Can I Get A Witness

Can I Get A Witness ??

( before i get started i want to read a passage out of 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 ever since i surrendered to the call to preach this has been my motto, my guideline " And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." )

Text Acts 1 : 1-11

Lets Pray….

intro : We see here in Acts that after Jesus had rose from the dead, proven Himself to His apostles and prepares for His "departure " into Heaven. That Jesus gives His’ apostles one simple direction. Not just to heal the world, or help the needy but to preach that Jesus is LORD of all Heaven and of all Earth!! I want to talk for a little while on this direction, on how it wasn’t just for the Apostles of then but that it is for the entire Christian people.

I. What is a successful witness called to do?

- a successful witness is a Christian who is in reverent prayer to the Lord! Look at the Apostles in Acts 1:14 it says that they joined hands together and they constantly prayed…..

- if you truly want to be used by God in a mighty way then you have to get on your knees, I know that first hand the minute that TJ starts trying to do something or TJ is going to do this , then I soon realize that TJ can’t do anything and TJ is back on his knees before the Lord.

- You see a successful witness doesn’t really on his own wisdom but entirely on the Will of God.

*Acts 2:38 "Then Peter said unto them, Repent , and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

- a successful witness humbles themselves and repents of all their sins, God wants to use all of us in a big way, He has a plan for each and every one of us. And he wants us to do His will but the only way to successfully do His will is to humble ourselves and fully rely on Him.

*Romans 15:13 "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit"

- a successful witness believes that the Lord will follow through. Tell me something what good is prayer if you don’t really think that it is going to happen. If you do not earnestly believe that God will answer your prayer that why pray it , save your self the time and effort! Let me tell you that I still believe that my God answers prays, Amen! Nothing is too big for my God!!

** I don’t care what scientist say … I don’t care what philosophers say I don’t care what the most “intelligent people in the world say.

My God still answers prayer my God still works through me and I believe that we can do anything through Christ.

*a successful witness needs to have faith beyond all understanding , extreme faith! We need to get on our knees and pray to God that He will open the doors for us to witness and then we need to believe that He will do it .

*Matthew 28:19 “ Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.”

-As successful witnesses we need to go out there in the world and teach them about Jesus , but let me tell you something ….. it starts here. It starts in our neighborhoods, in our families , in our schools.

A SUCCESSFUL WITNESS IS CALLED TO SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST!!!

II. What does a successful witness need?

*Just think for a moment your standing in front of Jesus , He has just told you that in a few minutes He will ascend into Heaven , and He says “Before I go, I have one last thing to say to you …” you listen intently, the whole world stops as you patiently stare at your Master, Nothing else matters at this moment and then Jesus tells you that you will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to do anything that He wants you to do.

-*-- let me tell you something today as Christians we too have that same power that they did…. Through Jesus anything is possible … anything!

(popcorn story)

God still does miracles today!!!