Sunday Worship - July 27

On that day when my strength is failing The end draws me and my time has come Still my soul will sing your praise unending Ten thousand years and then forevermore

Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul Worship His holy name Sing like never before, O my soul I'll worship Your holy name Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul, worship His holy name. Sin like never before, O my soul, I'll worship Your holy. Yes, I will worship your holy name. Lord, I'll worship your holy name.

I raise a hallelujah In the presence of my enemies I raise a hallelujah Louder than the unbelief I raise a hallelujah My weapon is a melody I raise a hallelujah Heaven comes to fight for me I'm gonna sing in the middle of the storm Louder and louder, you're gonna hear my praises roar Up from the ashes, hope will arise Death is defeated, the King is alive I raise a hallelujah With everything inside of me I raise a hallelujah I will watch the darkness flee I raise a hallelujah In the middle of the mystery I raise a hallelujah Fear you lost your hold on me And I'm gonna sing In the middle of the storm Louder and louder, you're gonna hear my praises roar Up from the ashes, hope will arise Death is defeated, the King is alive

Sing a little louder In the presence of my enemies Sing a little louder Louder than the unbelief Sing a little louder My weapon is a melody Sing a little louder Heaven comes to fight for me Sing a little louder In the presence of my enemy Sing a little louder Louder than the unbelief Sing a little louder My weapon is a melody Sing a little louder Heaven comes to fight for me I'm gonna sing In the middle of the storm Louder and louder, you're gonna hear my praises roar Up from the ashes, hope will arise Death is defeated, the King is alive I'm gonna sing in the middle of the storm Louder and louder, you're gonna hear my praises roar Up from the ashes, hope will arise Death is defeated, the king is alive Test, test, testing, testing, testing, testing, testing Testing

Who has held the oceans in His hands? Who has numbered every grain of sand? Kings and nations tremble at His voice. All creation rises to rejoice. Behold our God, seated on His throne. Come, let us adore Him. Behold our King, nothing can compare. Come, let us adore Him. Who has given counsel to the Lord? Who can question any of His words? Who can teach the one who knows all things Who can fathom all his wondrous deeds Behold our God Seated on his throne Come let us adore him Behold our King Think and compare Come let us adore Him God has felt the nails upon His hands Bearing all the guilt of sinful man God eternal, humble to the grave, Jesus, Savior, is enouted to reign. Behold our God, seated on his throne, come let us adore him. Behold our King Nothing can compare Come let us adore Him You will reign forever You will reign forever You will reign forever Behold our God Seated on His throne Come let us adore Him Behold our King Nothing can compare Come let us adore Him My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus' blood and righteousness I dare not trust The sweetest frame Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Sorry, I'm looking for all my kids to make sure they're in here. Good morning. We're going to get started today in our time of worship. uh we're going to be uh talking about Philip in the unit or brandon was going to be talking about Philip and the eunuch today and um how God sent him to basically explain the gospel to him uh which changed his life and it was interesting because i was thinking about that and thinking Philip was probably a pretty smart guy um but he's i guess he wouldn't be considered today as somebody who went to seminary or spent years going to school to learn everything about the Bible he would have just learned from those that were teaching him and the things that he learned as a kid and stuff like that and so it kind of gives me some encouragement because

I didn't go to seminary and I don't know everything in the Bible but I do know about the gospel and it's it's interesting how just knowing about the gospel and what Jesus has done for us, and what God does for us every day, and how much he loves us, how that can impact others around us, and so I'm looking forward to hearing about that today, and as we move into our worship time, we're going to be reading together out of Isaiah, which is what the eunuch was actually reading when Philip met him, and so we're going to stand together and read out of Isaiah 61. We're going to be starting in verse 10 and then going through 11. And it begins, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall exalt in my God. For he has clothed

me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth bring forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. God, we thank you for the opportunity to gather here today. We thank you for those that are watching online, and we hope that our time together can be an encouragement to them and to us here. We thank you for the gospel. We thank you for salvation that you've given us so that we can be righteous and be able to

share that good news with those around us, and we thank you for the different gifts that you've given us to be able to show the gospel to others around us. Not all of us know how to speak very well or sing very well, but you've given us other talents that can just show our neighbors and our friends and our family how you've transformed our lives and how much you love us. We thank you for this time together. We ask that you be with our service today and help it to glorify you. In Jesus' his name. Amen. Okay, our first Song we're going into today is going to be The Lion and the Lamb. Maybe. It's starting, but it's not playing. Let me try again. Okay. Okay.

He's coming on the clouds Kings and kingdoms will bow down Every chain will break With broken hearts declare His praise Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Our God is the Lion, the Lion of Judah He's roaring with power and fighting our battles Every knee will bow before Him Our God is the Lamb The Lamb that was slain For the sins of the world His blood breaks the chains Every knee will bow for the Lion and the Lamb Every knee will bow before Him

Let's open up the gates and make way before the King of Kings. The God who comes to save us, is here to set the captives free. Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Our God is the Lion, the Lion of Judah. He is roaring with power and fighting our battles. Every knee will bow before Him. Our God is the Lamb, the Lamb that was slain. For the sins of the world, His blood breaks the chains. Every knee will bow for the lion and the lamb. every knee will bow before him who can stop the Lord almighty who can stop the Lord almighty who can stop the Lord almighty who can stop the Lord almighty Our God is the Lion, the Lion of Judah. He's roaring with power and fighting our battles. Every knee will bow before Him.

Our God is the Lamb, the Lamb that was slain. For the sins of the world, His blood breaks in chains. Every knee will bow before the lion and the lamb. Every knee will bow before him. All right, if you'd like to remain standing, you can. We're going to be moving on to our next song, and then we'll have our prayer and share time. And if you're watching online, there's going to be a slide up with a phone number for you to text your prayer requests to. So if you'd like to do that, that'd be great. We'd love to pray with you on that. and we're going to be muted here during that time so just hold tight while we have our time here together and then we'll be back after we're done with that and so we're going to move into

our next song, which is, This is Amazing Grace. Who breaks the power of sin and darkness, whose love is mighty and so much stronger, the King of glory, the King above all kings.

Who shakes the whole earth with holy thunder Who leads us breathless in awe and wonder The King of glory, the King above all kings This is amazing grace This is unfailing love That you would take my place That you would bear my cross You would lay down your life That I would be set free Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me

Who brings our chaos back into order? Who makes the orphan a son and daughter? The King of glory, the King of kings. Who rules the nations with truth and justice? Shines like the sun in all of its brilliance. The King of glory, the King above all kings. This is amazing grace. This is unfailing love. That you would take my place. That you would bear my cross. You would lay down your life. That I would be set free Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me This is amazing grace This is unfailing love That you would take my place That you would bear my cross You would lay down your life That I would be set free Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, as we move into our time of communion, we're going to be singing together, All Who Are Thirsty.

Oh, who are thirsty, oh, who are weak, come to the fountain, dip your heart in the stream of life. Let the pain and the sorrow be washed away in the waves of his mercy, the deep cries out too deep. Come, Lord Jesus, come. Come, Lord Jesus, come. All who are thirsty, all who are weak, Come to the fountain Dip your heart in the stream of life Let the pain and the sorrow Be washed away In the waves of His mercy As deep cries out to thee Come, Lord Jesus, come. Come, Lord Jesus, come. His deep cries out too deep, His deep cries out too deep, His deep cries out too deep. Holy Spirit come, Holy Spirit come, Holy Spirit come, Holy Spirit come, Holy Spirit, come.

In our family, when our kids tend to be grumpy, it's usually one of two things, right? They're either very, very tired or very, very hungry. And I don't know where they get their bad attitudes from when they're hungry. all I know is that sometimes when I come home and I'm really grumpy, Rachel will look at me and she'll say, when was the last time you ate something? And that's my clue that maybe I'm being a little bit grumpy. And usually the answer is like yesterday. And so sometimes when we are hungry, we struggle, we become grumpy. Everything feels a little bit overwhelming. In John the sixth chapter. There's a lot of things happening, but it begins where Jesus is with some crowds and they're in the wilderness and there's all these people following him and they are hungry. And so

what Jesus does is he feeds them and he teaches them. And then after he's done, he gets in the boat, the disciples get in the boat, Jesus walks across on the water. And the next day, all the crowd show up because they're hoping once again for a free lunch. And Jesus is going to tell them something that is remarkable. He's going to tell them that their true hunger, the thing that needs to be solved, isn't that they need more bread or more fish, but they need something spiritually. And Jesus will say this in John 6, 35, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger And whoever believes in me shall never thirst. And what Jesus says is, I come to nourish your hungry souls, those souls that you've been trying to fill with all the busyness of life.

I've come to refresh you in the midst of a thirsty world. And what he does is he shifts the focus from the physical hunger to the spiritual hunger. And as we gather this morning around the table, we're looking not to our physical hunger, but to our spiritual hunger. That God nourishes us, that he strengthens us, that as we remember and as we celebrate the gospel together, he encourages us in our salvation, he encourages us in the fact that this is the church's family meal, That you and I together encourage one another. That he has empowered us and equipped us with his spirit. And he refreshes our soul. And so for us as Christians, this is a moment to look not to our physical needs, but our spiritual needs. And in that moment, to fix our eyes upon Jesus.

So I'm going to pray and then we'll read from Scripture together and will partake of this meal that directs us to our hope that is found in Jesus. Father in heaven, we thank you that you don't just meet our physical needs, but you meet our spiritual needs as well, that you encourage us, that you strengthen us, and that most of all, you have saved us through your Son, who went to the cross, not because of his sins, but because of ours, who paid the price for our brokenness and rose again for our victory. And so in this moment, direct us to how you have met our deepest need, the need for our sins to be forgiven. Restore us and refresh us in hope and in strength. I ask that you bless this bread and bless this cup.

It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. As Jesus did with the disciples during the Last Supper, He will take the bread and he will give thanks for it. When he had broke it, he will say, This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. He will then pick up the cup at Passover, which would have been the cup of redemption. And in this case, it's not just a reminder of what God has done in Egypt, but it's about a reminder of what Jesus was about to do on the cross in redeeming his people. And he will say, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. Father, thank you for this moment that brings us focus, that strengthens us in the gospel, that encourages us,

that welcomes us, that helps us. Be with us. Help us not to lose sight of what is truly important. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

This morning's reading will be from Acts 26 through 40, chapter 8. Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Rise and go towards the south, to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert place. And he, Philip, rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot. And he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the spirit said to Philip, go over and join the chariot. So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, do you understand what you are reading? And he said, how can I unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

Now the passage of the Scriptures that he was reading was this. Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before the shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. In his humiliation, justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth. And the eunuch said to Philip, About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else? Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, See, here is water. What prevents me from being baptized? And he commanded that the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water.

Philip and the eunuch, and Philip baptized him. And when they had come up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more. and went away rejoicing, but Philip found himself as Otis, and as he passed through, he spread the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. This is the word of the Lord. Praise be to God. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for your word. We thank you for the wonder of our text this morning as we see the character of Philip, as we see the encouragement that you give to us, as we see how you welcome those who are outsiders into your family. We thank you so much for the good news of the gospel, and may we see it clearly in this

text and be encouraged by it this morning. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. So there are times in life where you find yourself in a circumstance and you say, well, that didn't turn out exactly like you intended. And so back when I was a younger minister than I was now, when I first came here, I was a young single man. And so it seemed that some people took it upon themselves to try to remedy that situation. And so it would be things like they'd say, hey, you want to come over to dinner? And I said, oh, sure, I don't have to cook. go over to dinner, and they're like, well, here's our friend, and they've introduced me to a young lady, and I would be like, great, thanks for that. And so this particular Sunday, there was a couple in the church, and they brought a young

lady with them to meet their new preacher, and evidently, according to Rachel, I was really, really rude to her that Sunday, mainly because I was tired of people showing up with somebody and being like, hey, we found you a wife, congratulations. And so evidently I was really, we had talked for several more years and then it turns out we're now married with a bunch of kids and a bunch of dogs and a bunch of fish. Not what I would have expected from that initial meeting with Rachel, right? And so what we find is in life, sometimes it takes a turn that we wouldn't expect, that sort of surprises us. And sometimes it turns out in a difficult way, but sometimes it turns out in a wonderful way. And what we find in our text this morning is Philip is going to find himself in a situation

that doesn't necessarily look that great, right? He's going to this deserted road. He's leaving his ministry in Samaria where God is doing amazing things to go out and walk along a desert road, and then God does something wonderful. And there is so much in these verses this morning that are filled with wonder. They have so much to teach us. And so rather than trying to cover every little piece of this text, I want to this morning just simply direct you to three things that I think are wonderful from the text that we just heard. And so I want to begin by introducing us to Philip. Now we've seen him over the past few weeks, and what we find in Philip is this wonderful example. So we're first introduced to this man, Philip, in Acts the sixth chapter. And

if you remember in Acts chapter six, the church is growing so big and so fast that some of the widows who are in need of food are not getting taken care of. They're getting overlooked. And so they're not getting the food that they need. And so the apostles, in their wisdom, they're going to pick out seven guys. One of them is Stephen, who we talked about at length. And another one of them is Philip. And their qualifications have to be that they're full of the spirit and that they're full of wisdom. So they're spiritually strong, but they're also practically useful. And so they know how to take the spiritual things and put them into practice. And so that's what they do. And Philip was one of those men. And after Stephen is murdered, the church scatters. It says this

in Acts chapter 4 and 5. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word and Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. So as everybody runs out of Jerusalem because they're worried about being murdered, Philip goes and he goes towards Samaria, a place where no Jewish person would ever want to go. And you know what he does? He preaches the gospel. Later on in Acts, he's called Philip the Evangelist. And in fact, in Acts 21, it says this, Luke writing about his journey with Paul. On that day, we departed and came to Caesarea and entered the house of Philip the Evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. And so here's a remarkable thing. In Acts chapter 8, we find Philip running

because Paul is going to persecute the church. In Acts 21, Paul stops and he stays with Philip, who is still proclaiming the gospel. Everywhere Philip goes, he tells people about Jesus in Samaria. on the desert road as he travels after meeting the eunuch. Even in Acts 21, he's still known as a guy who loves to tell people about Jesus. So look at what happens in Acts 8.26. Rachel, could you grab me a bottle of water? My allergies are having a rough day.

the angel of the Lord said to Philip, rise and go toward the south, toward the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. Thank you very much, Tommy. This is the desert place. Now, I want you to think for a minute, what happens when we don't want to do something? We see this a lot of times with our kids. We'll say something like, hey guys, can you straighten up your room? And immediately what happens is they begin to walk very, very slowly or pick up very, very slowly. They say there's nothing heavier than a toy that you've just asked your toddler to pick up, right? It's like, oh, that's just far too heavy for me. And so sometimes when we don't want to do something, right, we go very slowly or we procrastinate or we put it off or we don't want to do these things.

sometimes we ignore it completely so Philip here is asked to go to this desert road and he has some great reasons why he shouldn't go to the desert road right he has a flourishing ministry in Samaria people are doing amazing things they're coming to Jesus the spirit is working there's new Christians that need to be taught there's opponents to the faith simon the sorcerer is trying to derail the church and all of these things are happening there's so many good reasons For Philip to stay in Samaria and here God goes, go to the deserted road in between Jerusalem and Gaza. It doesn't seem like a great place to go. And if I was Philip, I could think of a hundred reasons why I didn't need to go to that deserted road. Look at what Philip does. Acts 8, 27, he arose and went.

He didn't argue. He didn't complain. He didn't make excuses. He didn't take his time to get all this stuff there. he just goes where God sends him he trusts God so even when he's asked to go somewhere that for him may not make very much sense he obeys and his obedience is the fruit of his faith in God let's jump down to verse 35 it says Philip opened his mouth and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. You see, when Philip speaks to this Ethiopian, he tells him the gospel. The gospel just simply means good news, not about what you need to do, but about what Jesus has done for you, that he died in your place for your sins, he rose again for your victory, that he has gone to prepare a place for you, and it is a wonderful thing. And what Philip does

is he tells the Ethiopian about Jesus. He doesn't sit down and tell the Ethiopian about all of his opinions. He doesn't sit down and deal with his current pet peeves. He doesn't deal with the political situation of the day. What he does is he focuses completely on Jesus. And one of the reasons that Philip is able to just overflow with Jesus because that's what he's filled up with. And so if you take a cup, right, and you fill it up with milk and you tip it over on your table, what happens? Milk comes out. You take a mug and you fill it up with coffee and you tip it over on your table, what happens? Coffee comes out. You take a glass and you fill it up with water and you tip it over on your table, what happens?

Water comes out. What you fill the cup up with is what's going to come out when it's poured out. And what goes into your life is going to pour out of your life. And Philip, filled with the Spirit, filled with the good news about Jesus. You know what pours out of his life? The good news of the gospel. He's so filled that it overflows into the lives of others. Right, so Philip is constantly telling people about Jesus. He witnesses about Jesus, even in uncomfortable circumstances. Because this is what his life has been filled with. In Samaria, on this road, in the towns along the coast of Israel, not his opinions, not his pet peeves, not his political ideology. He has one sermon, and it's all about Jesus. And so the first thing we see in this text is that Philip is this wonderful example

of somebody who is obedient to what God has called him to do, and as he does so, he overflows with the good news of the gospel. The second thing that I would direct your attention to in this text is the wonderful encouragement that we find here. And the simple fact is that God can use the dark and the difficult seasons of your life for something wonderful. And I want you to think about this because I think we overlook the reason Philip is out in the mission field. We think, man, he's doing such a great job in Samaria telling everybody about Jesus. He does a great job with his Ethiopian telling them about Jesus. Well, why is he there in the first place? He's there because the church is being persecuted. And he's in danger. And the future of the church is filled with uncertainty.

In Acts 8, verse 3, it says, Saul ravaged the church, entering house after house. He dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. And so the church is faced with uncertainty. And in the midst of that uncertainty, Philip preaches in Samaria and many people come to know Jesus. And then you have the desert road. An angel of the Lord said to Philip, rise and go to the south of the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert place. And when we talk about this, we're not talking about sort of a friendly desert, right? With cute little road runners and jackrabbits running around. We're talking about a place that is dry, that is barren. And oftentimes as you travel it, you are in danger for your life

from those who would attack travelers to take whatever they had. And so Philip has been called into the darkness and preaches in Samaria, and now he's called into the desert. And what you find is that Philip's experience in both Samaria and in the desert encourage us because both of these events, you see the power of the gospel in the midst of difficulty, in the midst of the uncertainty that the church faces as they are being persecuted, the gospel is proclaimed in Samaria, in the midst of the deserted place in the wilderness, the Ethiopian comes to know Christ. And I would say this, God is in the work in the midst of your darkness and in the midst of those desert times in your life. God uses those difficult seasons to do something good. And maybe we are tempted to say, well, I'm not that person.

I don't really deal with the uncertainty of the darkness, and I don't deal with the deserted places in my life very well. And here's where we come to the second bit of encouragement in the life of Philip. That God will equip you with what you need for the task that He has given you. In Acts 6.3, Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. In Acts 8, The crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip. They heard him and saw the signs that he did for unclean spirits. Crying out with a loud voice came out of many who had them. Many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. And in Samaria, his ministry is confirmed by the physical and spiritual victories

and the power of the Holy Spirit. And in Acts chapter 8, what do we find? Verse 29, the Spirit said to Philip, go over and join this chariot. You see, Philip's life was marked by God empowering him with his spirit. And so we say, well, how can I do what Philip did in the midst of the darkness? One is to understand that God uses those dark and desert places in our life to do something good. And we look at our life and we might say, I'm not strong enough or I'm not good enough or I'm not skilled enough. And God says, I will equip you with my spirit who will help you and who will lead you and empower you and guide you in those dark moments. And this is a call for us as a church not to be fearful when we face those difficult areas,

but rather to be bold in the gospel and in the power of the Holy Spirit for God's people. And so we've talked a lot about Philip so far this morning. We're going to meet the second character in the account, this Ethiopian eunuch. And what's remarkable about this guy is there's a remarkable contrast. So on one hand, he is powerful, he is important, and he is wealthy. It says this in verse 27. There was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all of her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. So first of all, he says he's a court official of Candace. Now, Candace here is not a name of a person,

but rather it's a title. So we would think of it like Pharaoh or like president. And so the Candace in Ethiopia, she was the mother of the king because the king was considered a descendant of the sun and he's far too important to deal with the mediocre matters of government. And so the queen mother would be in charge of all the practical parts of ruling the kingdom and she was known as the Candace. And so he works for the person who is in charge of the entire kingdom and he's in charge of all of the treasure, right? He doesn't just have a small expense account, but he has the wealth of this entire nation at his disposal. And he is important. And we see this in a couple of ways. First of all, he's able to take like three months off

from work to go on vacation, right? So it'd probably take a month from him to journey from Ethiopia to Israel. He's probably gonna spend likely a month there and then he's going to journey back another month, but he also is not doing it on foot, right? He has guys with him. They're part of his security detail. They're also there to make sure of his comfort. He's not walking, but he's riding in style, right? He has an official royal entourage befitting someone of his stature. And so on one hand, this guy is incredibly wealthy, incredibly important. He has a bunch of resources that most people wouldn't have. But he's also sort of an outsider. Likely not Jewish at all. Also going to Jerusalem to worship, he would not, because he's a eunuch, not be allowed into the temple.

It was a prohibition from the book of Deuteronomy that he would not be able to walk through the doors of the temple. And so he goes to Jerusalem to worship, and they don't let him in. Can you imagine that? You take your time, and you're somebody important, and you show up to worship. They say, sorry, you don't qualify, you're not allowed in. So on one hand, he's incredibly important. And on the other hand, he's also an outsider and an outcast. And you have this contrast in the life of the Ethiopian. And I would say this, as we look at what Philip says to him, and I'm going to read this section here in a minute, I want you to understand what happens next is not an accident. In verse 26, the angel of the Lord said to Philip,

Rise and go toward the south. The road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, this is a desert place. And as he rose, there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning, seated in his chariot. And he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And so it was traditional for pilgrims who went to Jerusalem to pick up a souvenir. Just like when we go somewhere, we'll say, we're going to stop at the gift shop and get something nice. A lot of these guys would stop and they would pick up a scroll while they were in Jerusalem. And he picks up the scroll of Isaiah, I don't think by accident. And the Spirit said to Philip, go over and join this chariot.

So Philip ran to him, heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, do you understand what you are reading? And he said, how can I unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture he was reading was this. Like a sheep he was led to slaughter, and like a lamb before his shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. In his humiliation, justice was denied him. Who can describe this generation, for his life is taken away from the earth? So what you find is, first of all, it was no accident that Philip was on the road at this time. It's no accident that Philip goes up to the chariot. I don't think it's an accident that the Ethiopian has a scroll of Isaiah,

And I don't think it's an accident that he's reading a passage that's directly about Jesus. And what you see in this text, we tend to focus on Philip and the Ethiopian. But who is at work? It's God. It's God in his providence. When the Ethiopian buys a scroll, he buys a scroll of Isaiah. And when he opens it to read it, God in his providence directs him to this passage. It's God in his power who directs Philip to this road. It's God in his power who directs Philip to the chariot. And what is he doing? He's pursuing this man who is seeking something more than what he has right now. God is calling the excluded foreigner outcast. The one who wasn't allowed to worship in the temple of Jerusalem. And he's not just sort of extending a general invitation saying,

hey, if you want to show up, show up. But he sends Philip, the gospel proclaimer, puts him in his chariot and he preaches Jesus to him. What you see is God wants you. He doesn't just tolerate you, but he pursues you, and he seeks you, and he wants you. And I would say this is not just a message if you're outside the church to hear that God wants you to be a part of what he has done, that he wants you, but it's also a message for you and I who are in the church as we look outside to see that God wants those people too. We tend to focus on ourselves and what we want, and sometimes we tend to look down on others, but that's not how God sees people. He sees people who are spiritually hungry

and spiritually thirsty, who are in desperate need of salvation. And he sends his people, in this case, Philip. He also sends us to a hungry and thirsty world. So let me ask you just a few questions. First of all, if you're a Christian this morning, what are you filling your life with? One of the ways that you can evaluate that question is say, what is pouring out of my life? What is it that I'm really excited to talk about? What do I focus on? What is it I spend my time on? And those things will direct you to what you're filling your life with. Are we like Philip filling our life with the good news of the gospel? Or are we so busy with all of the other things that we're filled up with entertainment and worries and busyness?

Or are we filled with the power of the gospel? And maybe this morning, you're not a Christian. You're like this man, this Ethiopian on the desert road. And you're searching for something. And I'll tell you simply, his name is Jesus. And maybe you're tired and you're weary and you feel like you can't go any farther. Here's what Jesus says. Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden. And I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. for I am gentle and lowly in a heart, and you will find rest for your souls. If you're tired, the answer is found in Jesus. Maybe you're spiritually hungry and you're spiritually thirsty, and you feel like you're empty. Hear those words of Jesus that we talked about earlier. I am the bread of life.

Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall not thirst. And maybe you're an outsider, and you feel like nobody would ever want me. Most of all, Jesus. See the actions of Jesus. He eats with outsiders in Luke 15. He hugs the leper in Matthew chapter 8. The one guy that nobody wants to be around, let alone touch. Jesus heals him. He pursues the Ethiopian. And I would encourage you this morning to come to the one who wants you. Who gives you rest. Who nourishes you. Who strengthens you. And He desires to be near you. Let's pray. Father in heaven, as we consider these wonderful things, the example of Philip, the power of the gospel in dark places, the encouragement that you give us through the work of your spirit, and this invitation to see, hear,

and respond to the gospel, help us to see that you are the one who meets our needs, the one who fills us up, the one who strengthens us, and the one who helps us. Help us to fill our lives with you by your grace and through your power and through your word that you may be at work in us to share the good news with the world. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. We're gonna stand and sing Jesus who paid it all.

I hear the Savior say Thy strength indeed is small Child of weakness, watch and pray Find in me thine all in all Jesus paid it all All to Him I know Sin hath left a crimson stain He washed it white as snow Lord, now indeed I find Thy power and thine alone Can change the leper's spots And melt the heart of stone Jesus paid it all All to Him I owe Sin hath left a crimson stain He washed it white as snow For nothing good have I Whereby thy grace to claim I'll wash my garments white In the blood of Calvary's land Jesus paid it all All to Him I owe Sin had left a crimson stain He washed it white as snow

And when before the throne I stand in Him complete Jesus died my soul to save My lips shall still repeat Jesus paid it all All to Him I owe Sin had left a crimson stain He washed it white as snow

next to the cookies if you would like to take one of those. We'll go ahead and have a word of prayer and sing the doxology. Father, thank you for the good that you have done for us. We thank you that you have saved us, that you have loved us, you have pursued us, and you have called us. Help us to be a light that shines in a dark world that we would show people your love and your grace. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him, above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. you