Title: How The Church Grows / Topic: God's Ways

Today’s Reading: Exodus 30; Exodus 31; Exodus 32; Acts 8

Scripture: Acts 8:4-6
4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said.

Observation: "Those who had been scattered..." What caused the scattering? The believers scattered because of a "great persecution" against the church at Jerusalem that began with the stoning of Stephen. We read that "all but the Apostles" were scattered. And because of this scattering, new ministry is birthed. Here Philip goes to Samaria and preaches. Wait a minute, who is this Philip that he should be a preacher? Isn't he one of the seven who were supposed to "wait on tables" and make sure the Grecian widows got food? Yet here he is preaching and performing miraculous signs. What gives?

Application: It struck me that because of the problem with the Grecian widows, new, fresh leadership was created. (Actually it was there before the problem surfaced but was not recognized.) And this emerging leadership released a whole new wave of ministry in the church which was not limited to the problem or area that had brought them forth in the first place. First, Stephen ministers so powerfully that he evokes a reaction from the Jewish leaders reminiscent of how they reacted to Jesus himself. Stephen's strong word of exhortation to these leaders, causes them to "gnash their teeth", rush upon him with an out-of-control scream, and stone him to death. And here we see Philip bringing salvation to a whole new region and ethnic group, the Samaritans. So we see a pattern of problems that result in new leadership, which produces new ministry and the resulting growth. It could be diagrammed like this:

PROBLEM -> NEW LEADERS EMERGE -> NEW MINISTRY -> GROWTH

And guess what will come next? If you guess problems, you are right. And that will bring about the pattern we see above. This is how the church grows.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the privilege of being a part of your love-in-action here on this earth. And thank you for the way you enable us to participate in what you are doing here. I count it such an honor to be your servant. Help me to always be part of the solution and bring about your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.