Comunidad y discipulado

Live Out Your Mission as You Go (Acts 8:1~40)

2017.05.15Stephen Cha

God scatters and sends His people so that the gospel spreads through ordinary lives. Through the persecution in Jerusalem, Philip's proclamation in Samaria, and the Ethiopian eunuch's conversion, God remains in control and uses available believers to reach the people he is already seeking.

God turns scattering into mission (1-8)

Persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem after Stephen was killed, and believers were scattered across Judea and Samaria. Yet those who were scattered went about preaching the word, so God's message reached places it had never gone. God worked beneath the pain and turned persecution into mission, and the city was filled with joy. Our God gathers us to worship and scatters us as salt and light, so that the people around us may come to know him.

Philip proclaimed Christ, and his life confirmed the message (4-8)

Philip, one of the seven chosen to serve tables, went to Samaria and proclaimed Christ to the crowds. He was full of the Spirit, and sharing Jesus was the most important thing in his life. When he preached, the crowds listened closely, and the healings and the casting out of unclean spirits confirmed the gospel he preached. The most convincing proof of the gospel is a changed life that shows Jesus is real.

God sends you to the person He is already seeking (26-35)

God sent Philip from a city of revival to a desert road, where he met an Ethiopian official reading Isaiah. The Spirit told Philip to join the chariot, and when he asked whether the man understood, the man invited him to explain. This official had gone to Jerusalem to worship and was seeking the true God, so God had prepared his heart before Philip arrived. Philip explained that Jesus is the Messiah who died as our substitute, and the man believed, was baptized, and went on his way rejoicing.

Be available and bless the people God puts in your life

God may have placed specific people on your heart, and prayer is where to begin. Pray that God would prepare their hearts, and listen to their lives and needs with honest questions. Build the relationship over coffee or a meal, and serve them in practical and genuine ways. Then share how Jesus changed your life and who he is. God can arrange ordinary encounters, so stay faithful, available, and ready to speak.

Relax in God's control and step out in faith

Jazz improvisation shows how ministry works: players must know the tradition and the basics, yet they must also be willing to try something new. You do not need to fear failure, because God is in control and can use you to hit home runs. Know who Jesus is and what to tell people about repentance and faith. Then step out, trust God, and let him surprise you.

Apply to Life

  • Let us pray for the people God has placed on our hearts and ask him to prepare their hearts.
  • Let us make ourselves available to God as faithful, teachable, Spirit-led, and obedient servants.
  • Let us listen to, eat with, and serve the people around us, and share how Jesus changed our lives.
  • Let us trust God when our lives are disrupted, knowing that he can turn our tears into joy.
  • Let us relax in God's control, know the basics of the gospel, and step out to share it.

This summary was made automatically from the sermon's captions and may differ from the sermon.

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