Overview of Acts

February 4th 2024

Series: The Book of Acts HIStory

Sermon Title: Overview of Acts

Topic: Journey through the book of Acts.

Key Passages: Luke 1: 1-4, Luke 24: 50-53, Acts 1: 1-10

Sermon Blurb: In this message, we will rewind back to the start of the book of Acts to remind us about the point of the book as we continue our journey.

***1st week ODD months add communion & target message at 15 pages.

***1st week EVEN months add space for dedication, baptism, or ministry highlight & target message at 15 pages.

***Green in sermons means illustration, something we are looking for a response from, and/or a picture that goes on the screens.

***Yellow means what is yellow will be on the screens and in the handout.

Sermon:

Hello Family Church!

Family Moment –

Start with something personal from your family life recently to help people get to know you.

Today we shift from where we were all of January.

Since the start of this year, we have laser focused in on what a HEALTHY follower of Jesus looks like.

It is our hope that we all really take those messages to heart and think about what we need to change in 2024 to become more fully devoted followers of Jesus.

I would encourage you if you missed any of the sermons so far this year to go back and listen to them because today, we shift gears.

Today we shift back to what we did most of 2022 & 2023 which was walking through the book of Acts in our Bibles.

PAUSE

But before we jump back to where we left off in Acts chapter 25…

I think it would be wise for us to spend a few weeks catching everyone up, or reminding us of the highlights from the book of Acts.

This whole month we will review the first 24 chapters of Acts in sections.

Then next month we will finish the rest of the book of Acts as we get to Easter….

Then after Easter, we will launch into a new series studying the Holy Spirit and we are REALLY looking forward to that series!

It is going to be a fun journey learning about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives and world!

So if you have ever wanted to know more about the third person of the Trinity….you are going to LOVE this series!!!

Sooo……

Now you know what to expect for the new few months here at Family Church!

PAUSE

So, because we as a church do NOT like anyone feeling like an outsider….

Let’s start with an overview of the Book of Acts.

Grab your Bibles and open them up to the Book of Acts

If you don’t know where that is it is about ¾ way through the Bible after Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

What I am going to do is paraphrase a lot of what you can read later today in the introduction to Acts in your study Bibles plus some other fun tidbits.

And if you do not have that in your Bible…….. After service go into our lobby and we will GIVE you an awesome study Bible just for being here today!

PAUSE

Let’s start with, who wrote the book of Acts.

Almost all scholars agree that Dr. Luke, wrote the book of Luke before he wrote Acts.

And Dr. Luke is one of my favorite writers in the Bible because I think he was like a lot of us in the room…..

Dr. Luke was a SUPER logical guy who just wanted to know the truth.

Dr. Luke in his first book says this

Luke 1: 1-4 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us,

2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.

3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,

4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

I want to start here because I think it is important that we understand who brought us the Book of Acts.

Luke was a Dr.

Now I don’t know how many doctors you know….

But my older brother is a Chief Medical Officer…AKA a Doctor to Doctors…..and my brother is one of the most logical and methodical people I know.

Most doctors are naturally skeptical.

Science teaches us to doubt everything and prove everything.

Dr. Luke is commissioned by a guy called Theophilus, who was a prominent Roman, to go find out what really happened with this guy Jesus.

Dr. Luke wrote this letter to Theophilus to let him know in his own words, that HE CAREFULLY INVESTIGATED EVERYTHING

Everything they had heard about Jesus.

All the crazy claims about the stuff Jesus did.

All the crazy stories about who Jesus was.

Dr. Luke did NOT just take the rumor mill as his evidence.

Dr. Luke went and PERSONALLY interviewed, cross-examined, and so forth the EYE-WITNESSES.

Eye witnesses are the people who SAW with their own two eyes all the claims made about Jesus…..

Luke likely spent YEARS….interviewing….. studying…. Analyzing… EVERYTHING claimed about Jesus….

And then Dr. Luke wrote the book of Luke with all his findings….

It is an amazing book, if you have not read it please do so later today….

PAUSE

Dr. Luke ended his book with this:

Luke 24: 50-53 The Ascension of Jesus

50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them.

51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.

52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

Jesus raised Himself from the dead!

Everyone is happy!

Everyone is praising God!

Everyone is staying at church…the temple….praising God….

But….

But write this down…..

This is something you are going to see come to life in the book of Acts….

Disciples (Christians) naturally want to stay in the church. Jesus wants His disciples to get OUT of the church!

Repeat

That is literally what you see here!

The disciples are so excited that Jesus is raised, and they want to stay with their church friends and hang out!!!

BUT…..

BUT….that is not what Jesus designed disciples to do….

And we will see this struggle in the Book of Acts.

This struggle was the….internal church focus…..and God’s re-focusing the church on the external….

Re-focusing us church people, om serving others, and NOT just doing things to serve themselves, within the church…

The same struggle many churches have today.

So…..

Dr. Luke then went on to write a second volume to the same Roman benefactor….

That second volume is the book of Acts!

Acts shows us how these new “Christians” who were powerless in their culture and society could suddenly do the impossible through God’s power.

Acts gives us a theological vision of the power of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection and how it should manifest itself in the life of the church.

PAUSE

So, with the rest of our time we are just going to dip our toes into the book of Acts to set the stage for the coming weeks….….

Let’s dive into the first part of chapter 1.

Let’s read this and then we will do what we love to do here at Family Church!

We will slowly break down the passage and see how it applies to our lives today!

Acts 1: 1-11 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach

2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.

3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.

He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

Pause here for just a second….

In 2021 we preached a series called “Resurrection Eye-witnesses.”

In that series, we walked through every person who claimed to see Jesus raised from the dead.

I want to encourage you that if you missed that series to go listen to those messages because it will build your faith when you realize how many people claimed to see Jesus ALIVE and WELL after his death.

Because that is what Luke is talking about right here….

He is talking about the 14 distinct and different appearances of Jesus to hundreds of people over a period of 40 days!

Let’s keep reading…verse 4

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.”

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

I love this part of Acts 1…

Jesus makes them this promise!

Jesus says I am going to send you My Spirit, the Holy Spirit!

And instead of getting excited about that!

Instead of asking what that means.

They do what a lot of us do….

We ignore people who aren’t talking about what we want them to talk about and try to change the subject to something we care about.

This is where you see them try to get Jesus to shift talk about something MORE important to them!

Political freedom…

Israel’s freedom….

Their freedom….

And listen to how Jesus responds:

7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.

One sentence….

Jesus says STOP thinking about YOUR agenda and trust God’s timing….

This one point alone could be a whole sermon by itself!

So, let’s write this down:

God wants us to STOP pushing our agenda and instead TRUST God’s agenda for our lives.

Repeat

PAUSE

Far too often we want it to be all about what WE want and not what God is offering us at this moment….

They did not like the political climate of their day, just like some of you do not today…..

They did not like the direction their nation was heading, just like some of you do not today…...

They did not like what the culture was doing to their kids, just like some of you do not today …...

We ALL have our pet issues.

We ALL have things we think are SUPER important.

We ALL have things we wish were different.

We ALL have things in our life that are a BIG priority….

Just like the disciples of Jesus did.

And what we will see OVER and OVER again in the Book of Acts.

Is this call by God for us to LAY DOWN our priorities and PICK UP God’s instead.

This call to lay down our agenda….

And follow God’s agenda.

To trust what God says should happen next OVER what we think should happen next….

PAUSE

And I know how hard that is.

It is hard to trust God’s timing with your career.

It is hard to trust God’s timing with your relationships.

It is hard to trust God’s timing with your health or the health of someone you love.

It is HARD to follow God….

BUT

But I can promise you…..

Following God will result in the best version of your life!

PAUSE

Let me say one last thing here…

The power they are going to receive from Jesus in the next verse is NOT a power that enables them to conquer or dominate others.

It is NOT a power to build empires or companies.

It IS a power to confront the empires around them with the TRUTH of the Gospel that Jesus is King!

They will receive this power ONLY to spread the gospel of Jesus….

Don’t miss that! In their lives or in your life today…..

Jesus says…Verse 8

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.”

Right here is one of my favorite Bible verses!!!!

Let me explain what this means….

Jerusalem is where they lived…

So, God is saying it is important to reach those in your everyday life.

Judea was a town that was far enough away to not be home…

but still close….

So, God is saying it is important to reach those in your everyday life.

Samaria was filled with people from a VERY different culture…

So, God is saying it is important to reach those who are different than us.

The ends of the earth is the rest of the world….

So, God is saying it is important to reach everyone on the planet.

PAUSE

Do you see what we talked about earlier today?

Jesus shifts them right back to what matters….

Not an earthly kingdom for Israel….

But God’s kingdom spreading through the entire world!

And how does Jesus say it will happen….

Look in your Bibles….…..

There is ONE word that is repeated over and over in verse 8….

Does anyone see that KEY word?

Anyone see it?

You should by this point have it circled in your Bibles after how many times we have talked about it!!!!

The word YOU……Next slide…..

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.”

Look in your sermon notes…..

Next you will notice this verse is there with blanks where the “YOU” should be….

I want you to write your name in those blanks right now.

For real….write you name in there right now….

Then we are going to read it aloud and I want you to read it with your name in the blank.

Ready…. Lets read it….

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

PAUSE

Church…..hear me in this….

You and I are powerless without the Holy Spirit.

If the Spirit of God does not reside in you….you will not be successful…

But if you are following God’s direction and His Spirit is living inside you!!!

LOOK OUT!!!

You are going to do things you would NEVER have imagine were possible!!!!

We are going to see that OVER and OVER again in the book of Acts!

We are going to see REGULAR, everyday, ordinary, people just like YOU..

Do miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit!

PAUSE

Verse 9:

9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

Stop and think about this….

Verse 8 contains the FINAL words of Jesus before he returned to heaven…..

So, we really should pay attention to them.

Look at that verse with your name in it….

That was the final call Jesus gave to you before he returned to heaven….

How are you doing at following that call?

Have you ever led someone to Jesus from your hometown?

Have you ever led someone to Jesus from another town?

Have you ever led someone to Jesus that comes from a very different culture that you?

Have you ever led someone to Jesus from another nation?

If not….why?

LONG PAUSE

Let’s write down one final point for today and then we will wrap things up.

Jesus’ resurrection was not designed to restore Israel’s kingdom but Israel’s vocation to be God’s witness to the world.

Jesus gave you a job to do…remember verse 8?

Remember Go

And do what church????

WITNESS

Not just got to church on day a week.

Not just go to Bible studies & small groups.

Not volunteer at church all the time…..

NOPE!

We are ALL called to go and what church?

Witness……

Or as Matthew 28 says it….

We are to GO and MAKE Disciples….

By teaching them all about the ways of Jesus..

By baptizing them….

PAUSE

The book of Act is all about the people of the church in action…

Not the pastors in action.

Not the church staff in action.

ALL the people of God….

Living for God.

Following God’s will.

Fearlessly proclaiming salvation through Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone.

Let me give you your life application today…..

Life Application: God wants all His followers to be a witness for Him. What is ONE step you could take to live more intentionally as a witness for God? I will _________________________.

Communion Flow #1 – January, July

Today, as we prepare to take communion.

I want you to understand you are called to serve.

The greatest servant ever was Jesus…. Jesus left Heaven…. to come to earth and give His life for us….

to become the bridge for our sins….

to take on our sins so we can be forgiven and enter into a perfect heaven.

That is why we take communion….to remember Jesus and what he did for us!

We believe and confess that our Savior Jesus Christ has ordained and instituted the sacrament of the Holy Supper to nourish and sustain those who are already grafted into his family, into his church . . .

Communion, is a means of grace for nourishing and strengthening disciples of Christ.

And to prepare our hearts to take communion I would like us all to raise and read the Apostles Creed together.

What I would like us to do is do a responsive reading now…to prepare our hearts to receive communion….

For those of you who are newer to church…. This is a creed that has been memorized and stated by the church for thousands of years.

On Screens, read aloud togather:

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth,

and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried;

he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead;

he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;

from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Church, the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.

You may be seated.

As we prepare to take communion I want to let you know anyone here who has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior is welcome to take communion.

Parents, you are also welcome to take communion with your kids if you think they are ready… feel free to talk to your children during communion and explain things to them.

Communion is a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection.

Jesus instituted Communion on the evening He was betrayed. In Mathew 26:26-28 we read, “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’ Then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”

Now we are going to listen to a song and as you listen I want to encourage you to take a moment and reflect on what it means that Jesus was willing to sacrifice His body for you and shed his blood for the forgiveness of your sins….

Take a moment and thank Jesus for his sacrifice for you.

Take a moment to ask Jesus to forgive you of any hidden sin in your life.

If you have not given your life to Jesus…take a moment now and ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and tell him you now submit your life to him…

And then after this song, I will explain how we will take communion…. together….

AFTER THE SONG ENDS…..

In the seat in front of you there is a cup the looks like this……

EXPLAIN HOW TO OPEN based on style….

Just so you all know, the bread is gluten-free…

Let’s first take and eat the bread of life and give Jesus thanks for sacrificing his body for us.

Scripture tells us then Jesus took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”

Drinking this cup symbolizes Jesus shedding his blood for our sins….

AND us asking Jesus to give you an increased portion of his Spirit to keep us away from sinning in the future!

Take and drink the cup in remembrance of Jesus shedding his blood for your sins.

Prayer:

Make sure to do salvation call!

Offering:

Thank you all for being here today!

If you would like to continue your worship through giving there are offering boxes by the doors as you exit or behind me on the screens you can see other ways to give here at Family Church.

Have a great week!!!