The Church Gathered and the Church Scattered

The theme of our current sermon series – The Church Gathered and the Church Scattered – captures the New Testament idea of a church gathered for worship and scattered for mission. The New Testament passage that most clearly captures the idea of the church scattered is in Acts 8. After Stephen is stoned to death, Saul ravages the church and in verse 1 we read,

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. -Acts 8:1

It was persecution that caused the church to be scattered. From the purely human perspective this would appear to be disastrous for the cause of Christianity. But in God’s sovereign economy He uses the persecuted and scattered church for the advance of the gospel. Three verses later we read,

Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. -Acts 8:4

The scattering of the New Testament church resulted in mission. “Those who were scattered went about preaching the word.” The gospel mission advances through persecution. The church scattered today should be about the same business of “preaching the word.” The persecuted church today is definitely preaching the word, the question is, “Is the non-persecuted church preaching the word?

Is our church preaching the word wherever we are scattered? Is our love for Christ and love for neighbor sufficient for us to preach the word or do we need a little persecution to test the genuineness of our faith? Is the radical nature of our conversion – from death to life, from guilty to righteous, from without hope to heirs of God – sufficiently fresh in our hearts and minds to fuel our evangelism?

Pray for Guest Sunday

1. Pray that as a church we would be freshly affected by the profound realities of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. Pray for gospel conversations this week that will lead to invitations to Guest Sunday.
3. Pray that many non-Christian guests would come this Sunday to hear a clear proclamation of the gospel.
4. Pray for Pastor Bullmore’s preparation, that God would use Him as an instrument to proclaim His grace to sinners who need Jesus Christ as their Savior.
5. Pray that the Holy Spirit would regenerate dead hearts to enable repentance and faith; that the wind of the Holy Spirit would blow through CrossWay on Sunday (John 3).
6. Pray that CrossWay as a church would be a living testimony that “God is with us” and many would continue to come to CrossWay and sign-up for Exploring Christianity.
7. Pray that CrossWay would welcome and serve our guests for the sake of Jesus Christ.
8. Pray that in all that happens this Sunday, God would receive the glory and honor He deserves.