Sharing Jesus
Notes
Transcript
George Floyd prayers
Prayers for peace.
Prayers for unification
Prayers for those who are being persecuted and treated unfairly
Prayers for Police
Prayers for leaders
Pray for true peace
And Saul approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.
But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
Saul approved of the killing. And all except the Apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
Could you imagine? Up to this point the group of believers had been living a pretty normal life. They were hassled by the religious leaders and told to quit teaching in the name of Jesus. A couple had been arrested, but overall, it was a pretty normal life. They worshipped together often daily. They shared with whoever was in need. But they lived in more or less peace.
But with the murder of Stephen everything changed. There became a new normal. Now the persecution began.
They were scattered throughout their country.
They now there was a real chance they would be arrested or, maybe even killed because they believed that Jesus was the Messiah, their savior.
It just got real!
What was going to happen next?
Was the fledgling church going to fall apart? After all one of its most dynamic leaders had just been killed.
What about the ragtag group of relatively uneducated, unruly, and unfit leaders that had turned their back and ran when Jesus was arrested? Surely they would run for the hills.
Without a doubt, they would for sure be quiet, and the church would fade out of existence, right?
Not at all. If anything, the persecution showed us this group of believers in Jesus was unstoppable.
Check out Verse 4.
Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
The believers who were scattered, not the apostles mind you, everyone else were driven out of Jerusalem, which was the hub, to all over the country.
So in case you forgot, or never really knew. Judea and Samaria were the two countries that made up ancient Israel. Samaria was the Northern kingdom referred to as Israel. It was made up of 10 tribes, and they separated from the Southern Kingdom of Judah in 930 BC over who was selected as King.
The Northern Kingdom, Israel, was destroyed in 722 BC by the Assyrians. They intermarried with the locals which to the devout followers of the law that was the ultimate no no, they even had their own Temple to worship and their own version of the Torah or the law. They were anxiously awaiting the Messiah as well. Samaria was its main city and it became known by that name.
The Southern Kingdom, Judah, which did not fall until 586 BC, had Jerusalem as its capitol, believed the only true place to worship God was at the Temple in Jerusalem and prided themselves in being the purer version of the faith. They considered the Samaritans impure, unclean, and unruly. So, even thought they were all descendants of Abraham, they were all from the 12 original tribes of Israel, they had all gone through the Exodus, the judges and King Saul, David and Solomon together, they really did not like each other. The two parts did not make a whole. However, at this time in history, the Romans considered them one province, the province of Judea.
You may ask why the history lesson? but I think it is so important we understand how divided, how much disdain, how bitter the relationship between the two people groups were. The nation was divided in thought, religion (even though it was based on the same God), Race, and the way they thought. Sound familiar?
But back to the Bible story today.
The believers were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. The religious leaders thought for sure this would end the Jesus nuisance, but something else happened.
Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
The believers did not let the persecution quiet them down, instead, they became even more bold. Remember, the Apostles, had been the primary witness of the resurrection up to this point. They were the leaders of the church, but now all believers preached the word wherever they went.
This is a key point here that most of us all know now, but at that time, it had been mainly the apostles job to proclaim the word.
All Believers Should Preach the Word
All Believers Should Preach the Word
Interesting thing here, the Greek word for word is logos. The same word found in John 1 to describe Jesus.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
All Believers Should Preach the Word
All Believers Should Preach the Word
The believers were proclaiming, that is what preaching literally means, they were proclaiming to the world that Jesus was the Messiah, he is the savior of the world.
They boldly shared it all the time. The job of telling people about Jesus is not limited to the church leadership. It is every believers responsibility. We all are called to tell people about who Jesus is and what he did. You do not need a seminary degree, or to have every verse in the Bible memorized even though that would be impressive. You just need to tell people about who Jesus is and what he has done in your life.
Proclaim the Word Wherever You Go
Proclaim the Word Wherever You Go
Check out the story of Phillip. Phillip was one of the seven chosen alongside Stephen because he was known to be filled with Holy Spirit and wisdom. He answered God’s call to go and he ended up in Samaria of all places.
Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there.
When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said.
For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.
So there was great joy in that city.
So, Phillip went to Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah. He relied on the power of the Holy Spirit, and people listened to what he said. Later on we find out that many believed.
But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
So many believed the apostles sent John and Peter to disciple them.
Proclaim the Word Wherever You Go
Proclaim the Word Wherever You Go
He answered the call. He told and showed people Jesus. His obedience led to believers even in Samaria, probably the last place they would have spread the word if it was up to them.
Today we are spread out in a completely different way. We have a global ability they never had, but many of us are still sheltering at home. But wherever you are, you are still called to proclaim the word. Maybe it is in your family. Your Job. Maybe it is on social media or maybe it is a phone call or a letter. Wherever it is:
How do you need to proclaim who Jesus is where you are?
How do you need to proclaim who Jesus is where you are?
But Phillip did not stop in Samaria. God sent Phillip to someone. This is an awesome story of God revealing Jesus in a mighty way to someone who was seeking him out.
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship,
and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet.
The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
Let God Lead, Then Proclaim
Let God Lead, Then Proclaim
I think this is a pretty amazing story. God knew the Ethiopian eunuch was ready, so God told Phillip to be at the right place at the right time.
Phillip did not know exactly what God had planned for him. Only that God wanted him to go.
Once there, The Spirit did not fail Phillip. The Spirit told him to go to the chariot and stand near it. I love this next part. Did you catch Verse 30.
Let’s read it again.
Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
Phillip ran. He was so in tune with the Holy Spirit, he RAN to be obedient, to God. When was the last time you ran to be obedient to God?
Far too often for me, it is walk slowly, avoiding, whining, complaining, but I was thinking about this and I don’t ever remember RUNNING.
But anyway, Phillip ran. God didn’t tell Phillip to share the gospel. He didn’t even tell Phillip to speak. He just told him to go and stand by the chariot.
Then Phillip heard the man reading and he asked a simple question. Do you understand what you are reading?
Phillip did not sit and wait until God told him to speak. He went where God told him to go and then did what he knew to do. He proclaimed the word. He told the guy about Jesus.
And the guy believed.
As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”
Isn’t that an incredible story. God was working and had a great plan, but Phillip still had to be obedient. God used Phillip and God uses us.
Who is God calling you to tell about Jesus?
Who is God calling you to tell about Jesus?
I think it would be a travesty to talk about proclaiming the good news of Jesus without proclaiming the good news of Jesus. So, what did Phillip say to the Ethiopian Eunuch?
Let’s read that part of the story together.
This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”
The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”
Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
He told the eunuch how Jesus fulfilled this prophecy. Jesus willingly gave his life as the sacrificial lamb for the sins of all the world. But Jesus would have done it anyone of us. He freed us from the hopelessness the world has bought into. He freed us from the bondage of sin and death. Jesus is the hope of the world. He is God’s son, he was sent to save the world, by dying for the world. But he did not stay dead. With his resurrection, sin and death were defeated forever, but you must believe and trust in Jesus. It is a gift, but a gift must be received by the individual.
Have you received the gift? Have you believed?