Podcasts about so philip

07/25/2021 Paul Bang Acts 8:26-40 English Standard Version Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south[a] 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. 29 And 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 he 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?”[b] 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.

With family: Judges 4; Acts 8 Judges 4 (Listen) Deborah and Barak 4 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud died. 2 And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. 3 Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years. 4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. 7 And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand'?” 8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9 And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak called out Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him. 11 Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh. 12 When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera called out all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. 14 And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the LORD go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. 15 And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. 16 And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left. 17 But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?' say, ‘No.'” 21 But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. 22 And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple. 23 So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. 24 And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. (ESV) Acts 8 (Listen) Saul Ravages the Church 8 And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city1 of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city. Simon the Magician Believes 9 But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles2 performed, he was amazed. 14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall3 of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” 25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south4 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. 29 And 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 he 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. Footnotes [1] 8:5 Some manuscripts a city [2] 8:13 Greek works of power [3] 8:23 That is, a bitter fluid secreted by the liver; bile [4] 8:26 Or go at about noon [5] 8:36 Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (ESV) In private: Jeremiah 17; Mark 3 Jeremiah 17 (Listen) The Sin of Judah 17 “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars, 2 while their children remember their altars and their Asherim, beside every green tree and on the high hills, 3 on the mountains in the open country. Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory. 4 You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.” 5   Thus says the LORD:  “Cursed is the man who trusts in man    and makes flesh his strength,1    whose heart turns away from the LORD.6   He is like a shrub in the desert,    and shall not see any good come.  He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,    in an uninhabited salt land. 7   “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,    whose trust is the LORD.8   He is like a tree planted by water,    that sends out its roots by the stream,  and does not fear when heat comes,    for its leaves remain green,  and is not anxious in the year of drought,    for it does not cease to bear fruit.” 9   The heart is deceitful above all things,    and desperately sick;    who can understand it?10   “I the LORD search the heart    and test the mind,2  to give every man according to his ways,    according to the fruit of his deeds.” 11   Like the partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch,    so is he who gets riches but not by justice;  in the midst of his days they will leave him,    and at his end he will be a fool. 12   A glorious throne set on high from the beginning    is the place of our sanctuary.13   O LORD, the hope of Israel,    all who forsake you shall be put to shame;  those who turn away from you3 shall be written in the earth,    for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water. Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance 14   Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed;    save me, and I shall be saved,    for you are my praise.15   Behold, they say to me,    “Where is the word of the LORD?    Let it come!”16   I have not run away from being your shepherd,    nor have I desired the day of sickness.  You know what came out of my lips;    it was before your face.17   Be not a terror to me;    you are my refuge in the day of disaster.18   Let those be put to shame who persecute me,    but let me not be put to shame;  let them be dismayed,    but let me not be dismayed;  bring upon them the day of disaster;    destroy them with double destruction! Keep the Sabbath Holy 19 Thus said the LORD to me: “Go and stand in the People's Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, 20 and say: ‘Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21 Thus says the LORD: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. 22 And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. 23 Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction. 24 “‘But if you listen to me, declares the LORD, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, 25 then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever. 26 And people shall come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the Shephelah, from the hill country, and from the Negeb, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the LORD. 27 But if you do not listen to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.'” Footnotes [1] 17:5 Hebrew arm [2] 17:10 Hebrew kidneys [3] 17:13 Hebrew me (ESV) Mark 3 (Listen) A Man with a Withered Hand 3 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And they watched Jesus,1 to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. A Great Crowd Follows Jesus 7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. 9 And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, 10 for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. 11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 And he strictly ordered them not to make him known. The Twelve Apostles 13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,2 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. 20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.” Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit 22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house. 28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” Jesus' Mother and Brothers 31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers3 are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” Footnotes [1] 3:2 Greek him [2] 3:18 Greek kananaios, meaning zealot [3] 3:32 Other manuscripts add and your sisters (ESV)

We are in Acts 8:26 on the Unchanging Word Bible Broadcast reading more of what God did thru Philip the evangelist. In the midst of a revival, an angel of the Lord instructs Philip to go down the road to a desert place near Gaza. Luke records that an Ethiopian eunuch was worshipping, riding along in his chariot having come from Jerusalem. He was reading a passage from Isaiah, chapter 53 to be exact. When Philip was told by the Spirit to come up along side of the man's chariot, he heard him continually reading out loud this passage. So Philip asked him whether he was yet understanding what he was reading. He said, I need someone to guide me in understanding who this Scripture is speaking about. Let's turn to Acts 8:26 with Dr. Mitchell as he guides our hearts to Jesus. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/unchanging-word/message

Proper 8 First Psalm: Psalms 131–133 Psalms 131–133 (Listen) I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul A Song of Ascents. Of David. 131   O LORD, my heart is not lifted up;    my eyes are not raised too high;  I do not occupy myself with things    too great and too marvelous for me.2   But I have calmed and quieted my soul,    like a weaned child with its mother;    like a weaned child is my soul within me. 3   O Israel, hope in the LORD    from this time forth and forevermore. The Lord Has Chosen Zion A Song of Ascents. 132   Remember, O LORD, in David's favor,    all the hardships he endured,2   how he swore to the LORD    and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,3   “I will not enter my house    or get into my bed,4   I will not give sleep to my eyes    or slumber to my eyelids,5   until I find a place for the LORD,    a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.” 6   Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;    we found it in the fields of Jaar.7   “Let us go to his dwelling place;    let us worship at his footstool!” 8   Arise, O LORD, and go to your resting place,    you and the ark of your might.9   Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,    and let your saints shout for joy.10   For the sake of your servant David,    do not turn away the face of your anointed one. 11   The LORD swore to David a sure oath    from which he will not turn back:  “One of the sons of your body1    I will set on your throne.12   If your sons keep my covenant    and my testimonies that I shall teach them,  their sons also forever    shall sit on your throne.” 13   For the LORD has chosen Zion;    he has desired it for his dwelling place:14   “This is my resting place forever;    here I will dwell, for I have desired it.15   I will abundantly bless her provisions;    I will satisfy her poor with bread.16   Her priests I will clothe with salvation,    and her saints will shout for joy.17   There I will make a horn to sprout for David;    I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.18   His enemies I will clothe with shame,    but on him his crown will shine.” When Brothers Dwell in Unity A Song of Ascents. Of David. 133   Behold, how good and pleasant it is    when brothers dwell in unity!22   It is like the precious oil on the head,    running down on the beard,  on the beard of Aaron,    running down on the collar of his robes!3   It is like the dew of Hermon,    which falls on the mountains of Zion!  For there the LORD has commanded the blessing,    life forevermore. Footnotes [1] 132:11 Hebrew of your fruit of the womb [2] 133:1 Or dwell together (ESV) Second Psalm: Psalms 134–135 Psalms 134–135 (Listen) Come, Bless the Lord A Song of Ascents. 134   Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD,    who stand by night in the house of the LORD!2   Lift up your hands to the holy place    and bless the LORD! 3   May the LORD bless you from Zion,    he who made heaven and earth! Your Name, O Lord, Endures Forever 135   Praise the LORD!  Praise the name of the LORD,    give praise, O servants of the LORD,2   who stand in the house of the LORD,    in the courts of the house of our God!3   Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;    sing to his name, for it is pleasant!14   For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,    Israel as his own possession. 5   For I know that the LORD is great,    and that our Lord is above all gods.6   Whatever the LORD pleases, he does,    in heaven and on earth,    in the seas and all deeps.7   He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,    who makes lightnings for the rain    and brings forth the wind from his storehouses. 8   He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,    both of man and of beast;9   who in your midst, O Egypt,    sent signs and wonders    against Pharaoh and all his servants;10   who struck down many nations    and killed mighty kings,11   Sihon, king of the Amorites,    and Og, king of Bashan,    and all the kingdoms of Canaan,12   and gave their land as a heritage,    a heritage to his people Israel. 13   Your name, O LORD, endures forever,    your renown,2 O LORD, throughout all ages.14   For the LORD will vindicate his people    and have compassion on his servants. 15   The idols of the nations are silver and gold,    the work of human hands.16   They have mouths, but do not speak;    they have eyes, but do not see;17   they have ears, but do not hear,    nor is there any breath in their mouths.18   Those who make them become like them,    so do all who trust in them. 19   O house of Israel, bless the LORD!    O house of Aaron, bless the LORD!20   O house of Levi, bless the LORD!    You who fear the LORD, bless the LORD!21   Blessed be the LORD from Zion,    he who dwells in Jerusalem!  Praise the LORD! Footnotes [1] 135:3 Or for he is beautiful [2] 135:13 Or remembrance (ESV) Old Testament: 1 Samuel 13:5–18 1 Samuel 13:5–18 (Listen) 5 And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, 7 and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. Saul's Unlawful Sacrifice 8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. 11 Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, 12 I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.' So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” 13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince1 over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” 15 And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal2 to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. 16 And Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were present with them stayed in Geba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. 17 And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual; 18 another company turned toward Beth-horon; and another company turned toward the border that looks down on the Valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness. Footnotes [1] 13:14 Or leader [2] 13:15 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks The rest of the people . . . from Gilgal (ESV) New Testament: Acts 8:26–40 Acts 8:26–40 (Listen) Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south1 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. 29 And 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 he 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?”2 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. Footnotes [1] 8:26 Or go at about noon [2] 8:36 Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (ESV) Gospel: Luke 23:13–25 Luke 23:13–25 (Listen) 13 Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. 15 Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. 16 I will therefore punish and release him.”1 Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified 18 But they all cried out together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”—19 a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder. 20 Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, 21 but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” 22 A third time he said to them, “Why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.” 23 But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. 24 So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will. Footnotes [1] 23:16 Here, or after verse 19, some manuscripts add verse 17: Now he was obliged to release one man to them at the festival (ESV)

Readings for Thursday, July 1, 2021 “Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.” -- Psalm 116:2 Morning Psalm 143 1 Hear my prayer, O Lord ; give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness; answer me in your righteousness. 2 Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you. 3 For the enemy has pursued me, crushing my life to the ground, making me sit in darkness like those long dead. 4 Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled. 5 I remember the days of old, I think about all your deeds, I meditate on the works of your hands. 6 I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. 7 Answer me quickly, O Lord ; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me, or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit. 8 Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust. Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. 9 Save me, O Lord, from my enemies; I have fled to you for refuge. 10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path. 11 For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life. In your righteousness bring me out of trouble. 12 In your steadfast love cut off my enemies, and destroy all my adversaries, for I am your servant. Psalm 147:12-20 12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! 13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you. 14 He grants peace within your borders; he fills you with the finest of wheat. 15 He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. 16 He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. 17 He hurls down hail like crumbs— who can stand before his cold? 18 He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow. 19 He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel. 20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances. Praise the Lord ! Midday 1 Samuel 13:5-18 5 The Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude; they came up and encamped at Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. 6 When the Israelites saw that they were in distress (for the troops were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns. 7 Some Hebrews crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. 8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people began to slip away from Saul. 9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the offerings of well-being.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived; and Saul went out to meet him and salute him. 11 Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul replied, “When I saw that the people were slipping away from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines were mustering at Michmash, 12 I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down upon me at Gilgal, and I have not entreated the favor of the Lord ‘; so I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” 13 Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which he commanded you. The Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever, 14 but now your kingdom will not continue; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart; and the Lord has appointed him to be ruler over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” 15 And Samuel left and went on his way from Gilgal. The rest of the people followed Saul to join the army; they went up from Gilgal toward Gibeah of Benjamin. Saul counted the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. 16 Saul, his son Jonathan, and the people who were present with them stayed in Geba of Benjamin; but the Philistines encamped at Michmash. 17 And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies; one company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual, 18 another company turned toward Beth-horon, and another company turned toward the mountain that looks down upon the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness. Acts 8:26-40 26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) 27 So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside 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 silent before its shearer, so he does not open 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 The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” 38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. Luke 23:13-25 13 Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and here I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges against him. 15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Indeed, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16 I will therefore have him flogged and release him.” 18 Then they all shouted out together, “Away with this fellow! Release Barabbas for us!” 19 (This was a man who had been put in prison for an insurrection that had taken place in the city, and for murder.) 20 Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again; 21 but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” 22 A third time he said to them, “Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death; I will therefore have him flogged and then release him.” 23 But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified; and their voices prevailed. 24 So Pilate gave his verdict that their demand should be granted. 25 He released the man they asked for, the one who had been put in prison for insurrection and murder, and he handed Jesus over as they wished. Evening Psalm 81 1 Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob. 2 Raise a song, sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. 3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our festal day. 4 For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. 5 He made it a decree in Joseph, when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a voice I had not known: 6 “I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket. 7 In distress you called, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. 8 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you; O Israel, if you would but listen to me! 9 There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. 10 I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. 11 “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. 12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. 13 O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! 14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their foes. 15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their doom would last forever. 16 I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” Psalm 116 1 I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications. 2 Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. 3 The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. 4 Then I called on the name of the Lord : “O Lord, I pray, save my life!” 5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful. 6 The Lord protects the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me. 7 Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. 8 For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. 9 I walk before the Lord in the land of the living. 10 I kept my faith, even when I said, “I am greatly afflicted”; 11 I said in my consternation, “Everyone is a liar.” 12 What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me? 13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord, 14 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. 15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones. 16 O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds. 17 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord . 18 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, 19 in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord ! You can also find all of today's readings at PCUSA.org. The Daily Lectionary podcast is a ministry of First Presbyterian Church of Plattsburgh, NY, read by Pastor Timothy J. Luoma.

Morning: Job 13–15 Job 13–15 (Listen) Job Continues: Still I Will Hope in God 13   “Behold, my eye has seen all this,    my ear has heard and understood it.2   What you know, I also know;    I am not inferior to you.3   But I would speak to the Almighty,    and I desire to argue my case with God.4   As for you, you whitewash with lies;    worthless physicians are you all.5   Oh that you would keep silent,    and it would be your wisdom!6   Hear now my argument    and listen to the pleadings of my lips.7   Will you speak falsely for God    and speak deceitfully for him?8   Will you show partiality toward him?    Will you plead the case for God?9   Will it be well with you when he searches you out?    Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?10   He will surely rebuke you    if in secret you show partiality.11   Will not his majesty terrify you,    and the dread of him fall upon you?12   Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;    your defenses are defenses of clay. 13   “Let me have silence, and I will speak,    and let come on me what may.14   Why should I take my flesh in my teeth    and put my life in my hand?15   Though he slay me, I will hope in him;1    yet I will argue my ways to his face.16   This will be my salvation,    that the godless shall not come before him.17   Keep listening to my words,    and let my declaration be in your ears.18   Behold, I have prepared my case;    I know that I shall be in the right.19   Who is there who will contend with me?    For then I would be silent and die.20   Only grant me two things,    then I will not hide myself from your face:21   withdraw your hand far from me,    and let not dread of you terrify me.22   Then call, and I will answer;    or let me speak, and you reply to me.23   How many are my iniquities and my sins?    Make me know my transgression and my sin.24   Why do you hide your face    and count me as your enemy?25   Will you frighten a driven leaf    and pursue dry chaff?26   For you write bitter things against me    and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.27   You put my feet in the stocks    and watch all my paths;    you set a limit for2 the soles of my feet.28   Man3 wastes away like a rotten thing,    like a garment that is moth-eaten. Job Continues: Death Comes Soon to All 14   “Man who is born of a woman    is few of days and full of trouble.2   He comes out like a flower and withers;    he flees like a shadow and continues not.3   And do you open your eyes on such a one    and bring me into judgment with you?4   Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?    There is not one.5   Since his days are determined,    and the number of his months is with you,    and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,6   look away from him and leave him alone,4    that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day. 7   “For there is hope for a tree,    if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,    and that its shoots will not cease.8   Though its root grow old in the earth,    and its stump die in the soil,9   yet at the scent of water it will bud    and put out branches like a young plant.10   But a man dies and is laid low;    man breathes his last, and where is he?11   As waters fail from a lake    and a river wastes away and dries up,12   so a man lies down and rises not again;    till the heavens are no more he will not awake    or be roused out of his sleep.13   Oh that you would hide me in Sheol,    that you would conceal me until your wrath be past,    that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!14   If a man dies, shall he live again?    All the days of my service I would wait,    till my renewal5 should come.15   You would call, and I would answer you;    you would long for the work of your hands.16   For then you would number my steps;    you would not keep watch over my sin;17   my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,    and you would cover over my iniquity. 18   “But the mountain falls and crumbles away,    and the rock is removed from its place;19   the waters wear away the stones;    the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;    so you destroy the hope of man.20   You prevail forever against him, and he passes;    you change his countenance, and send him away.21   His sons come to honor, and he does not know it;    they are brought low, and he perceives it not.22   He feels only the pain of his own body,    and he mourns only for himself.” Eliphaz Accuses: Job Does Not Fear God 15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: 2   “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge,    and fill his belly with the east wind?3   Should he argue in unprofitable talk,    or in words with which he can do no good?4   But you are doing away with the fear of God6    and hindering meditation before God.5   For your iniquity teaches your mouth,    and you choose the tongue of the crafty.6   Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;    your own lips testify against you. 7   “Are you the first man who was born?    Or were you brought forth before the hills?8   Have you listened in the council of God?    And do you limit wisdom to yourself?9   What do you know that we do not know?    What do you understand that is not clear to us?10   Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,    older than your father.11   Are the comforts of God too small for you,    or the word that deals gently with you?12   Why does your heart carry you away,    and why do your eyes flash,13   that you turn your spirit against God    and bring such words out of your mouth?14   What is man, that he can be pure?    Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous?15   Behold, God7 puts no trust in his holy ones,    and the heavens are not pure in his sight;16   how much less one who is abominable and corrupt,    a man who drinks injustice like water! 17   “I will show you; hear me,    and what I have seen I will declare18   (what wise men have told,    without hiding it from their fathers,19   to whom alone the land was given,    and no stranger passed among them).20   The wicked man writhes in pain all his days,    through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.21   Dreadful sounds are in his ears;    in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.22   He does not believe that he will return out of darkness,    and he is marked for the sword.23   He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?'    He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;24   distress and anguish terrify him;    they prevail against him, like a king ready for battle.25   Because he has stretched out his hand against God    and defies the Almighty,26   running stubbornly against him    with a thickly bossed shield;27   because he has covered his face with his fat    and gathered fat upon his waist28   and has lived in desolate cities,    in houses that none should inhabit,    which were ready to become heaps of ruins;29   he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure,    nor will his possessions spread over the earth;830   he will not depart from darkness;    the flame will dry up his shoots,    and by the breath of his mouth he will depart.31   Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself,    for emptiness will be his payment.32   It will be paid in full before his time,    and his branch will not be green.33   He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine,    and cast off his blossom like the olive tree.34   For the company of the godless is barren,    and fire consumes the tents of bribery.35   They conceive trouble and give birth to evil,    and their womb prepares deceit.” Footnotes [1] 13:15 Or Behold, he will slay me; I have no hope [2] 13:27 Or you marked [3] 13:28 Hebrew He [4] 14:6 Probable reading; Hebrew look away from him, that he may cease [5] 14:14 Or relief [6] 15:4 Hebrew lacks of God [7] 15:15 Hebrew he [8] 15:29 Or nor will his produce bend down to the earth (ESV) Evening: Acts 8:26–40 Acts 8:26–40 (Listen) Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south1 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. 29 And 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 he 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?”2 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. Footnotes [1] 8:26 Or go at about noon [2] 8:36 Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (ESV)

Hello and welcome again to Lechem Panim. We are continuing our study today of Acts chapter 8, looking at verses 26-40 today, which of course is the story of Philip's sharing the Good News of the Gospel with an Ethiopian Eunuch, who comes to faith in Jesus Christ. An Example of Genuine Faith— Now you'll remember that a couple of weeks ago we talked about the sorcerer Simon and the false nature of his faith. He became a part of Christianity for selfish personal gain rather than to be used by the Holy Spirit of God to join with God in his mission of reaching the world. However, in our passage today we are given an example of true, genuine saving faith; a faith that is demonstrated by three very important elements; the proper preparation (as the Eunuch was seeking truth in the Word of God, the proper presentation (as Philip came alongside of the Ethiopian to explain the Gospel message to him), and the proper response, which is seen in the Ethiopian being baptized and truly repenting. Witnessing Not Overwhelming— Now I don't know how you feel about witnessing. I think we all agree that it has to be done. But often we have qualms about who is supposed to do it. It can be uncomfortable. But that is because we complicate it too much; or we place to much of the burden on ourselves rather than God. We think that if we slip up then we'll push people farther away. But that view completely takes God out of the equation. It is humanistic because in thinking that way we are assuming it is us doing the work; but it's not. You are just called to play a part in God's work. And that doesn't have to be a complete sharing of the Gospel. Sometimes it can be (like it was with Philip in our passage today) coming alongside of a person and answering some questions; working with them through an issue they might be facing and offering them the hope that you have found if you feel God leading you to. I think that we get overwhelmed by thinking witnessing means you have to give a full presentation of the Gospel and be able to (afterwards) convince them of their sin and to accept Christ. But most of the time that's a multi-person job. Don't worry about the big picture of whether or not they come to Christ; because that's in God's hands. Just focus on the opportunities God is leading you into. You may be the planter; you may be the waterer; and only occasionally the harvester; and that's okay. Just be content with the part God has called you to play. That's how it was with Phillip. Moved Into Ministry— Now Philip had the unexpected joy of causing something big to happen merely because he was willing to obey an immediate call from God to come alongside a stranger. Now keep in mind this is not Philip the Apostle, but Phillip the Evangelist, one of seven men chosen to help distribute food to the Greek-speaking Jewish widows who had been overlooked in the daily distribution (probably because of a language barrier); because the Jews in Palestine spoke mainly Aramaic. So Philip was originally called to serve the Lord by waiting on tables so that the apostles could devote themselves more fully to prayer and to the ministry of the word. But then something happened nobody expected. Stephen, who had proclaimed the Gospel of Christ to the Sanhedrin, was stoned and killed. And on that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. (Acts 8:1) But, like we said before, this scattering only served to strengthen and grow the Church rather than weaken it. Ministering in Samaria— Now Philip (who was a Hellenist; a Greek-speaking Jew; and therefore one of the primary targets of this great persecution) goes to Samaria and actually becomes a mighty preacher of the Word. And God moved through him in incredible ways. He becomes the first ever Christian missionary to non-Jews; to these half-breed Samaritans, as they were called. He performed miraculous signs, he cast out demons, he healed paralytics and cripples. And the people of Samaria listened to him and rejoiced at what God was doing through him. But then God kind of shifts gears on him by calling him to an unexpected place. It says in… Acts 8:26 (ESV)— 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.” Now what kind of place is this? Luke tells us: This is a desert place. So from great revival in Samaria to a desert place. But it says… Acts 8:27-28 (ESV)— 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. Eunuch— Now the word “eunuch” […can refer to one who had been emasculated or generally, to a government official. It is likely he was both since Luke refers to him as a eunuch and as one who held a position of authority in the queen's court—that of treasurer, much like a Minister of Finance or Secretary of the Treasury. {But listen to this; because this is very important} As a physical eunuch, he would have been denied access to the temple (Deut. 23:1) and the opportunity to become a full proselyte to Judaism.] And maybe just as bad (at least in the mind of a Jew) is the fact that he will not have any descendants to carry on his name and his heritage. Hope for A Better Heritage— And in ancient culture your value was very much dependent on the heritage you left. Well here is a guy who probably physically cannot have children because he has (because of his job) been made a eunuch. And yet [Isaiah held out the promise that God would grant devout eunuchs a heritage “better than sons and daughters” (Isa. 56:3–5).] Well, what is that heritage? Salvation in Jesus Christ. So as he's drawing near that chapter in Isaiah, here comes Philip to share the message of Christ with him so that he can be part of that heritage. How AWESOME is that! Now the way the Holy Spirit timed this encounter is simply amazing, which we will see more in a minute. But it says… Acts 8:29-34 (ESV)— 29 And 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 he 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?” A Sheep Before It's Shearers— And we know that this passage from Isaiah is actually a prophecy of Jesus, who was silent before Pilate and those who were persecuting Him. And so here Philip has been given a golden opportunity to share Christ with him. And of course he does. It says… Acts 8:35-36a (ESV)— 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, Now just think… [Philip and the eunuch arrive at a rare watering place in the desert precisely when the eunuch requested baptism.] Once again the Holy Spirit is leading in a very clear and amazing way. Acts 8:36b-40 (ESV)— and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 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 [much like Elijah was (2 Kings 2:11).], 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. From Seed to Great Harvest— Now Philip probably didn't know this, but Church tradition tells us that this Ethiopian eunuch also became a preacher of the Gospel and that in fact that place where Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch (in Gaza) [marks the start of the Ethiopian Church], of which one branch today, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has a membership of 36 million. You see, God can use our obedience to witness to bring about great change in people's lives. A "sign" to start witnessing?— [Norman Cates shared the humorous story of a guy who prayed this prayer every morning: "Lord, if you want me to witness to someone today, please give me a sign to show me who it is." One day he found himself on a bus when a big, burly man sat next to him. The bus was nearly empty but this guy sat next to our praying friend. The timid Christian anxiously waited for his stop so he could exit the bus. But before he could get very nervous about the man next to him, the big guy burst into tears and began to weep. He then cried out with a loud voice, "I need to be saved. I'm a lost sinner and I need the Lord. Won't somebody tell me how to be saved?" He turned to the Christian and pleaded, "Can you show me how to be saved?" The believer immediately bowed his head and prayed, "Lord, is this a sign?" Are you looking for a "sign" to start witnessing?] God Waiting For Us— The fact is there are people all around us who are (like the Ethiopian) waiting for us to connect the dots for them; to make the scripture connect with them so that they might find Jesus Christ. God is simply waiting on us to be willing to be His hands, His feet, and His voice in those moments that He opens for us to share. And the question is, are we going to be faithful? If we are, God can also use us in amazing ways. And so let's commit to God today to come alongside people and help them to encounter Jesus. Amen.

In today's episode we jumped right into Acts Chapter 8 My verse of the day: 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?” Acts 8:30-31 What are your thoughts? The story of the Bible is that our fellowship with God, which was lost in the beginning, is being restored through the ministry of Christ and as Christians we believe that we can get to know the one true and living God through the pages of His Word. Don't forget to drop me a message if you need prayer, advice or have a question x NEW INSTA: https://www.instagram.com/whyyynotpodcast/ Email: whyyynotpodcast@gmail.com TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@connerjc?lang=en

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world’s largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Philip was working with a health care organization, and discovered that they had not yet had help from other agile coaches. As he started working with teams, he discovered that one of the people who brought him in, was not all that positive on the change Philip had been hired to do.  This created confusion, and conflict. So Philip started working on how to align teams quickly and developed a “rapid alignment framework” using techniques like Inception from the book The Agile Samurai by Rasmusson.  In this episode, we also discuss Story Mapping and the Scrum Master playbook by Philip.  About Philip Rogers Phil, is a father of four children and volunteer paleontologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. He is also an "agile whisperer" (coach) who has worked with scores of teams in the spirit of continuous learning, continuous improvement, and simply finding creative ways to collaborate and have fun in the workplace. You can link with Philip Rogers on LinkedIn and connect with Philip Rogers on Twitter.

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 17 1 Samuel 17 (Listen) David and Goliath 17 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. 3 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six1 cubits2 and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels3 of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him. 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. 12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.4 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening. 17 And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah5 of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18 Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.” 19 Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. 24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. 25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel.” 26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 27 And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.” 28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before. 31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!” 38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. 41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.” 48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52 And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath6 and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. 53 And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent. 55 As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56 And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” 57 And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.” Footnotes [1] 17:4 Hebrew; Septuagint, Dead Sea Scroll and Josephus four [2] 17:4 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [3] 17:5 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams [4] 17:12 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew advanced among men [5] 17:17 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters [6] 17:52 Septuagint; Hebrew Gai (ESV) New Testament: Acts 8 Acts 8 (Listen) Saul Ravages the Church 8 And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city1 of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city. Simon the Magician Believes 9 But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles2 performed, he was amazed. 14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall3 of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” 25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south4 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. 29 And 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 he 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. Footnotes [1] 8:5 Some manuscripts a city [2] 8:13 Greek works of power [3] 8:23 That is, a bitter fluid secreted by the liver; bile [4] 8:26 Or go at about noon [5] 8:36 Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 119:49–56 Psalm 119:49–56 (Listen) Zayin 49   Remember your word to your servant,    in which you have made me hope.50   This is my comfort in my affliction,    that your promise gives me life.51   The insolent utterly deride me,    but I do not turn away from your law.52   When I think of your rules from of old,    I take comfort, O LORD.53   Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked,    who forsake your law.54   Your statutes have been my songs    in the house of my sojourning.55   I remember your name in the night, O LORD,    and keep your law.56   This blessing has fallen to me,    that I have kept your precepts. (ESV) Proverb: Proverbs 15:33 Proverbs 15:33 (Listen) 33   The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom,    and humility comes before honor. (ESV)

Revelation 5:9-10,NKJV-  They sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us KINGS and PRIESTS to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.” Isaiah 48:17,NKJV- Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.” This phrase kings and priests in its simplest form is a reminder that God’s original design was and is for the church and business, education, and government to function as one. According to Isaiah, God will lead us in success, but we’ve got to do it His way. The church inspiring businesses, and God using them to supply the church. Kings and priests, priests and kings. The Holy Spirit anointing men and women as kings in their field of business, education, and government. Some of the more modern translations of Revelation 5 call us “priest-kings” or a kingdom of priest. Ultimately, as with any subject pertaining to the Kingdom of God, our true source has been and always will be God’s word. Ultimately, everything about this talk is driven by and centered around  the Kingdom of God. So for true clarity on the revelation of Kings and Priests, our OT pictures of God’s original design is what we have to rely on for us to translate this truth into our culture today. And as we become successful in following the Lord, what He spoke through Isaiah starts coming to pass; Isaiah 11:9, “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” So as we unpack this, the first and consistent truth we see is that in every account that kings and priests worked together, they were a successful, blessed nation. OT Kings- ruled over God’s people, led them into battle. They were land and business owners. They oversaw all trade and commerce, and managed the nations economy. They were the government of the day. OT Priests-Levites, offered prayers, intercession and sacrifice for the people. Took care of all temple duties, all liturgical functions, widows and andorphans. They pronounced God’s blessing on the king and the people. Even for told God’s upcoming plans for the king. Amos 3:5,NKJV-"Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” On every occasion, when kings knew their role of secular, civil, and governmental affairs, and they relied on the spiritual guidance of the priest, all they did was blessed. 2 Chronicles 15:1-4,NLKV-"Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law; but when in their trouble they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them.” God’s plan is and always has been that all spiritual and civil structure of any society be led by Him, to function under His ordained positions of the king and the priest. Example: church and business, government, education, working hand in hand. Now when I use the term church, I’m in no way referring to any one denomination or organization,  I’m referring to the spiritual reality of the body of Christ in the earth functioning through those He has called. Priests and Kings working together. And moving into the NT, God ordains the apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor to bring forth revelation for His people. Acts 8:29-31,NKJV- Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.” One of our primary focuses today is to interpret this kings and priests revelation in light of Jesus’ New Covenant. His design has always been for the church to be at the center of all civil, social, and governmental affairs. And I realize that in light of the born again nature of every believer, revelation from the Holy Spirit does flow to anyone born again. But God implemented the Kings and Priests principle as a kingdom partnership, a covenant alignment for the advancement of His Kingdom.  And He highlights this truth for us in the book of Revelation, reminding us that His OT principle was never supposed to go anywhere. Example: If the majority of the kings (leaders, owners, teachers) time and energy go to their duties, God anoints priests to give the king inspired guidance. As a matter of fact, every OT Godly king relied on the anointed guidance of the the priest. “It’s not good that we should leave the word of God to go a serve the people.” 2 Chronicles 20:14-17,NKJV-  Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the LORD is with you.” Our OT is full of example of kings and priests working together for the advancement of God’s Kingdom. Unfortunately, there’s also many examples of those refusing to work together. Make no mistake, our enemy will be relentless at creating division, strife, jealousy, resentment... he knows a house divided will not stand. For example, our nation, a nation founded on Godly principles is no exception. God never intended for there to ever be any form of separation of church and state. (The king and the priest) As a matter of fact, the popular phrase “separation of church and state” is not in any of our government documents, specifically the constitution. President Harry Truman, “This great country of ours demonstrates the fundamental unity of Christianity and democracy.”  But because we have allowed division between the kings and priests, the enemy has gotten his foot in the door. And it’s time for that to change. The prophet Ezekiel actually says, “This land that has become  desolate (bleak, dismal, wild, and grim) is now like the garden of Eden.” Remember all of our biblical examples, every time God’s people returned to Him, God began to move. When kings knew their role of secular, civil, and governmental, and they relied on the spiritual guidance of the priest, all they did was blessed. My prayer is that all of us believe God for insight and revelation from this talk. For us to have a better understand of the divine partnership of kings and priests. This means we’ve got to have a better working knowledge of the Kingdom of God. Jesus never intended for the gospel of the kingdom to be limited to just missing hell and making heaven. One of the main reasons Jesus is called the last Adam is because He came to restore the first Adam’s dominion. Genesis 1:26,NKJV- Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” And the closer we follow Jesus, it’s amazing how much He actually talks about the kingdom. The Kingdom of Heaven, God’s government is His ordained system, He’s expecting to be implemented by His governing body, the church in the earth. This is every born again believer. I truly believe the two most important decisions anyone can make in their life is first, giving their life to Jesus. And second, discovering why He called you. This is why Jesus makes radical statements like He did in Matthew 6:33,AMP- “But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.” According to the apostle Paul, we literally are ambassadors for this kingdom we’ve been born into. Remember what God told Adam, “subdue the earth and have dominion over it.” But when the influence of God is removed form the social and civil functions of our culture, people are left to their own conclusions. Proverbs tells us, where there is no divine revelation from the Almighty, people make their own decisions. Proverbs 14:12,NKJV-  “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” I honestly believe that this OT model of Kings and Priests is exactly the answer our world needs before Jesus comes back for His glorious bride. “Father your will be done on the earth as it is in heaven.” Isaiah 48:17,NKJV- Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.” Revelation 5:9-10,NKJV-  They sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us KINGS and PRIESTS to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.”

Acts 8:26-40 - Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south[d] 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. 29 And 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 he 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?” 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. Not A Needy Person is now LIVE - Submit needs or meet the needs of others  https://NotANeedyPerson.org  Join me for "Scripture Sketches" - weekly video teaching on my YouTube channel - SUBSCRIBE SO YOU DON'T MISS ANY OF THESE STUDIES:  https://careygreen.com/youtube  SUBMIT YOUR PRAYER REQUEST OR PRAISE:  https://careygreen.com/prayer  BECOME A MORNING MINDSET PARTNER: 1) monthly partner: https://mm-partners.supercast.tech/ 2) Give a one-time gift: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/yourmorningmindset

View the Bulletin for Sunday, May 2, 2021Service Times: 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.In-person Bible Study: 9:15 a.m.In-person Sunday School: 9:20 a.m.All are welcome.Visit our YouTube channel — Click the red “subscribe” box, and then click on the “bell” next to that box to receive Live Streaming notifications. You must be logged into YouTube to activate these features.First Reading – Acts 8:26–40An 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. 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 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him readingIsaiah the prophet and asked, “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. 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. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.”And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 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?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 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. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.Epistle Reading – 1 John 4:1-11Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the fifteenth chapter.[Jesus said:] “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

Fifth Sunday of Easter Theme: Grafted in his risen life to bear the fruit of love Collect: God of love, you sent your Son into the world, that we may abide in him: graft us into his risen life, that we may bear the fruit of love for you and one another, through Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Reading: Acts 8: 26-40 26 An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get ready and go south to the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27-28 So Philip got ready and went. Now an Ethiopian eunuch, who was an important official in charge of the treasury of the queen of Ethiopia, was on his way home. He had been to Jerusalem to worship God and was going back home in his carriage. As he rode along, he was reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. 29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that carriage and stay close to it.” 30 Philip ran over and heard him reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. He asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?” Gospel: John 15: 1-8 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. PRAY together AT THE TIME OF COVID-19 Author of life Saviour of the nations COVID is humbling, your grace is sufficient. The deaths, we mourn; For the recoveries, we give thanks; The compassionate care, we applaud; For the vaccines, we are grateful; For compliance, we plead; For the common good, we pray; In the healing name of Jesus. Amen © Rodney Whiteman – 29/04/2021. COMMISSION & BLESSING Like Phillip, open your lives to the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit; As the Psalmist, proclaim God's deliverance to those yet unborn; Heed to the command of Jesus, to love one another, because love comes from God; And the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among us, and remain with us always. Amen Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. alleluia, alleluia. In the name of Christ. Amen. alleluia, alleluia.

Today, Steve and Jackie Deur read and reflect on Acts 8:26-40. For the full VP Bible Reading Plan, head to https://victorypoint.org/resources/acts. For more on the context of today's passage go to https://thebibleproject.com/explore/scripture-book. To find out more about VictoryPoint Church go to victorypoint.org. If you have comments on this episode or podcast send us an email at info@victorypoint.org. And be sure to subscribe to this podcast! Here's the full text from today's scripture: 8:26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a wilderness road.) 8:27 So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 8:28 and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 8:29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it." 8:30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" 8:31 He replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 8:32 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 silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. 8:33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth." 8:34 The eunuch asked Philip, "About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" 8:35 Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 8:36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?" 8:38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 8:39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 8:40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/biblereadingplanvp/message

Old Testament: Deuteronomy 7–8 Deuteronomy 7–8 (Listen) A Chosen People 7 “When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, 2 and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction.1 You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. 3 You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. 5 But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire. 6 “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 10 and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. 11 You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today. 12 “And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. 13 He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock. 15 And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. 16 And you shall consume all the peoples that the LORD your God will give over to you. Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you. 17 “If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?’ 18 you shall not be afraid of them but you shall remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, 19 the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So will the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20 Moreover, the LORD your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you are destroyed. 21 You shall not be in dread of them, for the LORD your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God. 22 The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not make an end of them at once,2 lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you. 23 But the LORD your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed. 24 And he will give their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under heaven. No one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. 25 The carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. 26 And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction3 like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction. Remember the Lord Your God 8 “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word4 that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. 6 So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 “Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, 12 lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15 who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. 17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God. Footnotes [1] 7:2 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction) [2] 7:22 Or quickly [3] 7:26 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); twice in this verse [4] 8:3 Hebrew by all (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 85 Psalm 85 (Listen) Revive Us Again To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. 85   LORD, you were favorable to your land;    you restored the fortunes of Jacob.2   You forgave the iniquity of your people;    you covered all their sin. Selah3   You withdrew all your wrath;    you turned from your hot anger. 4   Restore us again, O God of our salvation,    and put away your indignation toward us!5   Will you be angry with us forever?    Will you prolong your anger to all generations?6   Will you not revive us again,    that your people may rejoice in you?7   Show us your steadfast love, O LORD,    and grant us your salvation. 8   Let me hear what God the LORD will speak,    for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;    but let them not turn back to folly.9   Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,    that glory may dwell in our land. 10   Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;    righteousness and peace kiss each other.11   Faithfulness springs up from the ground,    and righteousness looks down from the sky.12   Yes, the LORD will give what is good,    and our land will yield its increase.13   Righteousness will go before him    and make his footsteps a way. (ESV) New Testament: Acts 8 Acts 8 (Listen) Saul Ravages the Church 8 And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city1 of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city. Simon the Magician Believes 9 But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles2 performed, he was amazed. 14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall3 of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” 25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south4 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. 29 And 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 he 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. Footnotes [1] 8:5 Some manuscripts a city [2] 8:13 Greek works of power [3] 8:23 That is, a bitter fluid secreted by the liver; bile [4] 8:26 Or go at about noon [5] 8:36 Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (ESV)

Psalms and Wisdom: Psalm 40 Psalm 40 (Listen) My Help and My Deliverer To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. 40   I waited patiently for the LORD;    he inclined to me and heard my cry.2   He drew me up from the pit of destruction,    out of the miry bog,  and set my feet upon a rock,    making my steps secure.3   He put a new song in my mouth,    a song of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear,    and put their trust in the LORD. 4   Blessed is the man who makes    the LORD his trust,  who does not turn to the proud,    to those who go astray after a lie!5   You have multiplied, O LORD my God,    your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;    none can compare with you!  I will proclaim and tell of them,    yet they are more than can be told. 6   In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,    but you have given me an open ear.1  Burnt offering and sin offering    you have not required.7   Then I said, “Behold, I have come;    in the scroll of the book it is written of me:8   I delight to do your will, O my God;    your law is within my heart.” 9   I have told the glad news of deliverance2    in the great congregation;  behold, I have not restrained my lips,    as you know, O LORD.10   I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;    I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;  I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness    from the great congregation. 11   As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain    your mercy from me;  your steadfast love and your faithfulness will    ever preserve me!12   For evils have encompassed me    beyond number;  my iniquities have overtaken me,    and I cannot see;  they are more than the hairs of my head;    my heart fails me. 13   Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me!    O LORD, make haste to help me!14   Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether    who seek to snatch away my life;  let those be turned back and brought to dishonor    who delight in my hurt!15   Let those be appalled because of their shame    who say to me, “Aha, Aha!” 16   But may all who seek you    rejoice and be glad in you;  may those who love your salvation    say continually, “Great is the LORD!”17   As for me, I am poor and needy,    but the Lord takes thought for me.  You are my help and my deliverer;    do not delay, O my God! Footnotes [1] 40:6 Hebrew ears you have dug for me [2] 40:9 Hebrew righteousness; also verse 10 (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Genesis 37 Genesis 37 (Listen) Joseph’s Dreams 37 Jacob lived in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors.1 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him. 5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” 11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind. Joseph Sold by His Brothers 12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” 14 So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” 16 “I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” 17 And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. 18 They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits.2 Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” 21 But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” 22 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. 24 And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. 25 Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels3 of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt. 29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes 30 and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?” 31 Then they took Joseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” 33 And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” 34 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. 36 Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard. Footnotes [1] 37:3 See Septuagint, Vulgate; or (with Syriac) a robe with long sleeves. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain; also verses 23, 32 [2] 37:20 Or cisterns; also verses 22, 24 [3] 37:28 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: 2 Chronicles 14 2 Chronicles 14 (Listen) Asa Reigns in Judah 14 Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. 2 1 And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God. 3 He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim 4 and commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. 5 He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. 6 He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the LORD gave him peace. 7 And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the LORD our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. 8 And Asa had an army of 300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor. 9 Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. 10 And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 And Asa cried to the LORD his God, “O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” 12 So the LORD defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 13 Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the LORD and his army. The men of Judah2 carried away very much spoil. 14 And they attacked all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the LORD was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. 15 And they struck down the tents of those who had livestock and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem. Footnotes [1] 14:2 Ch 14:1 in Hebrew [2] 14:13 Hebrew They (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Acts 8 Acts 8 (Listen) Saul Ravages the Church 8 And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city1 of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city. Simon the Magician Believes 9 But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles2 performed, he was amazed. 14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall3 of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” 25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south4 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. 29 And 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 he 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. Footnotes [1] 8:5 Some manuscripts a city [2] 8:13 Greek works of power [3] 8:23 That is, a bitter fluid secreted by the liver; bile [4] 8:26 Or go at about noon [5] 8:36 Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (ESV)

  Ps Shane Willard shares a powerful message encouraging our church to not put fences up, but to share from wells.     Acts 8:26-40 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. 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 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.   And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “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. 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. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.”   And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”   Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 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?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.   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.   Observations and Questions   1. Is there too much information in the passage? 2. Why is he choosing to worship in Jerusalem? 3. Why the scroll of Isaiah? 4. How does the good news apply to an Ethiopian who is missing his anatomy? 5. Is there any reason why I can’t be baptized? 6. Are we a fence-based or well-based church?   Deuteronomy 23:1 No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the LORD. No one born of a forbidden marriage nor any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, not even in the tenth generation.  No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, not even in the tenth generation.   Isaiah 56: 3-8 Let no foreigner who is bound to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely exclude me from his people.” And let no eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.” For this is what the LORD says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant — to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters;   I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever. And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant— these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer.   Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. ”   The Sovereign LORD declares— he who gathers the exiles of Israel: “I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.”      Characters   1. Ethiopian Eunuch: A “God Fearer”, would have been disqualified, willing to walk days to find the truth.   2. Philip: One of the original 12, from a devoutly orthodox village called Bethsaida, would have lived by 613 fences…..then he met Jesus.   Fruit   1. 65 Percent of Ethiopia identifies as Christian. 2. Ethiopian Christians are indigenous. 3. The Ethiopian Church today traces their origins back to this eunuch. 4.  An entire book about being surprised by how generous God is with people who are thirsty?...... Uncircumcised Gentiles being filled with the Spirit, normal people being used by God, Ethiopian eunuchs, etc…   Application   1. Jesus doesn’t ask ”are you worthy?” …..Jesus asks ”are you thirsty?” 2. Sinning less vs loving more 3. Everything needs to be fixed vs. nothing needs to be hidden   Lack of Thirst   1. Lack of thirst equals lack of teachability. 2. Lack of thirst equals a lack of humility 3. Lack of thirst equals lack of responsibility. 4. Lack of thirst equals ambivalence.  Now that I am in….how I live doesn’t matter   The overuse of fences is not necessary if there is a well stocked well.   There was 613 fences in the Old Testament.  Jesus had 2 fence posts. Acts 15 has 4…food sacrificed to idols, blood, meat of strangled animals, sexual immorality.   Are we gravitating to the center regardless of fencing?   Are we more focused on direction instead of distance?   Fences matter less when we are focused on moving towards the center.    In old communities, the whole village centered around the well.   What if we build wells instead of fences?   Wells and thirst represent: life, provision, prosperity, and abundance.   Jesus was a fence destroyer and well inviter.   Philip ignores all the fences and just keeps talking about the well.   We don’t need any fence that doesn’t lead to the well.    If fences make it more difficult to get to the well, they miss the point.     John 7:37-39 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”   Questions   1. When is the last time I saw God do something that made me uncomfortable? 2. Have I honored right/wrong, in/out/, clean/unclean over a hungry/thirsty paradigm? 3. Am I blaming? 4. Am I teachable? 5. Am I flexible?  If God saw fit to fill them with the Holy Spirit, who am I to argue? 6. Are we building deeper wells or higher fences?

With family: Genesis 8; Matthew 8 Genesis 8 (Listen) The Flood Subsides 8 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, 3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, 4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen. 6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made 7 and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. 10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11 And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. 12 Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore. 13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. 15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark. God’s Covenant with Noah 20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse1 the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” Footnotes [1] 8:21 Or dishonor (ESV) Matthew 8 (Listen) Jesus Cleanses a Leper 8 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And behold, a leper1 came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3 And Jesus2 stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” The Faith of a Centurion 5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant,3 ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel4 have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment. Jesus Heals Many 14 And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” The Cost of Following Jesus 18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.” Jesus Calms a Storm 23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” Jesus Heals Two Men with Demons 28 And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes,5 two demon-possessed6 men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29 And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” 30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. 31 And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” 32 And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. 33 The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region. Footnotes [1] 8:2 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 [2] 8:3 Greek he [3] 8:9 Or bondservant [4] 8:10 Some manuscripts not even in Israel [5] 8:28 Some manuscripts Gergesenes; some Gerasenes [6] 8:28 Greek daimonizomai (demonized); also verse 33; elsewhere rendered oppressed by demons (ESV) In private: Ezra 8; Acts 8 Ezra 8 (Listen) Genealogy of Those Who Returned with Ezra 8 These are the heads of their fathers’ houses, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king: 2 Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush. 3 Of the sons of Shecaniah, who was of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, with whom were registered 150 men. 4 Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men. 5 Of the sons of Zattu,1 Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men. 6 Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men. 7 Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men. 8 Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him 80 men. 9 Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men. 10 Of the sons of Bani,2 Shelomith the son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men. 11 Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, the son of Bebai, and with him 28 men. 12 Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men. 13 Of the sons of Adonikam, those who came later, their names being Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men. 14 Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men. Ezra Sends for Levites 15 I gathered them to the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the sons of Levi. 16 Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of insight, 17 and sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brothers and3 the temple servants at the place Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God. 18 And by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen, 18; 19 also Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his kinsmen and their sons, 20; 20 besides 220 of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all mentioned by name. Fasting and Prayer for Protection 21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. 22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” 23 So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty. Priests to Guard Offerings 24 Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen with them. 25 And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God that the king and his counselors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered. 26 I weighed out into their hand 650 talents4 of silver, and silver vessels worth 200 talents,5 and 100 talents of gold, 27 20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics,6 and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold. 28 And I said to them, “You are holy to the LORD, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers. 29 Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel at Jerusalem, within the chambers of the house of the LORD.” 30 So the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God. 31 Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. 32 We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. 33 On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed into the hands of Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui. 34 The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded. 35 At that time those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the LORD. 36 They also delivered the king’s commissions to the king’s satraps7 and to the governors of the province Beyond the River, and they aided the people and the house of God. Footnotes [1] 8:5 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks of Zattu [2] 8:10 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks Bani [3] 8:17 Hebrew lacks and [4] 8:26 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms [5] 8:26 Revocalization; the number is missing in the Masoretic Text [6] 8:27 A daric was a coin weighing about 1/4 ounce or 8.5 grams [7] 8:36 A satrap was a Persian official (ESV) Acts 8 (Listen) Saul Ravages the Church 8 And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city1 of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city. Simon the Magician Believes 9 But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles2 performed, he was amazed. 14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall3 of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” 25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south4 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. 29 And 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 he 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. Footnotes [1] 8:5 Some manuscripts a city [2] 8:13 Greek works of power [3] 8:23 That is, a bitter fluid secreted by the liver; bile [4] 8:26 Or go at about noon [5] 8:36 Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (ESV)

Acts 8–11 Acts 8–11 (Listen) Saul Ravages the Church 8 And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city1 of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city. Simon the Magician Believes 9 But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles2 performed, he was amazed. 14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall3 of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” 25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south4 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. 29 And 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 he 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. The Conversion of Saul 9 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. 10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened. Saul Proclaims Jesus in Synagogues For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. Saul Escapes from Damascus 23 When many days had passed, the Jews6 plotted to kill him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall,7 lowering him in a basket. Saul in Jerusalem 26 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists.8 But they were seeking to kill him. 30 And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. 31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. The Healing of Aeneas 32 Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. 34 And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. 35 And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. Dorcas Restored to Life 36 Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas.9 She was full of good works and acts of charity. 37 In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. 38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.” 39 So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics10 and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. 40 But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner. Peter and Cornelius 10 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, 2 a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. 3 About the ninth hour of the day11 he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” 4 And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. 5 And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 7 When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, 8 and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. Peter’s Vision 9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour12 to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” 16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven. 17 Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood at the gate 18 and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. 19 And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation,13 for I have sent them.” 21 And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?” 22 And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” 23 So he invited them in to be his guests. The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. 24 And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.” 27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. 28 And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.” 30 And Cornelius said, “Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour,14 and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. 32 Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’ 33 So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.” Gentiles Hear the Good News 34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” The Holy Spirit Falls on the Gentiles 44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47 “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days. Peter Reports to the Church 11 Now the apostles and the brothers15 who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party16 criticized him, saying, 3 “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 4 But Peter began and explained it to them in order: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. 6 Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. 7 And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ 10 This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. 11 And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. 12 And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; 14 he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” The Church in Antioch 19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists17 also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, 24 for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. 25 So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. 27 Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). 29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers18 living in Judea. 30 And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul. Footnotes [1] 8:5 Some manuscripts a city [2] 8:13 Greek works of power [3] 8:23 That is, a bitter fluid secreted by the liver; bile [4] 8:26 Or go at about noon [5] 8:36 Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” [6] 9:23 The Greek word Ioudaioi refers specifically here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, who opposed the Christian faith in that time [7] 9:25 Greek through the wall [8] 9:29 That is, Greek-speaking Jews [9] 9:36 The Aramaic name Tabitha and the Greek name Dorcas both mean gazelle [10] 9:39 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin [11] 10:3 That is, 3 p.m. [12] 10:9 That is, noon [13] 10:20 Or accompany them, making no distinction [14] 10:30 That is, 3 p.m. [15] 11:1 Or brothers and sisters [16] 11:2 Or Jerusalem, those of the circumcision [17] 11:20 Or Greeks (that is, Greek-speaking non-Jews) [18] 11:29 Or brothers and sisters (ESV)

Acts 7–9 Acts 7–9 (Listen) Stephen’s Speech 7 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. 5 Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. 6 And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. 7 ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ 8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. 9 “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. 13 And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. 15 And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, 16 and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. 17 “But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt 18 until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. 19 He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. 20 At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house, 21 and when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22 And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds. 23 “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ 27 But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. 30 “Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. 33 Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’ 35 “This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ 38 This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. 39 Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. 42 But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:   “‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices,    during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?43   You took up the tent of Moloch    and the star of your god Rephan,    the images that you made to worship;  and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’ 44 “Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. 45 Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, 46 who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.1 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him. 48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, 49   “‘Heaven is my throne,    and the earth is my footstool.  What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,    or what is the place of my rest?50   Did not my hand make all these things?’ 51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” The Stoning of Stephen 54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together2 at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Saul Ravages the Church 8 And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city3 of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city. Simon the Magician Believes 9 But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles4 performed, he was amazed. 14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall5 of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” 25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south6 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. 29 And 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 he 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?”7 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. The Conversion of Saul 9 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. 10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened. Saul Proclaims Jesus in Synagogues For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. Saul Escapes from Damascus 23 When many days had passed, the Jews8 plotted to kill him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall,9 lowering him in a basket. Saul in Jerusalem 26 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists.10 But they were seeking to kill him. 30 And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. 31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. The Healing of Aeneas 32 Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. 34 And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. 35 And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. Dorcas Restored to Life 36 Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas.11 She was full of good works and acts of charity. 37 In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. 38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.” 39 So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics12 and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. 40 But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner. Footnotes [1] 7:46 Some manuscripts for the house of Jacob [2] 7:57 Or rushed with one mind [3] 8:5 Some manuscripts a city [4] 8:13 Greek works of power [5] 8:23 That is, a bitter fluid secreted by the liver; bile [6] 8:26 Or go at about noon [7] 8:36 Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” [8] 9:23 The Greek word Ioudaioi refers specifically here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, who opposed the Christian faith in that time [9] 9:25 Greek through the wall [10] 9:29 That is, Greek-speaking Jews [11] 9:36 The Aramaic name Tabitha and the Greek name Dorcas both mean gazelle [12] 9:39 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin (ESV)

SERMON FROM OCTOBER 11TH, 2020 Acts 8:26–40 [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. [29] And 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 he 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?” [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. (ESV)

  Hope Is For You Scott Young.com – Pastor Of Hope For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. – Galatians 3:26-28 JESUS HAS A SPECIAL HEART FOR THOSE WHO FEEL LIKE OUTSIDERS · Fishermen Were Chosen As His Disciples · Women Were On His Ministry Team · Tax Collectors Were At His Dinner Table · Lepers Received His Healing Touch No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord. - Deuteronomy 23:1 EUNUCH READING FROM ISAIAH 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. - Acts 8:32-35 WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE AN OUTSIDER 1. God Knows Where You Are 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. – Acts 8:26 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. God Knows What You Need 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 he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. – Acts 8:30-31 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. God Gives You His Word And 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?” – Acts 8:29-30 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. God Gives You A Fresh Start And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. – Acts 8:38 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sermon Recording Sermon OutlineSpeaker: Rev. Scott StrickmanSermon Series: Redemptive StoriesActs 8:26-40 (ESV) 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. 29 And 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 he 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?” 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.Sermon OutlineKnowing God and his redemptive nature encourages us to join him and his people.1. God seeks the seekerv26 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.v27 And there was an Ethiopian… He had come to Jerusalem to worshipv29  And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” v39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more2. God reveals to the questionervv30-31  So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand…?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?”  vv34-35 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this…?” 35 Then… beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.3. God connects the disconnected  vv32-34  “In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation?  For his life is taken away from the earth.” v36  the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”4. God sends joy to a peoplev27   a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure.v39  and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicingPrayer of ConfessionOur Lord and God, your good news has gone to the ends of the earth.  We confess we are not fully gripped by the goodness of it.  We take so much for granted, and have such limited awareness of how thorough your gracious redeeming work is.  Forgive our unbelief.  We have let our own opinions, biases, fears, and self serving agendas shape how we view you, ourselves, your people, and our world.   We have struggled to believe we are accepted by grace.  We have let our own sensitivities grow into resentment that has kept us from fully engaging in Christian community.  We have not fully welcomed and accepted those you have invited into your midst.  Instead, we have judged by our standards, and not by the standard of your Word.  Thank you that you bring good news to us through the suffering and humiliation of Jesus, who was cut off so we could be welcomed in.  Forgive our sins, and renew our hearts and minds.  Amen.Questions for ReflectionDo you feel at home in the church?  What do you like most about church?  What do you struggle most with?Have you seen evidence of God pursuing you at any point in your life?  Have you seen God at work recently?  What are you expecting or looking for?What do you do with your questions?  How do you seek answers for your faith questions?Why should the gospel (the good news about Jesus) compel you to come to God (either as a step of faith if you haven’t yet, or regularly if you are connected to God)?  What are some of the good things in the good news that should overcome your fears or reservations?  What still hinders you?How does the injustice Jesus suffered for us pull together the story of Scripture?  How can it help us connect the various parts of our own story to God?God sent Phillip to the eunuch so that the eunuch could bring the good news with him to his home.  Do you bring the message of Jesus anywhere?  Has God put you in a place of influence where you can share the invitation of God with others?  What would help you be better at sharing Christianity?

Sermon Recording Sermon OutlineSpeaker: Rev. Scott StrickmanSermon Series: Redemptive StoriesActs 8:26-40 (ESV) 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. 29 And 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 he 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?” 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.Sermon OutlineKnowing God and his redemptive nature encourages us to join him and his people.1. God seeks the seekerv26 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.v27 And there was an Ethiopian… He had come to Jerusalem to worshipv29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” v39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more2. God reveals to the questionervv30-31 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand…?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” vv34-35 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this…?” 35 Then… beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.3. God connects the disconnected vv32-34 “In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” v36 the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”4. God sends joy to a peoplev27 a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure.v39 and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicingPrayer of ConfessionOur Lord and God, your good news has gone to the ends of the earth. We confess we are not fully gripped by the goodness of it. We take so much for granted, and have such limited awareness of how thorough your gracious redeeming work is. Forgive our unbelief. We have let our own opinions, biases, fears, and self serving agendas shape how we view you, ourselves, your people, and our world. We have struggled to believe we are accepted by grace. We have let our own sensitivities grow into resentment that has kept us from fully engaging in Christian community. We have not fully welcomed and accepted those you have invited into your midst. Instead, we have judged by our standards, and not by the standard of your Word. Thank you that you bring good news to us through the suffering and humiliation of Jesus, who was cut off so we could be welcomed in. Forgive our sins, and renew our hearts and minds. Amen.Questions for ReflectionDo you feel at home in the church? What do you like most about church? What do you struggle most with?Have you seen evidence of God pursuing you at any point in your life? Have you seen God at work recently? What are you expecting or looking for?What do you do with your questions? How do you seek answers for your faith questions?Why should the gospel (the good news about Jesus) compel you to come to God (either as a step of faith if you haven’t yet, or regularly if you are connected to God)? What are some of the good things in the good news that should overcome your fears or reservations? What still hinders you?How does the injustice Jesus suffered for us pull together the story of Scripture? How can it help us connect the various parts of our own story to God?God sent Phillip to the eunuch so that the eunuch could bring the good news with him to his home. Do you bring the message of Jesus anywhere? Has God put you in a place of influence where you can share the invitation of God with others? What would help you be better at sharing Christianity?

Proper 15 First Psalm: Psalms 131–133 Psalms 131–133 (Listen) I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul A Song of Ascents. Of David. 131   O LORD, my heart is not lifted up;    my eyes are not raised too high;  I do not occupy myself with things    too great and too marvelous for me.2   But I have calmed and quieted my soul,    like a weaned child with its mother;    like a weaned child is my soul within me. 3   O Israel, hope in the LORD    from this time forth and forevermore. The Lord Has Chosen Zion A Song of Ascents. 132   Remember, O LORD, in David’s favor,    all the hardships he endured,2   how he swore to the LORD    and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,3   “I will not enter my house    or get into my bed,4   I will not give sleep to my eyes    or slumber to my eyelids,5   until I find a place for the LORD,    a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.” 6   Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;    we found it in the fields of Jaar.7   “Let us go to his dwelling place;    let us worship at his footstool!” 8   Arise, O LORD, and go to your resting place,    you and the ark of your might.9   Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,    and let your saints shout for joy.10   For the sake of your servant David,    do not turn away the face of your anointed one. 11   The LORD swore to David a sure oath    from which he will not turn back:  “One of the sons of your body1    I will set on your throne.12   If your sons keep my covenant    and my testimonies that I shall teach them,  their sons also forever    shall sit on your throne.” 13   For the LORD has chosen Zion;    he has desired it for his dwelling place:14   “This is my resting place forever;    here I will dwell, for I have desired it.15   I will abundantly bless her provisions;    I will satisfy her poor with bread.16   Her priests I will clothe with salvation,    and her saints will shout for joy.17   There I will make a horn to sprout for David;    I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.18   His enemies I will clothe with shame,    but on him his crown will shine.” When Brothers Dwell in Unity A Song of Ascents. Of David. 133   Behold, how good and pleasant it is    when brothers dwell in unity!22   It is like the precious oil on the head,    running down on the beard,  on the beard of Aaron,    running down on the collar of his robes!3   It is like the dew of Hermon,    which falls on the mountains of Zion!  For there the LORD has commanded the blessing,    life forevermore. Footnotes [1] 132:11 Hebrew of your fruit of the womb [2] 133:1 Or dwell together (ESV) Second Psalm: Psalms 134–135 Psalms 134–135 (Listen) Come, Bless the Lord A Song of Ascents. 134   Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD,    who stand by night in the house of the LORD!2   Lift up your hands to the holy place    and bless the LORD! 3   May the LORD bless you from Zion,    he who made heaven and earth! Your Name, O Lord, Endures Forever 135   Praise the LORD!  Praise the name of the LORD,    give praise, O servants of the LORD,2   who stand in the house of the LORD,    in the courts of the house of our God!3   Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;    sing to his name, for it is pleasant!14   For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,    Israel as his own possession. 5   For I know that the LORD is great,    and that our Lord is above all gods.6   Whatever the LORD pleases, he does,    in heaven and on earth,    in the seas and all deeps.7   He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,    who makes lightnings for the rain    and brings forth the wind from his storehouses. 8   He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,    both of man and of beast;9   who in your midst, O Egypt,    sent signs and wonders    against Pharaoh and all his servants;10   who struck down many nations    and killed mighty kings,11   Sihon, king of the Amorites,    and Og, king of Bashan,    and all the kingdoms of Canaan,12   and gave their land as a heritage,    a heritage to his people Israel. 13   Your name, O LORD, endures forever,    your renown,2 O LORD, throughout all ages.14   For the LORD will vindicate his people    and have compassion on his servants. 15   The idols of the nations are silver and gold,    the work of human hands.16   They have mouths, but do not speak;    they have eyes, but do not see;17   they have ears, but do not hear,    nor is there any breath in their mouths.18   Those who make them become like them,    so do all who trust in them. 19   O house of Israel, bless the LORD!    O house of Aaron, bless the LORD!20   O house of Levi, bless the LORD!    You who fear the LORD, bless the LORD!21   Blessed be the LORD from Zion,    he who dwells in Jerusalem!  Praise the LORD! Footnotes [1] 135:3 Or for he is beautiful [2] 135:13 Or remembrance (ESV) Old Testament: Job 1 Job 1 (Listen) Job’s Character and Wealth 1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. 4 His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed1 God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually. Satan Allowed to Test Job 6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan2 also came among them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 8 And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” 9 Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 12 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. Satan Takes Job’s Property and Children 13 Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 14 and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants3 with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” 22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. Footnotes [1] 1:5 The Hebrew word bless is used euphemistically for curse in 1:5, 11; 2:5, 9 [2] 1:6 Hebrew the Accuser or the Adversary; so throughout chapters 1–2 [3] 1:15 Hebrew the young men; also verses 16, 17 (ESV) New Testament: Acts 8:26–40 Acts 8:26–40 (Listen) Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south1 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. 29 And 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 he 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?”2 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. Footnotes [1] 8:26 Or go at about noon [2] 8:36 Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (ESV) Gospel: John 6:16–27 John 6:16–27 (Listen) Jesus Walks on Water 16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles,1 they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. I Am the Bread of Life 22 On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 23 Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Footnotes [1] 6:19 Greek twenty-five or thirty stadia; a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters (ESV)

https://tribus.captivate.fm/ (Enjoying Brokerage Insider? Please Subscribe Using Your Favorite Podcast Player.) Listen as Philip Hegge, Adfenix U.S. Director, and Eric Stegemann talk about programmatic ads, marketing, and how the business of real estate differs with agents around the world. TRANSCRIPTION Eric Stegemann (https://www.temi.com/editor/t/32YNKHirEHs6NtZ7fW4yrnns701lyik2NqttIxb1BrR1QPr0a00Ke94E3by7GYlZdEiZwE2Eq9ZbWukQNvyMm_XI4ks?loadFrom=SharedLink&ts=3.42 (00:03)): Hi, everybody. Welcome to Brokerage insider the podcast where we interviewed the leaders in real estate, brokerage and technology. I'm the host, Eric Stagenmaan. And I'm the CEO here at TRIBUS. We are the sponsors of this podcast. And today I have the pleasure of having Philip Hegge, the North American director for https://tribus.com/integrations/marketing-automation/adfenix/ (Adfenix) with us. And today we're going to talk a little bit more, both about Adfenix and about real estate, not only in the United States, but around the world because https://adfenix.com (Philip's company) is actually based in Sweden. So Philip, thanks for joining us today. Thank you very much, Eric. It's like to be here. So first of all, tell me a little bit about Adfenix. What is Adfenix to yeah, no, of course? Philip Hegge So at its core, what we're trying to do is that is to bring really world class sort of cutting edge marketing automation into the real estate industry. Something that we believe is currently missing for, for a series of reasons. One is because it's really hard and we can probably talk more about what sort of, what we think marketing automation is, is later. But we do that by focusing on working with a very sort of custom platform to the, with the largest most, I know it's a real estate broker just in the world. Like you mentioned, we're originally based out of Sweden. We are operating across 13 different countries and also have offices in London, in the UK Melbourne Australia. Eric Stegemann Wow. Yeah. So you have a very international vision of what's going on in that, in the industry. Let's dig into that a little bit. How is, how are things different that a listener at a brokerage staff person, an agent, a brokerage owner, that's listening to this podcast here in the United States. Eric Stegemann (https://www.temi.com/editor/t/32YNKHirEHs6NtZ7fW4yrnns701lyik2NqttIxb1BrR1QPr0a00Ke94E3by7GYlZdEiZwE2Eq9ZbWukQNvyMm_XI4ks?loadFrom=SharedLink&ts=122.91 (02:02)): How things are different that you see in other countries as far as brokerage is concerned versus the United States or even Canada? Philip Hegge  Yeah, no, that's a, that's a great question. And obviously something that we probably can talk about for four hours but to, to keep it to keep it short, I mean I've been primarily focusing on sort of the Scandinavian markets early on in the lifetime of the Adfenix then, and also in Australia. And I think that's sort of the key, the key difference sort of most, most sort of clearest difference between the us and the rest of the world is the fact that there is in most countries there was only the seller's agents, right? Only the seller actually has by agent representation and that's cause for a lot of different sort of the things that makes it different than I know this, this podcast is also a lot about sort of the, that, that dynamic for the Brokerage. Philip Hegge (https://www.temi.com/editor/t/32YNKHirEHs6NtZ7fW4yrnns701lyik2NqttIxb1BrR1QPr0a00Ke94E3by7GYlZdEiZwE2Eq9ZbWukQNvyMm_XI4ks?loadFrom=SharedLink&ts=185.731 (03:05)): I won't the other thing that I was sort of eye opening for us and also is different than the U S this is also sort of how independent the agent, this, which I think is, you know, it makes sense that American real estate agents, the wants to be an S more independent. So for example, you know, it's in the UK, they're very, very, non-independent right. They're literally employees of, of the company in Sweden,...

Morning: Job 13–15 Job 13–15 (Listen) Job Continues: Still I Will Hope in God 13   “Behold, my eye has seen all this,    my ear has heard and understood it.2   What you know, I also know;    I am not inferior to you.3   But I would speak to the Almighty,    and I desire to argue my case with God.4   As for you, you whitewash with lies;    worthless physicians are you all.5   Oh that you would keep silent,    and it would be your wisdom!6   Hear now my argument    and listen to the pleadings of my lips.7   Will you speak falsely for God    and speak deceitfully for him?8   Will you show partiality toward him?    Will you plead the case for God?9   Will it be well with you when he searches you out?    Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?10   He will surely rebuke you    if in secret you show partiality.11   Will not his majesty terrify you,    and the dread of him fall upon you?12   Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;    your defenses are defenses of clay. 13   “Let me have silence, and I will speak,    and let come on me what may.14   Why should I take my flesh in my teeth    and put my life in my hand?15   Though he slay me, I will hope in him;1    yet I will argue my ways to his face.16   This will be my salvation,    that the godless shall not come before him.17   Keep listening to my words,    and let my declaration be in your ears.18   Behold, I have prepared my case;    I know that I shall be in the right.19   Who is there who will contend with me?    For then I would be silent and die.20   Only grant me two things,    then I will not hide myself from your face:21   withdraw your hand far from me,    and let not dread of you terrify me.22   Then call, and I will answer;    or let me speak, and you reply to me.23   How many are my iniquities and my sins?    Make me know my transgression and my sin.24   Why do you hide your face    and count me as your enemy?25   Will you frighten a driven leaf    and pursue dry chaff?26   For you write bitter things against me    and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.27   You put my feet in the stocks    and watch all my paths;    you set a limit for2 the soles of my feet.28   Man3 wastes away like a rotten thing,    like a garment that is moth-eaten. Job Continues: Death Comes Soon to All 14   “Man who is born of a woman    is few of days and full of trouble.2   He comes out like a flower and withers;    he flees like a shadow and continues not.3   And do you open your eyes on such a one    and bring me into judgment with you?4   Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?    There is not one.5   Since his days are determined,    and the number of his months is with you,    and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,6   look away from him and leave him alone,4    that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day. 7   “For there is hope for a tree,    if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,    and that its shoots will not cease.8   Though its root grow old in the earth,    and its stump die in the soil,9   yet at the scent of water it will bud    and put out branches like a young plant.10   But a man dies and is laid low;    man breathes his last, and where is he?11   As waters fail from a lake    and a river wastes away and dries up,12   so a man lies down and rises not again;    till the heavens are no more he will not awake    or be roused out of his sleep.13   Oh that you would hide me in Sheol,    that you would conceal me until your wrath be past,    that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!14   If a man dies, shall he live again?    All the days of my service I would wait,    till my renewal5 should come.15   You would call, and I would answer you;    you would long for the work of your hands.16   For then you would number my steps;    you would not keep watch over my sin;17   my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,    and you would cover over my iniquity. 18   “But the mountain falls and crumbles away,    and the rock is removed from its place;19   the waters wear away the stones;    the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;    so you destroy the hope of man.20   You prevail forever against him, and he passes;    you change his countenance, and send him away.21   His sons come to honor, and he does not know it;    they are brought low, and he perceives it not.22   He feels only the pain of his own body,    and he mourns only for himself.” Eliphaz Accuses: Job Does Not Fear God 15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: 2   “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge,    and fill his belly with the east wind?3   Should he argue in unprofitable talk,    or in words with which he can do no good?4   But you are doing away with the fear of God6    and hindering meditation before God.5   For your iniquity teaches your mouth,    and you choose the tongue of the crafty.6   Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;    your own lips testify against you. 7   “Are you the first man who was born?    Or were you brought forth before the hills?8   Have you listened in the council of God?    And do you limit wisdom to yourself?9   What do you know that we do not know?    What do you understand that is not clear to us?10   Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,    older than your father.11   Are the comforts of God too small for you,    or the word that deals gently with you?12   Why does your heart carry you away,    and why do your eyes flash,13   that you turn your spirit against God    and bring such words out of your mouth?14   What is man, that he can be pure?    Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous?15   Behold, God7 puts no trust in his holy ones,    and the heavens are not pure in his sight;16   how much less one who is abominable and corrupt,    a man who drinks injustice like water! 17   “I will show you; hear me,    and what I have seen I will declare18   (what wise men have told,    without hiding it from their fathers,19   to whom alone the land was given,    and no stranger passed among them).20   The wicked man writhes in pain all his days,    through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.21   Dreadful sounds are in his ears;    in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.22   He does not believe that he will return out of darkness,    and he is marked for the sword.23   He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’    He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;24   distress and anguish terrify him;    they prevail against him, like a king ready for battle.25   Because he has stretched out his hand against God    and defies the Almighty,26   running stubbornly against him    with a thickly bossed shield;27   because he has covered his face with his fat    and gathered fat upon his waist28   and has lived in desolate cities,    in houses that none should inhabit,    which were ready to become heaps of ruins;29   he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure,    nor will his possessions spread over the earth;830   he will not depart from darkness;    the flame will dry up his shoots,    and by the breath of his mouth he will depart.31   Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself,    for emptiness will be his payment.32   It will be paid in full before his time,    and his branch will not be green.33   He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine,    and cast off his blossom like the olive tree.34   For the company of the godless is barren,    and fire consumes the tents of bribery.35   They conceive trouble and give birth to evil,    and their womb prepares deceit.” Footnotes [1] 13:15 Or Behold, he will slay me; I have no hope [2] 13:27 Or you marked [3] 13:28 Hebrew He [4] 14:6 Probable reading; Hebrew look away from him, that he may cease [5] 14:14 Or relief [6] 15:4 Hebrew lacks of God [7] 15:15 Hebrew he [8] 15:29 Or nor will his produce bend down to the earth (ESV) Evening: Acts 8:26–40 Acts 8:26–40 (Listen) Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south1 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. 29 And 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 he 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?”2 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. Footnotes [1] 8:26 Or go at about noon [2] 8:36 Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (ESV)

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 17 1 Samuel 17 (Listen) David and Goliath 17 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. 3 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six1 cubits2 and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels3 of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him. 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. 12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.4 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening. 17 And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah5 of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18 Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.” 19 Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. 24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. 25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel.” 26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 27 And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.” 28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before. 31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!” 38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. 41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand.” 48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52 And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath6 and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. 53 And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent. 55 As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56 And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” 57 And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.” Footnotes [1] 17:4 Hebrew; Septuagint, Dead Sea Scroll and Josephus four [2] 17:4 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [3] 17:5 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams [4] 17:12 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew advanced among men [5] 17:17 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters [6] 17:52 Septuagint; Hebrew Gai (ESV) New Testament: Acts 8 Acts 8 (Listen) Saul Ravages the Church 8 And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city1 of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city. Simon the Magician Believes 9 But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles2 performed, he was amazed. 14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall3 of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” 25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south4 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. 29 And 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 he 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. Footnotes [1] 8:5 Some manuscripts a city [2] 8:13 Greek works of power [3] 8:23 That is, a bitter fluid secreted by the liver; bile [4] 8:26 Or go at about noon [5] 8:36 Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 119:49–56 Psalm 119:49–56 (Listen) Zayin 49   Remember your word to your servant,    in which you have made me hope.50   This is my comfort in my affliction,    that your promise gives me life.51   The insolent utterly deride me,    but I do not turn away from your law.52   When I think of your rules from of old,    I take comfort, O LORD.53   Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked,    who forsake your law.54   Your statutes have been my songs    in the house of my sojourning.55   I remember your name in the night, O LORD,    and keep your law.56   This blessing has fallen to me,    that I have kept your precepts. (ESV) Proverb: Proverbs 15:33 Proverbs 15:33 (Listen) 33   The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom,    and humility comes before honor. (ESV)

When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. John 6:5–6God always knows what He is going to do. He always has a perfect plan for our lives. Always. In the passage above, we read a snippet from the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish. Jesus knew He was going to multiply the few loaves and fish they had and feed over five thousand people. But before He did this, He wanted to test Philip, and so He did. Why does Jesus test Philip and why does He test us at times?It’s not that Jesus is curious about what Philip will say. And it’s not that He is just playing games with Philip. Rather, He is seizing this opportunity to let Philip manifest His faith. So, in fact, this “testing” of Philip was a gift to him because it gave Philip the opportunity to pass the test.The test was to let Philip act on faith rather than just on human logic alone. Sure, it’s good to be logical. But very often the wisdom of God supersedes human logic. In other words, it brings logic to a whole new level. It brings it to a level where faith in God is brought into the equation.So Philip, in that moment, was being called to offer a solution given the fact that the Son of God was there with them. And he fails the test. He points out that two hundred days’ wages would not be enough to feed the crowd. But Andrew somewhat comes to the rescue. Andrew states that there is a boy who has a few loaves and some fish. Unfortunately he adds, “but what good are these for so many?” This little spark of faith in Andrew, however, is enough faith for Jesus to have the crowds recline and to perform the miracle of the multiplication of the food. It seems that Andrew at least had a small insight into the fact that these few loaves and fish were important to mention. Jesus takes this from Andrew and takes care of the rest.Reflect, today, upon the precious gift of even a little faith. So often we find ourselves in difficult situations where we don’t know what to do. We should strive to have at least a little faith so that Jesus has something to work with. No, we may not have the full picture of what He wants to do, but we should at least have a small inkling of the direction God is leading. If we can at least manifest this little faith then we too will pass the test. Lord, help me to have faith in Your perfect plan for my life. Help me to know that You are in control when life seems out of control. In those moments, may the faith I manifest be a gift to You so that You can use it for Your glory. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2020 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

Today’s episode features one of the largest spirits companies you might not know much about. You’ve heard of brands like Ezra Brooks, Rebel Yell, and Blood Oath, but there is a lot to discover about Luxco. We sit down with Philip Lux, Global Brand Ambassador at Lux Row Distillers and son of CEO Don Lux, as he guides us through the family history of the Lux’s along with their acquisitions of bourbon brands. Then we also get the inside scoop on what’s happening at Lux Row Distillers. After sourcing whiskey for many years, it became apparent they needed to build a distillery and they did it right in Bardstown, KY. We discuss the future of the brands and how they plan to grow and evolve. Don’t sleep on this location during your bourbon trail visit because the facility is incredible. Show Partners: The University of Louisville has an online Distilled Spirits Business Certificate that focuses on the business side of the spirits industry. Learn more at uofl.me/bourbonpursuit. Find out what it’s like to taste whiskey straight from the barrel with Barrell Craft Spirits. Learn more at BarrellBourbon.com. Receive $25 off your first order at RackHouse Whiskey Club with code "Pursuit". Visit RackhouseWhiskeyClub.com. Show Notes: Black Market Liquor Sales: https://www.forbes.com/sites/fredminnick/2020/03/19/wholesalers-warn-of-black-market-liquor-if-liquor-stores-close-amidst-coronavirus/#3b5445042e88 Supporting Spirits United: https://p2a.co/JRoHtT8 Bourbon Pursuit USBG Fundraiser: bourbonpursuit.com/usbg Bourbon Crypto: https://www.coindesk.com/wave-financial-to-tokenize-20m-worth-of-bourbon-for-new-whiskey-fund Pat Heist on TedX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSLWEnz-1mc This week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about supporting craft distilleries. What was your introduction to bourbon? How did you get into the business? What stands out about bourbon when you are traveling? Talk about the difference between Luxco and Lux Row. Did your dad ever tell you about how he had the foresight to acquire all these brands? Tell us the story of David Nicholson. Talk about Blood Oath. Was Rebel Yell acquired the same time as David Nicholson? Tell us about your bourbon portfolio. When did you break ground on the facility? Why did you decide to build in Bardstown and not St. Louis? What is the difference between regular David Nicholson and the reserve? Tell us about your still and capacity. Any worries about your bourbon being ready in 4 years? Are you trying to replicate the existing flavor profiles? What is your storage capacity? What is something that people might not know about your brands? When is the Lux Bourbon coming? Any plans to use this facility to support Luxco? What issues have you had starting a distillery? 0:00 If you have a bachelor's degree and live anywhere in the United States, there's now a way for you to take your bourbon education to the next level. The distilled spirits business certificate from the University of Louisville is a six course online program that will prepare you for the business side of the spirits industry offered by the AACSB accredited college of business. This certificate is taught by business professors and industry leaders from Brown Forman beam Suntory jack daniels and more. join this one of a kind experience and prepare for your next adventure. get enrolled into this online program at U of l.me. Slash bourbon pursuit. 0:38 Let's kind of talk about you know your history your your upbringing, because because you're you're young strapping lad your last names luck, so obviously you have something to do around here. Yeah. 1:00 Welcome back, everybody. It's Episode 246 of bourbon pursuit. I'm Kenny, one of the hosts. And here's your Cova 19 updates because a lot has changed since last week. Texas has temporarily adjusted its laws to be more lenient on the drinks industry and are now allowing alcohol as a part of to go orders. This is pretty big news because we know that anything in Texas that is regulated by alcohol is very, very hard to change. And they are also in listening distributor trucks that are designated for alcohol only delivery to support grocers and delivery needs during this time for roses distillery will temporarily suspend their operations of us distillery located in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, and that began on March 20 of 2020. And based on the current situation for roses expects to commence operations once again on April 6 of 2020. A new statement by the wine and spirits wholesalers of America or known as the W swa their CEO and President Michelle Cosmo warns that in a crisis 2:00 consequences are major concerns for industries and private citizens. And they implore all governors to keep Wine and Spirits retailers open as to not encourage bad actors to pop up black market liquor operations. Other industry partners including the distilled spirits Council of the United States, otherwise known as discus has made a similar statement. And Fred MiniK recently published an article on Forbes, referring to the actions taken by the state of Pennsylvania, where they closed the doors of all alcohol stores in the state that the same thing could happen to them, as it did during Prohibition. And you can read more with his article to the link in our show notes. Right now, many other distilleries are making hand sanitizer. Back on March 20 of 2020, the FDA issued a new guidance for the temporary manufacturing of hand sanitizer by companies and entities that are not currently regulated by the FDA as a drug manufacturer. The TTB or the Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau has found that it isn't necessary and desirable to waive provisions of internal 3:00 Revenue law with regard to distilled spirits, and therefore is providing certain exemptions and operations to distilled spirits permittees who wish to produce ethanol based hand sanitizers to address the demand during this emergency. any existing DSP can immediately commence production of hand sanitizer or ethanol for use in hand sanitizer without having to obtain authorization first. These measures are generally authorized under authorities that apply in disaster situations, and are right now approved through June 30 of 2020. There are now over 50 distilleries across the US that have switched to making hand sanitizer including big ones like wilderness trail, smooth Ambler town branch, rabbit hole, old Forester, and there's many more craft distilleries across the nation like co vault, Illinois, Coursera in Tennessee, and Caledonia spirits in Texas. I would love to be able to give everyone a shout out on here but you can contact your local distillery to see if they had any available Republic purchase in a day. 4:00 There's a lot of giving going on by bigger corporations. And here's some of the highlights. Beam Satori and southern Glaser's are donating $1 million to support the impacted bar and restaurant employees. Beam centaurea is also working with other distributors across various states, including major brands, badger liquor, Fenway associates, Allied beverage Corp, Empire distributors, best brands, horizon beverage group and more to provide donations to local organizations that will further help to support in the trade of their respective communities. biagio has also pledged $1 million to the US VG or the United States bartenders guild and their emergency assistance fun for Cova 19. biagio is also doing another million euros to support bartenders in the United Kingdom with a million million pounds. Brown Forman is donating $1 million to us big the restaurant workers Community Foundation and one level is separating between those three different organizations. gallows, New Amsterdam vodka and barstool sports 5:00 created a new t shirt highlighting support your local bartender program, where 100% of the net proceeds will go to us bartenders guild foundation. And additionally New Amsterdam will donate $5 for every t shirt purchased. Jamison donates another 500,000 to the US big mixers distillery in Philadelphia have made a $10,000 donation to the US BG patrol is donating $1 million to three different organizations. You have the children of restaurant employees otherwise known as core, another round another rally and the James Beard Foundation. Sasa rack and fireball Have you started a GoFundMe called the world's biggest tip jar by starting it off with $100,000 donation, and it will match all contributions up to $400,000 donations with everything going to tax exempt organizations. Tito's is donating $1 million between four organizations focused on those in the industry. We have the core, US big Southern smoke and the world central kitchen. They're all 6:00 pledging another additional $1 million as further needs are seen. Zamora is donating 400,000 euros to charities such as Caritas, the Red Cross and the food bank foundation. Yelp, who you all know the app is providing $25 million in relief in the form of waived advertising fees and free advertising, products services and more that during this period. 6:24 In addition, we're trying to do our part as well. bourbon pursuit we have our own fundraiser going to help support the US BG or the United States bartenders Guild. So at this time, you can go and you can win bottles of pursuit series and our latest peril picks from will it go to bourbon pursuit.com slash USB G to get entered into our raffle? We appreciate all the support. 6:47 Discuss that we talked about a little bit early before the distilled spirits Council of the United States is now asking the government to include distillers in the Cova 19 Relief Fund. distilleries across the nation have close tasting rooms suspended to 7:00 And cancel large events to limit the exposure of Cova 19. As a result, the Steelers have been forced to make difficult decisions, including in some cases shutting down production in laying off staff. As a result, many distilleries may not be able to survive during this crisis. distillers right now employ 1.6 million people across the country and generate 180 billion dollars in economic activity for the United States. You can help take action by supporting spirits united with your name and vote with the link in our show notes. This story poured out a little bit over last week, and I'm sure many people know about it, but we need to report on anyway because we all know about jack rose. It's that iconic whiskey bar in DC that's owned and operated by Bill Thomas. But you've heard back on episode 67 and 127. They're putting up all 2700 bottles for sale. In response to the escalating health and economic crisis. The public can now search through their treasure trove by stopping into the bar 8:00 browsing their whiskey Bible menu which is also available online and talking to Bill Thomas himself, you can order anything you want. That could mean 20 or 30 year old pours in our bag or MacAllan hard to find bullet family estates or jack roses own private barrels that are made in collaboration with Blanton's and other distilleries. The drums will be packaged in little sealed bottles that could be kept on your home bar in pours of the rare stuff or anything that's $100 plus an ounce will be 50% off while all other pours are 20% off. Thomas says he plans to offer the spirits at a lower price than what consumers would find on the secondary market. If you're in the area, they also have to go cocktails available from all three of their company bars, jack rose, Imperial and DRAM and grain and classics like old fashions a Manhattan's two visible creations that they all have starting at $10 each. The story is spread and when it broke, people were lined up for around five blocks. Their website crashed and they had to use Facebook and Instagram to let everyone know 9:00 Know how to contact to them. So please check out the jack rose social pages for the latest and up to date info on how to get your hands on anything. All right, let's change subjects for a minute. Let's get out of the coronavirus talk. Wave financial has finalized an agreement with Danville Kentucky based wilderness trail distilleries to tokenize between 10 and 20,000 barrels of whiskey worth up to around $20 million that will be made publicly available through a specialized digital asset fund. Now if that didn't make sense, this is turning bourbon inventory into cryptocurrency. So known as wave whiskey 2020 Digital fund, investors are able to purchase asset backed tokens linked to an inventory of whiskey barrel this year, that will represent as many as 4 million bottles of bourbon by tokenizing. It wave says that investors can gain exposure to Bourbons value appreciation and can also share some of the proceeds from when a whiskey is sold to wholesale to merchants and three years after the whiskey is first 10:00 Still, and the tokens are then issued to investors, users will be able to trade their tokens at whatever price they wish. And wave is also in discussions with some security token exchanges to develop an official secondary market infrastructure to facilitate better trading in the whiskey back tokens. A wave spokesperson added that the token was available for accredited investors from all around the world. And what they first closed at the end of March and a second at the end of June, a final close expected to take into place in September. You can read more about that with the link in our show notes. And didn't more wilderness trail news. The yeast and fermentation doctor from wilderness trail that we all know is Pat heist, who we had back on episode 121. That blew everyone's mind, had his first TED Talk published. It talks about the effect of climate on production and the quality of bourbon. And this was done at TEDx at the University of Nevada. Give it a listen on YouTube with the link in our show notes. All right for today. 11:00 Today's episode, we feature one of the largest spirits companies you probably don't know much about. You've heard of brands like Ezra Brookes, Rebel Yell and blood oath. But there is a lot to discover about Lux CO, we sit down with Philip Lux, the global brand ambassador of Lux ro distillers and he's also the son of the CEO Don Lux, as he guides us through the family history of Lexus, along with the acquisitions of their bourbon brands and labels. Then we also get the inside scoop on what's happening at Lux ro distillers. After sourcing whiskey for many years, it became apparent they needed to build a distillery and they did it right in Bardstown, Kentucky. We discuss the future of the brands and how they plan on growing and evolving. Also, don't sleep on this location during your bourbon trail visit because the facility looks incredible. Let's get on with the show. Here's Joe from barrel bourbon. And then you've got Fred minich with above the char 11:56 it's Joe from barrel bourbon. Tasting whiskey straight from the barrel was truly alive. 12:00 changing moment for me. In 2013 I launched barrel craft spirits so everyone could have the experience of tasting whiskey at CAST strength. Next time ask you bartender for barrel bourbon. 12:11 I'm Fred medic, and this is above the char. I have some very, very staggering news. This just in from ACS a or better known as the American craft spirits Association. According to a survey of a CSA 150 craft of 150 craft distillers 67% will be forced to close within three months. 32% of those respondents said it, they won't even last a month 87% of all craft distillery tasting rooms have closed and 60% of the distilleries making craft spirits has already laid off employees or furloughed staff. 13:00 This is absolutely staggering to thousand small distillers across the country. And that survey tells us, we may very well lose two thirds of them in a matter of months. Those are people who have put it all in the line to do something that they love and, you know, want to really push the envelope. And this just breaks my heart. This just absolutely breaks my heart. The distilling community right now is trying to get federal support, you know, so they're basically looking for the same kind of federal funds that's going to be given to the airline industry in the hospitality industry. And here we are. 13:49 amidst this coronavirus scare, and we're about we're about to see a lot of a lot of great people lose their dreams. And that's just fair. 14:00 Very scary. 14:02 I think about what we do you know, Kenny Ryan and I, you know, this is, yeah, it's it's my job. But let's face it, I have a dream job. I talk and write about whiskey for a living like all the time. And I have some time said some things that are not so nice about craft whiskies. It was never anything personal. It's just about their whiskey. But never in a million years. What I wish this upon anybody in the industry, I can't even imagine, to begin to think of like, what it what it must be like right now to be a craft distiller and to know that if things don't change, you're going to have to shut down for good. So let's do what we can. Let's, let's do what we can Let's buy their products. And you may push back here and say, Hey, well, Fred, we can't go to the liquor store. Our governor is shut us down. We have to stay inside. You know, that's very well true. But get this. There's a 15:00 A lot of delivery services out there right now. That will bring a good old DRAM to your doorstep. You can go to silver box comm craft shack is another one you can go to drizzly calm, and these are all delivery services that will buy from a local retailer and deliver to you. Another one that you can join is called spirits network comm go to spirits network comm I actually have a lot of shows on there, but you can, you can buy booze, and then watch booze TV. So there's a lot of options out there that you can go to and buy craft whiskey or any kind of craft spirit. But listen, we have to band together we have to do what we can to help these small distillers because we can't lose them. We just can't. It's not. 15:51 It's very scary. It's absolutely very scary. And so let's do what we can let's band together. Hello 16:00 Let's save a distillery or two. 16:03 And that's this week's above the char. Hey, make sure you are checking out my YouTube I am dropping content every single day, in hopes of helping you get through the boredom. You can go to YouTube and just look for my channel. Just search my name Fred MiniK. Until next week, cheers 16:26 Welcome back to another episode of the bourbon pursuit the official podcast of bourbon. Kinney and Ryan back in Bardstown on the road again often, but this is fun, we love going on the road. And today it's funny because, you know, we drive around bars and we do a lot of these interviews. However, this is one place that I had never driven up and we drive past it quite frequently especially if you're a frequent are over at Keystone liquors. Yeah, you drive by where the cinemas you have the movies in. It's right across the street. It is and but this is it's one place where I drove up and I was I was amazed like 17:00 How beautiful the grounds are here at Lux row distillers and being able to in the first thing that we saw a was like some house that you said your buddy grew up in that owned the land here. And then we saw their their resident peacocks. Oh yeah, yeah, this. I've been up this driveway many times. You know, it's a running joke that I say that I'm from Bardstown. But I am from bars town and grew up hanging out here with my buddy john and his family. So 17:29 it's a beautiful property got a bunch of old farmhouses gold house and some peacocks and they were like Kenny walked up and they kind of spread their feathers out I think they're excited to see Kenny And so yeah, maybe maybe see us Who knows? Yeah, but I've kind of been you know, just being in town seen the construction and everything but never really seen it till now. And man it's an it's an impressive property with all the distillery and everything. So it's all about the property. But you know, this is also we're getting a chance to talk to 18:00 About a company that's kind of like a unknown Titan in the industry, you know, it's they've had a lot of established brands that have been out there. For the longest time, it had been a sourcing product and now that they are sealing the light, they're like, Hey, we got to grow, we got to expand, we got to we got to start pumping out our stuff too. And so we know when we start talking about these brands, a lot of them are gonna start ringing a lot of names like Rebel Yell, like Ezra Brooks, like these are all the labels that these are all the names that you're probably very well familiar with and probably didn't know much about the the distillery and the people that are behind it. So guilty. I don't know much. But now I do know, because we just did the tour got the family history, and it's like a really cool story. So I'm excited to share that with our audience. Absolutely. And that's a good way to kind of segue into our guest today. So today we have Philip Lux. Philip is the global brand ambassador for Luxor distillery. So Philip, welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you, Kenny. Ryan, thanks for having me on. Absolutely. So 19:00 Before we kind of get into this and start talking about the whiskey in the tour and the grounds and all that sort of stuff again, let's kind of talk about you know, your history your your upbringing, because because you're you're young strapping lad, your last name is luck. So obviously you have something to do around here. Yeah. 19:16 So, you know, the and you kind of talked about like, your family's been in this business? What 40 years now something like a almost 60 years, almost 60 years. Wow. So talk about your first run in with bourbon. My first run with bourbon honestly, was was pretty recent, over the past two to three years when we decided to build this and that so your mom and dad and like 19:41 and now I mean, it's really was you know, as personally my my first run with bourbon was was recent, but as a company, we've been in the bourbon industry for over 40 years doing some private label stuff with my grandfather back when you know, he was still still around. And David Sherman, who originally started the business with my grandfather, Paul 20:00 Whenever you know it's doing that private label bourbon just for four different grocery stores or, or convenience stores, stuff like that around the country. And then we we bought our first bourbon. And I believe 93 with Ezra Brooks from from Glenmore distillers, who's now owned by Sam's rack and has just kind of grown from there. And, you know, that was a little over 20 years ago now and we've grown. We've had award winning brands and grown our brands over the past 20 years and into into big, big names that allowed us to now break off from sourcing and start our own distillery and have everything distilled in house verse, you know, sourcing our bourbon from somebody else. Okay, so let's get back to the original question. What was your first my first run with bourbon was was probably three years ago. In you know, Colorado when I was when I was living there and decided I wanted to get away from kind of the, the vaca vaca scene so I started to drink some different stuff and my mom actually came 21:00 To me and in said that'd be a really good opportunity for, you know, to maybe have an idea of getting into the industry as we're getting ready to build this so I jumped kind of head over heels into the bourbon industry and 21:13 kind of ran with it from there went to moonshine University in Louisville and where I really got introduced to bourbon and whiskey and that kind of helped me in golf myself in the industry and in golf myself and what bourbon really is, especially here in Kentucky in Louisville, where it's you know, American spirit and in most popular spirits, so, huh, so she kind of was like the catalyst you didn't really you were like, that's your thing. I'm gonna do my own thing. Yeah, I'd never even really wanted to be in the industry. My I was always not necessarily pressured. My dad always said Do whatever you want to do. Yeah, he was never pressuring me at all. It was always his friends are my friends asking when when are you going to get in the industry? When are you going to do this? do that so because I'm sure your friends are like, hey, yeah, 21:58 I mean, I would take boxes of boosts. 22:00 to college with me, whether it be vaca Yeah, you'd be Ron knock that probably we just got in the house, we used to own Admiral Nelson. So that was a pretty cool product for us. And that was a fun product in college. And everybody enjoyed that. But, you know, on the bourbon side, I really didn't know much about it until I started taking classes and really engulfing myself in it with Stephen thief, like I said, as well, with moonshine you and you know, my mom is said, you know, take a chance this is something that's different, it's something that's new, it's gonna be something that you can help grow and you can be a part of, I was working in a ski shop in Colorado two years out of school, and you know, love in life, but it's hard to work in a ski shop for the rest of your life. Right? Well, I guess I work in a ski town so I need to find something a little different. And I you know, I've I've used my dad in different people in the company, and then the industry is kind of stepping, you know, stuffing box to help me work into it and learn more about it and I feel 23:00 That I've, I'm learning, you know, every day, whether it be with our products or the distillation process or the supplier versus distributor side. And, you know, with my job, it really allows me to learn, you know, frequently and, and continue learning and traveling and seeing different how bourbon and whiskey is viewed in California versus in Kentucky versus in New York. You know, I like to call you know, the bourbon trail like the Napa Valley of the Midwest now because you guys probably see it firsthand as well where everybody's flocking here now for that burden. Even the peacocks even though 23:39 they're they're always here and they're, you know, they love it here. So kind of talk about what you do see the difference in in bourbon, whether it's the community or culture as you're doing these travels, you know, just across the US like what is what's something that kind of stands out to you? You know, I think something that really stands out is the, the recognition of the bigger 24:01 You know, you go to California where, and I went up to Seattle for Seattle cocktail week and people had never heard of Lexapro but they had heard of, you know, they heard of heaven, hell and Maker's Mark and Jim Beam. And, you know, being, for me my passion and what I really strive to grow not only our brands, but our brands are part of a bigger name now of Lux. Lux row. So I think you know, to answer your question, Kenny, the The major difference that I see is how quickly a brand like Lux row catches on in Kentucky, because, you know, we're a year and seven months out from, you know, putting juice in our first barrel. And people recognize those brands like you know, they, they have, you know, throughout time and they recognize Lexapro now, as in you go to San Francisco whiskey Fest, those are all whiskey, you know, enthusiasts, so they're gonna, you know, they're they've probably been following those brands, but they're not super familiar with it. Maybe they've seen that Lux ro logo somewhere and now they're gonna be you know, 25:00 Gonna be there and they can, you know, learn more about it on a first hand basis or up in New York, I was up there and personally introduce David Nicholson reserve into the New York in the Boston Market in front of all the distributors so just different brands that aren't necessarily recognized throughout the country or are and don't have a lot of backing to them that need help you know, growing and with the distillery it's allowed us to help grow those brands in a different way where we can one bring customers here and you know, they can see that product we have people from all over the country if not the globe coming here. When they come to see heaven Hillary Jim Beam or Maker's Mark or limestone branch down in Lebanon, they drive right past us now. So we're in a very unique spot here that 25:50 it allows us to help grow. Yeah, I mean, go ahead, right. Oh, no, good. All right. Well, I'll keep going. I mean, cuz i was i was talking about like his Yeah, I mean, we talked about 26:00 Kind of beginning to show that you know, the rebel gal David Nicholson blood oath like Ezra books like these are these are pretty iconic names in in whiskey like they've been around for a long time but people didn't really know a lot of the background. And so Lux ro is also is it underneath the umbrella or an extension of Lux co as well? Can you kind of talk about the differences what you have there? Yeah, absolutely. So Lux CO is I like to call it our parent brand. But Lux Lux row is actually technically a supplier of Lux Co. You know, we own it as a family. My dad, you know, is the chairman CEO still of Lux row, but we act as a supplier for Lux, COEs Bourbons. But we're also you know, owned and operated family operated out of St. Louis with my father. myself my brother my mom. My brother's not in the industry. he's a he's an aerospace engineer, but he's the winner. Yes, James. He's a one a little bit of a different path than myself But no, to each its own. Yeah. 27:00 I found you know, a niche here but yeah, I mean Lux CO is is a worldwide supplier of spirits. We own a multitude of about 100 different brands everclear probably being the biggest my grandpa Paul purchase that, you know, way back in the day that was his first popular guy in college. And to this day I'm proud to admit I've actually never drink and everclear Yeah, it really is brutal. Yeah, never drink and it was like hooch or something. 27:28 So it's, it's, you know, everclear is you know, the biggest one but then we've got you know, provoq arrow cordials we own three different two kilos, whereas tequila, which is our mixto which you can find in you know, like a Texas Roadhouse Well, it's you well Margarita is usually whereas tequila, we have LA or tequila, which is our ultra premium as well as exotic tequila. All based out of Mexico. But it all you know, we're the supplier for that. So we we've been partners with the Gonzales family over there for 28:00 3040 years my grandfather worked with Rodolfo Gonzales his father so so very family oriented. And then over on locks row even you obviously can't get to locks row if you don't have locks. 28:11 And so we've over the past 20 years we've purchased all of our bourbon brands as your Brooks been the first and 93 from Glenmore distillers. And then we had Rebel Yell in 99. We purchased from Stetson Weller, David Nicholson is one of my favorite brands to talk about because it started originally started in St. Louis, Missouri, and we can go into that story. You got a little bit of a soft spot for St. Louis don't I do I do St. Louis born and raised my hometown. Got to give a shout out to our blue Stanley Cup champions. But you know, all of our brands have a very unique backstory to them very unique roots. That's why here at Lux row we are I guess motto is real roots real family real products. We have the roots not only with the products, but the real roots here in Bardstown with the Ballard 29:00 farm. They've lived there and and Ryan you know this but 29:05 big john Ballard lived there for 40 years raised his kids there, his grandkids there. I mean, this was their family farm. So we have the real roots with the products as well as with the farm. We've got the real family with myself, my dad, my mom being the creative director. So she worked her butt off, you know, getting this place up the top notch, you know, within two years, and then we've got the real products and the drinkability obviously speaks for themselves when you when you let them touch your lips, but each one has different wards. As what to say cuz the ezard Brooks barrel proof kind of went off gangbusters this year. Yeah, we're going crazy. It was crazy. Yeah. So we'll right when we introduced it wherever we reintroduced it, Fred. 29:45 Fred MiniK, who's never heard it never had that. But he called it he called it his, 29:52 his 2018 everyday sipping whiskey of the year, which absolutely blew it off the rails, all the allocations from across the country. We're going to 30:00 Wire. And so people you know we're in love with it and then somehow some way it one in San Francisco 2019 straight bourbon of the year 2018 straight straight whiskey of the year, which was absolutely huge for us once again. But then David Nicholson reserve back to back 2000 back to back double Gold's in San Francisco and in 2017 2018 as well as straight bourbon of the year 2017 Rebel Yell 10 year old single barrel was top 20 whiskies of the world it was number 12 there were only three American whiskeys on that. So we were really really fortunate to you know to have that one it's also very delicious product as well as won some some gold medals. So each one you know that real roots, real family real products, you know really comes into play with Lux row as well as Lux CO and St. Louis. But you know, very family oriented but Lux Lux row is what we that's what we strive here. So he says your dad ever told you about how you had the foresight to like start buying up these brands like before the you know, the big boom 31:00 Like, has he ever talked about that? Like, why did he get why did bourbon interesting, I guess from in the early 90s? When no one cared? Yeah, it's a great question and I'll need to, to pick his brain about that. Because, you know, I should definitely know that I know that. He's always looking to acquire and sell different brands, whether it be bourbon or, or rum or vodka, or tequila, stuff like that. But, 31:24 you know, he's, he sees an opportunity, and he'll jump on it. I mean, David Nicholson, he literally bought that product from the Van Winkle family. He was on the phone with Julian Van Winkle, which is pretty cool story, especially. I mean, if you guys want I mean, I can go into you know how David Nicholson 1843 came about, do it. Let's hear it. But so my favorite This is my favorite story to tell about our Bourbons because it hits home for me, it goes back to 1843. I've looked it up on Google, and actually found it. Actually, it actually found David Nicholson's grocery store that I'm about to talk about in St. Louis. Okay. He was a great 32:00 grocery store owner back in 1843 in St. Louis, Missouri. So he made that four year old weeded bourbon in his basement of his grocery store 50 years later as well, it's like you can do that 50 years later in 1893, some guy named Pappy Van Winkle. Never heard of them might know something about we did bourbon. I'm not sure. What's that? Yeah, exactly. He purchased that product continued that Nashville and then in 2000, my father, Don purchased that product from from Julian Van Winkle. So which means we've now brought that full circle from 1843. Back to St. Louis, where it originally started, which is a really cool story to tell. It's 100% true, and it it puts that family you know, atmosphere that family feel back in that product that has been there throughout time but might not have been recognized. And then we introduce David Nicholson reserve that won a bunch of awards. It's not it's a seven year ride bourbon at 100 proof so they they interact with each other very well. 33:00 They're different taste profiles, one's very creamy, one's still a little bit sweeter because of that we did bourbon. 33:06 So that you know, that's David Nicholson is a really cool story with with roots dating back to 1843, but also roots a back to the Van Winkle family. So where was blood oath made? Not a grocery store, right? How not to talk about that, and how it got its name and how it made it wait made its way to your portfolio. So blood oath was a product that were our head distillers very, very fond of john rappy. We wanted something that he could put his name to, and that it could be his in that he could continue to create, you know, delicious blends, you know, year after year. So, you know, john goes to different places and different distilleries and finds very unique barrels that he can blend together. And what we wanted was three extra age Bourbons blended together with a unique bourbon that's finished in something different. So packed, one was 34:00 three extra age Bourbons blended together not finishing anything unique barrel after that and pack to three extra age Bourbons, one of which was finished in a pork barrel from Meyers winery in Cincinnati. 34:12 also failed and operated with my cousin Paul Lux who owns Meyers winery. Pack three was finishing a Cabernet 70 on barrel for an extra six months. JOHN actually went out to Napa Valley and pick those barrels from the the smiley or the head wine guy you know at Swanson vineyards Napa Valley pack for was finished in Rebel Yell 10 year old toasted oak single barrel. So that was a 10 year old, a 12 year old and a nine year old and that nine year old was finished for an extra six months. So you got very dark chocolate notes. So these are all things that you know, john, personally, you know, puts that bourbon in those barrels and tastes them month over month to make sure that they're at that flavor profile that he wants. So when I tasted that blood oath, or that that nine year coming out of 35:00 Those old 10 year old toasted oak barrels It was very dark chocolate tasted not like chocolate milk, but kind of cocoa almost. It had a very, you know, chocolatey taste to it and then pack five you know, everybody's looking for that extra aged, super high proof, very unique Bourbons these days, so pack five, it's a, 35:21 an eight year old 12 year old and a 13 year old and that the eight year old rize actually finished for an extra six months and Caribbean rum cast. So that's what we're drinking right now. Nice. That Caribbean rum casks you get 35:33 you get very sweet and sweet. Yeah, Ryan signs empty, sweet sugary notes on the front end. You get like dark fruit banana, you get that okayness coming through from that extra age that you know 13 and 12 year old coming through there. So blood oath is something that 35:51 you know, the but the blood of the tests is that you know, nobody knows where he finds his barrels or his bourbon but you know, he puts together 36:00 product that is very unique and is for the the bourbon enthusiast. And if you'd like I can read you know what the actual blood oath label says on there. But it'll, it'll, it gives the whole story but if you think about it, you prick your finger with a buddy, and you make a blood oath, you know, you don't tell, you know, tell those things. Only you guys know where it's from, and tell you get on the podcast and 36:23 reveal everything. It's all we do. We sit here and poke and prod until you run out mash bills and ages and where your source your barrels, we save our blood. 36:32 So that's cool. I mean, that's, I think that's a side of, of, at least that particular brand that most people don't know about. You know, for I mean, I can remember when I think blood was packed, one came out, and there was just kind of this, like, what is this? Where do they come from? It's in a box like, what, what is this stuff? And so now we kind of have a little bit more of the information and really kind of what goes into it now. Now I know that each pact is uniquely different as well. It's not so 37:00 supposed to be this 37:02 similar creation over and over and over again? Yeah, the main similarity and that's only three barrels yet another thing to three three extra age Bourbons is the main submit similarity, excuse me, and, you know, each year, different box different label different flavor profile completely. And it's something that that john can really get behind and put, you know, a lot of his passion to it as well, other than, you know, all the other Bourbons, but he loves the blood oath, and it's growing in popularity, you know, year over year, we've continually made more of it. It's still allocated. 37:36 But I believe we made 37:39 I think it's 5003 in cases for this one, so about 15,000 bottles, maybe a little bit more might be vitamin 17,000 bottles, but it's allocated bottles for three barrels. You know how you're doing that? 37:51 Well, it's not three barrels total. Oh, yeah. Okay. 37:55 I thought it would be different. I literally thought it was like three barrels. No, no, so like, math as well. 38:00 All right, we'll take about we'll take about 40. 38:03 About 40 barrels. So like with the pack for we had 40 to 10 year old barrels that we sent back to the cooperage, they took them apart, scrape the number three char off, put them back together, suck a flaming hot rod in the middle for about an hour, put a very deep toast on them, put it back together and send it back to us. And then we aged that nine year old or finished that nine year old for an extra six months in those barrels. So it wasn't all three Bourbons finishing those barrels, it was only that one. So then john will blend them together in whatever way he finds, you know, best so that he gets those flavor profiles that he's looking for. So it's more than just it's three, three types of barrels. But it's not three barrels total. Gotcha. And so it was was Rebel Yell acquired at the same time as David Nicholson. About a year before but right around the same time. Yeah. Yeah. Because that's, that already has a pretty historic past, you know, being something that was at Stillwell or stuff like that, you know, it's it's good to kind of get the background of 39:00 What these are and I'm assuming this is this is the the line that you have right now in your Bourbons. Yeah Miss Rebel Yell at her Brooke split oath and David Nicholson, the Rebel Yell we just reintroduce, or we just new label on it, which you know pops much better than the old one, you can really read the lettering. So we've reintroduced that to the, to the market. 39:22 You know, we're coming out with new bottles and new new products eventually, as you know, as we get going. 39:32 There'll be there'll be something along the lines of you know, a regular or just like a distillery product from Lux row. 39:40 So definitely look look forward to seeing that at some point. 39:45 But yeah, this is this is our line. These four products are two mash bills. I ride Nashville and our we did Nashville, we can get to all of our products from those. Hmm. And so I guess let's talk a little bit about the distillery here because 40:00 Cuz we mentioned when we were walking and talking, breaking ground around 2016, which was, you know, for us, I remember doing the podcast and we're like, oh, what's this place that's getting ready to start and we didn't really, really think anything of it now, a couple years later, we're here finally doing a podcast. Yeah. And then you realize they make you know, they have Rebel Yell and all those brands, all the big brands, yeah, I'd never heard of before. And so kind of talk about the the timeline of breaking ground. When you first started distilling, getting everything online, first barrel, everything like that. Yes. So see, we broke ground, January 2016. 40:39 The ballers lived in that house pretty much two weeks until we broke ground on the property. So it was still their family farm pretty much up until then, I mean, we obviously haven't get out. 40:50 So yeah, we broke ground, January 2016. We're on about a two year you know, we wanted it to be you know, up and running in two years. So 41:00 January 2018, I think January 10. We filled our first barrel, January 5, we turned the steel on. 41:06 And then April 11, we opened up to the public. So that was our grand opening. And that was a huge day not only for our family, but for our company. It was the largest investment that we've ever made for our company. But it was really big in nursery, more morale, but just for the whole team, I mean, my dad shut down our whole company in St. Louis and bust about 350 of his employees out here so that they could stand out on this front lawn while we had bagpipers walking, you know, taking my mom and my dad and David Bratcher, the president of our company down to the flagpole to, you know, to raise that Lux row flag for the first day. So you got people that, you know, have worked have driven a forklift in a warehouse in St. Louis for 30 years, with a smile on their face coming to work every day for my dad and my grandfather. That got to come out here and see firsthand where they're, you know where that Rebel Yell or that Ezra Brooks is that they're pushing every single 42:00 All day unloading trucks they got to see firsthand where that's made with with their co workers. And it really spoke volumes you know who our family is and what we're all about and just to have everybody out here is just a really cool experience. You know, April 11 2018 we'll remember that day is you know, the day that you know we we cut the ribbon on this place and open it up to the world and that really is what you know what what we did you know, not only here in Bardstown but i mean i'm going to London next week to you know, work in the market with our with Ezra Brooks and rebel yo with our, our international reps over there. So 42:37 to see a grow over the past, whatever it is year and a little over a year and a half now from where it was to where it is now and then just envisioning where it can go, you know, over the next two 510 years and past that is really special and just to see, you know, everybody in the company, really get behind 43:00 Everybody in you know, in our bourbon 43:03 section of Lux co get behind it and all the events that we're doing, we're now going to be at at every whiskey fest around the country. So Chicago, San Francisco, New York. 43:16 I'm missing a couple nights, but there's no whiskey fest whiskey in the winter in St. Louis. We'll have a booth there. So you know, the everybody's really getting behind it, especially here in Bardstown. I mean, you got to tell better mommies, they've got our products and they love it and they'll they'll sell it or 43:34 you gotta love Manny's Gotta love nannies you can't go wrong with the country cooking there. Yeah, we had one actually. We had a group that came here. I was like a VIP tour or something. And they went to mommies for breakfast. And they were just like, That was crazy. The pancakes are huge. And I couldn't even like we're bloated. Yeah. secondaries. Yeah. 43:54 So talk about why did you all decided to do the distiller here and not kind of do a footprint 44:00 You know in St. Louis, 44:04 there are more craft distilleries popping up around the country now, more than ever before. So how do you find the best stories and the best flavors? Well, rack house whiskey club is a whiskey of the Month Club, and they're on a mission to uncover the best flavors and stories that craft distilleries across the US have to offer rack houses box shipped out every two months to 39 states across the US and rack houses April box, they're featuring a distillery that mixes Seattle craft, Texas heritage and Scottish know how rack house whiskey club is shipping out to whiskies from two bar spirits located near downtown Seattle, including their straight bourbon, go to rack house whiskey club comm to check it out and try some for yourself. Use code pursuit for $25 off your first box. 44:52 Why did you all decided to do the distiller here and not kind of do a footprint you know in St. Louis, you know you got a bunch of breweries here 45:00 They're, you know, a nice big city like, you know, in your bottling they're still currently why not do it there and instead of kind of putting your foots down here or not your foot putting making your stamp here in Bardstown? Yeah, definitely, I mean, I think I think that you know Bardstown is the heart of bourbon country. And we found that I think we wanted to be around everybody else. I think it definitely helps us being here. Versus you know, being in St. Louis. We have our other our plant in St. Louis, where everything else is made. But you know, this is bourbon country and we wanted to be by by the other distilleries, and we wanted to be right in the heart of it. Like I said earlier, you know, the, the Napa Valley of the, you know, of the Midwest is that bourbon trail right now, and yes, people are going through St. Louis to you, but they're gonna go there and see beer when they're coming through Kentucky. They're coming for bourbon and we needed somewhere that could be you know, 100% about our Bourbons that we could, you know, really get behind and, and we 46:00 been, you know, we've been sourcing for 20 years so we've been driving our barrels from Kentucky back to St. Louis for 20 years and it's been working for us why change anything now? Why not you know break ground in the heart of bourbon country where we have that limestone filtered water. I mean, we just still we cook we ferment with Bardstown city water, this limestone filter we don't do anything with you know, with it when we're putting in the cooks or anything like that. Well, you know, we'll reverse osmosis, purify it when we're, you know, we're proofing down everything, but to be here in Bardstown in the heart of it is what it's all about, and that's where the most traffic is. That's where people want to want to come to see that bourbon, and also, in Kentucky in it's the same weather as Missouri. You just get it about a day later, but you get all four seasons. You get all four seasons, very hot summers, very cold winters. So that aging process is really unique here in Kentucky, 46:54 and is probably the best agent process for bourbon. 46:58 So I mean 47:00 We're right in the home in Lebanon, Kentucky is not far away so independence Dave it's easy to get barrels from them. Everything very centrally located here in Kentucky. selfishly I like being in Kentucky because it's close enough to St. Louis Right. You can drive back for a few hours and one hour drive. Yeah, it's not bad at all. But I think this is where the majority of people know what they're talking about here in Kentucky for bourbon. And you know, when I got started I in the industry I it was a little challenging for me because I was kind of just cold calling on different bars and restaurants and stuff like that and the saturation of bourbon in in Kentucky. Louisville is just insane. I mean, you go into any bar and there's more than 100 Bourbons on there. So 47:48 to be able to get our name behind something that can compete directly with those big brands. With Lux ro but also you know, Rebel Yell is growing as her Brooks is growing. David Nicholson is growing. David Nicholson reserved 48:00 The biggest you know our top skew coming out of the distillery here you know it's it definitely speaks to the location that we're in. I guess I forgot to question about this so what's there between this the regular David Nicholson and the reserve the 1843 is a four year old we did at 100 proof so for us we did bourbon in the reserves a seven year old ride burn out 100 proof There we go. Yeah, so once we add ones ride, Alright, so now our listeners know exactly what you're looking at when you're perusing your store shelves. 48:29 So I guess, you know, as we kind of keep talking about the the distillery here and everything like that, what's the I mean, it's a massive still so kind of talk about the relationship you have with Vendome and and the size of it and kind of like how much product you're pumping out to. Definitely so yeah, we got are still 43 feet tall. 36 inches in diameter handmade custom copper still from Vendome in Louisville. So family operated with the Sherman family. 48:54 They are the best when it comes to still making this obviously, other stills hillbillies. 49:00 Try it instills. I would think Vendome is up there with, you know, the best in the industry. 49:07 But yeah, so Ours is a 43 foot column still, which then feeds the low wine into our doubler, which is also made by Vendome. I'm not 100% sure the capacity of the doubler. But once it gets into that double, there's a slide on that one. 49:23 pure, pure alcohol in there, no more grains or anything. And we're going to pump out about a million million gallons a year, which is about 70 barrels a day with the capacity to do about what we do about 20,000 barrels a year and we have the capacity to do about 50,000 barrels a year. If we add a couple fermenters 49:42 down the road when when we need that to production to jump up. Is that based off like what you're kind of seeing sales in the marketplace, either current brands or more is that kind of like we see this is the growth of what this company is going to be. Yeah, a little four to five years. Obviously, there's projections and I don't see those projects. 50:00 firsthand, but I think you know, we deplete about 20,000 barrels a year. So maybe a little bit less. But as as those projections and stuff as we get rid of some other barrels that we have at other distilleries will, you know, by the time those are finished, we'll be ready to dump our first four year old barrel here and we can just kind of jump right into it same seamlessly and that's what was kind of unique about us building building here as well is that you know, we've been in the bourbon industry owning our own Bourbons for over 20 years and and we've been doing it you know, we've we've had it it working very well and very good relationships and to have those those products. We're doing the same thing that those other distilleries had been doing for us, except now everything's in house and we can just, we were able to have have barrels aging, 50:56 continue producing those products and having them in the market. Why 51:00 We're building our distillery. So whereas you know, a smaller craft distillery that's just popping up out of the ground, they're either going to source their product off the start, or they have to wait, you know, a year or two years for their first product to come off the still or to be dumped out of the barrel for us, we could just jump right into it. 51:18 And they're not too much of a leeway. And in you know, getting that still turned on pumping out juice and just jumping right back into that, that process of putting bourbon in, you know, on the shelf. Yeah, I guess that that also kind of leads into another question is when you start thinking about when the day does come when your barrels are ready, until you said like 20 2022 2022 is kind of like the date that you all are aiming at. Is there ever any any worry because, you know, if you're, if you're sourcing and you're buying and you've been buying at a consistent product, and you kind of know exactly like what it's going to be at that age, you have a little high confidence and then now you're kind of like Okay, now we're working with our equipment. 52:00 Is there any sort of thoughts or worries to say like, God, I really hope it's gonna be ready in four years. Personally, I don't have any worry. But people in the industry I'm sure will have worry. 52:12 For I don't have any worry for a couple reasons. One, I've tasted our year juice that came out of our first make barrels. And it's absolutely delicious at 125 proof very calmly, very dark for a year, which gave me a lot of confidence into what we're going to be taking out of those barrels, you know, three years down the road, but also when when we're doing the exact same thing that those other distilleries you know, had been doing for us for 20 years, our head distiller was, was you know, we were deciding what that Nashville was going to be stuff like that. But when we pull our barrels, you know, especially for our Rebel Yell, and our Ezra Brooks, as well as some for the David Nicholson, but mostly the rebel Jonas for Brooks, we're going to pull in a cross sectional method from the Rick house, so we're not going to rotate any of our barrels so when we pull those barrels, we're going to pulled 200 barrels, maybe 250 barrels at a time and blow 53:00 those all together to get to that consistent, you know, flavor or proof that we've had for the past 20 years that's been, you know, award winning or that we've been putting on the shelves year in and year out. So, and that's all tested by our head distiller and some people back in St. Louis to making sure those flavors are there. But me personally, I don't really have anywhere because we have the best in business, you know, doing what, what they do here, but I'm sure that's going to be a thought of some people once we get our first product, you know, that we actually distilled here, you know, into the market. Y'all trying to kind of replicate the existing profiles you have now with the existing brands is that kind of what your match bills are geared towards is kind of replicating the agenda now. It's gonna be the same Nashville, we're using the same corn we're using the same wheat or rye, we're using the same yeast, everything like that. We're just doing it in house now. So gotcha. You know, it's, it's hard to I would think that would be the smart way to do it. 53:56 Yeah, I mean, it's it's hard to it's hard to kind of replicated 54:00 offer, you know, a year and seven month old barrel shirt. As we get closer and closer, I'm sure that replication process will become more in depth and taking a couple different barrels and mixing them together and proofing them down to see if we can get to that exact proof 54:17 for that exact flavor profile, which I know we will. 54:22 But yeah, I mean, there's definitely, I'm sure there's definitely some worry or thought into if it's going to be exactly the same. Mm hmm. I mean, I think that's always a always a concern when you're doing this and figuring out Okay, do we do we keep the sourcing do we start blending a little bit, that sort of thing as you start going down that path? Even more? 54:44 And so we kind of went on the tour kind of so we have what 1212 fermenters here 12 54:51 I'm already testing my knowledge here. 12 fermenters a massive still doubler what else am I missing that we kind of solve on our little tour here? 55:00 We talk about think tanks. So you got some proofing tanks, we'll we'll put, we'll put juice in the proofing tank said 140. And we'll prove it down to 120 4.9. For it to be bourbon can't go in 125 or higher. And so we'll talk about the storage capacity we have here too, because we were able to go inside there you have this beautiful wall of barrels, anybody that missed you can always check out Instagram scroll way, way, way back and you can probably find it but there was a an idea that they had of being able to make an impact when you come into a particular warehouse 55:34 to kind of talk about what that is. Yeah, so my dad Don and David Brasher, the president of the company had a really good good really great idea honestly to take out first couple Rick's and and Rick house and just make a big wall of barrels that people could see and, and allow people to really, you know, see what a wreck house looks like see the magnitude of a wreck house. 55:59 You 56:00 See how many barrels are in a wreck house from floor to ceiling instead of just being in a confined claustrophobic area and and leave you know a lasting impression on on people that come to the distillery 56:13 I don't don't quote me on this but I believe it's probably the number one picture people take at our distillery once they get in there the wow factor is definitely ducks. Yeah number two speaker blend them together and make one 56:26 you know the wow factors you know definitely there we have we have in that Rick house will all of them were are built by bucyk construction here in Bardstown also family owned operated. But you know, they were kind of skeptical about it at first until they did some engineering on it and they found a way that it would work. And so we were the first ones to do it. We're one of you know that Rick house is one of a kind in the industry. So they've bucyk is brought other people you know, that are maybe interested in it to kind of look at that, but all of our rec houses aren't like that. So that one holds our first one Rick house, one holds 57:00 19,200 barrels, and then all of our other Rick houses hold about 20,000 barrels. So if my math is right, about an 800 barrel sacrifice about 800 barrel sacrifice and we definitely think that that sacrifice you know paid off an aesthetic purposes. 57:18 I'm hoping that those barrels stay on that wall for a very long time, at least like 10 years. Me personally, but I'm not the one calling the shots when it comes to what barrels are being pulled. But, you know, we've got some special barrels on that wall that people can see and hear the story about. 57:36 And you know, those brick houses, that's where the magic really happens. I mean, in my mind the barrels most influential aspect of the bourbon process, see 70% of the flavor or 70% of the flavor 100% of the color. So it'll be interesting to see how a little bit of that extra airflow kind of affects the barrels in a positive or negative way. We hope all positive Yeah. 58:00 Either absolutely, hundred percent. But, you know, it's it's just we tried to be differentiate ourselves from other distilleries in a few different ways through visuals, whether it be the video at the start of the tour, the artwork throughout the tour, or, you know, the Rick house, you know, very, very visually appealing that people you know, it sticks with them when they when they leave here. Yeah, it's one of the first warehouses we've been around to recently that doesn't have like the black fungus several or Yeah, so we don't have that yet. We'll get better. I think it's starting to grow on a couple of the small trees out there. Yeah. 58:40 It's like every tree bars on the black like, like you brazenly like what's wrong with your trees? It's like, I'm worried. It's just the 58:47 tree. It's just the bourbon. It's just the bourbon talking. Yeah. So you know, last thing I want to kind of talk about because I think the brands are a very sort of focus for what you do in all the ambassadors 59:00 centering. I think that's a word that you that you do around the globe, sort of what is what has been like the one thing that people latch on to when you talk to them about their brand or about your brands? Like is there one thing in particular each one of these that they're kind of like, oh, wow, like, I didn't know that, or that's a pretty cool little factoid. I think there's there's a couple things. I think the roots behind each one of our brands is very unique. And people don't realize the roots that you know, each brand has come from, I mean, you mentioned if you mentioned stitz, a Weller to anyone that you know, drinks bourbon, they know that it was a very prestigious distillery back in the day that you know, has amazing juice that we've continued that you know, that process or you mentioned, the Van Winkle family. 59:44 Everybody knows who you are, most people that drink bourbon, know who, you know, the van winkles are so I think that the, the, the roots of each one of our Bourbons is very unique. The flavor profile is very unique, but what I really enjoy about this job 1:00:00 is telling our family story and how we've grown throughout the past 60 years, starting as just a small you know, private label distribution company in modeler all the way up to one of the top suppliers and you know, in the country, if not the world of spirits and to be able to grow that family name into bourbon is very special for for not only myself but for our family as a whole. I mean, I've my mom, and it was absolutely a job to raise me over, you know, 25 years but she put her heart and soul into this distillery for two year process and, you know, 1:00:45 the tasting room the visitor experience that was all her so to see, to be able to tell our family's story and put it behind not only the brands but the whole distillery in general is very special and I think people will actually latch on to it. 1:01:00 at, you know, whiskey fests and stuff like that. Because 1:01:06 no, okay, like you're saying, some people do know the brands, some people don't know the brands and, and if you can give them something to latch on to that reminds them of that brand. I think it's it helps them, you know, one they'll drink it, they'll maybe ask for that over a different product and at the store after, you know, they go from San Francisco whiskey fest drinking all day and night and the next morning, they're like, oh, what was you know, what was that? What was that product from Lux, Rhoda. Still it was that thing I can't remember. And then maybe, maybe they remember it. Or maybe I was just in the liquor store that they go to. And they walk in there. And I was just, I personally had just been talking to the owner and talk to them and explained all of our brands. So they walk in there and they say, Oh, do you have any brands from Lexapro, distillers? Oh yeah, we have Rebel Yell we have as Rob Brooks. We have these great 1:02:00 Are any of those ringing a bell and they can kind of relate to, y

27 October 2019 | Pastor Evan Curry | Acts 8:26-40 | 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. 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 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “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. 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. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 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?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 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. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

FIRST READING - Acts 6:1-10, Acts 8:26-40 In the early days of the church, when the number of disciples was constantly growing, the Greek believers complained against the Hebrew believers, because when the shared food was distributed each day, the Greek widows were neglected. The twelve disciples called together the whole community and said, “We should not neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may commission for this work.” What they said pleased everyone, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Nicholas, and four others. They had these men stand before the twelve disciples, who prayed and laid their hands on them. The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests there became believers. Stephen was full of grace and power, and he did incredible miracles. When some members of other synagogues stood up and argued with Stephen, they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south, to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. At the same time there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the queen of Ethiopia, who was in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading aloud the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The man replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 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 silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth.In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.”The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom does the prophet say this -- about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to the man the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, water right here in the desert! What can prevent me from being baptized?” He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself in a city about ten miles away, and as he was headed home, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns he passed through. THE GOOD NEWS - John 21:1, 9-17 Reader: After he had appeared to the disciples, the risen Jesus showed himself to them again. Peter and six other disciples had gone fishing in the Sea of Tiberias. When they got to shore, Jesus was there, beside a charcoal fire with fish on it, and bread to share. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, All: “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Reader: Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, All: “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Reader: Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, All: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Reader: Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” Leader: This is the good news of God’s work in the world.All: Praise to you, O Christ.

Thanks to Jeff Lane for visiting from Shore Baptist to tell us about the student ministries happening in Auckland. Jeff works for OMF NZ, has been seconded to Tertiary Students Christian Fellowship (TSCF), and works with international students at Massey University, Albany. He previously worked with OMF in China and Taiwan for several years and now primarily works with Chinese students here in NZ. Acts 8:26-40: Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 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. 29 And 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 he 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... Read More Source

Scripture:Acts 8:28-40 (NRSV)28 and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside 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 silent before its shearer, so he does not open 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 The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” 38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.Worship Set:“Unstoppable God” - Elevation Worship“Give Me Faith” - Elevation Worship“Oceans” - Hillsong“Doxology” - Traditional“It Is Well With My Soul / Lord I Need You” - Traditional / Matt Maher

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 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.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 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “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.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. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 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?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.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. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. Acts 8:26-40

Scripture:Acts 8:28-40 (NRSV)28 and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside 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 silent before its shearer, so he does not open 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 The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” 38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.Worship Set:“Great Things” - Phil Wickham“Who You Say I Am” - Hillsong“Just As I Am” - Matt Maher“Doxology” - Traditional“Build My Life” - Pat Barrett

Download Sermon Slides Acts 8And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city.9 But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.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. 29 And 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 he 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?” 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.

Acts 8:26-33 (NKJV) 26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. 27 So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.”

By Reverend Dave Park Acts 8:26–40Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch[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. [29] And 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 he 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?” [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. (ESV)

Acts 8:26-40 English Standard Version (ESV) Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south[a] 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. 29 And 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 he 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?”[b] 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.

Do You Understand What You Are Reading?Acts 8:26-40October 7, 2018Pastor Tony Felich----more---- Acts 8:26 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. [29] And 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 he 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 slaughterand 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?” [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. Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian was not by chance. It is a picture of evangelism and the sovereignty of God.   The Sovereignty of God (26-28) The Providence of God (26-28) Guidance from the Spirit of God (29) Our Personal Responsibility (30) Revelation (God’s Word) (31-33) Interpretation of the Word (34-35) Evangelism (proclaiming Christ) (35) Profession of Faith in Christ (36) Baptism to identify with Christ outwardly (36-39)

Acts 8:26-4026 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. 29 And 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 he 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?” 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.

Fifth Sunday of Easter Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Acts 8:26-40 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it." So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 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 silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth." The eunuch asked Philip, "About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?" He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. The Gospel: John 14:15-21 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them." Preface of Easter: But chiefly are we bound to praise you for the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; for he is the true Paschal Lamb, who was sacrificed for us, and has taken away the sin of the world. By his death he has destroyed death, and by his rising to life again he has won for us everlasting life.

Acts 8:26–40 (ESV) — 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. 29 And 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 he 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?” 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.

The audio and the full text of the sermon are below. There are also questions for reflection at the bottom. Feel free to discuss on our sermon discussion group on Facebook.This is part one in a five part series on The Servant Songs. Acts 8:26-39 (NRSV)26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south[g] to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) 27 So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside 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 silent before its shearer, so he does not open 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 The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” 38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.Phillip is told by an angel to go to a particular road. Phillip goes. On that road there was a chariot, parked for the time being I suppose, and in the chariot was an Ethiopian official who was in charge of the royal treasury. This official, who remains nameless, had come to Jerusalem to worship God and was returning home. The Holy Spirit tells Phillip to go over to the chariot. Phillip goes, and hears the Ethiopian official reading out loud from Isaiah. Phillip asks, “do you understand what you’re reading?” The official answers back, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And then the official invites Phillip to join him. After reading a section, specifically Isaiah 53:7-8, the Ethiopian official asks Phillip whether the prophet is referring to himself or to someone else. The passage the Ethiopian official read is from one of the four servant songs, which are found in Isaiah 42:1-9, Isaiah 49:1-13, Isaiah 50:4-9, and Isaiah 52:13-53:12.These four passages didn’t come to be known as the Servant Songs until Berhard Duhm identified them that way in 1922. Interestingly, they aren’t actual songs - they are simply part of the poetry of Isaiah. Duhm didn’t call them songs either. It is likely that the German word dichtung was simply mistranslated as song, rather than poem. “Servant Songs” does have a nicer ring to it, though. Duhm had some very specific theories about his Servant Poems, but ever since 1922, the great debate around these songs has echoed the Ethiopian Official’s question to Phillip, that was asked close to two millennia ago - about whom is the prophet speaking? Or, more directly - who is the servant of the Servant Songs?In 1948, Christopher North, in his book The Suffering Servant in Deutero-Isaiah summarized about 50 years of debate, some of which predated Duhm’s theories, about the servant’s identity. North found scholars in the first half of the twentieth century to be all over the map on this question. Here is a list of who scholars claimed the servant could be (don’t worry if you don’t recognize all these names):- Eleazar- Zerubbabel- Jehoiachin- Moses- Ezekiel- Hezekiah- Jeremiah- Uzziah- Cyrus- Isaiah himself- An unknown teacher of the law- An anonymous messianic figure already born in the prophet’s time- A personification of the collective Israel- A personification of an ideal Israel- A pious remnant of Israel- A future messianic figure- A mythological/symbolic figureSo, who is it? The Christian might want to immediate jump to identify the servant as a future messianic figure (i.e. Jesus), but remember that each of the early twentieth century scholars North cited were Christians themselves trying to solve a puzzle presented by a very ancient text.We may also be quick to claim that Phillip gives the answer. Phillip answers the servant identity question with “Jesus” so shouldn’t we. On closer examination of the exchange between Phillip and the Ethiopian Official, we find that Phillip didn’t simply jump to Jesus. Rather, we are told that “Phillip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus.”We do not know whether Phillip drew a direct correlation between the servant and Jesus. What we do know is that Phillip pointed someone who did not know the good news toward Jesus by using this text. Had the Ethiopian Official been reading a different biblical text, surely Phillip would have still pointed him to the good news about Jesus by using whichever text was at hand. This tells us less about the servant songs and more about the truth that we cling to that Scripture in its entirety points to Jesus Christ.Whatever Phillip said to the Ethiopian Official, the Holy Spirit was at work in the man’s heart. Phillip told him the good news about Jesus and, as they drove along in the chariot, they saw some water by the side of the road. The Official stops the chariot and says “What is to prevent me from being baptized?”This is really quite remarkable. The official makes a connection between the good news that Phillip shares and his participation in the good news, and he makes that connection in an instant. The Ethiopian Official is basically saying “if what you are saying is true, then I should be baptized just like anyone else.” This makes a powerful statement about the good news. The good news as Phillip told it must have been focussed on the fact that anyone could be part of God’s covenant people through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus had made it possible for more that the Jewish people to be in this covenant and it was a done deal. It was news, news about an event, something that God had already accomplished through Jesus. Phillip was not asking the Ethiopian Official to make a choice, or to accept Jesus into his heart. He was simply telling him that God’s grace was available to him without the requirements of adhering to law or custom. God’s grace was for him because of Jesus. Period. The Official’s request, no, demand for baptism, came from his joy and enthusiasm to participate in the life that God was now offering him in Christ. “If this is really true, then I am claiming it. Try and stop me from being baptized. There’s some water - I’m in!”We could spend an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out who the servant is in the servant songs. We could try and answer the Ethiopian Official’s question. We could try and piece together exactly what Phillip said and whether he began by telling the Official that the prophet was in fact speaking of Jesus.We could also ask a different “who” question. Who are you in this story?Phillip and the Ethiopian are both strong characters in what is a wonderful narrative told by a master storyteller. Which one are you?Before you answer, let’s examine the character of each very briefly.The Ethiopian Official believes in God, he worships the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He reads from the Bible and tries to understand it. At the beginning of our story he does not yet know about Jesus, or at least, he does not know the implications of the good news. He is a seeker. He is interested in God. When he hears the good news, he is ready to receive it and it had a changing effect on him. Phillip acts as a mentor for the Ethiopian Official. He helps a seeker find. He explains scripture through the lens of Jesus and the gospel. Phillip proclaims the good news in a conversation. In so doing, Phillip re-affirms his own belief, his own convictions about God, and especially about Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus is to be found at the very centre of Phillip’s convictions about God.When the Ethiopian Official is baptized there is also an effect on Phillip. He would have remembered his own baptism and had it renewed.Are you a seeker needing to find? Or are you a mentor who also needs renewal? While this story is very unique in the New Testament, it’s overall theme is not. One mentors another in the gospel. This is essentially what Jesus asked his disciples to do when he commissioned them to go into all the world and make disciples of all manner of people. The church in the west went through a time where we shyed away from this, or perhaps felt that it was no longer needed. Institutions took care of this, culture took care of this. But mentoring others in faith is very much needed today. Every Christian at one time or another can see themselves in this story. Every believer will, at one time or another, feel very much like the Ethiopian Official - not quite understanding, but seeking, and hoping that the seeking is not hopeless. The hope is that every seeker and mentor will gain or regain an enthusiasm for faith - “you can’t stop me from being baptized!” The hope is also that every Christian will have opportunities to be Phillip, and share the gospel with someone who has not yet heard it. The opportunities for this are more and more frequent in our world.The Church needs to find ways of walking alongside seekers the way Phillip walked alongside. It’s not as though the Church never did this before - we have simply forgotten. One of the most powerful ways that this is displayed is in the season of Lent.For much of the history of the Church, people were baptized at Easter, and quite often, only at Easter. This is still true in many corners of the church. Also, for much of Christian history, those to be baptized or confirmed, if they were baptized as an infant, went through a long process of preparation. For many this process was a year, sometimes up to two years. The process was called catechesis, and those being prepared and trained where called the catechumenate, or catechumens.The final days of preparation to be baptized would be marked by fasting, prayer and self-examination. Catechumens would ask. Am I able to take a vow renouncing evil? Am I willing to take a vow accepting Christ as Saviour and Lord? Will I, with the help of the Spirit, live a life of repentance in the home of the Church - turning away from sin and turning toward God? These are self examination questions, and they are essential in what one promises at baptism or confirmation.The final days of preparation coincided with the observance of Lent by the whole Church. The entire Church would be praying, fasting, and examining themselves. The entire church would be focussed on repentance - turning away from sin, and toward God. Essentially, the whole Church would be walking with the catecumenate in their final preparation before being baptized. The whole Church was being Phillip for the new seeker.Think of the celebration when the baptisms happened at Easter. All would have their own vows renewed. All would remember their baptism and the grace that it represented. On Ash Wednesday we are reminded of our own mortality. Christians receive a sign of ashes to remind them that they are dust and to dust they shall return. Why do we do this? Is it to motivate us to live life well because time is short? Is it to scare us into believing? Neither of these is helpful as far as I’m concerned.The symbol and reminder of death, however, is significant, and once again related to baptism and the overall life of discipleship in Christ. sBaptism is a sign and seal of our union with Christ, who died and then rose again. When we embrace our baptism, we are embracing that we have died to an old way of life. We leave that part of life behind in the waters of baptism, either washed away or, more apt for our purposes here, dead in the water. We come up out of the water to a new life.The pattern of Christianity is not “live now for tomorrow we die.” It is this: “die to the old way of life and be reborn in Christ.” This is the journey through Lent which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday. We receive a sign of ash, of our death, on the Wednesday, and then celebrate as seekers come through the waters on the Sunday to new life. We are renewed in our own life in Christ as well.This journey of self-examination, prayer and fasting is spread out over 40 days in Lent, but is also found in smaller form on the Easter weekend. On Friday we remember Christ’s death, on Saturday we wait, on Sunday we celebrate the resurrection. We don’t always love the Friday and Saturday, particularly, to my thinking, the Saturday. We tend to ignore it, but this is the very place of prayer and preparation. What will we do with Holy Saturday? That day is Lent intensified. Jesus is in the tomb and we ought to place ourselves there too, at God’s mercy. We have died and hope to witness resurrection on the Sunday.Every year we have the opportunity for this renewal, where we can reclaim our baptism where we die and rise with Christ. Every year we check in with God to reorient our lives to him. And the Churches traditions remind us that that journey is not meant to be taken alone. The seeker needs the mentor, and in many ways, the disciple needs the seeker so that they can be reminded of the newness of life in Christ and what it really means.The excitement of the Ethiopian Official is infectious - seasoned disciples of Jesus need more of that. Bring on those who don’t quite understand what they read if they look at the sacred scriptures, or perhaps more likely today, those who don’t quite know what or who they are seeking. We have news for them, and it is very good news.We will spend some time using the servant songs as our jumping off point, just as Phillip did with the Ethiopian Official. There are certainly many threads to pull on in the servant songs without ever looking at the New Testament. We are however, going to take our cues from this encounter between Phillip and the Ethiopian Official. This is an occasion to engage with the good news about Jesus, not just conduct an intellectual exercise about particular poetry from Isaiah.We must pick up on the first thread of the Holy Spirit’s activity. Phillip is prompted by an angel to go to the south road. Then he is prompted by the Holy Spirit to stand near enough the chariot to hear the scroll being read. We must listen for the Holy Spirit and also must learn to obey. Who is the Spirit telling you to stand next to? Perhaps you are to mentor them in the good news.There are the threads of conversation, invitation and proclamation. Phillip and the Ethiopian Official have a two way conversation. Phillip doesn’t preach a sermon, but he does proclaim the good news. Most likely, you will be mentored or will mentor in conversation, but we must open ourselves to this. You may also ask yourself who in your life needs to be invited to the conversation. Who might need to hear the good news? Who is a seeker who you can talk to or even bring to Church so they can be exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ.We will pull on the thread of baptism. This may be an occasion for you to renew your baptism, to be reminded of what it means and to reclaim your vows. Perhaps you have not yet been baptized and this is an occasion to consider it, or like the Ethiopian Official, to enthusiastically claim it. Finally, we will all hopefully claim the thread of enthusiasm. The Ethiopian Official couldn’t be stopped as he claimed the promise of baptism. I pray that if you do not have it already, that you will find enthusiasm for the good news about Jesus in your life. That you will remember the fullness of your faith that culminates in a glorious new life in Christ.For Reflection1. What does it look like to be enthusiastic about the gospel? 2. Philip heard from an angel and was guided by the Holy Spirit. Try to imagine what Philip might have been doing (meditating? Praying? Dreaming?). Might the angel appeared in the form of a person? What can we do to hear from the Holy Spirit and to follow through on what we hear? 3. Are there any dangers in doing what we think the Holy Spirit is telling us to do? How can we avoid the pitfalls?4. Did Philip and the Ethiopian experience “church” on the desert road? Does the passage challenge us to think differently about what church might be?5. The claim was made that all of Scripture points to Jesus Christ. How can this be?6. Do you need a mentor in the gospel? Or, will you mentor someone in the gospel? What kinds of things can mentors do for seekers?7. Read Acts 8:9-24 (Simon the Sorcerer) to get some context for the story about Philip and the Ethiopian Official. Note the contrast between the two “seekers” (Simon -- who was wowed by the signs, miracles, and power that Philip seemed to have; as opposed to the Ethiopian, who was simply studying the scriptures in humility, with no thought of power or personal gain). Think of “seekers” you know, or times when you have been a “seeker.” What role does the Bible play for “seekers”? Feel free to discuss these or other questions on our sermon discussion group on Facebook.*Special thanks to Bonnie Zimmer for help formulating some of the above questions.

“This Is My Story – Part II” Acts 8:26-40   Philip was in a position where he was able to hear God speak. “And an angel of the Lord said to Philip . . .” (v.26) “And the Spirit said to Philip . . .” (v.29)   Implication:  I need to position myself so I can hear God speak clearly.   Philip surrendered in obedience to the leading of God’s Spirit. “Rise and go toward the south, to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.  This is a desert place.  And he rose and went.”  (v.26-27) “And the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over and join this chariot.’  So Philip ran to him . . .” (v.29-30)   Implication:  I need to be willing to follow the Spirit’s leading.    Philip encountered a man who was seeking to know God. “And there was an Ethiopian . . .” (v.27) God will always lead you where He is already at work.   Implication:  There is always someone I can share my story with.      Philip was eager to share the story of the gospel. “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.”  (v.35)   Implication:  I need to unashamedly tell the story.   Getting Personal . . .   Are you placing yourself in a position to hear from God? Are you surrendering in obedience to the leading of God’s Spirit? Are you willing to go where the Spirit is leading you to go? Are you willing to do what the Spirit is leading you to do? Are you unashamedly sharing your story with those God brings into your path?

March 8, 2015 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. 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 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “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. 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. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 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?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 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. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. (Acts 8:26-40 ESV)

PODCAST SATELLITE  /  The Voice of IsraelWWW.PODCASTSATELLITE.COMwith Prince Handley EUNUCHS AND THE 144,000 JEWISH LAST DAY PROPHETS Click the center of the “pod? circle ... give it a minute to load.Listen now  ... or download for later.DESCRIPTION:A review of eunuchs in the Tanach (Old Testament) and the Brit Chadasha (New Testament) and how G-d will use 144,000 Jewish male virgins (12,000 from each tribe of Israel) in the final days of Planet Earth to prophesy before Messiah returns to establish His Kingdom. Many, if not most, of these Jewish men are alive right now ... and some will be eunuchs who will make themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of Heaven's sake. EUNUCHS AND THE 144,000 JEWISH LAST DAY PROPHETSThe Ethiopian eunuch, a man of great authority in the government of Candace, Queen of Ethiopia, who also had charge of a the treasury for the queen, was riding in a deserted area from Jerusalem to Gaza, returning to Ethiopia. He had been worshiping in Jerusalem and probably was an Orthodox black Jew. The worship of Jahweh, G-d of Israel, has been carried on in Ethiopia since the time the Queen of Sheba returned from visiting King Solomon around 1,000 BC (or 3000 Hebrew calendar).Legend has it that there was a son born to the Queen of Sheba who was fathered by Solomon. Even to date the Falasha (black skinned Ethiopian Jews) are Orthodox believers. Many were air lifted a few years ago to Israel. It is believed there are still about 2000 left in Africa. This Ethiopian eunuch was reading the Scroll of Isaiah (Yeshaiyahu) out loud while traveling in his chariot. Philip, the evangelist, had been preaching to great crowds in Samaria.     “And Philip went down to the city of Shomron [Samaria], and proclaimed unto them the Messiah.    The multitudes listened with one accord to the things that were spoken by Philip, when they heard and saw the signs which he did.     For unclean spirits (demons) came out of many of those who had them. They came out, crying with a loud voice. Many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.     And there was much joy in that city.?  [Acts 8:5-8]However, God sent an angel to Philip to tell him to leave the large crowd of people and go to one person: the Ethiopian eunuch.     But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Yerushalayim to `Aza. This is a desert." [Acts 8:26]So Philip obeyed the angel and went.    “The eunuch was sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Yeshaiyahu [Isaiah]        The Spirit said to Philip, "Go near, and join yourself to this chariot."     Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Yeshaiyahu (Isaiah) the prophet, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?"     He said, "How can I, unless someone explains it to me?" He begged Philip to come up and sit with him.     Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this, "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. As a lamb before his shearer is silent, so he doesn't open his mouth.     In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. Who will declare His generation? For his life is taken from the earth." [Isaiah Chapter 53, Tanach]    The eunuch answered Philip, "Who is the prophet talking about? About himself, or about someone else?"     Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached to him Yeshua.     As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from [performing the Mikvah] being immersed?"    And Philip said, If thou believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Yeshua ha Meshiach is the Son of God.    And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.        And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, for he went on his way rejoicing.? [Acts 27-39]In Jeremiah Chapter 38 we read of another Ethiopian eunuch, Ebed-Melech (`Eved-Melekh the Kushite). The prophet Jeremiah had been cast into a dungeon because he spoke the truth to King Zedekiah [Tzidkiyahu]. There was no food, no water, only mire in the dungeon.Ebed-Melech, the Eunuch, pleaded with the king to have Jeremiah released. The king gave the eunuch permission to do so. Then Ebed-Melech took men with him and took old clothes and old rags, and let them down by ropes into the dungeon to Jeremiah.    “And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah [Yirmeyahu], Put now these rags and worn-out garments under your armpits, under the ropes. And Jeremiah did so. So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon.? [Jeremiah 38:12-13]The Ethiopian eunuch comforted, delivered, and brought Jeremiah into favor; let me ask you: What are you doing to comfort, help, and bring favor to those who speak for the G-d of Israel?NOTICE: 1.  An Ethiopian Eunuch helped a man of God, a Jew. Jeremiah’s day: 600 BC (3400 Hebrew calendar).2.  A man of God helped an Ethiopian eunuch have a personal relationship with the Messiah of the Jews and brought the opportunity of salvation to a Gentile nation. The early New Covenant Church: 50 AD (4050 Hebrew calendar). The church in Ethiopia grew strong but there was never a record of missionaries in the early church going to Ethiopia. A man who was preaching to multitudes was directed by an angel to go to one man. Then ... the Spirit of the LORD transported him to Azotus [Ashdod].3.  At times, service to one individual is more important than to great crowds.4.  God still uses angels today ... AND ... The Ruach Elohim still transports people today when they need it ... “Spirit flight? is still available in Kingdom work.    "For I, YAHWEH, do not change; therefore you, sons of Ya`akov, are not consumed.? [Tanach - Old Testament Malachi 3:6]        “Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today, and forever.? [Brit Chadasha - New Testamant Hebrews13:8]5.  G-d still has eunuchs today.    “For there are eunuchs, that were so born from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, that were made eunuchs by men: and there are eunuchs, that made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.? [YESHUA - Matthew 19:12]Right now there are 144,000 Jewish male virgins ... 12,000 out of every tribe of Israel who will be prophets of G-d (nabi'm) in the final days of Planet Earth. Oh, they may not know what tribe they are from, but G-d knows every tribe and all the members of each tribe. He has the hairs of your head numbered! These are 144,000 Jewish males undefiled with sex ... have never had sex with a woman or anything or anyone ... separated unto God for special service. Some of these may be, or will be, eunuchs who have prepared themselves for this calling. They will prepare the earth for the re-appearing of Messiah Yeshua to establish His Kingdom."He that is able to receive it, let him receive it."  [Y'shua]Baruch haba b’shem Adonai!Prince HandleyTime: 11 minutes, 20 seconds (with music interspersed)Size: 10.3 MBContact: PrinceHandley@gmail.com Website: WWW.PODCASTSATELLITE.COM

PODCAST SATELLITE  /  The Voice of IsraelWWW.PODCASTSATELLITE.COMwith Prince Handley EUNUCHS AND THE 144,000 JEWISH LAST DAY PROPHETS Click the center of the “pod? circle ... give it a minute to load.Listen now  ... or download for later.DESCRIPTION:A review of eunuchs in the Tanach (Old Testament) and the Brit Chadasha (New Testament) and how G-d will use 144,000 Jewish male virgins (12,000 from each tribe of Israel) in the final days of Planet Earth to prophesy before Messiah returns to establish His Kingdom. Many, if not most, of these Jewish men are alive right now ... and some will be eunuchs who will make themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of Heaven's sake. EUNUCHS AND THE 144,000 JEWISH LAST DAY PROPHETSThe Ethiopian eunuch, a man of great authority in the government of Candace, Queen of Ethiopia, who also had charge of a the treasury for the queen, was riding in a deserted area from Jerusalem to Gaza, returning to Ethiopia. He had been worshiping in Jerusalem and probably was an Orthodox black Jew. The worship of Jahweh, G-d of Israel, has been carried on in Ethiopia since the time the Queen of Sheba returned from visiting King Solomon around 1,000 BC (or 3000 Hebrew calendar).Legend has it that there was a son born to the Queen of Sheba who was fathered by Solomon. Even to date the Falasha (black skinned Ethiopian Jews) are Orthodox believers. Many were air lifted a few years ago to Israel. It is believed there are still about 2000 left in Africa. This Ethiopian eunuch was reading the Scroll of Isaiah (Yeshaiyahu) out loud while traveling in his chariot. Philip, the evangelist, had been preaching to great crowds in Samaria.     “And Philip went down to the city of Shomron [Samaria], and proclaimed unto them the Messiah.    The multitudes listened with one accord to the things that were spoken by Philip, when they heard and saw the signs which he did.     For unclean spirits (demons) came out of many of those who had them. They came out, crying with a loud voice. Many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.     And there was much joy in that city.?  [Acts 8:5-8]However, God sent an angel to Philip to tell him to leave the large crowd of people and go to one person: the Ethiopian eunuch.     But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Yerushalayim to `Aza. This is a desert." [Acts 8:26]So Philip obeyed the angel and went.    “The eunuch was sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Yeshaiyahu [Isaiah]        The Spirit said to Philip, "Go near, and join yourself to this chariot."     Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Yeshaiyahu (Isaiah) the prophet, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?"     He said, "How can I, unless someone explains it to me?" He begged Philip to come up and sit with him.     Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this, "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. As a lamb before his shearer is silent, so he doesn't open his mouth.     In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. Who will declare His generation? For his life is taken from the earth." [Isaiah Chapter 53, Tanach]    The eunuch answered Philip, "Who is the prophet talking about? About himself, or about someone else?"     Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached to him Yeshua.     As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from [performing the Mikvah] being immersed?"    And Philip said, If thou believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Yeshua ha Meshiach is the Son of God.    And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.        And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, for he went on his way rejoicing.? [Acts 27-39]In Jeremiah Chapter 38 we read of another Ethiopian eunuch, Ebed-Melech (`Eved-Melekh the Kushite). The prophet Jeremiah had been cast into a dungeon because he spoke the truth to King Zedekiah [Tzidkiyahu]. There was no food, no water, only mire in the dungeon.Ebed-Melech, the Eunuch, pleaded with the king to have Jeremiah released. The king gave the eunuch permission to do so. Then Ebed-Melech took men with him and took old clothes and old rags, and let them down by ropes into the dungeon to Jeremiah.    “And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah [Yirmeyahu], Put now these rags and worn-out garments under your armpits, under the ropes. And Jeremiah did so. So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon.? [Jeremiah 38:12-13]The Ethiopian eunuch comforted, delivered, and brought Jeremiah into favor; let me ask you: What are you doing to comfort, help, and bring favor to those who speak for the G-d of Israel?NOTICE: 1.  An Ethiopian Eunuch helped a man of God, a Jew. Jeremiah’s day: 600 BC (3400 Hebrew calendar).2.  A man of God helped an Ethiopian eunuch have a personal relationship with the Messiah of the Jews and brought the opportunity of salvation to a Gentile nation. The early New Covenant Church: 50 AD (4050 Hebrew calendar). The church in Ethiopia grew strong but there was never a record of missionaries in the early church going to Ethiopia. A man who was preaching to multitudes was directed by an angel to go to one man. Then ... the Spirit of the LORD transported him to Azotus [Ashdod].3.  At times, service to one individual is more important than to great crowds.4.  God still uses angels today ... AND ... The Ruach Elohim still transports people today when they need it ... “Spirit flight? is still available in Kingdom work.    "For I, YAHWEH, do not change; therefore you, sons of Ya`akov, are not consumed.? [Tanach - Old Testament Malachi 3:6]        “Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today, and forever.? [Brit Chadasha - New Testamant Hebrews13:8]5.  G-d still has eunuchs today.    “For there are eunuchs, that were so born from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, that were made eunuchs by men: and there are eunuchs, that made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.? [YESHUA - Matthew 19:12]Right now there are 144,000 Jewish male virgins ... 12,000 out of every tribe of Israel who will be prophets of G-d (nabi'm) in the final days of Planet Earth. Oh, they may not know what tribe they are from, but G-d knows every tribe and all the members of each tribe. He has the hairs of your head numbered! These are 144,000 Jewish males undefiled with sex ... have never had sex with a woman or anything or anyone ... separated unto God for special service. Some of these may be, or will be, eunuchs who have prepared themselves for this calling. They will prepare the earth for the re-appearing of Messiah Yeshua to establish His Kingdom."He that is able to receive it, let him receive it."  [Y'shua]Baruch haba b’shem Adonai!Prince HandleyTime: 11 minutes, 20 seconds (with music interspersed)Size: 10.3 MBContact: PrinceHandley@gmail.com Website: WWW.PODCASTSATELLITE.COM

APOSTLE TALK - Future News Now!WWW.REALMIRACLES.COMwith Prince Handley EUNUCHS AND THE 144,000 JEWISH LAST DAY PROPHETS DESCRIPTION:A review of eunuchs in the Tanach (Old Testament) and the Brit Chadasha (New Testament) and how G-d will use 144,000 Jewish male virgins (12,000 from each tribe of Israel) in the final days of Planet Earth to prophesy before Messiah returns to establish His Kingdom. Many, if not most, of these Jewish men are alive right now ... and some will be eunuchs who will make themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of Heaven's sake. EUNUCHS AND THE 144,000 JEWISH LAST DAY PROPHETSThe Ethiopian eunuch, a man of great authority in the government of Candace, Queen of Ethiopia, who also had charge of a the treasury for the queen, was riding in a deserted area from Jerusalem to Gaza, returning to Ethiopia. He had been worshiping in Jerusalem and probably was an Orthodox black Jew. The worship of Jahweh, God of Israel, has been carried on in Ethiopia since the time the Queen of Sheba returned from visiting King Solomon around 1,000 BC (or 3000 Hebrew calendar).Legend has it that there was a son born to the Queen of Sheba who was fathered by Solomon. Even to date the Falasha (black skinned Ethiopian Jews) are Orthodox believers. Many were air lifted a few years ago to Israel. It is believed there are still about 2000 left in Africa. This Ethiopian eunuch was reading the Scroll of Isaiah (out loud) while traveling in his chariot. Philip, the evangelist, had been preaching to great crowds in Samaria.     “And Philip went down to the city of Shomron [Samaria], and proclaimed unto them the Messiah.    The multitudes listened with one accord to the things that were spoken by Philip, when they heard and saw the signs which he did.     For unclean spirits came out of many of those who had them. They came out, crying with a loud voice. Many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.     And there was much joy in that city.?  [Acts 8:5-8]However, God sent an angel to Philip to tell him to leave the large crowd of people and go to one person: the Ethiopian eunuch.     But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Yerushalayim to `Aza. This is a desert." [Acts 8:26]So Philip obeyed the angel and went.    The eunuch was sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Yeshaiyahu [Isaiah]        The Spirit said to Philip, "Go near, and join yourself to this chariot."     Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Yeshaiyahu [Isaiah] the prophet, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?"     He said, "How can I, unless someone explains it to me?" He begged Philip to come up and sit with him.     Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this, "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. As a lamb before his shearer is silent, so he doesn't open his mouth.     In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. Who will declare His generation? For his life is taken from the earth." [Isaiah Chapter 53, Tanach]    "The eunuch answered Philip, 'Who is the prophet talking about? About himself, or about someone else?'    Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached to him Yeshua.     As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, 'Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from [performing the Mikvah] being immersed?'    And Philip said, 'If thou believe with all your heart, you may." And the eunuch answered and said, 'I believe that Yeshua ha Meshiach is the Son of God.'    And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.        And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, for he went on his way rejoicing.? [Acts 27-39]In Jeremiah Chapter 38 we read of another Ethiopian eunuch, Ebed-Melech (`Eved-Melekh the Kushite). The prophet Jeremiah had been cast into a dungeon because he spoke the truth to King Zedekiah [Tzidkiyahu]. There was no food, no water, only mire in the dungeon.Ebed-Melech, the Eunuch, pleaded with the king to have Jeremiah released. The king gave the eunuch permission to do so. Then Ebed-Melech took men with him and took old clothes and old rags, and let them down by ropes into the dungeon to Jeremiah.    "And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah [Yirmeyahu], Put now these rags and worn-out garments under your armpits, under the ropes. And Jeremiah did so. So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon." [Jeremiah 38:12-13]Let me ask you:What are you doing to comfort the man of God?What are you doing to advertise the man of God?What are you doing to bring favor to the man of God?   NOTICE: 1. An Ethiopian Eunuch helped a man of God, a Jew. Jeremiah’s day: 600 BC (3400 Hebrew calendar).2. A man of God helped an Ethiopian eunuch have a personal relationship with the Messiah of the Jews and brought the opportunity of salvation to a Gentile nation. The early New Covenant Church: 50 AD (4050 Hebrew calendar). The church in Ethiopia grew strong but there was never a record of missionaries in the early church going to Ethiopia. A man who was preaching to multitudes was directed by an angel to go to one man. Then ... the Spirit of the LORD transported him to Azotus [Ashdod].3. At times, service to one individual is more important than to great crowds.4. God still uses angels today ... AND ... the Holy Spirit still transports people today when they need it ... “Spirit flight? is still available in Kingdom work.    "For I, the LORD, don't change; therefore you, sons of Ya`akov, are not consumed.? [Tanach - Old Testament Malachi 3:6]        “Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today, and forever.? [Brit Chadasha - New Testamant Hebrew 13:8]5. God still has eunuchs today.    “For there are eunuchs, that were so born from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, that were made eunuchs by men: and there are eunuchs, that made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.? [JESUS - Matthew 19:12]IMPORTANT:Right now there are 144,000 Jewish male virgins ... 12,000 out of every tribe of Israel. Oh, they may not know what tribe they are from, but God knows every tribe and all the members of each tribe. He has the hairs of your head numbered! These are 144,000 Jewish males undefiled with sex ... have never had sex with a woman or anything or anyone ... separated unto God for special service. Some of these may be, or will be, eunuchs who have prepared themselves for this calling. They will prepare the earth for the re-appearing of Messiah Yeshua to establish His Kingdom."He that is able to receive it, let him receive it!"  [Yeshua]Baruch haba b’shem Adonai!Prince HandleyIf you have been helped or received a miracle as a result of this study, email us and let us know what God has done for you. You may contact us by email at: princehandley@gmail.com Remember to tell your friends about Apostle Talk podcast. You can subscribe to Apostle Handley podcast and receive previous shows and all new ones automatically downloaded for you. Click here for instructions:  SUBSCRIBE You can also search for “Apostle Talk? in directories like Blubrry. Note the spelling of “Blubrry.? COMMENTS TO:  princehandley@gmail.com Skype: princehandley Time: 11 minutes, 17 secondsSize: 10.3 MB International A.C.T.I.O.N. Seminars (overseas), Email to: apostlehandley@gmail.com Real Miracles, Healing, Prayer, Ministry Studies & Help for You: www.realmiracles.com Free Bible Studies by Email (New Testament Introduction), Email to: worldservicesinc@gmail.com Jewish Rabbinical Studies (tell your Jewish friends): www.realmiracles.com/rabbinical.htm  The University of Excellence (Advanced Studies in Missions, Leadership, and Church Growth),  Email to: universityofexcellence@gmail.com