An Open Chariot: Finding Our Place in God’s Global Story

[00:00:02] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Thank you.

[00:00:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Let me see Barton.
[00:01:08] ... ... ... ... ...
[00:01:33] In fact, we were at the story on Friday at UNCG for one day.

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Oh, really?
[00:01:55] For transfers and people being students.
[00:01:56] She got all of them, but I'm just kidding.
[00:01:57] She's like, can you come in?
[00:01:57] And I'm like, no, I'm not.

[00:02:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Good morning.
[00:02:13] She's excited.

[00:02:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Good morning.
[00:03:04] Welcome to worship.
[00:03:05] Everyone at Prospect Presbyterian Church, glad everybody's here.
[00:03:08] Pray as always, thank you, pray as always it'll be an opportunity for all of us to worship our Lord in spirit and in truth.
[00:03:16] We've got a variety of announcements in no particular order.
[00:03:22] There used to be a silver urn that used to sit there that would hold flowers, and now we can't find it.
[00:03:30] They're slippery like that.
[00:03:31] And so if you have any idea where the silver urn is, please contact the great Edie Steele.
[00:03:37] She would love, she has taken on that burden to find that.
[00:03:39] So if you have any knowledge of the whereabouts of the silver urn, please contact Edie.
[00:03:45] Tonight at 6.30 at Concordia will begin the series of practices for kind of the music program that emanates out of Concordia in concert with this church and any number of other places for Palm Sunday.
[00:03:59] So there will be an Easter season singing event that will happen in the evening on Palm Sunday coming and practice for that will begin tonight at Concordia Lutheran Church at 6.30.
[00:04:13] Very good.
[00:04:16] Alright.
[00:04:17] Two people that are very important to this church are moving.
[00:04:21] And that is Jeb and Ray Pemberton.
[00:04:24] Jeb and Ray, whom you know.
[00:04:26] They can go ahead and stand up.
[00:04:27] They can go ahead and stand up.
[00:04:30] And they are moving to Cocoa Beach, Florida.
[00:04:34] Yeah.
[00:04:36] We're not praying for that part.
[00:04:37] You're on your own with that.
[00:04:38] Good for y'all.
[00:04:39] And Jeb has an opportunity.
[00:04:42] You know, Jeb's a tireless worker and makes things happen.
[00:04:45] I'm going to tell you something about Jeb.
[00:04:47] He's one of my favorite stories about Jeb.
[00:04:49] So Jeb does the tow truck.
[00:04:51] And Jeb was talking about how to turn your work and be a blessing in your work.
[00:04:59] And he said, so he does the toe track, and he says, Every person I meet at work, I'm interacting with them in the worst part of their day.
[00:05:08] And it's my chance to make a difference.
[00:05:13] And I said, I wish the preacher was smart enough to think up things like that.
[00:05:17] But I'm going to use it all the time.
[00:05:20] There you go.
[00:05:21] So they're witnesses in all kinds of ways.
[00:05:22] They're here all the time.
[00:05:24] But they're leaving this week, and they're planning on being there.
[00:05:28] So we're going to...
[00:05:35] And when it's time to pray today, we'll be praying for you and we'll be praying for y'all all week.
[00:05:40] So bless y'all.
[00:05:41] Bless y'all.
[00:05:41] So people who...
[00:05:43] So we did that announcement for all kinds of reasons, including people are going to notice when they're not here.
[00:05:47] It's like, oh, they're gone.
[00:05:47] It's like, I wish I'd known.
[00:05:48] So hug them up.
[00:05:49] Hug them up when we're done.
[00:05:51] All right?
[00:05:52] and then one more thing is there's all you know we we don't we in general we do not recognize birthdays here every Sunday because there's all kinds of wonderful people who are having their birthday today there's several people who have several wonderful people who are having their birthday today that we we we're not going to recognize them because we don't recognize that because we would do that all day every day all right however each one of you who's here and you're not getting your birthday recognized today first off we're very thankful you're here bless you
[00:06:22] And if you get to 100, we will recognize your birthday.
[00:06:26] But there's somebody in our church who will be turning 100 this week on Tuesday, and that's the great Betty Alexander.
[00:06:34] The great Betty Alexander.
[00:06:40] There's going to be more to it than that.
[00:06:42] The great Betty Alexander is turning 100 on Tuesday.
[00:06:47] It's my understanding that she's joining us live via the internet broadcast.
[00:06:52] So we are now going to sing Happy Birthday to Betty Alexander, alright?

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Betty, Happy Birthday to you.

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
And, see what?
[00:07:20] We're going to turn around and wave to the camera.
[00:07:22] The camera sees Steve, right?
[00:07:23] We're going to turn around and wave to the camera.
[00:07:28] Happy birthday, Dave.
[00:07:28] You can hear me?
[00:07:30] Happy Birthday Betty Alexander!
[00:07:32] We love you!
[00:07:32] You're the best.
[00:07:34] Alright?
[00:07:35] Very good.
[00:07:36] So, that's Tuesday.
[00:07:37] If anybody, between now and then or all week, I'm sure that like most people, her birthday will be a week-long plus celebration.
[00:07:44] It'll be a Hanukkah-length situation.
[00:07:46] Alright?
[00:07:47] So, anybody who wants to come and send her your birthday greetings, she's a great lady and she's earned it.
[00:07:53] We love you.
[00:07:54] We love you, dear.
[00:07:55] Alright?
[00:07:56] So, that's that.
[00:07:58] All good?
[00:07:59] Let us now prepare our hearts and minds for the worship of our Lord.

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let us pray.

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Let us pray.

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
The Gospel of the Apostles
[00:10:09] Let us pray.
[00:10:39] Let us pray.
[00:11:12] Let us pray.
[00:11:43] Let us pray.
[00:12:04] Let us pray.
[00:12:07] Let us pray.
[00:12:32] Let us pray.

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Let's pray together, friends.
[00:12:59] Almighty God, what a great privilege to be in your house this morning.
[00:13:02] We humbly pray your Holy Spirit would continue to be with us to enable us to worship you in spirit and in truth, not only in this hour, but in the week to come.
[00:13:12] Help us worship you with the way we live, praise you with the way we live.
[00:13:15] We're privileged to be here, be part of your people, be part of the work.
[00:13:22] We're a bunch of sinners, so we pray you'd have mercy on us.
[00:13:27] Forgive us, change us into the people you want us to be, make us hate our sin, make us want to change.
[00:13:32] Help us embrace the changes you're making to make us better.
[00:13:34] Help us embrace the work to do to be better at this following of Jesus.
[00:13:40] and help us trust you more that when we work hard to follow Christ and change our lives to follow Christ that it will lead to the purpose and joy and meaning and blessing to others that we seek.
[00:13:52] So help us trust that Holy Spirit be in our hearts and minds and souls to trust that and receive now our worship.
[00:13:58] We pray humbly through Jesus Christ our Lord and hear us now please as we pray together the prayer he taught his disciples.
[00:14:06] Our Father who art in heaven,
[00:14:09] Hallowed be thy name.
[00:14:11] Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
[00:14:18] Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
[00:14:26] And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
[00:14:31] For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
[00:14:37] Amen.
[00:14:38] Our opening hymn for the morning is 88.
[00:14:42] Stay together as we sing 88, please.

[00:15:09] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Heav'nless Lord Jesus, Father of all nature,

[00:15:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
O God of heaven, the Son, Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor, Thou my soul's glory toward,
[00:15:40] There on the meadows, there still the woodlands, Rode with the gloomy dawn of spring.
[00:16:07] Jesus is there,
[00:16:47] Jesus shines bright
[00:17:19] Son of God and Son of Man, Glory and honor, praise and ovation, now and forevermore be.

[00:17:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Please be seated.
[00:17:56] We come now to our time of prayer for others, prayers for those in need.
[00:18:00] So let's pray it again.
[00:18:04] Almighty God, as always when we come to pray, we are humbled and amazed that the Lord of heaven and earth listens to us.
[00:18:13] And so we pray humbly that you would hear us.
[00:18:17] We thank you for the privilege of being at work and being your people.
[00:18:34] We pray for the church.
[00:18:36] Pray for each of us individually in it and your church throughout the community and the world.
[00:18:42] Help us be the church faithfully.
[00:18:44] Help us be
[00:18:45] Embrace being salt and light, living in such a way that draws people to you.
[00:18:50] Help us know the content of the gospel that we might have an explanation for the hope that is in us and share the experience and be honest about what you've done in our lives.
[00:19:00] Be that salt and light, have that explanation, draw people to you.
[00:19:04] We pray for our friends at West Corinth Baptist Church next door.
[00:19:07] Bless them, prosper them, help them be great.
[00:19:12] As we pray for your church throughout the community and the world.
[00:19:14] We pray for Justin and Kristen and Rob and Sandy, our missionaries doing their work.
[00:19:19] Bless them, empower them, among others on the mission field.
[00:19:28] And we pray for the sick and the hungry and the thirsty and the imprisoned and the lonely and the grieving.
[00:19:37] People who are afraid, people who have doubts, people who need wisdom, people who need encouragement, and people for whom things are going great.
[00:19:52] For in many and various ways in this sinful world, we will all face our challenges.
[00:19:58] Have faced them, are facing them, will face them.
[00:20:01] Give us wisdom and courage, discernment,
[00:20:05] Kindness, trust in you, trust in what you're doing and as the people of God enable us to bear one another's burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ and help us realize that the reason we're so blessed is for sure to enjoy it but also to pour it back out and be a blessing to other people.
[00:20:26] Help us embrace that and do that well.
[00:20:32] We send off Jeb and Ray, who are always part of us.
[00:20:36] What an honor.
[00:20:37] What a privilege.
[00:20:38] Bless them in their new thing and prosper it.
[00:20:45] Go with them.
[00:20:48] We thank you for the blessing they are, have been, will be to this group.
[00:20:55] Help them go be a blessing down there in Florida.
[00:20:59] and for all kinds of people you know people that are you know it's birthday so you know Kathy for Beth for Kayla today and we just pause to honor all the lives represented in this church and for Betty Alexander and the life she lives among us and the things she does has done will do who she is we give you praise and thanks for her life among us
[00:21:28] and cause her to know first and foremost your love for her, but cause her to know our love for her.
[00:21:35] Bless her and her people.
[00:21:37] We all pray that we could be blessed, that we could use that blessing to honor you.
[00:21:43] So thanks for the privilege of being your people.
[00:21:44] Thanks for the privilege of being your people together.
[00:21:48] We ask in Jesus' name.
[00:21:50] Amen.

[00:22:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
They shall soar like eagles, Rise up and soar like eagles,
[00:22:21] They who wait upon the Lord Shall not be weary They shall never stumble But gain new strength and power They who wait upon the Lord
[00:22:53] Those who are weary and burdened with sorrow, need not despair, there is hope for tomorrow.
[00:23:04] God will be there each time you call on Him.
[00:23:23] They shall soar like eagles, rise up and soar like eagles.
[00:23:43] They who wait upon the Lord shall not be weary.
[00:23:44] They shall never stumble and gain new strength and power, they who wait upon the Lord.
[00:24:11] They who wait upon the Lord.

[00:24:26] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
They who wait upon the Lord.

[00:24:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
To head to Children's Church and then our ushers will come forward to collect the morning offering.
[00:24:55] We're given opportunity in these moments to contribute to the work of the church and to take some time to consider all our many blessings and how we may use them all in the service of our Lord.
[00:25:05] So let us do that.

[00:25:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Let us pray.

[00:25:38] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let us pray.
[00:26:13] In Jesus' name, amen.
[00:26:57] Let us pray.
[00:27:29] Amen.

[00:28:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Please be seated, friends.
[00:28:13] Scripture reading is from the book of Acts, chapter 8, beginning to read at verse 26.
[00:28:24] I've added a reading since the printing of the bulletin.
[00:28:31] We'll read towards the end of the sermon from Acts 8.
[00:28:35] Excuse me, we're already reading from Acts 8.
[00:28:38] Isaiah 56.
[00:28:40] But from Acts 8, beginning to read in verse 26.
[00:28:44] Acts 8, beginning to read in verse 26.
[00:28:46] The book of Acts is interesting in the growth of the church, the development of the church.
[00:28:50] and there's it's narrated in Acts that there are literally thousands of conversions right early on the church like hundreds of people came here thousands of people came you know Pentecost thousands of people were apparently converted to Jesus Christ in the great first great outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the church in that in that sense and so there's literally thousands of conversions mentioned in Acts and there's only three or four or five or six that are that are narrated individually
[00:29:20] Where this particular person got converted.
[00:29:23] And chapter 8 begins a run of those things.
[00:29:25] There's one before the one we're going to read.
[00:29:27] There's the one we're reading today.
[00:29:28] Then there's the conversion of Paul, which is relatively famous, in Acts 9.
[00:29:32] Cornelius, the first true Gentile.
[00:29:34] And there's a few others.
[00:29:37] So I find it interesting, I think it is interesting, that when you say, well, there's thousands of these things that have these conversions that happen, but we have this specific story of five or six.
[00:29:47] That means they were put in there for a reason.
[00:29:50] That means that those particular conversions, I would argue, are put in there for a reason that demand our attention.
[00:29:59] and so what you're going to find in this and I'm going to pray we're going to do what we did last weekend just kind of slight change we pray over the word first and then we'll I'll read and kind of work through it and then and do that so let's pray together over the word friends Almighty God we appreciate the word coming to us from Luke and Acts Isaiah and reading from that chapter from that book we pray humbly you would settle in our hearts and minds
[00:30:30] To hear your word, Holy Spirit, you inspired this word.
[00:30:32] We pray you would now be in our hearts and minds and souls to understand it and live it.
[00:30:39] So be with us, Holy Spirit, in that and guide us into your truth that we may be walking in the everlasting way, making you proud, sharing the gospel, living it, and having it live in us, the gospel.
[00:30:53] We pray all these things through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
[00:30:56] Amen.
[00:30:58] So in Acts 8, 26, the angel of the Lord said to Philip, one of the apostles, Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem towards Gaza.
[00:31:11] This is a desert place.
[00:31:14] And he rose and went.
[00:31:17] And there was an Ethiopian who what probably we looking back on history not contained in the confines of the modern day Ethiopian, a Nubian, an African, a eunuch.
[00:31:34] A eunuch is someone who has been physically altered so that he may serve around powerful women or the women of powerful men.
[00:31:44] He's unable to have children.
[00:31:45] The key element of this is he is no longer able to have children.
[00:31:50] That he may serve and work around powerful women or the women associated with powerful men.
[00:32:03] A court official of, we would tend to read this Candace as if that's the proper name.
[00:32:10] What we think is that this is a title.
[00:32:14] And probably, if you want to get it right, take those C's and turn them into K sounds.
[00:32:19] The Kandake, which is in Ethiopia at this time.
[00:32:25] You were either ruled by the king or rarely the queen, but you were ruled by the king.
[00:32:31] Or if the king came up in succession and was not old enough to rule, then the queen mother would rule.
[00:32:41] and her title was the Kandake.
[00:32:43] So he is a servant, this gentleman that we're meeting, is a servant of the ruler of Ethiopia, the queen mother, serving as the monarch until the king or queen old enough to take his or her place.
[00:33:01] There was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Kandake, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasures.
[00:33:08] He's the guy in charge of the money.
[00:33:09] I don't know how many organizations you've been around.
[00:33:11] The guy in charge of the money.
[00:33:13] The gal in charge of the money.
[00:33:14] Pretty big deal.
[00:33:16] Pretty powerful person.
[00:33:18] Pretty trusted person.
[00:33:19] So he is not only there, he is up there.
[00:33:21] He's a big deal.
[00:33:23] Respected and compensated, likely, appropriately.
[00:33:27] This is a big deal.
[00:33:29] He is a big deal in the worldly sense.
[00:33:33] He had come to Jerusalem to worship.
[00:33:35] Most commentators and scholars believe he is not Jewish.
[00:33:39] He is someone who is known as a God-fearer.
[00:33:43] That is, someone who has become attracted and attached to the God of Israel and comes to Jerusalem to worship and would pledge allegiance to this God.
[00:33:55] He had come to Jerusalem to worship, verse 28, and he was returning back home, seated in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah.
[00:34:03] And the Spirit said to Philip, Go over and join yourself to this chariot.
[00:34:07] So Philip ran to him, heard him reading Isaiah.
[00:34:10] Most commentators suggest that the kind of chariot would be something akin to an uncovered wagon.
[00:34:15] Imagine a covered wagon uncovered.
[00:34:18] Going very slowly, kind of jogging, just talking at a jogging pace perhaps, or even got him to slow down.
[00:34:26] Verse 30, Philip ran to him and heard he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
[00:34:29] And there's a key verse for all of us, and especially if you're talking to your friends about the Lord, if you're talking to your friends about Christianity.
[00:34:39] Do you understand what you're reading?
[00:34:43] There's a content piece to Christianity.
[00:34:45] There are principles, there are facts, we say them in the Apostles' Creed.
[00:34:49] There are principles and facts to which you assent.
[00:34:53] Jesus is the Son of God.
[00:34:54] I believe that Jesus was crucified.
[00:34:55] I believe he was raised from the dead, etc.
[00:34:59] Do you understand that and do you assent to it?
[00:35:01] Do you agree to it?
[00:35:04] Verse 31, the Ethiopian said, How can I unless someone guides me?
[00:35:11] And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
[00:35:14] Here's an interesting, powerful man who's, I would imagine, used to being right, used to being listened to, and says, I have need.
[00:35:20] I don't understand.
[00:35:24] This is not the easiest thing to get powerful people to say.
[00:35:29] People who are experts.
[00:35:31] People who have authority.
[00:35:32] Part of Christianity is, you may know all kinds of things.
[00:35:36] I need help with this.
[00:35:36] I need help to understand this.
[00:35:41] When God gets a person who says, I'm open to help and having you explain it to me, and God has somebody who will say, I care enough and I care enough about being obedient to God and I care enough about the people around me to go explain it to them or work with them, God now has something with which he can work.
[00:36:00] And so we are always asking, where am I needing learning?
[00:36:03] Where am I needing learning?
[00:36:03] Where am I needing to be open?
[00:36:05] Both to get saved and to become a more deep Christian.
[00:36:08] That's a great habit for us to have.
[00:36:10] And another great habit for us to have is when we are nudged, when we see somebody, as Peter says, be ready to have an explanation for the hope that is in you if you're asked.
[00:36:23] Or if you're coming along, the Spirit of God is pushing you, nudging you.
[00:36:27] It's a little bit more than a nudge here, but nudging you to say, this is a person in my orbit.
[00:36:32] This is a person to whom, who will trust me, who will listen to me.
[00:36:37] Do I love them and am I interested in being obedient to God enough to say, to engage on, I see you're attached, you're attaching yourself to the, you're interested in this God.
[00:36:50] Can I help?
[00:36:52] And watch what God does from there.
[00:36:56] Verse 32, the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this, Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before her shearers is silent, so he, the suffering servant, for those of you who were last week or watched last week on TV, this should be familiar, he's reading from Isaiah 52 and 53, what we talked about just last week, the suffering servant.
[00:37:23] And the Ethiopian, who is this guy?
[00:37:25] And Philip is saying this guy is Jesus of Nazareth.
[00:37:29] He just finished what the Isaiah is talking about, the prophecy in Isaiah.
[00:37:33] Jesus Christ has just finished up doing what the prophecy says.
[00:37:38] Suffered for our sins.
[00:37:40] Substitutionary atonement.
[00:37:43] Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, like a lamb before his shearer is dumb or silent, so he opens not his mouth.
[00:37:49] In his humiliation...
[00:37:53] Justice was denied him who can describe his generation for his life is taken away from the earth.
[00:38:03] And if I could pause just for a second there on verse 33.
[00:38:07] In his humiliation, justice was denied him.
[00:38:13] He suffered for us.
[00:38:15] Here's the nature of sin.
[00:38:17] Somebody pays, as we talked about last week.
[00:38:20] The gospel is Jesus Christ pays because we cannot and survive.
[00:38:26] And we look at how Jesus absorbed all the things we deserved.
[00:38:31] And one of the things that we're searching for in the gospel is where's our... You know, Jesus demands a lot.
[00:38:36] Where is our motivation?
[00:38:40] How do we find the motivation to give it all to this Jesus?
[00:38:45] And I was struck by in verse 33, in his humiliation.
[00:38:50] Here is one of the great marks that someone loves you.
[00:38:52] Here is one of the great marks that you love someone.
[00:39:00] You know someone loves you when they are willing to be humiliated for you.
[00:39:07] So here's a lighthearted example.
[00:39:10] I attended a wedding many years ago of a couple that I know who were, you know, they were so young.
[00:39:17] Now they're like in their 30s, all right, as they do.
[00:39:22] And it seemed like not that long ago.
[00:39:25] And so they had this big giant reception, big giant reception with a band and all that.
[00:39:32] And the guy getting married is an athlete and he's just kind of a classic dude, great guy, he's a classic dude.
[00:39:39] Not a big fan of dancing in public.
[00:39:42] Not a big fan of dancing in public.
[00:39:45] Okay to dance in the corner when a bunch of other people are dancing.
[00:39:49] His wife was from the theater background and loved his show.
[00:39:56] And so she had choreographed, I don't know if you've seen these on the internet, like the history of dancing, the history of pop for the last 40 years.
[00:40:04] She had choreographed this long, drawn-out, multi-minute history of dance that they were going to do together as the first dance as a couple.
[00:40:21] And here is what I remember.
[00:40:22] I know in my heart of hearts he had no interest in doing this.
[00:40:26] As a matter of fact, would have liked to have been anywhere else.
[00:40:30] He learned the dance.
[00:40:32] He smiled in the dance.
[00:40:34] He did the dance.
[00:40:36] He did great in the dance.
[00:40:40] And every single woman in the room was in love with him when the dance was over.
[00:40:49] Because if you'd asked, if you just, you know, a week ago, you know, it's coming up, weeks ago, months ago, in high school, this would have been what?
[00:40:59] Humiliation.
[00:41:02] You cannot pay me enough to do this.
[00:41:06] But I love you and I'm on the day of love and I will do this for you and other things.
[00:41:14] Verse 33, in his humility, Jesus Christ thinks you are worth being humiliated for.
[00:41:23] Think of the list of people for whom you are willing to be humiliated.
[00:41:27] It is short and your love for them is deep.
[00:41:33] And then you and I begin to get a taste of how deep his love for us.
[00:41:37] He is cosmically humiliated for us.
[00:41:41] because He loves us so and thinks our joy, my friend, thought her joy was worth it.
[00:41:51] That's one of the ways you know who loves you.
[00:41:54] Don't miss that.
[00:41:55] In his humiliation, justice was denied him.
[00:41:58] Who can describe his generation?
[00:42:00] His life was taken away from the earth.
[00:42:02] And the eunuch says in verse 34 to Philip, About whom, I ask, does this prophet say this?
[00:42:07] About himself or someone else?
[00:42:08] And then Philip opened his mouth in verse 35.
[00:42:10] Beginning with this scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus.
[00:42:13] This is the Jesus.
[00:42:15] This is the Messiah.
[00:42:19] And he's come for me and he's come for you.
[00:42:23] Verse 36, And as they were going along the road, they came to see water, came to some water, came to some water, and the eunuch said, Here's water.
[00:42:32] What prevents me from being baptized?
[00:42:35] Here's the answer to that question.
[00:42:36] What prevents me from being baptized?
[00:42:40] Only giving your entire life to Jesus.
[00:42:42] Trusting today and your future and your eternity to Jesus Christ.
[00:42:46] That's the only thing we need.
[00:42:48] Admission you're a sinner and you're turning yourself over to Him.
[00:42:52] What is to prevent me from being baptized?
[00:42:56] And here's an interesting thing, if I could, as it relates to Philip, and to the eunuch unnamed, and the willingness to be brothers.
[00:43:09] The only thing that is preventing me from being baptized is, one, committing to Jesus Christ, and two, the willingness to be brothers and sisters with everyone else who does the same.
[00:43:21] This is not an individual project.
[00:43:25] The first barrier we talk about a lot.
[00:43:28] The second barrier we do not talk about as much, but is real.
[00:43:32] The willingness to be brother and sister to and receive the brothering and sistering of everybody else who takes on this Jesus.
[00:43:42] We'll talk about that as we go along.
[00:43:47] Verse 38, He commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
[00:43:54] And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing.
[00:44:03] We're actually going to end our reading there.
[00:44:05] He went on his way rejoicing.
[00:44:07] This is the result of baptism.
[00:44:09] He went on his way rejoicing.
[00:44:12] That is the reading of God's Word.
[00:44:14] May God bless the hearing and the reading.
[00:44:19] One of the things we've been talking about in our Old Testament thing as we work through the prophets and work through the Old Testament, when God calls Abraham, I've called you to be a blessing to the nations and the source of blessings for the nations.
[00:44:33] In the culture in which this was written, where this gentleman was from,
[00:44:38] was considered.
[00:44:38] Homer writes that Ethiopia is, quote, the end of men, the end of the world.
[00:44:46] It's the edge of the world.
[00:44:52] This is an embrace, this story, you know, how does this get, of all the thousands, of all the thousands of conversions that get narrated in Acts, there's four or five or six that get specific treatment.
[00:45:07] I would suggest it is in here for the following reasons.
[00:45:10] One is when Genesis 12 says that the purpose of the people of God is to extend the grace and the power to the blessing of the Gentiles.
[00:45:20] When Jesus Christ says in Matthew 28, the last thing he says to his disciples, go make disciples of all the nations, all the ethnoi, all the people groups, all the ethnic groups.
[00:45:34] And one of the reasons I would argue that this is in here is this is a great example of the reach of what the gospel is and what the church is and should be.
[00:45:46] Here is an historical fact.
[00:45:51] The church is one of the first institutions to bring together the races, the classes, the nationalities like this.
[00:46:02] We know that in ancient Rome, that as people streamed, like most metropolitan cities, people streamed in from all kinds of cultures, all kinds of nations, and the Romans built walls to separate the cultures, the ethnic groups, the races, the classes.
[00:46:21] Because they didn't mix.
[00:46:23] They didn't want them mixing.
[00:46:26] Too much fighting, too much whatever, too much messing up of the way things are.
[00:46:32] and what we know historically is from writers inside the church and writers outside the church.
[00:46:38] is that across gender lines, across ethnic lines, across class lines, across background lines, the church brought them all together.
[00:46:47] We know historically that the early church were called Christians, not only obviously because they were connected to and following Jesus Christ, but the people around them had to come up with a name because they were used to calling people by one of two categories, their class or their nationality.
[00:47:10] and what the Christian church was was this group of people that transverse class that brought in people from all over the place from all kinds of backgrounds and part of calling them Christians is we have to come up with a name to describe this group of people that is not race, class, nationality, gender dependent.
[00:47:32] That's what happens when the Holy Spirit's at work.
[00:47:35] And you and I live in a world and you and I live in a flesh
[00:47:40] That lives and defines ourselves by, here's us, here's them.
[00:47:47] We're working on fighting it.
[00:47:50] Sometimes we're working hard on it.
[00:47:51] Sometimes we're not working as hard on it.
[00:47:52] I know it's true of me.
[00:47:54] Probably true of all of us.
[00:47:56] I would argue that this particular conversion story is narrated to remind us that this is the work of the Holy Spirit.
[00:48:04] This is the demand of Genesis 12.
[00:48:06] This is the demand of Matthew 28.
[00:48:09] How we each go about doing that, the Lord will lead.
[00:48:12] But I think in our heads and our hearts we need to understand this is part of the call.
[00:48:17] When something shows up in Genesis 12 in the formation of the people of God, when something shows up in the commission of Jesus Christ, when something shows up in the book of Acts on here's an example of what conversion looks like, we're paying attention.
[00:48:32] We could add some of our new divisions over this.
[00:48:38] We could add some of our new divisions.
[00:48:39] You know, the political division is in there.
[00:48:42] The city-rural division is in there.
[00:48:47] The Christian church is working on hearing the Holy Spirit say, What's preventing me from being baptized?
[00:48:54] First, your acceptance of this Jesus Christ, and second, our commitment to be brothers and sisters with anybody who wants to do it.
[00:49:04] No matter how different they are, no matter what mistakes they're making,
[00:49:10] The differences don't go away.
[00:49:18] Do you know why the differences don't go away?
[00:49:20] Because God enjoys the differences.
[00:49:23] God made the differences.
[00:49:27] But here's what happens to the differences for the Christian.
[00:49:30] And that's not only, I would argue, not only Christians with other Christians, but here's a great way to, here's a great way, I think a great Christian way, to see all the people you meet.
[00:49:40] When you see anybody you meet, there's all kinds of little grids we go through, all kinds of information we're processing.
[00:49:46] For the Christian, here is how we see every other person.
[00:49:50] Here's where we start.
[00:49:51] This is somebody that Jesus Christ thought was worth dying for.
[00:49:55] This is someone that Jesus Christ thought was being humiliated for.
[00:49:58] Jesus Christ thinks this much of that person.
[00:50:02] So I will interact with that person as such.
[00:50:09] God made the differences.
[00:50:10] He likes the differences.
[00:50:10] But for the Christian, here's what happens to the differences.
[00:50:16] They get demoted.
[00:50:17] Here's another amusing story, a light amusing story.
[00:50:24] When Leo came along, one of my favorite entrances to a story, Will and Amber had a dog.
[00:50:34] They still have a little dog.
[00:50:35] And Amber, Will's wife, never had a dog.
[00:50:38] And she wanted a dog so bad.
[00:50:40] And so they got this little white dog.
[00:50:42] Lily is her name.
[00:50:44] And Lily, we were talking, how's Lily?
[00:50:47] How's Lily doing?
[00:50:48] This is about after a year.
[00:50:49] And Will goes, Lily is very important.
[00:50:53] Lily is very important to Amber's life.
[00:50:55] I remember they had come.
[00:50:56] So Lily's about seven or eight.
[00:50:58] So they had Lily for...
[00:51:00] 3 or 4 years and they came to our house for Christmas.
[00:51:02] It was a warm day like it was yesterday.
[00:51:04] We were out on the porch and Will was letting Lily out and Lily had ambled onto the road where we were in front of our house.
[00:51:11] For those who have been around our house, about 4 cars go there in every 24 hour period.
[00:51:16] It's a great road for people to amble onto.
[00:51:20] But the dog was in the road and Will was not hopping up to get the dog out of the road and my brother said, Will, if you don't get that dog,
[00:51:28] Then all three of us need to go lie down in the road and get run over with it.
[00:51:36] Lily is very important.
[00:51:42] But when Leo showed up, Lily didn't get sent away.
[00:51:48] She didn't go away.
[00:51:49] We didn't act like Lily wasn't there, but Lily got demoted.
[00:51:53] Not far.
[00:51:58] It's still a great... Lilly still has a great gig, all right?
[00:52:04] When you're a Christian and you live in this culture and you live in this flesh, the differences have been made very big.
[00:52:13] And they're part of our identities.
[00:52:17] And when you are a Christian, they are still there because the Lord loves the difference.
[00:52:22] He made the difference.
[00:52:25] He made theater people marry athletes and all that and they have wonderful dances together.
[00:52:30] But the differences get demoted and if we are not working when the differences want to climb over Jesus or make us act not like Jesus wants us to, we have to actively push them and put them in their place.
[00:52:48] The Holy Spirit is working on building a body of Christ and brothers and sisters from all kinds of different places.
[00:52:59] And so that's what we're working on too.
[00:53:02] Because what the eunuch was looking for and what we are looking for, and I ask if Terry doesn't mind, if Terry would put up Isaiah 53.
[00:53:10] Here's what's interesting about the eunuch.
[00:53:16] We have all made sacrifices for our career.
[00:53:18] The eunuch made a sacrifice for his career.
[00:53:25] We have all made sacrifices for things we want to do.
[00:53:34] In part because he is making those sacrifices because he thinks it is worth it.
[00:53:39] It is giving him an opportunity to leave a legacy.
[00:53:45] That's what we're working on.
[00:53:47] That's what we're working on, I would argue, at work or with our accomplishments or what we're working on in all kinds of different ways.
[00:53:53] If I could get it all and boil it all down to its different things with our children, we're working on leaving and making a difference and making a mark.
[00:54:04] And this gentleman made a big sacrifice to be in a position, and he has attained it, to make a mark.
[00:54:14] And yet there is much about how he's very much an outsider.
[00:54:17] He was an outsider at the temple.
[00:54:18] Quite frankly, across cultures, eunuchs were outsiders.
[00:54:24] When he travels Jerusalem, he is an ethnic outsider, he is a political outsider, he is a religious outsider.
[00:54:33] We're looking to make a mark, and we're looking for a people.
[00:54:40] And the great good news of the gospel is anybody who, what is preventing me from being baptized?
[00:54:44] You just got to want this Jesus and you've got a people.
[00:54:50] And here's the other thing.
[00:54:51] Isaiah 56 says, In the streets they wear sackcloth.
[00:54:59] No problem.
[00:55:02] No problem.
[00:55:03] I've got it right here in this book.
[00:55:05] All right, very good.
[00:55:06] Yes.
[00:55:08] Very good.
[00:55:09] You're the best.
[00:55:10] What she does for me.
[00:55:11] Well, you're the best.
[00:55:12] Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, the Lord will surely separate me from his people.
[00:55:21] And let not the eunuch say, behold, I am a dry tree.
[00:55:26] For thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbath, for the eunuchs who say they want me.
[00:55:34] Who choose the things that please me and hold fast to my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters.
[00:55:48] I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.
[00:55:54] It's what he's offering to all of us.
[00:55:58] He thinks you're great and he's willing to die for you and be humiliated for you.
[00:56:04] that you might have a people and that you might have an everlasting name, an everlasting legacy that your life and your work might echo into eternity.
[00:56:21] This is the offer of the gospel.
[00:56:23] This is what we're looking for.
[00:56:25] This is what we're chasing after.
[00:56:28] And to a man who's humble enough to say, I don't fully understand it.
[00:56:31] I know what I'm chasing.
[00:56:32] Can you help me figure it out?
[00:56:33] And Philip comes and says, I'll help you figure it out.
[00:56:35] We are in both spots in there in our lives.
[00:56:39] When you're in each spot, play your role.
[00:56:41] And play it well.
[00:56:43] And God will work in it.
[00:56:45] And in your joy, he left rejoicing.
[00:56:51] In your joy, embrace the brother and sister, embrace the potential brother and sister.
[00:56:55] The differences are real.
[00:56:56] There are things that need to be challenged.
[00:56:57] There are things that need to be changed.
[00:57:02] But in every person, we either see a brother or sister or a potential brother or sister, and so we treat them as appropriate.
[00:57:10] And that will enable us to disagree well, to fight well, to fix it well, to challenge it well, to get to the right spot.
[00:57:22] It's in here for a reason.
[00:57:26] When you're in Philip's role, play Philip's role.
[00:57:28] When you're in the eunuch's role, play the eunuch's role and embrace.
[00:57:31] They go down to the water and they embrace as brothers and they leave rejoicing.
[00:57:40] And that's who we are.
[00:57:43] That, my friends, is who we are.
[00:57:48] Let's pray together.
[00:57:50] Almighty and everlasting God, follow then please the preaching of your word with the blessing of your Holy Spirit and where if because of error in the preacher, potential error in the preacher, there may have been something false or misleading in the preaching, cause that error to be quickly forgotten and do no harm.
[00:58:07] But if because of your grace working alone there may have been something useful in the preaching, cause that wisdom, cause that usefulness that you have brought to be burned into our hearts and minds and souls.
[00:58:18] That your truth might lead us in the everlasting way.
[00:58:20] We pray humbly in Jesus' name.
[00:58:23] Amen.
[00:58:25] Jesus said, Who acknowledges me before the world, I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven.
[00:58:30] We acknowledge Jesus Christ to be our Lord by the way we live.
[00:58:34] That we might be reminded of this responsibility to live in such a way that everyone knows Jesus Christ is our Lord.
[00:58:40] There's a content piece to it.
[00:58:43] We're going to say the words, the content, do you understand what you're reading?
[00:58:46] And there's a living it out piece.
[00:58:48] We're standing up and saying, this is our Lord and we are going to follow.
[00:58:55] That we might have practice reminding ourselves of the need to and doing it.
[00:58:59] We stand together in church and say the words of the Apostles' Creed.
[00:59:01] Let's do that now.
[00:59:01] Let's stand together, please.
[00:59:05] And before God in the world, let us confess in whom we believe.
[00:59:10] I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son,
[00:59:19] who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born in the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.
[00:59:29] He descended into hell.
[00:59:31] The third day he rose again from the dead.
[00:59:34] He ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
[00:59:40] From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
[00:59:44] I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
[00:59:57] Amen.

[01:00:09] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
[01:00:23] Amen.
[01:00:56] I am with thee and thou with me only Thou my way, O Lord, who art my true son Thou with me, thou with me only
[01:01:36] The Lord is with you.
[01:02:06] and Reconciliation.
[01:02:27] May I be chosen so as to write this song.
[01:02:28] Let not my hope of glory ever be gone.

[01:02:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
I would argue the story we read today, it's about two guys in pursuit of excellence.
[01:02:46] The Lord God wants you to pursue the best.
[01:02:47] He wants you to pursue excellence in your life.
[01:02:49] The eunuchs pursuing excellence, Philip is coming up and they're pursuing the excellence.
[01:02:54] So chase it.
[01:02:55] Chase being your best self.
[01:02:57] Chase being your best self in service of Jesus Christ and your neighbor.
[01:03:00] And know going out there in the world, you already know this, you live in a world that is so much about, and it's so big out there, superiority and bitterness.
[01:03:10] We're better, it's better, this is better.
[01:03:13] I'm bitter at those who are against me.
[01:03:14] I'm bitter at the different.
[01:03:17] The gospel enables you to battle the bad sides of both of those.
[01:03:24] You and I are such sinners that it required the Son of God to die for us to fix us, enables us to be great without being superior.
[01:03:36] And the reality that God is working in us and God is working in all the people enables us to just kind of handle the things in life that are tough and hardening to us.
[01:03:46] He who began a good work in you will see it to completion.
[01:03:49] He will push you and enable you to push through the anger and the bitterness.
[01:03:55] When you come to Jesus Christ, some things are going to get demoted.
[01:03:58] Don't worry.
[01:04:02] He is going to replace them with greater things and bring you more joy and more satisfaction and more usefulness.
[01:04:12] Let him demote.
[01:04:14] Let him promote.
[01:04:16] He will get you in the spot you long to be.
[01:04:19] So go from this place in confidence and joy
[01:04:22] And as you go, may the grace, mercy, and peace of God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit may remain with each of you this day and always.

[01:04:44] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.

[01:04:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, Amen, Amen, Amen.

[01:05:49] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
and more.
[01:06:30] Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy
[01:07:17] The Gospel of the Lord.