Reformed Evangelical Synod of America

The Apostles commissioned seven men in the congregation at Jerusalem to supervise the church’s ministry to the needs of its widows and other poor; among them was Philip.

Philip preached the Gospel to the Samaritans, a group who had split off from the Jewish people about six centuries earlier, had intermarried with other peoples, and were considered outsiders by most Jews. They received the Christian message with eagerness, and soon Peter and John came to Samaria to bless the new converts.

After this, Philip was sent by God to walk along the road from Jerusalem southwest to Gaza, where he met a eunuch of the Queen of Ethiopia, returning home after worshipping in Jerusalem. The man was reading from Isaiah 53, and Philip told him about Jesus, and persuaded him that the words were a prophecy of the saving work of Jesus. The man was baptized, and went on his way rejoicing, while Philip went north to Caesarea, the major seaport of Israel, and its secular capital.

When Paul was going up to Jerusalem for the last time, he paused at Caesarea and spent several days with Philip. After this, tradition describes him as settling at Tralles in Asia Minor, where he became the bishop of that church. Nevertheless, he remains most widely known as ‘Philip the Deacon’.

COLLECT
Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your servant Philip, whom you called to preach the Gospel to the peoples of Samaria and Ethiopia. Raise up in this and every land heralds and evangelists of your kingdom, that your Church may make known the immeasurable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

READINGS
Isaiah 53: 1-6
Psalm 67
Acts 8: 1-25 or Acts 8: 26-40 or Acts 21: 1-14
Mark 10: 42-45