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Sharing Our Heart

“You must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asksfriends
about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.”
1 Peter 3:15

I sense we all are much more at ease when we are just speaking about the things that excite us – like sharing our faith – rather than the mundane, obligatory type things.  For the majority of Christians we are still guarded about sharing the very thing that has changed who we are.

Shouldn’t that be the passion that ignites conversation above all other things – the passion of our faith’s journey?

If we read the comments from Peter in the passage listed above by order of appearance, he shares, first, that the center of our praise (worship) should be in the fact that Christ is Lord (“in charge” – “responsible for our livelihood”). Then, we should be ready to explain it.

In this past Sunday’s message (Oct. 4, 2015), I used Acts 8:2
6-39, the story of Philip, the evangelist, and his example of sharing his passion for the new life he was experiencing in Christ Jesus – the Lord of his life. His story is one of obedience and service that began with that powerful experience with the Holy Spirit. He was set apart as one of the first servants (Acts 6:5 – deacon) of the church. He also had the gift of evangelism (Acts 8:12) and the kingdom of God expanded through his gift of preaching.

He shared his faith in a powerful, personal manner. So much so, that the Lord had a mission in mind that could potentially change the Ethiopian kingdom. How could one person be the linchpin of the Gospel mess
age to one nation?

We’ll see, but you may be surprised to know how influential your personal witness has been, or will be, in people and places you’ve not considered. Trace the spiritual roots of the people you know and you’ll more than likely find a connection to a place and time that seems so arbitrary.

The call:

In verse 26-29 (Acts 8) Philip was prompted to “go south” to “the desert road that leads to Gaza.” Pretty specific, don’t you think? It just so happened that there was an official from the Ethiopian throne on his way back to Ethiopia from Jerusalem. He was an advisor to the queen.

Some people of faith have felt the prompting of the Lord to do something
, say something or go some place. We may recognize it and call it a “nudging”, “a calling”,  or that “the Lord has laid this on our heart”.  However we phrase it, our influence to do something spiritual or good, whatever it was that we were compelled to do was a choice
we made from an influence or prompting. The choice remained ours and if we would have chosen to ignore the right thing to do we might have missed the Lord’s opportunity to work a miracle in someone’s life.

The Action:

Philip was obedient and did as the messenger had told him. He understood the urgency and did not hesitate to get on with it! Philip ran into position and put himself in a place to hear the Ethiopian reading, assessed the situation and respond appropriately. He was eager, interested and excited about the opportunity to be a part of what the Lord was doing in that moment.

Philip also spoke with sensitively and directly to the situation. The Ethiopian was reading about the Messiah, the suffering servant in Isaiah, and yet he was unable to grasp its meaning. Philip was there to hear the
reading, respond to the need and field the question with accuracy and truth.

Note that Philip was functioning within His gifts. He utilized his calling and was able to carry out the call of God in the moment. We recognize that God calls us to a task, but never sends us without empowering us for the work.

Finishing the Task:

The conclusion of this narrative reveals a point of decision for the Ethiopian. After Philip had shared the truth about the atoning sacrifice for the sins of all people, the Ethiopian asked to be baptized at the first sight of water. Obviously Philip had spoken about baptism as a rite of passage for the believer. The Eunuch was inspired and insistent on the immediate act of obedience and surrender t
o the Lordship of Jesus, the Messiah.

Philip may not have needed to speak theology or encourage the decision of the Ethiopian to become a believer. But Philip was sharing his heart: what he knew about Jesus and why He died and the power of His resurrection that comes to those who believe. The Apostle Paul spoke of this power in 1 Corinthians 1:18 – “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Do you think this newly found power in the life of the Ethiopian was silenced before he entered the Queen’s court, or was this new convert sharing his heart to the leader of the African nation? I choose to believe in the power of the cross.

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