You Need a Jersey to Be On the Team

Pastor David Rose shows how God uses ordinary believers to share the gospel. Learn from Acts 8:26-40 how Philip led the Ethiopian to Christ through Scripture.

God’s Mission Through Ordinary Believers: A Study of Acts 8:26-40

Senior Pastor David Rose unpacks Acts 8:26-40, to show how God uses Philip to bring the gospel to an Ethiopian official. It’s a powerful reminder that evangelism isn’t just for pastors or missionaries—God calls and equips ordinary believers to share His extraordinary truth. Scripture itself carries the power to lead seekers to salvation.

How to Study the Bible with Purpose

Not sure where to start in Bible study? Pastor David introduces a simple approach with five essential questions:

  • What does this passage teach about God?
  • What does this passage teach about humanity?
  • Is there a sin to avoid?
  • Is there an example to follow?
  • How can I apply this personally?

These questions will help you dig deeper into God’s Word and live out its truth in daily life.

Key Takeaways

  • God sends His people on mission.
  • God empowers His ambassadors to speak.
  • God uses His word to convict and teach.
  • God connects new believers with His church.

The Gospel

If you have questions about what it means to be a Christian, we would love to talk with you about it.

Reach out

The Gospel is this: Though we are all rebels who have turned to our own way (Isaiah 53), God sent Christ to do what we could never do for ourselves.

Jesus, being perfectly righteous, willingly took our punishment. “But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds” (Isaiah 53:5). Jesus died on the cross, bearing the full weight of our sin, was buried, and rose again on the third day, proving His victory over death and sin.

But this isn’t just ancient history – it’s a present reality. Just as the Ethiopian official moved from confusion to clarity, from outsider to family member, from death to life, God offers this same transformation to you. You don’t have to be “good enough” (the Ethiopian was previously excluded from worship due to being a eunuch), you don’t have to have all the answers (he needed someone to guide him), and you don’t have to clean yourself up first.

The invitation is simple: Repent (turn from trying to save yourself) and believe (trust in Jesus’s finished work). Like the Ethiopian who “went on his way rejoicing,” you too can experience the joy of salvation. Through faith in Christ, you move from being dead in sin to alive in Christ, from rejected to accepted, from condemned to forgiven.

And just as baptism served as the Ethiopian’s public declaration of this inward reality, God invites you to not just believe privately but to declare publicly that you belong to Him.

The question isn’t “Are you worthy?” (none of us are), but rather, will you trust in the One who is worthy and who died to make you His own?

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Just like with a jersey that a player is wearing, it is proof that there's been a contract that is signed... baptism physically pictures what has happened spiritually.