Scattered Not Shattered | January 11, 2026

The Setup: Persecution Becomes Propulsion

Sermon number twenty opened right after Stephen's death, and Pastor Justin introduced us more fully to the young man who approved of his execution, Saul of Tarsus, a Roman citizen from the tribe of Benjamin trained under the revered rabbi Gamaliel. Acts 8:1-8 tells us that a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem that very day, and while Saul ravaged the church, dragging men and women from their homes into prison, the believers who were scattered went about preaching the word wherever they landed.

That gave us the first point of the message, that scattering was God's means, not Satan's victory. Pastor Justin argued that what looked like the enemy landing a devastating blow was actually God's ordained strategy for fulfilling the Acts 1:8 commission to carry the gospel beyond Jerusalem into Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Philip, one of the original seven deacons, went down to Samaria and proclaimed Christ there, and unclean spirits came out while the sick were healed.

Pastor Justin was blunt about the contrast between comfortable American Christianity and the church in places like China and Africa, where real opposition strips away lukewarm faith and forces believers to become fanatical, on fire followers who spread the gospel themselves rather than outsourcing it to paid pastors and missionaries. He confessed that he sometimes prays for a measure of real opposition here in America simply to separate the genuine from the merely cultural.

That led into the second point, that ordinary people have an extraordinary impact. Acts 8:1 notes that everyone was scattered except the apostles, meaning it was the average men and women of the church, not the professional leaders, who carried the gospel into new towns. Pastor Justin reminded us that Mary was a poor, uneducated teenager and most of the apostles were blue collar workers before God used them to change the world.

Isaiah 55:6-13 reinforced this pattern, reminding us that God's thoughts are not our thoughts and that His word never returns to Him empty but accomplishes exactly what He purposes. What looked like scattering and defeat was, in God's hands, expansion and harvest, just as the passage promises that thorns will be replaced with cypress trees as a lasting sign of His name.

That set up the third point, that the power of the gospel is real joy. Acts 8:8 tells us there was much joy in that city as Philip preached and healed, and Pastor Justin noted that the believers did not withdraw from their community to preserve their own purity, they became part of the community, and their neighbors were drawn to the authentic joy of changed lives.

Pastor Justin closed with pointed questions about complacency, asking whether we have grown too comfortable letting others do the work of evangelism, or whether old church hurts and personal preferences have kept us from fully investing in the mission God has placed in front of us at The Crossings.

This Week's Application

So this week, is there a season of disruption in your own life that God might be using for a purpose you cannot yet see? We would love for you to join us this Sunday as we continue walking through Acts together.