By Derek Elles
After my studies and Bible reading this afternoon, I decided to use today’s post to talk about what is still happening to the Church in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic. Churches have continually been told to close their doors and many pastors and their congregation have been in an uproar. I wrote a while back about this and the testimonies that can be found in it.
In one of my classes on evangelism, it was told that transition is one of the best times to share the Gospel. Transition is a time of change in our lives and one that causes us to reevaluate ourselves; persecution is one of those transitions.
Today, the angle I would like to present is how persecution led to the growth of the church. As we read through Acts, we see countless incidents of persecution where Apostles were arrested and flogged. At the end of chapter 7, Stephen is stoned to death.
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Chapter 8 starts off telling of a great persecution against the church and that everyone was scattered, and how they went about preaching the Word. We see Philip explaining the Scriptures to an Ethiopian eunuch who undoubtedly took it to his people.
Many scholars and theologians say that the church would not have grown without the persecution. We read how thousands of men, which can be translated to mean families since there was no mention of women and children, can to believe. And in chapter 11 we find the first church in Antioch and where the disciples were first called Christians.
Each episode of persecution led to believers finding other ways to share and preach the Gospel of Christ which led to a continued growth. That is what we, as believers, as Christians, need to be doing during this crisis.
Many churches have found new ways to share the Gospel and there have been many people coming to Christ as they search online for comfort. We must remember though, that we are the church and each one of us needs to utilize what is going on in our country with regard to COVID-19 as an opportunity to grow the church.
Pray to the Lord for boldness to share Him with others during these trying times.
Until next week. Blessings in Yahweh’s grace, mercy, and peace.
#TheologyThursday #Church
