How do mission and joy correspond? - Acts 8:4-8 | Prescott Anglican Church

Text: Acts 8:4–8

Driven from Jerusalem by persecution, the early Christians did not abandon their mission: wherever they were scattered, they continued proclaiming the gospel. Philip carried the good news across cultural and religious boundaries into Samaria, demonstrating that the gospel is for every people and every nation.

The same Holy Spirit who strengthened the first believers continues to lead Christ’s Church beyond comfort, fear, and weakness. As Christians go in the strength God has given them, the gospel changes lives and produces a joy deeper than temporary happiness—a joy rooted in Christ’s presence, promises, and victory.

A cleaned-up manuscript:

It is good to be back with you. This is my second time worshiping with you on a Sunday, although I have also been here for a pastors’ prayer meeting, so perhaps this is really my third visit.

I am here today with my wife, some of our children, and a dear friend who survived the genocide in Rwanda. He has written books about his life and about that painful part of our history. We are all grateful to be here this morning and to share the Word of God with you.

We need the Word of God to shape our lives. It is our strength to keep going through this life.

Our text is from the book of Acts. The full title is The Acts of the Apostles, but some people call it The Acts of the Holy Spirit, because throughout this book we see the Holy Spirit working through God’s people.

Acts tells the story of the early Church after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. Jesus entrusted his mission to the apostles—and, through them, to us today.

The Mission Christ Gave His Church

As I prepared this sermon, I went back to the final verses of Matthew 28. There, Jesus gives his disciples a command and a commission. He gives them their mission:

Go. Make disciples. Baptize them. Teach them.

This is the central mission Jesus gave the Church.

When we read the Great Commission, it can sometimes sound simple. Jesus says that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him, and therefore his disciples are to go.

But this was not an easy assignment.

Jesus was not appointing them to comfortable offices where everybody would respect them and listen to them. He was sending them into a dangerous mission. Our passage in Acts comes immediately after Stephen had been stoned and killed.

Jesus never promised that following him would be easy. He told his disciples to take up their crosses and follow him. He called them to leave their places of comfort and follow him wherever he led.

But Jesus did not give them a mission and then leave them alone.

He promised, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

He also promised them the Holy Spirit.

That promise gave courage to Philip. It gave courage to Stephen. Stephen could face death because he knew that Jesus had risen and that Jesus was Lord.

The presence of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit overcome our fear and our natural desire to protect ourselves. They open our hearts so that we can say, “We belong to him. This is his mission, and we will follow him.”

The Gospel Moves Outward

Luke was a physician and a historian. The way he records the growth of the Church is very interesting. He shows us that the message of salvation is always moving outward.

Jesus told the Church to go beyond Jerusalem—to Judea, to Samaria, and eventually to the ends of the earth.

The mission was to move out of familiar places and make disciples of all nations by going, baptizing, and teaching.

Jesus was not speaking only about somebody else. He was speaking to his disciples: “You are the ones who will carry this gospel—this good news—to other people.”

This commission shapes the identity of the Church. It teaches us who we are, what our mission is, and what God is doing in the world, even in the midst of hardship.

The gospel did not remain in Jerusalem. It moved to Judea and Samaria. It continued to Rwanda and Congo. It continued to America and to every place where the name of Christ is proclaimed.

I grew up for part of my life in a rural area of Congo, far from the places described in the book of Acts. Yet the gospel reached us there.

As I read this passage, I thought about the words of Jesus: “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

When I think about the distant place where I grew up and how missionaries and other Christians carried the gospel there, I can see the power of the Holy Spirit in action.

The Holy Spirit moved people out of their comfortable places. Missionaries left their homes and the things they knew. Some suffered greatly. Some even died.

But the gospel reached us.

This is how Jesus moves his light through the world: one little candle lights another candle, which lights another, and another, until the light reaches places we never imagined.

That is the power of the gospel.

Scattered, but Still Speaking

Acts 8 tells us that those who had been scattered by persecution went about preaching the Word.

They were scattered because people were trying to kill them. They were running from their homes. They could no longer gather freely as we are gathering this morning. They were afraid, hiding, and separated from their friends, families, and familiar culture.

Yet wherever they went, they continued speaking the gospel.

Their scattering did not end the mission. The Holy Spirit continued working through them.

Sometimes God’s people are moved out of their comfort zones by circumstances they would never have chosen. But even there, the gospel continues to move.

The gospel is not merely a hobby or a worldly enthusiasm. People become very emotional about sports teams and other temporary pleasures. But the gospel is more than that.

The gospel changes the human heart.

These believers crossed boundaries with the gospel. Philip went to Samaria.

We need to remember what Samaria represented. The Jewish people and the Samaritans had a long and painful history. Many Jewish people would have considered Samaria a rejected place—a place they did not want to enter and a people they did not want to receive.

But Jesus did not come only for one nation or one group.

The gospel is for all nations.

The Holy Spirit sent Philip across cultural, religious, and social boundaries. Philip did not go to people who were already prepared to welcome him. He went to Samaria.

This is what happens when we open our hearts and say, “Yes, Lord. We are here. Help us to go.”

We do not respond because we already possess everything we need. We do not wait until every hardship disappears. We respond in faith.

We say, “Here I am, Lord. I will go.”

The Spirit Works Through Our Weakness

We face our own challenges today.

We may not be experiencing the same persecution as the early Church, but family problems, broken relationships, political pressure, changes in society, sickness, disappointment, and fear can all prevent us from moving forward with the gospel.

Yet when we accept Christ’s call to go, we see the Holy Spirit at work.

When Philip preached in Samaria, the crowds paid attention. They heard something different from what they had heard before, and they saw lives being changed. Unclean spirits came out. Those who were paralyzed or lame were healed.

People could look around their city and say, “I knew that woman when she was tormented, and now she has been set free. I knew that man when he could not walk, and now he is standing.”

The gospel had reached their city, and lives were changing.

Every Christian has a history. Every one of us can stand and say, “I know today is difficult, but God has carried me through difficulties before. I am still here. He has been with me.”

That testimony gives us something to say.

People will not pay attention to us merely because we speak loudly. They listen when they see that the gospel has done something real in our lives.

The Deep Joy of the Gospel

Acts 8:8 says, “So there was much joy in that city.”

When we receive the gospel, when we accept what Jesus has said, and when we respond to him with our whole hearts, there is joy.

This is not merely emotional happiness.

We can be happy because we graduated, received a promotion, found a good job, or saw someone we love. Those are good things, and we should be grateful for them.

But the joy of the gospel is deeper.

It is joy that remains through hardship. It is joy strengthened by hope because we know how our story ends.

Sometimes the circumstances we want do not change immediately. We pray for our children, but they do not make the decisions we hoped they would make. We want them to worship beside us, pray with us, and follow Jesus with us, but they may choose something different.

That breaks our hearts.

But do we stop following Jesus?

No.

Age comes. Sickness comes. Disease comes. People suffer. We spend long hours in hospitals. We experience disappointments we never expected.

But we are still standing.

We still believe him, even in hardship.

The reason we can continue is the joy we have in Christ.

We gather as Christians to strengthen and reshape our spiritual lives so that we can keep going. We remind one another that even when life is hard, we still have reason to worship. We still have reason to support the mission.

God is with us.

God will be with us.

The early believers were not sophisticated or powerful people. They were ordinary believers living under tremendous pressure. But they proclaimed a simple and powerful message:

The one who died has risen.

He will come again.

He forgives sins.

He changes lives.

He brings joy.

When people heard Philip preach and saw those lives being restored, there was joy in the city.

We will also have joy when we open our hearts to the gospel. We will have joy when we support Christ’s mission.

Joy is the fruit of the gospel.

The gospel brings joy to me, to my wife, to my children, and to everyone who opens their heart to Christ.

Go in the Strength You Have

Think about Gideon. When God called him, Gideon complained: “I cannot do this. Who am I to deliver Israel?”

But the Lord sent Gideon in the strength he had.

Sometimes we feel weak physically, morally, emotionally, or spiritually. We experience disappointment or depression and feel as though we cannot continue.

But go in the strength you have.

Contribute what you can.

Move as you can.

Support the mission as you can.

Plant the seed you have been given to plant. Someone else may water it, and God will make it grow and produce fruit.

The gospel will continue moving outward because Christ is with us.

He is with us.

He will be with us.

Amen.