Embracing Public Faith Through Immediate Obedience
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "It's a powerful symbol when someone who has never been baptized decides to follow Jesus. Baptism can serve as an outward sign of an inward change, not a mark of maturity, but a mark of public obedience to this important step." [23:58]
2. "One of the hardest things in our fast-paced culture is to slow down enough to really listen for God's voice. Yet it is essential if we want to live according to His will." [35:54]
3. "The Spirit of God prompts Philip to run up to the chariot. He's running up to the chariot of the eunuch, which would have been dangerous if he had been perceived as a threat. But he runs up successfully, and he begins a conversation with the eunuch that goes like this. It says, So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet. He's reading it out loud and asks, Do you understand what you are reading? And he said, How can I unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him." [36:37]
4. "When was the last time that your curiosity about God led to activity for God? You know, there's this bad habit we can have the longer that we're in church. The longer that we call ourselves people of faith. Where? It becomes entirely about what we understand. And we move from curious to cynical. We go from motivated to entitled." [32:52]
5. "The eunuch understood that immediate obedience leads to a further understanding in a way that many of us, some of whom have been following Jesus for decades, struggle to understand sometimes." [42:39]
### Quotes for Members
1. "Philip's willingness to be obedient in this situation was so critical. God was already using him to expand this early movement of Jesus followers beyond those who were ethnically and religiously Jewish, because the global reach that God intended and that we now experience would require it." [29:31]
2. "Immediate obedience leads to a fuller understanding. And it's completely flipped of the way that we often think about it, isn't it? A lot of us, we have rationalized some version of this. We say this in our head from time to time. We say, God, I'll give this area to you. I'll start doing that. I'll stop doing that. I'll take this step. I'll change this pattern in my life. If you show me why. If you show me the outcome. But that's exactly the opposite of how God works. See, fuller understanding comes through obedience, not for it." [33:45]
3. "The Spirit of God prompts Philip to run up to the chariot. He's running up to the chariot of the eunuch, which would have been dangerous if he had been perceived as a threat. But he runs up successfully, and he begins a conversation with the eunuch that goes like this. It says, So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet. He's reading it out loud and asks, Do you understand what you are reading? And he said, How can I unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him." [36:37]
4. "Philip, like all followers of Jesus, was called to be a thoughtful witness, or what the Apostle Peter refers to as always being ready to give a defense for the hope that is in you. But he was not responsible, and neither are you, by the way, for how the eunuch would respond. We're only responsible for sharing the good news of Jesus and the opportunities and spaces that God provides." [39:25]
5. "The eunuch was ready. Not because he understood enough to be obedient, but because he knew that greater understanding came on the other side of immediate obedience. Because that's the way that God always works." [45:00]
6. "Today, we're going to watch some people who God has called to be thoughtful witnesses in their schools, families, neighborhoods, businesses, and industries, following the example of Jesus in baptism, and their willingness to be obedient that we see in Philip and this eunuch. They're going to demonstrate the same obedience today." [46:42]
7. "If you're a follower of Jesus and you've never been baptized, whether you've been a follower for days or for decades, the waters of baptism are available and open to you. Even as we pray, feel free to head out of this room, go to the Info Central at your campus, and let them know that you're ready, that you're thinking about it, that you want to ask somebody a question." [47:14]
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1. "It's a powerful symbol when someone who has never been baptized decides to follow Jesus. Baptism can serve as an outward sign of an inward change, not a mark of maturity, but a mark of public obedience to this important step." [23:58]
2. "One of the hardest things in our fast-paced culture is to slow down enough to really listen for God's voice. Yet it is essential if we want to live according to His will." [35:54]
3. "The Spirit of God prompts Philip to run up to the chariot. He's running up to the chariot of the eunuch, which would have been dangerous if he had been perceived as a threat. But he runs up successfully, and he begins a conversation with the eunuch that goes like this. It says, So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet. He's reading it out loud and asks, Do you understand what you are reading? And he said, How can I unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him." [36:37]
4. "When was the last time that your curiosity about God led to activity for God? You know, there's this bad habit we can have the longer that we're in church. The longer that we call ourselves people of faith. Where? It becomes entirely about what we understand. And we move from curious to cynical. We go from motivated to entitled." [32:52]
5. "The eunuch understood that immediate obedience leads to a further understanding in a way that many of us, some of whom have been following Jesus for decades, struggle to understand sometimes." [42:39]
### Quotes for Members
1. "Philip's willingness to be obedient in this situation was so critical. God was already using him to expand this early movement of Jesus followers beyond those who were ethnically and religiously Jewish, because the global reach that God intended and that we now experience would require it." [29:31]
2. "Immediate obedience leads to a fuller understanding. And it's completely flipped of the way that we often think about it, isn't it? A lot of us, we have rationalized some version of this. We say this in our head from time to time. We say, God, I'll give this area to you. I'll start doing that. I'll stop doing that. I'll take this step. I'll change this pattern in my life. If you show me why. If you show me the outcome. But that's exactly the opposite of how God works. See, fuller understanding comes through obedience, not for it." [33:45]
3. "The Spirit of God prompts Philip to run up to the chariot. He's running up to the chariot of the eunuch, which would have been dangerous if he had been perceived as a threat. But he runs up successfully, and he begins a conversation with the eunuch that goes like this. It says, So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet. He's reading it out loud and asks, Do you understand what you are reading? And he said, How can I unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him." [36:37]
4. "Philip, like all followers of Jesus, was called to be a thoughtful witness, or what the Apostle Peter refers to as always being ready to give a defense for the hope that is in you. But he was not responsible, and neither are you, by the way, for how the eunuch would respond. We're only responsible for sharing the good news of Jesus and the opportunities and spaces that God provides." [39:25]
5. "The eunuch was ready. Not because he understood enough to be obedient, but because he knew that greater understanding came on the other side of immediate obedience. Because that's the way that God always works." [45:00]
6. "Today, we're going to watch some people who God has called to be thoughtful witnesses in their schools, families, neighborhoods, businesses, and industries, following the example of Jesus in baptism, and their willingness to be obedient that we see in Philip and this eunuch. They're going to demonstrate the same obedience today." [46:42]
7. "If you're a follower of Jesus and you've never been baptized, whether you've been a follower for days or for decades, the waters of baptism are available and open to you. Even as we pray, feel free to head out of this room, go to the Info Central at your campus, and let them know that you're ready, that you're thinking about it, that you want to ask somebody a question." [47:14]
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