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Well, good morning.
If you've got your Bibles, go ahead and open them up to Acts chapter 8.
That's where we're going to be this morning.
As you turn there, a couple things.
I want to echo what Moses said to our first-time guest.
We are glad and privileged and honored that you are here.
Nothing would warn me more than have the opportunity to meet you.
And so, after the service is over with, I'll be back over here.
You see that I've got some wood against the wall with a welcome sign.
I'll be back there.
Just would love to meet you, learn your name, and just have an opportunity to thank you for
being here and for worshiping with us.
We do have a lot of things that are going on in the life of our church that you can sign
up for.
I want to kind of draw some emphasis to several of those.
First, we've got our Black Mountain and Utah mission trips that are coming up in November.
This week, we're going to be scheduling some information meetings for those of you that
are interested in going and being a part of those.
Get some cost details, what we're going to be doing, what that looks like for you.
And so, if you're remotely interested, if you'd like to be a part of those meetings,
make sure that you sign up.
As you leave today in the lobby, we've got a table with some clipboards out, and you'll
see Black Mountain and Utah mission trips are there.
And then also, we are in our baptism series.
As we talk about baptism, we will be doing a baptism on Sunday morning, October the 10th.
And so, if you would like to be baptized, parents, if you've been talking to your child and they
would like to be baptized, sign them up.
We'll be in contact with you to talk a little bit more about baptism, what that Sunday will
look like, and have an explanation of what all we're going to be doing on that day.
And so, we would love to know and have an opportunity to be a part of that.
Well, I think fall has kind of hit us, which means that you only sweat for like eight hours
of the day in South Carolina, right?
And so, it is a good day.
There's plenty of places we could have all been this morning, but it's a privilege and
an honor to be here today to open God's Word.
And so, let's go ahead and dive in.
We've been talking about baptism for the last couple weeks.
And so, the last two weeks, as we talk about baptism, of the importance of what we see
from Scripture, of what Scripture teaches, we don't want to take baptism in an approach
of that this is some denominational exercise or requirement, but instead that this is something
that we draw from Scripture that Christ commands us to.
And just kind of take a moment, man, sitting here and worshiping just a moment ago, and Scott,
when you were sitting there singing that song, man, like, I went to that day baptizing you
and your wife right here that morning, man, and it was just, it was cool there in that moment,
man, because the words that you were singing, while those aren't words that you wrote, those
were words that God had given to someone else to write, but man, just telling your story
and the power of that.
So, just want to say thank you and so many of your steps of obedience to standing right
here and proclaiming who Christ is, man.
Love you for it and appreciate it.
You crushed it.
But what we've talked about for the last two weeks is baptism.
Why we do it, how we do it, what it symbolizes, and what it means.
Now, next week, when we talk about baptism again, we're going to kind of take, the last
week's going to kind of wrap it all up, put it in one neat package.
There's no way we can answer every question, but we want to kind of get to the heart of
the matter concerning baptism.
That's going to be last week.
But this week, what I want us to do is we're going to take, still in the narrative of baptism,
but we're going to take a step back and look at baptism in a more personal manner and ask
the question, for you and I, as individuals, for you and I, just as believers and followers
of Christ, what is our responsibility when it comes to baptism?
And so, I want to remove some of our titles, all right?
I want to remove the title for me of pastor.
I want to remove the title of you, church member.
And just give us all the title today of follower of Christ.
That what is our responsibility as followers of Christ when it comes to baptism?
Not because we're a part of a denomination, not as because we're a part of a church, but
because we are believers and followers of Christ when it comes to baptism in my life and into
yours.
When we stretch across cultures, when we stretch across denominations, when we stretch across
languages, what does baptism mean and what is our responsibility with that?
And as I started looking at that this week, there was something that, as I looked in scripture
and as I looked at this passage of scripture, as we're going to look at Philip and the Ethiopian
eunuch here in just a second, what it drew to me for all of us as a believer, that this
is going to apply for baptism, but so many areas of our life.
And here's what's going to come down to your and my willingness to be led by the Holy Spirit.
That when it comes to baptism, but also when it comes to so many different areas of our
life, when it comes to the gospel, when it comes to God's will in our life, what I want
us to do is to look at and to be able to answer and really wrestle with, are you and I willing
to be led by the Spirit, all right?
And so this morning, what we're going to do, we're going to get to Acts 8, but I want to
kind of look at a major theme of not only scripture as a whole, but a major theme of the book of
Acts, and especially in the first chapters, right, is the work of the Holy Spirit in Acts.
All right, so let's look.
We're going to kind of, I think I have about six verses that are going to pop up that I'm
going to read, or six different sections that we're going to have.
The first one is Acts 1-8.
Jesus is speaking, and he says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on
you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and all Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of
the earth.
Now, Jesus is getting ready to ascend.
This is post-crucifixion and resurrection, and Jesus is getting ready to ascend into heaven.
And so Jesus looks at his followers, and he says, but here's what's going to happen.
I promise you, the Holy Spirit is going to come upon you, right?
Holy Spirit, part of the Trinity.
Oftentimes, you and I have a disconnect in the divine nature of God and the Holy Spirit.
God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit.
And so God the Holy Spirit, Jesus says, will come upon you, and he will give you power, and
you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and the ends of the earth.
So at the very beginning, in the book of Acts, laying the groundwork, Jesus says, the Holy
Spirit will come and indwell in the lives of the believers.
And then he gives a very specific reason for that, right?
The Holy Spirit's going to do a lot of things in your life and in my life, right?
The Holy Spirit teaches us.
The Holy Spirit convicts us, right?
The Holy Spirit does a lot of things in our life.
But the reason why Jesus gives here in Acts 1, 8 is very specific.
That the Holy Spirit's going to come upon you so that you can be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.
So Jesus draws a very clear connection in this moment in being led by the Spirit and the work
of the gospel in the lives of the believers.
So here's the connection.
So then in Acts 2, verse 1, you see what happens.
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
And suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the
whole house where they were sitting.
And they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each
of them.
And all of them filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the
Spirit enabled him.
Now, let's be honest, there's a lot of us who are deep-rooted in our Baptist traditions
that this passage of Scripture kind of scares us a little bit, right?
Like, we're not good with things that we can't understand.
And then all of a sudden we're like, oh, and now they're speaking in tongues, right?
So let's talk about this for just a second, all right?
First thing I want us to point out, what Jesus says will happen, happens, right?
Jesus said this is going to take place, and it takes place.
That the followers of God that Jesus promises to, Pentecost comes, and it says they're gathered
in one place.
So imagine, like, we're sitting in this room, concrete walls, there's no windows, we've got
these couple of doors.
Let's say that these doors don't exist, and we're barricaded in here, and all of a sudden
something like a tornado begins to work around here in this room.
Kind of catch our attention for a moment.
And that's what begins to happen.
They're gathered in a room, they don't believe that there's any way of any outside ventilation
that's coming in, and all of a sudden, like a whirlwind, like a tornado, this wind begins
to happen in here.
And then what the Bible says is that they saw what seemed to be.
So they actually see something.
They're not experiencing a feeling.
They're describing what they saw.
They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on them.
And then verse 4, all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other
tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
So here's what God's doing here in this moment.
Now, remembering all the way back to chapter 1, verse 8, what we just read, so that they
could witness in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
So this is the setting that we see.
Right now in Jerusalem, there are men and women who are coming in Jerusalem for religious
festivals that are coming from all over the world, and they speak many different languages.
And so what God is doing, what God is mobilizing here in this moment is that the gospel will
have the opportunity to be shared with them.
And so we could get into more description about this, but we don't have time for today, so
please trust me.
If you've got questions, we'll talk about it afterwards.
So what we see is the Holy Spirit begins to fill them, and they begin to speak in tongues.
So just really quickly, this tongues, this isn't gibberish, this isn't an unknown language,
this isn't anything like that.
What happens right here in this moment to the followers of Christ is they begin to speak
languages, known languages, that they didn't know before, but now they have the ability
to speak in so that they can share the gospel.
So the context would be, like, imagine if the Holy Spirit of God came and rested on you
in such a way that as you go into another country in a language that you do not know,
but now all of a sudden you're able to speak in that language so that you can communicate
the gospel.
And that's what happens.
And it's part of the miracle of what we see.
So we see now in this moment the boldness of God coming in and resting on the followers
of Christ so they can share the gospel.
But now let's look at chapter 4, verse 8.
Then Peter, this is Peter, Apostle Peter, with Jesus, that had been with Jesus, right?
One of the disciples, the inner core, verse 8, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them,
rulers and elders of the people.
So in chapter 4, what Peter is doing, Peter and John are taken before the council, the Pharisees
and the Sadducees, and they come, and he lays it on them, right?
The truth of who Christ is.
And Peter is not able to do this because he's some great intellect.
Peter is not able to do this because he has this gift of speech and communication.
Peter is not able to do this because he sat back in the back and got this speech ready.
It says in verse 8 that Peter filled with the Holy Spirit.
And so what we see is that ministry in this moment as the early church begins to form is
resting in the power and the ability of the Holy Spirit.
So each single one, like there's not a pastor that they can turn to.
There's not a seminary to go to.
There's not a right now media resource where they can gain all their information from.
They can't go to Lifeway or Mardell's or any Christian bookstore and buy like the 10 steps
to how to share your faith, right?
Like here in this moment, they're resting in the only thing that they can do in ministry.
They don't know what they're doing, but it's through the power of the Holy Spirit.
And this is what we see.
And it's what we see in the people is moving and working in the power of the Spirit.
And then look at chapter 6, verses 3 through 5.
In those days when the number of disciples was increasing.
So let's kind of pause.
Like we've seen some other areas back in here.
Like we're not talking like three or four are getting saved.
We're talking like thousands are getting saved.
Thousands are getting saved.
It says in those days when the number of disciples was increasing,
the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews
because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
So the 12, okay, this is the inner core.
Like we see where this is coming from.
We see that only the power of the Spirit of God can do this.
So the 12, the core that had been multiplied into thousands,
but the 12 gathered all the disciples together
and said it would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the Word of God
in order to wait on tables.
Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you
who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.
And we will turn this responsibility over to them.
And we will give our attention to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.
And this proposal pleased the whole group.
And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.
Also Philip, Prochorus, Nisenor, Taman, Parmenius, and Nicholas from Antioch,
a convert to Judaism.
And so what is going on in the life of the church is people are coming.
And the 12, the apostles, they're looking around and they're like,
man, we can't handle this.
We can't do what we're supposed to do
and take care of all of these things as well.
So a problem arose.
Because very early on, what the church recognized is that
we're here for the spiritual needs, but there's also physical needs.
There's the emotional needs.
There's the things that are having to take place.
And we need to take care of this.
And as the church was growing and outgrowing its leadership structure,
they've got to react.
And so the apostles say like, hey, we want to focus in on prayer
and teaching of the Word.
So that's what we're called to do.
So there's these other things that have to take place.
And so what we find in here is this deacon ministry begins
and this ministry is formed.
Now, it's very interesting.
And I want us to look at this.
They looked out, began to pray through and decide like,
who's going to take this on?
And they didn't say, well, the most organized,
who are the most organized people?
They didn't say, who are the most educated people?
They didn't say, who are the most light people?
Who are the most popular people?
They didn't say, who are the wealthiest people?
Because they could probably fund this ministry.
That's not what they did.
They looked around, those who were called by Jesus
to be the apostles, and they looked around
and they saw these groups, they saw these individuals,
and Scripture tells us they were full of the Holy Spirit
and wisdom.
Now, here's what I want us to be able to see.
This is what's going to kind of carry us through, all right?
When an individual is full of the Spirit,
when an individual is full of the wisdom of God,
it can be seen.
It can be seen, it can be experienced.
You can look and you can know.
And they say, we see these men, right?
And this is what's leading them, the Spirit of God.
The Spirit of God that brought Peter to be able to speak.
The Spirit of God that brought these men out
to be able to proclaim the gospel
in languages that they had never spoken before.
They looked out and said, Stephen and Philip
and you and you and you, we see all of this in you.
And it's the choosing.
And it's how they were chosen to serve.
So as we look at this,
we're going to look at Philip,
a story, an encounter with Philip,
one of the deacons that was chosen.
This isn't a guy who had had years of church training.
This isn't a story of a guy
who had sat through 15 evangelism classes.
This isn't a story of a guy
who could answer every question about baptism.
This isn't the story of a guy
who had it all figured out.
But it is going to be the story of a guy
who said, I'm going to go and do
what the Spirit of God is telling me to do
and calling me to go.
And as I stand here this morning,
and as I look out at a group of people,
and as I stood in my bathroom this morning
and looked in the mirror myself,
that that's the call for all of our lives.
Are you and I willing to be led by the Spirit
to go places, to do things,
to form relationships that only can happen
through the Spirit and power of God?
Or are we trying to do things
in our own ability, in our own might?
And we'll see the connection to baptism here
in just a moment.
So let's read chapter 8, starting in verse 26.
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip,
go south to the road, the desert road
that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.
And so he started out.
And on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch,
an important official in charge of all the treasury,
the Kandake, which means queen of the Ethiopians.
And this man had gone to Jerusalem to worship.
Now that's not because he was a follower of Christ.
We need to pause here for just a moment.
But as we had seen, there had been a lot of people
who had come into Jerusalem for the religious nature of it.
And this is why he was there.
Verse 28.
And on his way home was sitting in his chariot
reading the book of Isaiah the prophet.
And the spirit told Philip,
go to that chariot and stay near it.
And then Philip ran up to the chariot
and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet.
Do you understand what you are reading?
Philip asked.
Verse 31.
And this is the passage of scripture that eunuch was reading.
It's found in Isaiah 53, by the way.
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter.
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
In his humiliation, he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.
And the eunuch said,
Philip, tell me please,
who is this prophet talking about?
Himself or someone else?
And then Philip began with that very passage of scripture
and told him the good news about Jesus.
And as they traveled along the road,
they came to some water.
And the eunuch said,
look, here is water.
What can stand in the way of my being baptized?
And he gave the orders to stop the chariot.
And then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water
and Philip baptized him.
And when they came out of the water,
the spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away.
And the eunuch did not see him again,
but went on his way rejoicing.
Philip, however, appeared in Azotus
and traveled about preaching the gospel in all the towns
until he reached Caesarea.
The story, not of a pastor,
the story, not of a missionary,
but the story of a follower of Jesus Christ
who says yes to the spirit.
Yes to the spirit.
So what would it look like in your life and mine?
Let's lose the title.
Let's lose the organization.
What if we're there in this culture,
in this context?
We're not dependent on what the church,
the place we go is going to do,
the organization that we're a part of,
what we're leaning in and pressing in onto each other.
What if you and I just begin to put ourselves
as individual followers of Christ,
what does it mean to walk in the spirit?
What does it mean to be led by the spirit?
What does that mean?
What can we draw from this?
And I think number one,
what I want us to get to is this,
is God gives us unlikely people.
God gives us unlikely people.
Before we talk about everybody else,
let's talk about us.
You and I are unlikely.
Here's what I mean.
None of us, not one,
deserve to get used and to get saved by God.
Not one.
A few weeks ago,
I got a text message from someone
who's very dear to my heart.
They don't go to church here.
Very dear to my heart.
And this individual was going through
a series of grieving and loss.
And the question that was asked to me
was,
if a good person does bad things,
can that good person still go to heaven?
And my answer was,
we got to understand that it's not about being good.
It's about being saved.
We got to talk through and understand that.
Because the truth is,
in light of the gospel,
what I know,
what you know,
is that none of us are good.
We're not good.
We don't deserve to get used.
And you think,
well,
I've done these good things,
but said in the holiness of God,
you're not good and I'm not good either.
It's only by the blood of Jesus Christ,
it's only by the work that he's doing,
that God saves us and uses us.
So as we press into this,
as we think about,
as we look to the unlikely people,
let's understand that you and I
haven't established ourselves on some pedestal
because you and I are unlikely.
Your story's messy.
My story's messy.
It doesn't matter how good we think that we were.
God's not looking to save a bunch of good people.
God's just saving people.
And he's not even making us good
and he's making us holy
through who he is.
So you and I are unlikely.
And for Philip,
right,
as we see in his life,
there's not a whole lot that we can see
that is going on in his life,
but the Holy Spirit is leading him.
And so for him,
it's not about being good,
it's about following.
And sadly for most of us,
that's where the breakdown happens.
We're so focused in on all the things
that we want to do,
all the things we want to accomplish,
even if it's creating the spiritual checkbox
and marking those off.
But the question is,
are we following,
are we seeking the spirit of God
and what God has for us?
And so God in this moment
is going to give Philip someone.
And I guarantee you,
it's not the someone
that Philip would have been looking for.
It's not the someone
that he would have thought,
this is what's going to make it in.
This is what's going to be the story.
This is going to be the defining moment.
But this is what we see.
And God brings him
an Ethiopian eunuch.
Right?
And what's great that we can see in this,
and we'll talk about there in just a moment,
is God's taken the gospel context of the story
and he's magnifying even more
that he's moving it
just from what people would thought of
of a Jewish context
to a Gentile everyone.
So this Ethiopian eunuch,
who is he?
Number one,
he's a high-ranking government official
from Ethiopia.
Ethiopia is a long ways away
from Jerusalem, right?
And so he's on this journey
and he's religious,
he's spiritual.
And so he's come to Jerusalem
for a place of worship,
but now on his way,
he's leaving.
And a beautiful thing
of what we see is happening
is the Spirit of God
is drawing him closer to Christ,
is that he's reading a text
and he's beginning to wrestle him
with like,
who is this about?
Who is this about?
But he's this high-ranking government official
from a faraway land.
Now, he's the Ethiopian eunuch.
Real quickly,
we won't spend too much time on this, right?
He was castrated.
Due to his career
and his position,
he was castrated
so the king
or the queen
at the time
would not have to worry
about what he was trying to do
or what he was trying to accomplish.
And he was a Gentile.
He wasn't Jewish.
And so what this would have built up
in the life of Philip,
if Philip were just seeing him
through his own eyes,
that this would have been a man
who was unworthy
of the gospel,
of the things he had done
to his body,
allowed to be done,
the things that he was doing,
the things that he was a part of,
the land that he'd come from.
He was unworthy.
But what's so important
is God didn't think so.
God didn't think so.
And so God brought this point
in time for Philip, right?
As we look about the gospel
and as we think about our role
and our part in it,
I want to kind of deal
with a tension
that I know
that is in the lives
of individuals
and what we think of
and what we do
and what pushes us.
We all have people
in our life
that we think
are unworthy
of the gospel.
When we're not being led
by the Spirit,
the sin begins to creep
in our mind
that they're not worth
being saved
or that God can't save them.
And so we chalk them up
as they're no good.
There's no use.
What's the point?
Why even bother?
And here's what I want us
to think of.
Think about that person
in your life.
That individual,
that family member,
that co-worker,
that friend,
that really obnoxious neighbor
that you don't like,
right?
Like, think of who they are.
They're not worth it.
They're too rough.
They're not worth it.
Think about their past.
They're not worth it.
Think of all the things
that they've done.
They're not worth it.
They're unlikely.
What if we started
viewing these people
not as burdens
but as gifts?
What if we started
viewing these people
not as a burden
that God has placed
to live next door to us?
A burden,
not as a burden
of the person that,
why do we have to work with them?
Not as a burden
of why did they be in my family?
What if we stopped
defining them
by their past failures
and mistakes?
And what if we started
defining them
as the gift
that God
is giving us?
And that's what it means
to begin to be
walking and being led
by the Spirit,
especially in the Gospel.
Second thing I want us
to look at
is the timing of God.
The timing of God.
I'm probably
the world's worst
at this, okay?
But I want to make
this statement.
God doesn't need
to check your schedule
or mine.
He doesn't.
I can't tell you
how many times
I think I've got
everything laid out,
I've got what I need to do
and then God detours
and in that
it creeps in my heart
the inconvenience
of the moment, right?
But let's kind of establish
God doesn't have to check
your schedule or mine.
His plans are bigger
and His plans are better.
Right?
His plans are bigger
than what you think.
His plans are bigger
than what I think
and here's what's remarkable.
His plans are better
than what you could describe
and His plans are better
than what I could describe.
They're even better
than what we can hope for.
As Philip is going into
to this day
of what is going to unfold
within this,
I don't know
what was lined up for him
but here's what I know.
What God had in mind
was bigger.
What God had in mind
was better.
And I want us to think
of the timing of this.
The timing of the characters
and who God chose
and all these things.
God sends a deacon
not an apostle.
This isn't Peter
who'd gone through
the test of this.
This was a deacon.
This was Philip.
This was the everyday guy.
This was a guy
who was sitting there
in a part of the church
one day
and he had a group
walk up to him
and he's like,
hey man,
by the way,
here's what we've noticed.
We've noticed
that you love the Lord.
We can see this in you.
Would you come
and start serving
and doing some
of these things,
right?
And then from this
what we begin to see
is the journey
of salvation
of what God's
going to do
in his life.
That's God's timing,
not ours.
That's God choosing,
not ours.
But in the timing of God,
God sends him
to a Gentile
and not a Jewish leader.
And what we're going to see
in this moment
is the gospel
is going to go global.
The gospel is going to
begin to expand
even more so.
The gospel is going to go
from largely
a group of men
and women
of financial
insignificance
to now an individual
who heads up
the treasury
of an entire kingdom.
And that's what it's going to do.
But that didn't happen
in anyone else's timing.
That happened
in God's timing.
And here's what I think
is remarkable, right?
God sends to a desert,
not to a city.
I don't know about you.
I was just telling somebody,
I was telling Kim and Kyle,
I think this morning
we were talking
before the service started.
I said,
how's that thing going?
I was like,
man, busy, right?
No one told me
that 13-year-olds
are busy, right?
And that's what
we're learning, right?
A 13-year-old boy,
a 13-year-old girl,
they're busy.
No one told me
when I was in,
I thought when I was
in college, right,
that going to school
for five classes a week
was like the most
I would ever have
to work in my life.
And then I got
like a job, right?
And then it got even more.
And then I got married
and I got even more.
I got married
and got kids
and got even more
and time and time and time.
And so I thrive
with being able to say
like here's the schedule
of what's there
of what I need to do
and when something happens
to cause me
to break from it
and so God goes to Philip
and says,
not in the city
where we see everything going,
not in the city
where you see everything planned
and not in the city
where you think
everything's going,
but I'm going to take you
and I'm going to take you out
and I'm going to send you
into the desert.
I'm going to send you
in the desert.
And I have a moment,
I have a feeling
in that moment
like Philip's calendar
got messed up a little bit.
Right?
But what's remarkable,
what I want us to see
is what this looks like in this.
What does it mean
to be led by the Spirit?
It involves this
listening and looking.
And it's kind of connect.
The angel came
and went to Philip
and Philip goes.
Right?
Look back at that first,
very first verse.
Now an angel
of the Lord
said to Philip,
go south to the road,
the desert road
that goes from Jerusalem
to Gaza.
In the very beginning
of verse 27,
so he goes.
He goes.
It didn't matter
with his schedule,
it didn't matter
with his time.
So what's the difference
between Philip
and us oftentimes?
Well,
Philip was listening
and looking.
Now,
let's be fair.
If,
an argument could be,
well,
if an angel
says to me,
go,
then I'll go.
Right?
Is that a fair statement?
Like,
if an angel comes
into your,
into your home tonight,
like,
you're sitting there
watching TV
and says,
go do something.
Like,
we'd all probably agree
in that moment,
it was just me
and then all of a sudden,
right,
like angel there.
You know what it looks like,
don't know what's gonna happen.
Be careful.
Most of the time
when angels show up,
people are scared,
but I guess
if there's somebody
standing behind my recliner
and I didn't know
that they were there,
I'd be scared too,
right?
So we would say,
well,
that's easy,
Bo.
Philip's at his house,
an angel appears,
so he's gonna go.
So here's what I'd like
to ask you,
just in rebuttal,
rebuttal to that,
right?
Quick question,
do you believe
that this is the
authoritative,
inspired word of God,
that it is perfect,
that it is true,
that every word
that it is written
came from God to us?
We'd all shake our heads,
yes,
right?
We agree with that.
Well then,
what we talked about
in Matthew chapter 28,
what we talked about
in Acts chapter 1
is that Jesus says go.
Jesus says go.
So I think that
in our hearts
there's some of us
that would even argue
with an angel
that pops up
behind our recliner,
right?
Because we won't listen
to Jesus to go.
But that's what we see.
You know,
he says yes.
He says yes.
And then I love this.
Verse 27,
before the interaction
begins,
it says simply
in verse 27
that he met him.
That he met him.
How many people
a day do you meet?
How many people
a day do you interact with?
How many people
a day do we
pull through
a drive-through
and scan our card
and grab our food
and go?
How many people
a day do we
interact with
at a grocery store
or a line?
How many people
a day?
How many people
do you work
with people
that literally
their desk
is 20 feet
from yours
and you don't
know who they are?
How many people
do we meet
but we don't know?
God didn't give him
a sign
but it simply says
that he met him.
That he met him.
What if we begin
to think through
the individuals
and the people
that God bring us
and the timing
of all these things
and begin
to go ahead
and set
within the mindset
of our heart
and who we are
is this a God
appointment?
Is this a God
appointment?
And so now
the person
at Starbucks
isn't someone
just taking our order
but is it a God
appointment?
Now the person
who's delivering
our mail
isn't just someone
to be there
and then we can
yell at them
because they didn't
come the day before
right?
But it's a God
appointment.
What if the person
at the grocery
store
is not someone
to just give us
something
but what if it's
a God appointment?
But then what I love
within here
is God takes us
on this ride
as the
in verse 29
it does also
say though
that the spirit
says to him
right
and the spirit
said to Philip
go over
and join
this chariot.
I love that
because Philip
has got the mindset
of I'm gonna
go and do
and I've got
all of these
and so I'm
looking
I'm looking
I'm thinking
and then in this
moment the spirit
says to him
and I'm telling
more times than not
I've heard people
say so many times
I just wish
the spirit
would tell me
but I don't
hear him.
I go back
to our series
on prayer
we're not gonna
reteach it
but two of the
things that we
took out
do you want to
hear from the
spirit of God?
Two things
that I think
can help us
with that
number one
pray consistently
every day
and listen
every day
but also pray
continuously
all the time.
You know
it's hard
to communicate
with someone
that we never
talk to.
Think about that.
It's hard
to communicate
with someone
we never
talk to
and we so
often times
want to hear
from God
but the question
is are we
communicating
with him?
Philip was
chosen
to be a
deacon
because people
saw the
evidence of
the spirit
of God
and the
wisdom
of God
in him
because before
it was a
job description
before it was
anything else
he was living
and communing
with God
right?
Listening
and looking
is not about
angels
in dreams
and burning
bushes
in the desert.
There's only
been a handful
of people
right?
That things
like this
have happened
to.
But listening
and looking
for the spirit
of God
to be led
by the spirit
of God
is simply
just being
obedient
to what
we know
the wisdom
that God
has set
for us.
What do you
think they
saw
in Philip
when they
chose him?
I bet
they saw
someone
who in
every moment
of his
life
was seeking
to be
obedient
to the
call of
God
on his
life
right?
And then
lastly
we're going
to close
with this.
What we
got to see
with Philip
what we
got to see
in his
life
is what
I call
participating
with God
right?
Participating
with God
and it's
what God
is inviting
us to
right?
I'm going
to take a
burden
off of
you.
You
can't
save
anyone.
You
can't.
Neither
can I.
We
can't
save
them.
God
saves
people.
And what
God
does
is God
invites
us
into
this.
God
says
here's
what I'm
going to
do.
Here's
how I'm
going to
work.
Here's
what I'm
going to
make
known.
And in
this
you
get
to
participate
in it.
Now I
went to a
Carolina football
game last
night and
we don't
have to
really talk
about how
that game
turned out
but I'm
used to it
by now.
All right?
Been 42
years of
suffering.
All right?
Even when we
were good we
weren't good
enough.
All right?
It's the
gospel.
All right.
We were in
the stands
and me
and Grayson
were those
obnoxious
fans come
up on the
thing make
some noise
and we'd
lean over
and hit the
metal bleachers
as hard as
we could in
front of us
and my
wife and
daughter would
look down
at us like
really?
Yeah.
We're that
guy right?
Yeah.
In a
slight glimmer
that we can
get like three
turnovers in
three seconds
right?
We stay to
the end
you know?
Just in
that hope
right?
In that
moment.
And sometimes
we think that
that's what
the gospel
is.
We just
stand on the
sidelines and
cheer for what
God's doing.
And that
ain't it.
That ain't
it.
Participating in
the gospel is
not about standing
on the sidelines
and always saying
yeah God
you go do it
all right?
Participating is
getting in the
game.
Getting in the
game.
And when you
get in the
game you get
bruises and
you get cuts
and you get
bloody and it's
hard.
When you get
in the game
it's a battle
it's pressing
but what is
beautiful is
your teammate
is the one
who never
fails.
Your teammate
is the one
that crosses
the finish
line.
Your teammate
is the one
who does it
all and who
gets all the
glory and the
beauty of it
is he says
come do this
with me.
Right?
Come do this
with me.
And so what
we see is
God saves
people you
and I
don't but
we can
participate
with him.
What I
love about
this story
is God
provided the
word.
When Philip
walks up
he's reading
out of
Isaiah
but God
says hey
Philip I'm
going to
provide the
word.
I'm going to
provide the
setting.
I'm going to
provide all
these things
but here's what
I'm going to
give you to
brother.
Go be the
messenger in
that moment.
Well who is
this lamb?
Let me tell
you about
this.
Jesus.
God
provided the
person.
Philip just
simply told
him who
Jesus was.
Look at
verse 34
and 35.
And the
eunuch
said to
Philip
about whom
I ask you
does the
prophet say
this about
himself
or someone
else?
In verse
35 then
Philip opened
his mouth
beginning with
this scripture
he told him
the good
news about
Jesus.
He provided
it.
In these
moments
here's
where I fail
so many
times.
I answer
the question
but I
don't dive
into the
gospel.
Philip
could have
just said
man it's
Jesus
catch you
later man
I know
you're on
a journey
right?
But it
says he's
in the
chariot
he's
in his
life
he's
going
wherever
he's
going
he's
doing
whatever
he's
doing
that are
on the
journey
it doesn't
matter
and he
begins to
share with
him.
And then
I love
this
I love
this
participating
with God
God provided
the water
God provided
the water
What road
are they on?
The desert
road.
What makes
a desert
a desert?
Lack of
water
right?
And God
provided the
water.
He provided
the person
he provided
the means
of his
salvation
and the
working of
the spirit
God saves
him and
then God
provided the
water and
Philip simply
went and
baptized him.
Church I want
you to hear
this.
Please hear
this.
It doesn't
take a
pastor to do
this.
It takes a
follower of
Christ who's
willing to say
yes.
And Philip
doesn't say
no no no
now let's
wait a minute
we gotta wait
and hopefully
an angel
will appear
to one
of the
apostles
and then
they'll
come out
here too
and we
can kind
of wait
we can
see we
can get
this
scheduled
and we
can get
this taken
care of.
Now Philip
says now
let's get
dirty let's
get down
into this
and so
they walk
down into
the water
and he
baptizes
him.
And then
largely the
story of
Philip's
done.
We see him
again in
Acts chapter
21 when
he's visited
by Paul.
But here
in this
moment is
the high
emphasis
of importance
that we
see as
he seeks
to be
obedient and
to be led
by the
spirit.
What's your
responsibility
in baptism?
Take off
your title.
What's
my
responsibility?
Let me
ask you
this.
In all
that you
do are
you being
led by
the Holy
Spirit?
Are you
looking for
opportunities
of obedience
especially in
the difficult
ones?
And then
where is
he taking
you?
Who's
determining
your schedule
every single
day?
Are you
trusting in
God's
timing?
Admitting
that he
knows best
and not
you?
Who
has God
given
you?
Who
has God
given
you?
Who
is
that
thorn
in the
flesh
the
pain
the
depth
of
the
lost
person
that
you
know
and
you're
saying
no no no
you don't
know them
if you knew
them you would
know there's no
way God
would save
them.
Well can I tell you
before I got
saved
somebody said
do you know
him?
And more than
likely there's a
whole group of
us in here
that before you
got saved
somebody went
oh no
not him
and maybe
even after
are you
sure?
Right?
Who has God
given you?
But be the
messenger
share
study God's
word
give the
answer
and then here's
what I want to
challenge you
with
here's what I
want to
impress on your
heart
here's what I
want to lay
there
be the one
that baptizes
be the one
that baptizes
baptism is
not
it is
ordained
it is
called
it's what
the church
does
not just
by the
pastors
and so as
I'm talking
to someone
I'm asking
them
I mean
who shared
the gospel
with you?
Who's the
greatest
influencer
in your
life?
Who's the
one that
are bringing
you alongside?
Who's
discipling
you?
And what
I would
love to
see
what flips
this
country
what flips
this world
what flips
this community
upside down
is that when
men and
women are
investing in
the unlikely
sharing the
gospel with
them and
they're the
ones that
are seeing
through the
power of
the Holy
Spirit of
what God
is doing
and turning
their lives
upside down
and taking
those unlikelies
and making
them the
saved saints
that God's
going to use
to empower
the kingdom
and then it's
not the
bows
it's not
the pastors
it's not
the leadership
that's
baptizing
but it's
the men
and women
who are
boldly
sharing their
faith
living through
the power
of the
gospel
it's the
Philips
it's the
Philips
that are
out there
and it's
the Philips
that are
baptizing
let's pray
Lord I thank
you for the
life of
Philip
Lord I thank
you for who
he was
and what he
did
Lord I thank
you that
sitting here
in this
room
Lord there
are so
many men
and women
who are
Philips
they love
you Lord
they desire
your will
for their
life
Lord would
you just
help us
to open
our ears
to hear
open our
eyes
to see
Lord bring
bring our
unlikely to
us
Lord may
we pray
for them
that they
would know
you
Lord may
we share
with them
so that they
could know
Lord may
we be willing
to be
inconvenienced
Lord may
we be willing
to be bold
Lord would
we be willing
to
to stop
being the
people
that sit
in the
nosebleed
section
and
bang on
the bleachers
and watching
everybody
do the
work
but Lord
may we be
the ones
that get
off
and go
and get
the game
game's
hard
game's
tough
we don't
always feel
like we're
winning
but Lord
we know
that you
win
so Lord
I thank
you
that all
you take
is unlikely
people
and save
them
that all
you take
is unlikely
people
and use
them
you're
taking
old
things
making
them
new
you're
redeeming
our
past
and our
failures
so that
people may
know what
we've
done
but that
just gives
us Lord
a springboard
to be able
to share
with them
what you're
doing
I know
that's who
I was
but now
this is who
I am
in Christ
I know
that's what
I did
but this
is how
I've been
saved
this is how
I've been
redeemed
this is how
I've been
forgiven
I know
that's who
my identity
was
but this
is my
identity
now
I know
that I
was dead
but now
I'm alive
we're all
unlikely
Jesus we
thank you
for the
opportunity
to be
a part
for you
choosing
us
saving
us
calling
us
into the
game
Lord I
pray that
we would
respond
in
likeness
Lord if
there's
anyone here
who does
not know
you
Lord
they're the
Ethiopian
eunuch
sitting
in the
chariot
doing
religious
works
showing
up to
religious
festivals
building
questions
Lord I
pray that
today
or through
the power
of your
spirit
Lord
their lives
would be
saved
that their
lives
would be
changed
that they
would
surrender
every
part of
their
identity
of who
they
are
Lord I
pray that
they would
find
forgiveness
at the
cross
Lord I
pray that
they would
find hope
and eternity
and a
meaning
and identity
based on who
you are
and not who
they are
Lord I
pray that
they would
not lean
in on
their
limited
understanding
but they
would press
into
and lean
into
the wisdom
and the
sovereignty
of God
and that
today would
be the day
of their
salvation
Lord I
pray for
every single
one of us
that's in
here
that's
online
Lord
and I
pray that
right now
in this
moment
Lord give
us our
unlikely
through the
kindness of
your spirit
speak their
name into
our hearts
paint their
picture in
our brain
Lord would
we just
say yes
whatever it
takes
if it
means getting
on a road
to a desert
then I'll
get on a
road to a
desert
if it
means a
conversation
that makes
me feel
uncomfortable
then it's a
conversation
that I'll
have
because I
want to be
led by your
spirit
I want to
see people
saved
I want to
see the
kingdom
grow
I want to
see lives
transformed
and we'll
glorify you
for it
in Jesus
name we
pray
amen
we got
prayer
encouragers
on either
side of
the auditorium
maybe today
you would
like to
talk to
someone about
a relationship
with Christ
they're going
to be back
here
tell you what
I think
I'll be
I'll be at
the very
back
back here
as well
maybe today
you're saying
that
man
you're the
Ethiopian
you got
questions
we want
to talk
to you
we want
to share
we want
to point
you to
Jesus
we'd love
to do
that
but I
want to
do this
and
burger
promise
man
you'll
start
playing
here's
what
we're
going
to do
well you're
still
playing
man
here's
what I
want you
to do
if you've
got that
unlikely
if you've
got that
unlikely
I want
to ask
this morning
that you're
going to
respond to
God
and
acknowledging
that
and as
we stand
to sing
I want
to ask
you
if you
know
who
that
unlikely
is
I want
to ask
you
to come
down
front
in an
act
of
I'm
going
to submit
this
to the
Lord
submit
my
obedience
to him
and just
kneel down
here before
him
and just
pray
that God
would use
you
pray for
their
salvation
that God
would use
you to
show
that God
would use
you
and that
God
would draw
them
to himself
and that
they
would be
saved
and so
as the
band
leads
us
if
you've
got
that
one
you
come
down
here
let's
get on
our
knees
before
him
say
God
whatever
it
takes
whatever
it
takes
respond
how
God
is
leading
you
this
morning
thanks
again for
listening to
the
Willow Ridge
Church
weekly
podcast
we hope
that you
enjoyed
listening to
this week's
message
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