Preach

 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.
Acts 8:4 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/act.8.4.ESV

It's not just about practicing what we preach; it's about preaching in the first place! God's people were scattered by persecution, but they bravely preached the gospel anyway, wherever they went. There's no place for cowardice in God's Kingdom.

We often might think of the early Church as a golden age for God's people. Yet it actually took persecution to prompt them to obey the great commission to make Christ known far and wide. Persecution took the church from being a Jewish sect to being the global phenomenon that it is now.

We naturally think of persecution as a bad thing, yet Jesus insists that we're blessed if we're persecuted, because great is our reward in heaven. Furthermore, as an old quote goes, 'the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church'. Persecution has a habit of weeding out nominal Christians and sorting out the wheat from the chaff.

It shouldn't take persecution to prompt us to preach the good news. Preaching might not be trendy for ordinary people like us to do. Yet it is the humble means by which God grows His church.

'Dear Lord, please help us to be faithful to You even in the midst of persecution. May we be faithful to proclaim Your truth and love to the world, for the glory of Your name, amen'

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