{Hebrews 12:1-13}
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
"My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives."
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.
[Rev. Dwight Yoo]
The christian life is like a race. This should be a familiar metaphor. But not only is it a race, it is a long race. It's a marathon. This is not a 100-meter dash. You will need endurance.
"the race that is set before us" God has tailor made this race. For each of us, the race course looks different.
This should be familiar, but I want us to look at this with a corporate lens. We are called to run this race as a corporate group. We are not cheering people on from the sidelines, but rather we are running with other people. It says in scripture that He gives us various gifts. These gifts are to be used to bless others. So we are to use these gifts to run together.
I think also that there is a sense that not only are the courses tailor made for individuals, but there is also a sense that churches have custom courses as well. As Revelations notes, God speaks about how each church is doing in it's context.
The book of Hebrews was written to those who were losing their will to run. There were probably two reasons. One was probably that they had stopped looking to Christ. The things of the world seem to be more precious than Him. The other is people who were tired. People who are having a hard time. Whether it is persecution or just tough times. They have been running for a long time and don't have the motivation to run any more.
So what's going to help us to keep running well?
We have to fight to be light. "lay aside every weight & sin..." For a runner, every ounce counts. When you consider how long a marathon will take, you need to carefully consider everything that we will carry and whether we should carry it at all. For the race of life, we need to carefully consider our lives. Look at the sins weighting on us. We need to unceasingly struggle to shed sins. There must be intense and ruthless fight against sin. Not only overt sin, but also subtle sins.
What does sin do?
It deadens our worship. We only pay lip service to God. Because we already have something to worship.
There is a loss of salt & light. The church will not have a good testimony to the world. We no longer reach out.
Lastly, we become complacent & stagnant. We no longer care.
How do we tell if a church is running well?
A spirit of repentance. The church turns from sin and turns to God. A church that breaks from seeing sin and instead of turning judgment, turns & pleads for God to work.
Our generation is one that seeks comfort & ease. But this race is not an easy one, it is an agonizing one. Consider the Snuggie & eReader. We don't want to move a blanket to change the remote, so a Snuggie. We don't want to carry books and turn pages... so a new gadget. But God is calling us to a painful & agonizing race.
God isn't giving us pain for no reason. He wants the best for our future. He wants to redeem us and restore us. Just like a parent to their child, He wants the best of us.
"Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed."
There are lots of bad TV shows. (Jersey Shore) They are a waste of airtime. But there are also good TV shows. Man vs Wild. Not only is it entertaining, but it is also educational. If you were ever caught in the Sahara, you have some useful knowledge. Think about what it would be like if Bear twisted his ankle. He finds a level straight path, but it's hot & uncomfortable. He sees a cave system running alongside. It's dark and littered with rocks. Which path would be better?
I've met alot of people. I meet people with glaring character flaws. They come to church, meet new people, join a ministry, but when tough times come, they don't get along with people or something happens, they leave. They go to another church. And it happens again. Each time they go to another church, their heart gets a little harder. The best thing for them to do? They should have stayed. Stayed through the tough times, through the difficulties. God would have met them and healed them.
Keeping our eyes fixed on Christ and the promise of glory. The cloud of witnesses with God are trying to share a bit of God's glory. It should keep us running.
Let's keep running, Renewal.
Aug 22, 2010
Aug 15, 2010
The Continual Movement of the Church on Mission
[Various passages in Acts]
{Rev. Dwight Yoo}
I will be wrapping up this series today. We've basically covered chapters 1 through 9. We felt this was so we could see God's heart. That the gospel is not something for ourselves, but it is something we devote our lives to. It not only encounters us and blesses us, but it should go out and bless others.
I would like to share some concluding thoughts...
Movement
This book is about a movement of God. That God is moving though his people. He is moving to redeem & restore this world. He is making this world more like it way it should be. Justice. Love. I think of how a drop of water hits the water and then the waves spread across the water. How the waves spread outward from that one drop. This reminds me of how the church moved outward from one small group of people. Not to say it expanded smoothly, but it kept moving outward. There were obstacles, but it kept moving.
Consider our vision statement - "To ignite a gospel-spreading movement through multiple local congregations in the greater Philadelphia area and the world, so that individuals, communities, and cultures are renewed in Christ."
How can we as a church and as individuals avoid becoming stagnant, but rather stay aligned with the movement of God?
1) Gospel-driven: We need to make the Gospel the engine. It should be what motivates us and moves us.
2) Spirit-empowered: How did the church move? A group of uneducated men. The Holy Spirit came and then they started moving with God.
Don't waste your life - John Piper
{Luke Woo - STM Taiwan}
Just came back from a missions trip to Taiwan. The land of Boba tea & scooters. Dal Shung is where I was. 95% of the people have a proclaimed religion. While you are in church service, you can hear the temple services and rituals going on outside. There is much spiritual battle there. I served as a tentmaker there. I taught the kids. Overseas, I learned about mobilization. There is no pastor Dan or pastor Dwight to tell you to do stuff. You have to stop sitting around and get out there. Get people excited and get christians together. I learned alot about what church is about.
http://www.omf.org/taiwan
Dead Women Walking - Jennifer Su
{Jen Kim - STM China}
Psalm 100:5
I've been in the city of Harbin. I've been basically at Siberia. The coldest was -45 degrees Fahrenheit, not adjusting for wind chill. Harbin is the location of the snow & ice festival. There is also a tiger park where you get on a bus and drive through a park with tigers. I've been teaching at North East Forestry University. I was a "foreign expert." I have not been able to evangelize, that is not allowed. But I have been able to share hope, teach them about Christmas & Easter. We cannot share but when we invite students into our homes and they ask us questions about living for God, we can answer their questions.
Matthew 28:18-20
Luke 4:18-19
(Personal Thoughts)
What does it mean for praise time to be Gospel-centered?
Are our songs too focused on our emotions and personal reactions and not God-centered enough?
How does the praise team engage those who are not musically gifted?
{Rev. Dwight Yoo}
I will be wrapping up this series today. We've basically covered chapters 1 through 9. We felt this was so we could see God's heart. That the gospel is not something for ourselves, but it is something we devote our lives to. It not only encounters us and blesses us, but it should go out and bless others.
I would like to share some concluding thoughts...
Movement
This book is about a movement of God. That God is moving though his people. He is moving to redeem & restore this world. He is making this world more like it way it should be. Justice. Love. I think of how a drop of water hits the water and then the waves spread across the water. How the waves spread outward from that one drop. This reminds me of how the church moved outward from one small group of people. Not to say it expanded smoothly, but it kept moving outward. There were obstacles, but it kept moving.
Consider our vision statement - "To ignite a gospel-spreading movement through multiple local congregations in the greater Philadelphia area and the world, so that individuals, communities, and cultures are renewed in Christ."
How can we as a church and as individuals avoid becoming stagnant, but rather stay aligned with the movement of God?
1) Gospel-driven: We need to make the Gospel the engine. It should be what motivates us and moves us.
2) Spirit-empowered: How did the church move? A group of uneducated men. The Holy Spirit came and then they started moving with God.
Don't waste your life - John Piper
{Luke Woo - STM Taiwan}
Just came back from a missions trip to Taiwan. The land of Boba tea & scooters. Dal Shung is where I was. 95% of the people have a proclaimed religion. While you are in church service, you can hear the temple services and rituals going on outside. There is much spiritual battle there. I served as a tentmaker there. I taught the kids. Overseas, I learned about mobilization. There is no pastor Dan or pastor Dwight to tell you to do stuff. You have to stop sitting around and get out there. Get people excited and get christians together. I learned alot about what church is about.
http://www.omf.org/taiwan
Dead Women Walking - Jennifer Su
{Jen Kim - STM China}
Psalm 100:5
I've been in the city of Harbin. I've been basically at Siberia. The coldest was -45 degrees Fahrenheit, not adjusting for wind chill. Harbin is the location of the snow & ice festival. There is also a tiger park where you get on a bus and drive through a park with tigers. I've been teaching at North East Forestry University. I was a "foreign expert." I have not been able to evangelize, that is not allowed. But I have been able to share hope, teach them about Christmas & Easter. We cannot share but when we invite students into our homes and they ask us questions about living for God, we can answer their questions.
Matthew 28:18-20
Luke 4:18-19
(Personal Thoughts)
What does it mean for praise time to be Gospel-centered?
Are our songs too focused on our emotions and personal reactions and not God-centered enough?
How does the praise team engage those who are not musically gifted?
Aug 8, 2010
The Church on a Mission: Suffering for the Sake of His Name
[Acts 9:15-16]
But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."
{Rev. Dan Whang}
So we've been going through Acts to try and get a picture of a church on mission. I have some notes from my sixth trip to Guatemala. I'd like to share some of my thoughts. This message is about suffering and going through difficulties for Christ.
I felt a burden to push the team this year. To push myself and to push the team. This year, even though we were only there 12 days, we had the best of times and the worse of times. I felt the Lord was really using us. A lot of us had gone to their physical and mental limits. One moment, we were ok and the next, so tired and spent. The idea is that serving God comes with difficulty. A life marked by mission is a life marked by suffering for the sake of Christ.
If you've been keeping up with recent news. A IAM team was murdered in Afganistan. Ten people were killed because the Taliban suspected them of spying for the US and of trying to proselytize to Muslims. When we look at our missions trip, do we think about possibly dying? Do we ask them to buy life insurance and set their life in order before going?
In the passage, God tells Ananias to go to Saul. Ananias is afraid. But God reassures Ananias and sends him again. God tells that Saul will suffer much for the sake of Christ. If you read further, you will find much suffering. Consider what that means for us. If God is going to use us, it will cost us. We will suffer.
Here's a summary of my thoughts...
1) When it comes to suffering, your biggest enemy will always be your own flesh and sin nature.
As a saved christian,we have dual natures. One side that wants nothing to do with God. But when we were saved, God reformatted us. That part of us wants to serve God and do anything for Him. But that old sinful nature does not go away. It still tries to discourage us and keep us from serving God. It tells us how pointless it is. It will be a battle in us between these two natures. Even Jesus struggled with it in the garden of Gethsemane.
There is a way out of this. When this truly sinks in, "For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it."
2) God will never stop refining you through suffering to make you better.
God's heart for us to become so much more than we are now. In ministry and personally. God does take us as we are. But He is not satisfied to leave us there. He wants more for us. This isn't unusual. Whether it is a coach of a sport, your career... there is a desire for progress. To grow and become better. God wants the same for us. He wants us to become better at ministry.
My dad has been a pastor for 22 years. Some elders who were supporters of him went behind his back and tried to get him ousted. This has been going on for 3 years. Now my dad is out west with a different church. He doesn't say this much, but he said the experience has made him better. Even when my dad is 60-some years old, God is still not done with him. God is still refining him. He has become more humble as a result of this.
"For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed" - Hebrews 12:10-13
I want to encourage you in ministry and service. To press on through difficulties. Relational difficulties. God is working through it.
3) The invitation to suffer for the sake of Christ is an invitation to a deep relationship with Him.
"For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured." - Hebrews 13:11-13
This is a picture of sacrificial animals. The sins of the people were put onto these animals. Then they were led outside, away from the people. When Jesus took on our sin, he became our scapegoat. When He went to Calvary outside of Jerusalem, he suffered and agonized. The writer wants us to go outside with Christ to be close to Him. To go through the suffering and anguish with Jesus, so we will experience this closeness with Him.
"that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead." - Philippians 3:10-11
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." - Romans 8:18
{Member Judy Hong}
Sharing about the Uganda missions trip.
All I wanted to do this summer was... nothing. I had a rough school year, so I wanted to just relax. Susan asked me, if I wanted to go. I didn't even think; I told her no. But she told me to prayerfully consider it. I'm not much of a public speaker. I'm just a second year teacher. But as I prayed, God reassured me. I was just being lazy because I didn't want to do all the preparations for the trip. These were all poor excuses. God has given me all sorts of gifts and resources, but often I make all sorts of excuses. The same applies to you. Just be available and watch God work.
But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."
{Rev. Dan Whang}
So we've been going through Acts to try and get a picture of a church on mission. I have some notes from my sixth trip to Guatemala. I'd like to share some of my thoughts. This message is about suffering and going through difficulties for Christ.
I felt a burden to push the team this year. To push myself and to push the team. This year, even though we were only there 12 days, we had the best of times and the worse of times. I felt the Lord was really using us. A lot of us had gone to their physical and mental limits. One moment, we were ok and the next, so tired and spent. The idea is that serving God comes with difficulty. A life marked by mission is a life marked by suffering for the sake of Christ.
If you've been keeping up with recent news. A IAM team was murdered in Afganistan. Ten people were killed because the Taliban suspected them of spying for the US and of trying to proselytize to Muslims. When we look at our missions trip, do we think about possibly dying? Do we ask them to buy life insurance and set their life in order before going?
In the passage, God tells Ananias to go to Saul. Ananias is afraid. But God reassures Ananias and sends him again. God tells that Saul will suffer much for the sake of Christ. If you read further, you will find much suffering. Consider what that means for us. If God is going to use us, it will cost us. We will suffer.
Here's a summary of my thoughts...
1) When it comes to suffering, your biggest enemy will always be your own flesh and sin nature.
As a saved christian,we have dual natures. One side that wants nothing to do with God. But when we were saved, God reformatted us. That part of us wants to serve God and do anything for Him. But that old sinful nature does not go away. It still tries to discourage us and keep us from serving God. It tells us how pointless it is. It will be a battle in us between these two natures. Even Jesus struggled with it in the garden of Gethsemane.
There is a way out of this. When this truly sinks in, "For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it."
2) God will never stop refining you through suffering to make you better.
God's heart for us to become so much more than we are now. In ministry and personally. God does take us as we are. But He is not satisfied to leave us there. He wants more for us. This isn't unusual. Whether it is a coach of a sport, your career... there is a desire for progress. To grow and become better. God wants the same for us. He wants us to become better at ministry.
My dad has been a pastor for 22 years. Some elders who were supporters of him went behind his back and tried to get him ousted. This has been going on for 3 years. Now my dad is out west with a different church. He doesn't say this much, but he said the experience has made him better. Even when my dad is 60-some years old, God is still not done with him. God is still refining him. He has become more humble as a result of this.
"For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed" - Hebrews 12:10-13
I want to encourage you in ministry and service. To press on through difficulties. Relational difficulties. God is working through it.
3) The invitation to suffer for the sake of Christ is an invitation to a deep relationship with Him.
"For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured." - Hebrews 13:11-13
This is a picture of sacrificial animals. The sins of the people were put onto these animals. Then they were led outside, away from the people. When Jesus took on our sin, he became our scapegoat. When He went to Calvary outside of Jerusalem, he suffered and agonized. The writer wants us to go outside with Christ to be close to Him. To go through the suffering and anguish with Jesus, so we will experience this closeness with Him.
"that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead." - Philippians 3:10-11
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." - Romans 8:18
{Member Judy Hong}
Sharing about the Uganda missions trip.
All I wanted to do this summer was... nothing. I had a rough school year, so I wanted to just relax. Susan asked me, if I wanted to go. I didn't even think; I told her no. But she told me to prayerfully consider it. I'm not much of a public speaker. I'm just a second year teacher. But as I prayed, God reassured me. I was just being lazy because I didn't want to do all the preparations for the trip. These were all poor excuses. God has given me all sorts of gifts and resources, but often I make all sorts of excuses. The same applies to you. Just be available and watch God work.
Aug 1, 2010
The Church on Mission: Seizing Gospel Opportunity
[Acts 8:26-40 (ESV)]
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And 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 was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this 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 Scripture that he was reading was this:
"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opens 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 the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 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 went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
{Rev. Charles Han}
Something happened down in Florida recently. A very unlikely divine appointment.
This passage also describes a very unlikely divine appointment. Philip and this Ethiopian eunuch. Philip had no business sharing with this eunuch w/o the intervention of the Holy Spirit.
God sovereignly and graciously breaks us out to accomplish His mission.
Looking at our church and where we were, you can see how God has been redirecting this church. I've asked God whether He will change our church to be less inward focused and actually reach out to people who don't know Christ. This passage gives me hope. God can change the direction and movement of the church. The church was told in Acts 1 to witness to the ends of the earth. But they stayed in Jerusalem... until persecution broke out and the church was scattered. This tells me that God will direct us even when it is not in our plan.
Philip was led by the Spirit to go down to Gaza. Ok. Then Philip is led to run beside the chariot of this Ethiopian official. And then see this, the EASIEST evangelism opportunity ever! This guy is reading from the word and he is confused. God had arranged it all perfectly.
The Gospel breaks through all barriers to redeem all peoples.
Philip, a middle-class Jew. This Ethiopian high ranking official, wealthy, Gentile eunuch. They were so dissimilar. Not only that, but eunuchs are considered unclean under Jewish Law. According to traditional wisdom at the time, Philip had no business even talking with this man.
When we look for the movement of the kingdom in the 21st century, we see the greatest growth in Latin America & Africa. So how did this happen? Most missionaries came with a colonial mindset. Missionaries tried to westernize the Africans to convert them. There was no movement. However, when local leaders understood how the Gospel met them in their culture, it exploded with growth. Africans did not need to become like European or American to become Christians. God met them where they were.
The Gospel challenges us to reach those we would normally have no business associating with.
We are not called to just reach people who look and dress like us. The gospel should also challenge us to meet those outside of our circle of friends. Not to completely ignore people like us, but to welcome those who are unlike us. To embrace not only those who are like us, but people who need the Gospel regardless of how dissimilar they are compared to us.
The Ethiopian eunuch was wealthy. He had a chariot, even though most people walked or rode horses. He had power and influence as a high ranking finance official. He was able to make this long trip. But even though he had all this, something was missing. How do we know? Because he made this long, treacherous trip to Israel. Somehow he heard of this God of Israel. But he would have been turned away from the Temple. Why? Because he was a eunuch, ritually unclean. He would only have been able to go around the courts. And he even bought scrolls of the Jewish Law, very expensive in those times. But he did not understand it. He did not find what he was looking for.... This is when Philip comes and meets him.
Many commentators have speculated that the eunuch would have read on further and ran into Isaiah 56:3-5...
"Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say,
"The LORD will surely separate me from his people";
and let not the eunuch say,
"Behold, I am a dry tree."
For thus says the LORD:"To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose the things that please me
and hold fast my covenant,
I will give in my house and within my walls
a monument and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that shall not be cut off."
Surely, this would have impacted the heart of this Ethiopian eunuch unlike anything else. To know that he had a place, even having forsaking family & marriage. That he had a legacy in Jesus...
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And 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 was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this 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 Scripture that he was reading was this:
"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opens 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 the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 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 went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
{Rev. Charles Han}
Something happened down in Florida recently. A very unlikely divine appointment.
This passage also describes a very unlikely divine appointment. Philip and this Ethiopian eunuch. Philip had no business sharing with this eunuch w/o the intervention of the Holy Spirit.
God sovereignly and graciously breaks us out to accomplish His mission.
Looking at our church and where we were, you can see how God has been redirecting this church. I've asked God whether He will change our church to be less inward focused and actually reach out to people who don't know Christ. This passage gives me hope. God can change the direction and movement of the church. The church was told in Acts 1 to witness to the ends of the earth. But they stayed in Jerusalem... until persecution broke out and the church was scattered. This tells me that God will direct us even when it is not in our plan.
Philip was led by the Spirit to go down to Gaza. Ok. Then Philip is led to run beside the chariot of this Ethiopian official. And then see this, the EASIEST evangelism opportunity ever! This guy is reading from the word and he is confused. God had arranged it all perfectly.
The Gospel breaks through all barriers to redeem all peoples.
Philip, a middle-class Jew. This Ethiopian high ranking official, wealthy, Gentile eunuch. They were so dissimilar. Not only that, but eunuchs are considered unclean under Jewish Law. According to traditional wisdom at the time, Philip had no business even talking with this man.
When we look for the movement of the kingdom in the 21st century, we see the greatest growth in Latin America & Africa. So how did this happen? Most missionaries came with a colonial mindset. Missionaries tried to westernize the Africans to convert them. There was no movement. However, when local leaders understood how the Gospel met them in their culture, it exploded with growth. Africans did not need to become like European or American to become Christians. God met them where they were.
The Gospel challenges us to reach those we would normally have no business associating with.
We are not called to just reach people who look and dress like us. The gospel should also challenge us to meet those outside of our circle of friends. Not to completely ignore people like us, but to welcome those who are unlike us. To embrace not only those who are like us, but people who need the Gospel regardless of how dissimilar they are compared to us.
The Ethiopian eunuch was wealthy. He had a chariot, even though most people walked or rode horses. He had power and influence as a high ranking finance official. He was able to make this long trip. But even though he had all this, something was missing. How do we know? Because he made this long, treacherous trip to Israel. Somehow he heard of this God of Israel. But he would have been turned away from the Temple. Why? Because he was a eunuch, ritually unclean. He would only have been able to go around the courts. And he even bought scrolls of the Jewish Law, very expensive in those times. But he did not understand it. He did not find what he was looking for.... This is when Philip comes and meets him.
Many commentators have speculated that the eunuch would have read on further and ran into Isaiah 56:3-5...
"Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say,
"The LORD will surely separate me from his people";
and let not the eunuch say,
"Behold, I am a dry tree."
For thus says the LORD:"To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose the things that please me
and hold fast my covenant,
I will give in my house and within my walls
a monument and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that shall not be cut off."
Surely, this would have impacted the heart of this Ethiopian eunuch unlike anything else. To know that he had a place, even having forsaking family & marriage. That he had a legacy in Jesus...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)