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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.

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

What does it mean to be “saved?” We can, sometimes, fall into two camps (both incorrect) thinking that we can either become a Christian absent any kind of change in our lives, or that the only way to become a Christian is to stop doing certain things… Repentance is the key. It’s an attitude of the heart/mind that leads to the results of the hands/feet doing something different. When we turn back from our sins (repentance) times of refreshing come. We don’t need the strength to stop them altogether, God provides that through the Holy Spirit, we just need the resolve to turn our back on our old life. God gave us Jesus, He sent us the Holy Spirit, all we need to do is commit to Him, and He’ll change us! We don’t change to get saved, but our willingness to let Him change us is a key part of repentance.

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

There is no salvation apart from change. You must be willing to change… you need to change. That’s what repentance is, genuine change that begins with the resolve to do it. Don’t you need a time of “refreshing?” We are sold the lie that if we admit we are wrong we have lost and we will be unhappy. Don’t ever let them see you sweat! No, give up and let God change the direction of your life, it’s our only hope for renewal. Give up to Jesus today.