Scattered

Acts 8:1-8 ~ 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. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 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. 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. So there was much joy in that city.

Philip was:

One of the seven chosen in Chapter 6
Considered the first missionary
Seen again in Acts 2
Tradition says he lived a long life

“Scattered” means…

The dispersion – Exile of Jews from Israel
To disperse – to break up; cause to vanish
To cast out

Scattered means…

“Those times in our lives when God moves things or people out of our lives to either teach us a needed spiritual lesson, spare us future trouble, or get us to be in His will or purpose.”

John 15:2 ~ Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

Hebrews 12:11 ~ For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

James 1:2-3 ~ Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

Romans 5:3-5 ~ More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

In the end..

“A scattering even it a trial that is meant to produce stronger faith.”

When God Scatters:

There will be an event
There will be a reaction
There will be an outcome

The Event

It arose – sprung up on you; you weren’t planning it
It was “great” – had some weight to it
It has a level of pain – there’s a cost to it

The Reaction

Emotional: sorrow, sadness, anguish, suffering
Faith: will we persevere in our faith, or will we shrink back?

The Outcome

You will be proven faithful
You will be effective
You will have an impact on others

Think about this…

When a scattering event comes:

Don’t deny that God will do this to you
Seek out Godly counsel
Don’t stare at the event; fix your eyes on Jesus

God whispers to us in our pleasures… but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world. - C.S. Lewis