This week we have been reviewing Philip’s ministry to the Ethiopian eunuch. Philip accepted his

call to minister right where the eunuch was. This led to the eunuch being baptized.

Now, we trace the next steps of Philip’s ministerial journey:

When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the

eunuch did not see him any longer but went on his way rejoicing. Philip appeared in

Azotus, and he was traveling and preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to

Caesarea. (Acts 8: 39-40)

While it’s intriguing that the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, let’s focus on Philip’s ministry.

God had called Philip to this place and asked him to minister to this single person. He

completed what he was asked to do, and now he was being led to another place and more

towns after that.

We can learn two things from this:

1. Every person we minister to matters! Philip was asked to travel on this road, where he

         met and baptized one person. It sounds like he was called specifically to go this way to

         meet this person and minister to him and share the gospel with him! In the parable of the

         Lost Sheep (Luke 15:1-7), Jesus says that He rejoices more over one sinner who

         repents than ninety-nine who do not need to repent. Everyone matters to God!

   2. We are called to minister to people for a time, and then we must move on! Jesus says in

         the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) to go into all the world and make disciples of

         all nations. If we stop at the first disciple we make, we will be unable to continue.

We have people come into our lives through our community, our neighborhood, our church, and

our work. We need to minister to them and with them! And we are very fortunate to be able to

remain connected to them through technology and social media. But when the time comes, we

must move on and continue to minister to others and with others!



Who are you thankful for that may have not known Christ and is now a fellow disciple in

ministry?

By Jason Grace

Jason is a software engineering manager. He and his wife, Karen, have two children and have

been active members at Immanuel for over 22 years. His service includes roles in the deacon

ministry, children's ministry, technical team, financial coaching, and leading Bible studies. He

loves traveling with his wife and family throughout the US.