In Acts 1:8 (right at the beginning of the book), Jesus said that, when the Holy Spirit came upon his followers, they would become his witnesses “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” However, as we come to Acts 8 today (so, seven chapters later), we find that the revival fire that began in Acts 2 that we looked at several weeks ago, had only spread through Jerusalem and Judea. No one, it seems, amongst the exclusively Jewish Christian church up to this point, had signed up to become a missionary to the hated Samaritans! So, here, the Lord uses Saul (who in chapter 9 encounters the risen Jesus and becomes the Apostle Paul) to foment persecution against Christians in Jerusalem and Judea, thus driving them out into Samaria preaching the gospel and manifesting the power of the Holy Spirit through signs and wonders. Through Philip, revival broke out in “the city of Samaria” (likely the ancient city of Sabaste – the former capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the largest Samaritan city of that day). Later, Peter and John, who came to bear witness to Philip’s work, “returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans,” thus setting the whole region aflame with revival fire! (Acts 8:25) But that begs a question: What is revival? Revival is a special season of divine visitation in which God the Holy Spirit awakens his slumbering church! And when he does that, we become his witnesses (though, like them, we may need a little push out of the door)! So, this week we’re going to focus on the topic of revival!