The Gospel to the City

Acts: The Gospel in the City PART XII
Dr. Timothy Keller
24 February 2013

Acts 8:1-8
1On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.  2Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.  3But Saul began to destroy the church.  Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.

4Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.  5Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there.  6When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said.  7With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed..  8So there was great joy in the city.

9Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria.  He boasted that he was someone great, 10and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power."  11They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.  12But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.  13Simon himself believed and was baptized.  And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

14When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.  15When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of Lord Jesus.  17Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

18When Simon saw that the Spirit was gien at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money.

ORGANIC MISSION
--Persecution ensued after the execution of Jesus.
--Apostles scattered and preached the word.
--Unified movement around the truth of the Gospels.
--Grass roors movement.
--The word was spread by lay people.

URBAN MISSION
--City was the hub where ideas were spread.
--Countryside tended to worship the old gods at first.

EMBODIED MISSION
--Human misery is complex.
--Historical context is that Jews and Samaritans hated each other.
--Philip, a Jew, preachign to Samaritans talked about things and releived them of their miseries.
--If they see the deeds, they tended to believe the word.
--Baptism is a public statement to live like Christians.

Undertanding God -- My chains were off and my heart was free.