Each week, let’s reflect upon Sunday’s teaching through further exploration…
“Great Commission” (Like Never Before Sermon Series)
The impact of one – one seeking, one reaching, one moment in time.
On Sunday, DJ used the example of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40) to encourage us to fulfill the Great Commission. He explained how Philip’s obedience led to an unexpected place (a desert road between Jerusalem and Gaza), an unexpected person (an official in charge of the treasury of the Ethiopian queen), and unexpected successes (the opportunity for Philip to help the eunuch understand what he was reading, tell him about the good news of Jesus, and baptize him; the opportunity for the eunuch to return home and tell others the gospel).
Repeatedly, we read in the Scripture about individuals who made the choice to tell others about Jesus. Here are just a few examples:
- Andrew exclaiming to his brother Simon (John 1:40-42).
- The Samaritan woman testifying to her community (John 4:28-29).
- The man lame from birth whom Peter and John healed (Acts 3:8-10).
- The jailer who fell trembling before Silas and Paul (Acts 16:31-34).
We read each of these accounts and know through the pages of Scripture how just one decision to share Jesus had incredible results! Because of the time and place in which we live– with the full canon of Scripture readily available, we can travel along with these individuals and learn the outcomes of their faith. We get to see the results and be amazed at the way God used them to spread the gospel far and wide.
How often do we read about those instances, marvel at them briefly, but then discount that we could ever do the same? Maybe we say things like, “God would never use me the way He used those people,” or “Who would want to hear about Jesus from someone like me?”.
We know the results of these early believers sharing their faith, but they didn’t know what the results would be. Looking back at Acts 8, the Lord’s words to Philip in verse 26 revealed what Philip was to do (“Go”) and where Philip was to do it (“south of the road – the desert road – that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza”). But God did not tell Philip who he would meet, what he would need to say, that he would baptize someone, and that the Spirit would take him away to even more opportunities. Philip did not know ahead of time the magnitude of his obedience; he didn’t even know afterwards because the eunuch never saw Philip again to tell him about all that happened next!
In our society driven by ROI’s (return on investments) and results, we are so prone to not “go” unless we can see where we’re going, to whom we’re going, what we will encounter, what we are going to say, etc. We sit and calculate the risk versus what we can see as possible results to determine if we will act. And that makes sense in the business world because the results are widely dependent upon us.
But that is a foolish tactic for sharing our faith because… the results are dependent upon God. It’s not about our performance. It’s not about what we can or can’t do. It’s about what God can do, what God will do as we obey His command to go, make disciples of all nations, baptize them, and teach them everything Jesus commanded.
Who will you tell about Jesus this morning, this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow…?