The Church Persecuted and Scattered
Verse by Verse Study of the Book of Acts • Sermon • Submitted
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Transcript
HOOK
HOOK
DO NOT FORGET TO UNMUTE
It’s the 21st day of October— Wednesday
Yesterday right here at “The Message”, we heard how Stephen was put to death by stoning— up to the very last breath for the first martyr of our church, we saw his steadfast faith and firm resolve— and from Stephen’s last moments on earth we learned:
IN THE MIDST OF PERSECUTION, PRAY
DO NOT HOLD THEIR PERSECUTION AGAINST THEM
Today we will begin with chapter 8, and from it we we shall see how the church was persecuted and scattered— open your Bible to ACTS 8:1-8— once you got to the right page in your Bible, type “let’s begin chapter 8!”
When reading in advance, whenever you’re studying God’s Word— look for words that defines that CHARACTER of God, COMMANDS to obey, PROMISES to claim, good EXAMPLES to follow and bad examples to avoid, ENCOURAGEMENTS & CHALLENGES to keep you going, reasons to be THANK GOD for, PRAYERS to pray
READ ACTS 8:1-8
BOOK
BOOK
1 And Saul approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. 4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
WHAT: The persecution of the church
WHERE: It started in Jerusalem— throughout Judea and Samaria
WHEN: On the day when Stephen was stoned to deatH
WHO: All except the apostles— Philip [one of the seven chosen to do ministry— a Hellenistic Greek speaking Jew]— Saul
WHY: Because they continue to refuse the message about the Messiah
LOOK
LOOK
ON THAT DAY A GREAT PERSECUTION BROKE OUT AGAINST THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM
The persecution scattered believers beyond Jerusalem— God uses this moment to spread the gospel of salvation that Jesus offers and His Lordship
ALL EXCEPT THE APOSTLES WERE SCATTERED THROUGHOUT JUDEA AND SAMARIA
Persecution drove all believers were out of Jerusalem— they were pushed out of the city— some of the went up north to Samaria, and some down south to Judea— [SHOW MAP]
At this point the church was centered in Jerusalem and the persecution was intense there— the apostles remain there to continue to lead and support the Christian community
SAUL BEGAN TO DESTROY THE CHURCH GOING FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE
Just like us now, Our early Christian brothers and sisters gathered for worship and fellowship in homes— ACTS 2:46, 5:42, 20:20
Both men and women were pursued and harassed by Saul without mercy or discretion
THOSE WHO HAD BEEN SCATTERED PREACHED THE WORD WHEREVER THEY WENT
One of them was Philip who ended up going to Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there
When the crowd heard and saw the signs he performed— they all paid close attention to what he said— What signs, wonders and miracles did Philip performed?— Like Peter and the other apostles...
IMPURE SPIRITS CAME OUT OF MANY, AND MANY WHO WERE PARALYZED OR LAME ARE HEALED
These signs demonstrate that Jesus has power not only over physical realm , but also over the natural realm— it’s a gift— 1 CORINTHIANS 12:9
SO THERE WAS GREAT JOY IN THAT CITY
The same kind of joy the prophet Jeremiah experienced and declared some 600 years prior— JEREMIAH 15:16
The church is also persecuted right now— using this pandemic, left leaning government officials imposed restrictions on churches— we are banned to gather in large numbers— our places of worship are shut down— the church are scattered and in the case of Agape, we now meet at home exactly how it was before when the church began— we expanded to the cyber world
This is the fulfillment of the Lord’s words in Acts 1:8— that we will be His witnesses to Jerusalem [symbolic of our family and immediate neighborhood], in all Judea [city or state], and Samaria [people of different language and culture], and to the ends of the earth [worldwide] — ACTS 1:8
From this we can see a couple of things:
TOOK
TOOK
GOD USES PERSECUTION TO SPREAD THE GOSPEL
PREACH THE WORD WHEREVER THE LORD WILL TAKE YOU
SING
SING
Agape Worship Team— God’s Not Dead!