Philip Acts in Obedience, Morning Praise

In one paragraph

This message came from Acts 8, the account of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. Pastor James walked through the passage verse by verse, drawing out what immediate, unquestioning obedience to God looks like in practice. The sermon landed at a fitting moment, with a group of women from the congregation traveling to Africa that same day to serve. The passage opens with an angel, or messenger, of the...

Read together

1. Acts 8:25 Peter and John ministering in Samaritan villages on their way back to Jerusalem
2. Acts 8:26 An angel of the Lord telling Philip to go south down the desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza
3. Acts 8:27-28 The Ethiopian eunuch, treasurer under the queen, returning from Jerusalem and reading Isaiah in his carriage
4. Acts 8:29-30 The Holy Spirit telling Philip to go catch up with the carriage, and Philip asking the eunuch if he understood what he was reading
5. Acts 8:31 The eunuch asking how he can understand unless someone instructs him, and inviting Philip into the carriage
6. Acts 8:32-33 The passage the eunuch was reading, quoted as from the Greek version of Isaiah 53, about being led like a sheep to the slaughter
7. Isaiah 53 The scroll the eunuch was reading, describing a suffering servant, which Philip used as the starting point to tell him about Jesus
8. Acts 8:34-35 The eunuch asking whether Isaiah spoke of himself or another, and Philip telling him the good news about Jesus beginning from that scripture
9. Acts 8:36 The eunuch seeing water and asking why he could not be baptized
10. Acts 8:38-39 Philip baptizing the eunuch and then being snatched away by the Spirit of the Lord
11. Acts 8:40 Philip finding himself at Azotus and preaching in every town until he came to Caesarea
12. Acts 21:8 Paul and his companions stopping with Philip in Caesarea on a missionary journey

Talk about it

1. The pastor described Philip's response to the angel's instruction as immediate and unquestioning obedience, and brought up Miss Meg's saying, 'I will obey right away and with a happy heart.' Where in your own life do you find it hardest to obey that quickly, and what usually gets in the way?
2. Philip ran toward the chariot even though there were real cultural and social differences between him and the Ethiopian eunuch. What kinds of differences, whether social, cultural or personal, tempt you to hesitate or talk yourself out of approaching someone?
3. When Philip heard what the eunuch was reading, he asked a simple question from his own understanding rather than waiting for further divine instruction. The pastor said Philip was 'functioning out of the resources God had given him.' What resources, gifts or experiences has God given you that he might want to use in a similar way?
4. The eunuch answered Philip's question with 'How can I understand unless someone instructs me?' rather than pretending he had it figured out. The pastor held that up as a humble response worth noticing. Is there an area of your own faith or life where you need to admit you don't understand, and who might be the right person to have that conversation with?
5. The eunuch never saw Philip again after his baptism, yet he went on his way rejoicing. The pastor connected that to questions short-term missionaries often ask, like 'Did we really make a difference?' What does this story say to you about measuring the value of a brief but faithful act of obedience?