Sermon Tone Analysis

Pray

Introduction.

Does anyone remember the Ferrero Rocher ad in the 90s where the Ambassador is holding a reception for dignitaries?

And instead of serving the finest canapés, such as caviar and the like, the Ambassador steps it up a notch and serves Ferrero Rocher.

Do you remember that ad?

You might think that my mind is constantly on Ferrero Rocher…that’s partly true, but this ad fits with my message this morning.

In case you haven’t seen the ad, I’ve pretty much described it... it is set at a party hosted by an ambassador.

And the ambassador serves Ferrero Rocher instead of canapés in his party.

And the guests comment that the ambassador is spoiling them by serving these instead of the typical canapés.

And the point of the ad, in my head anyway, is to make people think one thing but surprise them by something even better....

...so the people watching the ad for the first time are expecting the ambassador to serve the finest canapés - caviar, vol au vents etc. but in a unique twist, he serves, what people regard as something BETTER…I mean what can be better than caviar and expensive canapés?

Ferrero Rocher of course.

And of course, the Ambassador is really spoiling them - pulling out the stops.

‘This is so much better than we expected.’

Pause

That’s the message of the book of Acts…Except that the gospel is not about amazing chocolate, but about the kingdom of God.

Because in the world, people are expecting a certain kind of life.

And the world thinks that this life is about being successful or wealthy, or to have security or family or friends…people are in pursuit of the best possible life they can get....They are in pursuit of the caviar and vol au vents.

But as you know that’s exhausting, and if we are really honest, there are only a handful of people who HAVE what the rest of the world THINK is the best life ever.

But that’s what people are looking for - or expecting…like the people in the ad expecting the finest canapés and caviar and so on.

But in the ad, they get something better…and in the kingdom of God, so do we.

Because here’s where the true gospel comes in - because the GOOD NEWS is that anyone who puts their faith and trust in Jesus Christ can have a BETTER life than the best life that the world offers.

But it means letting go of the desire for the caviar and the canapés - it means letting go of the desire for worldly success and the worldly pursuit of money and power and recognition...

...but it also means being a son or daughter of the King.

It means entrance into the Kingdom of God - a NEW kingdom, a different kingdom, a BETTER kingdom than any kingdom of the world.

Pause

And being a part of this kingdom means that how you think changes…

[Our thinking must change]

…No longer do you think for yourself.

No longer do you LIVE for yourself, but instead you’re constantly thinking of Jesus and how to live for him...

You are constantly seeking HIS will for your life.

You are constantly praying, as Jesus taught us to pray, THY kingdom come…THY will be done on earth in the same way it is in heaven.

And so living in the kingdom of God means a dramatic twist in the story.

It means a complete change of priorities and desires.

EVERYTHING now is focused on Jesus and serving HIM…but it means that life opens up into something that you could never expect it to become.

Life becomes FULL....

Full of meaning, full of opportunities, full of ways to worship God and serve Jesus…the one who gives us life to the full as he promised in John 10:10.

And of course, entrance into this kingdom is through our faith in Jesus Christ - by repenting of our sin and humbly coming to him and letting him be Lord of our lives - by giving everything to him as we talked about last week...

And as a result of that, we receive the Holy Spirit who is our guide in this NEW kingdom.

He provides the roadmap.

He’s the sat nav to navigate this new kingdom.

And we see this in our passage today...

Pause

Philip is in Samaria, as we saw in the past couple of weeks.

He’s preached the kingdom of God to them.

Many have believed and were baptised, and then an angel of the Lord tells Philip to go south to the middle of nowhere.

This is how kingdom people move…they hear the word of the Lord and they follow his leading.

And it takes guts to do this.

Philip is in a place where his ministry is flourishing, and he is prompted, by God to leave that place and go to the middle of nowhere.

So he goes and he sees this Ethiopian Eunuch in his chariot.

He’s from Ethiopia - which was considered the end of the world.

And this man is more than likely black…in other words, he’s obviously NOT a Jew.

Philip has preached the kingdom of God to the Samaritans, who were half-Jews…but this is a totally different ball-game.

But in the kingdom of God, you have a guide to help you navigate this kingdom living - the Holy Spirit.

And thankfully, the Holy Spirit tells Philip to go close to the chariot...

So Philip does what he’s told and he hears the eunuch reading from Isaiah.

Luke gives us a snippet of the passage he was reading.

He wasn’t just reading those verses - Luke is simply showing us where abouts in the bible he’s reading…and it’s Isaiah 53 - the suffering servant.

A part of the Old Testament that is as close to explicitly pointing to Jesus as it possibly can.

But this man can’t understand it so Philip explains it to him...

This man is ripe to hear the gospel.

He obviously believes and wants to be baptised, which Philip does, and then Philip is taken away by the Spirit and the eunuch goes on his way rejoicing because his life has now changed…he’s now a citizen of the kingdom of God.

Pause

That’s our passage…and there are a few things we can focus on here today…but what I want us to notice is how being a citizen of the kingdom of God means that we live and act as Jesus lived and acted.

Jesus has given us a template to follow when he was here on earth, and the closer we get to Jesus, the more like him we become, and the more like him we become, the more we will live and act like Jesus.

And that is what Luke is trying to show us in the book of Acts.

Because the way the book of Acts is written, it is like a replication of Luke’s first book - the gospel of Luke.

Remember, Luke wrote Luke’s gospel but he also wrote Acts.

And the way Acts is written by Luke is really clever.

Luke maps what happens to the believers in Acts to what happens to Jesus, to show his readers that the followers of Jesus live and act like Jesus lived and acted.

And the path of Jesus then becomes the path of the Christian.

[The path of Jesus is the path of the Christian]

So, to give a couple of examples…Jesus preached the kingdom of God - so do the early Christians.

Jesus was arrested - so were the early Christians.

Jesus was brought before the church leaders - so were the early Christians.

Jesus suffered persecution - so did the early Christians.

Jesus appeared before the Roman governor - so did Paul, an early Christian.

And actually, in this very portion of the bible, we see how Philip’s journey is mapped onto Jesus’ journey...

Pause

In Luke 24, after Jesus is risen from the dead, he meets some disciples on the road to Emmaus as they leave Jerusalem.

They don’t understand what’s happened, but Jesus opens the scriptures to them and explains that it was pointing to HIM all along.

Then there is a time of sacrament - the Lord’s supper, after which Jesus is taken away from their sight.

They go away and it’s evident that they were rejoicing.

I’m sure you remember this passage.

Now, do you see the parallels with Philip...

Philip meets this eunuch on a road as he leaves Jerusalem.

He doesn’t understand what he’s reading, but Philip opens the scriptures to him and explains that it’s about Jesus all along.

Then there’s a time of sacrament - this time it’s baptism, after which Philip is taken from his sight.

The eunuch goes on his way rejoicing.

[Show picture]

Pause

Do you see what Luke is doing here?

He’s showing us how our ministry should map Jesus’ ministry.

How we speak to people and deal with people should be the same way Jesus did…because we are citizens of a different kingdom - God’s kingdom.

And we serve a different king - Jesus.

And Philip is an example of what Luke wants us to get - that kingdom living means living like Jesus, being led by the Spirit and going to those to whom the Spirit leads.

Pause

Philip was a man who was full of the Spirit.

We know this from Acts 6:3.

So he was FULL of the Spirit, he was LED by the Spirit.