Take Your Show On The Road

An Anatomy of a Call

A Reader’s Theater Rendering of Acts 8: 26-39

Reader 1 (A male voice) Reader 2 (A female voice)

Reader 3 (A male voice) Reader 4 (A female voice)

The Minstrel (MIN)

Reader 1: Then an angel of the Lord spoke to Phillip.

Reader 2: Go south to the road--the desert road--that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.

ALL: This is a wilderness road.

MIN: Isn’t that the way it is with a call from God? The call does not necessarily come at an opportune time, nor to a desirable situation. But there are people in need out there, and that is where God has called us to be. This text can be seen as an anatomy of a call, as typification of what the call is like.

Reader 1: Phillip got his call.

Reader 3: And do you know what he did next?

Reader 4: He got up and went.

MIN: Phillip didn’t look for further evidence, he didn’t search for additional data, he didn’t wait to be further prepared, he didn’t question his readiness… he got up and went.

ALL: He got up and went.

Reader 3: So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship.

Reader 4: On his way home he was sitting in his chariot reading from the book of Isaiah the prophet.

Reader 1: Then the Spirit said to Phillip

Reader 2: Go over to this chariot and join it.

Reader 4: Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet.

MIN: Phillip hears the man reading Isaiah. The eunuch is already on a journey of faith. God has already begun to work. Phillip is joining God where God is already working.

Reader 1: "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked.

Reader 3: "How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

Reader 2: The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:

Reader 4: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,

Reader 2: and as a lamb before the sheerer is silent,

Reader 4: so he did not open his mouth.

Reader 1: In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.

Reader 3: Who can speak of his descendants?

Reader 4: For his life was taken from the earth.

Reader 3: The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?"

Reader 1: Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

ALL: He told him the good news about Jesus.

Reader 2: As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said,

Reader 3: Look, here is water.

Reader 1: Look, here is water.

Reader 4: Look, here is water.

ALL: Why shouldn’t I be baptized?

Reader 2: Look…

Reader 4: Here…

Reader 3: Why shouldn’t I…

Reader 1: Why not now?

Reader 1: Phillip commanded the chariot to stop.

Reader 4: And both of them,

Readers 1&3: Phillip and the eunuch,

Reader 2: Both them went down into the water, and Phillip baptized him.

MIN: There was a call; there was an encounter; scripture was consulted; questions were raised; the situation was addressed; and they both got it done, together.

Reader 1: When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Phillip away…

Reader 3: And the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.

ALL: Amen!

We already know that we exist to SHOW the love of Jesus to our Community. Today, we’ll discover that God is calling us to…

Take Our “Show” On The Road

Our Text: Acts 8: 26-40

Philip responds to a Distinct Call

“Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road--the desert road--that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

“An angel of the Lord…” – This same phrase is translated “the angel of the Lord” or the “Spirit of the Lord” in different translations and in other places, including verse 29. Often we get deep into theological struggles with distinguishing between “The Spirit of the Lord”, “The Holy Spirit”, “The Angel of the Lord”, “an angel of the Lord”. The point here is rather straight-forward. Philip’s journey begins with God’s prompting. God is the one directing his travel plans. It is divine interaction that prompts this journey.

God often directs our journeys, even if we don’t discover his work until much further down the road.

- Ex: Decision to go to Alabama

God calls us through a personal encounter