St. Luke describes the Jesus movement rippling out like a pebbled dropped into a pond. From the Hebrew-speakers in Jerusalem it moves out to Greek-speaking Jews, to suspect Samaritans, to African converts to Judaism, into the “God-fearing” pagans who knew something of Judaism and then in Antioch to both Jewish and Gentile (i.e. pagan) followers of Jesus. In the 16th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles St. Paul spreads Good News so the message ripples further. Paul preaches in Europe for the first time (in what is Greece today) and he preaches in a “Roman colony” moving the message into the Roman world. In addition, he also recognizes the leadership of a woman, Lydia. It is this person to person contact that characterizes the growth of the early church… and our own Church today!
MAY22016
By Church Staff
