Church Planting in the Book of ActsNäide

Breaking Free From Our Comfort Zone

If I could visit any historical moment in the past, the day recorded in Acts 8 would definitely be on my list. Scholars estimate that by the time Stephen was martyred in Acts 7, there were as many as 25,000 new believers in the original church in Jerusalem.

Can you imagine going to the Temple Courts every weekend to hear one of the apostles preach? Simon Peter could tell the first hand experience of walking on the water with Jesus. John could describe the moment he ran to the tomb and found it empty. Andrew might describe what it was like to see Lazarus raised from the dead.

Miracles. Salvation. Generosity. Community. Growth. What an incredible church!

There was only one problem with this church in Jerusalem. What was that, you might ask? Well, the believers were still ONLY in Jerusalem! Jesus articulated the Great Commission to his followers multiple times and his plan included the entire world: “...Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

It took persecution to drive the believers from their comfort zone and into motion to preach the gospel to all nations. For three years they walked with Jesus and had experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Every day they were first hand witnesses to the miraculous. But the power of our comfort zone has such a magnetic pull that it can keep us from obedience, and the Great Commission! It wasn’t until persecution hit the Jerusalem church, after the murder of Stephen, that the believers finally moved from Jerusalem and Judea and into Samaria.

Samaria required the believers to learn cross-cultural skills. They were reaching a challenging racial demographic for them; a people with a different worldview and religious perspective.

Surprisingly, the spread of the gospel outside of Jerusalem was led by an unlikely church planter. Phillip was one of the seven deacons chosen to lead the food distribution ministry. When he fled Jerusalem, he ran to Samaria, where he preached the gospel with great power and authority. As far as we can tell, Phillip established the first church plant outside of Judea.

Today, church planters and their teams are also willing to intentionally go into uncomfortable places, and reach people groups that are beyond their natural affinity. Church planters build bridges. They think missionally. They share the gospel contextually to speak effectively to those who would otherwise not be open to what they have to say.

Phillip’s evangelistic impulse continued to push him and by the end of Acts chapter eight, he is sharing his faith with a royal official from Ethiopia. His obedience to the voice of the Holy Spirit allowed him to win the first convert from the continent of Africa.

As a church planter, God has called you to leave your comfort zone and intentionally take the gospel to the ends of the earth, in Jesus’ name.