Pivot

Introduction

We’ll good morning everyone!

I’m excited to be up here with you this morning to share a message along with the start of the new school year. Well we’ve all experienced a year like we’ve never experienced before, right, and we’ve probably added words into our vocabulary that we’ve never really had a need to use before. Words like “new-normal” or “pivot”. Words that probably now are more irritating than anything. But they are flung around and used to guide us into new behaviours and ways of doing life and the things that we need to do in order to move forward, in order to jump back into some of the regular rhythms of life that we enjoyed before.

You see we might’ve seen ourselves as doing pretty good leading up to the time that this whole COVID thing struck in March. Like life was just ticking along, and then bang it was an abrupt stop. Our regular things that we did and enjoyed ceased. And we found ourselves in a place where we couldn’t leave our homes, where we couldn’t hang out with each other like we did before, where we couldn’t go to church to experience the fellowship and joining in in worship with others like we did before. Effectively, we experienced a bit of a shutdown of our lives and situations.

And by the stats that Pastor Bob has shared and that we’ve seen there have been many believers, maybe even many of us, who also did a little bit of a shut down ourselves. We didn’t really work on our spiritual lives, we didn’t work on our relationship with Jesus. Maybe we found ourselves stagnant, like not moving forward, but maybe not moving back. And then in the midst of all that was going on we were asking ourselves “what was God doing in all of this”? Maybe it was just me.

You see if we’ve been in the church for any length of time we know what we need to do right. We’re taught in scripture and encouraged almost immediately that we need to be in our bibles, that we need to be in regular contact with other believers for accountability, encouragement and care. We know that when we are apart sin creeps in and pulls us away from that. And if we haven’t been brought up with that tradition, maybe we found ourselves in a place where we felt empty and alone. Unsure what the future would hold. But in the midst of it all we were encouraged to work out our new-normal and to pivot constantly into the new rules and plans that we face from our world.

We’ll as we enter into this new school year I want to spend just a few minutes encouraging you with a similar message that I used to encourage our students this past Friday. What I asked them was to step out of the season that they found themselves in over the last 6 months, which is crazy to believe that its been over 6 months since this all began, and I wanted them to consider what it would look like to step into a new season of growth in their love, in their relationship, in their knowledge of their heavenly father. And so that’s where I really want to take us this morning. And I want to use a piece of scripture that might be familar to you to help us to get there.

We’re going to be in Acts chapter 8 verses 26 to 40 this morning if you want to turn your bibles there with me.

Let’s read it together.

“26 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.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And the invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter

and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,

so he opens not his mouth.

33  In his humiliation justice was denied him.

Who can describe his generation?

For his life is taken away from the earth.”

34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”5 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.”

So as we go through this together I want us to consider where we are at. Have a real and honest conversation with yourself as you consider your life, where you are in this season.

1. Command

The first section of this passage we read about Philip, a disciple of Jesus. He’s asked to get up and go down a desert road. We see right away this distinct command by God, through this angel of the Lord, that leads to this incredible encounter that Philip has, that we’re going to talk about. I think this is important place to begin because we all need to start somewhere.

And for us Christian’s we follow and are directed by the greatest command that we’ve ever been given, the command to follow Jesus because he’s the only way, he is the truth, he is the life. The bible tells us this time and time again.

In Luke 9:23 it tells us, “23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me”.

Matthew 16:24, “24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

John 8:12, “12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

And the verses go on and on. But you get it, right. We have this command this call on all of our lives to follow Jesus. That got to be the place where we start. So if you haven’t made that decision, aren’t sure what that means. It starts with just saying yes Jesus. I believe that you are who you claimed to be in the bible, that you are my saviour, that you are the son of God who died for my sins. Cause the bible says that when you make that statement, when you make that declaration you are saved. And you begin that life long journey of faith.

So when we consider where we are at I believe in my heart of hearts that we need to respond to this command to follow Jesus, to make him director and Lord of our lives.

2. Contact

Then as we continue in our passage this morning we move to the interaction that Philip has with this person that we fondly know at the Ethiopian Eunuch. We learn that he was someone who was a mover and a shaker in the queens court. He was her finance manager.

And this is the person that Philip meets on the road. And we learn that this guy was coming to Jerusalem to worship. And when Philip bumps into him he’s reading from the book of Isaiah. And this gives Philip an opportunity to ask him an interesting question. Do you understand what you are reading? is the question he asks the Ethiopian. And I think that’s an interesting question because when we see someone reading something our first response isn’t to ask them if they understand. We generally take it for face value that they are understanding what they are going through. But Philip was being directed by the Holy Spirit to be a help to this man. To be able to speak into his life, to help to guide him.

And I think there are a few things that stand out to me from this section that I think is helpful.

1. Luke the writer of Acts doesn’t specifically let us know whether the Ethiopian was alone. But we get the sense that it is just Philip and the Ethiopian here. And what I find striking is how when we are alone it is sometimes difficult to truly understand. Like we go to school and are taught and learn through interacting with our teachers and class mates that we learn and get stronger with the concepts. Because we have the ability to ask questions and run thoughts by each other.

I find that this is the same for the Christian walk, we get stronger when we do this together. When we are in community and fellowship with one another. Because when we do that we find encouragement, we find accountability and we even find correction. The bible tells us in Hebrews 10:24-25, “24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

And so we really shouldn’t neglect opportunities like this, worshiping alongside one another in this corporate setting. We can find ourselves in dark places when we are alone, when we are separated. And so as a church we’re encouraging you to join in this fall in one of our bible studies. We will be giving you an opportunity to sign up for these next week and the week after. This will be a great thing for your soul, for your life.

2. The second thing that stands out is that there was a willingness to learn. We see the Ethiopian use words that we’d probably consider dangerous in 2020. He pretty much tells Philip “I Don’t Know”. And I say we look at that statement as dangerous because we generally don’t want to be looked at as someone who doesn’t know things. I think sometimes there is some pride wrapped around how much knowledge we have. Sometimes we think that we know everything don’t we? We have this access to information today that other generations have never had. We have the knowledge of the world at our finger tips. But what I think we should strive for, as people of God, is a teachable spirit. To be someone who wants to learn, to understand, to grow.

And we see this teachable spirit allow for the Holy Spirit to work in the Ethiopians life. Because of the statement “I Don’t Know” we see Philip be able to guide the Ethiopian in understanding this section in Isaiah that he was struggling with. And the amazing blessing of this is that Philip was able to point him toward Jesus.

As we look to pivot in this season let’s aim toward being people who are teachable. Let’s look first to God to provide this understanding through his word and through his Spirit and let’s look to one another to help each other as we navigate this life. 1 Peter 5:5 tells us, “5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” And I tell you quickly the reason why I love this verse. Because I’ve heard it explained that when it’s talking about older and younger it not in reference to age but spiritual maturity. If we’ve been working on our relationship with Christ and are growing and learning then we need to help others who aren’t quite there yet. This is the beauty of life groups because they are multi generational, it allows for us to be able to speak biblical Godly wisdom and truth into each others lives.

Let us consider where we are at in terms of our connectiveness. Are we actively looking for opportunities to be in regular contact with one another. With like minded believers who are seeking to grow in their relationship with Jesus? Could you consider committing too something? Can you say I’m going to sign up for a bible study. I’m going to seek accountability? I’m going to throw in with the church to ensure that I’m in a community that will help to guide me in my relationship with Jesus.

3. Conclusion. What’s Next

And I ask those questions because of the what comes after we do these things. We see in our story that when Philip follows the command of the Holy Spirit and when the Ethiopian is open to being teachable and that there is wisdom shared and understanding gained that the result directs us into righteousness. We see in the passage that once Philip explains to the Ethiopian the passage and helps him understand the gospel then the Ethiopian understands this need to follow Jesus. He recognizes that his life won’t be right, it won’t be full, it won’t be hope filled without Jesus. And we see his response to this good news is that he says let me go and get baptized. You see the reasonable response to hearing the good news of Jesus, to saying you know what I believe that Jesus the son of God died a most horrible death for the sins of the world, and to be more pointed my sins, is to make that declaration public. To then go out into all the world and to declare what God’s done in my life.

Again, as we pivot in this season, as we move from the closed off season we faced during the pandemic. Let’s seek opportunities to grow in our faith and to say yes to Jesus. And then from there to take this good news to the world.

Matthew 28:18-20 says, “18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

These are Jesus’ words to his disciples and I think we can claim them as well. That we aren’t to hold this good news to ourselves. That we are to take this good news to our friends, family, neighbours, coworkers… and the list goes on. To share with them this amazing hope that we have in Jesus.

Conclusion

And so in order for us to get to this point I think we have to make a choice. For those of us who are like, you know what, just hearing about Jesus this morning and over the last few weeks I believe that he is the son of God, that he did die on the cross for my sins that he did rise again after 3 days and is coming back again. I believe that. I’ll say to you that is amazing, please come and tell one of us this great news. If you’ve been in the church for any length of time and have struggled with your faith and are saying to yourself I need to get back into a regular rhythm of growing in my walk with Jesus. I’ll tell you that’s amazing too, come and talk to us, let us help you get plugged into a study into a group of people to help you grow in your faith.

If you are in a good place and are growing steadily in your walk with Jesus that is also amazing and I’d encourage you to find someone to help encourage and guide in their walk with the Lord. Let us use this time, this new season to pivot and get into regular rhythms together as we strive into deeper relationship with Jesus. Amen.

Amen. Let’s pray.