Have you given up sharing the gospel with someone—child, spouse, co-worker? Have you become skeptical about the power of the gospel or lost heart in your call to evangelism because you don’t see fruit? Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: Hopeful: The Book of Acts
TEXT: Acts 8:9-25
TITLE: Remaining Faithful
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: Hope for our mission is not in what we see, it’s in what we know—The gospel breaks all barriers!

SERMON EXCERPTS:
”…while we might not shell out cash, we all have a little Simon in us. It’s easy and subtle to make our relationship with God about getting something we want—respect and success, sense of belonging and purpose, impressive family and model marriage. No one is immune from using God as Simon tried to.”

“The gospel is breaking barriers. But not through the power or influence of man. The power of God isn’t a commodity. The gospel is breaking barriers through bold preaching, the Spirit’s regenerating work, and repentance and faith.”

“Three principles from this story that should encourage us in and produce hope for our gospel mission:

1. The Gospel has broken all barriers, but not every heart is broken by the gospel—Simon wasn’t saved but Samaritans were, just as God promised. 

2. We are called to be a faithful witness to others, not the Savior of others—Phillip preached to Simon but he couldn’t save Simon. He had to trust Simon to God to DO what God alone can do.

3. God’s kingdom is still being built, we are not in heaven YET—So as it says in vs. 25, we keep preaching the unstoppable gospel that gives joy and life to the world around us.“

QUOTES:
John Stott - “The most natural explanation of the delayed gift of the Spirit is that this was the first occasion on which the gospel had been proclaimed not only outside Jerusalem but inside Samaria….The delay was only temporary, however, until the apostles had come down to investigate, had endorsed Phillip’s bold policy of Samaritan evangelism, had prayed for the converts, had laid hands on them as a token of fellowship and solidarity, and had thus given a public sign to the whole church, as well as to the Samaritan converts themselves, that they were bona fide Christians, to be incorporated into the redeemed community on precisely the same terms as Jewish converts”

Bryan Vickers - “Even in the midst of a dramatic move in the trajectory of the gospel [salvation for Samaritans], an obstacle arises, a reminder that the church is moving toward the fulfillment of the kingdom but has not yet reached it fully”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Acts 1:8
John 4:9
Ephesians 1:13-14
Ephesians 5:18
Psalm 139:23

APPLICATION:
Have you given up sharing the gospel with someone—child, spouse, co-worker? Have you become skeptical about the power of the gospel or lost heart in your call to evangelism because you don’t see fruit? God is at work saving and sanctifying sinners, building His church, and spreading His glory. THEREFORE, Remain FAITHFUL remembering: Hope for your mission is not in what you see, it’s in what you know—The gospel breaks all barriers!