They Called Them Christians

“The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.” — Acts 11:26

Do you remember the believers who were scattered after Stephen died? Some of them travelled a long way, to places like the island of Cyprus and the big city of Antioch, in Syria.

At first, they only told the good news to Jewish people. But some of them, men from Cyprus and from Cyrene in North Africa, started telling Greek people about the Lord Jesus too.

And the Lord’s power was with them. A great number of people in Antioch believed and turned to the Lord!

When the church in Jerusalem heard about it, they sent Barnabas to Antioch to see what was happening.

When Barnabas arrived and saw how God was working, he was so glad! And of course, he did what he always did: he encouraged them. He urged them all to stay true to the Lord with all their hearts. Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And even more people came to know the Lord.

There were so many new believers in Antioch that Barnabas needed help to teach them all. And he knew just the man.

Barnabas went all the way to Tarsus to look for Saul. When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch.

For a whole year, Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught lots and lots of people about Jesus.

And it was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus were first called “Christians”. The name means “Christ’s people”, or “the ones who belong to Christ”.

People in Antioch noticed that these believers talked about Christ all the time, and lived like Christ. So they gave them a name. It might have started as a nickname, maybe even a joke. But it stuck. And followers of Jesus all over the world have been called Christians ever since.

Then a prophet called Agabus came to Antioch. Through the Holy Spirit, he said that a great famine was coming. And it happened, just as he said. Food became scarce, and the believers back in Judea were going hungry.

So the Christians in Antioch decided to help. Each one gave whatever they could. And they sent their gifts to the believers in Judea, carried by Barnabas and Saul.

The new church in Antioch, full of people who weren’t Jews, sent help to the church in Jerusalem, full of Jewish believers. That’s what it means to be one family in Christ.

Read it in your Bible: Acts 11:19–30

Dear Jesus, thank you that I can belong to you. Please help me to live in a way that shows I am one of your people. Help me to share with people who need help. Amen.