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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 Take out your Bibles, if you would. I wanna talk to you about Serving Saves Lives Part 3, and my title is Kingdom of Heaven GPS. Acts chapter 6. We're gonna go to Acts chapter 6. We're gonna go to Acts chapter 8. We're0:11 go to Acts chapter 21. You do not have to turn to all those passages. I will be reading to that reading them to you, but it's good to have a paper Bible if you're in house. So I encourage you to flip0:23 to the pages with me as we go to these passages. But not all of the passages will be up on the screen. And I have been talking about the fact that there are 4 movements to0:35 serving, 4 movements to this series, but 4 movements to serving for your life. Movement number 1 is serve in the church.0:46 Galatians chapter 6 says, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men. But then he adds this qualification, especially to the household of faith. So if0:58 you're going to do good, do good to everybody. But mostly, do it to the household of faith. So you serve here. Somebody say here. Here. Then after1:10 you're serving here, and maybe as you're serving here, serve there. That was last week. Serve wherever God sends you. Serve in the station that God has assigned to you.1:22 Every place matters. You're the light of the world, and you're the salt of the earth. That was last week. This week is movement number 3, and here's the idea, serve anywhere. Somebody say1:34 serve anywhere. Serve anywhere. In other words, anywhere you find yourself at any time, be ready to serve. Next week, don't miss1:46 it. We're going to talk about serve the ones that no 1 dares. How do you serve the people that don't like you? How do you serve your enemy? That's next week. But let me stay on topic today. Stand with me at1:58 all of our locations. We're going to read a verse of scripture, Acts chapter 6, just a short portion of it. There's a guy I want to talk to you about in this passage. It says this.2:10 Verse 1 of Acts chapter 6. Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number. Do you know what that means? The church was growing. The church was growing. It says, a2:21 complaint by the Hellenists those are Greek speaking people arose against the Hebrews that was Hebrew speaking people or Jews because the widows were being2:33 neglected in the daily distribution of food. And the 12, that would be the 12 apostles, they summoned the full number of the disciples and said, it's not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve2:43 tables. Therefore, pick from among you 7 men of good repute, full of the spirit and wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And what2:55 they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Proclorius, Nicanor, Timon, Parnimus,3:07 Nicholas, proselytite of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the numbers of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem,3:18 and a great many priests became obedient to the faith. Now there's 1 more passage I wanna go to, and it's in Acts chapter 21. So if you got a Bible, flip with me over Acts chapter 21. We're flipping. We're finding verses3:30 today. Who's excited to find Bible verses today? Acts chapter 21 is verse 8. It says this, on the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house3:42 of Philip the evangelist, who was 1 of the 7 we just talked about the 7 men chosen in Acts chapter 6. We're already down to Acts chapter 21. This is years later. Here he is3:54 again, and it says this about him. He's Philip the evangelist. They stayed with him. He had 4 unmarried daughters. God bless him. Amen.4:05 What'd they do, though, if you got your Bible open? They prophesied. This is God's word. Let's pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus, we ask that you will speak to us, speak through me, let me get out of the way4:17 that Jesus might be seen. Bless every person in every location to hear the word of God, to be changed and transformed, and help us to see Jesus. Him and Him only, in His mighty name we4:29 pray. And everybody said Amen. Amen. God bless you. Have a seat at all locations. Kingdom of Heaven GPS. What are you talking about? Pastor. Okay. Raise your hand if you are4:41 in dire need of GPS. All locations, even if I can't see you, just raise your hand. You people with your hand up are my kind of people. I cannot find my4:53 way out of a paper black bag. I can't find my way out of my own bedroom sometimes. I am helpless without GPS. Now, this is what I5:04 call God's GPS or kingdom GPS. Write it down. God propels servants. God propels and that word propel means He moves them5:16 ahead. He moves them forward. And He places them in greater capacities and in better places for more potential impact5:28 in later years. Jesus said this in 1 of the passages in Luke. He said, if you are faithful with little things, you will be entrusted with what?5:40 Does anybody know? Greater thing. Much. Faithful with little, entrusted with somebody say much. Much. So here's an idea. Serve anywhere God5:52 places you, and God will bless you in places that you can't even imagine. I heard this story. This is sad. This is sad. I hate to start off with a sad story, but it's just an illustration. Just bear with6:04 me. Recent news from CNN. And the title of the article was that a family is suing not CNN. A family is suing Google Maps. Google, sorry, Google for6:15 its Maps app, which led the father of this family to drive off a collapsed bridge to his death. Google Maps, did not, adjust the6:28 driving route. This guy was coming home. Now, this is how the story goes. Just this guy needed more help than just Google Maps when you hear what I'm about to say. He was coming home from his6:39 daughter's ninth birthday party. Okay, right? You understand what I'm saying right there? So he was already off the course of life. He was coming home, though,6:51 and he took the road that Google Maps told him to take. He drove onto a bridge, off the bridge, into the river, and drowned. Now the family is suing Google. And here's what the lawyer had to say7:04 about this man and about Google Maps. Listen to this quote. Like so many motorists, Philip Paxton put his trust in Google Maps to safely guide him home.7:16 His trust in Google Maps cost him his life. That's a powerful quote. His trust in Google Maps cost him7:28 his life. You know, everybody's trusting someone's directions. Everybody is following someone's lead. The question is, are they gonna lead you to life, or are they gonna lead you to death? Are they7:40 gonna lead you to better places or worse places? Now I wanna tell you, and back to my thought, don't trust me for driving directions. Don't do it. I7:52 I I've been living here for 3 years. I still need driving directions. I opened my GPS, this is not a lie, to get to CVS and Dunkin' Donuts.8:04 It doesn't matter where I am. 2 weeks ago, South Coast, our location in Tiverton, Rhode Island, I drove myself there, big mistake, Because I was going to see8:16 you guys for team night. I did make it to you guys for team night. But I was supposed to leave South Coast and drive to Woonsocket, Rhode Island, which was west, and get there for the end of their team8:28 night and speak to that location. Never made it. I got on route 6, some of them will know this. I got on route 6, I went east because I thought I'm in the east, I should go east. Ended up at8:40 Cape Cod. Somebody, if know that area, you know. Sorry, Woodsocket. My bad. Don't ask me for driving directions. But I can tell you8:51 directions for God's leading. I can tell you how to get places with God. That's my job. So you can trust me here. I'll open the Bible, and I'll tell you what God says. Amen, somebody. God propels9:03 servants. That's what we're talking about when we talk about kingdom GPS. I'm talking about Philip. Philip is a guy in the Bible that we just mentioned twice in 2 passages of scripture, but he shows9:14 up repeatedly in the book of Acts. And he teaches us the main theme of my message today. And I want you to write down the main theme. If you got your notes out, take them out, or write this down. And if you don't have9:26 your notes out, take them out and write this down. Would you write this first thing down after Kingdom GPS? If you will serve anywhere, God will bless you everywhere. I believe this.9:39 And Philip is exhibit A. There are 3 Phillips in the New Testament. There's Philip, whom Jesus chose to be 1 of his apostles. And that Philip actually was an evangelist9:51 too, because he's the 1 that went out and reached out to a guy named Nathaniel and brought Nathaniel to Jesus. That's in John chapter 1. Then there's Philip the tetrarch. He was the governor of Perea and Galilee. And10:03 that's not who we're talking about. That guy was an immoral, hedonistic, evil king. But then there's this Philip, and this Philip started out in Acts chapter 6 as a deacon. You know10:15 what a deacon is? The word deacon comes from in the Greek, and it just means servant. Maybe some of you have come from churches where the deacons were in charge of everybody. They told the pastor what to10:26 do. The board of deacons said it, and we need to do it. Well, that's actually not biblical, because the Bible shows us that the deacons listened to the apostles, and they served tables. What did they do? They10:38 managed food distribution. Here we are in scene 1 of Philip's life, because we're gonna look at 4 scenes. And in Acts chapter 6, the church is growing and people are10:49 complaining. Did you hear what I just said? A growing church will also be a groaning church. And we're talking about11:01 the first century church. We're talking about right after the Holy Spirit fell on the church. We're talking about I mean, Peter was their pastor. Okay. This guy walked with Jesus. This guy walked11:13 on water. This guy spoke on the day of Pentecost, and 3000 people got saved. He spoke 2 weeks later, and 2000 more people got saved. I mean, you you got Waters Church, you got a great pastor.11:28 You're slowing the uptake down here in Florida. Must be the heat stroke getting to you. And I'm in the darkness again. Okay. But I can't hold a candle to pastor Peter.11:40 I've never walked on water. I've never preached on the day of Pentecost. But they still had problems. Hey, great churches still have problems. Amen. Have some grace with churches. And if11:52 your church is messed up in some way, well, the early church was messed up, and it's still the same way. We're always gonna have a challenge. But here's what Philip does. Do know what Philip does? He shows up and he12:03 fixes the problem. So point number 1, to see God propel your life. If you want to see God propel your life, I believe this is a principle of the scriptures you need to embody. Point number 1, write it down. Serve12:15 anywhere there's a problem. Serve anywhere there's a problem. You know, we got a lot of people that want to serve where there's12:26 potential. They want to serve where there's praise. They want to serve where there's a lot of important people. I once had a12:38 worship leader, not in this church, not in North Attleboro, but in a church that I worked with. And every once in a while, some famous people, because it was close to a place with famous people, would show up to service.12:49 As soon as that person would show up, man, the church, the buzzing beasts, oh, so and so is here. So and so is here. So and so is here. And I mean, I tell, it would get into that worship leader's eye. And I love this13:01 guy. He's a great guy. But he would really turn it on in the worship set when he knew famous people were in the audience. And I was thinking, I would always say to myself, the Bible says that it's a13:13 sin to show favoritism. Did you know that? James chapter 2 says don't show favoritism. Treat everybody the same. And I think that sometimes people want to be in the places of prominence. They want to be in the places of13:25 power. They want to be in the places of praise. They want to be in the places of important people. But here's who God propels. Are you ready? People who go where the problem is and fix it. Will you13:36 serve where there's a problem? And I'm telling you something. This is such a life principle, not just a church print. This is a principle that will bless your life. Okay?13:49 If you wanna get ahead, if you want the boss to notice you, if you want the company to appreciate you, if you want the higher ups to acknowledge you, okay, I can't guarantee it 100 percent of the but most times,14:01 they will see, they will notice, they will acknowledge, and they will promote the people who solve the problems in the business. That's how you make yourself valuable in life. Some of you are like, why doesn't anybody14:12 give me my due? Why doesn't anybody ever notice me? Step into the problems. Be the person who's first on the list. I will I will serve. I will do that. I will fill that gap. I will fix that thing. I will step up and14:24 do this. And he said, well, I don't know if I can. Try it and see if God can't bless you to give you the wisdom to fix the problem, and God will elevate you and bring you to a higher place. That's how Joseph found14:34 himself at the right hand side of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He just kept solving problems everywhere he went. That's what God propels. He doesn't propel people who want praise. I know. I know14:46 they'll flourish quickly, but they will eventually shrivel. And this is what Philip does. Now let me look at a couple of things here with Philip, just so you know how to do it. Because I believe it's in the Bible for14:56 this very reason. How did they choose Philip? Well, the apostles said this in verse 3 of chapter 6. They said, brothers, pick out from among you. Just underline the words among you in notes15:08 there. From among you. And then it says this, 7 men of good repute, and just circle the word repute. That's short for reputation. How's your15:19 reputation? And then it says this, Full of the Holy Spirit, full of wisdom, and we're going to give them this duty. Okay. 2 key ingredients to Philip getting chosen to be 1 of the15:31 7. He was noticed, and he was selected to fix a problem. Well, how do you get there? Write this down, number 1. Philip was faithful to the15:43 gathered church. Faithful. That's up number 1 underneath number 1. Philip was faithful to the gathered church. In other words, he was there. He15:54 just showed up. Half the battle is just showing up. Come on, somebody. You want God to use you? Show up. Show up at church. Well, I don't have to go to16:06 church to be a Christian. Yeah, but you have to go to church to get the game plan. Come on, somebody. Imagine, we're in football season, and my beloved Patriots are 0 and 2. 0, God have mercy. But16:18 imagine if the players were like, well, I don't have to go to practice to be a football player. Yeah, but you gotta prepare. You've got to be ready. You've got to have your face there so that somebody sees you.16:31 Christians, I have a heart for you. And some of you, you feel overlooked. You feel like nobody notices you. You feel like a nobody. And I'm trying to help you, and I hope you will receive this word. Show up.16:43 Be there. Smile when you show up, by the way. Because when you frown, we're like, oh, I don't want to talk to that person. I don't know about that. They don't look like they like us. And if you show up and you smile, I'm16:53 telling you, somebody's going to notice you. Number 2, he worked where the need was. Write that down. That's qualifications. He showed up. And I believe that because he showed up, he got filled up with17:05 the Holy Spirit. Hey, listen, if you show up to church, you get filled up with God. Amen. And then that showing up and getting filled up caused him to armor up and work.17:17 He worked where the need was. Some of you have to realize that life right now is offering you countless opportunities for God to propel you,17:29 but you're not taking them. And you know why you're not taking them? Because you complain, but you don't contribute. You critique, but you don't ever offer to be the solution.17:42 Now, I'm preaching now because you're getting quiet. But sometimes we need to hear good words that challenge our hearts. And I'm not talking just about the church. I'm talking about your life. I'm17:53 talking about your world. God will propel people who zip this and open these. Who say, you know what? And I get this from people in the church too,18:05 that they'll say to me, Pastor, I've noticed something about our church that needs addressing, and I'd like to talk to you about it. And I'm always like, don't tell me about it. Just address it. Just do do we have to18:17 have a meeting? Do I have to and and and somebody tells me what the problem is. I'm like, alright. Amen. I'm with you. Let's fix that problem. You start it. Oh, amen. That that That18:29 gets them quiet real fast. No, no, pastor. I just wanted to advise you. I didn't wanna actually help. I just wanted to, you know, tell you what to do. No, no, no. If you see that See, because I can't see of every18:39 problem. I can't see every person. I can't know everybody's name. I wish I could, but I can't. Sometimes I forget my kids' names. I never forget my dogs' names, but I forget my kids. Anyway, listen, there are18:51 people here in all of our locations, listen up, that you need to see. And if you serve them, they will be seen by you. And believe it or not, and19:02 this is true, being seen by you is just as great as being seen by me. Because all I am is a servant of the word of God.19:15 And all you are is a servant of the word of God. We are all ministers. If you're a Christian, you are a minister of the most high God. Can I get a good amen from every19:26 location? So ministers, they they get where the need is, and they fix it. Alfred Alder, you don't know him, and I didn't know him until I studied for this message.19:39 But, I found this quote from him. He is an Australian psychologist from the 18 hundreds, and he is the father, I didn't even know this, of the birth order psychology movement. Have you ever19:50 read the birth order book and how the birth order affects who you are and where you are? First born, second born, all that stuff, you know what I'm talking about? You you got your first born, all the people who are19:59 bitter with mom and dad. You know, the second born, you know, the middle child, the forgotten, and then the baby of the family, who is the prized possession of the family. I'm a baby of the family. Amen. I I love my20:08 birth order. I'm I'm perfectly fine with it. Praying for you middle children. But nonetheless, he he said this in his book, What Life Should Mean to You. Quote, it is the individual who is not20:19 interested in his fellow man who has the greatest difficulties in life and provides the greatest injury to others. It is from among such individuals that20:31 all human failures spring, end quote. Can I read it again? Because it's such a powerful quote. He says, It is the individual who is not interested in his fellow20:43 men, who has the greatest difficulties in life, and provides the greatest injuries to others. In other words, if you want to be someone that people20:55 like and want around, think of other people. This is from a secular psychologist, okay? So both God and a secular psychologist understand that if you're21:06 interested in fixing things and helping people and solving problems and meeting needs, God, and just by natural occurrence as well, humanity21:18 will embrace you. I mean, I understand. Some of you could get up here and say, no, you don't know my boss. I help and I help and I help, he never notices. Okay, maybe you need to find another job. Maybe you need to pray21:30 for your boss. Maybe, I don't know. It's not 100 percent. But I'll tell you, far more often than not, if you meet needs, God and people will propel you to higher places.21:42 Why did people love Jesus? Do you know why? Because He met needs. Somebody was lame, He healed them. Somebody was blind, He opened their eyes. Somebody had deaf ears, He opened their ears. He fixed the problem.21:55 This is what what Peter says about Jesus. Acts chapter 10 38. God anointed. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth. Now now Christians, some people want anointing, but they don't wanna serve. Oh, I22:07 want anointing from God. I wanna feel God. I wanna feel the Holy Spirit. Do you know where I feel the Holy Spirit? Look, I I was I was saved when I was young. I was filled with the Holy Spirit when I was 12 years old. I22:17 felt the anointing come upon me. But can I tell you, I don't ever get that feeling back? I have never gotten that powerful a feeling back ever again. But you know when I do feel it most often? Is when I'm out there22:29 ministering to somebody who needs Jesus and is not even in my church, and I'm doing something for them. The anointing comes upon me. Yesterday, we, like I said, we didn't have people come, not that many people come22:41 and show up at our food distribution, so we wrapped up the food, and 3 3 of us guys got into a truck and just drove up and down the highway here looking for people who are on the street, street people, and just handing22:51 them food. And we met a few people. Man, I'll tell you, they're hurting. There's a lot of needs out there, friends. You don't have to go far. We walked up to 1 person. We handed them food. I can't tell you, man, the Holy23:02 Spirit just came over me, and I felt God in that moment. When you're meeting needs, God shows up, because that's what he's in the business of doing. That's what Jesus came to do. So23:14 I'm just trying to tell you, this is how you see God move your life forward. Serve anywhere there's a what Problem. Here's scene number 2 in Philip's life.23:25 Philip goes down to the city of Samaria. Acts chapter 8, verse 5. He went to the city of Samaria. Somebody say Samaria. Samaria. And he preached to them the Christ. He preached the gospel. And the23:37 crowds this is not on the screen. I'm just going read it to you. And the crowds with 1 accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits, crying23:48 out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city. Okay, here's point number 2 if you want God to propel your life. Serve anywhere23:59 there's a rejected people. Serve anywhere, there's a rejected people. Where does Philip go? Samaria.24:12 Now, if you're at all familiar with the Bible, you know that there's this long, terrible history between the Jewish people and the Samaritans. Let me explain it for those of you who are new to the Bible, because I24:24 want to help you as well. The Samaritans were half breed Jewish people. And here's their story. In 7 20 BC, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came24:36 down from the north, invaded the northern territory of Israel, and took captive the 10 northern tribes of Israel into their territory. And then they brought in peoples from other nations and had them settle in the24:47 northern tribes land and intermarry with the Jews who were left over. And then they even brought some of the Jews back to intermarry some more, because the philosophy of this ancient and evil24:59 kingdom, Assyria, was we will wipe people out if we can eliminate their biological lineage, if we can wipe out the purity of their lineage. That's what their philosophy25:10 was. So the Samaritans were half all the other peoples of the earth and half Jews. And they didn't really like the Jews either. It was a back and forth. In25:23 the second century BC, a guy named Antiochus IV, a Greek conqueror, invaded Jerusalem, the Jewish home of worship. And the Samaritans up in the north actually helped him. They were25:34 cheering him on. Go kill those Jews. So back and forth, the animosity went between the Jewish people in the south and the Samaritan resettled half breed Jews in the north. And Jesus tells a couple of stories, 1 of them25:46 called the parable of the good what? Samaritan, to kind of illustrate that your neighbor is not about who your biology is. Your neighbor is not about who your skin color is. Your neighbor is about where's the need?25:58 Find it. Serve them, and God will bless you. That was the message of the Good Samaritan, right? And by the way, Jesus goes and ministers to a Samaritan woman in John chapter 4. And that woman had26:10 been married and divorced 5 times, and she was shacked up with another guy. And Jesus loved her. Jesus went to her. Guess what Philip26:21 did. He got the memo. He got the memo from Jesus. And if Jesus went and served rejected people, I need to go and26:33 serve rejected people. Verse 5, again, Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. Luke chapter 15 verse 2 says this about Jesus. It26:45 says that the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled saying, this man receives who? Any sinners in the house at all of our locations? Aren't you glad that Jesus receives you? Amen.26:57 And the Pharisees, the religious people, they didn't like that. He receives sinners and he eats. How dare Jesus hang with bad, rejected people?27:09 And religious people always do this, and I hope and I pray that you're not 1. They always put people into 2 camps, good people and bad people. And we avoid the bad people, and we hang with the good people. Do you know27:18 what Jesus would do? He would hang with the bad people. He would go to the people that you don't like. He would cross the tracks. He would go to the other area of town. He would hang out with those people. Because if you27:30 want to live in the heart of God, you've to live in the heart of loving the broken and the hurting and the people nobody else notices. You know what's on my27:41 heart for our church for this point in particular? Our teenagers. Listen to me, teenagers, because I know that you're in the high school rigmarole,27:53 the high school routine, and who's cool, and who's not, and is it still like this, by the way? Did anybody like me have a panic attack first day of school at lunchtime?28:05 Anybody like I I hate it. Because it was always like, get my food, and then stare out over the over the tables, and see where am I gonna sit. Anybody know what I'm talking about? There's the28:17 cool kids. And I would I would make this as, oh, cool kids would never accept me. And then I'd be like, there's the real losers. I don't wanna associate with them. Let me find some middle of the road, not too cool, not28:27 too losery people. Anybody with That was my strategy. I wish that I could go back, because I and I pray that I would be able to do this. Go hang out with28:39 the losers. Do you know why, young people? You know why teenagers? That's where Jesus is. It doesn't mean he doesn't like the cool people. It just means that he doesn't play the games we play.28:52 He doesn't care about that stuff. And by the way, young people, you shouldn't care about it too, because 3 seconds after graduation, you'll never see the cool people again. Praise be to God. You'll never see the the29:03 losers again either. Right? Some of you are like, I don't know who the losers were in my high school. Well, that was because it was you. I'm sorry to say, but that if you don't know who they are, that was you. And you're29:14 welcome at Waters Church, we're glad to have you. Amen. Amen. We gotta clap for that. Okay. Let me show you a passage from the Old Testament. You know, the book of Leviticus gets a lot of hate, but look at this29:26 verse from Leviticus. Leviticus 19 34. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him29:38 as yourself. Can I tell you that that phrase in Leviticus might have been the most mind blowing phrase to an ancient people ever written?29:50 This is this is a verse that proves to you that the Bible was not written by men, because men would not come up with this. This is the Holy Spirit of God instructing Moses to write this down. You shall treat30:02 strangers who are not of your genealogy and lineage just like you treat your family. And notice the qualifier. Why? For30:13 you were what? Strangers in the land of Egypt. In other words, you knew what it was like to be an outcast. So you better30:25 love the outcast when they come into your community. This is why a church that doesn't have a heart for lost people has literally lost the heart of God. A church30:37 that looks down its nose at people who come in disheveled or not dressed the right way. Maybe it's a girl that's dressed a little bit too provocatively. Maybe it's a family that comes30:49 in, and you can just tell that they're just not the people from your neighborhood. And you might be tempted to think, oh, I don't know. And here's what you might be tempted to think, listen clearly, I don't know if I31:00 want their kids in children's ministry with my kids. Shame on you. Shame on you. Those kids need Jesus.31:12 And you were once 1 of those kids in the eyes of God. How dare we think that31:23 because we've been saved, now we have some kind of select group where we get to be and nobody comes and interrupts that. Absolutely not. Waters Church, we're gonna be a church with open arms. We'll31:35 have absolute standards to the Bible. But open arms to anybody from anywhere who wants to come and hear about Jesus Christ. Absolutely. That's the heart of God.31:48 That's the heart of God. And this is where Philip went. And this is how God propels your life. You know, growing up, even as you're you're working in the office, come on, some of that high school stuff still lives in31:59 you. Even in the office, we still play this game. Oh, I'm gonna go to lunch with that guy, because that guy can really propel my career. I'm gonna hang out with this girl, because everybody in the office seems to like32:11 her. So I'm gonna hang out Man, go and hang out with the people nobody loves. Go and pay attention to people nobody pays attention to. Why? Because that's where God's eyes are going.32:24 That's where he's looking. And I don't know about you, but I want my eyes aligned with his eyes. Amen. Scene number 3. This is Acts chapter 8 still,32:36 and, I wanna remind you that a great revival broke out in Samaria because of Philip. Philip brings the gospel, and the Bible says they all with 132:48 accord paid attention to him. And they all I mean, think about this. They all came to hear Philip preach. The whole town, the whole city. And Philip is the leader. He's the pastor of the revival in32:59 Samaria. And notice what happens. This is how God works, and it kinda bugs me, but it's how God works. In the middle of a flourishing revival, verse 26 of Acts chapter 8, it says33:11 this. 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. Notice the notice the the description. This is a what?33:23 It was a desert place. Do you know what's not in a desert? People. A flourishing revival. A growing church. This is a desert place, and33:35 he rose and went. Now if I'm Philip, I'm wrestling with God here. I don't I wouldn't respond as quickly as Philip did. I'd have some words with God. I'd33:47 say, God, I came to Samaria when nobody else wanted to, and they're listening to me, and you've been doing some miracles through me, and, oh, by the way, 5 people just got saved last33:59 week, God, and I just dedicated 3 of their children, and they're in the new believers class, and everything is going well, and now you want me to leave? And you want me to go to a place that you yourself have described34:10 as a desert place? See, some of you gotta listen to God when he tells you to do something that doesn't make sense. He does. And here's what happens. But but before we get to what happens, I want you34:22 to write this down. This is point number 3. If you want God to propel you, serve anywhere there may be only 1 person for the sake of the 1.34:34 For the sake of the 1. Serve anywhere there just might be only 1 person. The old story goes of the boy that was walking up the street, the beach after the hurricane, and all these34:46 starfish had had been washed up ashore. And he's just picking them up and throwing the starfish back into the ocean because they were going to die 1 at a time. But it was thousands. And an old man, old curmudgeon comes34:57 up and says, you know, you can't make a difference. You know, you can't really do much. All that you're doing there is not gonna make that much of a difference. And the little boy, without thinking about it, just picked35:06 up another starfish and said, threw it into the ocean and said, well, it made a difference to that 1. Can you serve the 1? Because here's what Philip does. He goes down to that desert place, verse 27 of Acts chapter 8,35:18 and there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. And he had come to Jerusalem to worship35:30 and was returning seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. You know what? When you're willing to serve the 1, you never know how important that 1 might just be. This is this is the secretary35:42 of finance for the ancient Ethiopians. It's not the modern day Ethiopians. These would be the ancient people of Kush, just to the south of Egypt, in the Ethiopian area, but it was a different35:54 kingdom. He's a eunuch. Do you know why he was in charge of the fine you know why he was a eunuch? Because he was in charge of the finances so that he wouldn't produce children and then steal the money. And he is the36:05 minister of finance of Kush, and he is leaving Jerusalem. Now this is really cool. Do you know why he's leaving Jerusalem? Because he's a eunuch, and he had gone to worship, the Bible says, and he was36:17 going back home. Here's why he was going back home. Because eunuchs were not allowed in the temple. That's from the law. They weren't allowed to go. Imagine36:28 traveling 800 miles to go worship somewhere, worship the God of the Jews. You get to the gate and they say, I'm sorry, you're a eunuch. You can't come in. He had to walk away in shame, and he was going home. And God36:41 sent Philip to him. My God. When you pay attention to the 1, you never know what immensity of36:52 their story you could inhabit. He couldn't go to worship in the temple. He couldn't go to worship the God of the of the Jews in the old way.37:04 So God sent a member of the new way to his chariot to teach him about Jesus. Ain't that cool? Ain't that awesome? So he's reading from Isaiah, and37:16 he's reading Isaiah 53. And the Bible says he was, verse 32. The passage he was reading was, like a sheep, he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before his shearers is silent. So he opens out his mouth. In his37:28 humiliation, justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation for his life was taken away from him? And the Ethiopian eunuch says, Philip, who's he talking about? Man, talk about a layup for evangelism right37:38 there, hey? I wish I had moments like that. Philip's like, well, he's talking about Jesus. Jesus died. He was slaughtered for our sins. He was slain for the salvation of the world. And this guy, Philip, baptizes37:50 the eunuch, and this is the Bible says that he he he brings him up out of the water, and Philip is gone, disappears. Holy Spirit transmitted him. I don't know how that happened, but it happened. And then Philip went and38:02 preached the gospel everywhere else. When you go to the 1, you never know the impact of that 1. You never know who that 1 might be or who that 1 might38:13 become. That's the power of serving anywhere. Scene number 4 in this passage we already read, but I want to read it again and explain a little bit about it.38:25 Acts chapter 21 verse 8. On the next day, we Now the we here is Luke, who's writing the book of Acts, and Paul, apostle who was doing missionary journeys. And it was also38:37 probably Timothy, Paul's associate. And it was also probably, either, Epaphroditus or Silas. And it could have been all 5.38:50 It could have been all 5 guys. That's important for a reason. Look what it says. These 5 guys departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was 1 of the 7,Show more
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