Who should share the Good News

August 14th 2022

Series: The Book of Acts

Sermon Title: Who should share the Good News?

Topic: Journey through the book of Acts.

Key Passages: Acts 8

Sermon Blurb: A lot of people today think sharing the Good News of Jesus is their pastor’s job, but is it? Who does the Bible say should be sharing the Good News of Jesus? Well, today you will see that answer over and over!

Sermon:

Well, hello everyone!

Family Moment

Today, we pick up where we left off in the book of Acts.

If you have your Bible with you…open it back up to Acts 8

If you remember last week we only made it through a few verses because we took time to dive deep into why the church was being persecuted and scattered.

And let me encourage you to go listen last week’s message if you missed it because it is a GREAT reminder on how we should live today in light of the salvation Jesus gave us.

PAUSE

If you are new or newer to family church we are so happy you are here today!

Let me catch you up.

We are on a journey through one of the books in our Bibles called Acts.

The book of Acts is a GREAT one for churches to study because it is all about how the early church operated right after Jesus launched it!

Let’s backtrack, let me remind you of some important details and walk forward today….

Acts 8:1 On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

Do you see it church!

ALL the LEADERS stayed!

ALL the Apostles stayed!

Let’s keep reading and remember why that is SO important….

4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said.

7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.

Stop there….

The people preaching in verse 4 were NOT the apostles!

The people preaching in verse 4 were NOT people like me!

The people preaching in verse 4 is who church????

The people in verse 4 were the regular church-going people like all of you in this room today!

You….

All of you…..

Let’s refine our point from last week…write this down…………

Jesus said the mission of ALL church people is to reach people for Jesus.

All of you…

Everyone who believes in Jesus!

Jesus wants all of us to be sharing the good news of Jesus!

We are ALL the church….

PAUSE

I want you to see something right here.

These believers weren’t running scared from the persecution of the culture around them…..

No….they were being obedient to Jesus’ command to go and share the Good News of Jesus!

As they were being scattered, they spread the good news of Jesus!

And because they were doing that people came to know Jesus!

And here is the point I want to make sure you all get today….

Because today there is NO doubt Christians are persecuted in America.

I mean if you watch the news the only group in America that does NOT matter if you offend them or hurt them are Christians.

Christian values are being purged from the school system.

Christian values are being purged from politics.

Christian values are being purged from large corporations.

Christian values are being purged all over…..

So, the logical question is……what should we do????

PAUSE

And the best answer is learn from God and what is in the Bible….

Back here….they were being persecuted much worse than we are and what was their answer….

PAUSE

What was it church????

The answer was Jesus!

The answer was to live like Jesus and lead people to Jesus!

I know there are people on all sides of the political spectrum wanting to fight over different things….

But the ONLY answer is Jesus!!!!!

I want to encourage you all to ponder this….

Are you as passionate to share the GOOD NEWS of Jesus as you are to fight for your causes in life?

Repeat

And I am not saying fighting for some causes is bad…

But if your causes are MORE important that Jesus…..

Do you know what that is called???

Come on work with me!

Anyone????

An idol…..

Anything you place before Jesus is an idol and that is NOT allowed by God….

So let me follow up with this question…..

How are you sharing the Good News about Jesus in your daily life?

Repeat

Note here Philip who right here was one of the seven men chosen to serve the needy, the widows we learned about back in chapter 6 if you want to go back and read it….

Phillip was a REGULAR guy!

Phillip was not a close friend of Jesus.

Phillip was not a preacher.

Phillip was not a priest.

Phillip was like anyone in this room.

And Phillip traveled to Samaria and began sharing the Good News about Jesus.

PAUSE

And let me unpack this some more…..

Preaching in Samaria was not easy for ANYONE because prejudice ran deep between the Jewish people and Samaritans.

Samaritan people were half Jewish and half Gentile.

That means that a Jewish person married a non-Jew and they had children.

By marrying Gentiles they were not pure Jews.

This offended the Jewish people.

They didn’t value the Samaritan people and tried to avoid going anywhere near Samaria.

I know we talk A LOT about racism today….and what we call Racism today is garbage….

This was racism….

Younger generation let me explain this….

Racism is not something your born with.

You are NOT born racist no matter what our culture says.

Racism is when you look down on another group of people for any reason…..

And the Jewish people here were racist toward the Samaritans…..and they would say they had GOOD reason to be….

But God, Jesus, disagreed with that view….

And Phillip also disagreed with that view so Phillip went there to lead them toward truth….

Toward Jesus…..

PAUSE

Let’s put this in today’s terms….

That would be like some of you Hope College people trying to lead some Calvin people to Jesus.

Or you Michigan Fans embracing a OSU Fan.

Or you LOVING someone who is LGBTQ+ enough to invest in them and try to lead them toward Jesus….

Or loving someone who has the OPPOSITE political view enough to invest in them to try to lead them to Jesus….

PAUSE

Philip made a choice to now allow prejudice to keep him from obeying Jesus’ instructions.

He went to Samaria and taught the people about Jesus.

And Jesus wants all of you to do the same….

PAUSE

Let’s keep reading…verse 9

9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.”

11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

Before Philip shared the Good News with these people they believed in false teaching and thought that Simon had power.

Just like today….people believe in all kinds of crazy stuff!

I mean in the last year we have gone from knowing science had two genders to now I don’t even know how many….

Believing in crazy stuff is NOTHING new….

But don’t miss it…..

Don’t miss the key again!!!!

What is the key you see right here again church…..

THE GOOD NEWS of Jesus!!!!

When these people heard the truth about Jesus and saw God’s power working through Philip they believed by faith that He was the Son of God and the Savior of the World.

Even the crazy leader….Simon the sorcerer…..

He saw that it was God’s power working through Philip.

Look in your Bibles….

13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

We will talk more about this in a minute but first, let’s go on to the next verses.

14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit,

16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

I want you to write something down here…

Salvation is for ALL people.

Repeat

Right here it went from a Jewish thing to more than that!

Before this…the early church was ONLY trying to reach Jews for Jesus!

Now the Samaritans became a part of God’s family too!!!

That is a BIG shift!

That was a HARD shift away from prejudice as well!

PAUSE

I also want you to notice that just like today even though some people come to church…

even though they begin a relationship with Jesus….

there is always more to learn….

And just because a person gives their life to Jesus it does not mean they are instantly perfect…..

PAUSE

Look at what Simon does next:

Verse 20

20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!

He asks Peter if he could buy this ability to lay his hands on people so that they could receive the Holy Spirit!

LAUGH

That is NOT how things work church….in case you were wondering…

And so Peter says:

21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

And you might wonder here how it was that Peter could know Simon’s heart….

How did Peter know what Ananias and Sapphira heart a few weeks ago?

How is it that these church leaders can know things about people they do not share?

How can these Godly leaders know what people think or feel?

How is that possible?????

PAUSE

It was because Peter was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit!

I cannot tell you how many times I have been in meetings with people.

Or in a counseling session with someone…

And I will say something….

Or I will say here is what I see in you…

Or here is what I think is going on in you…..

And people are BLOWN away!

And people say….HOW DID YOU KNOW!!!!

Well, let me say two things….

Godly people know sometimes because God revels things to us…

There other reason is your situation is NOT as unique as you think it is!

So often people thing they are the ONLY person who has ever gone through something hard…..and that is not true….

PAUSE

Simon right here I think was a little bitter because people were no longer following him.

People were following new people….

So, Simon allowed bitterness to enter his heart and he became a captive to sin.

NO leader likes it when the people he leads start to leave him and go follow another leader….

Simon….like a lot of leaders today…..

Simon allowed bitterness into his heart…..

Simon did not want what was BEST for the people he was leading.

Simon wanted what was BEST for HIM.

PAUSE

Can I encourage all of you leaders in the room today.

If someone leaves you…HONOR them on the way out!

I don’t care why they are leaving!

Honor them!

Release them!

Trust God knows the best place for them!

And I KNOW that is hard but leaders….do not allow bitterness to come into your life….

Bitterness does NOTHING good for anyone…. PAUSE

Are you captive to sin today?

Have you allowed bitterness to capture your heart today over something?

Bitterness over a political decision of others.

Bitterness over inflation.

Bitterness over a broken relationship.

Bitterness over a past marriage.

Bitterness over a co-worker’s actions.

Bitterness over an employee leaving.

Really….examine your heart…

Are you harboring bitterness….

PAUSE

If so…..I pray you don’t respond like Simon did when he came to know he was sinning….

24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

Do you see that Simon didn’t ask for forgiveness from God.

Simon asked Peter to pray that the bad things that Peter said would happen to him would not happen!

In Matthew 13 Jesus told His disciples a parable of the wheat and the weeds.

There Jesus said there would be people that looked like they were believers but really were not.

In Matthew 7 Jesus clearly says that MANY people that think they are followers of His will NOT make it into heaven because they were NOT really following Him.

The Bible tells us VERY clearly to be careful what leaders we follow…

Because there will be leaders who are just wolves disguised in sheep’s clothing….

This is why you should NEVER listen just to a leader’s words.

This is why you should NEVER listen to a politician’s words.

You have to look at their actions to see what they truly believe!

PAUSE

Only God knows if a person is a true believer or not.

Real believers will live according to God’s Word.

Real believers will teach others the truth of God’s Word.

Real believers will admit their shortcomings and pray for forgiveness.

PAUSE

25 After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.

Note they did not abandon Jerusalem just because of persecution.

They still made sure to preach in their home today.

BUT the persecution got them to get OUT of their comfort zones and got them preaching other places as well!!

They trusted God to help them as they faced persecution.

The believers were becoming strong in their faith as they left the nest.

God was using their obedience to bring more believers into His Kingdom.

PAUSE

So let me ask you all another question….

I know I have laid down some really hard challenges over the last several weeks.

I know some of you have struggled to do them.

I know some of you have resisted doing them.

So let me ask you this…

Are you avoiding hardship or are you allowing a difficult situation to make you a stronger believer?

Repeat

Think about that….

I know none of us want to go through hard things in life….

But do you run from hard things….

OR do you say God…how do you want to grow me through this?

PAUSE

It is important we listen to God and share the good news in good times and in bad times!!

PAUSE

And that is what we see happening again in our Bibles….let’s keep reading….

Let’s see Philip lead another person to Jesus!

Verse 26….

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out,

Notice Philip went, no questions asked.

No debating God.

Philip follow God’s leading….

and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”).

Philip meets this important representative for a queen!

Let’s keep reading….

This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet.

29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

Again, Philip goes, no questions asked.

Philip feels God leading and he responds….

And your about to see Philip must have been just like me!

30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

Do you see it church!

Phillip must have been a swift man!

He was fast enough to run and catch at chariot and run by it!

And he was in good enough shape to talk and run!

Impressive!!!!

Not like me and Jenny!

I can barely breathe and run….and she can carry on full conversations with me as she runs even when I am riding a bike!

Crazy!

PAUSE

So Philip is running and they are talking….let’s listen in….

31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”

34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him

What church!!!!

the good news about Jesus.

Do you see it YET again church…..

Over and OVER today….

Share the GOOD News of Jesus!

Verse 36….

36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”

38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.

Who baptized him church?

Ok…who remembers was Philip a pastor?

Was Philip a priest?

Was Philip an elder?

Philip was REGULAR DUDE!

This is why here at Family Church we encourage ALL of you to baptize people!

Baptism is NOT a Pastor thing!

Baptism is a follower of Jesus thing!

And check out what God does next!

39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

Over and over and over we see the followers of Jesus talking to everyone they can about Jesus….preaching the gospel….

Chapter after chapter after chapter.

The church should not be a place where people come to hear preaching alone….

The church should be a MOVEMENT of people going out of the church to preach the good news of Jesus!

PAUSE

Two more times in this chapter we saw the church grow!

That is now 9 times so far in the book of Acts God has shown us the church growing by leading people to Jesus….

If you still think church growth is bad….you are wrong…

If you still think you should not be actively leading people to Jesus…. You are wrong…

So here is my challenge for you all this week.

Life Application: Share your journey to faith with someone this week.

I know that scares some of you….

But what did you just see in this chapter? What have you seen for the last several weeks….

You see what we would call setback after setback happens to people stepping out in faith….

We have seen religious people in the church jump all over them.

We have seen them oppressed by society.

We have seen them beaten.

We have seen them imprisoned.

We have seen them even be killed.

Setback after setback…..but I hope you see something even more powerful….

PAUSE

That at every point where the world thought they were creating a setback for people…for God doing something new….God used it to CANIPULT the church forward!!!! EVERY TIME the people have stepped out in faith…..

EVERY TIME they have preached….

God shows up and shows off!

So, stop fearing… and start trusting God more and step out in faith this week and share your story!!!!

Today God is pushing you out of the nest and He will help you!

Let’s Pray…..