Scattered Everywhere Preaching....
Acts 8:4

Sermon Outline from the Evening Service - 7 May 2000

1. Persecution is a means of spreading the gospel. The blood of the saints is the seed of the church.

a) it wasn't that they were afraid of persecution. The attitude of the early church to this type of
thing is clearly shown in Acts 4:29.

b) they were following the instructions of Jesus (Mt. 10:23). These people began to realize that
the gospel would be limited if they all were imprisoned.

c) they were scattered everywhere, not just to Israel. Taking their cue from the Lord (Acts 1:8; Mt.
28:19-20) they began to spread across the lands. Acts 8 (Samaria), Acts 9 (Damascus), Acts 10-11 (Cornelius, in Caesarea), Acts 11:19 (Phoenicia, Cyprus, Antioch), Acts 13 (1st missionary journey).

d) the winds of persecution scattered abroad the good seed of the gospel. Their hearts turned
from enjoyments of the gospel to their responsibility with the gospel.

2. They were spread to preach the Word

a) the church builds people up in order to send them out / serve!

b) they went preaching the Word.

1) preaching is not talking about a public discourse, but literally evangelizing.
2) they went out knowing the Word -- everyone who is a believer knows enough to preach the gospel.

c) they went out scattering light and salt (Mt. 5:13-16); their lives showed the impact of Christ at
work.