Dear Friends,
In Acts 8:26-36, Philip is led by God’s Holy Spirit to lead the Ethiopian to faith in Jesus. God is committed to the growth and expansion of His church. This takes the pressure off us and we should be confident that God is growing His church and will not fail. In this passage the leading of the Holy Spirit is miraculous as an angel guides Philip and then later the Spirit tells him to go and stand by the chariot. Whether your experience of guidance by the Spirit is spectacular or not God will guide you to connect with people to share the Good News of Jesus. The Lord delights to set up divine appointments so that we meet with people who are ready to meet Jesus.
The Ethiopian was reading Isaiah 53, which is a powerful Old Testament Scripture speaking about the death of Jesus. Let us be confident that God is at work in people even before we meet them. People can only come to faith in Jesus if He draws them. It is interesting that the Spirit led Philip to the chariot but then Philip had to trust God and ask the Ethiopian if he understood what he was reading. We must recapture a confidence that God’s Spirit will not only lead us to people who are ready but lead us to help people become Christians.
Our message is focused on the good news of the death of Jesus for our sin. Rev John Lavender’s seminar on sharing our faith was very helpful and in May Rev James Daymond BCA will visit and run more training on evangelism. We will also have a seminar on answering hard questions and will be trained in using an evangelistic tract called 2 was to live. Be expectant and be confident.
God’s Blessing David O’Mara
From the 10am Pastor’s Bulletin, 27 March 2022
All Souls Anglican Church Leichhardt 