Scattered Like Seed
Scattered Like Seed
Wednesday
"And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word."
— Acts 8:1-4 (ESV)
"Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus."
— Acts 8:35 (ESV)
— Acts 8:1-4 (ESV)
"Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus."
— Acts 8:35 (ESV)
Reflect:
Verse 1 is the worst day in the young church's history. Verse 4 is one of the best sentences ever written. Between them, God did nothing to reverse the circumstances. He simply used them.
The word translated "scattered" is a farming word. It describes a sower throwing seed across a field. What looked like the destruction of the Jerusalem church was actually the planting of the Judean, Samaritan, and eventually global church. The believers did not have a strategy meeting; they had a crisis, and they preached wherever they landed.
Notice too that verse 4 does not say the apostles preached. It says those who were scattered preached. Ordinary members with no title and no platform carried the gospel out of Jerusalem. And when one of them met a searching foreigner on a desert road, he began where the man was already reading and told him the good news about Jesus.
Verse 1 is the worst day in the young church's history. Verse 4 is one of the best sentences ever written. Between them, God did nothing to reverse the circumstances. He simply used them.
The word translated "scattered" is a farming word. It describes a sower throwing seed across a field. What looked like the destruction of the Jerusalem church was actually the planting of the Judean, Samaritan, and eventually global church. The believers did not have a strategy meeting; they had a crisis, and they preached wherever they landed.
Notice too that verse 4 does not say the apostles preached. It says those who were scattered preached. Ordinary members with no title and no platform carried the gospel out of Jerusalem. And when one of them met a searching foreigner on a desert road, he began where the man was already reading and told him the good news about Jesus.
Pray:
Lord, I do not enjoy being scattered. But if You will plant me, then plant me. Give me the courage to speak wherever You place me, and the wisdom to start where the person in front of me already is. Amen.
Lord, I do not enjoy being scattered. But if You will plant me, then plant me. Give me the courage to speak wherever You place me, and the wisdom to start where the person in front of me already is. Amen.
One Question to Carry:
Where has God scattered me that I have been treating as an inconvenience rather than an assignment?
Where has God scattered me that I have been treating as an inconvenience rather than an assignment?
Posted in Unstoppable - Acts 1-17
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