Jesus Is Risen...ruling...and Returning...

Jesus is Risen...Ruling...And Returning...

Acts 1:1-13

1 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach...

2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen...

3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs... being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God...

4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father... "which," He said, "you have heard from Me..."

5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now..."

6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"...

7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority..."

8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you... and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth..."

For the time we have together...This morning...

To expound on this Word of God...

I’d like for you to consider the topic...

Jesus is Risen...Ruling...And Returning...

PRAY...

Here we find ourselves...At the second week...

After the Resurrection of Jesus...

And I have some sobering news...

The average church-goer will... Over the course of their life...

Hear 4,000 sermons... Sing 20,000 songs...

Participate in 8,000 public prayers...

And lead zero sinners to faith in Jesus Christ...

It’s a sobering and sad statistic...

And I pray that none of us...Can relate...

I am sure...Noe of us. Present here this morning...

Can say...Yes...That’s me...

If you have never been a part...

Of bringing another soul to Jesus...Then you’ve missed...

One of the most precious experiences of this Christian life...

Sharing Jesus with another person...

And seeing the difference He makes in their life...

Is one of the most wonderful experiences...We can have...

Sadly...Many well intended...Church going folk...

Don’t know how to begin to introduce Jesus...To the unsaved...

I’m talking about...Church folk...

You know the ones...

They’ll stand up at testimony time and proclaim...

"First giving honor to God who's the head of my life...

"I'm saved...Sanctified...Holy Ghost filled...

Fire baptized...And I’ve got Jesus on my side...

And...I'm running...For my life!"...

They testify...

I’ve got a mighty burning fire...Down in my soul...

And it just keeps on burning!"...

Yet...The record states...Zero converts...

Church...

Jesus is RISEN...RULING...And RETURNING...

According to a recent study...

On average...

Within three years of a person becoming a Christian...

They will no longer have any close friendships...

With people...Who aren’t Christians...

Which happens because...Of multiple factors...

But the end result is...

That Christians are losing...

Evangelistic contact with other people...

Some might say...

That the goal of any Christian should be...

To place a separation between...The worldly friends...

And their Christin friends...And That might be true...

Except...Before returning to heaven...

Jesus gave His followers...

What is known...As The Great Commission...

He said... "Go...Make disciples of all nations...

Baptizing them...In the name of the Father...

And in the name of the Son...

And in the name of the Holy Spirit...

Teach them to do everything...I have commanded you...

And remember...That I am always with you...

Until the end of time..."

The Great Commission is a personal... Individual command...

It’s a personal... Individual command...

To every child of God...To go into their own personal world...

And share Jesus...With every person who will listen...

The apostles and other disciples took that command to heart...

And so should we...

They took the command to heart...

And the church in Jerusalem grew from just 120 people...

To well over 20,000...In just a few short years...Because of it...

Jesus is RISEN...RULING...And RETURNING...

The reading of Acts 1:3-11...

Allows us to discover...What made the difference...

What moved 12 ordinary men...

To turn the world upside down...?

These discoveries show...

That what made the early church so powerful...

Wasn’t just the message...No...Not just the words...

They were empowered by the Holy Spirit...

They lived with a sense of urgency...And were united...

In mission....And purpose...

If today’s church...Would truly embrace these principles...

We will be equipped...To turn the world...Upside down...

Just like they did...

Jesus is RISEN...RULING...And RETURNING...

After His death... Jesus showed Himself to His followers...

And proved in many ways...That He was alive...

According to our text...As He ate with them...

He told them not to leave Jerusalem...

He said...

"Wait here to receive the Promise...From the Father...

Which I told you about...

He illustrated...John baptized with water...