Acts 8:1-4 Fuel to the Fire

Satan thought that the death of a disciple of Jesus, a preacher of the Gospel, might cause other disciples to keep quiet. In this text we see the opposite happen. The death of Stephen fueled the disciples to run away, and they did. But everywhere they did they preached the message of the cross. It spread like wildfire.

We find in these four verses something powerful that the modern church needs to think about carefully. Can the average "church member" teach someone the Gospel? In these few verses we see the "preachers" of the church stay behind in Jerusalem and ordinary Christians spread the Gospel as they move outwards from Jerusalem. No wonder the early church grew so well and fast and had such an impact. They were not just Christians, they were disciples of Jesus!