CTG OO47

ADAPT ... CONSOLIDATE ... EXPAND  

Following the death, resurrection and ascension of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and the outpouring of God’s Spirit on those who waited in Jerusalem as our Lord had instructed them, there occured a phenomenal increase in the number of believers as men and women, young and old, Jews both Hebrews and Hellenists, and proselytes responded to and experienced the grace and power of the gospel. 

These were exciting times. Large crowds listening to the preaching. Instruction. Prayer. Miracles. Mutual care. Sharing meals. Exuberant joy. As the apostles faithfully taught and put into practice what they had received from Jesus. Publicly and from house to house. Lives were transformed and equipped by the grace of God. 

The apostles did face opposition from the same people who had unjustly condemned Jesus to death. Nevertheless, for a significant period of time the work of God continued to flourish unhindered there in Jerusalem. Until Stephen, a believer in Christ who together with others organised provisions for widows, was dragged before the Sanhedrin, falsely accused, expelled from the city and stoned to death. On that day a vicious hate-filled persecution, vigorously trail-blazed by Saul, arose against the church in Jerusalem. 

The majority of believers, those who hadn’t been imprisoned, were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria and even as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Syria. Instead of keeping quiet about their faith in Jesus they spread the good news. They had already seen the courageous example of the apostles who had continued their witness earlier when they were taken into custody, beaten and threatened. And now in the providence of God the persecution resulted in the scattered church proclaiming the gospel so that many more experienced repentance, faith, forgiveness of sin and received the gift of eternal life. Jews, proselytes, God-fearers and, increasingly, raw Gentiles. Many more were becoming recipients of God's mercy because of the cross. And the multiplication has been continuing to this very day. 

There will be times of peace and unhindered growth. And times of suffering, opposition and difficulties. And yet the work of the kingdom, spreading the seed of God’s Word, continues. In-person and/or remotely. 

Whatever circumstances we are facing even at this present time, God will help us adapt, consolidate and expand. We will need the humility, strength, courage and enabling of the Holy Spirit to make the most of the doors of opportunity, which our Lord opens up for us, by means of the diverse grace-gifts he equips us with. 

May God bless his church globally for the sake of those who have not yet experienced his salvation. 

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING SCRIPTURES 

1 Corinthians 1:18 NIV

... the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

1 Thessalonians 1:6-8 ESV 
… you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere … 

Hebrews 13:5 ESV 

… he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

1 Peter 5:6-10 ESV 

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 

Matthew 28:18-20 ESV 

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

FOR FURTHER READING

Acts 6:7-13:4; 22:1-21 in the context of the whole of the Acts of the Apostles 

Matthew 5:11-12 

Matthew 24:3-14 

Luke 7:18-23  

Luke 8:1-15 

Luke 9:18-36 

John 15:18-16:33  

Romans 8:1-39 

2 Corinthians 3:1-5:21  

1 Timothy 1:12-17  

1 Peter 1:1-5:14  

Revelation 1:9-18 

Revelation 3:7-8 

Revelation 7:9-17