Acts is a story about a domestic dispute about how the Jewish community fractured over the person of Jesus and the claim that he was Israel’s Messiah.

It is also a pointed reminder that we, as followers of Jesus, are not merely spectators. We are in on the action of God and are the vehicles God uses to accomplish the on-going work of salvation.

Philip was one of the seven deacons appointed to fairly distribute food to widows.

But as persecution heats up Philip is forced to flee Jerusalem along with many other followers of Jesus.

Each believer was, it turned out, a missionary and evangelist that spread the message of the resurrected Messiah wherever they went.

Philip fled to Samaria and because of his preaching revival broke out there. This success was a total surprise!

From our perspective the thing for Philip to do was to keep doing whatever it was he was doing and grow a mighty and vibrant church.

But in the midst of this success God sends Philip on a wild goose chase. Inexplicably, Philip obeys.

According to Eusebius this Ethiopian returns home to become an evangelist in his own right and may have been the key figure in establishing a very healthy community of Jesus’ followers there.

What makes an evangelist successful? Building a mega-church? Or being obedient to the Spirit and finding ourselves in the oddest situations with the most surprising sorts of people?