Acts 8:1 "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."
Nowadays every good movie has a sequel to follow and the writers have high expectations from movie studios to produce. However no greater sequel was ever written than the sequel to Jesus' public ministry- the book of The Acts of the Apostles. The difference is this is not fiction. This is the real story, the story of the continuation of the ministry of Jesus Christ to the world through his body "the church" by the agency of his indwelling spirit. The book of Acts chronicles the birth of the early church with 120 members in Jerusalem to a great body of believers in the tens of thousands all over the Roman Empire. IT all began with a simple command- they were given instruction by Christ to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth, beginning in Jerusalem, then to Samaria and finally to the gentile nations. (Acts 1:8) The first 7 chapters tell us the incredible story of the church's triumph and success in ancient Jerusalem with testimonies of exponential growth, signs and wonders and even persecution. Yet the promise of Christ remained solid, "The gates of Hell shall not prevail."(Matt. 16:18) However once we get to chapter 7 the church finds itself at a crossroads with the Jewish authorities, leading to a pivotal moment where Stephen is the first Christian to be martyred for his faith at the hands of a young ambitious Pharisee named Saul. So enraged was Saul with the church, he launched a pogrom targeting Jewish Christians with the hope of eradicating the church. Saul didn't realize he was on the wrong side of history at this point (Acts 5:38-39). As a result of Saul's zealous pogrom the church was "scattered"- essentially they were forced to move out of Jerusalem and out of their homes. However what seemed on the surface to be tragic was actually a sovereign working of God to mobilize his church out of their comfort zones to fulfill their mandate to "bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth"
In Acts 8 we read of Phillip bringing the Gospel to Samaria, and to an Ethiopian eunuch, indicating the Gospel is going much further than the city limits of Jerusalem. Eventually Peter is led by the Lord to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 11) and the zealous pharisee Saul who sought to destroy the church is converted by God's sovereign grace, and becomes God's ambassador to the gentiles as the foremost missionary in the early church. The point here? God' sovereignty works in our lives to bring us out of comfort zones to accomplish his will. We recently were forced to move out of a building and city we served in for 8 years. At first there was a sense of sadness and grief, and discomfort, for being forced out of our comfort zones. However I see the sovereign hand of God in this. God is taking Grace and Truth out of their comfort zones and mobilizing us to be his witnesses in a new community and new context to reach people with the Gospel and advance his Kingdom in a marvelous way. It is comforting when you know God is sovereign and can claim Rom. 8:28 as a basis of our comfort, trusting and believing that God is always progressively moving his people in the right direction. I am excited and eagerly anticipate a great work of God as we venture to reach lost souls in the Greenburg / White Plains community.
What about you? Has there been trials and circumstance sin your life that have gotten you out of your comfort zone? Have your been left with no choice in certain areas of your life? Perhaps God is directing your path for his glory. Be sensitive to the spirit and follow his lead.
