One-Week 4

THE POINT:

Acts 1:8 NIV

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.”

We are called to be witnesses

This sounds like a scary thing. The world doesn’t like our message.

What is a witness?

It’s not automatically ‘a person who is good at explaining things’ or ‘preaching’.

STORY - Time something happened that I witnessed, that I could say, ya, i know that happens because I saw it.

We use the word more correctly in our standard usage. A witness in court is a person who was…a witness to a specific thing.

Sometimes, they’re an expert.

Most of the time, they’re someone who was there, to testify to something that happened.

If you’re signing a legal document, sometimes they ask for witnesses. So you’ve got more people to say, ya, we saw this, we can verify that it’s true.

We dig into the truth by finding people who have witnessed it.

1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

Here’s some ideas about how we can be better witnesses.

Let Jesus transform you - and show the world that He did

In this section in Peter, he’s teaching them about how to respond to evil, and persecution. And he says - repay evil with blessing. Because we know, we KNOW, that the Lord watches those who are aiming for righteousness, and that he’s against those aiming for evil

It’s EASY to let something go if it seems little, or if you know you’re actually going to be OK.

And in Jesus - anything that can happen to us in this world is little

In light of eternity, and the riches of God’s grace and mercy - this world can’t do anything to us.

and no matter what we’re going to be OK.

Jesus already won all the battles, and secured eternal life for us.

Then he tells them - even if you suffer for doing that, don’t fear their threats, don’t be afraid. But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord - and always be ready to tell those people why you have hope.

So peter says - our response to the evils of the world around us is the radical life we life, not just knowing the truth, but actually living it out.

And peter says - our witness can be that we respond with hope rather than fear when those trials come.

Understand Where Your Hope Really Comes From

STORY - I used to stress a lot if I wasted food.

Our message isn’t, ‘I have hope Jesus will make me rich so I don’t have to worry about work’. That’s not what this verse is talking about - though he may do that!

1 Peter 4:1–2 NIV

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.

Your hope as a Christ follower is that, in following Jesus, we could walk in the will of God, and share in that same resurrection and eternity with Jesus.

Learn to Combine Knowledge, Application, and Love

The key isn’t that you can wax on about the intricacies of deep theological conversations in the bible. The key is being able to say, I took this truth, and I applied it to my life, it transformed me, and I’m living in that transformation to love others.

Believe me, knowledge is good, and the more you have the better. But it’s the pairing of knowledge, application and love that makes it actually valuable.

The bible says, knowledge puffs up but love builds up. And he gives an example, he says, we know we have freedom, but if you apply your freedom in a way that wounds another believer, you’re actually sinning against Christ. It’s not enough to be able to say, I know i’m free. you have to be able to say - i know i’m free, and i’m applying it to my life in love in consideration of other people.