What happens when the Church is scattered by persecution — but refuses to be silenced?

In Acts 8:1–24, Pastor Luke Taylor continues our journey through the Book of Acts, following the aftermath of Stephen’s death as persecution drives believers beyond Jerusalem and into Judea and Samaria. What looks like an attempt to destroy the early Church instead becomes the means by which the Gospel spreads further than ever before.

Philip, one of the seven chosen to serve in Acts 6, arrives in Samaria and begins preaching Christ. Centuries of hostility between Jews and Samaritans begin to give way as people respond to the Gospel, experience healing and deliverance, and receive the good news of Jesus.

But among them is Simon the Sorcerer — a man accustomed to influence, reputation and supernatural power. After believing and being baptised, Simon witnesses the Holy Spirit being received through the laying on of the apostles’ hands and makes a devastating mistake: he tries to buy the gift of God.

His story gives us a searching question for our own lives: Do we want God Himself, or only what we hope God will give us?

Pastor Luke explores the danger of pursuing spiritual power without pursuing relationship with God, the difference between genuine repentance and simply fearing consequences, and why the presence, power and gifts of the Holy Spirit can never be bought, earned or negotiated.

This message also looks at:

• How persecution caused the early Church to spread rather than disappear

• The historic division between Jews and Samaritans

• Healing, deliverance, signs and wonders in Acts 8

• Simon the Sorcerer and the danger of counterfeit spirituality

• Chasing the gifts of God more than the Giver

• The Gospel as a gift that can only be received

Sunday Evening 16/08/26

What did Jesus mean when He cried from the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” And what deeper significance can be found in the words of Psalm 22, written centuries before the crucifixion?

In “Love That Hangeth On A Tree: From Crimson to White,” Judith Brignall explores Psalm 22 as a powerful Messianic prophecy pointing to the suffering, sacrifice and finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

At the heart of the message is the remarkable imagery surrounding Psalm 22:6 — “But I am a worm, and not a man.” Judith examines the Hebrew word associated with the crimson or scarlet worm and draws out its symbolism as a picture of Christ: attached to the wood, giving its life for its offspring, covering them in crimson and ultimately pointing from scarlet sin to cleansing white as snow.

Through Psalm 22, Isaiah 1, Isaiah 53, John 6, Philippians 2, 1 Peter 1 and Revelation 5, this sermon considers the meaning of the blood of Jesus, the blood covenant, forgiveness of sins, healing, redemption and our new identity in Christ.

Judith also connects the opening and closing words of Psalm 22 with Jesus’ words from the cross — from “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” to the triumphant declaration “It is finished.” The cross was not a failure or an unfinished work. Jesus accomplished what He came to do: salvation has been paid for, the covenant has been established, and through His blood we can be made righteous before God.

This message reminds us that the story of the cross is ultimately a story of extraordinary love:

He gave His life so that we might live.


He shed His blood so that we might be forgiven.