A Kingdom Catalyst

In the first six chapters in Acts it is fair to say that the church had a Jerusalem-centric focus rather than an outward orientation. But, with Stephen's stoning, a wave of persecution was unleashed upon the church and it was scattered as far north as Antioch where the mission to the Gentiles began to take root and flourish. In a sense then, Stephen was a catalyst, an agent for change as he provoked this wave of persecution and the scattering of the church and the spread of the kingdom to the Gentiles.