Acts 11, - The leaders of the church in Jerusalem, criticized Peter for going to Caesarea and entering the house and eating with a Gentile.

So Peter told them exactly what had happened when he fell into a trance, and the coming of the 3 men from Caesarea. And how the Holy Spirit had come over the believers in the household of Cornelius. Peter had them baptized in water.

When the leaders of the Church heard this they rejoiced and Praised God for having granted even Gentiles salvation.

Now those who had been scattered, by the persecution, when Stephen was killed, went to Phaenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message of Salvation to only Jews. Some of them went to Antioch and began to preach to the Greeks telling them the Good News about Jesus Christ. And because the Lords hand was upon them many came to the Lord.

News of this reached Jerusalem and so the leaders sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived he found that it was all true. And preached there about Salvation.

Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, found him and brought him to Antioch, And for a year Saul and Barnabas preached Salvation by Jesus Christ and a great number of people came to the Lord. On Antioch was the first time that the disciples were called Christians.

During this time some prophets came and a prophet named Agabus came with them, he told them there would be a famine that would cover all of Rome. The disciples decided to provide help to the brothers in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

This was a earth shaking change. Nearly 2,000 Years later the decision to accept Gentiles into the church or equal footing with Jews may seem minor, but at the time it was a Hotly debated issue of enormous consequence. Antioch, the first church with a large number of Gentile members, sparked a major controversy with the Jewish-dominated church in Jerusalem ( Acts 15). The third largest city in the Roman empire, Antioch is at a crossroads between the Mediterranean and the eastern world, and from here the first missionaries went to other nations and cultures.

MAY GOD COVER YOU WITH HIS PEACE AND LOVE.

Your loving sister in Christ Sharon Rose