{"id":20860,"date":"2022-03-28T22:00:15","date_gmt":"2022-03-29T05:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts_7_44-60-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-03-22T14:47:42","modified_gmt":"2022-03-22T21:47:42","slug":"acts_8_1-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts_8_1-13\/","title":{"rendered":"The One You Need More Than Anyone Else"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 8:1-13 \u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Acts 8:1-13.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Acts 8:1-3 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-3:\u00a0 As a high ranking Pharisee, Saul spent much of his life studying the Scriptures and doing his best to live what he believed was a moral and upright life.\u00a0 Yet because Saul had yet to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and did not yet have the Holy Spirit, his life was heading in the opposite direction of where God wanted him to go.\u00a0 Until Saul personally met Jesus and received the Holy Spirit, Saul would be used by the enemy as an instrument to destroy the church.\u00a0 Saul thought that he was doing God\u2019s work when he went out to persecute and destroy the church.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 You can have great intelligence, education and status in the eyes of people.\u00a0 You can work hard at the things you believe God wants you to do.\u00a0 But if you don\u2019t acknowledge Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, if you\u2019re not depending on the Holy Spirit to guide your steps, your life can very well be headed in an opposite direction to where God intended you to go. \u00a0If you don\u2019t have the Spirit of God guiding your steps, it doesn\u2019t matter how talented, experienced, or successful you are in the eyes of people, and it doesn\u2019t matter how much of God\u2019s Word you think you know.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0True life and lasting fruit are in Jesus Christ, knowing Jesus as your Saviour, following Him as your Lord, and depending on His Holy Spirit to lead the way.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Acts 8:4 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 4:\u00a0 God can take a problem and turn it into an opportunity.\u00a0 Persecution meant that the church could no longer gather within the city of Jerusalem the way they used to, but the church turned that problem into an opportunity, seeing this time as an opportunity to share the good news of Jesus with people in every place where they had been scattered.\u00a0\u00a0Learn to see every problem as an opportunity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Acts 8:5-8 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So there was great joy in that city.
\n<\/em>
\nOn verses 5-8:\u00a0 In John 4, when Jesus passes through Samaria and reaches out to a Samaritan woman, John describes how the culture of that day was such that Jews typically did not associate with Samaritans (John 4:19). \u00a0\u00a0Now here we see Philip reaching across cultural and racial prejudices and serving the people in Samaria.\u00a0 He proclaims the hope of Jesus to them, heals the paralyzed, delivers those struggling with evil spirits, and brings great joy to that Samaritan city.\u00a0 \u00a0That\u2019s the love of God at work:\u00a0when God\u2019s love is at work in a person, He inspires that person to reach people that no one else is reaching, racial barriers and prejudices are broken down, and God\u2019s joy and power are evident<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Also, most scholars believe that the Philip mentioned here is the Philip who was chosen as one of the seven in Acts 6:5.\u00a0 If that is the case,\u00a0it goes to show that when you have a heart to serve and to \u201cwait on tables\u201d (Acts 6:2) (i.e. serve people even if it is not the most high profile ministry), there is no limit to what God can do in and through you<\/strong>.\u00a0 It all begins with having a humble and willing heart to serve others.<\/p>\n

Acts 8:9-13 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is the divine power known as the Great Power.”
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 9-13:\u00a0 Simon was a magician who became a Christian.\u00a0 Philip was a humble Christian whom God enabled to do not magic but even more incredible signs and wonders.\u00a0 \u00a0Simon boasted about how great he was (v9).\u00a0 Philip boasted about how great Jesus is (v12).<\/p>\n

All of us are like Simon, full of ourselves, living for our own fame and glory.\u00a0 And all of us need someone like Philip to leads us to the true \u201cGreat Power\u201d who is Jesus Christ.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, notice once again the connection between belief and baptism.\u00a0 Not maturity and baptism, but belief and baptism.\u00a0 As soon as a person believed in Jesus, they were baptized.\u00a0 Baptism is not you saying \u201cLook how spiritually mature, good and committed I am to Jesus\u201d.\u00a0 Rather baptism is you saying \u201cI need a Saviour and His name is Jesus.\u00a0 Thank You Jesus for being so committed to me even when I wasn\u2019t committed to you.\u201d\u00a0 If you believe Jesus to be your Saviour, the way to express that faith is through baptism.\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t wait to become \u201cspiritually mature\u201d before you get baptized, for baptism is not a graduation but a beginning.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lord Jesus, thank You for showing me over and over in this passage how much I need You.\u00a0 I need You to be my Saviour who saves me from my sins, and I need You to be my Lord who leads the way for me.\u00a0 Thank You that every problem I face today is an opportunity in disguise.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Acts 8:1-13.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Acts 8:1-3 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 1-3:\u00a0 As a high ranking Pharisee, Saul spent much of his life studying the Scriptures and doing his best to live what he believed was a moral and upright life.\u00a0 Yet because Saul had yet to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and did not yet have the Holy Spirit, his life was heading in the opposite direction of where God wanted him to go.\u00a0 Until Saul personally met Jesus and received the Holy Spirit, Saul would be used by the enemy as an instrument to destroy the church.\u00a0 Saul thought that he was doing God\u2019s work when he went out to persecute and destroy the church.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nWhat can we learn from this?\u00a0 You can have great intelligence, education and status in the eyes of people.\u00a0 You can work hard at the things you believe God wants you to do.\u00a0 But if you don\u2019t acknowledge Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, if you\u2019re not depending on the Holy Spirit to guide your steps, your life can very well be headed in an opposite direction to where God intended you to go. \u00a0If you don\u2019t have the Spirit of God guiding your steps, it doesn\u2019t matter how talented, experienced, or successful you are in the eyes of people, and it doesn\u2019t matter how much of God\u2019s Word you think you know.\u00a0\u00a0True life and lasting fruit are in Jesus Christ, knowing Jesus as your Saviour, following Him as your Lord, and depending on His Holy Spirit to lead the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20872,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20860"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20873,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20860\/revisions\/20873"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}