Bible Study Summary - Upcoming Sunday's Scriptures

January 8 Sermon – “The Baptism Barrier”

Baptism of the Lord Sunday

Acts 8:26-38

-         Like the nudge that Phillip felt from the Holy Spirit, have you ever felted nudged to go to  a certain place?

-         The Ethiopian Eunuch was trying to understand the meaning of Isaiah 53. 

-         A eunuch was someone who had been castrated to serve in a state position, in this case, the court of Queen Candace.  He was the finance minister.  He was a Gentile but curious about the Jewish faith.  This is a story of a church leader who takes the risk of becoming an evangelist.  The Book of Acts is a book of how the church reached out to the non-Jewish world.

-         Isaiah 53 Questions: Who is the lamb who is led to the slaughter?  For Jewish people in that day, this text referred primarily to Israel in exile and the hope that a Servant would finally fulfill God’s purposes for God’s people.  Isaiah was writing a job description for what would be required to accomplish this task!  The Suffering Servant would bring a new covenant (Isaiah 54) which would lead to a new creation (Isaiah 55) that would extend to the non-Jewish “eunuch” world (Isaiah 56!)

-         Jesus is that candidate as the suffering servant!

-         Being an evangelist includes telling the biblical story and how Jesus fits into that story.

-         This story from Acts 8 is a story of how the first non-Jew was baptized.  The church is to reach out beyond its walls and share the faith!

Mark 1:4-11

-         What the Father said to Jesus, the Son when he was baptized is what God says to each one of us, “With you, I am well pleased!”  Baptism reminds us that we are loved and claimed by God.

-         My story of being baptized as an infant.

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