the reach of God’s love, and no one should be beyond the gospel reach of the church.
And since that is true, we have to be prepared. We have to be conscious that we are prepping ourselves for conversations, friendships, and presence that will introduce people to Jesus. In fact, the time of preparation might be as important as the important moments we prepare for.
When I was in my 30s, playing and coaching basketball, I had a temper problem. I got far too many technicals and said way too many dumb and hurtful things. I was youth pastor then, and occasionally preaching. One Sunday I got up to preach, and as I was preaching, I noticed a referee in the audience. That ref had teed me up – and I had deserved it. My first thought was, “Oh, no.” My second thought was, “I’ll bet we never see him here again.” And I was right.
There could have been any number of reasons he didn’t come back, but I know the Holy Spirit started doing some work in me that day. Turns out it wasn’t “just basketball.” It was a particular kind of witness that would either make smooth the road that leads toward Jesus or make it really tough to navigate.
So what does good prep look like in terms of how we live in the world? How do we steward our ordinary moments to pave the way for an expansion of the Kingdom of God?
· Practicing hospitality of the head (what we think) and the heart (how we feel). We refuse to caricature people in our minds, whether it’s a group of people or an individual. We assume the best until proven otherwise. We do the internal work of putting our best foot forward internally before we actually move forward toward others.
· Refusing to use derogatory terms or nicknames. I’ve had way too many people talk to me about how put off they have become because someone casually calls Democrats “Demoncrats” or MAGA folks “maggots,” and just like that, the conversation – and the people - are not safe. It’s not just the words. It’s what was revealed about the heart. Even when culture normalizes contempt, we don’t. We don’t dehumanize or mock people made in the image of God—not politicians, not neighbors, not enemies.
· Building a reputation as a protector of the broken, the poor, and the powerless. When people think of us, they should think, “I think I can trust them. I’ve seen how they live and heard what they say, and that’s the kind of person I trust.” We don’t just talk about compassion; we live and speak compassionately. We send a consistent message that abuse, exploitation and dehumanization is not okay, and we shine that light into darkness.
· Being quick to repentance and slow to defensiveness. When we get it wrong - and we will - we own it without excuses. A humble apology can do more for the witness of Jesus than a flawless argument. Humility is such a compelling quality.
· Creating spaces where people can belong before they believe.
We don’t require people to have everything figured out or get all cleaned up before they sit at the table. Jesus didn’t wait. Neither do we. After all, we are all on a journey together. Nobody waited for us to have it all together, or else they would still be waiting.
· Refusing to rush people’s stories. Transformation is not instant. We walk with people at the pace of grace, not the speed of our expectations. That’s messy, but you know what? Some was or still is taking the journey with you too.
· Speaking hope to the hopeless. The world already knows how to be afraid. What it’s starving for is hopeful people who can point toward a better way, and embody it. Everybody knows the world is dark; they are looking for someone who can point them toward the true light. This might start with saying, “Don’t worry; I see the darkness too.” It just doesn’t stop there. It includes, “I care deeply about it, which is why I follow the way of Jesus.”
This is what it looks like when the life of Jesus actually takes root in a community and expresses itself in the transformed lives of his followers.
Second, how are we doing in offering generous provision? We all have different economic situations, and I’m not going to tell you what it looks like for you to be generous. That’s between you and God. I’m here to remind us to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit as we consider how the early church flourished. How might this kind of provision and generosity actually look like in our lives, so that we practically experience living in a community whose generosity cares for those around them?
· Giving from our first fruits, not leftovers. This is a principle about the heart that works no matter what we have. We at least try to plan for generosity at the beginning of our budget. It’s not an afterthought that we hope to remember; it’s something we prioritize and hope to do.
· Letting our generosity stretch us. If it’s never uncomfortable, it’s probably not forming us. There will likely be moments – maybe there should be moments? - where we feel it when our faith and finances intersect.
· Viewing everything we have as entrusted, not owned. It’s not mine to protect; it’s God’s to steward. We’re managers of God’s provision. If we only think of ownership, we are going to think of rights for ourselves (and surely there is a place for that). But if we think of stewardship, we are going to think of responsibilities not just for ourselves, but for those around us also.
· Remembering that generosity forms us, not just helps others. This isn’t just about meeting needs “out there.” It’s about what God is shaping in here—loosening our grip on the love of money, expanding our trust that God and God’s people will care for us; but ultimately, aligning us with Jesus.
By proclaiming the good news and providing for those around us, Jesus is transforming us into a people who trust God and love others freely.
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[1] Revelation 7:9
[2] This was a good summary overview from Google.