Bay Leaf Baptist Church

In this sermon celebrating Bay Leaf Baptist Church's expansion to two campuses, Pastor Jared Richard reflects on the church's 145-year history while looking to the Biblical church in Antioch as a model for continued effectiveness. Drawing from Acts 11-13, Pastor Richard identifies four qualities that made Antioch a church God used powerfully. First, God uses churches that evidence His grace—where His transformative work is so evident that it causes rejoicing, as when Barnabas visited Antioch and "saw the grace of God" (Acts 11:23). Second, God uses churches whose people live noticeably different lives, as evidenced by the Antioch believers being "first called Christians" (Acts 11:26) because their Christ-centered identity was unmistakable. Third, God uses churches that position themselves to hear from Him through worship, fasting, and prayer. Finally, God uses churches that respond in obedience even when it's costly, as the Antioch church did when sending out their best leaders, Barnabas and Paul. Pastor Rich