Acts 29 Series

He said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

6 So when they had come together, they asked Jesus, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,

and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

9 And when He had said these things, as they were looking on, Jesus was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. - Acts 1:3-9

I want to focus on verse 8. That’s key for the church and our future. I believe the great Commission is the mission of the church . . . from Matthew 28, when Jesus commands us - - -

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. - Matthew 28

This is the mission of the church, in my opinion, the mission of every church. But Jesus gives us further instructions in Acts 1:8.

Jesus is calling us to be His witnesses in the world. What does it mean to be a witness? The word witness is a legal term. It’s the same word that is used in court when someone is called to be a witness and give their testimony. That’s what we’re called to do - - - to give a testimony, our testimony to the world about Jesus.

Then Jesus said this - - -

8 . . . you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” - Acts 1:8

He doesn’t tell us how to do it, but Jesus tells us where to do it. And it starts right here at First Baptist Church. The witness and testimony of Jesus Christ must start right here.

Every Sunday we come into this building with one purpose and that is to worship Jesus, period. We come and give of ourselves and thank God for the amazing abundance of blessings He’s given to us. We demonstrate the love of Jesus to one another. If we can’t love one another, we can’t love the world.

And because we love one another, because Jesus has loved us, we have this overwhelming desire to pass on His love to others, RIGHT?!

Notice the progression from Jesus. And that’s where our community comes in and that’s what Jesus is talking about. He said “you will be my witnesses in JERUSALEM . . .” I believe this is the call for us, as well. We start out locally. We start in our own backyard.

And this is our Jerusalem. You’re in the upper room right now. God is talking to each of us, REMAIN IN ME . . . FOLLOW ME. REMAIN IN ME . . . FOLLOW ME. And we will follow Him. There’s no wavering in our mission to follow our Lord, Jesus.

Our Jerusalem, is named Alexandria (SLIDE 2 - Alex). The slide you are looking at is a satellite view of Alexandria. Since our church is located in Alexandria, we must look into our community, that’s what Jesus meant when He first said to be His witnesses in Jerusalem.