Sermon Notes
- Big Idea: The Holy Spirit lives inside every follower of Jesus as our guide for life, and he guides us to do good, to know God, and to always go.
Opening
- Austin began with the things we use to find our way: GPS, maps, a manual, the advice of a friend, and in earlier days printed directions and the Thomas Guide.
- Lost Coast Trail: On a backpacking trip on the Lost Coast, three brothers with a phone and an Apple Watch Ultra kept getting lost. A signpost marked LCT, with an arrow, showed them the way.
- Even with all our technology, "you have a greater and better guide than Google or AI." Scripture calls him a helper, and Austin called him an "onboard navigator" because he lives inside us.
- Three points: The Holy Spirit is a guide to do good, a guide to know God, and a guide to always go.
Background
- Luke wrote his Gospel and Acts as one story in two volumes. "Luke is the story of Jesus, and Acts is the story of the church."
- Austin asked, "would we rather have Jesus beside us or would we rather have the Spirit in us?" Since Jesus went to heaven, he is at the Father's side, and the Spirit is inside us. Jesus promised power when the Spirit came, to be his witnesses from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
- In Acts 2:4 they were all filled with the Spirit, as God had promised to pour out his Spirit on all flesh. If you follow Jesus, you are a temple of the Holy Spirit.
- In Acts 8 the church is scattered by persecution, and also scattered on purpose by the Spirit to new people and places. Philip, first met a few chapters earlier, took the gospel to Samaria (Acts 8:5), where a career magician and many others came to faith.
- The Ethiopian official: A court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship, and Austin believes he bought the scroll of Isaiah there. The road to Gaza was his way home.
01 · Acts 8:26–30
1. A Guide to Do Good
- Gaza was a place Philip had never been and probably never wanted to go, outside his comfort zone. All he was told was rise and go, and "he rose and he went."
- Philip was obedient to God's call and alert to the Spirit's prompting, and he went expecting something good, "because the Spirit always prepares us to do something good."
- Lake Tahoe: On a 72-mile ride around Lake Tahoe, far from his own circle, Austin prayed for the people and community he was circling and asked whether God had an opportunity for him there.
- Jim Elliot: The missionary to Ecuador wrote in his journal, "wherever you are, be all there." Austin added, "It's providence that you are where you are." If you are all there, you will be ready when God prompts you to serve or love someone in your circle.
- The Spirit was preparing the official at the same time. God arranges divine appointments every day: "who you meet is not an accident."
- Philip ran: When the Spirit said go, Philip ran. People run when they are afraid, excited, or late. Philip ran because he did not want to miss what God had for him. Austin asked whether, when the Spirit prompts us, we hesitate with fear or respond with excitement.
- Austin admitted it can seem that God worked "in a qualitatively greater way in the Bible than he does today." He said Acts is descriptive of the early church and also prescriptive of how God intends to work in our lives today.
- How the Spirit works today: He convicts, regenerates, justifies, adopts, indwells, seals, enables, empowers, illuminates, intercedes, leads, fills, strengthens, sanctifies, gifts, grants, unifies, and glorifies Jesus. He also brings to memory all that God has taught us (John 14:26).
- A safeguard: "The Holy Spirit will never lead you to do something that's contradictory to the Bible." He will always lead us to obey what the Bible teaches.
02 · Acts 8:31–35
2. A Guide to Know God
- Austin passed on one description of this passage: "Five minutes, one verse, and a little bit of courage." Sometimes that is all it takes to share Jesus with somebody.
- Philip began with a question: did the man understand what he was reading? Austin said "some of the best conversations start with a question," and urged us to learn other people's stories by asking good, intentional questions.
- Isaiah 53 is about Jesus. Beginning there, Philip told him the good news about Jesus, and Austin was sure it went well beyond Isaiah 53: Jesus fully God and fully man, who died, rose, and now reigns.
- Lake Tahoe dinner: After the ride, a man about Austin's age joined their table during a World Cup game. A few simple questions led him to share his story: his father had been a pastor, he had not been to church since, and he had recently hit bottom. He asked Austin to pray for him. Austin prayed, reminded him that God loves him and Jesus died for him, and left him with Romans 8:28.
- The Spirit uses people to help others know God, and he uses Scripture. Philip had Isaiah 53; Austin left the man with Romans 8:28.
03 · Acts 8:36–40
3. A Guide to Always Go
- The official spotted water and commanded the chariot to stop, "like it's a tram arriving at Disneyland." He was baptized that day. "He didn't wait. He didn't procrastinate."
- Following Jesus begins with baptism and goes on into a life of obedience to what the Bible teaches.
- The Spirit carried Philip away, the official went on his way rejoicing, and Philip preached in all the towns from Azotus to Caesarea.
- Romans 10:17: Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. As Philip shared Christ, the man responded in faith.
- The Spirit always leads us to take our next step with Jesus, and often to help others take their next step. The next step may be to believe, to be baptized, or to help someone else.
Closing
- As the church prepared for communion, Austin asked how the Spirit is prompting each person: to respond in faith, to obey and perhaps be baptized, or to be more attentive to the people in their circle.
- Our mission and purpose: to know Jesus and make him known.
Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the ESV Bible, © 2001 by Crossway. Text Edition: 2025. Used by permission. Permissions. Prepared for this small group from the July 26, 2026 sermon; questions and applications are editorial study material.