February 26, 2012
Acts 8:26 - 40
God is a God who sent Jesus for all people. Jesus died for the sins of the world.
In
Acts the church in Jerusalem was being persecuted. So everyone had to scatter
for their lives. As they scattered they were not ashamed to share the gospel.
When you are on the run you still need to share the gospel on the run. In the
process there is revival.
Acts
8:26; An angel of the Lord sends Philip to meet a black (Ethiopian) man on the road. The
Ethiopian is on the road reading the Old Testament on the way home from Jerusalem. He has a divine appointment with Phillip to
receive spiritual guidance. God tells Philip to overtake the chariot and when
God spoke the man of God obeys. Philip asks if the Ethiopian understood what he
was reading and the Ethiopian asked him to explain it to him. There are people
who read God’s Word and are clueless as to what it means. God sends us
alongside them to example that which God has revealed to us.
Philip
goes on to explain about Jesus and the eunuch accepts Christ. Along the way, in
the desert, they come to a body of water and the Eunuch asks to be baptized so
Philip does just that. In all we do we must honor God. We become a people who
instead of honoring God we follow the foolishness of the world.
Honor God: As
black people we will tweak God’s Word to fit our lifestyle. God’s Word is true
and he doesn’t apologize for writing it down. God says in Deuteronomy (in the
law) do not change one word or add one word to God’s Word otherwise you will
not be written in the lamb’s book of life. We dishonor him by saying it is
outdated but God says he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Obedience
may not mean not doing it but asking God to help you not to do it. The key is
to honor God in ALL we do.
Respect Yourself: We live
in a society where disrespect for ourselves is high and accepted and
celebrated. Psalm 139:13-18. Nobody has the same DNA you have. Even identical
twins do not have the same fingerprints. You are unique and fearfully and
wonderfully made in the image of God. The difference between ego and respect is
that God is in one and not the other. People dislike themselves to the point of
plastic surgery saying to God you did not do a good enough job. And they always
want more. You become a spectacle.
Jeremiah
1:5. The talents we have are not because of our own abilities but because God
has placed that in us. We have to learn how to respect and love ourselves. We
don’t have to be ashamed of ourselves because God gave us a nice sized nose, or
our lips or our figures. We cannot/should not let anyone make us feel ashamed
of ourselves.
Own Your
Heritage: We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; EVERY color,
creed, and nationality. We think silence is good but it is destructive. We need
to instill in our children what is right and let them know that we will not
protect them when they do wrong. The wrong may seem small but doing wrong will
destroy us. Sin will take us as far as we let it. We are no longer enslaved but
slavery is still around subtly. We need to teach our children about the rich heritage that we possess.
Honor
God because when we honor God he will fight our battles. When we respect ourselves
others will have to respect us. Own our heritage and just as God loves us, we
can love our God, love ourselves and love our people. He didn’t bring us this far to leave us. Wade
in God’s Word. Satan can’t touch you there. Honor God, respect yourself, and
own your heritage.
Pastor Pete
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