The Good News about Jesus
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Acts 8:26-36
Acts 8:26-36
26 As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
27 So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship,
28 and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.”
30 Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.
32 The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.
33 He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?”
35 So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.
A word from an angel
A word from an angel
The Angel of the Lord
++Comes in many forms
They came in divine forms
++Heavenly beings that brought fear
++Bright Light
++Voice in the midst of fire
++Human form
2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!
The Angel of the Lord
Comes in many forms
++Connects us to God’s purpose
20 Praise the Lord, you angels, you mighty ones who carry out his plans, listening for each of his commands.
By Listening to God’s Voice
++They Excel in strength
++They do His will
++They bless the Lord
2 For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished.
Don’t get distracted
Don’t get distracted
35 “So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior.
Moses was
++Rejected by Israel
++Sent by God
++Not alone
The angelic figure served Israel positively as guide and protector (Ex 14:19) and companion in the wilderness wanderings (Ex 23:20;
Angelic being mentioned in the Bible, more properly translated the “messenger” of the Lord.
The Angel of the Lord
Comes in many forms
Connects us to God’s purpose
++Challenges us to obey God
26 As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
27 So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship,
12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!”
13 “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”
14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”
In both situations the messenger spoke
In both situations the messenger spoke
God gave
++To Gideon a message of identity
++To Philip a message of direction
Gideon was told who He was
Gideon was told who He was
It was
++an uncomfortable message
++an unreasonable message
++an unreal message
13 “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”
Gideon questioned God’s care
Gideon questioned God’s care
Philip was told to Go
Philip was told to Go
It was
++an inconvenient request
++an undesired location
++a challenging request
Philip obeyed and went
Philip obeyed and went
The Voice of the Holy Spirit
The Voice of the Holy Spirit
The blessing of Obedience
The blessing of Obedience
28 and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.”
Obedience to God’s messenger
++made spiritual hunger visible
++helps him to discern the Spirits voice
++moved him into position
To hear the Spirit of God we must first obey the messenger of God
To hear the Spirit of God we must first obey the messenger of God
28 They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”
29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”
The works that Gideon sought
++Would have been impressive
++Would have been impactful
God only wanted Gideon to believe
God only wanted Gideon to believe
23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God.
20 Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.
21 He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.
God wants us to believe
God wants us to believe
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
By Believing, God fills us with
++Hope
++Peace
Believing enables us to
++Abound in hope
++Embrace the Power of the Holy Spirit
7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
Philip shows the that God uses messenger’s
++to provide direction
++to facilitate God’s will
++to tune us to the Spirit’s voice
It is not the messenger that makes the message.
It is the message that makes the messenger.
6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.
7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.
The message must be declared
The message must be declared
It may be
++Hard
++Challenging
++Inconvenient
This word is necessary
This word is necessary
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?”
Listen to what the Eunuch says
“Tell Me”
“Tell Me”
I ask you, I pray, I beg of you
This is the cry of those
++on the outside
++in the desert places
++that missed the meeting
I want to know too!
How will we handle this moment?
How will we handle this moment?
When the cry of the world is made known to you.
Will we
++Ignore the cry?
++just take a message?
++enter a theological debate?
This is our time
This is our time
God is calling us (You and Me)
++To embrace the call
++To carry the message
++To share what God has placed in us
The Good News about Jesus
The Good News about Jesus
16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.
I get to do this