3.1.19 4.7.2024 Acts 1.1-22 Witness to History

Start:

Overview of series.

You do not really know nor love Jesus if you do not love and participate in…

His Body.

His Temple.

His Flock.

His Bride.

His Church.

I know that this is a radical departure from current understanding, but it is the New Testament position.

Our culture has made optional what the New Testament says is integral.

Hardly a year passes without me preaching at least a handful of messages from the book of Acts.

The book of Acts is critical to our understanding of Gospel and Epistle, the bridge between Jesus’ earthly ministry and ours. As Luke’s second volume, Acts extends the story geographically, doctrinally, historically, practically, and personally.

In his Gospel Luke describes all that Jesus began to do and teach.

In Acts he reminds us that Jesus was still working in His Body the Church, to bear witness to the Gospel. We are here today because we are persuaded that He still works through His Church, in our time and in this place.

The need for clarity and certainty remains. For the next several weeks my goal is to remind you that certainty is found in the Church’s Message and purpose—because they reflect Jesus’ message to us and His mission for us.

Entice: It begins in Chapter 1, with Luke relating a few organizational necessities. I’m a planner and organizer so I understand why Luke includes these seemingly pointless details. Those who fly by the seat of their pants might think the discussions and plans in Acts 1 unnecessary.

They are not pointless, rather they describe some essential clarifications of the relationship between Jesus’ ministry and the Churches ministry.

Engage: Wouldn’t it be reassuring if we knew exactly what Jesus wanted from us? Well, despite decades of poor explanations and even worse execution,

Jesus did tell us what He wanted.

His story becomes our story through understanding and obedience.

Expand: These are preliminary issues for Luke in transitioning from Gospel to Acts. Luke is still providing a narrated interpretation of God’s work in Jesus, and he now extends that work through the 1st century Church—even to our own work today.

Excite: Certainty is not supposed to be a warm and fuzzy feeling. Certainty comes from understanding and applying what we read in Scripture. We read Acts to see what was done and to rightly see ourselves as the next step, the extension of what we read there.

Explore:

The Church can have certainty when our History continuesHis Story.

Expand: Luke continues Jesus’ story by establishing some structures that provide guidance for the Church’s work of witness then—and now.

Body of Sermon: Structure begins with the

1 Choice to Witness.

Acts 1:1–7 ESV

1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.

We witness

1.1 With Jesus’ focus.

This means continuity with His message.

Our witness is

1.2 By Jesus’ command.

Which means we witness by His Authority

And our witness is

1.3 In the Spirit.

We rely on the Indwelling Presence to understand, explain, and extend the story of Jesus.

Next, the body’s structure is made durable by our

2 Charter for Witness.

Acts 1:8 ESV

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

By durable I mean that the mission then is the mission now. And we deal with the same questions.

2.1 How?

by the power of the Spirit.

2.2 Who?

You! More specifically “y’all”. All those who have faith are called to the work.

2.3 What?

To be His witnesses. To tell His story.

2.4 Where?

Locally (where you are) globally (anywhere you go).

2.5 Why?

To enable others to know Him, have faith in Him, be saved by Him, and join in witness.

The Church becomes more durable by accepting the

3 Challenge of Witness.

Acts 1:12–20 ESV

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. 15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, “ ‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and “ ‘Let another take his office.’

To answer the challenge Peter stepped up. Under duress the Church needs

3.1 A Leader who articulates the issues.

3.2 A Leader who simplifies the choices.

The final structure is established by identifying the central

4 Characteristic of Witness.

Acts 1:21–22 ESV

21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”

This sets the tone for the entire history of the Church. The replacement for Judas which completed the 12 was not random. It was based on a Historic witness to Jesus’ life and ministry based upon

4.1 Time and place.

4.2 Milestones of Ministry.

Luke and the rest of the NT witnesses to this durable foundation for ministry which began then and continues now.

Shut Down

The history of the Church is the ongoing process of making His Story our story. We are called to be witnesses to Him and His resurrection. The records are found in Scripture which is why this one book is both compass and map for our continuing journey.

This is why we preach it,

teach it,

read it,

endorse it

and preach it.

Far too often we undersell what it means to be A Christian, reducing it to what we get out of it. The best Spiritual journey begins with the act of witness. When it is our choice, it becomes the charter for our entire life in Christ and characteristic of our desire to draw attention to Jesus.

I want everyone to be a Christian. Yet it is of critical importance that everyone understands what that means.

You are called to be

a part of the body,

a member of the flock,

a building block in the temple,

a branch taking life from the vine.

You are equipped and expected to play a role in the mission. His story has become ours.

Are you ready to take your place in telling the Story of Jesus?