Sermon Central
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Looking Ahead To 2024 Series
Contributed by T.j. Conwell on Jan 1, 2024 (message contributor)
Summary: Acts is the birth, history (and encouragement) of the church. More importantly, it is the commanded mission of Jesus for all of us to follow to go and make disciples!
To the Ends of the Earth, Part 1
Looking Ahead to 2024
Introduction
- Welcome to Seasons Church & 2024 sermon series, “To the Ends of the Earth”
-- On the heels of “The Alpha and Omega”, this is our next exploration
- Might ask, “Why Acts?” Keep this in mind throughout this series:
-- We’ve already unpacked the beginning of history in detail (Creation)
-- Looking ahead, we anticipate the coming & victory of Jesus (Revelation)
- However … in order to get to Revelation – we have to focus on the NOW
-- The “NOW”, is found in Acts – the things we must be doing as a church
-- It is the direction and calling of the church to GO into the world
- Probably self-evident but … the church must expand, no retirement available
-- The Gospel is given to bring people to Jesus, not to us or our pews
-- Universal fact: People need a Savior, and this is where the church must ACT
- Acts is the history (and encouragement) for us to understand
-- It is the birth of the church and the continuing mission for us all to follow
- Author: The book was written by Luke, a doctor – not an original disciple
-- He uses a lot of Greek medical terms in his writing, affirming his profession
-- More than likely, he was a close acquaintance of Paul (see this in Acts 16)
-- He was with Paul when he was arrested (Acts 20), and in prison (Acts 27)
-- Luke’s gospel (ref v1) also affirms his relationship to disciples (Peter dictated it)
-- We can date the writing of this around 62 A.D. – def. before fall of Jerusalem
- To: It was a personal letter written to Theophilus, who was a gentile convert
-- Theory: Theophilus was a wealthy & influential man in the city of Antioch
-- Theophilus means “loved by God,” but carries the idea of “friend of God”
- Purpose: to show how the church grew through the witness of believers
-- FACT: In under 35 yrs, the church went from Jerusalem to overtake Rome!
- Read Acts 1:1-11 / Pray
Point 1 – Jesus promises the Holy Spirit
- Understand this: Jesus’ ministry never “stopped” or “ended”
-- His ministry & direction is very simple: He is the only hope for mankind
-- Ref the Revelation study … He is coming again, so in Him we find hope/trust
- The Church must know this about Jesus’ ministry:
1. He taught until He was taken up (ascended back to Heaven)
2. He taught through the power of the Holy Spirit (about the kingdom of God)
3. He gave commandments to those He trusted & invested in (the disciples)
- Paul wrote one of my personal favs that emphasizes the ministry of Jesus
-- 2 Timothy 2:2, “You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.”
-- Basis for all ministry work is to teach others what you know … to disciple!
-- Acts is an encouragement to discipleship – something we’ll see in 2024
- Why? Jesus ministry on Earth was to proclaim the greatest promise ever given
-- It is a message of hope to believe that you and I will not walk alone (v4-5)
-- He calls them to understand this – they (& we) will receive a supernatural gift
- APP: God knew that we could not do in our fleshly power only
-- Consider: We couldn’t get through 2 chapters of Genesis without sinning …
-- He knew that we would need a Comforter, someone to encourage & correct us
-- Knowing this, the promise from Jesus was to give them (us) power to act
- But, in this promise, there is a command – a preparation to look forward (v4)
-- He says to not leave Jerusalem until God has given this gift to you
-- Look, sometimes you need to stand still until God tells you to move!
- The believer is called to wait in prayer, to stand prepared to receive
-- The command today is no different: pray, wait for direction, and then move!
- However, before anyone can receive the Holy Spirit they must hear about Him!
-- This is where the church steps in – we are carriers of the Spirit of God!
-- Within us is to ability to teach and lead others to Christ – to a Savior!
- It is in this truth that we find the how to carry out our goal for today
-- What is it? Matthew 28:19, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”
