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Responding to God's Voice: sermon · Beyond the Sermon

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  You're listening to Beyond the Sermon, the podcast of First
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  Methodist Church in Collingswood, NJ.
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  On our podcast, the goal is not just to share the sermons we've
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  preached, but to go beyond the sermon and talk about what we're
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  learning and what God is doing in US and in our community.
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  You can find more information about our church at
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  fumccollingswood. Dot org.
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  Thanks for listening. This morning scripture comes
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  from the book of Acts chapter 8, starting verse 26.
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  Now an Angel of the Lord said to Philip, go South to the road,
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  the desert Rd. that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.
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  So we started out and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an
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  important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandaki,
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  which means queen of The Ethiopians.
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  This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship and on his way home
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  was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the
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  prophet. The Spirit told Philip, Go to
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  that chariot and stay near it. Then Philip ran up to the
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  chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet.
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  Do you understand what you were reading?
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  Philip asked How can I? He said, unless someone explains
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  it to me. So he invited Philip to come up
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  and sit with him. This is the passage of scripture
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  the eunuch was reading. He was led like a sheep to the
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  slaughter, and a lamb before its Shearer is silent.
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  So he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation, he was
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  deprived of justice. Who can speak of his
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  descendants, for his life was taken from the earth.
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  The eunuch asked Philip, tell me please, who is the prophet
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  talking about? Himself or someone else?
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  Then Philip began with that very passage of scripture and told
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  him the good news about Jesus. As they travelled along the
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  road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, look, here
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  is water. What can stand in the way of me
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  being baptized? And he gave orders to stop the
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  chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch
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  went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
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  When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord
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  suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him
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  again, but went on his way rejoicing.
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  Philip, however, appeared at Azitus and travelled about
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  preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
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  This is the word of God for the people.
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  Of God. Thanks be to God.
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  If you've ever had children, you've probably had the
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  realization at some point that hearing is not the same as
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  listening, right? And listening is not the same
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  thing as acting. I've been around enough parents
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  by now to know that I'm not alone in this, right?
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  Children, and teenagers especially, have an amazing
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  superpower. They're able to appear to engage
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  in a conversation and then they blink and it's like the
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  conversation never happened. Maybe that's true for for young
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  adult children too. I don't know.
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  We're not quite there yet. And listen, young people down
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  here in front, I'm not throwing stones at anybody, right?
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  I'm sure I was no different when I was those ages.
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  My mom and dad could probably tell some stories if I ever let
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  them do that, so I'm not trying to throw any shade at the young
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  people. Just it's different now that I
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  am an adult and I am continually amazed by this phenomenon.
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  Don't worry boys, I'm not giving any specific stories this
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  morning, but I do wonder. I do wonder if God feels similar
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  or similarly when it comes to us listening to him, right?
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  It's one thing to hear God speak to us.
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  It's another thing to actually listen, to engage the
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  conversation, and it's another thing entirely to actually act
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  upon what God has said to us, right?
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  But that's the, that's the communication loop, right?
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  The the speaker speaks, then the listener has to actually listen.
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  And before the the listener can even get to acting rightly or
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  responding there there needs to be a level of understanding of
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  the message that takes place. And so in this latter part of
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  Acts Chapter 8, we find this story that we read this morning.
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  It's it's part of the unfolding expansion of the Spirit's work
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  in and through the early church. This story probably takes place
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  roughly 3 to five years after the day of Pentecost, the birth
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  of the church. It's during that time the the
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  church was growing not just among the Hebrew Jews who were
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  from that area of Jerusalem and Israel, but but also among Jews
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  who had adopted a more Greek lifestyle, a more Greek
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  language. And as the church grew, some
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  divisions began to appear within the church, particularly between
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  these two groups, especially around the way that the widows
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  of those groups were being treated.
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  There were accusations of favoritism, maybe even some
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  veiled racism. And so the apostles, who were
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  still the ones leading the church at that time, they
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  gathered everyone together and they proposed a solution, right?
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  They say, let's appoint some people to lead in this area in
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  particular. This.
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  This wasn't something the apostles felt they needed to
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  give all of their time to overseeing.
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  And so they encouraged the church to select seven men to
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  oversee this task. In Acts 63, the apostle said,
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  brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are
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  known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.
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  We'll turn this responsibility over to them.
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  Full of the spirit and wisdom. Those were the criteria and the
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  church did right they they chose 7 people and in Acts 65 then the
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  next couple verses says the proposal please the whole group
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  and they chose Stephen a man full of faith and of the Holy
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  Spirit. Also Philip pro chorus, Nicanor,
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  Timon, Parmenas and Nicholas from Antioch a convert to
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  Judaism. You aren't picking up on some of
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  the the linguistic clues here. They're mostly Greek names,
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  names Jeremy was glad I didn't make him read this morning.
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  But among them was a man named Philip, full of the spirit and
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  of wisdom. And Philip, when the the
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  persecution against the church began to ratchet up a bit more.
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  That persecution we talked about a few weeks ago when we were
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  talking about Saul heading from Jerusalem to Damascus, when that
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  persecution started to break out, Philip went to Samaria.
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  And when he went to Samaria, that that group that didn't
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  always get along with the Jewish people, a revival broke out.
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  Jesus was proclaimed, people were healed, others were
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  delivered from demonization. People were turning to faith in
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  Jesus even in Samaria. And so when the news of that
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  reached back to Jerusalem, that even the Samaritans, the
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  Samaritans were turning to Jesus, the church sent Peter and
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  John to go check it out to make sure this was truly a move of
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  God, which it was. And then sometime after Peter
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  and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching in other Samaritan
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  villages along the way, God spoke to Philip, and God told
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  Philip to leave Samaria all the great things that that God was
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  doing there, and to go South to the road that runs from
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  Jerusalem down to Gaza near the Mediterranean Sea.
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  But God didn't tell Philip why he was to go there or what the
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  reason was as to why he should leave behind all that good work
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  that God was doing in the revival that had broken out in
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  Samaria. And God doesn't tell Philip what
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  to do when he gets there until Philip actually goes, right?
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  It wasn't until Philip listened and followed the leading of the
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  Spirit as he was walking along that road from Jerusalem to Gaza
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  that God told him what he was to do next.
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  See, Philip came upon a chariot on the road, and God said, go
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  over to that chariot, stay nearby.
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  That's it. It's all God told him.
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  As far as we know, God doesn't tell Philip who is in the
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  chariot or what he was supposed to say or do with that chariot
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  or the person who was in it. But as Philip approaches, he
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  hears the voice of a man in the chariot reading from the scroll
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  of Isaiah. Presumably he was reading aloud,
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  right for Philip to hear him, which let's pause there for for
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  just a moment. This was clearly a powerful and
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  educated man. First of all, he's travelling by
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  chariot. Most of the normal common
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  people, when they were moving from place to place, they were
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  using their feet, right? They, they weren't riding in
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  Chariots or even carts. They were walking.
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  So this man was in a chariot clue number one clue #2 he's
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  reading from the scroll of Isaiah, which means he was able
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  to read. He had the resources to purchase
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  a scroll, which was no small thing.
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  And in those days of hand copied scriptures, Acts 8 tells us that
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  this man was the head of the treasury of the Kingdom of
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  Ethiopia. He served the kandaki, right.
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  Your your translation might say Candace there.
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  And that's how it got translated into to Latin.
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  But that's not the name of the queen.
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  It was the title for the Queen Mother of Ethiopia.
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  And and when it says Ethiopia, it wasn't quite what we think of
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  when we think of modern day Ethiopia, not the same nation.
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  It was the ancient Kingdom of Cush, just mentioned in other
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  places in scripture. It occupied what's modern Sudan,
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  following right along the net, the Nile River below Egypt.
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  All that to say, this was an important and educated African
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  man who had been in Jerusalem to worship at the temple.
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  And Philip, here's this man reading from the prophet Isaiah.
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  And so coming up to the to the chariot, he says, do you
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  understand what it is you're reading?
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  And the man replies, how can I unless someone explains it to
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  me? That's often how I feel when I
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  approach the prophets in the Old Testament, right?
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  You're reading all these things. You're like, man, there's some
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  things I get in here, but there's a lot that I just don't
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  quite understand. The man says, how can I unless
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  someone explains? And Philip says to him, Well,
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  friend, have I got a story for you today?
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  And he, Philip, proceeds to tell this man the good news of Jesus,
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  beginning from that very passage that the man had been reading
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  it. It's interesting to me that when
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  God LED Philip to this encounter, which was clearly
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  intended to lead this man to faith in Jesus, Philip starts
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  with a question, right? He asked the man, do you
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  understand what you're reading? He doesn't preach A sermon to
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  him. He doesn't hand him a tract.
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  He doesn't give a testimony or or bust out the four spiritual
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  laws or the Romans Rd. which Romans hadn't even been written.
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  At this point Philip asks the man a question and that question
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  begins a conversation. As that conversation goes on and
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  Philip explains to him all about Jesus and who he was answering
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  even the questions that that the Ethiopian eunuch was asking this
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  this man evidently begins to trust in Jesus and as they pass
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  them water he asks to be baptized.
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  I think it's say to safe to say that based on his journey to
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  Jerusalem to worship there, he, he knew something of Judaism.
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  He knew that that baptism was a sign of repentance and
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  cleansing. And maybe he even knew that
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  baptism had become the sign of inclusion within the church.
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  So Philip baptizes him in the water on the side of the road.
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  And and then as they're coming up out of the water together,
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  Philip disappears. He's whisked away to another
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  location, another assignment, another move of the Spirit.
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  And this man returns home. He finishes the long journey
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  back along the Mediterranean Sea, down through Egypt, back
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  home. He's carrying this new found
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  faith in Jesus with him. I love this story, not just
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  because it talks about how early Christianity made its way into
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  Africa, but because it's a story of what it looks like to respond
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  when God speaks to us. Philip wasn't an apostle.
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  He wasn't one of the ones that Jesus had called to be an
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  apprentice, one of the 12, but he was someone who was full of
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  the Spirit. He was someone who was willing
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  to say yes when there was an opportunity to serve.
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  And that willingness to say yes allowed him to be used by God in
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  ways I don't think Philip ever could have imagined.
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  So what does Philip's story teach us about how to respond
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  when God is speaking to us? Not the risk of of
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  oversimplification. I think this story teaches us
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  that when God speaks, we need to listen and we need to follow the
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  Spirit, or as Pete Gregg puts it, listening and following.
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  That's it. All the vast libraries of
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  theological thought, millennia of sermons, and the relentless
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  chatter of Christendom can be condensed down into just 4
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  surprisingly simple words. Listen and follow Jesus.
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  Listen and follow Jesus. I was joking with Jeremy when we
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  were recording the podcast the other day for this past week,
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  that that I could just stand up for my sermon and just say that
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  much, right? How do we respond to God's
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  voice? We listen and we follow Jesus.
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  That's the foundation of our faith.
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  It really is that simple. But simple doesn't mean it's
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  always easy, right? I think that's why God doesn't
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  usually jump right to the big ask.
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  He starts with small things, he tells Philip.
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  Go walk on this road, OK? I can go walk on that road.
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  Anybody can go walk on that road.
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  It's only after we've shown this willingness to listen and follow
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  that God asks and entrusts us with more.
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  It's like Jesus said in the one parable.
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  You've been faithful with a few things.
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  I'll entrust you with many things.
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  But there's a sense in which if we're not going to do the small
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  things that God asks us to do, we can't expect God to trust us
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  with the big things. Have you ever read in James
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  chapter 1 verses 22 to 25, it says do not merely listen to the
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  Word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
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  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says.
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  It's like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and after
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  looking at himself, he goes away and immediately forgets what he
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  looks like. But whoever looks intently into
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  the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it, not
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  forgetting what they heard but doing it, they will be blessed
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  in what they do. It's not just hearing and it's
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  not just listening. It's listening and following in
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  a growing, deepening relationship with God.
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  And sometimes that's going to be very clear on what you're to do.
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  God's going to be very clear to you sometimes.
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  We're going to have to ask God some follow up questions.
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  We're going to have to ask for some clarity about what God's
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  doing right. If God tells you to move to a
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  new town or or maybe to quit your job might be worth asking
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  the next question. Now that is, now when you want
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  me to do that is now when you want me to move.
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  Because He might be preparing you for what's coming, not just
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  giving you an instruction to act on in the immediate moment.
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  That's why we have to continue to cultivate this relationship
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  with God so we can continue to grow in our ability to hear His
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  voice well. And in those times where we
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  maybe don't hear anything, what do we do then when God isn't
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  speaking well, or maybe we're not hearing, what do we do then?
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  What was that? Keep asking that that's
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  absolutely true. We keep asking and we keep doing
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  the things He we know he's already told us to do, right?
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  What has God already told us to do?
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  To love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our
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  neighbor as ourselves. To gather together as His people
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  in worship and service to to to spend time with Him day by day
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  in prayer and in scripture, in worship?
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  Are you doing those things? Because if not, why would we
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  expect Him to tell us something more?
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  If we're not faithfully living into what we know God has
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  already said to us, it's going to be awfully hard to hear Him
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  saying anything else. At the end of the day, God wants
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  to develop us into people who will say yes when He speaks to
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  us, but he also wants to develop us into people who know what he
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  would do in a given situation if he were us, right?
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  What would God do in this situation if he were me?
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  He's looking for people who are full of the Spirit, full of
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  wisdom. People like Philip, when God got
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  Philip to that chariot, doesn't tell us that he led him sentence
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  by sentence in in what he was supposed to say.
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  Philip knew what that moment was about.
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  He understood the opportunity that lay before him and he acted
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  faithfully. We have a choice in all of this.
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  He didn't make us to be robots that get the command and execute
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  it without thinking. It's not a choice of whether
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  we'll follow Jesus when he speaks.
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  It's a choice of whether we will cooperate with the transforming
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  work that God wants to do in each of us so that he can work
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  through us for the sake of His glory and His Kingdom in the
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  world. So as we close this morning and
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  as I I lead us in prayer and we sing our closing song, I just
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  want to encourage you, if you have business to do with God
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  this morning, don't ignore it. You may feel God inviting you
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  into a relationship, a deeper relationship where you can hear
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  God speaking to you. You might need to physically
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  leave your seat as a sign of your response to God.
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  Right, Because our bodies are part of who we are.
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  It matters what we do. You may feel convicted this
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  morning about times when you know you've heard God speaking
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  to you and you've ignored it, you've tried to tune it out, or
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  you haven't done the things you know you are to do.
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  You can you can come this morning and confess those things
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  to God and find forgiveness. You may want to come and and
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  just thank God for the ways he speaks.
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  Or you may want to come and pray for someone else or about
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  something else entirely. The altars open this morning.
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  Your your Pew or your heart can be your altar this morning.
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  But as the writer of Hebrews said when he was quoting from
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  one of the Psalms, he said today, if you would hear his
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  voice, don't harden your heart. Friends.
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  Don't miss what God is speaking to you because He speaks so that
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  we can respond. We can join Him in what He's
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  doing. Let's pray together.
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  God, we come to you this morning.
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  We come before you, only able to come because you already came to
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  us. We come in prayer, speaking to
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  you, God, because you made a way by speaking to us.
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  You're the one who initiates the conversation.
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  You're the one who started the work.
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  You're the one who made it possible for us to turn to you
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  and find life because You were willing to give yourself for us
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  until this morning. God, we just want to ask, would
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  you speak to us? Holy Spirit, is there something
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  you want to say to me this morning?
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  It might be an invitation, it might be conviction, it might be
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  a burden to pray for someone or something.
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  But Jesus, we want to be transformed into people who say
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  yes when you speak to us, people who say yes even before you
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  speak to us, People who are willing to do whatever it is
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  you're asking because we trust in you.
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  And you've shown yourself to be good.
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  You've shown yourself to be faithful.
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  You've shown yourself to be trustworthy.
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  So, Lord, we come to you today. Holy Spirit, would you speak to
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  us?