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Aug 16, 2026 | Tim Moore
Sunday, August 16, 2026
Preacher | Rev. Dr. Tim Moore
Sermon | The First Non-Jewish Christian
Scripture | Acts 8:26-40
Celebrating | Pride Sunday
Worship Guide
Who was the first non-Jewish person welcomed into the Christian faith?
In Acts, Philip encounters an Ethiopian eunuch, someone who lived outside the boundaries of what society considered "normal." Yet before asking anyone else's permission, Philip baptizes him, offering a powerful witness to the wideness of God's welcome.
This Sunday, as we celebrate Pride Sunday, Rev. Dr. Tim Moore reflects on this remarkable story and considers what it means for the Church's ongoing call to practice radical inclusion.
Preacher's Notes:
The Ethiopian Eunuch was the first non-Jewish person baptized as a Christian. His place in Christian history was downplayed because of Cornelius’s conversion as the “first” Gentile. But the Ethiopian is clearly not Jewish. Called a God-fearer by Luke’s story indicates that while he worshipped the God of Israel, he was not born a Jewish person. His status as a eunuch had implications in the biblical period and for ours. His status as a eunuch meant that he was no longer seen as male. Eunuchs were seen as another gender category. Some eunuchs were gay men. To use our language today, they were transgender people. Even if that is a too big a leap for you, it certainly is true that they were not heterosexual normative people. Sexually, they were “other.”
What does it mean that the first non-Jewish person to be baptized a Christian was either a gay man or a transgender person? How should that impact the Church’s inclusion of LGBTQ persons and the celebration of Pride?
#MyersParkCovenantChurch #PrideSunday #Acts8 #RadicalWelcome #LGBTQInclusion #SundayWorship