Today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles finds Philip preaching the Good News and baptizing:
Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go towards the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.”
The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. (Acts 4: 26-40).
Reading about the Early Church is exciting to me. God’s angels, His messengers, send the Apostles here and then they are sent there. They are running from Jerusalem to Samaria back to Jerusalem and then to Gaza, all at the drop of a hat. They simply go to where they are called, and everywhere they go, they preach the Good News of Jesus Christ. People, like the Ethiopian eunuch, who kept the treasury for the queen of the Ethiopians, immediately converts and desires baptism. How exciting is that! Imagine the power of the Apostles’ presence, the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the world. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if people today would respond in the same way as the Ethiopian eunuch? Imagine a community so filled with the Holy Spirit that people flock to join.
Let us pray: Loving Father, send Your Holy Spirit to fill our hearts so that we may draw others to Jesus Christ. Amen.
CALENDAR REMINDERS:
The Rev. Helen Appelberg will be with you this Sunday. Mary and I will be in West Texas checking in on my Mom and Dad.
St. Augustine Weekend:
Saturday, 28 August 2010 at 6:00 p.m. dinner celebrating the new facilities and in honor of St. Augustine’s Feast Day. (We ordered a new “Episcopal Church Welcomes You” sign. Hopefully, it will arrive before the 28th.)
Sunday, 29 August 2010 at 9:00 a.m. Eucharist Rite II celebrating our patron saint, St. Augustine of Hippo.
Rally Day, Sunday 12 September 2010: Rally Day is a Sunday set aside, usually at the end of summer, where members of the Church are invited to join ministries within the Church, for example, Altar Guild, Fellowship, Education, Lectors, etc. Please join us for Rally Day.
The Second Annual St. Augustine Art Show beginning 25 September.
Please remember everyone on our prayer list, and especially Roylene Lemons, Cindi Clack, Liam Moloney, all of those serving in the Armed Forces at home or abroad and most especially those from St. Augustine, for those who are traveling, for the ill, and for those who have no one to pray for them.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go towards the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.”
The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. (Acts 4: 26-40).
Reading about the Early Church is exciting to me. God’s angels, His messengers, send the Apostles here and then they are sent there. They are running from Jerusalem to Samaria back to Jerusalem and then to Gaza, all at the drop of a hat. They simply go to where they are called, and everywhere they go, they preach the Good News of Jesus Christ. People, like the Ethiopian eunuch, who kept the treasury for the queen of the Ethiopians, immediately converts and desires baptism. How exciting is that! Imagine the power of the Apostles’ presence, the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the world. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if people today would respond in the same way as the Ethiopian eunuch? Imagine a community so filled with the Holy Spirit that people flock to join.
Let us pray: Loving Father, send Your Holy Spirit to fill our hearts so that we may draw others to Jesus Christ. Amen.
CALENDAR REMINDERS:
The Rev. Helen Appelberg will be with you this Sunday. Mary and I will be in West Texas checking in on my Mom and Dad.
St. Augustine Weekend:
Saturday, 28 August 2010 at 6:00 p.m. dinner celebrating the new facilities and in honor of St. Augustine’s Feast Day. (We ordered a new “Episcopal Church Welcomes You” sign. Hopefully, it will arrive before the 28th.)
Sunday, 29 August 2010 at 9:00 a.m. Eucharist Rite II celebrating our patron saint, St. Augustine of Hippo.
Rally Day, Sunday 12 September 2010: Rally Day is a Sunday set aside, usually at the end of summer, where members of the Church are invited to join ministries within the Church, for example, Altar Guild, Fellowship, Education, Lectors, etc. Please join us for Rally Day.
The Second Annual St. Augustine Art Show beginning 25 September.
Please remember everyone on our prayer list, and especially Roylene Lemons, Cindi Clack, Liam Moloney, all of those serving in the Armed Forces at home or abroad and most especially those from St. Augustine, for those who are traveling, for the ill, and for those who have no one to pray for them.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
No comments:
Post a Comment