I was glad when they said unto me come let us go into the house of the Lord.

What is in a name? Why did our founding Father pick the name Macedonia for our church?

If you know anything about history or geography you may be wondering why a church would pick the name of a city in southeastern Europe for the title of their Church. In fact why would any church want to glorify or be identify with an empire that was lead by one of the most ruthless conquers of all times that invaded countries, and forced their culture and ways of life on the people they conquered. To answer these questions and others that you may have in regard to our name we need to take a trip back in time. Are you ready to time travel back in time?

Let’s get started.

Geography, Territories, and Historical Importance.

Macedonia is a historic region. A splendid tract of land, centered on the plains of the gulf of Thessalonica, and running up the great river valleys into the Balkan Mountains in southeastern Europe. It ran from the northern Greece, southwestern Bulgaria, and northeastern to Roman (Italy).

Macedonia is bounded to the south by the Aegean Sea and the Aliakmon River; to the west by Lakes Prespa and Ohrid, the watershed west of the Crni Drim River, and the Shar Mountains; and to the north by the mountains of the Skopska Crna Gora and the watershed between the Morava and Vardar basins. The Pirin Mountains mark its eastern edge. Greek Macedonia covers 13,206 square miles, and Bulgarian Macedonia 2,502 square miles.

Since 1913 this geographic and historical region has been divided between Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria, and only some 40 percent of its area is occupied by the independent state of MACEDONIA.

MACEDONIA ITS PLACE IN HISTORY

The region of Macedonia became powerful in ancient times, when Macedonian leader Alexander the Great conquered much of Asia (Modern day Turkey, as far south as Israel, SEE MAP 1) and spread Macedonian and Greek culture throughout his empire (Helenization). Although Alexander the Great is not mentioned in the Bible, the effects of his empire made great impact on the New Testament. Greek became the language of business and ultimately the major language in which most of the New Testament was written.

Macedonia was famous for timber and precious metal. Anciently ruled by cavalry barons under Hellenized royal house, its king dominated Greek affairs from the 4th century BC and after Alexander the great, Macedonia dynasties ruled throughout the Eastern Mediterranean until superseded by the Romans. The home monarchy was first to go when in 167 BC Macedonia was a constituted a series of four federations. They were subsequently grouped under Roman provincial control. The proconsul sat at Thessalonica, while the assembly of the Greek States met at Beroea the seat of the imperial cult.

The providence included six Romans colonies, of which Philippi was one (SEE MAP 2).

MACEDONIA, THE NAME GIVEN BY THE FOUNDING FATHER.

Even though we are not exactly sure what run through the mind of Rev. Belen Hernandez our founding pastor in selecting the name Macedonia for this congregation. We do know he was a man of the Word, with a passion for spreading the gospel. Since he was a man of the Word, he must have been impacted with what he read in the Bible about what occur in the region of Macedonia. Unfortunately Rev. Hernandez is no longer with us, but we can look at the scripture for guides and clarity on what happened at Macedonia.

MACEDONIA BIBLICAL HISTORY

Macedonia is first mention in Acts 16:6. We meet the Apostle Paul and his entourage on their second missionary trip at the region of Phrygia and Galatia (Acts 16:6; See map 3), after preaching and establishing preaching points at these areas Paul was ready to move on to spread the gospel. So it would have been logical that the next stop from where he was would have been to the north and east into the Roman province of Asia (Modern Turkey), but this was not to happen at this time. Though God later gave Paul a great ministry there, it was not yet God’s time. The Holy Spirit had forbidden preaching in Asia.

This must have been hard for Paul, but because he was obedient to the spirit, God brought him to Troas. Troas was a seaport, a harbor city in Mysia an island in the Aegean Sea.

In the city Mysia Paul had a vision. A Macedonian man stood on the far shore, and called across the sea saying “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” The dream gave Paul his road map (SEE MAP 3). He started to make the preparations in order to get to Macedonia (Acts 16:9).  For the Apostle Paul all his questions where answered, he began seeing God’s greater picture.

Paul and his company did not hesitate, once this positive guidance was given he know for sure that God had called him and the others into ministry. This event marked a distinct development in Paul’s methods of evangelism.

Philippi was his first stop in Macedonia, an important city because it was located at the eastern end of a famous Roman road, the “Egnatian way.”

             For the first time Paul took advantage of his Roman citizenship. He now enjoyed support in the cultivation circles to which he naturally belonged in contrast to their hostility at the earlier points on his route.

At the shore of the river called “Gangues”, Paul and company sat and evangelized a group of Jewish and Greek woman. Strangely enough, the first convert was a gentile woman named Lydia, a wealthy business Woman, a seller of purple woolen cloth. Lydia’s house became the first home church of Macedonia.

Paul constantly looked back upon Macedonia with profound affection, and was always eager to return. The Macedonians were willing donors to his Jerusalem fund. Several of their numbers were added to his regular retinue of assistants. It was in Macedonia it seems that Paul finally proved himself as an independent missionary leader.  Read more...

 

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