Text Message
Contagious faith
Acts 8:26-38
One morning, as my husband was about to land a good morning kiss on our daughter’s face, she initiated a full-frontal assault. She gave no warning. She didn’t turn her face away and she didn’t hold back. She let it fly. And boy, did it fly, right into his mouth.
His first instinct, completely involuntary, was to swallow. The next week was spent waiting for her virus to attack his immune system and declare war.
Kaitlyn’s first year of school was one big infection, easily spread through sneezing, coughing, and runny noses.
If only sharing our faith was that simple – one sneeze, and the entire neighbourhood infected with Christ. But sharing our faith is not always easy. Sharing aloud how God is working in my life makes my palms sweat. My heart races and I fear tripping over my words and making a fool of myself, or worse, a fool of God.
Regardless of my inner turmoil I press on, convinced that, as believers, we should always be ready to share what God is doing in our hearts. In my panic, I can’t help wishing God’s truth was shared as easily as that cold passed between my husband and daughter.
Despite the difficulty some of us have in speaking up, we’re commanded to convey God’s love to our neighbours. Before we can share it, however, we have to possess it.
We need two things to effectively communicate the message of Christ. First, to be infected with the Holy Spirit and second, to live a contagious life that’s ready to pass God’s teachings on.
Philip was ready. He heard God’s prompting to stay near the chariot. When he overheard the eunuch reading from Isaiah he jumped in and asked if the man understood what he was reading.
How many times have we jumped in with both feet and asked someone if they understood what they read or heard? How many opportunities have passed us by because we’ve been afraid, too busy, or unavailable for God?
Philip was available. His bold sharing resulted in the eunuch professing faith and requesting to be baptized. This man returned to his important position in another country infected with the knowledge of how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of Isaiah. His new-found faith may have spread to the entire nation.
If we believe in Jesus Christ, we are filled with the same powerful Holy Spirit that filled Philip. And just as Philip was a missionary, so are we. Our assignment may be as close as our neighbours or within our own household. And, as we are ready and available, the Holy Spirit will give us the courage, boldness, and confidence to be contagious.
Acts 8:26-38 (link to BibleGateway.com)
Acts 8:26-38
One morning, as my husband was about to land a good morning kiss on our daughter’s face, she initiated a full-frontal assault. She gave no warning. She didn’t turn her face away and she didn’t hold back. She let it fly. And boy, did it fly, right into his mouth.
His first instinct, completely involuntary, was to swallow. The next week was spent waiting for her virus to attack his immune system and declare war.
Kaitlyn’s first year of school was one big infection, easily spread through sneezing, coughing, and runny noses.
If only sharing our faith was that simple – one sneeze, and the entire neighbourhood infected with Christ. But sharing our faith is not always easy. Sharing aloud how God is working in my life makes my palms sweat. My heart races and I fear tripping over my words and making a fool of myself, or worse, a fool of God.
Regardless of my inner turmoil I press on, convinced that, as believers, we should always be ready to share what God is doing in our hearts. In my panic, I can’t help wishing God’s truth was shared as easily as that cold passed between my husband and daughter.
Despite the difficulty some of us have in speaking up, we’re commanded to convey God’s love to our neighbours. Before we can share it, however, we have to possess it.
We need two things to effectively communicate the message of Christ. First, to be infected with the Holy Spirit and second, to live a contagious life that’s ready to pass God’s teachings on.
Philip was ready. He heard God’s prompting to stay near the chariot. When he overheard the eunuch reading from Isaiah he jumped in and asked if the man understood what he was reading.
How many times have we jumped in with both feet and asked someone if they understood what they read or heard? How many opportunities have passed us by because we’ve been afraid, too busy, or unavailable for God?
Philip was available. His bold sharing resulted in the eunuch professing faith and requesting to be baptized. This man returned to his important position in another country infected with the knowledge of how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of Isaiah. His new-found faith may have spread to the entire nation.
If we believe in Jesus Christ, we are filled with the same powerful Holy Spirit that filled Philip. And just as Philip was a missionary, so are we. Our assignment may be as close as our neighbours or within our own household. And, as we are ready and available, the Holy Spirit will give us the courage, boldness, and confidence to be contagious.
—Stacey Weeks
____________________________________________________________________Acts 8:26-38 (link to BibleGateway.com)
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road – the desert road – that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
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. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”
The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
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?” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.
