Acts 8 Class 49: Cracking the Code of Early Christian Expansion/ Conversions spread outside the Jewish community
Jun 28, 2023
Juantrell Lovette
Prepare to step back in time as we navigate the early days of the Christian church during intense persecution. We're taking you through a riveting journey of faith, unfolding the narrative of Acts chapter 8, featuring Philip's missionary journey to Samaria and his encounter with an Ethiopian official that shattered racial barriers.
We promise a close look into Simon the Sorcerer's transformation from a man of enchantment to an adherer to the Gospel. The tale doesn't end there. We'll also shed light on how Christianity morphed from a Jewish sect to a faith that crossed borders, reaching as far as Ethiopia and Antioch. We'll tackle the tricky transition of the disciples from their deep-rooted Jewish conventions and Peter's justification for inducting non-Jews into the church. Prepare for a fascinating exploration into the early Christian church's evolving identity and the challenges it overcame. You're in for a treat!
I'm so glad you're here. It's a pleasure to study with you.
Support this show!! www.blessed2bs.com Instagram: @Bleesed2bs/ @Legion_love Facebook: Boujeebiblestudies
Prepare to step back in time as we navigate the early days of the Christian church during intense persecution. We're taking you through a riveting journey of faith, unfolding the narrative of Acts chapter 8, featuring Philip's missionary journey to Samaria and his encounter with an Ethiopian official that shattered racial barriers.
We promise a close look into Simon the Sorcerer's transformation from a man of enchantment to an adherer to the Gospel. The tale doesn't end there. We'll also shed light on how Christianity morphed from a Jewish sect to a faith that crossed borders, reaching as far as Ethiopia and Antioch. We'll tackle the tricky transition of the disciples from their deep-rooted Jewish conventions and Peter's justification for inducting non-Jews into the church. Prepare for a fascinating exploration into the early Christian church's evolving identity and the challenges it overcame. You're in for a treat!
I'm so glad you're here. It's a pleasure to study with you.
Support this show!! www.blessed2bs.com Instagram: @Bleesed2bs/ @Legion_love Facebook: Boujeebiblestudies
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Juantrell Lovette:
Hey y'all, welcome to Bless To Be Us. I'm your cousin in Christ, juan Trole LeVette, and this is Buji Bible Studies. If you are new here, i'd like to welcome you to the number one Bible study class that you will ever come across. If you are not new, you already know how we get down as we dive into the Bible and read a chapter a week and get the inside story of what took place back then. That is so vital for our lives today where we need to understand and have a relationship with God in this life today so that we can enjoy our lives. I mean, having a relationship with God is so essential that it be crazy for me, you or anybody else to try to survive without God or try to think that we got it all figured out, because let me tell you something, baby, i definitely don't have it figured out. But I know that if I focus on God, i know that all things will come together for my good. And I know that all things work together for my good because I can just look back at my life and I can see how things have played out and are playing out today. And let's jump into the story. Today we will be in Acts, chapter eight, and the title of our episode today is Conversion Spread Outside the Jewish Community. Now, the definition of conversions mean the process of changing or causing something to change from one form to another. An example would be the conversion of food into body tissue. So today's title, acts eight In Saul approved of their killing, the church, persecuted and scattered.
Juantrell Lovette:
On that day, a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Golly men buried Stefan and mourned deeply for him, but Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. Philip in Samaria Verse four those who have been scattered preach the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said, for with shrieks and pure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city.
Juantrell Lovette:
Verse five, chapter eight crossing racial barriers. Philip visits to Samaria was quite remarkable in its day. Jewish people had little to do with the Samaritan's. Oh Jesus I am butchering this word Looking down on them for racial and religious reasons. Later, philip met with an Ethiopian official on a mission that crossed racial barriers. The modern Christian church in Ethiopia claims an uninterrupted descent from the conversion described in chapter eight. Let's proceed.
Juantrell Lovette:
Simon the Sorcerer, verse nine now, for some time, a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed this man is right, called the great power of God. They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. But when they believed Philip, as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized, and he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
Juantrell Lovette:
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers where they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them. They had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the lane on the apostles hands, he offered them money and said Give me also this ability that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. Peter answered May your money perish with you because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money. You have no part or share in this ministry because your heart is not right. Before God, repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart, for I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.
Juantrell Lovette:
Gospel greed, chapter 8, 18 through 20. The tendency to exploit spiritual power for material profit did not originate with the digital age. Simon, a magician in Samaria, saw the gospel as a way to increase his own fame. The disciples had no more tolerance for his attitude than they had for the lies of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. Verse 24,. Then Simon answered Pray to the Lord for me, so that nothing you have said may happen to me. After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus. Peter and John returned to Jerusalem preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
Juantrell Lovette:
Philip and the Ethiopian, verse 26. Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip Go south to the road, the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. So he started out and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important aficion in charge of all the treasuries of the Candace, which means Queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The spirit told Philip Go to that chariot and stay near it. Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. Do you understand what you are reading? Philip asked How can I? he said, unless someone explains it to me. So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
Juantrell Lovette:
This is the passage of scripture that the eunuch was reading. He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before his shears is silent. So he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? for his life was taken from the earth? The eunuch asked Philip, tell me please. Who is the prophet talking about? himself or someone else?
Juantrell Lovette:
Then Philip began with that very passage of scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said Look, here is water. What could stand in the way of my being baptized? And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away and the eunuch did not see him again but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at azotas and traveled about preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea. I hope I'm not butchering that word either. That's the end of our chapter.
Juantrell Lovette:
Alright, let's break it down, shall we? The danger in being a Christian. It began as a Jewish sect. The fear. Persecution only helped. It spread.
Juantrell Lovette:
So in Acts, chapter 8, verse 1, on that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea, in Samaria. In some countries, a person who becomes a Christian forfeits a good education and a job. In a few countries, those who convert even risk their lives. One church historian estimates that more Christians were matred in the last century than all preceding centuries put together. Yet, strangely, more often than not, intense persecution of Christians leads to a spurt of growth in the church. An ancient saying expressed this phenomenon the blood of the marchers is the seed of the church. The first big events.
Juantrell Lovette:
For a while the new faith enjoyed popular favor, but very soon it evolved grave risk. In the Book of Acts, the persecution that produced the first Christian martyr, stephen, ironically brought about the advance of Christianity beyond its Jewish base. Forced out of stormy Jerusalem, the scattering Jewish Christians fled to other regions and began preaching to other races and ethnic groups. Philip preached first to the despised Samaria and then crossed racial barriers by helping to convert an official from Ethiopia. Acts documents a dramatic change in the church. What had been viewed as an offshoot of the Jewish religion, a Nazaring sect, in chapter 24, verse 5, began to encompass people from other religions, races and cultures. Before long, the center of church activity moved from Jerusalem to the city of Antioch. Their people coined the word Christian, indicating how separate the new faith had become. Never again would it be considered just a Jewish thing, breaking the Jewish mode.
Juantrell Lovette:
As Luke tells it, taking the gospel to other ethnic groups requires some adjustment. Jewish disciples balked at letting go of their centuries old tradition and allowing the church to be flooded with non-Jews. Peter, one of the most loyal Jews, explained his dilemma this way Who was I to think that I could stand in God's way? In chapter 11, verse 17,. A direct, unmistakable vision from God in chapter 10, verse 9 through 23, overcame Peter's resistance to accepting non-Jews and later a decisive church council settled on a policy towards them in chapter 15, verse 1 through 21.
Juantrell Lovette:
As the pages of X turn, whole province and cultures open up to the gospel. The faith that had been guarded by a small knot of intimate all-Jews who knew Jesus personally broke out into a rough world of soldiers, sorcerers, merchants and antagonists from other religions. This is a process was not without its bloody and frightening moment. Life question If severe persecution were to come to the church in your region today, what would happen to your faith As we break down the dangers in being a Christian? this was the time X, chapter 8, before Paul got, before Saul became Paul, and this is when he was actually persecuting the churches. But to get an understanding, it looked like at this time it's. That's when the churches began to scatter out. People began to scatter out and they began to take the word of God with them and preach it wherever they went to. So just like Philip who went, who went to go preaching Samaria and all that and was able to convert an Ethiopian man.
Juantrell Lovette:
That's how the Christian community came about today. It's like it was. It was basically adopted. It was like adopted like a new world order, a new order of Christians, a new way of believers, and people who were non-Jews actually believed the stories of the Bible, believed that Jesus was the Messiah or believed. You know what was taking place. So it leads up to why we are so connected to the Christian community. Or you know, the Christian community got a chokehold on a lot of us and our families and generations past, generations before us. It's because how it broke out and a believer didn't just have to be a Jewish. A believer doesn't have to be just black, white, brown, yellow, green, orange. Or just not too long ago in China, a baby and their parents got put in prison for having a Bible. So persecution is still going on for people just believing the stories of the Bible, believing that Jesus came to do what he needed to do. God had a plan And so it's just so funny how persecution is still going on today.
Juantrell Lovette:
So, like the question, say if severe persecution were to come to the church in your region today, what would happen to your faith? For me, i guess nothing would happen to my faith. I think it would kind of like strengthen, because you will wonder why is somebody trying to persecute for what you believe? How are people trying to hurt you based off of your belief? Whether it's true or not, who's to say you know Jesus really came or not? It's just the belief in all of us that will really piss somebody off, that you believe that somebody came to save your life. Like that really do mess with people. And I would just say for me it probably would make me believe even more. It probably would strengthen my faith because it would make me think like, why are you such against the way that? I believe It have to be some truth behind it to make a person so angry or mad that want to persecute you. And it's still going on today. Look what just took place in China. They got put in prison a baby and his parents just for having a Bible, got put in prison just for believing. The story is like that's crazy to me. So the question goes to you what would you do, what would happen with your faith if persecution came today and our churches today? Because it's still going on. Even church people still, even.
Juantrell Lovette:
Just because they're in church don't mean that they make them like 100% believers, and just because the people who don't go to church don't make them non-believers. You know what I'm saying? Like belief comes from within you. It's about your focus, what you believe in, what you can see, you know what God is installing into you, and I think that's why it's just so important to wake up with God and walk with God and talk with God and, you know, have that relationship with God. It's just super, super, super vital for your life, because persecution is happening every day.
Juantrell Lovette:
These bills is persecuting the hell out of me. I tell you, i tell you, but every day God is showing up for me, god is making a way And it just be surprising me Like I'd be just surprised, i ain't even gonna hold y'all Like I'd be tripping out to see God come through for me how he does, like right on time. Don't even be my time, it'd be on his time or her time. However you identify your spiritual God. But it's like I'll be tripping off that because the moment you are born into this world it's like you're persecuted. You're persecuted of your identity, you're persecuted of having responsibilities that you don't even understand or can even fathom to understand, to think. Like you know, you're gonna be having so much weight on your shoulder just by being born in this world. So to try to live and survive without God is just crazy. It's crazy to me And every time I go sometime without Him or have not my mind on the higher creator, things always disturb me, disturb my peace, disturb my grace and mercy, and it's just like I'm honored.
Juantrell Lovette:
I'm honored to have somebody fight my battles and have not saying somebody, because God is within me a spiritual entity And it's just, like you know, just to have this belief, because it's all about what you believe. We all live in this same world but yet we all have our own world within our own mind And it's mind-boggling to me sometimes when I think about it like dang, even though I'm in this world with all these people, it's all based on how I believe, what I believe, that's going to dictate my actions and dictate my next moves and things like that. It's my belief and that is really really important. So I'm just grateful and I thank God that the journey that I'm on with the creator you know, just spiritually connected to Mother Nature and the offerings that she brings, and the creator within me, and just being surrounded by the grace and the mercy of our creators Like, yeah, what more can I ask for? I'm grateful and I'm thankful you guys. So thank you guys for checking out today's story.
Juantrell Lovette:
I ain't even going to tell y'all what I got planned, because my plans never work out. I ain't even going to hold y'all no more. I'm going to just say I appreciate you guys listening to the podcast. Go ahead and check us out on social media blessed to be, as on Instagram, bougie Bible Studies on Facebook And go ahead and support this podcast. If you would click the link, it's right here in the description. Anything counts, anything matters. I appreciate it all And you just listening to this podcast. I appreciate that as well.
Juantrell Lovette:
I have to be focused. I have to get on my focus because your girl is slipping and tripping and just tripping out like all week. All week has been a tough, rough week. June period hit me really, really hard and it hit me like unexpectedly right. So I got thrown off and I got thrown back. But what I'm going to do is try to tackle July Like head on and stay focused, and I just hope you guys are doing the same thing like staying focused. Man, it's a grouchy world out here. It's crazy and it's weird and it's sometimes it can be ill, you know. But more or less, thank you guys for checking me out and checking out this podcast And thank you guys for rocking with me your cousin in Christ Wontrol a bit. Until next time. I will talk to you later, bye.