Podcasts about like philip

A Sermon for the Feast of St. Philip and St. James St. John 14:1-9 by William Klock Today the Church remembers the Apostles Philip and James.  As she was planning our song and hymn selection for today, Kathy asked what I'd be preaching on, would I continue with Revelation or would it be the lessons for Saints Philip and James?  I said it would be Saints Philip and James, because in all my years preaching, I haven't had the chance.  May 1st has fallen on Sunday several times, but the feast day has always been bumped to a weekday by the First Sunday after Easter or by Rogation Sunday, which both take precedence.  And the more I've pondered the day's lessons, the more it occurs to me that it really is providential that this is the year these two saints finally get their due on a Sunday.  Let me explain. First, Philip and James.  Who were these men who get such short shrift in the calendar?  Well, both were amongst the Twelve, both were apostles.  That's really all we know for certain.  We know pretty much nothing about them.  It doesn't help that they've often been confused with other Philips and Jameses.  Unlike today, when everyone wants to give their children unique names, Jews, like everyone else in the First Century and down through history until today, were deliberately unimaginative.  They valued naming their sons and daughters after parents and grandparents and heroes and heroines of the Scriptures.  But that also means there weren't a lot of names in use.  There were lots of Philips and Jameses, Johns and Josephs, a lot of Marys, and even Jesuses.  There are several Philips and several Jameses in the New Testament and it's not always easy sorting out which is which and even if some of them are the same or different people. There was a Philip in the book of Acts who became the Church's first deacon, probably the same man who met and baptised the Ethiopian eunuch on the road to Gaza.  But that's a different man.  Philip the Apostle, our Philip here, is mentioned by Mathew, Mark, and Luke only as a member of the Twelve.  John mentions him a few times.  He tells us that Philip brought Nathanael to Jesus, another of the Twelve.  In John 6 (our Gospel for the Fourth Sunday in Lent, you might remember), where a great (and hungry!) crowd had gathered to listen to Jesus, Jesus turned to Philip and asked where he thought they might buy bread to feed the crowd.  Philip had no idea.  “Jesus, two hundred times a day's wage wouldn't buy bread for all these people,” he protested.  At another point John tells us that Philip brought a group of Greek-speakers to Jesus.  He was probably their translator.  Then there's John 14, which we'll get to shortly.  This selection for the Gospel goes back to the ancient church—one of this handful of passages where Philip has any role at all and one that fits with the themes of Eastertide, since that's usually when this feast day falls.  Tradition—which may or may not be reliable and may have the two Philips confused—says that he travelled to Phrygia as a missionary where he was either crucified upside-down or beheaded. And James.  There are several Jameses in the New Testament, too.  There's James the son of Zebedee, the brother of John.  He's often called “James the Greater”.  We know a fair bit about him, because he was part of Jesus' inner circle: Peter, James, and John.  And then, in Acts, we meet James the brother of Jesus.  He was one of those to whom the risen Jesus appeared.  That made a believer of him.  He ended up becoming the leader, or bishop if you will, of the Jerusalem Church.  He's likely the author of the Epistle of James.  We know quite a bit about him.  But neither of those men is the James we remember today.  Today we remember James the son of Alphaeus.  Sometimes he's called “James the Lesser”—although even there, that may be yet another, fourth James.  Of James, we know nothing but his name and the name of his father, Alphaeus, at least so far as the Bible goes.  Tradition says that he was stoned while preaching outside the temple in Jerusalem, but again, tradition often had our James confused with James the brother of Jesus, who is said to have died the same way. Even the origin of their feast day is kind of an accident.  James and Philip are never paired together in the Gospels.  It's always Philip and Bartholomew who are paired together.  But in the 6th Century the Basilica of the Holy Apostles was dedicated in Rome and the relics of James and Philip placed there—on May 1st—and ever since then they've been linked together in the Calendar of the Western Church.  Both men laboured for the Gospel in obscurity.  They were Apostles, and yet all we really know of them is their names.  And because their names were so common, they've often been confused with other men down through the ages.  Even their commemoration on the calendar is an accident of history.  And yet we have no reason to doubt their faithfulness to Jesus, to the Church, and to the gospel.  When I think of them I can't help thinking of that famous line of Nicolaus von Zinendorf, one of the Seventeenth Century bishops of the Moravian Church.  He wrote, “Peach the gospel, die, and be forgotten.”  How's that for some perspective?  Again, “Preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten.” And I think it's some perspective we need today.  Last week I sat with a brother pastor from another faithful, local church that has been decimated by current trends and events.  First it was sheep-stealing by other churches, drawing people away, not by the gospel, but by gimmicks and excitement.  Then the pandemic hit and some people just sort of evaporated.  They just never came back and disappeared from the radar.  And just when everyone thought we were through that, churches were hit with pandemic politics raised by some to the level of gospel.  And it blew things apart.  More people gone.  And it's not just my friend.  It's happening everywhere.  We've been fortunate that none of these things has hit us as badly as they've hit a lot of other churches, but it's a real source of discouragement for pastors and others who have been seriously drained these last couple of years. Rob and I met this week and had a similar conversation.  So-and-so gone.  And So-and-so gone.  If only that family would come back.  If only such-and-such sort of people would come.  And I had to check myself.  Church growth is good, but not if it comes with a loss to another gospel-preaching church.  Yes, there are times when receiving believers from another church that's gone off the rails is a legitimate rescue operation, but generally speaking, that's not growing the church; it's just playing musical chairs.  Church growth is what happens when you preach the gospel and people it hear it, believe, are baptised, and become disciples.  But it's easy to forget this, because today everything everywhere is about numbers.  We've turned the gospel into a business and the church into a product to be marketed.  Brothers and Sisters, it's not about numbers and the gospel is not a commodity.  We are not salesman.  We are preachers.  But Christians today have become obsessed with numbers.  We've been influenced by the consumerist culture that surrounds us.  And so no one wants to preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten.  Everyone wants to make a name for themselves—a name they make by using the gospel as a ladder—as if we can make ourselves known to the world and to posterity as we stand on the shoulders of Jesus.  No one wants to be a Philip or a James, lifting high the cross and proclaiming the gospel no matter the cost, no matter how small their following—even as it leads to martyrdom.  Because they knew that it wasn't about them; it was all about Jesus.  Because their hope was not in this age, but in the age to come—the age they saw inaugurated in the risen, resurrected Jesus.  They had had a glimpse of God's new creation.  They put their faith in him, their lives and their futures in his hands, and they became faithful stewards of his gospel and his sheep. Our Gospel today begins with Jesus saying, “Let not your hearts be troubled.”  This is in the middle of what's often called his Upper Room Discourse.  Jesus has washed his friends' feet and they've shared that last Passover supper together, then Jesus tells them what's to come: betrayal by Judas and denial by Peter.  He tells them, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”  And he promises them the gift of the Holy Spirit who will make that possible.  He'll speak of the opposition and hatred they will face on his account, but he'll also give them those assuring words, “Take heart, I have overcome the world.” And this is where he announces that very soon he will be leaving them.  None of this was easy for them to hear.  But first, here, he says these words to them.  Look at John 14:1-6. “Let not your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God; believe also in me.  In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.  And you know the way to where I am going.”  Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”   “Fear not!” he says to them.  “Trust in God—and trust in me, too.”  Their trust in God was a given, but in light of the events that would happen soon, it's natural for Jesus to urge them to trust him too.  He's the Messiah—the one sent by God.  He knows that they've struggled to understand just what that means.  Most people had a messed up idea of who the Messiah would be and what he would do—and even the disciples hadn't sorted it out yet.  Things were about to happen that would cause them to question whether Jesus was the Messiah.  He was crucified as a false Messiah, after all.  But Jesus urges them to trust him, just as he knows they've always trusted God.  Dying and being absent from them for a time is part of his messianic ministry. And in verse 2 he says those words that are always so popular at funerals.  “In my Father's house are many rooms.”  These words are a source of comfort, but because we've lost the context in which Jesus spoke them, we tend misunderstand just what he's getting at.  We tend to think of him going to prepare a place in heaven where the faithful dead escape the world and go to live in God's presence.  The living in God's presence part of that is right on the money.  But what does Jesus mean when he talks about his Father's house?  We just kind of think about a house in heaven or, thanks to the King James, we think of a heaven full of golden mansions.  But when Jesus talks about this Father's house he's talking about the temple.  The temple in Jerusalem was the one place where heaven and earth—sundered by our sin—it wa the one place where they still overlapped, where human beings could go to be in the presence of God. What Jesus is getting at here, what he's hinting at is new creation.  He's just told them to trust in God—the one who has a plan to set this fallen world to rights—and this is exactly why he's got to go away.  It's part of the plan.  His death will forgive sins and heal the breach between God and man.  His resurrection will set the renewal of all things in motion and eventually bring heaven and earth back together.  So these words aren't really about making a place for us to live in heaven when we die.  It's about Jesus doing the work to bring heaven and earth, God and humanity back together.  But we can still see why they're such popular words at funerals.  At a time when everything seems dark.  When we're feeling hopeless.  When loss overwhelms us.  When we feel the weight of sin and death at their worst.  Jesus assures us that he's already there.  We may not understand.  We may feel lost.  But he's there already.  While we do the work of the Church here on earth, he's at his Father's side doing the heavenly part of this business of renewal.  And one day he'll bring it all back together: heaven and earth, God and man, new creation, the world set to rights, every tear dried, and human beings living once again in the presence of God.  Not “up there”, but in this new temple that will encompass all of creation.  That's where Jesus was going when Judas betrayed him, when the authorities crucified him, when they laid him in the tomb.  And it's also where he was going after his resurrection from the dead when he ascended to his throne to send us the Holy Spirit. And then Thomas.  He blurts out, “But how?  We don't know the way!  We don't even know where you're going!  We don't know the way there!”  Brothers and Sisters, the words that really strike me there is that bit, “How can we know the way?”  Thomas really had no idea what Jesus was talking about.  We live on this side of the cross and empty tomb, this side of the ascension and we've got a better idea.  We understand—or I hope we do!—that Jesus was going to his death and we understand why.  Maybe we still struggle with the ascension.  But we've got a much better grasp on these things than Thomas did in the Upper Room.  But so often we still don't know the way.  Or we once knew it, but we took that path and it didn't seem to be getting us anywhere, so we're trying another one.  Once we knew it, but we've been distracted along the way.  Once we knew it, but that path led to hardship or opposition so we've decided to try a different route. Brothers and Sisters, think again of the two men we commemorate today.  Philip and James were surely just as lost as Thomas as they sat around that Passover table listening to Jesus.  But when they met the risen Jesus, just like the other disciples, they understood.  And they set out on the path laid before them and they walked it faithfully, even though it led to their own deaths.  They trusted in God and they trusted in Jesus, too. I've been thinking of the conversations I've had this last week or so.  How does the church navigate these difficult times?  My pastor friend talked about the people who had left his church to go to another.  Why did they go?  Almost always it's because they're looking for a program or for something new and exciting.  That church has a program that our church doesn't have.  Or that church has better musicians, better singers, better mood lighting, better coffee.  Again, it's the consumerist minds of our culture creeping in to how we think about church.  No one seems to ask the really important question: Is that other church really centred on Jesus and the good news?  And am I leaving a Jesus- and gospel-centred church for one that isn't?  Am I being driven by a consumerist mindset instead of a gospel one?  We talked about other folks we know leaving churches because they were afraid of getting sick during the pandemic or others who left over political issues surrounding masks and vaccines—some for and some opposed.  And all we can see is people losing sight of Jesus—putting other things and other issues ahead of him and ahead of the gospel.  Neither fear nor politics will lead us where Jesus has gone, to that place he's preparing for us. And, as churches, it's often tempting to forsake the path that Jesus has called us to walk.  Maybe it's that we Christians were, for almost two thousand years, the driving force in our culture, and now that's all gone.  Increasingly it's not even a neutral thing to be a Christian anymore.  Now we're haters and bigots on the wrong side of history.  No one wants to be in that position.  And so whole swaths of the Church have begun to cave to cultural pressure—especially on issues of identity, whether that's sex or race, on issues of sex and sexuality, or the uniqueness of Jesus and the gospel to save.  Don't get me wrong.  As Jesus' people, we need to be squeaky clean.  If we're guilty of sin.  If we've harboured sinful ideas.  If we haven't acted out of love.  We need to repent of those sins.  But the standard for right and wrong has to be the Scriptures, not the winds of culture—and especially not a culture that has forsaken the gospel and God's word.  In our post-Christian culture, trying to gain the world's approval will never lead us to Jesus—it will inevitably lead us down a different path.  And if we go down that path, we'll never bring the culture to Jesus either.  The same goes for politics.  I don't care which political side or party it is, if we make politics our agenda, it may attract people, but will not lead us—or them—to Jesus. And it's tempting to lose our focus on faithfulness and to get carried away with numbers.  People will come if we add this program or that activity.  What can we do to make things more exciting and to attract more people—nevermind the people we're attracting are coming from other churches.  Brothers and Sisters, that's not church growth; that's just sheep stealing. What do we do?  We don't know the way?  Look again at what Jesus says in verses 6 and 7: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”   Brothers and Sisters, Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life.  Our lives as his people and our life as his Church need to be centred on him.  That's how we get where he's gone.  That's how we will one day find ourselves in the age to come—and how we will, with the help of the Word and the Spirit, get the world to that day.  This is the truth that must have hold on us.  This is the truth that has to shape everything we do.  Everything is about Jesus and everything we do centred in him.  And knowing that, we must be utterly devoted to that, remembering that he is the one who gave his life for our sake.  He is our life.  He is the driving force and motivation for everything.  We love him because he first loved us.  And now we preach him, proclaim him, live him because we can do nothing else.  That's the path. It's at this point that Philips blurts out that question in verse 8:   Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”  Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.   I'll close with this.  Philip had Jesus.  He had the way the truth and the life, but he didn't fully understand.  He still wanted the Father.  Wanting the Father was good.  But he still wasn't grasping that Jesus was the way to the Father—that he and the Father were one.  And I think as the Christians and as the Church we can find ourselves in a similar place.  We want the Father.  But we forget that the way lies with Jesus.  We forget that Jesus is the one who reconciles us to God by the cross.  We forget that it is he, the word of God who reveals the Father to us.  We forget that it is his gift of the Spirit that empowers us to live for him and to go out in the world in his name.  We forget and we start turning to all sorts of other things.  Again, we think a program will bring people to Jesus.  We think more exciting worship will bring people to Jesus.  We think that bowing to the pressure of culture and being nicer than Jesus will bring people.  Brothers and Sisters, it won't.  Jesus leads people to Jesus.  Our faithfulness to him and to his word and to his calling, coupled with the work of the Spirit in their hearts is what will bring people to Jesus and grow his church. We're like Philip asking for Jesus to show us the Father.  “Jesus,” show us the way!”  And Jesus has been saying all along, “I am the way.  Just commit yourselves to me.  Plodding along in faithfulness beats cool and exciting.  Earning the hatred of the world beats earning its praise.  Jesus calls us to forsake the wide and easy way.  That way leads to destruction.  Instead, he calls us to walk the narrow way, the hard way, that even though it may lead to death, will ultimately lead us—and the world—to him and to life on the other side.  Like Philip and James: Preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten.  And if we are remembered, may it be only for faithfulness to Jesus and his gospel. Let's pray: Almighty God, to truly know you is eternal life: Grant us perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life;  that, following in the steps of your holy apostles Saint Philip and Saint James, we may steadfastly walk in the way that leads to eternal life, through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Acts 8 New King James Version: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+8%3A1-40&version=NKJV

This past Sunday, Steve spoke on Acts 8:4-25, where we see that the believers have scattered due to Saul's persecution but continue to share the gospel. We are introduced to Philip in Samaria, where it is said he was preaching and healing in the name of Christ. One of those said baptized is Simon the Magician. When Peter and John arrive they begin sharing the Holy Spirit with the new believers. Upon seeing this Simon tries to buy the power of giving the Holy Spirit from the apostles. Peter rebukes Simon instructing him to pray and repent.  Instead, Simon asks them to intercede on his behalf. In unpacking all this, Steve first highlights that Samaria was a place not liked by many. Philip going there is an example that we sometimes must willingly be uncomfortable or go where we would rather not for the gospel. The other point Steve makes is Simon's mistake, trying to not only buy the power of the Holy Spirit but also asking the apostles to pray on his behalf instead of going to God himself. Like Philip, we should not always choose the easiest path in spreading the gospel. Unlike Simon, we should seek God in prayer instead of looking to someone else, like church leadership to intercede for us. 

Speaker: Marvin Wright Passage: Acts 6:3-5 WATCH THE VIDEO HERE: https://youtu.be/QrpGaxvL598 To learn more about Adelphi, visit us at: adelphibaptist.com

Some new theories on Harry.Maybe he is trying to be less like his grandfather Philip?Maybe Harry lives in constant fear of losing Meghan?Meanwhile....if Harry never rode a bike with Charles, then who is that in these photos?

I love road trips. I always have. When I was a kid, it was trips to see Grandparents down the country roads in Illinois. When we got married, Kimberly and I would drive across the country to B&B's in small towns or out in the country. When we had kids of our own, we would strap them in the car seats and head to Kentucky or Arkansas, or one big Clark Griswold trip out to South Dakota and Montana and Nevada. Of course the mother of all road trips was our sabbatical a couple of summers ago, when we put several thousand miles on the minivan in one summer! And over the years in ministry, I remember fondly youth trips to Green Lake or Colorado or down to Georgia to camp. Veteran youth leaders will tell you that ABY and GaGa ball and the like are great, but there is nothing like the bonding experience of a road trip. I would suggest that Luke must have been a big fan of road trips, too. Remember how he reported in Chapter 9 that Jesus “set his face toward Jerusalem.” The teaching and healing ministry of the Gospel takes place on the road, as he and the disciples travelled from Galilee to Jerusalem. And now, in the short few chapters since Jesus' Resurrection, we have all of these road trip stories. Easter evening, Jesus meets travelers on the Road to Emmaus…it is in the journey that Christ appears to them. Stephen doesn't take a road trip, but his famous sermon—the one that makes everyone mad enough to kill him—is all about how God never really wanted the Temple and was fine in the tabernacle, wandering from place to place on a holy road trip. And—spoiler-alert!—in the next chapter we are going to read about a guy named Saul who is once again on the road, this time the road to Damascus, where some things might happen. For Luke, there is power in the road trip, in the energy and relationship built on the journey. The ministry of Jesus and the Church of Jesus takes place in the dynamism and motion of the journey. And so there should be no surprise when we read today about Phillip, a master of the road trip. After Stephen's death, he started on the road north to Samaria where he preached to Simon Magus and the Samaritans. And now he is on the road south out of Jerusalem, on yet another road trip. As I read it, it may not feel like a long trip, but remember that the Bible and especially the book of Acts collapses time, so that while this story only lasts a few verses, Justo Gonzalez suggests that it might have taken hours or even days. The Two Way folks loved playing around with the road trip in this story a little bit, talking about the Ethiopian must have stopped at the gas station in South Jerusalem on the way out of town. It must have been a Phillips 66 (get it?) and he probably picked up a Slim Jim and a pocket copy of the book of Isaiah to read on the way home to Ethiopia. There really is something for us to discern about our journey of faith, our walk of faith, from what we see in this story. What can this story teach us about our faith? There are three different characters, if you will, that make up this story. Let's look at what each one teaches us. The first character to look at more closely is the Ethiopian Eunuch, who I think has something to teach us about the experience of the outsider. Now, we have to be careful assuming too much about this man. Luke doesn't give us much backstory, or too many details. But it seems to me that part of why he is included in this narrative is his outsider status: • Whether it was the fact that he was an Ethiopian, kind of a catch-all category for all non-Egyptian Africans or simply those with dark skin, which would have made him a racial minority in Palestine. • Or perhaps it was the fact that he was a eunuch, a sexual minority, potentially naturally-castrated and thus considered safe enough to put into position of authority around the Queen, or potentially forcible castrated in order to make him “safe.” • Or perhaps even his role as a government official, which made him a kind of unpopular cultural minority, like the hated tax collectors who had authority over the people. • Or some scholars think that he is what some call a “god-fearer,” someone who believed in Yahweh, but didn't take part in religious practice, perhaps for some of these other reasons; today we might call him “spiritual but not religious” potentially even inviting scorn. • Or perhaps even all four of these categories were relevant, meaning that he was quadruply an outsider! To me, it feels like he saw himself as an outsider because as he read this passage from Isaiah, and engaged in Philip in conversation about it, he asks a fascinating question: “What is to prevent me from being baptized?” From being included. He somehow knew that there were reasons, and likely he had heard them his whole life. Philip must have known them, too. He could have given this man a valid Bible study, based on the book of Deuteronomy, that told him exactly why he couldn't be included. Why he couldn't be baptized as a eunuch and non-Israelite and an outsider. What is to prevent me? The Bible says so! Which is a question that a lot of Christians ask, even today? The figure of the Ethiopian eunuch is one that many identify with, especially those who see themselves as outsiders. Racial minorities connect with the fact that he is from Ethiopia. LGBTQI persons connect with the eunuch's sexual minority status. Or anyone who feels outside of the accepted norm of the church: as single parents or divorced persons or those choosing or not able to have children or choosing or not able to get married. So many have read this story and heard the reasons why they must be excluded, including “the Bible says so.” But look at Philip's response here. Take a look at Character Number Two in the story. Again, Philip could have come at the Ethiopian with some hard-core Bible study. But instead of an aggressive stance, Philip seems to follow the rule of “listen first; talk second.” He gets this feeling, this prompting to walk along that road, and then another feeling/prompting to walk up next to the man's chariot, and so he does, and hears him reading out loud the book of Isaiah. He doesn't walk right in with an agenda of conversion, or a script to read out loud. Phillip simply shows up and listens first. And then, he talks. But even then, he begins with a question: “Do you understand what you are reading?” And the dialogue begins! For Philip, the good news does not come as a pre-packaged speech to deliver to this man, in order to convert him and put him in the win column. It is the beginning of a conversation. To help him understand his truth, and eventually for Philip to share his understanding of the truth. Notice that Philip doesn't listen first and listen second, simply idling until the Ethiopian figures it out for himself. Philip has something to say. But he doesn't unload a Roman Road or Four Spiritual Laws or anything learned in a Tuesday night training session. He listens to the man and his questions. And when the time is right, he speaks. Remember that like Stephen, Philip is one of the Seven, one of the Hellenistic, outsider Jewish Christ-followers, who was put in charge of the food pantry and followed the food pantry right out the door. As an outsider himself, he was able to understand and speak truth to the outsider Ethiopian. Because it became a dialogue, he was able to understand and be understood. A helpful word for those of us 2,000 years later that feel like we want to share the good news of Jesus, but aren't sure how to do it. Listen first and speak second. The Evangelism committee talked about this just this last week, asking how we can encourage those conversations. You know, we live in a world that is hurting and angry and afraid and not sure what to do next. A lot of folks are feeling left out. If we approach these conversations with a willingness to listen and learn, then maybe, the Spirit of God can use us. We can speak our truth, and listen as other speak theirs. Philip teaches us that for the good news to take root, it takes dialogue, patience, and a willingness to listen. So, we have talked about two of the three main characters of the story, but there is a third. Besides the Ethiopian and Philip, the third voice we hear is the voice of the Spirit of God. You know, I don't think it is an accident that all these big moments take place on road trips in Luke and Acts. Because I think that Luke is making a theological point about how God works. In short, these stories remind us that God is on the road. Journey to Jerusalem. The Road to Emmaus. The Wilderness Road. The Damascus Road. This is more than a literary device. The God of the tabernacle in Stephen's sermon is still a God on the move. God is dynamic and active and on the road. This theology of dynamism is crucial for us to remember today. Especially out of a pandemic, when we have yearned so deeply to return to a physical space. Let us remember that the Church has always been scattered and sent! The theology of God throughout Scripture is that God is on the move. The life of faith is a never-ending road trip. This physical space is always meant to be a rest stop to the real work of the Gospel, in the workplaces, and classrooms, and ballfields and coffeehouses of God's world. And let us now add the social networks and virtual spaces and Zoom Rooms. Like Philip, we are called to be responsive and dialogical open to how God is at work out there. Like Philip, we are called to be on the move!

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GOSPEL POWER |APRIL 16, 2021 - FRIDAY | 2nd Week of Easter Gospel: Jn 6: 1 – 15 Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Six months' wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world. “When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. REFLECTION What is the testing of Philip all about? We remember Philip as the one who told Nathanael: “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” (Jn 1:45). If Philip had truly grasped Jesus' identity as Messiah, he would not have considered feeding the crowd a big problem. He would have known that Jesus could provide. In the Old Testament, God would test only his very own people — those who professed faith in him — to see the genuineness of their faith. Like Philip, crisis-situations can overwhelm us and make us forget that God is in control... that God can and will provide. But our failure will never stop God from acting in our favor and supplying our needs. PRAYER Lord Jesus, may we not only confess our faith with our lips, but let it affect every aspect of our life and our response to every situation. Amen.

Like Philip translated for the Greeks who came to see Jesus, we must translate the Gospel message into a language people can understand.

Like Philip with the Ethiopian eunuch, the Holy Spirit moves us from a life of routine to one that takes risks. Given the power of the Spirit within us, we want to be people who catch its wind in our everyday lives and are moved to faithful action. Speaker: Kyle Idleman

Oh, to be like Philip, who was caught away! Yeah, really. That might seem pretty far out, but you CAN start by being like Philip was. He was submitted; he was led; he was responsive. And yes, he was taken on quite the excursion.Kingdom Speak challenges everyone this week: you CAN be better…BE LIKE PHILIP.

John 1:43-51 (NIV) In today's passage Jesus continues to call disciples. And so far in the Gospel, as people encounter Jesus, we've watched as they react. Some are skeptical, some decide to follow, and some don't even recognize him. Today we'll see Jesus run into the prejudice that potentially existed within the Jewish community--how some people from one town looked down on people from another. How will Jesus respond? ----------RESPOND---------- 1. When the Word becomes flesh and makes his dwelling among us, it confounds our expectations. Like Philip, how have you responded to other people's prejudice, and how it might keep them from following Jesus? 2. Like Nathaniel, what prejudices or biases do you carry that might keep you from following Jesus? 3. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you what you need to come and see. ----------CONNECT----------- www.ivalabama.org >> --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dailyread/message

Listen as Daniel Ward and Julian Martinez discuss the sermon entitled, "Be Like Philip."

Listen as Julian Martinez preaches a sermon entitled, "Be Like Philip."

As we return to our study in Acts, we have the familiar story of the Ethiopian Eunich. The Spirit of God spoke to Philip, and with a heart of surrender, he responded. Like Philip, His Spirit also prompts us. As His church, we must have a surrenederd heart and be a willing servant. God's love is for everyone, and we need to obey when He is calling us to share it. Scripture: Acts 8

Do you know someone who is just natural at inviting others?  If you see it in a child, disciple her to be an evangelist. Subscribe to the Christ for Disciplers Podcast to learn more...

The baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch demonstrates the Spirit’s devotion to insure that Christ alone decides who will be invited into his church. Like Philip, we are mostly just trying to keep up. Monday, December 1, 2014

Acts 8:26-40

Acts 8:26-40

John the Baptist had been sent to bear witness of Jesus Christ. God had personally revealed to John who Christ is. Jesus is the propitiation of the sins of the whole world, to take away your sin through faith. Have you beheld the lamb of God? Have you followed Him yourself? It is a work of grace by the power of the Holy Spirit to awaken your conscience. We must individually know that we have found the Messiah. You may begin to follow Christ based on the testimony of others, but have you had the truth of the Gospel revealed to your own heart? Why do you come to church every week? What are you seeking? You cannot follow Christ purely based on the testimony of someone else. Jesus is ever ready to meet with you and will not cast you out. You must be convinced yourself that Jesus is the Messiah. The disciple Philip didn’t need any convincing to follow Christ himself. Like Philip, some people will follow Christ quickly without needing any other information. Others need to search and have their questions answered before believing. Nathanael was only focused on his preconceived ideas of who the Christ would be and where He would come from. Beware of these prejudices because they can be barriers to believing the Gospel. Lay down your prejudices and examine the evidence of Christ for yourself. If you have any preconceived ideas of Christ and Christianity, come to Christ and see for yourself. The Lord personally revealed Himself to Nathanael, and he believed. We all need this type of revelation. We must know in the depths of our hearts that Jesus is the Son of God and the King of Israel. Allow Christ to speak to the secret place of your heart.

We are presented with divine opportunities to spread the message of Jesus. Like Philip in Acts 8:26-40, we must all learn to seize these opportunities so that more lives are changed by the gospel.

Like Philip and the other early followers of Jesus discovered, the Gospel is bigger than any one of us, bigger than any one identity. To fully see the beauty of God’s good news, we are going to have to try and wrap our embrace around the whole of humanity. To fully know the love of God, we have to learn to love, learn to be loved by all sorts and categories of people.

Kevin Fortier from Emmaus Church in Manchester, NH.

Even successful men feel lost sometimes. They lose the clarity of who they are and where they should be heading. Philip McKernan was one of those men who's figured out the antidote. “In the absence of clarity, take action.” @PhilipMcKernan via @RustyLionAcad (Tweet this!) Phillip is an executive coach who's worked with clients ranging from the Canadian Olympic team to the Pentagon. He's also a speaker who's shared stages with men like the Dalai Lama and Richard Branson. Beyond that, he's a dyslexic Irishman who flunked his way through school and has managed to become an author and filmmaker despite the challenges of dyslexia. His journey of action started in an orphanage about a dozen years ago when he realized he'd been wearing a mask in the business world. In an unplanned stop at a Sri Lankan orphanage, he realized he had nothing to hide behind. No gifts to give the children, no phrase books to try to communicate with them. Only himself. And that's what he decided to give. Without the masks he'd been wearing in the business world. “We have the ability to impact people, not by the checks that we write, but by the sheer gift we have in our essence.” – Philip McKernan By giving himself in that orphanage, he found himself. “I allowed them to feel that they mattered even for a day, even for a moment, even for an hour,” Philip tells me in this episode. “Unbeknownst to myself I started to realize I matter too.” And with that knowledge, he decided to take action. He moved out of his native Ireland to Canada and has been helping other people find themselves, find their gifts, ever since. He most recently did that by completing a documentary called “Give and Grow,” which you can watch by clicking here. The film shows how successful men and women find themselves by giving their core away in service. Taking action like that, he said, is what helps many people find their talents – what he describes as passions deepened tenfold. Click play in the player above to hear Philip's remarkable story of turning from a lost dyslexic to a man who helps others find their gifts and take action. Listen to this episode to hear Philip McKernan tell how to take action, uncover your gifts, and more: Why giving yourself is so hard to do. How to measure your personal value. How Philip works with people to discover their gifts. The reason dyslexia made Philip a better listener. One time when a complete stranger asked Philip to be his best man. (And how Philip responded.) Using your gifts to benefit other people. Why you might not like Philip if he helps you find your gift. Making a documentary without bias when you've never made a film before. Why you might be the intimidating person if Philip intimidates you. The reason you should avoid putting people on pedestals. Read this to take action and uncover your gifts: “Rich On Paper Poor On Life: 3 Paths To More Meaning (And Money),” by Philip McKernan How to contact Philip McKernan: You can get in touch with Philip via his website.   Do this next to learn to take action more often and more successfully: Like Philip, I work with people to uncover their values and craft a personal vision that will free up their potential. To help men like you, my partner Bill and I just began offering free 30-minute Freedom Breakthrough Sessions via video calls. In these free sessions, you'll find yourself face-to-face with Bill or I, and we'll guide you toward taking actions that will make 2017 your best year ever. Click here to get started.

Tough Talk Christian Radio  with Host Tony Gambone and special guest Jeannie Ewing & Deborah Ling: Jeannie Ewing believes the world focuses too much on superficial happiness and then crumbles when sorrow strikes. Because life is about more than what makes us feel fuzzy inside, she writes about the hidden value of suffering and even discovering joy in the midst of grief. Jeannie shares her heart as a mom of two girls with special needs in Navigating Deep Waters: Meditations for Caregivers and is the author of From Grief to Grace: The Journey from Tragedy to Triumph. Jeannie was featured on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition and dozens of other radio shows and  podcasts.  lovealonecreates.com or fromgrief2grace.com. Deborah Ling is a faith filled Christian that has walked with the Lord for almost 30 years. Two of her books came from The Lord healing her of an abusive past. She has worked with abused women and seen them healed through the teachings from her book. Deborah's book on submission came through God teaching her where she missed it, as her marriage crumbled. While it was too late to save her marriage she hopes this book will help others save theirs. Her book on prophetic dance was imparted to her when she sat under Don Potter. Her book The Devil's Twins came from her dealing with rejection and offense. Her next book will be her testimony and how she has walked in the shoes of the saints. Like the apostles, she was homeless... Like Philip she was translated... and it goes on... Called as a teacher and a prophet to the church, she jokes that she does not know if she is a Teaching Prophet or a Prophetic Teacher. She was called as a prophet when she sat under Bill Hamon of Christian International and has always known she was called to teach. deb.ling3@gmail.com  

Journey Church International is a difference making church in Lees Summit, MO with an exciting kids program, bible-based teaching and an inviting atmosphere.

Journey Church International is a difference making church in Lees Summit, MO with an exciting kids program, bible-based teaching and an inviting atmosphere.

Journey Church International is a difference making church in Lees Summit, MO with an exciting kids program, bible-based teaching and an inviting atmosphere.

Journey Church International is a difference making church in Lees Summit, MO with an exciting kids program, bible-based teaching and an inviting atmosphere.

Join us in 2018 as we read through the Bible in a year. Christ's Church is a member of the Reformed Church in America, located in St. Peters, MO. **Please note that this feed is now retired. Please find our new feed by visiting our website.**

Join us in 2018 as we read through the Bible in a year. Christ's Church is a member of the Reformed Church in America, located in St. Peters, MO. **Please note that this feed is now retired. Please find our new feed by visiting our website.**