Text: Acts 8:26-40, Title: In 2008 II, Date/Place: NRBC, 1/6/08, PM
A. Opening illustration: “I have resolved not to do drugs anymore, because I get the same effect just standing up really fast.” “I have resolved to live in my own little world, because at least they know me here.” “I have resolved to stay married, because it is so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.” “I have resolved to not make any resolutions, because nobody is perfect. I’m a nobody, therefore I’m perfect.”
B. Background to passage: Having just seen the moving of the Spirit of God in Samaria and the entrance into the kingdom of the Samaritans, revival was happening, and Philip was right in the middle of it. Then God leads him away from the revival, away from the hot spot to meet an individual in need of Jesus.
C. Main thought: As today is the first Sunday of 2008, I want to look at this passage related to some New Year’s Resolutions for us in the coming year.
A. Let us prioritize personal evangelism (v. 35)
1. The translation is “preached,” but the Greek is euangellion, which means to tell the good news. There are other words for preach that mean to proclaim or herald loudly, but this means to excitedly share. And this was done “as they were going” or traveling. Philip just sat down beside him and told him about the scripture in Isaiah and Jesus. Later in the book of Acts Philip was called “the evangelist.” Good title that he had earned for himself, even though in our text, he was just doing what he was told. But the fact remains that he made personal evangelism a priority. And the bible is clear that it is the mandate for all Christians to share their faith. Yet many do not.
2. Acts 21:8, 1 Pet 3:15, 2 Cor 5:11, 1 Cor 9:19-22,
3. Illustration: I remember a time when I had two hours of conversation with this man on business who was an ex-Catholic, then there was that student from Yale doing a study on social-political groups, then there was that family of Catholics all together, Two out of three born again Christians (64%) accept Jesus Christ as their savior before their 18th birthday, “If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.” – Spurgeon, tell about Shoshanna, D’Nise, Kelly, Ellen, and the rest…tell about Wal-Mart, Golden Corral, neighborhood,
4. I was thinking the other day how NRBC had experienced a little growth after taking a big step of faith; the growth had come from people who were already Christians. And one of the big differences in S. Ga and Maine is that you can’t just hang out a sign or website and have people pour in. And the only real way that our church is going to grow the kingdom here in Tifton is to go tell other people about Jesus, especially those that do not believe. And the way that you do it is just like Philip, when God provides the opportunity you walk beside or ride with or work with or family get together with that person and share how your treasure meets their needs conversationally. We are going to offer a class to help you deal with your fears, and perceived inadequacies. You will learn the necessary scripture, what to say, some common approaches, strategies (such as servant evangelism), and practice. And the least you can do is to go and invite others to church. TREASURE CHRIST BY MAKING THIS THE YEAR THAT YOU LEAD SOMEONE ELSE TO TREASURE CHRIST!
B. Let us teach and baptize (v. 36-38)
1. Philip must have been instructing him on many things as they traveled. Because nothing is said of baptism, but as soon as they pass some water, that’s what the eunuch wants. By the way, immediate baptism was the NT practice whether it is clearly commanded or not. And even though v. 37 is probably not original, but added later, it is probably something that happened, and gives us a good reminder of what we are shooting for: “with all your heart.” The word disciple means a “learner.” A disciple is one who pursues Jesus, who strives to observe all that Jesus taught.
2. Luke 6:40, 9:57-62, 14:26-27, 33, Matt 23:15,
3. Illustration: Picture a large manufacturing plant in your town or city that produces shoes. The management has invested great sums of money and many man-hours into the plant to produce the finest shoes possible. Money has been spent on salaries for the employees, machinery for shoe making, and materials from which the shoes are to be made. The plant is now in operation with hundreds of workers scurrying to and fro. Machines are running full blast, and activity is at a maximum. One day the president asks the production manager, “How many shoes have we produced so far?” “None,” the manager answers. “None?” the president exclaims. “How long have we been in operation?” “Two years.” “Two years? And still no shoes?” “That’s right,” the manager says, “No shoes, but we are really busy. In fact, we have been so busy that we are all nearly tired out. We’ve been very active at our jobs.” The management would probably be very concerned, fire somebody, try to find out what the problem was. If we now put a cross on top of that building and transform it into the church on the corner—your church, we find much activity going on. Men and women are working hard. The budget is higher this year than ever before. The objective, however, is to produce disciples. Has all that money and man-hour in your church gone into the production of disciples for Jesus Christ’, I was reading a new discipleship manual this week, and the author made a profound but simple observation about our expectations of disciple-making with 8 week classes, Barna research shows consistently that “born again Christians” don’t as a whole believe like or act like biblical teaching regarding belief and behavior, this demonstrates a failure on the church’s behalf,
4. The trend of apostasy is growing among young people, and as the statistics given at the Mell Bapt Assn meeting, we are losing generations quicker as they get younger. So it is not only the structure of our families and children and youth ministries that must be reexamined, we must look at how we disciple the entire church. We must remember that our ultimate task is not to make converts, but to make disciples. This is why Jesus instructed us in the Great Commission to “teach them to observe all things which I have commanded you.” We must examine and potentially reevaluate our process of making disciples. We may have to get rid of the programs that we are used to that aren’t producing disciples. We are may have to completely overhaul some that stay. And that will be uncomfortable. And we will have to adjust or mindset and our standards. And change is really hard. But ultimately it is for obedience to Christ’s command and for the survival of our church and of the Christian faith. TREASURE CHRIST BY MAKING A COMMITMENT TO BECOME AND TO MAKE DISCIPLES!
C. Let us have an insatiable desire for ministry (v. 40)
1. Immediately after his ministry there between Jerusalem and Gaza, Philip is whisked away to other places. And you know what he begins to do when he arrives in Azotus (also known as Ashdod, a formerly Philistine city on the coast of Israel)? He continued in ministry. He preached up the coast in some of Israel’s biggest cities and smallest villages and stopped in Caesarea. Which by the way, is where he is found some twenty years later, no known Philip the Evangelist, still doing what he was doing in Acts 8.
2. John 6:27,
3. Illustration: the story I read the other day about a man who called the pastor of a certain church and told him that he wanted to become a member of his church. But the man went on to tell the past that he would not be at worship ever week, that he was not going to study the Bible, that he had no desire to visit the sick or to serve as a Sunday School teacher or member of any committee in the church. After hearing what the man had to say the pastor commended him for his desire to be a church member, but told him the church he was looking for was located in another part of town. The man wrote down the address, thanked the pastor and hung up the phone. He then decided to go find the church the minister had told him about. When he arrived at the address, the man came face to face with the result of his own attitude of not wanting to be involved…There standing in front of him was an abandoned church building that was all boarded up and ready to be demolished. “Let us labor for the Master from the dawn to setting sun…”
4. Ministry has become sort of a catch word for anything that the church does. And if you talk to the nominating committee, they will tell you that filling all the slots is like pulling teeth. And then there is the scenario where a ministry is about to be discontinued because of lack of labor, and someone in desperation says that they will take it so that it won’t go away. That is not very helpful. Ask the men who pick up the trash on New River Church Rd. The truth is that, like Philip, we should have a desire in our hearts for ministry. We should desire to give our lives away to others. If we do we shall have a lot of crowns and a lot of hallelujahs when we get to heaven. If it is a real desire in our hearts, and we have a little discipline in our lives, we can prioritize it just like coming to church, hahaha. I heard about a pastor last week that went to another church on Sunday without telling anyone that he was leaving to let them know how it feels to just not show up. TREASURE CHRIST BY LIVING YOUR LIFE IN SERVICE OF OTHERS THROUGH MINISTRY!
A. Closing illustration: Our “aim is that Jesus Christ be made known in all the world as the all-powerful, all-wise, all-righteous, all-merciful, all-satisfying Treasure of the universe. This will happen when Christians don’t just say that Christ is valuable, or sing that he is valuable, but truly experience in their hearts the unsurpassed worth of Jesus with so much joy that they can say, ‘I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.’ (Phil 3:8) Christ will be glorified in the world when Christians are so satisfied in Him that they let goods and kindred go and lay down their lives for others in mercy, missions, and if necessary, in martyrdom. He will be magnified among the nations at the moment that Christians lose everything on earth, and say, ‘For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.’ (Phil 1:21) ‘Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured. For here we have no lasting city that is to come.’ (Heb 13:13-14) This we will do for the joy set before us!...Christ is supremely glorious and supremely valuable. Therefore He is worth the fight!” -Piper
B. Recap
C. Invitation to commitment
Additional Notes
• Is Christ Exalted, Magnified, Honored, and Glorified?
