ACTS: The Church In Action
life out of death
Chapter Eight

INTRODUCTION: In chapter seven the old religious order (the Sanhedrin) silenced the preaching voice of Stephen only to awaken the voice of the church (chapter 8).  Their motivation was to shut-up a man who was upsetting their old order, but instead the whole church began to speak up and eventually upset the whole Roman Empire with the message of Jesus Christ.  God takes the negatives of life and turns them for the good of His people.  When the world and Satan has attempted to silence the church is has only resulted in a greater influence of God's power in His people.  God will not be silenced.  Out of death He brings life and from negative circumstances He creates blessings (Rom. 8:28)


Persecution results in proclamation (8:1-4)
  1. Consenting to the death of Stephen (8:1)
  2. Conducting a persecution of the church (8:1)
  3. Contributing to the expansion of the church (8:1,4)

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

preaching the word (8:4-8)
  1. Persecuted but still preaching (8:4)
  2. Pioneering - going where no man has gone before (8:5) 
  3. Persuading the multitide through power evangelism (8:6,7)
  4. Praise filling the city (8:8)

the only thing that casts doubt on the miracles of jesus is that they were all witnessed by fisherman.

portraits of the heart

  1. Saul a furious Persecutor (8:1-4)
  2. Philip a faithful Preacher (8:4-40)
  3. Simon a false Proselyte (8:9-25)
  4. Ethiopian a fervent Pupil (8:26-39)
authentic evangelism will always:
  1. Offer Jesus Christ as the gift of God (8:5,35)
  2. Offer liberating power from bondage (8:6-7, 22-23)
  3. Offer the sustaining joy through the trials of life (8:3,8)
  4. Offer a life filled with the Holy Spirit (8:14-17)
effective evangelist exhibit
  1. Availability to go anywhere God leads you (8:26-27)
  2. Sensitivity to the voice of the Holy Spirit (8:29) 
  3. Attentiveness to the needs of others (8:30)
  4. Tactfulness to bridge the gap between others and Christ (8:30)
  5. Clarity that Jesus Christ is the Savior (8:35)

men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened. - winston churchill