The Gentile Pentecost (Acts 8-15)Sýnishorn

‘Now in the church in Antioch there were prophets and teachers’ Acts 13:1

‘The Acts of the Apostles’ demonstrates that the Holy Spirit was poured out to bring the Gentiles into Christ.

Until the outpouring of the Spirit in Acts 10 the community of those who believed in Jesus were a renewal movement within Judaism; a community of Jewish people, in Jerusalem, operating within the temple.

But as the Spirit is poured out on all who believe in Jesus the church quickly changes to become a community of Jews and non-Jews, independent of the temple and operating throughout the nations of the world. Christianity is no longer a sect within Judaism, it is God’s world-wide initiative to unite all humanity through faith in the resurrected Jesus Christ.

So, it is not surprising that the very first thing God does after pouring His Spirit on the Gentiles in Acts 10 is to send out Barnabas and Saul to take the Gospel to the Gentiles throughout the Roman empire.

Look at how the church in Antioch is described; ‘Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers’, not ‘the elders’, not even, ‘the apostles’, not a ‘church council’ or a committee, but the key spiritual ministries of Prophet and Teacher. And look at what they were doing; worshipping, praying, fasting, setting aside time to seek the Lord.

Colossal power begins to operate when men and women gifted by the Spirit in the ministries of prophecy and teaching set time aside to fast and worship and pray and together, humbly seek the Lord for His purposes, His agenda and His will to be done.

When a church’s leadership begins to operate in the prophetic and teaching ministries it changes from being a community guided by human wisdom to a community led by the Spirit of God.

Wherever I have watched this happen in a church I have watched that church grow in effective and fruitful ministry. At one church we had a prayer time at 8:00am every Wednesday morning. Many attended and it became a place where the Spirit moved in power and over the months important initiatives for the Kingdom were birthed and established.

Those who lead churches today need to cultivate not just the gifts but the ministries of prophecy and teaching within their churches. We need to facilitate opportunities for those gifted by the Spirit to meet together, to fast together, to pray together and to worship together. As these ministries grow over time, so the Spirit will lead our church communities in their witness to the resurrected Lord.

As Paul instructed us: ‘Follow the way of love and eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit, especially the gift of prophecy’(1 Corinthians 14:1).