The Multiplication Proclamation

[Kevin]

While the church in Jerusalem was the ignition point for the New Testament, Spirit-baptized church, the Antioch gathering became a “sending station” for people to go and spread the gospel.

As for multiplication, my experience in ministry school comes to mind. While not directly connected to salvations, it’s an example of “scaling” the equipping of the saints. Thousands of students come to be pastored by people they’ve never met and led in worship by strangers, but it’s because it’s attached to a structure that was birthed by people they have watched and trust. The vision to see healthy structure become the framework to multiply impact is inspiring to me.

[Celestine]

The church in Antioch (Acts 13) differs from the church in Jerusalem (Acts 2) in its intentional focus on missions and multiplication. While the Jerusalem church was primarily focused on establishing itself and responding to local needs, the Antioch church was characterized by a strong emphasis on reaching beyond its borders, sending out missionaries, and multiplying its impact.

I’ve experienced the principle of multiplication in my life through discipleship and ministry relationships. As I’ve invested in others, I’ve seen them grow in their faith and become multipliers themselves, reaching others and forming new communities of believers. This ripple effect has been a powerful demonstration of the multiplication principle, and I’m grateful to be part of a movement that prioritizes making disciples and multiplying impact.

The Antioch church’s example challenges me to think beyond local church growth and consider how I can contribute to a broader movement of multiplication, impacting regions and nations for Christ.

[Anna]

It is difficult to compare the two churches of Acts 2 and Acts 13 as it would be similar to comparing a child’s accomplishments with those of its parents. The Church in Acts 2 is the first church born out of the resurrection of Jesus and the empowerment of the disciples with the the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The excitement is incomparable to anything experienced in history up to that point and possibly since that time. The joy of birth is contagious and people were drawn to that joy and excitement. Now by the time the Acts 13 church comes along, its been quite a few years. People have settled down a little, they have also matured in their faith, gaining new insights and understandings from the the Holy Spirit. They see the necessity of sending out disciple makers/evangelists who will share the love of Jesus with the bigger world. They have grown into different giftings: pastors, teachers, apostles, prophets, evangelists, which the church of Acts chapter 2 had no idea about. Both churches provide models for us to work with as we navigate disciple-making and multiplication.

[Zach]

The church in Antioch is different from the church in Jerusalem in the sense that it seemed as though it had developed an Apostolic thrust to send people out. I am sure that the good qualities of the church in Acts 2 were also present in Acts 13, but this church had grown, had learned to make room for the 5-fold, and birthed in a sense a new type of apostolic ministry when the prophets and teachers got together and were able to function. As a “Gentile” Church, they had a different type of beginning as well, and perhaps represented the ‘sending DNA” that it took to see them established in the first place. I think great churches have all these elements of both Jerusalem and Antioch. I have been been able to help with a few church plants, seeing multiplication, and what seems to really help in getting churches set right is to start right off that bat with helping them realize their job is to multiply, that their success is not just in surviving but in starting other churches. Even if that takes a long time, that vision at the ground floor so to speak helps create a foundational culture for new and re-launched churches that has seen ministries born out of them.