A Gospel-Centered Church

August 2, 2026 | A Gospel-Centered Church | Acts 8:26-40

JD Cutler

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Good morning, church. If you have your Bible, turn with me to Acts chapter 8. This morning we'll be looking at verses 26 through 40.

Over the summer, we have been looking at disciple-making through the lens of the book of Acts. We've been watching the risen, ascended Christ continue His work through His church.

In Acts 1, we saw that Christ empowered His church through the promised Holy Spirit. In Acts 2, Christ formed His church into a covenant community devoted to His Word, to fellowship, to prayer, and to the breaking of bread. In Acts 3 and 4, we saw that Christ strengthened His church to remain faithful in the face of opposition. In Acts 5, Christ purified His church, reminding us that the advance of the gospel requires a holy people.

Last week, in the beginning of Acts 8, we saw that Christ sent His church.

Persecution scattered ordinary believers out of Jerusalem, but what looked like a setback became the very means Christ used to fulfill His promise that the gospel would go to Judea, Samaria, and eventually to the ends of the earth.

But that raises an important question.

What did these ordinary believers actually say?

Acts tells us they were "preaching the Word," but what did that look like?

What message were they carrying?

What made their witness so powerful?

Our passage this morning answers those questions by slowing the story down and focusing on one ordinary believer named Philip and one seemingly ordinary conversation on a desert road.

Except, as you know if you’ve read this story, there was nothing ordinary about it.

This story reminds us that whenever the gospel is proclaimed, Christ is already at work.

We are reminded that the mission of the church is not simply to have spiritual conversations. It is to faithfully proclaim Jesus Christ, trusting that He is the One who prepares hearts, saves sinners, and advances His mission.

That's the kind of church Christ was and is building. A gospel-centered church.

Read with me beginning in Acts 8, verse 26.

Acts 8:26–40 ESV

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” 34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 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?” 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Christ has empowered His church. Christ has formed His church. Christ has strengthened His church. Christ has purified His church. Christ has sent His church. And now Luke shows us the message Christ has entrusted to His church.

From this encounter, I want to share three important realities that illustrate why we should be a gospel-centered church.

I. Every gospel conversation is a supernatural event.

It’s easy to read this story and focus on the supernatural elements. The angel of the Lord directed Philip, the Spirit of the Lord carrying Philip away. But in reality, the greatest supernatural event happens in the least exciting part.

Luke says, He told him the good news about Jesus.

God used that conversation to supernaturally bring the Eunuch to faith, so much so that even in the middle of their conversation, upon seeing water, asked, what prevents me from being baptized?

It reminds me of what repeatedly happens in Acts. As Peter is preaching on Pentecost, the crowd cries out , ‘What shall we do?’

Again in Acts 10, while Peter is still preaching, the Holy Spirit falls on Cornelius and his house and they begin speaking in tongues, and Peter declares, can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people?

Listen, this is what I am saying.

If you remove all of the outward supernatural trappings…

…speaking in tongues

…dramatic visions from heaven

…the angel of the Lord giving directions

…some kind of spiritual teleporting

…all of it, and you only focus on the gospel proclamation and conversations, we should still call these supernatural events.

Why? Because in each on of these accounts, indeed in every salvation that has happened since, before a single word is spoken, God is already preparing people to hear his word.

The greatest miracle in this story isn't that an angel spoke to Philip. The greatest miracle is that God opened the heart of a sinner to believe the gospel.

Before Philip ever opened his mouth, the Spirit had already been at work.

For people called to go make disciples, that’s pretty encouraging, don’t you think?

Think about the conversations you've had that seemed accidental.

Think about the coworker who suddenly asked a spiritual question.

Think about the neighbor who unexpectedly opened up.

Think about the family member who finally wanted to talk.

Perhaps what felt spontaneous to you had been months, or even years, unfolding in the providence of God.

In our particular story, just think about everything that has happened to bring these two men to this moment.

What do we know about this man?

And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.

An Ethiopian. A Eunuch. A court official.

Just a little bit of research tells us that this man’s home was in what is now central Sudan. This man likely traveled between 1,500 and 1,800 miles to reach Jerusalem, a journey that would have taken months.

By the time Philip meets him, God had been orchestrating this encounter long before Philip even knew it would happen.

No, I’m not going to ask you to turn to the maps in the back of your bible. I know that’s a lot of detail, but here’s why it matters. It’s not about geography, it’s about time.

That trip would from his home to Jerusalem would have taken about two months there and two months back. If we include possible business being conducted for Queen Candace and a prolonged stay in Jerusalem, he could have easily been away from home for 6 months.

We don’t have an exact timeline for what happened in Jerusalem, but we know that persecution had started, believers had scattered, and Philip had already spent what seems like a significant amount of time ministering in Samaria.

That’s where our story picks up. Peter and John have come to Samaria to see the revival for themselves and to pray for the Samaritan believers.

Luke says, they had left to return to Jerusalem after testifying and speaking the word of the Lord. This is the moment that the Angel of the Lord tells Philip “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

We can only speculate as to the timetable, but for this Ethiopian eunuch to be travelling back from Jerusalem at this exact moment, where Philip could reach him from where he was, it means that he had probably set out for Jersualem before Philip every went to Samaria, maybe even before Stephen’s death.

God had already put in motion things months before that would lead to this encounter.

Another important thing we know about this man is that he had come to Jerusalem to worship. God was already drawing this man to himself. He had decided that the God of Israel was worthy of worship, and even though he would not been allowed to participate in public worship as a eunuch, he came anyway. Just to get closer to the center of where God was worshipped. He had gotten a copy of Isaiah, which would not have been cheap, and he was so hungry to know more that he was reading it on the way home.

Before Philip every engaged this man, God had already been at work in his life and heart. God simply used Philip to bring the work to its intended goal, that he would experience salvation in Christ.

That’s pretty amazing, isn’t?

We cannot possibly fathom all the ways God is providentially arranging our days. We cannot possibly understand how he is at work in the lives of men and women we may encounter. And we cannot possibly know how long He has been preparing the person standing in front of us.

But what we can trust is that he is.

Church, every time you sit across the table from a neighbor, a coworker, a classmate, or a family member and begin talking about Jesus, you are stepping into something God may have been preparing for months, or even years. Every gospel conversation is a supernatural event because God is already at work before we ever arrive.

That’s the heart of a sent church. They take the gospel out into the world. Let’s look a little closer at what exactly that message centers on.

II. Every gospel proclamation is centered on Jesus.

Look again at verse 35. ‘Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.’

Think about what the man was reading. Isaiah 53, specifically Luke tells us he was reading what we call verses 7 and 8. If we go to Isaiah 53, it describes Christ’s life and his rejection by men. Let me read to you the section that is right before those verses.

4  Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5  But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Are you kidding me?

How much better could God have set this up?

The man is literally reading a messianic prophetic word from the Old Testament.

So, beginning with that scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus.

Can you imagine sitting in that chariot?

Imagine having Philip explain Isaiah 53... after the cross...after the resurrection...after Pentecost.

Imagine hearing for the first time that the suffering servant you've been reading about has a name. Jesus.

Jesus is the perfect lamb who willingly laid down his life for sinful humans. God laid on Jesus the iniquity of all of God’s people. Jesus was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, and upon Jesus was the chastisement that brought us peace.

Luke doesn't record his proclamation for us, although I would have loved to hear it. Rather, he tells us enough to know what it was centered on. Jesus.

But here’s the reality, Philip didn’t tell him about Jesus simply because he was at that particular passage, or even that he asked who Isaiah was talking about, he told him about Jesus because thats the heart of the gospel.

What do people need from us? Advice? Politics? A better philosophy? Moral improvement?

Or Jesus? Because that's exactly the decision Philip makes.

He could have lectured on Isaiah, or the finer points of prophetic writing. Instead, he preached Christ.

The longer I've studied Scripture, the more I've realized Philip wasn't doing something unusual here. He was reading the Bible the way Jesus taught His disciples to read it.

At the beginning of my ministry, I went before the ordination council before I was to be ordained. There were about 30 guys, pastors, ministers, and deacons. One of the questions they asked is for me to name 10 verses that I would share the gospel from. I remember saying John 3:16, Romans 3:23, 6:23 and so on.

Right? The evangelism verses.

Almost 15 years later, I think I would say, what scripture couldn’t we share the gospel from?

Not because I’ve learned more scripture, but because I’ve learned to read it differently.

It’s all about God’s plan to reconcile mankind to himself through providing a savior. From beginning to end, the story is about God mercifully reconciling sinful humanity to himself.

Genesis- Christ is the promised seed.

Exodus- Christ is the passover lamb.

Isaiah- Christ is the suffering servant.

And every page after that continues telling the same story until Christ comes.

No matter where you begin in Scripture, if you read it rightly, it will eventually lead you to Christ. We are a gospel-centered church because Christ is at the center of the gospel.

This Ethiopian man didn’t need life advice from Philip. He didn’t need twelve easy steps to follow God.

He needed to hear that there was a man, God in the flesh, who was born without the stain of sin, who lived a perfect life, who gave that perfect life on a Roman cross for sin, that he rose again, entrusted his church with the authority to proclaim forgiveness in his name, ascended into heaven, where he waits to come and receive his people to himself where they will dwell with God forever.

He needed to hear about Christ.

The greatest gift Philip could give that man wasn't information. It was introducing him to the Savior he'd been searching for without even knowing His name.

The people we engage with the gospel will all be starting in different places. Of their knowledge of the Bible, what they think about Christianity. We don’t need clever presentations, we just to need to get to Jesus. Who he is, what he did, and what he calls men and women to do.

That’s why we try and saturate our services with the gospel. We sing the gospel, we read the gospel, we preach the gospel, we see the gospel in the ordinances. Why? Because the good news about Christ is the reason we gather and it is the message the world needs to hear. That’s the message we have been entrusted with.

Wherever the Bible is faithfully preached, it should lead people to Jesus. And wherever the church faithfully proclaims the gospel, Jesus, not the preacher, not the church, not a method, must remain at the center.

A gospel, by the way, that has the power to transform lives and impact generations. Let’s look at our last reality this morning.

III. Every gospel transformation advances Christ's mission.

Let’s trace the story as we know it up until this point.

This Ethiopian man from the royal court came to Jerusalem to worship. We don’t know his experience but if we had to guess, based on historical understanding, he may have left disappointed. He would not have been allowed very far into the temple, if at all. Even if he had managed to make it into the outer court of the gentiles, this is the place Jesus cleansed because of how chaotic it was. He had gotten a copy of Isaiah and he is diligently reading it. Along comes a man who says, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

You can hear the humility in his voice when he says, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” So he invites this Jewish man into the chariot hoping that he will help him understand Isaiah.

His question.

Is Isaiah talking about himself or someone else?

Don’t miss this. He thinks he needs information, but he is about to hear that he needs transformation.

That understanding isn’t his problem, sin is.

I have encountered so many people in my life that want to debate the Bible, or argue about apparent contradictions, or whether we can trust what has been translated. Listen, those conversations can be edifying and helpful sometimes, but ultimately a lost sinner doesn’t need to understand scripture better, they need to be born again by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Philip started in Isaiah, but he didn’t stop there.

How do we know that? Because of what happens next.

Isaiah doesn’t talk about repentance, faith, or baptism, and yet… As they are going along, maybe as he is looking at Philip he sees behind him water. Listen to what he says. Look, there is water. Is there anything that would prevent me from being baptized?

That’s the question.

In the New Testament Baptism and Repentance go together.

To want one indicates a possession of the other.

To be baptized is a sign of repentance, faith, and identification with Jesus.

This man believes that Jesus is the promised Messiah, that through faith in his name, men may be forgiven and experience everlasting life, and he wants to obey Christ’s command to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

He wants to know ‘is there any reason for me not to be baptized?’

The Ethiopian is declaring his faith and Philip is confirming it by administering the ordinance by which the church declares, this is one of ours.

So they go down into the water, and he baptized him.

If you have a modern english bible you will notice that it goes from verse 36 to verse 38. If you have a King James Bible of a NKJV. You’ll see verse 37. It reads something like this. And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Your bible may include it as a footnote.

I want to just spend a minute here, because it is a great opportunity for us to learn about bible translations. When the KJV was translated they used the oldest copies they could. After the KJV was translated, we discovered older copies of the scriptures. In some cases, many of them. Discoveries like the dead sea scrolls that contained older manuscripts than what was available in 1611. As scholars evaluated these texts they notice that the older manuscripts did not have some of these verses that the newer one did. But we have to ask, does this really change anything?

The answer is a resounding no.

We already know what a profession of faith must include.

We already know what is required before someone is baptized.

The very fact that Philip baptized this man is evidence that those things were present whether or not it is recorded for us.

Which brings us back to our story.

Then Luke tells us that as they came up out of the water, Philip was carried away, and the eunuch saw him no more. Was he sad? Was he disappointed?

No, the Bible says he went on his way rejoicing.

Why? Luke rarely records emotions accidentally. Why mention joy?

Think about the contrast.

He traveled months. Possibly never experienced the worship he had traveled months to find. He Leaves Jerusalem with a copy of Isaiah, and possibly other scrolls. He is still searching. Now here in the desert, not the temple, he meets Christ through the faithful proclamation of the gospel. And he goes on his way rejoicing.

He had been radically transformed by the saving power of Christ.

His life would never be the same.

He came to worship God in Jerusalem, and now he leaves worshipping God more fully than he could have imagined.

Why? Because he didn't merely find a better understanding of Isaiah. He found the One Isaiah had been talking about all along. That's what transformed his worship. That’s the transforming power of the gospel.

And Philip…he continues preaching the gospel to all the towns he passes through. Because that’s the mission. Go out, proclaim the gospel, bring believers into the church, and then go out again to proclaim the gospel.

Our story ends with… Philip disappears. The Ethiopian leaves rejoicing.

We see that Christ is still saving. Christ is still advancing His mission one believer at a time. What an amazing encounter that God orchestrated to bring a lost sinner to himself!

In the beginning this morning, I asked, what did these ordinary believers actually say?

I pray that you have seen that they simply preached Jesus, but we have seen an even more important question answered.

What happens when they say it?

Christ transforms a life, adds another worshipper to his people, and the mission moves one step closer to the ends of the earth.

Christ is still advancing his church through the proclamation of the gospel by his people.

A gospel-centered church is a faithful church, may Christ find us faithfully proclaiming the gospel until he returns.

Let us pray.