Recently I was in Ireland and used this passage as the basis of my message. I challenged them by asking who would like to have great joy in their city and what would bring that about.

It is an important question because in the context of life on planet earth right now, joy is difficult to come by and everyone is seeking after it, usually in the wrong direction.

What this message shows us is that true joy that is deep and lasting only comes in one place. That is the kingdom of God.

Philip goes to the city of Samaria. There has been persecution in Jerusalem and everyone has been scattered. Philip is not deterred in this and arrives in the city. He proceeds to do two things.

1 He preaches Christ
Verse 12 provides us with an insight into what that consisted of. It says he “preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus”. However that in itself is insufficient to turn peoples hearts. Philip did something else

2 He demonstrated Christ.
Philip followed closely the pattern of Jesus. People heard him and listened, believing, but then also saw the power of Christ with miracles and healing in their midst.

The combination brought great joy. It will still bring great joy to your city and it should do that today. This truth is for now, not the past, and certainly not for some time in the future.
Jesus is our example and template and we need to rise up boldly and do what He did. He promised us that we would do the works He did and even greater works. The world is crying out for answers and we sit back when we are carrying THE ANSWER inside us and we hold back from stepping out as Philip did and seeing lives changed and transformed.

What I see is that this is not the domain of a few who are supernaturally gifted. It is there for the life of every believer. Jesus is speaking to all of us when he institutes the great commission in Matthew 28 and promises all who believed would heal the sick in Mark 16. Yet we ignore it and leave it to a select few.

We have to change our thinking as Jesus says in Matthew 4:17. The kingdom of heaven is at hand and we have to walk in the fulness of all that is, preaching Christ and demonstrating Christ.

As a friend prophesied over me we must believe we are carriers of the anointing, carriers of fire and carriers of revival.
When we receive this joy ourselves we must do something with it.
You are carrying the kingdom but are you consequently giving it away? That is what the disciples did. That is what Philip did. He gave away what he had. The thing is that the kingdom works differently to the world in that the more you give out the more you will receive because you are expressing God’s heart.

I want to challenge you today. Will you begin to give out of yourself boldly? I certainly intend to do just that. As you do believe for miracles. Believe for healings. Believe that people will respond and turn to Christ. Believe that there will be great joy in your city.