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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 You're listening to Waters Church podcast, where faith meets real life. Where 1 church, many locations, and 1 mission, to see lives changed by Jesus. No matter where you're listening from, you0:12 are a part of Waters Church family. Now let's dive into today's message from our pastor.0:20 But I wanna talk to you on the subject of experiencing divine moments because I believe that God has divine moments in store for you. What is a divine moment? A divine moment is when you meet with God and you cannot deny0:32 God showed up. Have you had 1 of those? I pray that you have, and if you haven't, I pray that you do. Nothing is more powerful. Nothing can alter the life your life0:44 more than a divine moment. And we're gonna tell you. I'm gonna tell you how you get a divine moment in your life today. But I wanna read from the devotional because I want you to, read through with0:56 us, this entire 21 days to help fuel your faith, fuel the word of God in your heart. And here's the opening paragraph from the from the devotional today. God1:07 orchestrates divine moments that alter destinies. Then it says this. We just read about this guy named Philip. Philip's obedience intersected with 1 man's1:19 hunger for truth, and the ripple the ripple effect of that moment reached nations. Every day holds potential encounter placed1:31 by the spirit. Today, we focus on letting God lead us in our daily lives. Philip went from a thriving revival to an empty desert to serve 1 person. Now, that's the text's1:43 gist. And I wanna talk to you on how you receive a divine moment. Okay? First off, you gotta get involved in God's movement. So in your notes, and I'm only gonna write a couple of notes down.1:55 I'm not gonna fill in the whole thing because I've done, that work already. Alright? But anyway, here we go. Divine moments. You want a divine moment in your life? Divine moments. People experience2:06 divine moments when they serve the divine are you ready for this? Movement. Oh, I already messed up. Look at this. Y'all are making me nervous. Anyway,2:18 movement. There we go. People experience divine moments when they serve the divine movement. What's the divine movement? In other words, what is2:29 God doing in the world? Here's what God is doing. The divine movement, put that in the blank, is God2:40 saving people 1 at a time through through the pastor on the stage? No. Through the church? Through the2:52 building? No. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation for all who3:04 believe. If you believe that, say amen. Amen. The gospel message saves us because we can't save ourselves. Now, today and this week is a focus. I've got an assignment for you coming up later on in the message, and I've3:15 got a focus for you. I want you to do something for me. It might feel funny. That's okay. Just put your finger up in the air like this. Just put your finger up in the air like this. Alright? And, I want you to ask you3:24 this question. And if you can do this at the same time, write this down, who is my 1? If you can keep your finger up and fill in that blank, you are very talented. Who is my 1? What do I3:36 mean by that? I mean, who and you can put your fingers down now. Who has God assigned to you? Not that they are there to3:48 serve you. You're there to serve them. You're there to bring the message of Jesus to that person. I got I got something little4:00 heads up about this whole movement of Jesus thing. God does not do this with angels. I mean, angels are involved. But most of the time, outside of a few4:11 rare exceptions, the gospel message gets passed on from 1 human to another human. And I want you to think about how4:23 incredible that responsibility and opportunity is for every single 1 of us. And I'm asking that you do something that could ultimately change how you see your world.4:35 Pray for God to give you a heart for the 1. Pray for God to give you a4:46 heart for the 1. The well, what 1 pastor? I don't know. It's the 1 that's in your life. Maybe they're in your family. Maybe they're in your workplace. Maybe they're in your school.4:58 Maybe they're at the dog park where you go and you take your dog and you don't even see them normally. But if you pray, if you pray, how many know this is a prayer that God will answer?5:09 You're gonna see people you may have never seen before. And you're not just gonna see them as people, you're gonna see them as objects of God's incredible5:21 love who need Jesus, who are lost without him, and then you're gonna see that God has not just brought you to that place, he has assigned that place. Come on, somebody.5:33 That's your divine moment for you to speak up and, I don't know, share Jesus. Invite them to church. You know,5:45 most people, if you ask them to come to church with you, they'll come. They just want somebody to invite them. I I mean, I I bad news for me. I don't work with non Christians. I work5:57 with church people. I love them. I thank God for them. But I don't work around unsaved people. You do. Guess what? You have far more opportunity than I do, and I almost envy you. You can go out tomorrow at your6:08 workplace, at your school, wherever you are, and maybe you say, oh, pastor, not me. I can't do it. Okay. Hold that thought because we're gonna talk about how that happens. Are you ready? Let's go. Acts chapter 8 is where6:17 we're going in the bible. Keep your bible open to Acts chapter 8 because we're gonna take a look in context of this incredible divine moment for Philip. Now Acts chapter 8 starts dark. Starts kinda bad.6:29 It says, and Saul approved of his execution. Whose execution is that? Well, in chapter 7 of acts, the guy's name is Stephen. Stephen preaches the entire chapter. They can't stand against his6:41 wisdom. And when you can't stand against somebody's wisdom and you know they're right and you're lost, guess what you do? You turn to violence. Just think about that for a moment. Anyway, they stone6:53 Steven. He's the first martyr of the church. And Saul, will become Paul, is like, thumbs up. 2 enthusiastic thumbs up. Put these Christians to death. That's what they deserve. And there arose on that7:05 great day a persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all, what's this word, Scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. Now this 2 phrase right here, this 2 word phrase, Jeremy or 37:17 word phrase, that should bring to mind something that Jesus said to the church back in Acts chapter 1, way back in the beginning of the book. Jesus told the church, listen, you're gonna be my witnesses. When you get the7:27 holy spirit power, you're gonna be my witnesses in Jerusalem, that's the city, in Judea, that's the county, and in Samaria, that's the other county that you hate. Come on. Every county has a7:39 county that they hate. Come on, somebody. You know, whoever the rival is in your football team, whatever. Right? And then to the uttermost parts of the earth. So the assignment was Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,7:51 and to the earth. Let's see it. Let's say it together. Ready? Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the earth. There was a problem. Church never left Jerusalem. Jesus said,8:03 go. They said, no. We're gonna stick it out here because we like this church. Everybody's sharing all their stuff. Everybody's giving us free gifts. Everybody's providing all our need. We're good. We like this church. We8:15 like listen to this. We like comfortable Christianity. And so to shake them out of their comfort, God sends some8:26 persecution that leads to them leaving and getting to Judea and getting to Samaria. Are you following this? How many gotta see in this passage that God can use the8:38 things that you don't like to get you where he needs you to go? Puts the hard relationship in your life, maybe there's some things you need to change about you.8:50 Puts the hard child in your life, maybe there's some things about your parenting that need to change. Puts puts a hard friendship in your life, and maybe the Lord's saying, you need to separate because they're not good9:00 influence in you anymore, and you need to get yourself some good godly friends or whatever. But maybe even the job that you have right now, God has brought you to that place. It feels like, oh, this is persecution. They9:10 hate me for my faith. Lord, they don't stand for you. This this whole job, everybody hates the Lord. I wish I could work at the church with pastor Tim. No. You don't. That might feel like persecution.9:22 Friends, it's an assignment. Come on, somebody. Even the bad things can be good things when God is involved. Amen? So they bury Stephen, and9:34 everybody leaves, just notice this, except the apostles. And they made great lamentation over Stephen. Saul ravaged the church. He was a persecutor of the church. We all know this. Entering house and house, he dragged9:45 people off, put them in prison. Verse 4, now those who were scattered, and why were they scattered? Persecution sent them running, but they didn't run without purpose.9:57 They went about preaching the word. Oh, that's good. God's like, I'll get you out of Jerusalem to send this message 1 way or another. You're going. They went preaching the word10:09 and Philip now, again, you you you might know that there was a disciple of Jesus named Philip. That is not this disciple because we all know, scripture just said, the apostles did not leave. This is10:20 Philip from Acts chapter 6 who was a table waiter, helping the food distribution. He was a deacon in the church. I know we got some deacons down here. I know we got some deacons at our other church. These are people10:32 who usually just do the physical plant ministry. They're the ones who make sure the trash is empty. They're the ones who make sure the rows are straight. They're the ones who make sure that the physical nature of our10:44 bill. Can we just give a hand to our our deacon? They just do the things you you take for granted, I take for granted. Thank god for our deacons. But Philip the deacon Philip the10:55 deacon becomes Philip the evangelist. Hey, start serving and who knows what gifts God will deposit in your spirit. Because he started11:07 serving tables, God sends him to preach. Hallelujah. I love that. And so he goes down to Samaria. He proclaimed to them the Christ and the crowds with 1 accord. Oh, every11:19 preacher wants this. They paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and they saw the signs that he did. What are the signs that Philip did? Unclean spirits came out,11:31 of many, who had them. Many who were paralyzed or lame were healed, and he brought joy to the city. A servant became a preacher11:43 and saw signs and wonders start to manifest out of his hands, and a city came to Jesus. Powerful. I mean, look, I'm just trying to11:55 build a case here. Number 1, that when you serve, the spirit steps up in your life and starts to give you gifts you didn't know you coulda had. But number 2, I'm asking to see something, that this12:07 whole thing, this city was brought to Christ by this 1 man named Philip who went and preached and did mighty miracles, and they were all paying attention to every word12:19 out of his mouth. There is nothing a preacher loves more other than the Lord and his family than a big thriving church where people are captive to what's coming out of his12:31 mouth. I wish I had that here. Okay. I got 3 people who said amen to that. You didn't know you should say amen to that. That's okay. But here's what here's what happens. Alright.12:42 That's the beginning. That's the context. So this revival continues for a few chapters. A couple of other things go down, and then our passage today, look what happens in the midst of this thriving revival led by12:54 who? Philip. Verse 26, now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, rise and, you know, leave.13:06 But but, Lord, look at what I'm doing over here in Samaria. I I got it going on. I'm casting out demons. I'm healing the sick. I'm preaching the gospel. They're all listening13:18 to me. No. No. No. No. No. I've got a different assignment, and I want you to go down toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. Just notice this little that's the end of the quote, by the13:30 way, from the, from the angel. Notice the little descriptor that Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, includes for us. This is a desert place.13:42 God led Philip from a happening place to an empty place. I wonder who's here and God has done that in your life at13:53 some point. There was a moment where it felt like everything was going amazing, and then suddenly it all died down. And you were alone, and you were just isolated, and you were wondering,14:05 where'd everybody go? Or you've got something like really working in your job for a few weeks, and then suddenly everything does dies down. And if you're not careful, you'll think, maybe I missed14:17 God. Maybe I'm not where he wants me to be. Maybe I'm, you know, what? I need I need I need and listen. Don't despise the desert places. Those are14:28 not, places of abandonment. Those are places of assignment. Oh, I was that was good preaching right there. You should have said amen right there.14:40 I'm not abandoned. I'm assigned. Come on, somebody. He goes to the desert place, and I love this obedience from Philip. He doesn't argue. He doesn't14:52 say a thing. He arose and he went. Man, let me tell you how you experience divine moments. Number 1, write this down. Divine moments happen when we boldly go where God15:04 leads. You start praying about the 1, you start praying that God will give you eyes to see somebody far from God, watch what happens. God will blow up your life.15:16 I'm not kidding. This is not an exaggeration. Too much of Christianity is focused on come to the church, let the preacher give you 5 tips for a better marriage,15:28 and feel better about yourself and leave. That's not the business of the gospel, friend. I pray that God gives you a great marriage. I do. But I pray that God uses your marriage to tell other people about Jesus.15:40 The church does not come here, feel good, feel motivated, love the worship, love the and then just walk out the doors and it makes no difference. Look, nobody is,15:52 nobody is here by accident. God has led you to this place so that I can encourage you to leave. Rise in a few in a few moments. Rise and go from this place and be16:04 a witness of the goodness of God in the marketplace, in the schoolhouse, in the streets of this of this locale so that other people can know the good God that you16:16 serve who saved you. You've got an assignment. Here's a question couple questions I want you to write down. Can I go to the different, desert place? Can I go to the place where maybe I'm not seen,16:28 maybe it's not happening, but there's somebody there who needs Jesus? How about this? Can I go to the different place? Can I go to people who don't look like me, who don't smell like me, who don't think like me? How16:39 about this 1, who don't vote like me? Just want you to notice that Philip went where? He went first to a place called Samaria. Oops. He went first to16:51 a place called Samaria. Do you know how much the Samaritans hated Jews? These people were Adam these people were ancient, enemies. They hated each other. Philip17:02 goes. Then God sends him from that enemy to Gaza. Anybody been following the news the last couple of years? Yeah. It's that place. That place. Now17:14 listen to this. Check this out. Before Gaza was the home of the Jew hating Hamas terrorist organization, Gaza was the home, some of you17:26 don't know this, of the Philistines. The Philistines were the Jews' ancient nemesis from back in the time of the judges and David. That by the way, there was another town17:38 in in Philistine country in that area near Gaza called Gath, and there was a big old giant from Gath. Anybody know his name? Goliath. He was a Philistine. He taunted Israel. What I'm trying to tell you is that God17:49 sends Philip to the people he would not normally be attracted to. When you start asking God for divine moments, be careful because God's18:01 gonna start sending you to places you're not comfortable. He's gonna start asking you to talk to people you've never talked to. He's gonna ask you to start seeing people you've never noticed, and they're gonna stop being18:10 part of the scenery of your life, and you're gonna start seeing them for some for what they really are. People for whom Christ died and whom the Holy Spirit has assigned for you and to go and to speak18:22 the powerful words of Jesus Christ. That's who they are. They aren't enemies. They aren't, anemesis. They they aren't problems. They are potential people that18:34 could come into the family of the living God. Hallelujah. I'm telling you, look, you got a choice. You can see people the way God sees them, or you can see people the way your favorite news channel tells18:46 you to see them. What's it gonna be? I I mean, I get caught up in the news too. You know that. I get caught up in the news too. And I I hate a lot of direction in this country, but at the end of the day, on the ground,18:58 below all the ideologies and all the haze and all the fog and all the confusion of what we're arguing about up here, on the ground are people who desperately need Jesus. That's what they do. That's what they19:10 need. They need Jesus. So he goes. And wouldn't you know that in the place where he would have expected nobody, in the desert place because in the desert, you're not abandoned,19:22 you're assigned. Okay? And there was an Ethiopian. Now this Ethiopian, this is not modern day Ethiopia. This is ancient Kush. Kush is used to be south of Egypt. But anyway,19:35 he's a guy he's an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace. Candace is a name that is like the czar or the, Kaiser. This is a title, not a name. We don't know her name. This19:46 is the title of this person. She was queen of the Ethiopians, and he was in charge of all her what? Treasure. He had the checkbook. Now here's the fact about this guy.19:58 He's a eunuch because he was in the court of the queen and in charge of the money. Ancient times, and Jesus talks about this in Matthew 13. He says, some men are made20:10 eunuchs by men. Some people are made eunuchs by men. The reason why is because if you were a monarch with a lot of money and a lot of power, you would make you would hire people for your court and you would make20:22 them eunuchs. You would castrate them so that they could not produce children and then lead an insurrection. Because if they had children, this guy being in charge of the money could've double20:34 dealt on the side, could've made and then at the right time, he could've led an insurrection. No. You you gave them no chance to create a family. So though he was a powerful man, he was20:46 a dead man at the end of his life. And not just that, but just check out the gorgeous nature in which Luke is teasing us to dig a little20:58 deeper into this text. He says he had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning. Notice the phrase doesn't say,21:10 he had just worshiped in Jerusalem and was returning. No. He had come to Jerusalem, to the temple, to worship21:22 and was returning. Implication being, he tried, but he couldn't get in. You know why he couldn't get in? I'm gonna have to share a passage that, you know, it sounds a little bit strange reading in church, but I21:34 gotta it's in the bible. Okay? Deuteronomy 23 verse 1 says this, no 1 whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the21:46 Lord. This man traveled from Ethiopia 700 miles away by chariot. Probably took him several weeks, if not months, to get there.21:57 He gets to the temple gates, and the first thing that he hears is, you're not able to come into this place. Now that rule comes from Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy is part22:09 of the law. Hey. Remember what I told you last week? All these messages are gonna work together. Remember what I told you about the law last week? The law brings death. The law brings22:21 a stoppage to your life. The law revealed that this man who tried to worship couldn't worship because of his condition, and he was22:32 excluded, not included, into the movement of Jesus. I mean, into the movement of God. This this is powerful. The law does this for every single 1 of us. The22:44 bible, all those rules of the bible. Do you know what they're do you know what they're there for? They're not they're not there to tell you how to live. They are someone. But they're not there ultimately to tell you how22:52 to live. They're there to tell you how you can't live. You can't obey the law. You can't not hate all the time. You can't always hold your tongue. You can't always think the right thoughts. You can't always not23:03 be jealous. Come on. Anybody ever try to be good and and the whole day was 1 of the worst of the week just because you set out to try to be a nice person? What is that? The law is at23:15 work. It is shutting you down. It is closing the door. It is slamming it shut in your face. You can't do this. And you say, well, what's that about? It's so that you get to the23:27 end of yourself and you look to the solution God sent in Jesus Christ. Because the law brings death, the spirit23:39 brings life. Come on, somebody. See, what have got a problem in America is that everybody thinks they can be a good person and get to heaven. You can't. You can't be a good person and get nobody,23:51 absolutely nobody is getting to heaven saying, I did it. Look at me. I checked every box. I crossed every t. I dotted every I.24:03 I really smoked those fools down on earth. Here I am now. No. Everybody getting to heaven is getting to heaven because they knew they blew it. They knew they24:14 weren't good enough, and they looked to the 1 who was the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for their sins, and offers them eternal life if they trust in his sacrifice for them.24:27 Come on somebody. That's the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's a good word. Thank you, Lord. The pressure's off, friend. The burden is off. So I just want you to see the24:39 beauty of this moment. Okay? Because I said the law brings death, and and what did I say brings life? The spirit brings life. Check this out. He was reading Isaiah the prophet, and the24:50 spirit said to Philip, go over and join this guy. Oh, I love this. I love when the bible comes together. The law which said he was an outsider,25:02 now the spirit comes through Philip and tells him, I'm gonna make you an insider. I'm gonna change your world. But listen, this is this is gonna this is a path to divine movements or divine moments in25:14 your life. Write this down. Point number 2, divine moments happen when we seek the ones left out. Can I encourage you25:25 today? Please please please listen to me. America, we have got an addiction to attention. Young people, you've got it too. You got it especially25:37 because some guy named Steve Jobs decided that you needed the entire world in your hand at every moment of your stinking day.25:49 And now that tool which couldn't be used for great things has become a tool of addiction to attention. And now the26:00 you've got things like influencers, and you've got people who need to get your attention all the time. Listen. Be careful when someone makes a living,26:12 making sure you watch them. Just be careful about that. Alright? Because that makes them cater to your lowest desires.26:25 I mean, there are there's a reason why the porn business is a multibillion dollar business in this country. Attention addiction. Attention attention. Pay26:36 attention to me. Follow me. Watch me. And we are hooked by these by these bait and switch people. And and listen, it's it's not it's not good for26:48 us. It's not. Because what it's gonna make us all about is just how can I leverage you for my attention? How can I use you for what I need? I need to pay my27:00 electric bill. How can I use you to do it? Right? That's basically the attention economy that we're in. Here's my challenge to you. Alright? Are you ready? Here's the challenge. Take 11 steps27:13 to the person you don't normally notice. Get your eyes off the influencers, friends. Get your eyes out of the phone, and ask God to27:25 open your eyes to people in your world that nobody pays attention to. Ask God to give you an eye for the person at the workplace who's always left27:36 out. Ask God to give you an eye. Hey, young people. How about this? Change your world. You change things up. Be a rebel. Be a rebel. Here we go. You wanna be a rebel? Don't delight27:48 yourself to be with the insider clicker, clicky kinda cool people. Why don't you try something that no 1 will try? You'll be you'll be the ultimate rebel in your school.28:00 Go up to the 1 no 1 likes, introduce yourself, and ask them how they're doing and care about them. You see, our world this is what28:12 I'm talking about with attention economy. We we gotta break this mantra. We gotta break this cycle. We gotta be different than the world. How many know the church is supposed to be different than the world? Here's how.28:23 So when the world is chasing after all these popular people, we're the people going after the ones no one's paying attention to and saying they are made in the image of my father and they matter to him and Jesus bled for28:34 them and Jesus rose for them and I am here to love them in Jesus' name. That's being God's people. That's being different than this dried up, stinking old28:46 world. And then we need that now more than ever. So you say, 11 steps. What's the deal with 11? Well, the human body I asked Chat GP this.28:59 The average person in 11 steps can travel 30 feet, and that's the reason. Because I think that your workplace within 30 feet diameter I'm sorry, radius of your life,29:11 there's somebody there that nobody's paying attention to. So just consider it that way. Also, it's January eleventh. Ding. Okay. So Philip goes because the spirit said now I wonder who29:23 here today is listening to me, and you would love to have this kind of moment where the spirit says something to you. Amen, somebody? I would just love God to speak to me. How come it doesn't feel like God ever speak?29:32 God speaks to so many people. How come he doesn't speak to me? I want you I want you to know why. Here's why. Because before the spirit said, Philip went. Because because he29:44 went, the spirit spoke. Alright. You're not getting this. Do what God has29:55 already said for you to do, and then God will speak more to you. You know what I've learned? Is that God does not give me the30:07 whole, you know, list of directions for where I need to go. He never has. Past somebody asked me the other day, pastor, what's your 5 year plan? I don't have 1. I'm I'm30:19 lucky if I know what we're doing next week, friend. Because I follow the spirit's lead. And what I noticed is like lamppost on a road at night. You get to the first 1 and it starts to brighten30:31 and now you see the road clear. I can't see 50 light posts down. I'm just supposed to worry about this 1, and I gotta run through this area of light. And then, oh, there I see. There's more light. And that's how the holy30:39 spirit works. He's out some of you have never stepped out in faith. Some of you, you've come to Waters Church for years. You've never stepped out and served. You've never said, listen. How can I help make people30:49 comfortable at our church? How can I help make sure somebody's parked? How can I help serve somebody's kids in Waters kids? You've only come and received. You've come and consumed. Now it's time to be a contributor, a30:59 giver, somebody who's gonna give their life for all the people because Jesus gave his life for you. I mean, at some point look. I'm not gonna put guilt on you because some of you are born again the like last31:11 week. We're not asking you to do this 1. Well, although you're more than welcome to try. But the point is is that at some point, you gotta get out of your comfortable Christianity and give yourself to the cause of31:21 Christ, and that is where the holy spirit will start speaking to your life. Amen. That's where he's gonna start showing up. He's not gonna show up because you're just sitting there saying, speak, Lord.31:35 He's gonna be he's like, move. Do something. Do something that requires my guidance. Write this down so I know you're getting it. Spiritual clarity with God grows when I obey what he31:47 has already given me to do. What's he asked you to do so far? How about this this week? Take those 11 steps. Take those 11 steps and go to that person. Nobody pays attention.31:58 Oh, I just I just think about the potential here. I think about the potential. Because first, that person might be weirded out. Like, why are you talking to me? Nobody talks to me. I talk to you. You matter to32:10 me. How about you say, well, what do I say when I get to them? How about this? How was your weekend? And they'll tell you. And then guess what they're gonna say? Eventually, they're gonna say32:22 this, how was yours? And then you get to say, I went to this great church with this really handsome pastor.32:34 Alright. Leave that part out. Unless you're my wife, then you can say it. Okay. Anyway. And and, that's where you get the opportunity to say, you know what? Why don't you come with me next week?32:47 Is that hard? Is that hard? Did I ask you to recite the King James version of John 3 16 to them? This is easy stuff, but it's32:58 necessary stuff. It's our assignment in the desert places of our world. Alright. Moving on. So Philip ran, and I love this. He was walking, now he's running. Well,33:10 he's running because he's gotta catch up to a chariot. And he heard him he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, do you understand what you are reading? And he said, how can I? And I already talked about this.33:20 Unless someone guys, we need pastors, we need teachers. By the way, if you're new to church and you don't understand the bible, please do not beat yourself up. That's what I'm here for. This guy33:32 says, need somebody to guide me. So do you. Alright? So it's okay. Don't worry about don't ever beat yourself up about that. I'll I'll do my best to help you through with the text. Okay. And he invited people, he invited33:43 Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the message of the scripture that he was reading was this. Now this passage, and I want you to put this notation in your notes. It's Isaiah33:55 53. Please put that there just in in your notes, right above it. It's like a sheep, he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearers, it's34:07 silent. So he opens not his mouth. And now I just want you to remember that this is a eunuch. This is a eunuch. Now you tell me what part of34:19 this passage leapt off the page and got this guy's attention. In his humiliation, justice was denied him. Who can describe34:30 his generation? In other words, he didn't have any family. For his life is taken away from the earth. If you're a eunuch who has34:42 been made a eunuch, justice was denied, and you got no family coming out of your loins, you got no family coming out of you, And34:54 your life ends when you die. Now you can understand now you can understand why this35:06 eunuch says, I ask you, please tell me who is the prophet talking about. Can I can I also give you some pastoral guidance and care here? Listen to this.35:19 Some of you are like, I I don't know, pastor, if I could go up and talk to somebody about you. I don't know if I could do it. Can I can I can I make a little suggestion? There's a good chance that God has already been35:30 talking to them before you got there. And it's gonna be so much easier than you imagine because this is a holy spirit thing. The holy spirit's working on you, and the holy spirit's working35:42 on them. Oh, the holy spirit was working on Philip, and the holy spirit was working on the eunuch, and he brought them together at just the right time. And it can happen in your life as well. Take those 11 steps and35:52 trust God in the process. I can't tell you how many times that's happened in my life where I've I didn't wanna talk to somebody. It was on a plane or somewhere where I was, you know, in a public space, and I didn't wanna36:02 talk. And and the Lord opened the door, and he though and he told me to talk, and I said and suddenly, they're like, why did you say that? That's exactly what I was just thinking. The Holy Spirit was already working on36:12 them and working on me to bring us together. You say that's a pastoral gift. No. That's not. That's a holy spirit gift that the church gives to anybody that he wants. I already told you Philip was a36:24 table waiter. He was already a deacon, and the lord made him into an evangelist. What could God do with you when the Holy Spirit gets him into your spirit? Hallelujah. So this man36:36 asks who he is, and Philip opened his mouth. Somebody say, open my mouth. Don't say open his mouth. Some open my mouth. My mouth. Oh, that is a I said it before. That's a dangerous36:48 prayer. You know, a lot of times we gotta say, Lord, shut my mouth. But when you take these 11 steps this week, ask the Lord to open your mouth. And here's number 3, divine moments happen when we36:59 speak about Jesus. You want God to show up in your life? Start talking about Jesus to other people. Oh, I wanna see I wanna feel the holy spirit. I I'm all for you feeling the holy spirit at the altar and in our37:11 services, but you know where you really feel the holy spirit? When you start to tell other people about Jesus. Oh, I'll tell you, he'll show up then. You know why? Because Jesus told us that was the holy spirit's job.37:21 Pay attention here. John 16 13. Jesus talking about the Holy Spirit. He says, when the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. That means he's gonna tell you how this he's gonna tell you how this book is37:31 written, why it's written, what it's for. Alright? And then he says, he will not speak of his own. Whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He'll tell you about the37:39 future, and then this is this is the best part. Verse 14, and he, the holy spirit, will glorify me, Jesus Christ. The purpose of the Holy Spirit37:52 is to glorify Jesus. So it just stands to reason to me that if you wanna feel the work of the Holy Spirit in your life38:04 can anybody finish this thought? Or yeah. Talk about Jesus. Talk about Jesus. Why does the holy spirit show up? Holy spirit shows up so powerfully, He38:16 tells them about Jesus. And as they were going along the road, and new Christians pay attention to this, he saw some water, and the eunuch said, hey. Here's water. What prevents me from being baptized? I love that38:28 question. The answer is what? Nothing. Now if you got the NKJV, the New King James version, there is older there are some newer manuscripts that have this verse 37. It's not included in in the otherShow more
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