Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Emotion Tone
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Fear
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Joy
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Analytical
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Social Tone
Openness
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Conscientiousness
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Extraversion
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Agreeableness
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Introduction
(40 - 3min)
Scattered for Life:
ILLUST - My struggle with grass.
It’s Spring - who’s ready for some yardwork?
I have bare spots in my yard.
I have a bag of grass seed.
The grass seed is good.
I’ve kept it safe all winter
While it is good for the seed to be together, it is ultimately not fruitful staying in the bag.
The seed must be scattered in order to multiply and grow.
1 And Saul approved of his execution.
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.
2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.
3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.
5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.
6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did.
7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.
8 So there was much joy in that city.
God knows what is true of my grass is true of His Church.
The church was never meant to only gather.
What we see here in is a picture of this.
God uses persecution to spur His Church to spread His gospel and bring joy to the world.
This is not the ONLY way God spurs His church, but it is a powerfully common way
Seen through Scripture and church history
12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake.
13 This will be your opportunity to bear witness.
10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
11 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences.
And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake.
13 This will be your opportunity to bear witness.
14 Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.
16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death.
17 You will be hated by all for my name’s sake.
18 But not a hair of your head will perish.
19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
Four Key Truths from Acts 8:1-8:
God sometimes scatters to gather.
No one is written out of God’s mission.
There is always an opportunity for the gospel.
Jesus redeems persecution for joy.
** God may move you out of a place of comfort in order to move Jesus into a place of need **
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.
2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
God sometimes scatters to gather.
(1-2)
(37 - 8min)
God sometimes scatters his people to gather his children.
God is more powerful than persecution.
- God is sovereign over the scattering
the scattering was part of God’s plan
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.
2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.
Acts 1:8
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
:19
19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
A. Apart from unrepentant sin, there is nothing that God plans not to use for the spread of his glory and Gospel
God is more concerned with the spread of the gospel than a comfortable church.
It is interesting that it was in the midst of being thriving growing and healthy church that God sent persecution
If this is God’s attitude, it should be ours as well.
This is true because God is more concerned about the spread of the gospel than he is about HIS OWN COMFORT (see Jesus)
,
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
It is interesting that it was in the midst of being thriving growing and healthy church that God sent persecution
God is more passionate about the spread of the gospel than he is a comfortable church.
I dare say that that when the Church is lulled to sleep by its own comforts we can expect a rude awakening of persecution.
This is only true if God sees this church as able to be awakened for the mission.
Acts 8:3
3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
Saul is moving with a force and passion against God.
Yet within a chapter, we will see him
We typically have the narrator’s view, but:
This snapshot of Saul shows him as the #1 enemy of Church - the epitome of all that is trying to stop the spread of the gospel.
No one is written out of God’s mission.
(3)
God does not write anyone out of His mission.
(3)
(29 - 8min)
My son. . .
The snapshot we had this past week has him resisting every move the gospel we have placed in his life.
God struck me with this point of the sermon as I sat in the hospital in the wee hours of the morning waiting for his transport
No one is written out of God’s mission.
Do I really believe this?
Do you really believe this?
My son chose his middle name - Paul.
, 16-17
formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent.
But I received mercy. . .
16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.
Amen.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
1 Timothy 1?
12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent.
But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
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