Hey this is Pastor John Ryan Cantu from PNEUMA Church in Houston, Texas.

Thank you for listening to the message today.

I hope that it blesses you and all those that you share it with.

God bless you.

Next uh next Sunday I just wanted to announce is It's Father's Day.

Amen.

Any any holy man of God in here?

Amen.

Praise God.

Come to church next Sunday.

Bring your family.

Tell them, hey, I want you at church with me.

And bring them to church.

If you are um if you are a son or a daughter and your parents don't come here to this church, say, hey dad, I would love to to to go For you to come to church with me and invite them to church next Sunday.

We're gonna have something, something special.

I can't even tell you what it is because they they leave me out of the Father's Day planning.

So, but I know it's gonna be good.

Amen.

Um and then also I just want to remind anybody uh for next Saturday at 9 a. m.

Um we are having a meeting with our Sunday serve team.

If you serve in any capacity, if you're an usher, if you're a worship um minister, if you do uh serve on the production team, ushers, greeters, parking lot, security, anything like that, prayer team, uh we we want to meet.

We want to meet with you and we're gonna feed you.

Um so um please plan to be here.

And it's going to be awesome.

Amen?

Enough of that.

Let's go to the word.

Acts chapter 8.

I want to take you to Acts chapter 8.

And we're going to read a little bit today, Acts chapter 8, 26 through 40, if you would stand with me.

Amen.

How are we feeling this morning?

Amen.

Couple of you feel okay?

Amen.

Blessed to be in the house of God.

Amen.

Amen.

Acts 8:26 through 40.

You have it Amen.

It says this 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.

Somebody say desert place.

And he rose and he went, and there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Kendits, a 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.

And the spirit of the Lord said to s uh to Philip, go over and join this chariot.

And so Philip ran. to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, Do you understand what you are reading?

And he said, How can I, unless someone guides me And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

And 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 sheer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.

And his humiliation just as was denied him, who can describe his generation?

For his life is taken away from the earth.

And the eunuch said to Philip, About whom, I ask, does the prophet say this?

About himself or about someone else?

Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with the 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?

And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.

And when they came 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.

But Philip found himself at his Otis and he passed through, as he passed through, preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Amen.

Uh you can take your seat.

We we prayed.

Um I want to speak today on a topic that I'll be honest Doesn't get a lot of excitement when I preach it.

Um I don't know why.

I don't know if it's because it's simple and so basic and I'm not telling you something that you don't already know.

I don't know if it's not convict uh convicting enough Somebody told me the other day I was having lunch with somebody that said, Pastor, I really like your sermons because you'd always tell me how I need to get my life together.

And and I appreciated that because uh it goes to show that you know true men and women of God are not here to have their ears be Tickled, right?

They're not here to listen to a word that's gonna make them feel good.

They want to be holy, they want to be in good standing with God.

And so whatever the Lord wants to speak to us to make us do that, so be it.

Um but as much as we talk about Being holy, and we talk a lot about being mature and being obedient and being better.

We also need to talk about doing.

And it's the doing sermons that I've noticed in ten years of preaching.

Not a lot of people care for it.

Like like a sermon on the Great Commission, barely, I barely I ever get any amends to that one.

Right?

It's only like it only seems like The ministers and the leaders resonate with those type of words.

It's like we've reserved doing just for ministry workers.

But that's not how the Christian life should work.

Our identity as believers, anybody believer in here?

Okay.

Our identity as believers is evidenced by what we practice By what we do.

Faith without works is dead.

And I say all the time that you know we're not what we do for God, but when you love God enough and when you truly believe in the power of His Word, you can't help but do His will.

A good relationship with God should produce some type of kingdom work in all of us.

All of us.

It should compel you to do something for the Lord.

And so we're not just called to be, we're also called to do.

And the reality is that many of us are comfortable just being Christian.

Just coming to church, just getting our fill, just maintaining a godly home and keeping the faith and worshiping God and growing in the Word, all of that is good, but we're also called to kingdom work.

We're called to a mission, whether you like it or not.

And it it's the mission is very simple.

Anybody know what the mission is?

To share the gospel.

Amen, Pastor Heather.

It's to tell people about Jesus.

Whether you got a title or not, whether you have a microphone or not, the call of all believers is to make Jesus known.

If you've got good news, share it.

Do you know?

If you got a testimony Share it.

Why are you ashamed of it?

Why you keep it to yourself?

Be proud of what God did to you.

God did for you If you've got hope in Jesus and you see somebody walking around struggling to find hope, don't just walk past them.

Share with them the hope that is in you.

If you have peace of God and you see somebody wrestling with anxiety, don't just walk past them.

We have an obligation to share the peace that we have with those people.

If you see somebody who's completely lost, trying to find their way, share the gospel.

Why is that so Hard for us to grasp.

How many of you, if you saw a little child walking around the grocery store not knowing where mommy or daddy was, would you stop to try to help him?

Because if you didn't do it, you're a piece of crap person.

Sorry, I didn't have better words.

The Holy Spirit didn't give me better words.

But if you see somebody lost, you're gonna help them.

Why why don't we apply the same principle to the kingdom?

When we see somebody who is clearly lost Clearly looking for answers, clearly looking for some depth, clearly looking for God, and you know the God that they're looking for.

You could direct them to Him.

Why do we walk past those people?

I don't know This is the call for all believers.

All of us.

Not just the pastors, not just the leaders.

All of us.

And I'll be the first to admit it that this is hard to do when you're not at church, when you're not on the clock, right?

When you're working a secular job with people who don't share your faith, when you're at a birthday party and everybody's making you feel uncomfortable and you feel like the outcast and you're you just feel like you need to leave, sometimes we forget that that is the mission field Now, I want to make a distinction between the call and the mission because they're two different things.

Paul says to the Corinthians, he says, there's a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit.

He says, there are varieties of services, but the same Lord, and there are a variety of activities, but the same thing the same God who empowers them all and everyone.

So we are all called to the same spirit.

We're all called to obey God.

We're called to love God.

We're called to be holy.

We're all called Make disciples All of us have that same calling.

We're called to Jesus.

That's the calling.

Amen?

But the mission is a little bit more specific.

And the mission differs from person to person, gift to gift.

And season to season.

So sometimes you might be in a in a pastoral assignment.

Your mission might be uh to to to to be a pastor in a moment.

Your mission might be a prophetic assignment or leading uh some type of ministry.

Your mission might be in the workplace.

Your mission might be in your business, and other times the mission is found in the desert, the last place you'd expect to be led to.

And so today I want to talk about the mission in the desert.

That's the title of my sermon.

Man, sometimes God is going to call you to places you don't want to go.

How many of you have been there before?

Sometimes God is going to call you to people you don't like.

You don't have to raise your hand.

Sometimes God is going to call you to environments where you feel like nothing can grow there.

But God has you there.

He has you there strategically and what feels like a desert.

And and before I go any further, I want to say this morning that This sermon might not encourage you too much because this sermon isn't, it's not about you.

This one's not about you.

I know we talk about the desert a lot.

And we're like, okay, when I'm in the desert, it's because God wants to teach me something.

God wants to refine my faith.

He wants to teach me how to depend on him more.

And then God provides man in heaven.

And and and we're like, oh praise the Lord, right?

It reinforces our faith and all that.

That's not this type of sermon.

Okay?

Because sometimes God will lead you to the desert simply because that's where you're needed That's where your assignment is.

It's not to build your faith.

It's not to teach you anything.

It's because that's where the mission field is in a season.

I think that this is the most underrated, relevant, and powerful conversion stories in all of Acts.

And if you read Acts, there's a lot of conversion stories in Acts.

But this one is unique because it's not glamorous It doesn't involve any miracles, and we never even hear about this man again who gave his life to Jesus, and that's probably why it's so underrated.

Compare it to the conversion story of Paul in the very next chapter, chapter 9.

Jesus literally appears to Paul, rebukes him, commissions him, blinds him, all in the same story as he's going to hunt Christians.

Compared to the conversion story of the 3,000 Jews at Pentecost, where Peter goes out full of the Spirit, preaches this message, tells them to repent and be baptized.

And 3,000 souls are added to the kingdom of God that day.

Or compare it to the conversion story of Cornelius and his household, which is kind of like the official demonstration of God's acceptance. of the Gentiles or even the conversion story of the jailer where Paul and Silas are in jail and they're worshiping at midnight and the Spirit of God sends an earthquake to open up all the prison doors and the jailer wants to kill himself and Paul says, Hey, don't harm yourself I've got good news for you.

There's a lot of stories like that in Acts.

But not this one.

This one's not dramatic.

It's not eventful.

Philip isn't called to the masses.

He's not called to a great city, he's called to a desert where one man, just one man, awaits him.

And that's his mission.

And the reason I love this story, and the reason I wanted to preach it, is because many times we lose sight of the calling because we're so concerned with the mission.

You know what I mean?

Like like like some people want to be sent to the multitudes.

God, I can handle more.

God, I can handle a thousand.

I can handle two thousand.

And so then when God uh sends us to one, we get so offended.

What do you mean God?

This is are you gonna give me?

And we get so caught up with the mission that we fail to steward the calling properly Are you hearing me today?

See, like, yes, God, I want to be a blessing in somebody's life.

Yes, God, I want to point people to Jesus.

Yes, God, I want to be used by you, but we want to do it on our terms and on our but by our timeline.

And what happens many times, I've had a lot of Christians that I've talked to who think like this, is that they pursue a position and they neglect the actual calling.

So, like you say you're called a pastor.

Can't tell you how many times I've heard somebody say they're called a pastor.

One time at a church service, a prophet spoke over their life and said, Hey, you're gonna be a pastor, and that has been the word that you've carried for 10, 15, 20 years.

And it's all about my calling as a pastor.

And God, when are you gonna make me be a pastor?

And God, why is it so hard?

And God, when, win, win.

Meanwhile, you've not sat down with one person to minister to them one time.

You've been chasing the position more than you've cared for the calling You say you're called to the mission field.

God revealed to me that I'm going to go to Africa, I'm going to go to Europe, to India, and I'm going to be a missionary for the Lord.

Meanwhile, not once have you been involved in a church outreach event.

You know what I'm saying?

See or no?

We are called to Jesus.

That's the calling.

We're called to love people.

We're called to care for people.

We're called to disciple people so that they may know Christ more.

That's the calling.

Everything else is just an assignment.

Everything else is just a mission within the greater calling.

So no matter how many people you are called to in a given season, no matter where, no matter what, no matter who, you are called to Christ.

And see, when you know the difference between calling and mission, God can call you anywhere, and you're gonna go without hesitation because you're called to him.

So my question to you is, is your heart with the mission or is your heart with the one who's calling you?

This this is a real word for us.

Because like calling culture is pretty big these days.

Everybody's called to something.

Everybody's just waiting to be gifted something and then run with it.

What are you chasing?

I know I know people who leave churches because the pastor didn't let them preach.

They leave churches because they they weren't allowed to lead something.

And and I'm you know, I understand the need.

To help people grow and be discipled in their ministerial gifts.

Every church needs to give way to that.

But if all you're doing is hopping around, church to church, ministry to ministry, until somebody lets you do something you want.

Your heart may be less with the calling and more with the mission that you are pursuing.

We had we had uh worship auditions um A couple years ago and somebody reached out because we said we made a call to worship auditions, and this person um wanted to audition And then when we said, hey, you have to be a member for at least six months, we didn't hear back again.

What are you pursuing?

What's gonna happen when the assignment, when God assigns you to a place that you don't want to go?

What's gonna happen when the mission is in the desert?

I've never wanted to be a pastor.

I've said this many times.

Never wanted to be a pastor.

My wife never wanted to be a pastor's wife.

We made a pact and college that we would never be pastors We don't I swear we did.

And that's the first mistake.

You never tell God you're not gonna do something.

Right?

He will humble you But you know for me it wasn't it wasn't that I was being disobedient.

It wasn't that I I I didn't want to, it's that I genuinely didn't think that I was called to it.

I genuinely thought that my calling was as a as a worship minister That's what I genuinely believed.

I remember being 12 years old right here in this spot, man.

We had green carpet.

Like the one upstairs.

If you haven't been upstairs, that's the carpet we had everywhere.

I was right here And I was praying and I was ministered to and I was anointed as a worship leader.

And I told this story once.

I went from here to here to the keyboard To to leading worship and and and writing music and singing music and we had a band and we traveled the state.

We weren't good enough to travel the country, but Texas, Louisiana, we had locked in.

JRC band.

Still have music out there, shameless plug.

It's funny because uh my my girls, my my my family, when I say family, my wife and the two mini Melissa's, uh Layla and and Ellie, uh they make fun of me because about once a year I get a royalty check for eleven dollars.

And they're like, ooh, we can we made it now, you know.

Hey, that's three gallons of gas, bro.

Um but I thought that that was my calling.

From a very young age, I thought that that was my calling to write music and lead people into uh into God's presence through worship.

And and I remember when I started to feel the the the burden to pastor a church.

And it was a really hard transition for me. leaving the the the the the the keyboard and and the in the microphone from doing worship to preaching and to pastoring into You know, to doing all the pastoral duties.

And I remember some uh well-intentioned people would tell me, like, full of the spirit and full of conviction, it's because your calling was never as a worship leader.

It was too The pastor.

And I believed it.

And beautiful hearts, beautiful people, but I realized now that it was it was not about the calling.

It was about the mission.

There was a season where my mission was to usher people into God's presence as a worship leader.

There was a season where my mission was to minister through song.

It wasn't that I didn't get the calling right.

It was that God had a mission for me in a certain season of my life.

God, praise the Lord.

Amen.

Jesus is saying, Amen.

Hallelujah.

Amen.

God works through seasons in our lives So sometimes you're gonna be in a season of preparation.

That's okay.

Sometimes you're gonna you're gonna be in a season, say this one with me, of rest.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Sometimes God's gonna have you in a season of rest.

Sometimes he's gonna have you a season of being a season where you're in the mission field.

Where you're standing on a stage talking to multitudes, and sometimes you're going to be in a season where you're sitting at a kitchen table having a conversation with one person But your calling is always to him.

Today my calling isn't to pastor a church.

My mission is to pastor a church.

Once that mission is over, I am still called.

I will still be obedient.

I will still be willing and ready for whatever my God wants me to do next.

And this is why we have to know the difference, church, between calling and mission.

Because your mission is ever-changing, it's gonna change every day.

You're gonna have a different mission, sometimes multiple times a week.

The calling is forever.

Sometimes you're not going to love the mission.

But I love the one who calls me to the mission.

Sometimes a mission is gonna feel small and insignificant and a waste of your gifts and your talents and your resources, but the one who calls me is mighty and he's working through it.

We have way too many Christians in this day and age.

Christians that are on TikTok and their would-be preachers and would-be pastors and would-be evangelists.

Who want to know what the mission is before they say yes to the call.

That's not obedience.

That's stipulation.

That's not obedience.

That's well it depends.

And so I praise God for men and women like Philip.

The Bible says that God called him to go to the desert road, a road that nobody was traveling on.

It wasn't popular, it wasn't famous, it wasn't favored, but he went anyways.

This this Philip is not to be confused with uh the apostle Philip.

This Philip is first introduced in Acts chapter 6.

He's one of the seven men.

Chosen by the church and approved by the apostles.

His original assignment, along with Stephen, do you remember Stephen?

He was a martyr.

He was martyred for preaching the word.

Their original assignment was not even to preach the word.

Their original assignment was to oversee the food distribution.

Can we read this real quick?

Check out Acts chapter 6.

It says this, but as the believers rapidly multiplied.

There were rumblings of discontent.

The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food.

So the twelve called a meeting of all the believers, and they said, We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program.

And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and full of the Spirit and wisdom.

We will give them this responsibility.

And then the apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.

Everybody liked this idea, and they chose the following.

Stephen A man full of faith in the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and five other guys that we're not talking about today, so I'm not going to read their names.

Verse X uh six says, These seven were presented to the apostles who prayed for them as they laid their hands.

So I want you to notice that Philip was originally called to serve in an administrative assignment.

That's what he was anointed to do.

The apostles prayed over him.

They anointed him.

They laid hands on him for this specific function in the church.

But then A certain amount of time passes, and in the beginning of chapter 8, we read that Philip begins to preach.

And not just preach, he's being used in mighty signs and wonders.

He's being used uh to heal people of their diseases.

He's being used to cast out demons and evil spirits.

And the crowds are amazed at the spirit's power through Philip that even Simon the sorcerer this famous sorcerer in his day gets saved because of his ministry And so we have this guy who goes from overseeing a food program to preaching to the masses and being used in miracles, and then one day the Lord appears to him and tells him to go to the desert.

Can we stop making it about what we think we're called to?

Can we can we stop trying to just stay in our lane?

Well God, that ain't my calling, God You see somebody suffering?

You see somebody in need of Jesus.

You need somebody you see somebody in need of hope.

Nah, that's not my calling, Jesus.

Send somebody else, Jesus Can we stop putting ourselves in a box?

I don't think Philip was going around worried about his healing ministry, his preaching ministry, his admin administrative ministry.

He just wanted to be obedient and point people to Jesus wherever he was.

And so whenever he was called to the desert, he wasn't complaining.

Well, God, but there's no one there.

He wasn't saying, but but God, last week I preached to a thousand souls and I was doing all these mighty signs and all these wonders, and I was healing people.

Why are you punishing me?

Why are you sending me to one man?

God, grow my ministry.

Grow my church.

Am I less anointed today?

Is that why you're sending me to the desert to speak to one man?

And we're like these little puppy dogs chasing a certain type of anointing Philip went and he didn't make it about himself.

Do you know why?

Because there was a man there searching for God.

The desert isn't always about you.

It's about what you're called to do there.

It's not always about you.

It's about the person that you're called to minister there.

God doesn't look for numbers.

I have your attention still.

Don't doze off.

Don't doze off yet.

God doesn't look for numbers.

He looks for harvest.

Harvest is more valuable than numbers.

Today I would rather lead one person to Jesus than to preach to a crowd of a thousand hardened hearts.

Because what is that gonna do?

This wasn't always the case.

Like everybody else, I counted success by big numbers, big platforms, big churches, well-known ministries But today I kid you not, I will I will take 400 spirit-filled believers over 2,000 dead souls.

God is not looking at the numbers, he's looking at the harvest.

Now, I mean don't get me wrong, numbers matter, but they only matter in the cont in a certain context.

Their hearts have to be ripe for salvation.

And sometimes God is going to uh to to call you to one person.

And for a season, that's going to be your focus.

One person.

And you might not even like them.

One person.

And it's not because you're less gifted.

Okay?

Are you hearing me?

Because some of y'all are gonna leave here today and you're you're gonna be like, oh my call to this little baby ministry.

I'm telling you right now, telling you right now It's not because you're left get less gifted.

It's not because you're less anointed.

It's because that's where somebody needs you.

Don't think that you can't find life in the desert.

I don't I don't want you to miss the relevance of this this man's story real quick.

Um I won't be too much longer.

But the Bible describes this Ethiopian man as a kind of as a searching outcast.

He went to Jerusalem to worship.

That's what the Bible says.

Many scholars believe that this uh this man was he was either already a Gentile God fearer or he had heard about the God of Israel and wanted to see what faith in him look like.

And there's a lot that we don't know about him in this story.

But I looked it up.

To travel uh from Ethiopia to Jerusalem would not have been a weekend getaway.

This would have been a few months Six to twelve weeks just to get to Jerusalem.

But he was there because he was searching.

He was looking for something.

And I was thinking about this.

How many people come to church week after week, whether it's this one or another one, searching for meaning?

They're searching for something.

I mean, we get salvation week after week.

There's not just Christians in this room, there are seekers.

There are people who are looking for something deeper, maybe you're one of them today, and you've heard about Jesus, but there's a lot that you don't understand about Jesus You just know that something in your life is missing.

There's something in your life that that is feeling incomplete.

And so you were drawn here today for a certain reason because you are looking for something you're searching.

And now think about what made this man an outcast.

This Ethiopian, he was a Gentile and he was also a eunuch.

As a Gentile, he would have been automatically treated differently.

He was not one of the Jews.

He didn't have their level of status, even though he was a royal official.

So he probably walked into Jerusalem not feeling welcomed.

On top of that, he was a eunuch.

And eunuchs were prohibited from entering the assembly of the Lord according to Deuteronomy 23.

So I want you to think about this for a second.

Not only did he feel like an outcast from the assembly, he also felt disqualified by scripture.

And again, I think about the relevance of this Ethiopian man today.

I think about the men and the women who come to church feeling like an outcast.

They don't know the lingo.

They don't know the songs.

They don't know why we raise our hands.

They don't know why we fall to our knees.

They don't know why we speak in tongues.

They don't know any of that.

They hear something in the Bible calling out their sin and automatically it makes them feel unworthy and unqualified to be a part of this assembly.

They're here.

They come through these wall through these doors all the time.

And so The Bible says that on his journey home, this man, this Ethiopian man, after getting to Jerusalem, he's coming back and he's still reading the scriptures.

Trying to understand the meaning.

Meaning he left church with questions.

How many of you have left church with questions?

He left church with frustrations, but his heart is still longing for something real and true.

He's searching the scriptures And he's probably there reading the Bible, you know, kind of like we all are sometimes, not able not able to understand the meaning.

And there was no Chat GBT, there was no commentaries.

There was no internet, there was nothing for to really help him understand the scripture that he was reading.

But he's there and he's reading the scripture and he's like, what what is this?

Who is this talking about?

Is this talking about me?

Is this talking about who is this prophet?

Is there life for me?

Is there hope for me?

And he he doesn't have the answers, but lo and behold, a man on that desert road On that desert road where there was no church, there was no preacher, there were no lights, there was no worship band, there was just a faithful, obedient man on a mission.

And the Spirit of God says to Philip, go over there and join him.

Now how many of us would have been like, what?

God, is that is is that really you?

God, you no, that's not me because you know who I am.

I'm an introvert.

I can't just strike up a conversation with a random stranger That ain't me.

How many times do we silence God's voice when he's trying to tell us something?

Because it's uncomfortable God is I'm I'm an introvert.

I'm I'm socially awkward.

How do I even start the conversation?

God, I don't I don't know what to say to him We make so many excuses.

Church, can this be our prayer today?

We need to ask God for compassion.

Compassion that goes beyond the uncomfortable.

Oh come on, that was that was the spirit of God right there.

That wasn't even in my notes.

We need compassion that goes beyond the uncomfortable We don't have that.

We don't have I'll be honest with you.

We don't have that yet.

We let our discomfort lead And we let this the compassion that we're supposed to have take the back seats.

Meanwhile, there's a soul there looking for something deeper.

They're looking for something true, they're looking for Jesus, and yet because we're uncomfortable.

We fail to have the compassion that they need in that moment.

Spirit of God says to Philip, go run.

Run to him.

So he goes.

He runs to him.

Verse 30 says, so Philip ran and heard him reading Isaiah and asked, do you understand what you are reading?

And he said, How can I unless someone guides me?

And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

Isn't it kind of sad, church?

Five more minutes.

Isn't it kind of sad that this man came from Jerusalem?

A city full of scribes and teachers and spiritual leaders.

And not once did this man find the guidance he was looking for.

Is this is this is this clocking?

Okay.

I don't know, man.

Y'all feel y'all y'all like asleep Like like he he was in the epicenter of holiness surrounded by all the scribes all the all the legal leaders all anybody who was anybody he was in Jerusalem And then he had to go to the desert still feeling like he needed guidance because the place that he went to didn't give it to him.

The sad reality of Sunday morning church is that some people fall through the cracks.

I'm just gonna be honest.

The church is too busy on a Sunday We are.

We got people running around getting ready for for meetings and and fundraisers and we got friends talking to their friends after church.

We don't have time to sit down with every visitor after service and guide them.

That is the sad reality.

And this is why God sends people to the deserts.

Because it's not about you, homie.

It's about them.

God has always been in the business of rescuing people from the desert, and sometimes we are the ones that He sends over there to do it.

So, my challenge to you, church is to not diminish the desert missions.

Because I will tell you today, man, the greatest impact of many people's lives will not be on a Sunday morning service.

Many times gonna be around the kitchen table.

Many times young people is gonna be our slow pokes where I'm not too I'm not cool enough to go but y'all are there sometimes it's gonna be in the hospital room sometimes it's gonna be on a phone call Where there's no music, there's no preacher, there's no prayer team, there's no altar call, it's simply you, the Holy Spirit, and a heart that is ripe to receive Jesus.

Don't despise those desert moments.

And I want to read this last bit of the man's conversation The eunuch says, see, here is water.

What prevents me from being baptized?

And he commanded the chariot to stop.

And they both went down into the water.

Philip and the eunuch.

And he baptized him.

Come on, man.

Does that not get you excited, man?

Like, isn't it?

Do you not see that they were in the desert and they found a pool of water?

Do you not see that they were in a place where no light Life happened and life was given in that moment where the man was literally submerged and received Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

Don't be afraid to go into the desert, man.

Don't be afraid of the one.

Come on, stand with me, stand with me.

I'm gonna give you homework today, okay?

I don't want you just leaving here saying, good sermon, Pastor.

Now I want you to put something to work, okay?

I'm gonna tap Everybody here in this room this week and we should start doing this every Sunday.

But this week, I want you to tell one person about Jesus, man.

Just just one person about Jesus.

Okay?

And and but but hold on.

Be strategic with it.

Okay?

Be strategic with it.

Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit that you can discern When someone is really having a hard week, you can see it on their face.

They're sitting in their desk crying Be strategic with the one that God wants to send to you this week.

And if you don't have any Christian friends, what am I saying?

If you don't have any non-believing friends, you need to get some.

Okay, be Because you are called to be the light.

You are called to be the light into somebody's life Speak Jesus into somebody today.

Amen.

I'm telling you, this is one of those words that's like, eh, I don't know.

This is the call.

This is the call.

Stop pursuing.

A mission.

Stop pursuing a position and just be obedient to the one who calls you to speak his name.

Amen.

Heavenly Father, I pray over this body, my God, right now.

Lord, I anoint every single one of them.

Would you raise your hand?

Raise your hand.

Holy Spirit, I pray that you anoint every single person in here who has the power of your word in their hearts, my God.

Lord, I pray, Father God, that when they don't know what to say, they would have the confidence.

That you're gonna speak through them, my God.

I pray, Father God, that they would have the discernment to know who is hurting, who is lost, who is ripe, who is in need and searching of you, my God.

I pray in Jesus' name that you give weight to their words, power to their words my God I pray in Jesus' mighty name Lord that you would anoint them Father God for whatever mission you want to send them to this week Lord because we are called to you father we are called to you my God we are called to speak your word and to pray People's lives.

We are called to be a city on a hill, my God.

We are called, my Lord, to be light in this darkness, my Lord.

So I pray a fresh anointing over every single person.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

And amen.

If you're in need of prayer this morning, prayer team.

I don't have a specific altar call, but if you are in need of prayer, these altars are open.

And everybody else, if you just want to worship, if you just want to have a moment.

With God.

The worship team sings this song.

Thanks for listening.

If you'd like some more information on PNEUMA Church, visit us on our website at mypneumachurch. org.

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Thanks again and God bless.