How to bring joy to an entire city …

How would you like to bring the joy of Christ to an entire city?

Sound impossible?

It’s not. It has been done. It can be done. And fortunately, more and more church leaders are starting to dream that big.

But when was the last time you saw a church actually do this?

It may have been a while. Maybe you haven’t actually seen it done. So how can you achieve such a grand objective? Once again, scripture provides us with an example, and perhaps by applying it we could achieve the same results!

God used Philip to bring joy to the city of Samaria. In Acts 8:4-8, we see how it was done:

“But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did. Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city.”

This passage of scripture provides a very simple method that resulted in joy to the city of Samaria: Philip told people about Jesus, and he served the needs of the people through the power of the Holy Spirit.

That’s it.

The result was “… great joy in that city.”

We often hear church leaders talk about “keeping the main thing [proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ] the main thing” while launching or managing a host of programs that do everything but that. We talk a lot about serving one another, but we have churches full of people with real needs that continue to go unmet and unserved.

If we aren’t teaching about Jesus and serving one another through the power of the Holy Spirit within the body of Christ, how could we ever honestly hope to bring the joy of Christ to an entire city?

Look again at how uncomplicated it is:

• • Preach Christ.
  • Serve the needs of people in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Notice in this Bible text that God brought joy to an entire city through a single Christian! He didn’t use a whole church, or the unity of churches in a city, He simply used one faithful follower who was willing to preach Christ, and serve the needs of people through the power of the Holy Spirit.

How much joy could God bring to your city through you? Through the combined efforts of your local church body? He’s willing to do His part, so the next move is yours.

Scotty