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Oct 26, 2025

GAZA Road Lessons | His Word, His Plan, His People

GAZA Road Lessons | His Word, His Plan, His People

Passage: Acts 8:1-39

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: His Word, His Plan, His People

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: sunday morning, sermon, preaching, gaza, bold evangelism, october 2025, gaza road, gaza road lessons, obey without delay, spirit-led opportunities, one-on-one gospel moments, acts chapter 8, philip’s mission, reaching the outsider

In this week’s sermon, we walk through Philip’s Spirit-led encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch on the Gaza road. This isn’t just a story of bold obedience; it’s a reminder that God still leads His people to individuals who feel left out or forgotten. You’ll learn what it means to obey God without delay, listen for the Spirit’s voice, and connect conversations to Jesus, even when it’s inconvenient.

You got to wonder what it was like, 1200 miles of heading north, bumpy, probably dusty, curvy roads, day after day, doing the same thing over and over and over again. This man was either riding on a cart or riding on some sort of a little rack that men would've held on their shoulders walking north.

You got to get into his mind a little bit. This guy does this forever and ever, it probably seems like in his mind. He has this large entourage of people that are with him because he was the official, he was the boss. But he gets closer and closer as he heads north and he finally gets within sight range of the city, the Holy City, the City of God they called it. He sees the walls and he gets even closer. He sees the stairs. He probably gets down and off of his chariot.

He begins to walk up to the stairs and he gets to the gates right at the holy place, right at the Temple Mount, if you would. It's the most holy place, but on this side, it's also the most segregated place. He looks out across it and he sees the courts of the Gentiles to maybe his left. The courts of the women are over there. The men's courts are on the other side, but there's a problem, and that problem is, is there's no place for him. There's no place for him. He has all the money in the world because he comes from one of the richest countries in the world. He has all the prestige in the world because he represents the queen.

He has all the power really in the world that he needs, the earthly power, but there's no place for him. Not only did his skin color give him away, but also the fact that he had this large entourage that was with him gave it away that he was an outsider.

But the event that we're about to look at in scripture says that beyond all of that, scripture tells us that he's a eunuch. He's a eunuch. Now this designation as well as this action because it's both of those things, it probably came somewhere in childhood, that he was designated as this, and really it changed his inward life. It also changed his outward life, meaning that along with the obvious, right, along with the obvious, he also probably didn't have a lot of the other just manly features that testosterone gives boys as they cross over into manhood.

His voice may have been different, maybe didn't have the hair on his arms or on his face that many did, meaning that this guy was living a life like no one else. On one side of his life, he had everything that money could buy, but on the other side of his life, you got to imagine his emotions, probably didn't fit in anywhere.

He probably couldn't have any close relationships. He was royal on this side, but at the object of probably a lot of jokes on the other side, but something in his heart had drawn him to the temple. There had to be something else out there. So what does he do? He sets off to the temple to do what we all do. All of us who are hurting, all of us who have emptiness or pain or shame or a heart that is still seeking something else. He heads to the temple, but there's a problem.

There's a problem when he gets there. After 1200 miles, he gets to this gate that the Jews had literally put up a message on that said that he could not come in. Why? Because they had taken the book of Deuteronomy, they had perverted it a little bit, and they even kept people, as we remember from studying the gate called beautiful a couple of weeks ago, they had kept people out of the gate. In fact, Deuteronomy did say in Deuteronomy 23:1, that no one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting could enter the assembly of God.

So this man came all this way, but he couldn't go in. He couldn't get to the spot that he felt like would bring him hope. Bring him hope. So what did he do? Did he give up? No, he didn't give up. Somehow, someway, we don't know if it was when he was there or when he was leaving. I personally think while he was there, I think somehow he purchased a scroll, an Old Testament scroll. He had all the money and means in the world, he could have done it. I think he purchased the Old Testament scroll like we'll see in just a minute of the book of Isaiah. Now, it would've been expensive.

He would've either had to hire somebody to do it or buy it from an antique dealer, but with an emptiness of his heart, he took his scroll, he had to turn around and he had to start the long 1200-mile journey back home. Rejected by the religious, he starts walking. Meanwhile, where we left off last week in Acts chapter seven, today we're going to be in Acts chapter eight.

Meanwhile, Stephen has just given his life for the Lord. If you remember last week, he stood up, empowered by the Spirit, stood up and preached the gospel. They literally martyred him, the first martyr in the Book of Acts. He gives his life for Jesus. He kept Jesus the main thing on his mind. Jesus gives him his eternal reward, welcomes him into the kingdom for the glory of God, the church, he's killed for his faith. But the church explodes.

It explodes out of this little area of Judea, and now it is exploding everywhere. It is scattered everywhere. And today we cross over from chapter seven into chapter eight of the Book of Acts, and let me read you the first couple of verses. Acts chapter eight, verse one says this. It says, "On that day, a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem. And all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria." Verse four, "Those who had been scattered, they preached the word wherever they went." Verse five, "Philip went down to the city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there." Let me let you in to what's happening here. The eunuch has probably just turned south. Philip has now gone into Samaria. The apostles have stayed in Jerusalem. They're the only believers that stayed in Jerusalem because they knew what was coming. They were willing to give their lives.

The thousands of church people, just like all of you guys, the ordinary people that make Acts so powerful, they spread into the whole area around. And what did they do? They preached. They preached the name of Jesus everywhere they went. It wasn't a matter of what they were doing. They knew what to do. It was just a matter of where they were going to do it, where they were going to do it. This was a great advancement of the gospel that we're seeing march through just like Jesus said it would.

And here we got to meet this man named Philip. Now, look, we actually met Philip a couple of weeks ago in Acts chapter six. He was one of the seven deacons that were set apart, but we just kind of skipped over him there. But today we're going to get to see Philip in a lot brighter light.

And like last week where we looked at Stephen, this week we're actually going to get to tag along with Philip on what is really and truly the first mission trip, the first mission trip to the outer skirts of the area, and might I say the first mission trip that begins to usher the gospel into the world.

Today, we're going to get to see Philip being used through the Holy Spirit meeting this eunuch on a road, and today we're going to get to see how Acts 1:8 is being lived out. Jerusalem has heard the gospel. Judea has been scattered to people into it. It is hearing the gospel. And now Samaria, Philip is there, right? Miracles are happening. People are getting saved. They're being delivered. Philip is preaching, he's always preaching. He's speaking Jesus. So many people are now in Samaria hearing the word of God.

Acts 8:8 says, watch this about Samaria. "So there was a great joy in the city," so much so even the sorcerer, this powerful sorcerer named Simon, he's saved, he's baptized in this movement of God. Some would even call it the Samaritan Pentecost. This movement of God is so powerful that the people of God, you guys, they call in the Apostles, I tell you what, you want to make your preacher happy, you want to make us joyful? Call us to come watch you do the work of God. Amen? That's what they do. They call the apostles in just to confirm what is happening and right in the middle of this Samaritan revival where all these people are giving their life to Jesus, God calls Philip out of Samaria. He calls him out of Samaria because he has another moment for him.

And I'm not going to lie. Looking at this from a strategic standpoint looks like God's making a mistake. It really does, because god is calling Philip out of this massive revival moment down to this place where it looks like he's going to just get to meet with this one man. But you know what hit me this week that I think maybe should hit all of us this week? Write this first principle down. "God's plans are not always our plans. They're better." They're just better. And God's plans, yes, they are concerned with the masses, but on another end, our God is also concerned with the one person that doesn't know him.

So this morning, let's see what happens in Philips life. Let's just pull some walkaways from the text today of God and Philip and this eunuch that we just talked about a minute ago. Let's catch up with him in Acts chapter eight, verse 26, watch what happens in the middle of this revival in Samaria, it says this.

"Now, the angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road, to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." Verse 27, you may want to circle these first four words. "So he started out." I want you to write down this first lesson from the Gaza road. Number one, Philip's showing us that obeying without delaying really invites God's power to move in us. It invites God's power to move in us. I'm remembering this in my mind just by saying the words obey without delay. Why? Because that's what God expects from us. He expects us to obey.

In fact, I think we could actually pull the opposite of this statement and make it a negative statement and basically say that delayed obedience is not obedience at all. Delayed obedience hinders the movement of God, squelches the power of God, and actually disqualifies us from being the people that God moves in.

I love how Philip does this, because Philip in this message right here, in this text right here, Philip has the message that is spoken to him, and he literally just says, "Okay, let's go." Remember what the angel said to him? The angels said, "Hey, listen, God wants you to go south, down to that old road that runs through Gaza." Now, that doesn't really mean a whole lot to us, but Gaza was a Philistine city. It was a Philistine city that actually Alexander the Great in about the 330 BC, somewhere around there, I think it was 336, Alexander the Great conquered Gaza and actually destroyed the city into nothing but a pile of ruins.

Now, they built another city on the coast, but the original one here, think in your mind, broken street light, out of business Piggly Wiggly, possible Hardy's and a Dollar General, all right? Think about that. That is exactly what this would've been, this old runway, this old road would've ran through these old ruins, but this road was still a very important road that ran from Jerusalem all the way south into Africa, right?

All the way south to the Nile. Now, what God says right here is God looks at Philip through the angel and he just says, "Go." Now, I don't know if you've noticed it yet, but God hasn't actually given Philip all the details yet, to which some of you, this is the point you check out. Why? Because you have an incredibly large, big, type A personality, and you just can't do it unless all the details are there. Why? Because we think that God owes us some fully laid out plan. We think that God owes us this plan for the rest of our lives that should be laid out in front of us or the rest of this season, or that God should give us every single step if he's going to ask us to move.

But let me let you into a little secret that I've had to learn because I'm with you in this whole type A thing. Here it is in the form of a principle. God is waiting on you to take the first step to show you the rest of the steps in many, many, many, many ways. Listen, some of you are still at ground zero spiritually because you've never really said, "Yes Lord," and taken that step of obedience. Some of you have just never said, "Here I am, Lord, and wherever you're pointing, I'm ready to go." You've never said... Yeah, but I love this. What does Philip do? Philip just says, "Hey, yeah, you know what? Let's go." And what does he do? He starts this 165 mile journey down to a place that is way out of his comfort zone. Why? Because he's a Jew and he's now going down to Gaza.

This is Philistine land. There's nothing really there. There's a revival movement happening up here. He doesn't have the story. He just knows he needs to go, and he knew what to do when he went because what he's supposed to do has always been what we've supposed to do. Here's the cool part about God. He has already given us the calling for our lives as believers, but he might not have told us where to go, but we knew what to do and what to do is Acts 1:8, right? It's the same thing that Jesus left with us. Let me read it to you again. It says, "But you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses." That's the calling. It's not a what to do, it's where to do it, "In Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and to the ends of the earth."

Listen to me, believer, the calling never changed for Philip, and the calling never changes for us. The location may change, the direction may change. Who's in front of us may change, wherever we are, that's what we're to do, and I can't tell you how many conversations I walk away from still today, and I'm supposed to be a pro at this, amen? Right? And I go, "I should have talked about Jesus. I should have been more bold for Jesus." Man, Philip is reminding me again today, this week that my role is to trust and obey and watch God move. That's my role.

It's to trust and obey when it's hard, trust and obey when it gets a little dirty, trust and obey when I don't know all the steps, God is with us. We're to obey without delay, Philip says, and God will open the opportunity, but number two, write this down because this is what we do secondly. Not only do we obey and not delay, but number two, we watch for God's sovereignly prepared opportunities so we don't just recklessly obey and run without regard for anything. We obey without delay, and then we keep our eyes open for the opportunities that God puts in front of us.

In fact, keep watching the story here. Watch it unfold. Remember our eunuch we talked about at the beginning? Watch what happens right here. So Philip, he, verse 27, "So he started out and he went on his way and he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Kandake, it's the same thing, which means queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home he was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet, verse 29. The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it."

Now, think about it with me for a minute. If he wouldn't have obeyed without delay, he would not have been in a position to see what God had put in front of him. It's the first step that leads to the second step, that leads to the third step. Now, Philip's spiritual eyes are open. He's now walking the Gaza road. There's lots of people around him. Get it in his mind, and all of a sudden God stops him out of all the people on the road, God said, "That's the one. That's the one." Now, how did God say it? I don't know. I don't know that. I don't think it was audible because it literally says the Spirit told Philip, and one of the constant things in the Book of Acts is that the Spirit speaks.

He speaks. In fact, 59 times the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the Book of Acts, and in 40 of them it mentions that he is speaking to a person. He's speaking to a person, and here he speaks to the person, just like we see in Acts, chapter 10 when they're studying and thinking through God's word, the Spirit says to Philip or to Peter, remember? He says, "Hey, go talk to those three people."

Just like in Acts 13 when they were worshiping and the Holy Spirit rolls in and tells them to set Paul and Barnabas apart as the ministers. Listen, church, this is not a special thing in the Book of Acts, this is what I want to drive home for a minute. It is not a special thing. The Spirit speaking is not an Acts thing. The Spirit speaking is a normative Christian living thing. It's normative. What does that mean? That means it's still how he operates, and it's how he will always operate. But my question is, when's the last time you heard him?

When's the last time you experienced what Philip is experiencing here and walking in the spirit? I would say that the spirit never quit speaking. The problem is we quit hearing. It's kind of like a cell tower, especially if you have T-Mobile, amen?

You know it's working, but you don't have no signal because something is in the way. And in our life spiritually most of the time, what's in the way is busyness and pride. Most of the time what's in the way is the fact that we've held our kids up as our gods and not God. Most of the time what's in the way is our jobs and our advancement in career or family. The Spirit speaks, my question is, are you aware? Have you removed the obstacles? Has there been a moment in your life recently where the Spirit said, "Go to them." Listen, church, this is not an Acts thing. The Holy Spirit wants to guide us and direct us and give us wisdom and walk with you. He has plans for you. So the question is what chariot is he pointing you to? So the spirit says, "Hey, Philip, go over to that chariot. Go over to that chariot that has the eunuch in it, the official, the Ethiopian official in it. Go to the eunuch's chariot."

Now, if you're a kid in the room and you don't know what a eunuch is, just ask your parents at lunch today, all right? They'll tell you what that means. But this guy was an official. He was in charge of all of the Ethiopian treasures. Now today, Ethiopia is a small little country over there, just above Kenya I might add ,right there in East Africa. In this time period, Ethiopia was considered anything south of the Nile, Cush, if you would, if you want to read that in the Old Testament, that's Ethiopia. Now, this guy is super, super, super important. He's representing one of the national or one of the global powers on earth that had all the riches, had all of the power.

He's the treasury manager. This country had all the religion. They worshiped the sun, they worship animals, they worship their leaders, but something in this man said that there has to be more. There's something else out there. I have everything the world offers, but I'm still empty. My spiritual life is still dry, and we've already said on top of that, that he felt different. We already set up to that, that people looked up to him on one end, but probably joked on the other end. He probably had no significant relationships. It's hard when you don't have that in common with him, and there's no doubt that when he went to the temple to worship that he was rejected, he was confined, he was pushed out.

Now he's confused and doesn't this describe where people are today? Have you ever thought about how many people come to the proverbial temple but hit a wall of rejection because of something is in their lives?

Man, what we're about to see here is so encouraging. In fact, Philip moves, watch this, keep reading with me. It says this in verse 30. It says, "Then Philip," remember God has pointed, he's like, "Hey, that's the chariot." "Then Philip, he ran up to the chariot." Did he wait? Did he ease up? Did he kind of hedge his bets? No, no, no. This brother ran up to the chariot, right? Maybe even the guards, may have even been like, "Hey, what are you doing right?" Watch this. "Philip, he ran up to the chariot and he heard that the man was reading Isaiah the Prophet. "Do you understand what you're reading?" Philip asked. "How can I?" He said, "Unless someone explains it to me." So watch with this. The eunuch invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Man, are you seeing what's happening here?

Are you seeing how God is already weaving the story here? Are you seeing the sovereignty and the planning of the Lord is already working here, God is working. This is what happens when we just say yes, this is what happens when we just move. This man is now reading out loud the Book of Isaiah. That's how they did it. Then he would've been an educated man. He would've been reading, it would've been either Hebrew or Greek. We don't know which one. That's what they were written in during this time period.

He would've been reading it out loud so he could focus, so the rest of the people around him could hear, because they probably couldn't read. They weren't educated. Philip hears him reading it. He strikes up the conversation, which is always half the battle about talking about Jesus, right? He strikes up the conversation.

He jumps into the chariot, to which all of us are going, "Matt, this never happens to me." Oh, yes, it does. In fact, it probably happens all the time to you. You just don't realize it. It happens all the time, and we just don't take advantage of it, and the more that we don't take advantage of it, it's kind of like God just finally says, "Okay, this guy needs help and understand what he's reading." Why? Well, because the reality is that the spirit is needed to properly read the text. That's just how it is. Can anybody understand the Bible? Yes, but in a sense, without the spirit, we really and truly can't understand the whole Bible. That's our role as believers, is to walk through scripture with people and teach them. So Philip, here's the passage and here's the deal, here's the cool part about this.

It's a good one. It is a great text. Why? Because it's about Jesus. Let me read you a part of it. Watch this. In verse 32, it says, "This passage of Scripture that the eunuch was reading..." Here it is. It says this. "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, like a lamb before its shearer is silent, he did not open his mouth in his humiliation, he was deprived of justice, who can speak of his descendants for his life was taken from the earth."

What this guy is reading, the eunuch is riding down the road and he's reading actually a passage of Scripture. You can look at it this afternoon, from Isaiah chapter 53, which probably means he started at the beginning of the scroll, a hundred miles north, and he probably had gotten all the way down to this point, and he made it reading through the first 52 chapters.

But this verse, man, this verse is an amazing one. Why? Because I want you to put the picture in your mind together. What do we got? We've got the eunuch being rejected at the temple. We've got Philip being called into the spot. We've got the spirit pointing into this deal. He is now jumping up into the cart, and Philip hears the passage from Isaiah that was written 800 years prior to Jesus being here that speaks about a messiah that would come, that will be led like a lamb to the slaughter that was wrongfully accused. He would be silent, and this is Jesus, right?

This is Jesus. When he stood before Pilate, he didn't make a defense. He was standing for my guilt. He walked in to be killed, and Jesus, here it is, was deprived of justice to give me justice, and that's what we're seeing is spoken right here.

But look, the Jews missed this, but this eunuch's heart was being drawn into this because you got to know that he felt like he wasn't given any justice when he got there. He wanted to worship. He wanted to experience God, but he couldn't. But now he's reading about this Messiah, this king that can give him not only justice, but that can save him, that can give him freedom and joy, and everything his heart longed for. In fact, if you go down a couple of chapters from Isaiah 53, down to Isaiah 56, to make this even more powerful of how God is woven this story together, now you got to remember there were no chapters back then, right? It was just a scroll, a long scroll, so in my mind it's just like, here's where he's reading and a couple of paragraphs earlier, I want you to see what God actually does in this story for this eunuch.

Watch this in Isaiah 56, three chapters later, verse three, watch what God says. He says, "Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say that the Lord will surely exclude me from his people." Are you seeing that? "And let no eunuch complain that I'm only a dry tree, for this is what the Lord says, to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbath, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant, to them I will give within my temple walls a memorial and a name." Oh, catch it, "Better than the sons and daughters, and I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever. These I will bring to my holy mountain and I will give them joy in my house of prayer."

Can you see what God has done here? This guy leaves the temple being rejected, but now he's reading about a Messiah.

Go down a few chapters over, down, and he is seeing that even he can know this Messiah. You can't tell me we don't serve a good God. You can't tell me that out of all the officials we have the eunuch that is talked about here. You can't tell me that out of all the scrolls we have the scroll of Isaiah. You can't tell me out of all the people that God has sent Philip, this on fire believer of God that can explain who Jesus is, and it's happening, right? It's happening. This is what God wants to do in all of our lives. Look at verse 34. Watch what the eunuch does. The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is this prophet talking about? Himself or someone else?" Look, this guy's searching, right? He knows what he's doing is not fulfilling him. He knows that he's gone astray.

He knows that dedication didn't get him there. He really knows that sacrifice is not getting him there. He knows that wealth is not filling his life. He even sees that keeping the law is not what it's about, but here the eunuch sees that there is a savior named Jesus that can meet him where he is, but loves him so much he won't leave him there. So Philip, what does he do? Philip does what we all should do and he leads in with Jesus. He leads the conversation in. Now, you got to really think this is a softball for Philip, right? I mean, goodness gracious, you come upon somebody that's already reading the Bible, that's like you sitting down on a park bench and somebody's reading John 3:16, and be like, "Hey, can you tell me what this is talking about?" This is actually what happens to Philip.

I mean, what if the eunuch would've been reading like the book of Judges or something? I mean, you know what I'm saying? Like left-handed Ehud that stabs the king and loses his knife and his fat, right? How are you going to get to Jesus from that one? But God has already worked it out. He's already pointed in the direction, he's taken care of it. All Philip had to do was look for the opportunity that was in front of him and watch verse 35, it says this, then Philip does what we should all do. "Then Philip began with the very passage of the scripture and he told him the good news about Jesus." So not only do we obey without delay, not only do we recognize the opportunities God puts in front of us, write this one down. Number three, "We're to live and find every way to connect life and to connect scripture to Jesus."

Listen, believer, that's our role. Our role is to see opportunities and step in and connect life and connect scripture no matter what someone says to who Jesus is. After all, this was the Jesus model, right? He connected everything back to himself. Believers, what would happen in our community if we turned as many conversations as we could away from ourselves and onto Jesus? Can I just speculate for a minute and tell you what I think would happen? I think because of the life, the death, the resurrection and the redemption that is offered through Jesus, that we would see our community changed for the name of God, we would see it.

So what does Philip do? Philip starts right here in the scriptures and he points to Jesus. Listen, the Bible is not a moral book of doctrinal teachings. The Bible is a book that is written that points all the way from Genesis to Revelation with a scarlet thread of Jesus, that points to his life and his death and his resurrection for us to walk in, and I love every single method that all of us have learned to share our faith, right?

Whether it's the three circles, evangelism, explosion, faith, whichever class you sat through, but I love it even more when we sit down with somebody and something rings a bell in our minds and go, "Hey, can I just tell you about Jesus?" And connect it there. This is the model, and guess what? It works. It works. How do you know it works? Keep reading in the story, right? The eunuch gets radically saved in this very moment.

Now, look, he might not be able to walk into the temple complex, but one day this eunuch is going to walk into the arms of King Jesus, amen? He's going to walk into his arms. He's now a son of the king. Why? Philip has walked him into the presence of Jesus. He's now a follower of Jesus, and watch what happens in the story. Keep going. Verse 36, it says, "As they traveled along the road..." Now, I don't know how far this is. I got that question written down in my journal for Philip later, right, in glory one day. "As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said..." You want to know how we know he got saved? Because there's evidence of his salvation. Do you know that without evidence and without fruit, salvation is not there.

They came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is some water. What can stand in the way of me being baptized?" Now, this is interesting, right? Nobody's begging him. Nobody's flashing it up on the screen every week. Nobody's begging somebody on a phone call and trying to convince this brother. They're riding down the road. His life has been radically saved, radically delivered. The only thing that can make a difference in his life has happened, and right here, this is going to bust some of your bubbles, we go from Jesus straight to baptism. You know what this shows? This shows that Philip through the Holy Spirit thought so much of baptism that it was somewhere at the top of the list and Philip taught him about baptism. Why? Because that's what you do. That is the first act of obedience in a person that has really given their life to Jesus.

Right after you're saved, you get baptized. You know what you don't find in the New Testament? A non-baptized believer. That's what we're seeing. You get saved, you get baptized. It's always been that simple. It's not a feeling of when do I feel like I need to do it? It's an obedience that God has radically saved me, and now I want to identify with him. It's like me wearing this wedding ring. I identify that I am Melissa Petty's husband. That's baptism. In fact, look at verse 38. It gets even better. "And he gave the orders to stop the chariot." I love this.

He's like, "Hey, boys, stop it." They don't know why. This has been a private conversation up until this point, and he gave the orders to stop the chariot. "Both Philip and the eunuch, they went down into the water and Philip baptized him, and when they came up out of the water..." Now pause right there for a minute, because one of the biggest questions that a lot of you ask me all the time is, "Matt, what is the big deal about being immersed? What is the big deal about not being sprinkled?" It's right here.

I mean, it's clear as can be right here, right? It's right where Jesus was baptized as well, not the location here, but it's the same thing. He came up out of the water. Philip and him came up on the water. Listen, you cannot come up out of having something sprinkled over your head. You just can't do it, all right? I don't mean to be mean or offensive, maybe a little bit, but that's what I'm saying right here. I just want to do it how Jesus did it, all right? That's all I'm saying here. That's what's happening here. It's how the early church did it.

It's not some new convenient way that came up at some point. All right, watch this though. Verse 39, "When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing."

Now, if number one is obey without delay, number two is we recognize the opportunities. Number three is that we connect everything to Jesus. Let me show you number four, here it is. "Don't forget to rejoice in what God does and not what we can do." Isn't this what we see in this guy's life? Did you notice what just happened in this Ethiopian's life? He has just given his life to Jesus. He has followed through in a baptism and the obedience of baptism, and what you may not have noticed though, which is an awesome part of this story, is that all of a sudden, right as Peter brings him up out of the water and they start to turn towards the shore, somehow, some way, God takes Philip from the scene.

The literal Greek there means, he was there and then he is not. Now, how did God do it? I don't know, all right? I don't know. It's like Jesus. After he was risen, he was over here one day, then he was over here and he was over here and he was over here. It was some Star Trek weird stuff. I don't know what is going on, all right? I don't know how it happened, but God does it. God instantaneously, you can read the rest of the chapter, places Philip on another assignment in another town and he's gone. But the eunuch, I want you to see something here. The eunuch doesn't even care. He doesn't care. Why? Because of the radical transformation in his life. The eunuch is rejoicing because he's a new man, right? He's born again, he's baptized, he's been made whole. He's a son of God.

He's full of life. He's full of joy, and now and now and now, listen, and now even his crew sees the life change. Now, you say, "Matt, why in the world would God just take Philip away like that?" Now, look, let me put the Bible here and let me put Matt Petty right here. Is that very clear to everyone? Here's why I think he did this. Every time there's a miracle in scripture, it is to confirm who Jesus is, what Jesus has done, who God is, and what God has done. And I think in this moment that God does this in Philip and the eunuch's life, because up until this point it's been a personal deal, but now because of the life change that is happening, God is looking at the rest of the entourage that is with Philip in this moment going, "Hey, you need to listen to everything that he's about to tell you because he's a new man."

He's a new man. Now you say, "Matt, why do you think that?" I think that because according to the ancient historian Estavus, Philip and his crew from this moment, I mean the eunuch and his crew, they turn to home and actually they plant what is known as the first international church ever planted in Ethiopia, and here's one of the cool parts about this. You can go to Ethiopia today, and many, many, many churches, ancient churches, actually trace their roots back to this eunuch getting saved.

I think that these brothers got saved. I think that God moved in their life. So church, let's rejoice in what God does in us. Let's rejoice in how God does in us and listen to this, let's rejoice in such a way that other people see the change that's in our lives and want it and will move in the direction of God with us.

Here's number five. This is where we're closing. Number five, along all this, I just want you to remember something, I want you to remember, believer, here it is, "That you never know who God may have you reach." You never know. You think Philip was a little bit upset having to leave the party in Samaria? Probably. You think he was a little bit annoyed? Probably, but you never know. You never know who God puts in front of you today.

I want you to think about something. Every single one of us owe it 100% to God for redeeming us, but also on this side, we also look to that person that jumped up into our chariot and presented the gospel to us, don't we? I don't know who yours is. I don't know who your person is that jumped up, that explained it, that answered your knock at the door, that walked down an aisle with you one day and told you about Jesus.

I don't know whose yours was that was showing you on the flannel board one day who Jesus was. I don't know who stepped into your car one day or your workplace one day, but every one of us has somebody. I mean, even on top of that, every movement of God has been started with someone that spoke Jesus. Just remember this, you never know who God is going to put in front of you. So let me close with a couple of questions. Number one, who's God calling you to reach today? Who's he calling you to? Who's he already putting in your mind? I have no doubt that through this morning there has been somebody on many, many, many of your minds, that you've been going, "Oh man, I got to tell him, what's holding you back?"

Who? Here's number two. Where's God calling you to? Maybe for you, it's across the cul-de-sac, right? To talk to that guy you see every Tuesday when you take the trash can out, you know what I'm talking about? Maybe it's across the office, maybe it's across the classroom, maybe it's across the sports team. Where has he called you to? Or maybe for you it's this number three? Do you need to give your life to Jesus today? Did you walk into this place today spiritually where the eunuch is thinking, "God, you can't do anything with me. You can't speak to me, you can't reach me. I'm beyond your love." No, but maybe today something's starting to stir right here, to say, "Yes, King Jesus." Do you need to give your life to Jesus today? And in just a minute, we're going to have the invitation just like we do every week.

I'm going to stand right over here by this next steps banner, and I'll tell you, the invitation is not a great time to just try to beat traffic out. It's really a time for God to move in your heart. I thought about just putting counselors at all the doors, right? Maybe today you need to give your life to Jesus. I'd love to walk you through what that looks like today.

Secondly, maybe today, maybe you've never been baptized as a believer, maybe today you need to finally put that pole on the ground and say, "What's keeping me from doing it, Pastor Matt?

 

Follow Along with the Message

GAZA Road Lessons

 

October 26, 2025

Deuteronomy 23:1
No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the LORD.
Acts 8:1,4–5
1 On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. … 4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there.
Acts 8:8
So there was great joy in that city.

PRINCIPLE: God’s plans are not always our plans; they are .

Acts 8:26–27
7 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road — the desert road — that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out,
5 Gaza Road Life Lessons:

1. Obeying without invites God’s power to move through us.

PRINCIPLE: God is waiting on you to make the step to show you the rest of the steps.

Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

 

2. Watch for God’s sovereignly opportunities.

Acts 8:27–29
27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
Acts 8:30–31

30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. 31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

Acts 8:32–33
32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” 
Isaiah 56:3–5, 7

3 Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.” And let no eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.” 4 For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant— 5 to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever. …7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer.

Acts 8:34
The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”
Acts 8:35

Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

3. Find every way to life & scripture to Jesus.

Acts 8:36
As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”
Acts 8:38–39
38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.

4. Don’t forget to in what God does, not what we can do.

5. Remember, you never know who God may have you .

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Additional Notes

 

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