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But Saul, who was also called Paul

For clarification, Paul saw Jesus and was converted to Christianity in about AD33 (recorded in Acts 9). He is still called “Saul” at the start of Acts 13 (perhaps about AD47). That’s over 10-years before Paul began being known as “Paul.” Just as with other figures in the Bible, Paul had both a given name and a Roman name. His given name was “Saul” (very Jewish indeed), yet as his ministry spread more into the Gentile population, he was better known by his Roman name, Paul. This is not like when Jesus (in John 1:42) tells Simon (his given name) will be known as “Cephas” (a new name). Cephas is the Aramaic word for “rock,” and sometimes it’s written as “Peter” (Petros is the Greek word for “rock”). So, you may have heard it said, Paul’s encounter with Jesus changed “Saul” into “Paul.” I’ll admit, that is dramatic and makes for an interesting point in a sermon, the only problem is, that’s not really true. If you wanted to say, Saul came to Jesus, studied and preached with Barnabas for a little over a decade, eventually preached more and more to Gentiles, and they knew him better as Paul… that would be more accurate 🙂

And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.

What makes truly powerful preaching so effective is not the convincingness of the speaker or the tightness of the argument or even the most memorable illustrations… what makes effective preaching is the hand of the Lord being upon the preacher. God is the one who must do it… that means the preacher had better be prayed-up. Because it’s not about persuasiveness or intellectual understanding, a simple knowledge (“belief” without action) is not enough (see James). First you “believe” (with your head) then you “turn to the Lord” (repent) and are saved. True belief includes repentance… otherwise it’s just intellectual knowledge… but it’s all a work of the Lord. He must be in it.

suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

Paul uses the metaphor of “the body” for Jesus’ church several times, I think it comes from the seed of this encounter with the risen Lord. A light blinded him and he fell to the ground (what you do when you see the glorified Jesus). God calls to him and accuses this figure Apostle of persecuting Him! Paul had no idea who this was (though he was able to quickly guess) and how he had possibly been persecuting the Lord! He didn’t understand, as we too sometimes forget, the church IS Jesus (His body). How was Paul persecuting Jesus? He was ravaging the church, what you do to the church, you do to Jesus. Now, we don’t persecute the church, but we are often guilty of ignoring the church… setting Jesus to one side while we do our own thing. It doesn’t work like that. You want to be close to Jesus? Be close to His church. That’s not a mystical metaphysical idea, go to church…

And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

I usually see it in adults. They believe, they’ve come to faith, they are Christians… they just think baptism is for kids. No, actually, the majority of the recorded baptisms in the New Testament are adults. In fact, only by implication are children baptized. Baptism is for those who believe. This African official is reading from Isaiah and asks Philip about the truth. He is told the Gospel and he believed it! He then asks one of the best questions in scripture: “There’s water right here, can I be baptized?” YES! This teaches us a few things about baptism (1) it is for believers, he believed the good news first; (2) it is by immersion, they found enough water and went down into it vv.38-39; (3) it doesn’t have to be done by a pastor, Philip wasn’t one; (4) it doesn’t have to be done in a church, they were along the road; (5) it doesn’t have to only be done for membership in a local church, Philip left immediately. Baptism is something every believer needs to do, it’s a sign of obedience and genuine repentance. I know, adults, it’s different and you’ll seem weird… think how I feel, I’ve gotten in the water about 25 times this year… it’s is weird, it’s supposed to be. It’s a rite of passage and a way of showing the world you’re a Christian. It’s like a wedding. The commitment is what makes you married, a wedding shows the world. If you have never done it, get baptized…

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.

Though not specifically called “Deacons,” these men are apparently the first to fulfill the function which would become known as the office of Deacon. Notice the ones who expected specific care from the church were the widows who needed to be supported. These (proto-)Deacons were selected to help those in need of special help. So a church of, say 6,000 members (at least) required 7 deacons. Can you hear the average church member in Jerusalem “well, the Apostles or even a Deacon didn’t even personally visit me…” Do we only like a church if we personally connect with the pastor, deacons, or another minister? It seems in the early church, each Christian was responsible not only to grow themselves, but to encourage others as well… every christian, otherwise they would have needed 100X as many deacons. What if the modern church model is actually holding Christians back from growing like a child who’s parents never let go of their seat while learning to ride a bike? Are church officials there to minister to us, or to lead us in the Word as we all minister? Those are two very different things.