Gospel on the Ground – Part 3 – Divine Interruptions

Follow Along with the Message

Central Idea for today’s sermon:

"Empowering the ordinary, advancing the extraordinary – The kingdom thrives in divine interruptions."

“Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen. A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. 2 Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning. 3 But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.”

--Acts 8:1–3 (NLT)

Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus. I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities.

--Acts 26:11 (NLT)

“Persecution does to the church what wind does to seed: it scatters it and only produces a greater harvest.”

--Warren Wiersbe

• The word translated “scattered” (diaspeiro) in Acts 8:1 & 4 means “to scatter seed.”
• In Acts we see God "Empowering the ordinary [people], advancing the extraordinary [God’s Kingdom]...”

Jesus replied, “The Son of Man is the farmer who plants the good seed. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one.

--Matthew 13:37–38 (NLT)

“But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.”

--Acts 8:4 (NLT)

• These witnesses were merely ordinary, spirit-led  of Jesus Christ.

 of Jesus has the:

• Privilege,
• Opportunity, and
• Responsibility to be a witness of Jesus.
• God uses  to  his kingdom on the earth!

“The entrance fee into the kingdom of God is nothing; the annual subscription is all we possess.”

--Henry Drummond

Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith).

--Acts 6:5 (NLT)

As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia.
The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah. The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.” Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.
The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus. As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?” He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. Meanwhile, Philip found himself farther north at the town of Azotus. He preached the Good News there and in every town along the way until he came to Caesarea.

--Acts 8:26–40 (NLT)

• God uses unqualified, inexperienced, under-resourced people to extend His kingdom on the earth.

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

--Philippines 2:1-4 (MSG)

Assignment:

• Pray a very simple prayer each day - “God use me to be a blessing to others today!”

"Empowering the ordinary, advancing the extraordinary – The kingdom thrives in divine interruptions."