Acts 8: Bad News/Good News part 1

And Saul approved their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against

the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea

and Samaria

Acts 8:1 New International Version

The 8th chapter of Acts begins with some of the worst bad news imaginable. Stephen,

“a man full of grace and power” has been killed for talking about Jesus, becoming the

first Christian martyr. And Acts 8:1 notes that Saul approved of it. Saul then goes about

seeking to destroy the church by imprisoning the followers of Jesus. This drove many

Christians out of Jerusalem, and they scattered in every direction to flee the

persecution. There is murder. There is persecution. And there is a scattered church. It

looks like it’s all bad news.

But wait. There’s good news too. The persecution that scattered the church propels

the Gospel message into new places. “Those who had been scattered preached the

word wherever they went.” (Acts 8:4). Far from destroying the church, the death of

Stephen and the persecution of the church in Jerusalem led to many more believers in

many more communities.

God is still working like that. C.C. came to Minnesota as a Hmong refuge. When he

survived a serious bout with cancer, he committed to using the rest of his life to more

fully serve the Lord. He returned to East Asia to spread the gospel and in short order

started over 30 house churches. He asked the church back home in the U.S. to send a

pastor to join him because he had hundreds of new Christians who wanted to be

baptized. Instead he was asked to become a pastor to those new Christians. God took

the bad news of cancer and turned it into the means to bring salvations to many

different communities.

How might God turn your bad news into good? Are you willing to share the word

wherever you go?

Mark Miller