A God Who Sees the Seeker
Edited directly from the sermon transcript of Matthew Miller’s message at Highland Hills Church of Christ on May 24, 2026. Adapted for length and readability while preserving his voice and message.
Am I awake? Am I going through the world with eyes wide open, anticipating, looking for what God might be doing? Or am I sleepwalking?
As the church, we are this global force for God’s good in the world. Sometimes I ask the same question: Are we a sleeping giant? Are we really awake to what God is doing?
In Acts chapter 8, there is an awakening happening in Samaria. The gospel has gone there, this good news about Jesus. He lived on this earth, taught about God’s way, and gave his life on a cross for the life of the world. Through his resurrection, he conquered death itself.
Everywhere this message goes, it is changing lives. People are filled with joy where once they were filled with conflict. Philip is right in the middle of that awakening, preaching and teaching. But that’s not where God calls him to stay.
An angel of the Lord tells Philip, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert, a deserted place.
I want you to recognize how bizarre an evangelism strategy this would seem to us. This doesn’t seem scalable. Philip is in the middle of this great awakening where people are coming to Jesus. It seems like he should stay there, continue teaching and preaching, and see more people come.
When we think about evangelism, sharing the good news, we ask, “Where can we have the greatest impact?” I remember reading a whole series of books in college about church growth and evangelism. Some talked about being seeker-friendly: the right temperature, the right lighting, the right smell, the right atmosphere. Poll people to see what music they like and cater your music to that. On and on it goes. It’s very consumer-oriented.
Philip is in the middle of a growing awakening, and God calls him to a desolate place. Inherent in the term “desolate” is that there aren’t many people there. God calls him away from the crowds to a place where we don’t even know if there are people.
This completely flips the way we think about doing the ministry of God on its head.
If we’re going to be awake to what God is doing, we have to be open to where he calls, no matter where it is. Likely it’s not going to look like what you want it to look like.
There’s an old adage that God comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable. Sometimes he calls us to places where it doesn’t seem anything is happening. It might seem uncomfortable or desolate. We’re not even sure why we’re there.
We don’t see resistance from Philip. He seems willing to go wherever God sends. That’s a powerful example for us.
Philip goes, and he meets an Ethiopian official who has charge of the queen’s treasury. The man has been to Jerusalem to worship and is returning home, sitting in his chariot, reading Isaiah. The Spirit tells Philip to go near the chariot. Philip runs to him and asks, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
“How can I, unless someone guides me?” the man answers. He invites Philip to sit with him.
The next thing is being willing to talk about Jesus. You might have heard, “Preach Christ everywhere you go; use words if you have to.” There’s some truth in that. We preach with our lives. You can say how much you love Jesus, but if your life doesn’t look anything like Jesus, that’s sending a message for sure.
But when Philip gets there, he’s not afraid to begin a conversation.
It may be unlikely that when you walk up to a friend, a family member, or a work acquaintance, they’ll already have a Bible open. If they do, that’s a very easy intro into the conversation, isn’t it?
Luke isn’t telling us this is always how evangelism will look. But there are sound principles here: it begins with a conversation, and it has to be centered on the word. The gospel is the power of God for salvation to all who believe.
It can be easy to dismiss ourselves or someone else because we already think, “They’re not going to want to hear what I have to say.” But God is already preparing the Ethiopian for this conversation. He’s sending Philip where he has prepared the ground to be tilled.
Philip is aware because he’s awake. God sees and seeks those who are seeking after him. That truth is just as relevant today. God is still pursuing people whose hearts are hurting, who need him, and who are open to his drawing.
The man is reading Isaiah’s account of the suffering servant. He asks whether the prophet is speaking about himself or someone else. Beginning at that Scripture, Philip preaches Jesus to him.
This man has an important role and immense influence. But before God, we’re all equal, aren’t we? No matter his position or privilege, he has the same thing we all have before God: need.
My son and I were talking about the gospel, about being made right with God and our works. I told him to imagine being at the bottom of a dark pit. The walls are straight up, coated with all kinds of icky stuff. No matter how badly you want to get out, you cannot climb out.
It takes someone shining a light, seeing you, and throwing down a rope to hoist you out. That’s the Ethiopian. That’s all of us apart from Jesus.
Our conversation has to get to Jesus in the word. All of Scripture proclaims Christ. When Linsey and I study a passage, she’s already making those connections to Jesus. I’m wanting to start going into some scholarly diatribe, and she’s like, “Yeah, but here’s Jesus in this passage.” And I’m like, “Wow, you’re right.”
The Ethiopian is gripped by this suffering servant. What kind of man would go through such suffering and grief? Philip says, “Let me tell you about that man. This is the man who’s come to rescue you out of your pit.”
They come to water, and the man asks, “What hinders me from being baptized?” He confesses his belief in Jesus Christ, and Philip baptizes him. Then he goes on his way rejoicing.
Do you notice the refrain in these conversion stories? When they come to be in Christ, they are filled with joy.
I had the opportunity to baptize a family member a couple of years ago. He wanted to be baptized in a river because Jesus was baptized in a river. I said, “Okay, let’s go to a river.” We went to the Elk River. When he came up, he said, “Everybody said that you will feel different. I do feel different.”
Last year, someone I baptized came out of the water and literally went, “Woo!” How much more joy can you have than that?
The gospel changes lives, hearts, and minds. It brings joy. Baptism is about obedience to Christ, being connected with his death, burial, and resurrection, and receiving his Spirit as a gift.
Not every conversation will lead to someone being baptized. But know that God is seeking those who seek him, preparing the ground, and calling you and me to those people. Sometimes the masses, but often a single conversation.
Things in this life combat us. Like a stone statue, we keep having chips knocked away. When we grow so concerned about the things of this world, we risk sleepwalking in our faith.
But when you’re awake to God, you realize he’s preparing ground all over the place. He’s calling you to one of those places, to one of those people.
We listen to life as we live it. You’ll hear things that are open doors to a conversation. Step into those doors and ask a question: “I heard you talk about this difficult thing going on in your life. Have you prayed about that lately?”
At Tennessee Tech, we went to fraternity houses for what we called open groups. We fed the guys and asked questions about work, life, and relationships. No one was obligated to come. We said we would talk about faith, keep the conversation respectful, and leave as friends.
At some point, you have to talk about Scripture. Sometimes Christians are hesitant because they think people won’t accept it. But I’ve found that when you draw something from the Bible into a conversation, people often say, “Wow, that’s really good advice.” Yes, it comes from Philippians. Or, “I’ve never thought about that before.” Well, I got that from Jesus.
If they feel loved in your presence, you can say, “You know where I got that? Jesus loves me. That’s where I learned how to love someone.”
Philip went where he was called, even though it certainly looked different from Samaria, where all the action seemed to be happening. Who knows what impact God wants to have on a life, a generation, a family, a person?
He wants to partner with you to do that work. Will you join him in what he’s doing all around us?
