One-On-One In The Desert

One-on-One in the Desert

Acts 8:26-40

Good Morning

Dr. Tony Beam said in a Christian Post Column, “Sports are considered to be 'team sports', but at times sports come down to a one-on-one matchup.

When a quarterback drops back to pass, looking for the open receiver, football becomes a one-on-one sport between the quarterback and the receiver.

The same is true for baseball. It takes all 9 players in the field for a game to happen, but at times, the outcome of the game comes down to a one-on-one between a pitcher and a batter.”

Evangelism is a team effort that should involve every member of the Body working together to see the lost come to Christ.

But no matter how many people come out to an evangelistic event, sometimes evangelism comes down to a one-on-one encounter between a Christian and a non-believer.

Please open your Bible to Acts 8…

Last week, we learned about Simon’s self-serving request to buy the gift of the Holy Spirit.

We learned that as Christ Followers, we can easily deceive ourselves and live in selfish pursuits while thinking we are serving the LORD.

The motives and intents of the heart regarding the choices we make must be clearly understood, so we must examine ourselves and ask why we are doing what we are doing.

Today, we are going to continue in the Book of Acts and learn about Philip’s one-on-one encounter with a seeker in the desert.

I. One-on-One Evangelism

Read Acts 8:26-29

An evangelism professor gave a definition of evangelism as “building a bridge from your heart to the heart of a lost person so Jesus can walk across.”

Bridge building requires close contact as well as a radical commitment to relationship building.

There is a term that has been coined, known as Friendship evangelism, which is where a Christian develops a relationship with a non-believer, eventually leading to sharing the Gospel.

Friendship Evangelism can feel less intimidating to the person receiving it than a stranger sharing the Gospel with them.

Acts 8:26-29 provides practical guidance for effective one-on-one evangelism.

In verse 26, an angel of the LORD told Philip, “Arise and go.”

The first task of anyone who wants to share the Gospel is to “Arise and go” where the LORD leads. It was the LORD who sent this angel to Philip with the prompting to go.

The Great Commission begins with the command to “go.”

Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. NKJV

Before we can “go,” we have to be willing to “get up”, that is, to be ready to respond to opportunities for sharing God’s Word.

The Church in America today has a “come to church and see” approach to the Gospel, rather than a go and tell approach.

But the invitation to “come and see” needs to be extended by people who are willing to get out of their comfort zones and outside of the four walls of the church.

This is why small groups are so important. Sometimes when we invite people to church, they are uncomfortable and have been burned by a church, but they will attend a meeting at a house.

Imagine Philip in Samaria, and the ministry was booming, and then all of a sudden, the Lord told him to go to the desert.

Can you hear Philip questioning the LORD? God, I hate the desert, and how does traveling to the desert grow the kingdom?

But Philip went where he could not physically see because he trusted the LORD’s view of the situation.

2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. NKJV

Many commentators believe the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch was how the Gospel was first delivered to Africa.

It is also good to notice that this eunuch was seeking the LORD, and we know this because he was reading from Isaiah.

Philip caught up to the Eunuch and began to speak with him one-on-one. If we are going to win people to Christ, we have to be willing to get close enough to build a relationship.

Friendship evangelism is when we maximize established relationships with unbelievers, to build new friendships with unbelievers, show love for Christ, and share the Gospel.

This doesn’t mean joining them in their sin, but it is having a relationship with them and letting our light shine into their lives.

Actively listening to the Holy Spirit to open doors of opportunity to communicate the Gospel to people in our lives.

Jesus practiced up close, evangelism with the woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, and Matthew the tax collector.

Jesus did not give a lot of time to those who opposed Him; instead, He spent time with sinners, without joining in their sin.