{"id":32040,"date":"2024-07-31T22:00:28","date_gmt":"2024-08-01T05:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts-8_14-25-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-07-31T22:27:37","modified_gmt":"2024-08-01T05:27:37","slug":"acts-8_26-40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts-8_26-40\/","title":{"rendered":"Start With Where They\u2019re At"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 8:26-40 \u00a0 \u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is\u00a0Acts\u00a08:26-40.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Acts 8:26-28 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n26\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road–the desert road–that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”<\/em>
\n27\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0So 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,<\/em>
\n28\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 26-28:\u00a0 God tells Philip to go south to the desert road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza.\u00a0 God doesn\u2019t tell Philip why.\u00a0 On his way Philip meets the treasurer of the Egyptian government.\u00a0 According to the New American Commentary, eunuchs in the ancient Near East were men who had been castrated at a young age and were put in charge of the royal harem and the treasury.\u00a0 \u00a0Not only was this eunuch therefore carrying great responsibility and authority, but also this eunuch was spiritually hungry.\u00a0 In fact this Ethiopian eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship God and was reading the book of Isaiah on his way home.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

First,<\/strong>\u00a0power, influence and status cannot satisfy the spiritual thirst in our hearts<\/strong>.\u00a0 That\u2019s why even the rich and powerful find themselves searching for answers that money and power cannot provide.<\/p>\n

Second,\u00a0you can tell a person\u2019s spiritual hunger by the decisions they make and the actions they take<\/strong>.\u00a0 Anyone can say, \u201cI\u2019m a spiritual person\u201d, but the proof is in their habits, the way they use their time and resources.<\/p>\n

Acts 8:29-35 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n29\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”<\/em>
\n30\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.<\/em>
\n31\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. \u00a0<\/em>
\n32\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth.<\/em>
\n33\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”<\/em>
\n34\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”<\/em>
\n35\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 29-35:\u00a0 I love this.\u00a0 Instead of waiting for the Ethiopian eunuch to come to Philip, the Holy Spirit tells Philip to go to where the Ethiopian eunuch is at.\u00a0 Then Philip notices what the eunuch is reading, asks him questions and starting from the very place where the eunuch was at, begins to lead the eunuch to Jesus.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0If you want to lead someone to Jesus, start with where they are at<\/strong>.\u00a0 Don\u2019t simply expect them to come to you; rather you go to them.\u00a0 Instead of imposing your will upon them without any context about what they are going through, take an interest in them, understand where they are coming from and the questions they are asking, and let the Holy Spirit lead from there.<\/p>\n

Acts 8:36-38 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n36\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?”<\/em>
\n37\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>
\n38\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 36-38:\u00a0 Once again, just as we see over and over in Acts, belief in Jesus and baptism go hand in hand.\u00a0\u00a0The moment someone believes that Jesus is the Son of God, that\u2019s the moment they can get baptized.<\/strong>\u00a0 Baptism is not a graduation, but a beginning.\u00a0 It\u2019s God\u2019s simple way for people to say: \u201cI need a Saviour and His name is Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also, under the law of Moses, a castrated man was not allowed to draw near to the Holy Place of God (Leviticus 21:18-23).\u00a0 Yet here we see the eunuch, who was probably castrated, a black Gentile, and the Holy Spirit reaches to him through Philip and accepts him fully as a baptized member of the church.\u00a0 It goes to show once again that\u00a0God\u2019s love is greater than racial and cultural barriers, and God\u2019s heart beats for people of every ethnicity and background<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

By the way, maybe you\u2019re wondering why verse 37 is empty.\u00a0 Apparently, later manuscripts contained an added verse where, in response to the eunuch\u2019s question in verse 36 \u201cWhy shouldn\u2019t I get baptized\u201d, Philip is quoted as replying, \u201cIf you believe with all your heart, you may\u201d, to which the eunuch says, \u201cI believe that Jesus is the Son of God.\u201d\u00a0 However, earlier manuscripts do not have this.\u00a0 A later scribe thought it was necessary to add it in when in fact it wasn\u2019t necessary, for the Scriptures in their original form already strongly imply that the eunuch believed the message of Jesus and thus got baptized.\u00a0 Still, this later addition, even though it is not part of Scripture, suggests that early Christians confessed their belief that Jesus is the Son of God as part of getting baptized.<\/p>\n

Acts 8:39-40 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n39\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.
\n40\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 39-40:\u00a0 Soon after baptizing the eunuch, Philip is suddenly taken away and continues to preach the gospel in other places.\u00a0 Meanwhile, the eunuch rejoices on his way back home.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 We never know when it\u2019s our turn to be taken away, so wherever we are, let\u2019s remember that we are ambassadors and representatives of Jesus Christ.\u00a0\u00a0Just like the Ethiopian eunuch was a royal representative of Ethiopia and entrusted with great treasure, so you are a royal representative of the kingdom of God and you have been entrusted with the greatest treasure: the gospel of Jesus Christ.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Father, thank You for sending Your Son Jesus to meet me where I was and to show me who You are.\u00a0 Now, wherever I go, I am through Jesus Christ Your royal representative, entrusted with the greatest treasure of all.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is\u00a0Acts\u00a08:26-40.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nActs 8:26-28 (NIV)
\n26\u00a0\u00a0Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road–the desert road–that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
\n27\u00a0\u00a0So 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,
\n28\u00a0\u00a0and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 26-28:\u00a0 God tells Philip to go south to the desert road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza.\u00a0 God doesn\u2019t tell Philip why.\u00a0 On his way Philip meets the treasurer of the Egyptian government.\u00a0 According to the New American Commentary, eunuchs in the ancient Near East were men who had been castrated at a young age and were put in charge of the royal harem and the treasury.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32042,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32040","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\/32040","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=32040"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32043,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32040\/revisions\/32043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}