Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - “Good News from God” – Friday, 11 July 2014 - Scripture: Acts 8:25-40

Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - “Good News from God” – Friday, 11 July 2014 - Scripture: Acts 8:25 And with that, the apostles were on their way, continuing to witness and spread the Message of God’s salvation, preaching in every Samaritan town they passed through on their return to Jerusalem.
The Ethiopian Eunuch
26-28 Later God’s angel spoke to Philip: “At noon today I want you to walk over to that desolate road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza.” He got up and went. He met an Ethiopian eunuch coming down the road. The eunuch had been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was returning to Ethiopia, where he was minister in charge of all the finances of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He was riding in a chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah.
29-30 The Spirit told Philip, “Climb into the chariot.” Running up alongside, Philip heard the eunuch reading Isaiah and asked, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”
31-33 He answered, “How can I without some help?” and invited Philip into the chariot with him. The passage he was reading was this:
As a sheep led to slaughter,
    and quiet as a lamb being sheared,
He was silent, saying nothing.
    He was mocked and put down, never got a fair trial.
But who now can count his kin
    since he’s been taken from the earth?
34-35 The eunuch said, “Tell me, who is the prophet talking about: himself or some other?” Philip grabbed his chance. Using this passage as his text, he preached Jesus to him.
36-39 As they continued down the road, they came to a stream of water. The eunuch said, “Here’s water. Why can’t I be baptized?” He ordered the chariot to stop. They both went down to the water, and Philip baptized him on the spot. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of God suddenly took Philip off, and that was the last the eunuch saw of him. But he didn’t mind. He had what he’d come for and went on down the road as happy as he could be.
40 Philip showed up in Azotus and continued north, preaching the Message in all the villages along that route until he arrived at Caesarea.
“Good News from God” by Wil Watson
It was early in the AD 30s in the small Roman province of Judea. Everyone was talking about a controversial new prophet. The Jerusalem Post ran articles with opposing views about Him. Radio talk shows buzzed with conversation about Him. Social media was overloaded with news of His activities and teachings. Oops! I forgot; those communication marvels didn’t exist then. Still, Jesus was big news from Galilee to the Dead Sea.
The good news: the promised Messiah had finally come! People were being healed, lives transformed, and hope restored. The bad news: He wasn’t the Messiah they expected. He grew up in obscure Nazareth instead of Jerusalem. He seemed uninterested in defeating the Romans. The people were perplexed, was Jesus good or bad news?

Fast-forward a few years to Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. Our salvation was complete! God sent a lay minister named Phillip to an Ethiopian official who struggled to understand Isaiah’s prophecy about someone being “led like a sheep to the slaughter.” Phillip explained by telling "him the good news about Jesus" (verse 35). The dilemma has settled! Jesus was good news then and He still is today!
Hymn for Today:
“The Solid Rock” by Edward Mote
1. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
2. When darkness seems to hide his face,
I rest on his unchanging grace;
in every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil.
Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
3. His oath, his covenant, his blood
support me in the whelming flood;
when all around my soul gives way,
he then is all my hope and stay.
Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
4. When he shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in him be found,
dressed in his righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne.
Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
Thought for Today:
“There are two great mysteries of Christianity: (1)that God would condescend to live with us in the person of Jesus Christ (Yeshua the Messiah); (2) that God would condescend to live in us in the person of the Holy Spirit”(Author Unknown).
Prayer Needs:
Developing Christian leaders in Mali!
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