Acts 08 Round Two: Persecution Fertilizes The Gospel

When pressure hits, does faith shrink or spread? Acts 8 shows how persecution in Jerusalem became the spark for a wider move of God, sending ordinary believers into Judea and Samaria with courage, clarity, and power. We walk through Stephen’s aftermath, Saul’s crackdown, and the surprising ways the gospel took root where no one expected it.

We zero in on Philip, a deacon turned evangelist, whose preaching in Samaria is marked by deliverance, healing, and tangible joy. Crowds who once followed magic finally hear the truth about Jesus and the kingdom of God. The clash with Simon the sorcerer exposes a timeless temptation: treating the Holy Spirit’s gifts like currency. Peter’s response calls for repentance, purity of motive, and a return to grace over status. Along the way, we address a common question about the Holy Spirit—received at conversion or in a later experience—and focus on what matters most: continual growth, unity, and a life that bears fruit.

Then the scene shifts to a desert road where obedience becomes personal and precise. Philip follows a prompt, meets an Ethiopian official reading Isaiah 53, and starts from that very passage to reveal Jesus. The official believes, asks to be baptized immediately, and carries the good news home with joy. In a startling twist, Philip is transported miles away to keep preaching, a reminder that God directs both our steps and our leaps. Through it all, the thread holds: adversity can be an accelerant, Scripture opens doors, and the Spirit empowers ordinary people to do extraordinary work.

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Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.