Turn, if you will, to Acts chapter 8.
Acts chapter 8.
If you've got a Black Church Bible, it's on page 917.
!
It can be noisy, can't it?
And so, I want to speak just for a couple of minutes to parents and to all of us.
We believe that the Bible teaches that children should be part of corporate worship.
They belong.
We want them to be with us, seeing mum and dad, seeing uncles and aunts, seeing others, growing up, worshipping and learning, seeing that for our children, this is for them.
They belong as much as we do.
The children of the people of God in the New Testament, they're addressed.
It's just assumed that they would be there.
And so, we love having children with us.
It's one of the great joys, isn't it, to see a generation of kids grow up into young people and adulthood still following the Lord.
And we're also aware that for children to be part of public worship, that takes training, to learn, to sit and to listen.
And so, we want to say that we have great sympathy with the parents of little ones.
We know it's not easy.
As Ruben said earlier, there is a supervised crash for babies.
And there is a room in the church lounge has the service beamed into it.
And so, if your child is getting a little bit scratchy and a little bit too noisy, please feel totally free to take them out into that room.
We recognise that a number of you are training your children.
And we want to really encourage you in that.
And we know that it's easy.
Well, we know it's easy to be frustrated with noise.
And we want to bear with one another in this.
It demands, doesn't it, us as a church family, a high degree of patience.
And so, let me give you a couple of tips to the congregation.
Turning around and glaring is probably not a good thing.
Tutting under your breath isn't particularly helpful.
Above all, pray for our parents.
Pray for our children.
Love our children.
We've got to bear with one another on this, haven't we?
And so, if you want to understand a little bit more of our approach to children in this church,
there's a book on the bookstall written by Jason Halepoulis, Let the Children Worship.
It's really, really terrific.
It's helpful for parents, but helpful for all of us.
Let's pray for each other.
Let's pray for our children.
Our Father, we thank you for the great blessing and privilege of corporate worship.
There are brothers and sisters in parts of the world that are forbidden from meeting together.
There are people, our brothers and sisters, who meet in fear of their lives today.
And so, we are a privileged people.
And we thank you so much for our children.
We thank you for our little ones.
We thank you for the promises of the covenant for them,
that you will be our God and the God of our children.
We pray that our children will grow up knowing and enjoying their God,
following him, enjoying being with the people of God,
hearing your voice in worship.
And so, we pray that as your word is preached now,
by the power of your Holy Spirit, you would speak to us.
For we pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
There are times out there when people open up their hearts to us.
We're talking with them.
And suddenly, they tell us something we didn't know before.
Or we knew it, but we didn't know how deeply.
And they felt it.
And they pour out their heart to us.
And we leave knowing that person a little bit more.
Having greater affection for them.
And we understand what makes them tick.
We understand what they're about.
And Acts chapter 8 is a passage where the living God shows us his heart.
He shows us what makes them tick.
He shows us what he's about.
He shows us his heart for people like you and people like me.
And you'll know that the plot line of Acts unfolds from Acts chapter 1 and verse 8.
And the risen Lord Jesus says to his apostles,
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.
And you will be my witnesses.
And here's the stages in Jerusalem and Judea.
And then in Samaria.
And then to the ends of all the earth.
And that is the story of Acts.
Do you see the picture?
The Father has sent the Son.
And the Son is now sending his apostles.
He's sending them out in the power of the Holy Spirit to be his witnesses.
In Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
And the Jerusalem crowds, they hear this.
And thousands of them become Christians.
And then we saw the next stage of the gospel going to Samaria.
The good news of the Lord Jesus.
Chapter 8 verse 1.
Can you see it?
There arose on that day a great persecution.
Against the church in Jerusalem.
And they are scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.
And remember what happened.
You go further on in the chapter.
And those that were scattered.
Verse 8.
They go about preaching the word.
And crowds become Christians.
And verse 8.
What's the result?
Much joy in that city.
Do you see what's happening?
The living God is reaching out to the world.
Jerusalem.
Judea.
Samaria.
The ends of the earth.
And you might think, well that's very impressive.
But it's a little bit impersonal.
Don't you want to know a little bit about the people?
Who were they?
What happened to them?
How did meeting Jesus change them?
It's a really thrilling thing, isn't it?
To hear how people became Christians.
I hope you do that over the lunch table.
I hope when you meet someone new.
And over the lunch table.
You say, why don't you do it maybe after Judea?
How did you come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?
For many of us it'll be, well I can never remember a time when I didn't know and love the Lord Jesus.
But for many others it's not like that, isn't it?
And there are some amazing stories in this room.
Thrilling stories of how people have come to know the Lord Jesus.
And it turns out that these people that we meet in Acts are a little bit, well, are a lot like you and me.
I'm going to break the section into three scenes.
The first is a divine appointment.
A divine appointment.
Look at verse 25.
Can you look at that?
Now when they testified and spoke in the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem.
Back to HQ.
Preaching the gospel to many villages in Samaria.
Peter and John, they go back to Jerusalem via Samaria.
That's where the action is.
Where the crowds are being converted.
But verse 26, look what happens.
An angel of the Lord said to Philip, rise.
And go towards the south to the town that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.
And you need to know that angels are very rare in the Bible.
And usually when angels appear, they appear to signify that this is a key moment.
An angel appears to say, hang on a minute, something significant is going to happen.
It's a signal to everyone that you need to pay attention.
Everyone is going back to where the crowds were.
Back to Jerusalem.
But God wants Philip to do something he would never have thought of by himself doing.
He's told to go south.
To go into the desert.
Why?
It doesn't sound very strategic, does it?
People are always talking about strategic church planting.
Well, Philip doesn't seem to buy into that.
Who is in the desert?
Verse 27.
He rose and he went.
There was an Ethiopian there.
A eunuch.
A court official of Candace.
Queen of the Ethiopians.
He was in charge of all her treasure.
He'd come to Jerusalem to worship.
Ancient Ethiopia is that part of Africa that we now know as Sudan.
And the Romans said that it was the ends of the earth.
What did Jesus say?
Jesus said, you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth.
And so the living God sends Philip to go after this man.
Of course he does.
We're told he was a eunuch.
He's unable to have children.
He's unmarried.
And in the ancient world what often happened is that people who were in high government,
those who were in high government had important roles.
Because their servants were often castrated for various reasons.
This guy we read, he's been put in charge of the treasury.
The treasury of the Ethiopian queen.
Actually the queen mother.
And we see, don't we, that this guy is really different to Philip.
Philip is an ordinary Jew.
Here is a high-ranking African who is very different.
But in verse 29 the Holy Spirit says to Philip, go over and join this chariot.
You can imagine, can't you, Philip looking at this guy saying, are you sure you want me to do that?
It seems very unlikely that a man from the ends of the earth, this high-ranking African,
would be interested in the Lord God of Israel.
But here is the thing.
There is a good chance that this man from the ends of the earth, this high-ranking African sitting in this chariot,
well, it's very unlikely, isn't it, that he would be, that God would be interested in him, we might think.
Look what's happened so far.
He's been to Jerusalem.
It would have been a very, very long journey, wouldn't it, from Sudan.
It's about 4,000 kilometers.
Can you look in verse 27, he's gone to Jerusalem.
Why?
What's the reason?
To worship.
We don't know what led him to worship in Jerusalem.
And we don't know what he'd shared of the God of Israel, the God of the Jews that had drawn him.
But most commentators agree that his journey to worship at the Temple of Jerusalem would have left him feeling very disappointed.
This Ethiopian eunuch would have come away from Jerusalem feeling marginalized.
If you went to the temple in Jerusalem and you were not a Jew, you had to stay in the outer courts of the temple.
You weren't allowed into the temple.
If you were a non-Jew, you were allowed into the outer courts.
But this man is not only a non-Jew, he's not only a Gentile, he's a eunuch.
Which meant he was not allowed to gather in the assembly of God's people.
He'd gone all that way, 4,000 kilometers, in a chariot, pulled by oxen, to not be allowed to gather with the assembled people of God.
He'd gone all that way, hungry to worship God.
And what had happened? He'd been shut out.
How do you think that would have made him feel?
But amazingly, he is not put off.
Verse 28, he's on his way home.
He's sitting in his chariot, reading the book of Isaiah the prophet.
Which had been written about 700 years before Jesus.
What that means is he's taken the trouble to go to waterstones.
He's taken the trouble to go to a physical bookshop.
He managed to find one.
Back in those days, there were real, proper bookshops.
He bought a scroll of the Bible for himself.
It's an expensive thing to buy.
There's something in him that wants to know more of this God.
He'd heard about it.
And so he might be sitting there thinking,
Of course, this God, he's not very interested in me.
But he starts reading the Bible.
He starts with Genesis.
And that means that the God of the Bible is the God who made the world.
Not just the God of the Jews.
You get to the book of Psalms.
All nations would worship him.
There was a psalm, actually.
We don't know whether the Ethiopian read it.
But it says,
The Cushites, those who are from Ethiopia,
One day they would worship the Lord God.
The heart of God, the God of the Bible, is a heart for all nations.
And of course, he sees Philip.
Into the desert.
He sends Philip into the desert to go after this Egyptian.
And maybe, just maybe this morning,
You have come to church, come to this church,
And you get how the Ethiopian feels.
And maybe you're curious about God.
And you wish that you had some kind of relationship with him
That other people seem to have.
You look at other people in this church,
And maybe you're a little bit wistful
About the relationship with God that they seem to have.
But perhaps,
Perhaps,
Maybe people have made you feel unwelcome.
They've made you feel unwelcome because you're different.
Maybe you look different.
Maybe you sound different.
Maybe you feel different.
Maybe you dress differently.
And it's left you thinking,
That this is just not for me.
It's not for people like me.
Do you see God's heart?
This is the God who sends Philip after Ethiopian eunuchs.
And so if you're here today,
And you're not someone that would call themselves a Christian,
It may just be that there's someone who's come into your life.
Who is a Christian?
And there's something about them that is drawing them to you.
Or it may be this morning that you are a believer in the Lord Jesus.
You are a follower of the Lord Jesus.
And as you think about your week ahead,
You think about people who you interact with,
And you think that you just happen to work with a load of people.
Or you think you happen to live on the same street as a load of people.
But what if God has sent you to them?
Because they're on his heart.
Because he wants to reach out to them.
Have you thought of that?
Maybe you're here this morning and thinking,
Where do I fit in with God's plan?
Maybe you're thinking,
Where am I supposed to go?
Who am I to speak to?
God never sends me an angel.
Angels are very rare.
We are not promised angels, are we?
But we see God's heart.
We see that God wants his people to go after people who feel shut out.
And so maybe it's someone in your class.
In your school.
Maybe it's the guy in the shop.
Maybe it's someone at work you share a desk with.
And you say,
Well she is so different to me.
And you just assume that she's not interested in God.
She's not that kind of person.
But do you see what God is doing in Acts chapter 8?
What if God has begun to work in their heart,
and given them a hunger to know him?
What if he's sent you to reach them?
And so through Acts chapter 8,
is he speaking to us this morning?
He is saying to you and I,
that I am in control.
God is in control by his spirit.
And I am at work sending Philip.
And by my spirit,
I am at work in the Ethiopian preparing him.
It's not an accident.
It's not a coincidence.
I've brought these two together.
And so what that means for us,
in 2025 in Ealing,
he's saying,
wherever you are,
whoever you are,
you are not there by accident.
And you are not here this morning by accident.
God is the great missionary God.
Can you see God's heart?
And so as we think about the week ahead as a church,
that person who sits at your desk,
they're not someone that you just share a desk with.
This is someone that the Lord wants you to reach out to.
And maybe that is why you're there in that workplace,
in that place,
sharing a desk with them.
That's why you're on that school run with those mums.
Do you see how this changes everything?
It changes Monday morning, doesn't it?
That God is reaching out to the world,
and he does that through his people.
That's why we gathered last week as a church,
to pray,
for what the Lord is doing.
Because it's not about our plans.
We would have gone back, wouldn't we,
to Jerusalem where the crowds were?
No, Lord, we pray,
reach out to the world,
and would you use us?
Send us to the people
you want your gospel to go to.
I have a friend who's always got stories
about people they've talked to
about the Lord Jesus.
They're just one of those people.
They're really, really ordinary,
but they always seem to naturally
talk about the Lord Jesus to people.
I'm terribly envious of them.
Takes me all my courage.
I'm stammering tongue.
But they seem to be able to talk
about the Lord Jesus naturally.
And I asked my friend,
how is it that you seem to have so many stories?
And they said to me this,
they start every day with a prayer,
Lord, use me to reach out to someone today.
It's a great prayer, isn't it?
Lord, use me to reach out to someone today.
A divine appointment.
Secondly, an open Bible.
An open Bible.
Can you see that?
Verse 28.
The Ethiopian is reading away.
And in those days,
you would read out loud.
And Philip runs up to the chariot,
which isn't quite as impressive
as you might think.
And the chariot is kind of pulled by oxen,
so it wouldn't be going very quick.
The oxen's trundling along,
but he runs up to the side of the chariot
and he says, remarkably,
do you understand what you're reading?
That is quite bold, isn't it?
I just imagine tomorrow,
I'm cycling along the Exbridge Road
and a car pulls up at the traffic lights.
And in the back is Sadiq Khan,
London's mayor,
and he's reading something.
Would I be bold enough
to tap on his car window
and say,
do you understand what you're reading?
I'd probably want to say
a couple of other things as well.
But it is bold, isn't it, to say that?
Do you understand what you're reading?
Ethiopian says an amazing thing.
Do you see that verse 31?
How can I?
How can I understand
unless someone explains it to me?
And so he invites Philip
to come up and sit with him in the chariot
and explain it.
Sometimes Christians can say
something like this,
Christianity,
the Christian faith,
is caught, not taught.
And there is something in that.
But Christianity is not just
a pattern of living
for someone to copy.
There is something
that needs to be explained.
There is someone
who needs to be explained.
The Ethiopian,
he doesn't get what he's reading.
So he invites Philip up
and we read in verse 32,
the eunuch is reading
this passage of scripture.
You'll be familiar with it,
those of you are regulars.
He was led like a sheep
to the slaughter.
And as a lamb
before his shearers
is silent,
so he did 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.
We don't know
why it's this particular
section of Isaiah
that the Ethiopian eunuch
was reading.
But I wonder
if he might have come across
Isaiah chapter 56.
Will you come with me
to Isaiah 56?
Isaiah chapter 53.
And I want you to listen
to what Isaiah chapter 56 says.
It says in verse 3,
Isaiah chapter 56
in verse 3.
It says this,
it says,
Let not the foreigner
who has joined himself
to the Lord say,
The Lord will surely
separate me from his people.
And let not
the eunuch say,
Behold, I'm a dry tree.
For thus says the Lord
to the eunuchs
who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose the things
that please me
and hold fast to my covenant,
I will give in my house
and within my walls
a monument
and a name
better than sons
and daughters.
I will give them
an everlasting name.
They shall not be cut off.
And I suspect
that if the Ethiopian eunuch
read Isaiah 56,
his heart would have
burst with joy.
Because here is a man
who for his whole life
has been shut out.
And he's gone to worship
God at the temple
and he's been shut out.
But here is a promise.
Here is a promise
that one day
people like him
are going to be
welcomed in.
And here is a promise
that people like him
are going to be given
something better
than sons and daughters.
Can you imagine
that promise for a eunuch?
And you're thinking
when?
But how?
And he flicks back
and he comes across
this person
who we've read about
in these verses
that are quoted
in Acts chapter 8.
This person
who was humiliated,
who was deprived
of justice
and this person
who you see
in the middle
of verse 33,
who can speak
of his descendants?
What's going to become
of his generation?
And these people
who've been eunuch
is thinking
this is someone
like me.
I've been humiliated.
I've been made
to stand outside
and this is someone
like me.
Someone with no descendants
and he wants to know more.
Who is this?
Who is it
that the prophet
is talking about?
And verse 34
the eunuch says
ask,
well who is this person?
Is this the prophet?
Is he speaking
about himself?
Or is this someone else?
And so Philip explains
verse 35
Philip opened his mouth
and began
with this scripture
and told him
the good news
about the Lord Jesus.
Who is this?
Who is this
that the prophet
is speaking about?
This is Jesus.
This is the Jesus
that the apostles
have been preaching.
Who's been raised
from the dead.
Who is Lord of Lords.
this is the Son of God
who is ascended
and sits on the throne
of heaven.
The throne of the universe.
And you think this morning
what possible relevance
could the Lord of Lords
have for me
in my life?
And it turns out
doesn't it
that the very things
I've been through
are the very things
he's been through.
All those things
in my life
that I think
nobody gets
it turns out
he does.
Because he's been there.
If you've
if you come across
somebody who has
been through
what you've been through
your heart is
automatically drawn
to them isn't it?
Aren't you drawn
to them?
Tell me more.
Why did he die?
Why was he led
like a lamb
to the slaughter?
What happened?
You say it's good news.
It doesn't sound
like very good news.
Do you see why
it needs explaining?
And I imagine
Philip would have
explained the Old Testament
system of sacrifices.
That God had given
his people.
He would have explained
how our sin
our rebellion
means that we
cannot live
with God.
And we think
well that just
goes to show
how mean God is.
But no it goes
to show how good
God is.
So good that
in his presence
there is no sin.
There's no lying.
There's no lust.
There's no bullying.
There's no abuse.
There's no promise
breaking.
There's no war.
Isn't that good?
A God who will not
have sin
in his presence.
That is good.
It is good but it's
also sobering
because when we
really understand that
he will not have
people who lie
or bully
or abuse
in his presence.
He will not have us.
But he loves us.
And he wants us
to be with him.
So in his mercy
he provides a system
of sacrifices
and at the heart
of that sacrifice
the sin of the people
is transferred
to a lamb.
A lamb that dies.
And by his death
the lamb
the death of the lamb
takes away the sin
of the people.
And Isaiah is saying
all that system
of sacrifice
is pointing forward
to somebody
who would be
the lamb of God
who would take away
the sin of the world.
And in his death
the sins of his people
would be dealt with.
the Lord Jesus
he was cut off.
Why?
So that you might
come in.
And that you might
come in
not to a temple
in Jerusalem.
The temple stood
for the presence
of God.
The point was
to show the people
that they were
shut out of the temple.
It was to show them
that they were not only
just shut out of a building
but they were shut out
from the presence of God.
And one day God says
there will be
a lamb who will come
who will take away
your sin
so that you can
enter into God's presence.
We who were far away
can come near to him.
And again and again
and again
the Lord Jesus
has said of himself
I am the one
that they pointed to.
He was the one
who just came to
cut off
so that you might
come in.
And you might say today
is God really interested
in me?
Do you see his heart?
This is the God
who says
eunuchs
and bullies
and liars
and addicts
in Jesus
I have stepped
into your world
I have stood
in your shoes
for all you have done
and all that has been
done to you
I have suffered
I have been humiliated
for it.
I've died for it
I was cut off
so that you might
come in.
In Jesus
I became a eunuch
so eunuchs
could be welcomed in
and given something
better than sons
and daughters.
Eunuchs could come home
could come and live
with me forever
that is
the good news
that our God
wants the world
to hear.
and can I say
if you're sitting
here this morning
and you like
the Ethiopian
you are baffled
as to why
Jesus died
on the cross
can I ask you
plead with you
ask someone
to explain it to you
ask someone
to open up
the Bible
with you
and if you
don't know
who to ask
come and ask me
there's nothing
we'd love to do
more than explain
the good news
to you
but maybe
you're not
the Ethiopian
you get this
but you've forgotten it
and you think
about your life
and you think
about how things
have not been
so great recently
and you're wondering
this morning
is God really
interested in someone
like you?
You're wondering
are you really
welcome
to come into
his presence
and you keep
thinking
or you fall
back into thinking
if I'm good enough
then he'll welcome me
and that is not
the good news
that is not
the good news
because
when am I ever
good enough?
The good news
is not because
we make the grade
none of us
make the grade
we are all
eunuchs
he welcomes me
because of the
Lord Jesus
and so this morning
don't look at
your life
don't think
about what
you think
of yourself
don't think
about what
others
think of you
fix your eyes
on the Lamb
of God
fix your eyes
on the Lord
Jesus
and if you're
thinking about
the person
that you share
a desk with
well we must
live our lives
in a way
that adorns
the gospel
that shows
the difference
that Jesus
has made
but it does
lead explaining
doesn't it?
The Father
wants people
to get his
son
to get
what he's
done
and so pray
for the Holy
Spirit
the help
of the Holy
Spirit
to help you
to speak
of him
and why
he died
and of
why his
death
is good
news
and pray
for that
opportunity
that is
his heart
for you
a divine
appointment
an open
Bible
and then
lastly
a changed
life
do you see
the Ethiopian's
response
verse 36
and as they
were going
along
they came
to a road
they were
going along
the road
they came
to some
water
and the eunuch
said
see
here's water
it's the middle
of a desert
what prevents
me from
being
baptised
there's a
danger
isn't there
in saying
that we
need to
explain
the good
news
and the
danger
to that
is
that
the gospel
becomes
something
that we
kind of
tick a
box
to
you know
the terms
and conditions
it sounds
like Christianity
becomes
assenting
to certain
truths
you've
prayed
this
prayer
hey presto
you're a
Christian
you've
ticked
this
box
you've
affirmed
that you
agree
with it
please
sign
here
but can
you see
the Ethiopian
he's a
changed
man
the Ethiopian
says
is there
anything
to stop
me
being
baptised
it's
not
is there
a
form
it's
is there
anything
to stop
me
being
baptised
what we've
seen in
acts
already
is that
the way
to respond
to the
good news
is to
get
baptised
we read
in verse 38
that he
gave instructions
to stop
the chariot
and Philip
and the
eunuch
get down
into the
water
and Philip
baptised
him
it is
pretty
amazing
there is
water
in the
desert
and we
do not
know how
much
water
there was
and we
do not
know how
deep
it was
the point
is this
baptism
is a
visible
sign
of the
washing
away
of sins
and the
baptism
of the
spirit
and identifying
and joining
the people
of God
it starts
by explaining
Jesus
but it
doesn't
end
there
becoming
a
Christian
is not
just
understanding
about
Jesus
it's
starting
a new
life
with the
Lord
Jesus
you could
sum it
up
the old
life was
living
for me
the new
life is
living
for him
and it
may be
that it's
at this
point that
we begin
to shrink
back
and we
think
well that
doesn't
sound like
really good
news
living for him
sounds like
actually it
would spoil
my life
it sounds
like it
would cut
across all
my plans
but can
you see
the end
of verse
39
when they
came out
of the
water
the spirit
suddenly
took Philip
away
and the
eunuch
didn't see
him again
but he
went on
his way
rejoicing
when the
angels
announced the
birth of
Jesus
do you
remember what
good news
of great
joy
for all
people
chapter 8
verse 8
what happened
when the
people of
Samaria
believed
there was
great
rejoicing
we live
in a
culture
don't we
where more
than anything
else people
want to be
happy
but happiness
is pretty
elusive
isn't it
we try and
buy it
we try and
buy our
way to
happiness
but we
never seem
to be able
to buy
quite enough
to make
us happy
we want
a relationship
to make
us happy
but most
relationships
are not
that simple
we think
if I
get fit
then I'll
be happy
and that's
far more
difficult
I'm finding
than
you saying
it
and we
think of
our whole
life lived
for Jesus
that cannot
be the way
to happiness
but the
living God
is reaching
out to us
this morning
with what
will make
us truly
happy
he gives
us himself
and so
you're
looking for
happiness
in all
kinds of
places
all that
you long
for
you will
only
truly
find
in him
do you
long to
be loved
do you
long to
be understood
do you
long to
be accepted
you will
only truly
find that
in the
Lord
Jesus
do you
long for
beauty
do you
long for
wisdom
do you
long for
truth
for justice
only
will you
find that
in Jesus
do you
long for
freedom
do you
long for
adventure
do you
long for
a sense
of purpose
in your
life
you will
only find
that
in him
you long
perhaps more
than anything
else
to feel
at home
and it is
in him
that we
come home
do you
see the
Ethiopian
has been
on a
journey
he's
looking
for
something
and he
goes home
rejoicing
he says
I found
it
in fact
he says
I found
him
I found
what I'm
looking for
or rather
he would
say he
found me
and he
heads home
to the
ends of
the earth
and he
doesn't know
what the
future
may hold
for him
he doesn't
know
what will
happen
at work
he doesn't
know
whether his
health
will hold
out
he doesn't
know how
his friends
will react
but what he
knows
is this
he is not
cut off
he has
come in
he's come
into life
with the
living God
and he may
lose his job
and he may
get sick
and his
friends may
turn on him
but whatever
happens
God is with
him now
by his
spirit
which means
whatever
happens
he has
this joy
he has
what he
most longs
for and he
has what his
heart most
needs
the living
God
and he
goes home
rejoicing
and when he
gets home
do you think he
might reach out
to his
friends
let's pray