The Great Promise

Good morning and welcome. I am glad we can be here together. It is always a joy to be gathered together in the Lord’s House. I wanted to start this morning with a little story to get into this mornings sermon.

Fruit Stand

10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Fruit Stand)

When the 1960s ended, San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district reverted to high rent, and many hippies moved down the coast to Santa Cruz. They had children and got married, too, though in no particular sequence. But they didn’t name their children Melissa or Brett. People in the mountains around Santa Cruz grew accustomed to their children playing Frisbee with little Time Warp or Spring Fever. And eventually Moonbeam, Earth, Love and Precious Promise all ended up in public school. That’s when the kindergarten teachers first met Fruit Stand.Every fall, according to tradition, parents bravely apply name tags to their children, kiss them good-bye and send them off to school on the bus. So it was for Fruit Stand. The teachers thought the boy’s name was odd, but they tried to make the best of it.“Would you like to play with the blocks, Fruit Stand?” they offered.And later, “Fruit Stand, how about a snack?”He accepted hesitantly. By the end of the day, his name didn’t seem much odder than Heather’s or Sun Ray’s. At dismissal time, the teachers led the children out to the buses. “Fruit Stand, do you know which one is your bus?”He didn’t answer. That wasn’t strange. He hadn’t answered them all day. Lots of children are shy on the first day of school. It didn’t matter. The teachers had instructed the parents to write the names of their children’s bus stops on the reverse side of their name tags. The teacher simply turned over the tag. There, neatly printed, was the word “Anthony.”

Poor Anthony, was stuck with a lot of people not understanding what his real name was. I mean when you are in a class with kids who have names like Moonbeam, Earth, Love and Precious Promise is Fruit stand really that far of a stretch?

I love that last name though. Precious Promise. Can you imagine using that each day.

Good morning Precious Promise.

Did you have a good Day Precious Promise?

I promise to take you to the zoo Precious promise?

I wonder how you would feel when Precious promise was throwing a fit or not living up to their name?

Promises

Promises are important though. They are something we highly value and we love to give to each other. If you really think about it Promises are truly precious they are a gift like no other. The gift of committing to another person to accomplish a tasks for them. That is what we are doing when we promise something to others. When we promise something to God, or when God promises something to us.

This morning we are going to be looking at the first chapter of Acts as we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus today. The day that we recognize as the return of Jesus to the heavens. There is an important promise that is made that day.

This story is set after Jesus had gone to the cross and he had appeared to the Disciples and had been ministering to them over the period of forty days when...

Acts 1:4–5 NIV

4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

The Gift Promised

Jesus is reminding of the disciples of his past teachings and the coming of the Holy Spirit. This is a promise that is given from God. That is one of the most interesting aspects about this promise.

The Promise doesn’t come from Jesus the promise comes from God the Father. The Promise is delivered by Jesus but it is fulfilled by the Father. The Gift is to be given the task is set for God by God and if we can know anything God is faithful in his promises. The Bible is full of Promises that God has made and he has delivered on. There is no reason that the disciples should doubt this promise though.

To be honest I doubt the disciples really knew what was happening in that moment. They weren’t sure what to expect. They knew what Jesus had taught them but they didn’t really grasp what the Spirit was going to do or they would have asked this question after Jesus shared with them the promise from God.

Acts 1:6 NIV

6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

A Miss understanding

I think this is a common problem in humans. We often miss understand each other. This happens for a lot of reasons. Sometimes we don’t hear each other well. Sometimes we read into situations or people’s comments more than is really there. Sometimes we think we know more about the situation than we actually do.

10,000 Sermon Illustrations Over Confidence

One of the hardest challenges for people is to accept just how little they really know. An example of overestimated knowledge took place a few years ago when a Spanish national lottery winner was asked how he selected the ticket number. He answered that he was positive his lucky number ended in 48—because, he said, “I dreamed of the number seven for seven straight nights. And seven times seven is 48.”

In Case you missed it or can’t do math that fast in your head 7X7 is 49 not 48.

There are so many reasons why we may make a mistake or not understand or think we know what is going to happen next like the disciples.

The disciples thought Jesus was going to make Restore their Kingdom still. They still were looking for an earthly King. Jesus was quick to correct them though.

Acts 1:7–8 NIV

7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The Promise Again...

Since they missed it the first time Jesus extends the promise again to them. First, he reminds them that it is not their timing or their understanding that needs to inform situations but it is the Father’s authority that establishes all these things.

We are reminded once again everything begins with the Father and points back to him.

The promise is made of the Spirit and we will receive power.

The Holy Spirit’s Role

There is an interesting role here though for the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is to come on them and provide power.

Often in the church we look to other passages to explain what the role of the Spirit is. Next week we will be talking about that exactly with the Gifts of the Spirit and how each of us is called by the Spirit in different things.

We also will talk about how the Spirit guides and comforts us and helps us to grow in our faith. The Spirit challenges us and moves us in specific ways.

What I find the most interesting about those different ideas is they center around us. We turn the Spirit’s role as almost our own personal guide and nothing more than that. Don’t hear this wrong the Spirit is there for our help and He will guide us and move in us in amazing ways. Yet, this passage presents the Role of the Holy Spirit a little bit differently.

Acts 1:8 NIV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The Promise of the Spirit is to enable the church to fulfill God’s Purposes for God’s People. —Richard P. Thompson

The promise of the Spirit is God’s Purpose the Promise of the Spirit is not just for our personal growth or to sustain us. It is the promise that we will be given the strength to do all that is necessary to witness to the world.

Personal Growth

The Spirit is given to us to help us grow as individuals so that we can minister and witness to others.

Comfort and Support

The Spirit is given to comfort us and support us in hard times when we need it not so we can just feel good about ourselves but so that we can stand firm and be confident even in the face of hardship to stand firm and Glorify God.

Direction and Discernment

The Spirit is given so that when we aren’t sure what the next step we are to take in life we can look to his direction and discern where we are to go. This isn’t to just give us comfort and peace in the knowledge that we have a purpose but it is to bring the glory to God. It is to achieve the will and purposes of God.

The Great Promise

The Promise of the Spirit is the great promise not just to receive for our own benefit but for the benefit of others. It is the promise that we can look out in the world and make a change and bring more people to the knowledge of God.

It is in this promise that I love the way that this story ends.

Acts 1:9–11 NIV

9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

Stop Looking Get Busy

The disciples and followers of Jesus were so focused on where Jesus had just gone that they couldn’t beging to imagine a world without him.

Their eyes were fixed on the clouds and the heavens because they longed for Jesus to return already. I get it, I agree with it, It is hard not to want to just look to heaven and say man I can’t wait, I am done with this world.

This morning we need to be reminded what these Angels said to them.

“Hey Snap out of it. Jesus will come back. Stop Looking and Get busy.”

Okay I added the Get busy part but the Spirit was coming to them soon and the church got busy. The church was about to explode in their outreach in the world. The church that would be established on the Day of Pentecost was going to change the world in amazing ways.

Likewise this morning we need to be the church who stops looking upward and starts looking outward.

God Promised us the Spirit so that we could do exactly that and we can do these things to honor him.

Let’s Pray.