148 seize the day: A call to missions 2015 LifeWay

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1 148 seize the day: A call to missions

2 God has a mission for the nations. Take your place. Carpe diem. Seize the day. We have a myriad of ways to challenge ourselves when considering job opportunities, major purchases, business ventures, or financial investments. Those kinds of ventures and investments can be risky even scary. What if I don t like the new job? What if the market goes bust? What if I lose everything? I m the last person to give you financial or career advice, but one investment is definitely worth making. You may not see an immediate payoff, but it will have an incredible impact on your life nonetheless. And on the lives of others. Invest yourself in missions. Many in our world still have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ; we can use the opportunities and resources available to tell that good news. God s heart and mission is that all people everywhere know Him, and the mission He has given us is no less. This study is a call to missions. It is a call to seize the day. Lynn Pryor Lynn Pryor is the Team Leader for Bible Studies for Life. A native Texan, Lynn has been a part of the LifeWay family for over 20 years and teaches each week in his church in Nolensville, Tenn. Visit lynnhpryor.com for more information BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 149

3 150 seize the day: A call to missions

4 The Point Take your place in God s mission to the nations. The Passage Acts 8:26-35 The Bible Meets Life The gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives. But many in our world have never heard the gospel message. Believers must use every opportunity and every means available to tell the good news about Jesus. God s heart and mission is that all people everywhere know Him, and our God-given mission is no less. The Setting Acts opens with Jesus final post-resurrection instruction and appearance (chapter 1), the Holy Spirit s coming at Pentecost (chapter 2), and His mighty works through the disciples (chapters 3 5). Chapters 6 7 tell of Stephen, one of the first deacons and the first Christian martyr. Stephen s death set off a wave of persecution, driving most believers, including Philip, away from Jerusalem (chapter 8). From a successful ministry in Samaria, Philip was sent to a desert road. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 151

5 What does the Bible say? Acts 8:26-35 (HCSB) Eunuch (v. 27) Technically, this term refers to a male who has been emasculated. The term seems sometimes to have been applied to men in high or responsible positions, even if not emasculated. 26 An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip: Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. (This is the desert road.) 27 So he got up and went. There was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch and high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to worship in Jerusalem 28 and was sitting in his chariot on his way home, reading the prophet Isaiah aloud. 29 The Spirit told Philip, Go and join that chariot. 30 When Philip ran up to it, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, Do you understand what you re reading? 31 How can I, he said, unless someone guides me? So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the Scripture passage he was reading was this: He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb is silent before its shearer, so He does not open His mouth. 33 In His humiliation justice was denied Him. Who will describe His generation? For His life is taken from the earth. 34 The eunuch replied to Philip, I ask you, who is the prophet saying this about himself or another person? 35 So Philip proceeded to tell him the good news about Jesus, beginning from that Scripture. 152 seize the day: A call to missions

6 THE POINT Take your place in God s mission to the nations. GET INTO THE STUDY DISCUSS: Invite your group members to discuss Question 1 on page 121 of the Personal Study Guide (PSG): When did a change in plans lead to something better? Allow time for each person to respond. RECAP THE PSG (PAGE 122): Benedictus was a French chemist who one day accidentally knocked a glass flask to the floor. He expected to hear the glass shatter but the flask stayed in one piece. It was a mystery until his assistant told him the flask had contained cellulose nitrate (a liquid plastic). The chemical had evaporated, and the flask appeared to be clean, so the assistant had just returned the flask to the shelf without washing it. The evaporated chemical left an unseen film on the flask. 10 minutes Notes TIP: Be intentional about developing relationships with your small group members. Strive to be someone they can count on in both the ups and down of life. That day, Benedictus invented safety glass. We don t know what Benedictus was planning to do in his lab that day, but an unexpected event led to countless saved lives. SAY: Interruptions to our plans can lead to great things, especially if God is bringing about the change. In Acts 8, an angel gave Philip a change of plans, and God did great things when he obeyed. GUIDE: Call the group s attention to The Point on page 122 of the PSG: Take your place in God s mission to the nations. ACTIVITY (OPTIONAL): To demonstrate your church s involvement in missions, disply a world map with places marked that represent where current or previous group members have served. Include also any locations with missionaries supported by your church. Highlight any missions work around the world with ties to your church. PRAY: Transition into your Bible study time with prayer. As you do, pray for an awareness of the opportunities you have to tell someone about Jesus. Display Pack Item #11 for use with your discussion of Acts 8: PLAYLIST PICK: Oceans by Hillsong BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 153

7 10 minutes STUDY THE BIBLE Acts 8:26-27a Notes 26 An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip: Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. (This is the desert road.) 27a So he got up and went. ACTIVITY (OPTIONAL): Invite three volunteers to participate in an activity. Ask volunteers to pull one index card from a bowl and do what it says to do. Examples could include: take a selfie, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, or act out brushing their teeth with no sound. One task should be challenging. Allow each volunteer to then discuss the following: Did everyone complete their task? What might cause someone to ignore the task and return to their seat? Discuss how our willingness to follow an instruction often depends on who is giving the instruction and the depth of relationship we share with that person. Today we ll explore a task God has given to every Christian and how our relationship with Him enables us to complete the task. (Note: Avoid causing a group member undue embarrassment. Doing so could hurt that relationship.) READ: Ask a group member to read aloud Acts 8:26-27a. SUMMARIZE: Philip was no stranger to hearing and obeying God. Earlier in Acts 8, Philip was preaching the gospel in Samaria and seeing great things begin to happen for the kingdom of God (vv. 5-8). Then, in verse 26, an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip and instructed him to leave Samaria and go south to Gaza. Philip was to leave a thriving evangelistic ministry in Samaria to go to what even Luke, the writer of Acts, described as a desert road. Philip s obedience is noted in verse 27a. Philip went where he was directed. ALTERNATE QUESTION: What do you think Philip sacrificed to be obedient? DISCUSS: Question 2 on page 124 of the PSG: What stands out to you about Philip s response to God s call? TRANSITION: Philip had no idea what he would be doing. He trusted that God called him to the desert road for a reason, and He would show him what to do. 154 seize the day: A call to missions

8 THE POINT Take your place in God s mission to the nations. Acts 8:26-27a Commentary Be willing to go where God sends you. Verse 26: God s opportunities to share Jesus may consist of His sending us to unexpected places. Philip was commanded by an angel of the Lord to go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This road met the ancient Way of the Sea and led down to Egypt. The town of Gaza, the most southerly of the five Philistine cities, was near the Mediterranean coast and still borders the desert that stretches to Beersheba and beyond. We are not told exactly where Philip was when he received the call to move. Evidently, Luke cared less about where Philip began than what he did. We do know earlier, he was having great success preaching in a Samaritan city to crowds of people (8:5-6). Verse 27a: God s will may not have made any sense to him at all, but Philip obediently followed the angel s directive. He was commanded to go to the road leading to desert Gaza. The exact road Philip traveled is debated, because desert could define the nature of the road or simply refer to Gaza. Regardless, it is clear the road was only lightly traveled. Interestingly, the basic meaning of the Greek word translated south is noon. Was Philip perhaps called to travel during the hottest and mostuncomfortable time of the day? This is not the only, or even the first, time Philip had been obedient to God s call. Philip went to the region of Samaria and preached the gospel there (vv. 4-8). Philip s action demonstrates the gospel s power to break down barriers, because great animosity had long existed between Jews and Samaritans. Jews who had remained in the Northern Kingdom of Israel after the Assyrians had conquered it in the eighth century B.C. had intermarried with Gentiles whom the Assyrians had brought into the land. Their descendants lost their Jewish identity and were regarded as half-breeds. When the Jews of the Southern Kingdom of Judah were allowed to return home from exile in Babylon in the fifth century B.C., they refused Samaritan help in rebuilding Jerusalem. By the time Jesus walked the land of the Bible, the relationship between Jews and Samaritans was greatly strained. Philip s ministry shows the early church under the Holy Spirit s guidance reaching out to tell lost people about Jesus regardless of their cultural differences. But Philip went where he was directed then, even as he later did in leaving an effective ministry to go to a desert road for one man. Testimonies of many modern-day missionaries would echo the truth God moves His people to unexpected places to accomplish His will. Often it is a move from a bountiful place of harvest to a spiritually dead location. We should not be surprised if God chooses to send us somewhere we at first cannot comprehend His reason for doing so. It may be a location near or far, a people group open or hostile to the gospel, or a nation where the work is relatively easy or extremely difficult. As Christfollowers, we must be willing to go anywhere God leads. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 155

9 10 minutes STUDY THE BIBLE Acts 8:27b Notes 27b There was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch and high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to worship in Jerusalem. READ: Ask a group member to read aloud Acts 8:27b. SUMMARIZE: What we might see as an interruption, Philip saw as an opportunity. Philip s opportunity came rolling by in a chariot. It likely had four wheels, and it was large enough for a driver and a passenger, who at the moment was sitting down reading. It was traveling slow enough that Philip could run up to it and hear the man reading. The man was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch and high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury (v. 27). The Ethiopian was interested in the religion of the Jews. He had been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem as a God-fearing Gentile, a man who believed in the God of Israel even though he wasn t a full convert to Judaism. Philip surely did not know all these details when he first saw the chariot rolling by, but he did see a foreigner someone very different from himself. Philip grew up in a culture where the Jews primarily stuck to themselves, but that didn t matter to Philip. ALTERNATE QUESTION: How do we recognize an opportunity to share the gospel? DISCUSS: Question 3 on page 125 of the PSG: What kinds of differences exist in our community that could be barriers to presenting the gospel? (Note: Help your group identify the ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, and other factors that can present barriers to sharing about Christ.) DO: Instruct group members to complete the activity on page 126 of the PSG on their own. First Things First: (Note: A scale is included for this activity in the PSG.) How ready and willing are you to follow God s instructions? How ready and willing are you to begin a conversation about Jesus? How confident are you in God s ability to supply all your needs as you follow His leadership? 156 seize the day: A call to missions

10 THE POINT Take your place in God s mission to the nations. Acts 8:27b Commentary Be open to cross cultural boundaries. Verse 27b: God s opportunities to tell others about Jesus may involve sending us to unexpected people. Not only was Philip commanded to go to an unexpected location, but to a person likely catching him off guard. Obediently leaving to follow the angel s direction, Philip found an Ethiopian man. What was so unexpected about encountering this man? Initially, it was his place of origin. The eunuch s place of origin should not be confused with modern-day Ethiopia. In Old Testament times, Ethiopia was the kingdom of Cush. The high-ranking official in our story hailed from modern-day Nubia on the Nile River. It was ruled by a queen mother with the title Candace. Candace was not her proper name, but an official title given to the mother of a son thought too holy and pure to take on the mundane role of leading a secular nation due to the belief he was the child of the sun. Philip was literally fulfilling Jesus command for His followers to be witnesses to the uttermost parts of the world. The Ethiopian was also a eunuch. While the term may have by this time become synonymous with any high-ranking official, more than likely, Philip s pupil had been emasculated and therefore forbidden under Old Testament law from fully participating in the Jewish faith (Deuteronomy 23:1). Because this man was a eunuch and had no children, he could be trusted to deal with official matters of the royal court and not seek to seize the kingdom for a son. He was also a high official of the queen of the Ethiopians. Philip was in the presence of a noted governmental official in charge of the queen s entire treasury, much like a modern-day minister of finance. Finally, the Ethiopian had come to worship in Jerusalem. That the eunuch had gone to worship in Jerusalem indicates his sensitivity to spiritual matters. Probably he was a God-fearer, a Gentile who was attracted to Judaism. Although Luke did not make it completely clear, this man was probably a convert or near convert to Judaism, lacking only undergoing the rite of circumcision to be a formal member of the Jewish faith. Cross-cultural witnessing is not a new concept. It is a biblically-mandated means of sharing the good news with someone of a different ethnic background, language, culture, or belief system. Just as Philip acted upon God s plan for him to tell the Ethiopian about Jesus, believers today must not neglect to share Christ with another simply because he or she is different than us. Crossing cultural barriers in our witnessing can occur right in our own backyards with neighbors, but we should also remember believers have the opportunity and commission to help take the gospel to the entire world. At a minimum, Christfollowers can have a major impact by praying for missionaries and missions work around the world.- BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 157

11 10 minutes STUDY THE BIBLE Acts 8:28-35 Notes 28 and was sitting in his chariot on his way home, reading the prophet Isaiah aloud. 29 The Spirit told Philip, Go and join that chariot. 30 When Philip ran up to it, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, Do you understand what you re reading? 31 How can I, he said, unless someone guides me? So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the Scripture passage he was reading was this: He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb is silent before its shearer, so He does not open His mouth. 33 In His humiliation justice was denied Him. Who will describe His generation? For His life is taken from the earth. 34 The eunuch replied to Philip, I ask you, who is the prophet saying this about himself or another person? 35 So Philip proceeded to tell him the good news about Jesus, beginning from that Scripture. READ: Ask a group member to read aloud Acts 8: SUMMARIZE: The Ethiopian eunuch was reading part of the Suffering Servant passage found in Isaiah 53. Not understanding what he was reading, he asked Philip, Who is the prophet saying this about? (v. 34). But Philip didn t merely interpret that passage. Beginning from that Scripture, Philip shared the gospel. The Ethiopian eunuch responded with faith and acceptance (Acts 8:36-38). ENHANCEMENT: Bring your group s attention to Pack Item #11, God s Work poster. Emphasize how God will always supply what s needed to accomplish HIs purposes. In Philip s experience with the Ethiopian, God prompted Philip to go, provided the opportunity for Philip to talk with the Ethiopian, and gave Philip the wisdom to know how to answer. ALTERNATE QUESTION: In what ways do we see God at work in this passage? DISCUSS: Question 4 on page 126 of the PSG: God goes before us and empowers us. How should this truth shape our involvement in missions? DISCUSS: Question 5 on page 127 of the PSG: What can our group do to be more engaged in missions? (Note: Take this opportunity to choose one local, statewide, or global missions experience to be a part of. Discuss specific steps your group can take (praying, giving, volunteering to serve, and so on). 158 seize the day: A call to missions

12 THE POINT Take your place in God s mission to the nations. Acts 8:28-35 Commentary Be ready to share Jesus. Verse 28: The eunuch was sitting in his chariot on his way home, reading the prophet Isaiah aloud. We are told the passage he was reading was about God s Suffering Servant, but the broader context of the passage highlighted perhaps the greatest hope for a eunuch in the Old Testament (Isaiah 56:3-5)! Verse 29: That the eunuch was reading this passage was no accident. God s Spirit was at work with both Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch in this witnessing encounter. It was God s Spirit who commanded Philip to Go and join that chariot. From start to finish, this remarkable witnessing encounter was a divine appointment under God s initiative and direction. Verse 30: Philip recognized God was providing him an opportunity, for when he went to the chariot as directed by the spirit, he found the Ethiopian reading the prophet Isaiah. Upon reaching the Ethiopian in his chariot, Philip used the Scriptures to explain to the eunuch the good news about Jesus. Philip did not waste time tackling his assignment. He ran up to the Ethiopian s chariot. It was most likely a large, slow moving vehicle, allowing Philip to hear him reading the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked a simple, straightforward question: Do you understand what you re reading? It was a great ice-breaker, considering the eunuch s interest in a passage, the message of the text itself, and God s divine hand arranging this meeting. Verses 31-33: The Ethiopian s response, How can I? essentially answered Philip s question with a no. The man needed someone to guide him in the Scriptures, so he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. The Scripture passage the eunuch was reading was Isaiah 53:7-8, a portion of one of the prophet s Servant Songs (Isaiah 52:13 53:12). The two verses present a basic picture of the suffering, humiliation, and exaltation of the Messiah. Like a sheep to the slaughter, Jesus was the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Jesus did not answer His accusers (Matthew 27:12), much like a lamb is silent before its shearer and does not open its mouth. Verses 34-35: The Jews debated whether Isaiah s prophecy referred to the Messiah, the prophet himself, or Israel, so the eunuch s question to Philip regarding who the prophet was saying this about himself or another person showed great insight and intelligence. It was also the perfect place for Philip to begin from that Scripture and tell him the good news about Jesus. Philip needed no further introduction to begin a clear presentation of the gospel to the Ethiopian. He simply started where the eunuch was in Isaiah and launched into telling him the truth about Jesus. The Scriptures were the heart of Philip s explanation to one searching life s greatest spiritual question. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 159

13 5 minutes LIVE IT OUT SAY: What will you do to be a part of God s mission to the nations? GUIDE: Lead group members to consider the responses to the Bible study listed on page 128 of the PSG. Consider the daily opportunities God has given you recently to initiate a gospel conversation about Him. Ask God to help you recognize future opportunities and to give you the boldness of Philip in your conversation. Give financially to support the missionaries and mission organizations with whom your church partners. Commit to support these missionaries and their work with ongoing prayer as well. As a group, choose one way to be involved with sharing the gospel through missions. Start locally, but challenge yourselves to go beyond your community as God leads you. Need a place to start? Check out for a list of ways to get involved. Wrap It Up SAY: Interruptions to our plans can lead to great, unexpected opportunities especially if God is bringing about the change. Listen for His leadership and then take your place in God s mission to the nations. Get expert insights on weekly studies through the Ministry Grid (MinistryGrid.com/web/BibleStudiesForLife). 160 seize the day: A call to missions