May 28/31 And So it Begins: Cross Country

Worship Leaders:

Berthoud: Roxanne
http://www.planningcenteronline.com/plans/594647

Loveland: Jorie
http://www.planningcenteronline.com/plans/563273

Text:
Acts 8:1-40

Big Idea:

Coming off of the stoning of Stephen. Saul was there giving approval to his death. Persecution begins. Scatters the church – and everywhere they went they spoke about Jesus. The church began to spread rapidly outside Jerusalem. (Do we take the message wherever we go?) The new sparks of the church and the spread of the Gospel lead to:

· The breakdown of prejudice/An outpouring of the Holy Spirit in “all Samaria”How does this apply? Are we ethnically diverse? Socio-Economically diverse? Who would we need to ‘step over the line’ to minister to? Getting out of clicks seems like a big thing. Going beyond your comfort zone to talk to people. There is a huge Hispanic population around Longmont – and there is a huge gap. Main street vs Hover is quite a contrast. What about this large and growing Hispanic population around us? Do we need to reach out to them more purposefully than we have? Could we partner with someone else to support it? Could we record the Madiera church message and broadcast it here? (Tangent…) Take a step outside your comfort zone.

· Counterfeits rise up Simon the sorcerer rose up and desired to have this power. There are a lot of people who want the ‘magic’ of it without the path or without the repentance or humility. Simon had a hard heart filled with bitterness – his path should have been one of repentance.

· Seekers cross overAs a result of the Gospel lives are changed. The story of the Ethiopian. There seems like there are two kinds of seekers.

Two kinds of Seekers:
· Supernatural/Power/Experience/’magic’/self/benefitsWhat I can get
· Truth/Jesus/What God has for me.

Who am I?

What kind of church do we want to be?

Rebuke hardness

Minister to soft hearts

Clay wants to spend most of his time on the last point about the Ethiopian.