Daily Devotions – What is a Church? Pt. 4

Daily Devotions – What is a Church? Pt. 4

 

Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:

 

Acts 8:26-40 (NIV)
Philip and the Ethiopian
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” 30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. 31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” 34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37]  38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both 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 suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

 

The Christian Church (big “C”) is a Holy Spirit led movement that spreads the good news about Jesus Christ far and wide. A local church (little “c”), while having certain institutional characteristics, must always remain filled with the dynamic, charismatic movement of the Holy Spirit. In this passage, the Holy Spirit guides Philip to explain the Scriptures to an Ethiopian who is reading a passage from the Old Testament but does not quite understand what it is saying. As a church, let us pray for the Spirit to move to raise up and equip men and women to help us understand the Scriptures so that we might grow in faith in Jesus.