Order, Words, & Voices
08.18.24, Ethiopian Eunuch, Acts 8:26-39
Order
Pre Worship Music – Spotify – Open and Close
Songs Lord I Need You Billy/Linda
Because He Lives
Passage/Prayer Acts 8:26-39 Pettys
Song The Goodness of God Billy/Linda
Message Ethiopian Eunuch Rick
Music Goodness of God Billy/Linda
Community/Benediction Rick
Hope Moment & Closing Peace Rick
Closing Music Sweet Sweet, Spirit Billy/Linda
Post Worship Music – Spotify – Open and Close
- Please record message on camera memory card.
- On the message Video Leave Room above Speaker’s head for the instagram post.
- Screen Share for entire message
Music (Slides) Billy/Linda
Lord I Need You CCLI Song # 5925687
Verse 1
Lord I come I confess
Bowing here I find my rest
And without You I fall apart
You’re the one that guides my heart
Chorus 1
Lord I need You oh I need You
Ev’ry hour I need You
My one defense my righteousness
Oh God how I need You
Verse 2
Where sin runs deep Your grace is more
Where grace is found is where You are
And where You are Lord I am free
Holiness is Christ in me
Where You are Lord I am free
Holiness is Christ in me
Chorus 2
Lord I need You oh I need You
Ev’ry hour I need You
My one defense my righteousness
Oh God how I need You
My one defense my righteousness
Oh God how I need You
Because He Lives CCLI Song # 16880
Verse 1
God sent His Son they called Him Jesus
He came to love heal and forgive
He bled and died to buy my pardon
An empty grave is there to prove
My Savior lives
Chorus
Because He lives I can face tomorrow
Because He lives all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living
Just because He lives
Verse 2
And then one day I’ll cross that river
I’ll fight life’s final war with pain
And then as death gives way to vict’ry
I’ll see the lights of glory
And I’ll know He reigns
Chorus
Because He lives I can face tomorrow
Because He lives all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living
Just because He lives
Passage (Slides) Acts 8:26-39, Ethiopian Eunuch
The angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south, to the wilderness road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” Philip went.
Now there was a eunuch who was the official in Ethiopian Queen Candace’ court who was in charge of the entire treasury of the Ethiopians.
The Eunuch had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home. He was seated in his chariot and reading from the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.”
So Philip ran up to the chariot and asked the man, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The Eunuch replied, “How can I unless someone guides me?” The eunuch invited Philip to get into the chariot beside him.
The scripture said, “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.”
The eunuch asked Philip, “Who is Isaiah talking about? Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus.
As they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”
He commanded the chariot to stop, and Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more and went on his way rejoicing.
Join me in the prayer of Jesus,
Our Father who art in Heaven hallowed be your name.
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us.
And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen
Music (Slides) Billy/Linda
Goodness Of God CCLI Song # 7117726
Verse 1
I love You Lord
Oh Your mercy never fails me
All my days
I’ve been held in Your hands
From the moment that I wake up
Until I lay my head
I will sing of the goodness of God
Chorus
All my life You have been faithful
All my life You have been so so good
With every breath that I am able
I will sing of the goodness of God
Verse 2
I love Your voice
You have led me through the fire
In darkest night
You are close like no other
I’ve known You as a father
I’ve known You as a friend
I have lived in the goodness of God
Chorus
All my life You have been faithful
All my life You have been so so good
With every breath that I am able
I will sing of the goodness of God
Message Rick (Slides)
[S] [Title Slide on Screen Share throughout message]
The angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south, to the wilderness road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” Philip went.
- Our passage for today is a very timely passage. Go to the wilderness road that goes down, away, from Jerusalem, the road that goes to Gaza.
- And, this is a dangerous time time for a followers of Jesus to go to Gaza. It was a Roman provence, for a follower of Jesus, is akin to jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. It was a time of persecution (Stephen) of Followers of Jesus, who still considered themselves Jews, but were now outcasts.
- Wilderness road, Jerusalem to Gaza and eventually to Ethiopia. Dangerous road for Philip but went even though he surely had a questions, much like the women headed to the tomb after the resurrection, his questions did not hinder him from trusting God.
- God’s calling is on Philip, not apostles, not one of the powerful. Philip is a leader not because of his resume of position and power. He was a leader because of the fact that Jesus was visible all over his life. Folks, the institution of the church is in trouble because we have enthroned position, celebrity, and power all the while, God needs servants who are following the Jesus of Matthew 5. It is servants that God uses to change lives, changed lives change the world.
The Spirit is/has been working in the Eunuch’s heart and mind due to the openness of the Eunuch’s heart and mind to God.
The Eunuch was a seeker, attempting to know the one true God. He was rejected by the religious in Jeruusalem becaue he was a Eunuch which made him rejected, unholy, and unclean, Yet, now, on the way back home he continued to seek God.
Philip may have noticed the Eunuch was a Eunuch, – Philip surely recognized the nationality, power, wealth, and position of the man but to not the fact that the man was a Eunuch. Such a recognition would have led most followers of Jesus, including the Apostles, to avoid a Eunuch, to dismiss him, to see him as unclean, consider him unworthy – a servant, however would not, a servant, immersed in the regardless faith and embrace of Jesus, would climb into the chariot with this negatively labeled human.
The Eunuch, this seeker of God, had been excluded from participation in Temple rituals and from full admittance, to the Jewish faith. He was ritually or religiously ‘far off’ (remember Jesus saying to the Penitent thief, ‘you are not far off’). Therefore, as a Eunuch he was dismissed by the people of the very faith he was drawn to by the Spirit.
This is why it had to be a servant that met the Eunuch on the wilderness road. It had to be a follower of Jesus who had fully recognized God in the actions, compassion, and mercy of Jesus, Only a person who had intentionally sought to be like Jesus. For being a servant is not a characteristic given by the Spirit, it a lifestyle that is intentionally nurtured in a person. Only a servant could be called to this calling because only a servant would fail to give credence to a label and, instead, climb into the chariot with one considered unclean and unholy.
What is especially interesting about the Eunuch was that, even after the rejection he suffered in Jerusalem, he was still a seeker of the one true God. He was found by Philip reading from the scroll of Isaiah’s prophecies. He refused to let feelings of bitter rejection and disillusionment be tools to stop him on his path to knowing God, he was still searching. Because, the Eunuch understood that God is the ultimate object of our faith not humans.
As Philip explained the words of Isaiah, the Eunuch still had questions but his heart had already decided. Answers to his questions would come and more questions would follow. Questions have to continue for his faith to grow, and so that he can become as passionate in his mind as he is in his heart. The questions do not, however, hinder his seeking, nor do they hinder his request to be baptized, to be a follower of Jesus.
Even as Philip is explaining the words of Isaiah, the Eunuch asks, ‘What keeps me from being a follower of Jesus?’
- This story is about Philip, it is a call to all followers of Jesus.
- We are called to serve God outside of our familiarity, we are called to not be restricted by the prejudice and biases of our own people.
- We must clear the way of the barriers that religion had thrown into the path of the Eunuch. Prejudice, hatred,…
Making Way
- Illustration – Lily on trip to Chicago, crowd making way
- Because Philip was already an servant, it was a no brainer to go to Philip and share. Philip was able to not be hindered by labels or prejudice of humans.
A moment ago I said, ‘The institution of the church is in trouble because we have enthroned position, celebrity, and power all the while, God needs servants.’ It is servants that God uses to change lives, changed lives change the world. It is servants that will clear the path of our religiosity and self-righteousness to allow a world that needs Jesus to run to Jesus. We must be followers that are not tied to our judgments and condemnation, or the judgments and condemnation of other people, instead we must be followers that are immersed in the Jesus of Matthew 5, the Jesus who commands that we love God and love all others.
Music (Slides) Billy/Linda
Goodness Of God CCLI Song # 7117726
Verse 1
I love You Lord
Oh Your mercy never fails me
All my days
I’ve been held in Your hands
From the moment that I wake up
Until I lay my head
I will sing of the goodness of God
Chorus
All my life You have been faithful
All my life You have been so so good
With every breath that I am able
I will sing of the goodness of God
Verse 2
I love Your voice
You have led me through the fire
In darkest night
You are close like no other
I’ve known You as a father
I’ve known You as a friend
I have lived in the goodness of God
Chorus
All my life You have been faithful
All my life You have been so so good
With every breath that I am able
I will sing of the goodness of God
Community (Slides) Rick
- 08.25.24, Lydia, Acts 16:11-15 & v 39
- Welcome Back Students
- CC Crop Walk, Sunday, October 20, 2:00pm, Ruby Grant Park
Holding On To Hope (Slides) Rick
Psalm 118:8 – It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in mortals.
Romans 5:5 – Hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Closing Peace (Slides) Rick
Leader: May the peace of the Lord go with you.
Response: And also with you.
Closing Music Billy/Linda
Sweet Sweet Spirit CCLI Song # 18204
Verse 1
There’s a sweet sweet Spirit
in this place
And I know that it’s the
Spirit of the Lord
There are sweet expressions
on each face
And I know they feel
the presence of the Lord
Chorus
Sweet Holy Spirit
Sweet heavenly Dove
Stay right here with us
Filling us with Your love
And for these blessings
We lift our hearts in praise
Without a doubt we’ll know
That we have been revived
When we shall leave this place
Order, Words, & Voices 