Recap from Last Night

Last night at Unfiltered we spent some time digging into Acts 7-8. We saw that the death of Stephen brought about a great persecution against the church and scattered them abroad. We also reflected upon the words of Tertullian when he said "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." How true it is, since Acts 8 sees believers going to Judea and Samaria PREACHING CHRIST.

We were challenged to preach Christ wherever we go, to understand that God uses the most unusual circumstances (even death) to bring about the accomplishment of His plan (as seen in Acts 1:8) and that when God calls us, he'll take us places we don't want to go sometimes. (As seen in the preaching of the Gospel to the Samaritans, aka 'religious halfbreeds.')

To quote Craig Groeschel, "If our goal is comfort and safety, we are following a false God. Embrace the pain. The world hates you."

Where is it that the Lord is trying to take you? Is it to a city that you don't want to move to because of the crime rate? Is it a country that you don't want to go to because air condition is a foreign language and toilets are more like holes in the floor? Or is it even to that person that you don't want to associate with because they just really aren't "like you."

Don't be one who sits on the sideline and allows this life to slip right on by without ever getting your hands dirty. Get in the Game. Engage. Don't settle for cheap grace.