On the Move: God Is Calling His Church to Stir

Introduction

Maybe just the thought of "getting moving" already wears you out. You've barely found your footing, laid your foundations, and now everything has to shift again. In this message preached at Église d'Alésia on October 19, 2025, the final part of a series on a church in God's plan for the world, Mélanie Ehrismann takes you back to Acts 11 to look at the church in Antioch. A community born out of persecution, carried by nameless people, structured by Barnabas and Saul, generous enough to send relief to Jerusalem. A church on the move, because the God it serves is himself on the move.

Sermon Outline

1. Why a church that stands still is a church in danger

• After working through our unity in Christ, our distinctiveness, and our fellowship, one last chapter remains: getting into motion. The whole Bible says that God is for the world and that he sends his church, the community of Jesus Christ's disciples, into the world.
• It can seem paradoxical: we spend years fighting to find balance, and now the body has to be thrown off balance. Out of fear of losing that balance, we can chase the static, cling to our foundations, and stay put there. We can fear moving, changing, stepping into the unknown.
• And yet, just as God is on the move, his people are called to be in constant motion. Mélanie shares an image her husband, once a geologist, gave her: regular earthquakes reassure specialists, because the absence of movement signals a resistance that sooner or later ends up exploding. A planet that moves is a living planet. A living church moves too.
• A movement is what takes you from point A to point B, a shift, a change, a transformation. And the book that traces this kind of movement best is the book of Acts: twists and turns, back-and-forth, falls, and recoveries.

2. Acts 11:19-30: the story of a church in transformation

• We're in a period when everything is shifting in the early church. Just before this, Peter made an unprecedented move: he went into the home of a Gentile, Cornelius, and baptized him. A first. At the end of chapter 11, we find the account of the birth of a new local church (the first outside Judea and Samaria), in Antioch, then the third-largest city in the Roman Empire.
• Luke is probably narrating about ten years between the first and last verse (from the persecution after Stephen's death to the famine under Emperor Claudius). It's a panoramic account of the overall spread of the gospel in that era.
• Just look at the verbs: movement is everywhere. Geographic (Phoenicia, Cyprus, Antioch, Tarsus, Jerusalem), cultural (from Jews to Gentiles), spiritual (hearts turning to the Lord). It's shifting on every side.
• In this growth of the Antioch church, we can trace four phases: the birth of the community, the growth sustained by Barnabas, the strengthening anchored by Saul, and the multiplication marked by the gift sent to Jerusalem.

3. Phase 1 : Birth: when persecution becomes a springboard

• The Antioch church doesn't start out in comfort. After Stephen's martyrdom, the disciples are persecuted and have to flee. And paradoxically, the crackdown fuels expansion. Because of the persecution, they scatter across the empire; because of their scattering, the gospel spreads.
• Hardships and trials aren't necessarily a dead end for the expansion of God's kingdom. They can become a springboard, an opportunity to go beyond our comfort zone.
• In Antioch, some disciples decide to speak of Christ to people of Greek origin too. The step Peter took individually with Cornelius is here taken up collectively. How did refugees dare speak of Christ to people so different from themselves? Because they were so convinced of the universal reach of the good news of Jesus Christ that they chose not to keep Jesus to themselves.
• And you? Don't you sometimes keep Jesus a little boxed in? Out of fear of being mocked, of being unsettled, of looking ridiculous? Or by telling yourself that your faith couldn't possibly interest someone else? Little by little, we can end up shutting Jesus in instead of sharing him. At a national pastors' gathering of the church union, one phrase came up: Open the doors and let Jesus out. The disciples of Antioch made that choice.
• The result: "the hand of the Lord was with them." It wasn't by the disciples' own power that hearts were transformed, but by the power of God. When you share Jesus, it's not your reputation on the line, it's God's. He's the one who touches hearts, transforms lives, and adds members to his body.
• That's how the first international church was born. A collision of cultures, classes, languages. And Luke doesn't even name its founders. That should tell you something: you don't need to be a Peter or a Paul, a big name, to take part in the growth of God's kingdom on earth. All of us can be witnesses, even in weakness, even in trial, even without a great name.

4. Phase 2 : Growth: Barnabas sees, rejoices, and encourages

• News of what's happening in Antioch reaches the ears of the Jerusalem church. A solidarity forms between communities of believers: news is shared, ministers are sent, people are recommended, encouragement is given.
• Barnabas is sent to go see for himself. He arrives, he sees, and he rejoices. He confirms that this is indeed the grace of God. Then he stays to support them.
• Barnabas's action is essentially pastoral: support, encourage. The text grounds his action in his spiritual character: "he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith." If he's able to see the grace of God, rejoice in it, and encourage others, it's because he himself is a man of God.
• Barnabas encourages this young church to remain true to the Lord with steadfast hearts. Would staying true to the Lord with a steadfast heart mean stopping the movement? Quite the opposite: staying true to the Lord with a steadfast heart means continuing to walk with him. Jesus never stops being on the move. If you stay firmly attached to him, you will inevitably move. Faithfulness to Jesus doesn't lead to standing still, it leads to movement and growth.
• The result: "a great many people were added to the Lord." Luke highlights the numerical growth of this church.

5. Phase 3 : Strengthening: Barnabas goes to find Saul

• Barnabas chooses not to stay alone. He goes to Tarsus to look for Saul (who will later be called Paul), whom he had probably heard about. He recognizes that Saul has a ministry, and he's humble enough to admit that it's not good for him to carry the growth of this church alone.
• For a whole year, Barnabas and Saul meet with the church and teach a great many people. If the word had first been proclaimed and then encouraged, it is now being taught. Like a baby moving from milk to solid food, this church is being formed toward maturity.
• A reminder for us: if we want to stay in motion, we need to stay attached to the Lord and to his word, knowing it, studying it, treasuring it, making it our own. May the Spirit of the Lord shape us from the inside out, so that our actions bring him glory and align with his will.
• The Antioch church grows in number and spiritual maturity, to the point of becoming visible in the city. They're then given a name to identify them: Christians. The term is rarely used in the New Testament. Within the community, believers called each other "believers," "disciples," "brothers and sisters." The word "Christian" comes from outside: this crowd talked about Christ so much that people ended up calling them "those of Christ," the way followers of Herod were called "Herodians." Perhaps with a touch of mockery, but what a beautiful nickname.
• Mélanie's question: if the word "Christian" were erased from the dictionary, would the people around you guess that you follow Christ, enough to invent a word to describe you?

6. Phase 4 : Multiplication: the gift sent to Jerusalem

• Prophets come down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stands up and announces through the Spirit that a great famine will come over the whole world. It did, in fact, happen under Emperor Claudius.
• The Antioch church takes this prophecy seriously. Its openness and spiritual discernment lead it to develop a concrete spirit of solidarity: each member will send something for the brothers and sisters in Judea, each according to their own resources. The solidarity is expressed by all together, and at the same time by each individual.
• And the circle closes: the young church that had received support from Jerusalem through Barnabas now sends financial help of its own, carried by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. This generous act is a sign that the church is healthy and mission-minded.
• What follows confirms it. At the start of chapter 13, during a time of prayer and fasting, the community will receive the conviction to set apart Paul and Barnabas for the mission. Here is a community on the move: a church that plants other churches, disciples who make other disciples, a movement that multiplies.

7. A church on the move: a living organism, not a fixed organization

• This account shows that the church isn't a fixed organization but a living organism. We're called to move, to grow, to let ourselves be transformed, and even to let ourselves be unsettled.
• The Antioch church was made up of ordinary people (probably refugees, people with no names), and yet God displayed his power through it.
• Are you aware of what God can do through a life offered up, through an available community, through a church on the move? Are you aware of what God can do through you? Are you aware that what you have to share is worth far more than gold or silver, that in Jesus you hold what is most precious that God has to give this world?
• Whatever season of life you're in, whatever the collective reality of your church, God is on the move. He calls you to stay attached to him, attached to his word. He calls you to trust him. He calls you to move with him.

Key Takeaways

• God is on the move, and his people are called to be too. Chasing the static at all costs risks a stillness that isn't faithfulness but fear.
• The persecution of the first disciples didn't stop the gospel, it spread it. Hardships can become a springboard when ordinary believers choose not to keep Jesus to themselves.
• It isn't your power that convinces hearts, it's God's. Your reputation isn't on the line when you witness, God's is, and he touches hearts himself.
• Staying true to the Lord with a steadfast heart isn't stopping, it's continuing to walk with him. Faithfulness to Jesus leads to movement, not to standing still.
• A healthy church lets itself be shaped by teaching (Saul), lets itself be encouraged by godly people (Barnabas), and in turn becomes missional and generous (the gift to Jerusalem). It's a living organism, not a fixed organization.

Personal Application

1. Where are you mostly trying to preserve a sense of balance instead of letting God set you in motion? What, concretely, is calling you to move this week?
2. Is there an "Antioch" in your life (a place, a person, a setting), where you have the chance to speak of Christ to someone who seems very different from you? What's holding you back: fear of looking ridiculous, fear of being unsettled, the idea that your faith "wouldn't interest" the other person?
3. Is there a Barnabas in your life you could thank or imitate, someone who saw God's grace in you, rejoiced in it, and encouraged you to stay true to the Lord?
4. If the word "Christian" disappeared from the dictionary, what words would the people around you use to describe you? What does that tell you about how visibly attached you are to Christ?
5. Where do you stand with your concrete generosity toward the church and toward those in need? Like the disciples of Antioch, each person can give according to their own resources, what would your share be this season?

Scripture References

• Acts 11:19-30 · "They therefore who were scattered abroad by the oppression that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch…"
• Acts 10 · Peter at the home of Cornelius, the Roman centurion: the first baptism of a Gentile.
• Acts 7:54–8:3 · The martyrdom of Stephen and the persecution that scatters the disciples.
• Acts 13:1-3 · The Antioch church sets apart Paul and Barnabas for the mission.

Further reading

• How to Prepare a Special Worship Service
• How to Prepare a Small Group Bible Study
• How to Present a Volunteer Need Without Guilt-Tripping

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this sermon mean by "a church on the move"?

Mélanie Ehrismann doesn't set movement against stability, she sets movement against rigid stillness. A church on the move is a community that stays firmly attached to the Lord (to his Word, to teaching, to fellowship life), and that, precisely because of that attachment, is willing to be shifted: geographically, culturally, spiritually. It's the opposite of a fortress-church that would keep Jesus "boxed in."

Why did persecution make the gospel grow instead of crushing it?

The account in Acts 11:19 shows that the scattering of disciples after Stephen's martyrdom carried the gospel from Jerusalem all the way to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. What the persecutors meant to stamp out became a means of spreading it. That doesn't make suffering good in itself, but it shows that God can turn trials into springboards for mission, for the church, and for you.

Why were the disciples first called "Christians" in Antioch?

The word most likely came from outside the community: they talked about Christ so much that the people of Antioch ended up calling them "those of Christ," the way followers of Herod were called "Herodians." It's a nickname given by unbelievers, perhaps with a touch of mockery, but it says something powerful: these disciples were visibly, publicly, identified with Jesus.