Name That Brand

“Just Do It”
“Betcha Can’t Eat Just One”
“Have it Your Way”
“The Quicker Picker-upper”
“No Rules, Just Right”
“The Happiest Place on Earth”
“Like a Good Neighbor, ______ is There”
“The Ultimate Driving Machine”
“What’s in Your Wallet?”
“How Doers Get More Done”
“No One Out-Pizzas the _____”

“Interpret your experience by the Word of God, not the Word of God by your experience”

“Act upon what you know not on what you feel”

“Keep Jesus Central”

Idea #1:

An ABIDING disciple will be a FRUITFUL disciple

Idea #2:

A FRUITFUL disciple may be a PERSECUTED disciple

The Big Idea of Acts 6 – 8…

Full-of-God’s-Spirit disciples expect that being fruitful can be costly

3 Examples…

•The Example of Stephen (Acts 6-7)
•The Example of the Church (Acts 8:1-4)
•The Example of Philip (Acts 8:5-40)

The Costs…

1. The Cost of the Hard Heart

STEPHAN’S SERMON:

LIKE YOUR FATHERS, YOUR HEARTS ARE HARD TOWARD THOSE WHOM GOD SENDS

4 Hard-hearted Rejections…

1. Like the Patriarchs who rejected Joseph

2. Like the Israelites who rejected Moses

3. Like the Fathers who rejected the Prophets

4. Like the Fathers they rejected God’s Righteous One

His Response…

1. He was focused on Christ

2. He entrusted himself to Christ

3. He was forgiving like Christ

4. He planted a seed for Christ

The Costs…

2. The Cost of Scattering

3. The Cost of Readiness

Useful to the Lord:

1. He willingly stepped toward people others were hesitant to reach

“It is hard for us to conceive the boldness of the step Philip took in preaching the gospel to the Samaritans. The hostility between the Jews and the Samaritans had lasted a thousand years. Jews returning from exile refused the help of the Samaritans in the rebuilding of their temple. And so, not surprisingly, the Samaritans built a rival temple on Mount Gerizim. The Samaritans were despised by the Jews as hybrids in both race and religion, as both heretics and schismatics.”

2. He willingly went without knowing what God had specifically in mind
3. He listened to the Spirit and acted upon it
4. He was prepared to speak about Jesus from the Scriptures
5. Wherever the Spirit led him, he was willing to share the good news

The Big Idea of Acts 6 – 8…

Full-of-God’s-Spirit disciples expect that being fruitful can be costly