WORD: OC's 60-Day New Testament PlanSample

Christian Is a Way of Life As we look back we remember Jesus’ final command to his disciples was to “Go” into the entire world teaching them about Jesus and his Gospel. Up to this point in Acts, the gospel message is primarily a Jewish movement. However, things are about to change for the church. This whole section of scripture captures the surprising events that God is up to something new. God’s people are no longer distinguished by race and obedience to an external law, but now, by faith alone in Jesus. Anyone who puts their complete trust in Christ, whether they are Jewish or Gentile, will belong to the family of God. This is where we discover the church in Antioch. It was here that for the first time, the disciples were called Christians. Up to this point, disciples of Jesus belonged to “the Way,” but here, they are called a name that will hold up for 2000 years. Why? Because the Antioch church was filled with Jews and Gentiles living out their new identity in Christ, no longer separated by walls. They were no longer called Jews or Greeks, male or female, slave or free. They were just called Christians. I believe that the best display of the Gospel for a watching world is when people separated by race, gender, and statuses come together as one family. And when this type of love and unity occurs among people, the most appropriate descriptive to capture this particular way of life is simply one word- Christian. Written By Chance Vanover Staff Member, Oklahoma Christian University