~ LISTENING CENTER ~

Date: January 8, 2023 Title: ... into Samaria Passage: Acts 8:1-25 Speaker: Bob Corbin Sermon Note Sheet (PDF) Download Audio Watch it on

* The Series Title for this Study is "Unveiling the Mystery;" that "Mystery" is the church. * Throughout the book which is titled "The Acts of the Apostle" we saw God unveiling His plan which He had Sovereignly determined prior to the creation of the world! After His resurrection, Jesus commissioned and empowered His disciples to be His witnesses. In that commissioning, Jesus told His disciples that they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea, in Samaria, and into the uttermost parts of the world. * In the first seven chapters of the book of Acts, we have seen how the first part of that promise came true. God worked through those Apostles to proclaim the gospel and perform great miracles, such that many believed the message. The church became a movement and it grew. Those who believed began proclaiming the message as well and the church multiplied. * As the message was proclaimed and people believed, those who did not believe became actively resistant to the church, and began to persecute the believers. Last week, we surveyed Acts 6:8-7:60 considering the martyrdom of Stephen. * Today, we see how God used that persecution to propel the gospel message ... and "The Mystery" beyond Jerusalem.