Living Life by Design

The early church was made up of ordinary people like you and me. Yet these ordinary people changed the world. The whole known world was transformed following the death and resurrection of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The book of Acts tells us how this happened.

Everywhere the apostles and followers went they preached the message about Jesus. In Acts 8:4-40, we see that they preached to crowds and to individuals, like Simon the sorcerer and the Ethiopian eunuch.

Nations are comprised of cities, towns and villages (neighborhoods). The early followers of Jesus preached the gospel in all three. Philip preached to a city in Samaria (v.5). Peter and John preached the gospel in many Samaritan villages (v.25). Philip preached the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea (v.40).

These ordinary people were totally reliant on the Holy Spirit. Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian was not the result of a strategic planning meeting. Rather, ‘the Spirit told Philip…’ (v.29). The result of him following the leading of the Holy Spirit was the remarkable conversion of the Ethiopian, which has affected the whole nation of Ethiopia right down to the present day. The church that was birthed that day has never died out in that nation.

The Holy Spirit is the agent of change. He can bring about change in a nation. That change starts with the change in the lives of people.

Have you been filled with the Holy Spirit?

Have you ever shared the Good News of Christ with anyone else?