I was reading through Acts chapter eight this morning about Philip the evangelist. It is the passage that talks about Philip preaching in Samaria.

Acts 8:4-7 says, “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed”.

It is interesting that because of Philip’s preaching and miracles the people there paid close attention. The original Greek word used in this verse (Prosecho) means they really paid attention and it held on to their minds. They stopped what they were doing and focussed.

As we read on we see that once Philip had their attention he preached about the Kingdom of God and Jesus Christ and performed miracles. He didn’t just do the miracles in a stand alone format. The miracles got peoples attention and Philip was able to share the Good News of God’s salvation.

Let’s read on to verse 13 to see what happened. “But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women”.

So what can see from all of this? One thing is for sure that the miracles performed got peoples attention. They stopped what they were doing and listened intently. When they were listening, Philip preached the message of God’s Kingdom and people came to Jesus as a result. Even Simon the Sorcerer!

God performs miracles through us out of His compassion and mercy. However, there are a number times in the Bible we see the miracles are done to open doors to preach about the Kingdom of God and salvation through Jesus Christ.