Learning Biblical Evangelism Like Philip
In learning Biblical Evangelism like Philip the Evangelist did, we see that Philip had a pretty simple way of life.
And as we do this, let’s have our lives open to God leading us in everyday simple evangelism.
(See Acts 8:26 on Blue Letter Bible)
26Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert.
27So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship,
28was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.
29Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”
30So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
(Acts 8:26-30)
Notice, that even with Philip – the only one that the Bible gives the title “evangelist” to – he had a life of simple obedience to God.
This led to Philip spending a lot of time all alone on that desert road. We can safely assume he would be spending time nurturing his relationship with God.
Wouldn’t you?! My guess is that he kept praying things like, “What am I to look for out here, God?”
Or, “Please speak to me, Lord. What do You want me to do now?”
In learning Biblical Evangelism - spend enough quality time with God
There are many times when the Lord has called me out to spend time just with Him.
Not to serve Him by doing things for Him, but simply to be “with Him.” Just like when Jesus called out His disciples, “that they might be with Him” (Mark 3:14).
It’s likely that God is calling you to spend quality time with Him all alone as well, before your day gets crazy and hectic.
Let’s remember that our first ministry is to God alone; it’s vertical and directed up toward Him.
As we spend time with Him, we can begin to discern the leading of God’s Spirit. We’ll see that He leads us gently down paths.
Then as God opens the doors of a person’s heart, He can lead us to them. Or, He might bring them to us. Then we simply help them to understand God’s Word like Philip did.
But evangelism starts with God molding and shaping our hearts to be in alignment with Him.
Spend time with the Lord today. And share this with someone else who needs to hear this as well.
Listen to the full message here.
~ Pastor Drew