Acts 11:20-27

²⁰But some of them, men that belonged to Cyprus and the town called Cyrene, they went to Antioch and didn’t just talk only to Jews. They talked to Greek people too, and told them the good news about our leader Jesus.

²¹God helped them tell his message, and a lot of people that were not Jews believed in Jesus and followed him.

²²The Christians in the church in Jerusalem heard about these things happening at Antioch, so they sent one of their men called Barnabas to Antioch.

²³He got there, and he saw everything that was happening, then he knew that God was very good to those people in Antioch, so he was very happy. He told those new Christians, “Stay strong for Jesus and keep following him all the time.”

²⁴Barnabas was a good man. The Holy Spirit controlled him and he really trusted God. He got lots more people there to follow Jesus.

²⁵After that Barnabas left Antioch and went to the town called Tarsus to look for Saul.

²⁶He found Saul there and took him back to Antioch. They stayed there for a whole year, and they met with the Christians in the church there, and they kept teaching them. A lot of people there followed Jesus, and it was in Antioch that other people first used the name Christians for the people that followed Jesus Christ.

²⁷At that time some Christian men came from Jerusalem to Antioch. They had the power to tell God’s messages.