starting a conversation

Good evening friends,
We continue the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. Yesterday we saw an angel send Philip to a wilderness road between Gaza and Jerusalem. Then the Holy Spirit told Philip to go up to a chariot he saw there, with the eunuch inside. What happens next humbles me and, tradition says, gave birth to the Ethiopian Church, which is still active today.

God bless,
Sam

Acts 8:32-40

³²Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. ³³In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.”

³⁴The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” ³⁵Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. ³⁶As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” ³⁸He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

³⁹When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

follow the leader

Happy Fathers' Day to all the dads out there. Since I have an awesome dad of my own, I know what a difference you guys make. I hope you're enjoying the day. Our reading for today is part of the reading in worship today. We read over the last couple days how persecution drove the church away from Jerusalem, but God used that scattering to spread the gospel. Today we see where the Spirit leads Philip next. There's more on this story in today's sermon, which will soon be posted on our website.

Blessings on your evening,
Sam

Acts 8:26-31

²⁶Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) ²⁷So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship ²⁸and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.”

³⁰So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.

martyrdom and evangelism

Good afternoon friends,
You may have noticed when Stephen was killed the witnesses against him laid their coats at the feet of a man named Saul. We're told today that Saul approved Stephen's killing and that this killing was the beginning of a severe persecution. The cool thing is that God can even use persecution to good purposes. The church is scattered, so the word is proclaimed more widely. Philip, another of the seven deacons appointed with Stephen preaches the good news in Samaria and they receive the message about Jesus gladly. Whatever is going on in our life now, God can use it for good if we open our hearts. That doesn't mean it will be easy, just that there is always hope.
Blessing on the new week,
Sam

Acts 8:1-8

And Saul approved of their killing him. That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria. 2Devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him. 3But Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison.


4Now those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word. 5Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them. 6The crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what was said by Philip, hearing and seeing the signs that he did, 7for unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were possessed; and many others who were paralyzed or lame were cured. 8So there was great joy in that city.

Philip (and the Spirit) strikes again

Good morning brothers and sisters,
This morning's reading takes us back to Philip and to the founding of the Ethiopian church. It's sort of funny, here in the US we trace our faith back to Scotland and John Knox in the 1600s; in Ethiopia the Ethiopian Orthodox church traces its history to this passage in, say, 33 AD.

The Spirit tells Philip to take a particular road which leads him to an Ethiopian palace official returning home after worshiping in Jerusalem. The man is struggling with a piece of scripture and Philip asks if he wants some help. That offer leads to an opportunity to explain the good news about Jesus, which leads to the man's baptism and eventually to the faith of a nation. I love that scripture is so important to this passage because when we start with reading and seeking to understand scripture together amazing things can happen by the Spirit's power. Frankly, I think the Spirit is going to do exciting things at Laurelton through our deeper engagement with the Bible too.

The other thing I love about this passage is how open both Philip and the eunuch are to the Spirit's leading. The Spirit tells Philip to take a particular road and he goes; she tells him to go talk to a stranger and he goes; she picks him up and puts him down in a completely different town and he gets right back to proclaiming the good news where he is. The eunuch asks a stranger for help and after hearing the gospel sees water and immediately thinks baptism. I pray we would have the grace to seek and follow the Spirit's leading today.

God bless,
Sam

Acts 8:26-40

26Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) 27So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.

29Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” 30So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 32Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. 33In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” 34The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus.

36As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” 38He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

magic and power

Good morning everyone,
So after Philip preached the good news in Samaria and many people came to the Lord, Peter and John come to check things out. When they find out the Holy Spirit hasn't filled these new believers they lay hands on them and the Spirit comes. It's interesting because before this usually when people were baptized in Jesus' name the Spirit came right away, but the Spirit does whatever she wants.

We met Simon that magician yesterday and were told that he had been a crowd pleaser because of his magic. In yesterday's passage he came to faith, though that seems to have been at least in part because of the wonders Philip was doing. Today he asks the apostles to sell him the power of giving the Holy Spirit. Peter rebukes him and Simon repents; one can't buy God's favor or the Spirit's power. It's interesting that even though the wonders of God's power attract him, Peter's simple rebuke sets him on the right track.
blessings,
Sam

Acts 8:14-25

14Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit 16(for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). 17Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.


18Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19saying, “Give me also this power so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s gift with money! 21You have no part or share in this, for your heart is not right before God. 22Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the chains of wickedness.” 24Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may happen to me.” 25Now after Peter and John had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, proclaiming the good news to many villages of the Samaritans.

scattered, but still witnessing

Good morning all,
This morning we see the aftermath of Stephen's death: a severe persecution of the church. Saul approved of the killing of Stephen and now goes around dragging people out of their houses and putting them in prison. The church is scattered all over the area including not only Judea but Samaria as well. Samaria was thought of by most Jews as an unclean area. The Samarians had been brought in by the Babylonians during the exile to repopulate Israel and now they worshiped Israel's God, but most Jews still resented them as interlopers with bad theology. That's why Jesus's story of the good Samaritan is controversial.

Here too, the church makes an opportunity out of persecution. They scatter by necessity but turn that situation into mission. Philip is another of the deacons elected earlier who starts proclaiming the good news about Jesus and making new disciples. This expansion of the good news isn't just random either. Jesus gives the pattern for the church's mission in the beginning of Acts saying: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” We see this pattern unfolding as the church is scattered from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria. The rest of the book will show the church taking the message to the ends of the earth, a movement that continues with us today.

God bless,
Sam

Acts 8:1-13

And Saul approved of their killing him. That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria. 2Devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him. 3But Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison.
4Now those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word. 5Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them. 6The crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what was said by Philip, hearing and seeing the signs that he did, 7for unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were possessed; and many others who were paralyzed or lame were cured. 8So there was great joy in that city.

9Now a certain man named Simon had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he was someone great. 10All of them, from the least to the greatest, listened to him eagerly, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11And they listened eagerly to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12But when they believed Philip, who was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13Even Simon himself believed. After being baptized, he stayed constantly with Philip and was amazed when he saw the signs and great miracles that took place.