Zambia Hunt

A Journey to Maturity in Faith

Acts 11:19-26, 13:1-3

I first met Darrell Champlin in 1987 when he came to preach at a mission conference at Pentucket Baptist Church in Atkinson, NH. At the time, I was serving with the teen ministry at Pentucket and working as a salesperson at Baron’s TV & Appliance. Our pastor, Dan Sherman, introduced me to Darrell during a lunchtime visit to my workplace. This introduction marked the beginning of a lifelong friendship, during which we traveled together in Africa and Europe and spent time together whenever possible. In 2009, Darrell preached at the first mission conference at Faith Baptist Church in Riverside, Kitwe. During that conference, he delivered a sermon from Acts 11 and 13 titled “The Church with a Beard.” Here is an edited version of what he shared, with a few personal notes.

Aiming for Maturity

In African culture, the first whisker on a young man’s face symbolizes a rite of passage into maturity. There is delight and rejoicing that a boy has transitioned into manhood. Howard Hendricks, a professor of teaching at Dallas Theological Seminary, said, “Don’t raise your sons to be good boys! Raise them to be good men!” The goal is maturity!

At Kitwe Church, we aspire to emulate the maturity of the church of Antioch.

Antioch Was A Biblically Evangelized People

The early Christians, spread the Gospel far and wide. They were driven by a biblical gospel rooted in the prophetic Scriptures of the Old Testament, centered on Jesus Christ, and marked by His resurrection’s power. This Gospel was intended for all people, demonstrating God’s righteousness and His gracious offer of justification to sinners who believe in Jesus. The gospel about Jesus, His death, and His glorious resurrection was brought to Antioch by new Christians who fled the persecution that had broken out in Jerusalem (Acts 11:19). Everywhere Christians went, they spoke of the wonder of sins forgiven through faith in Jesus! In response to the preaching or the Lord Jesus, “a great number who believed turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:21).

Antioch Was A Biblically Discipled People

Barnabas and Saul (Paul) exemplified true discipleship in Antioch. They focused not on outward religious conformity, but on teaching them the character, nature, and attributes of God. This understanding of God laid the foundation of their theology and was foundational because knowing God intimately leads to embracing His passion for the evangelization of the lost. The lives of these Antiochian believers  were so transformed that outsiders began to call them “Christians,” literally, “Christ Ones” or “little Christs.”

Biblically discipled people reflect the character and nature of Jesus in their everyday lives. Their personal lives and relationships are transformed by the gospel, their outward-facing lives are shaped by the values of Jesus Christ, and thus the community around them cannot ignore their transformed lives!

Antioch Was A Biblically Mature (Bearded) People

Antioch’s church maturity was evident in their deep preoccupation with God. Worship here was not a mere ritual; it was the soul’s total surrender to God. Discipleship involved counting the cost and shifting the focus from what God could do for them to what they could do for God. This mindset led to a powerful missionary movement marked by spiritual depth and a strong sense of direction from the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit of God called two of the five elders of the Antioch Church and instructed them to go on a gospel mission, the church affirmed the call and sent them out.

The Marks of Maturity

A mature church, like a bearded man in Africa, shows its maturity through several key characteristics:

1. Priority for the God of Heaven: Mature believers place God at the center of their lives. They live for His pleasure, they serve sacrificially, they strive for the conversion of the lost, and the maturing of God’s people
2. Love for the Lost: There is a deep concern for the unsaved. They are moved by the plight of the lost! They lift up their eyes and see a field white for harvest, and this drives them to their knees to plead with God for laborers, and lifts them to their feet to go and preach the gospel with power and expectation.
3. Desire for Spiritual Growth: Mature believers are invested in nurturing the spiritual growth of new believers through life-on-life discipleship. This is accomplished through personal contact, intentional sharing of life that fleshes out the truth of Scripture, resulting in the growth of others. Not only do we strive for spiritual growth in the congregation, but also for the growth of leaders from among the congregation who will become future teachers, deacons, and elders.

Kitwe Church strives to be a “bearded” church, like the church in Antioch, mature in the faith, deeply rooted in Scripture, and investing in the growth of others, while raising up leaders from the local assembly.