To the Ends of the Earth
Notes
Transcript
4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Title: To the Ends of the Earth
The Book of Acts is was written by Luke and so should be seen as a continuation of that book.
Luke ends with the ascension of Jesus and the followers going back to Jerusalem to wait…
Verse 4 picks up with the wait, and a reminder of some of the things Jesus told them.
Wait
New baptism is coming called the Holy Ghost
When it comes it will give you power to be a witness to the whole world!
Look in verse 8, we focus on the power…
There is a cultural progression and purpose.
Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria, uttermost part of the earth.
Racial and cultural differences are no problem for God!
Jerusalem: beginning in the city
47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Judea: next… the southern half of Israel
Samaria: region north (third of the nations above Jerusalem)
Rest of the world
Last week we taught from Acts 10 and the story of Cornelius…
God had to deal with the prejudice of Peter and the Jews.
Jesus had told them, start in Jerusalem, go to the region, go to Samaria and then the rest of the world.
Like saying it will start in Lincoln, then spread to Lancaster county and then it will spread along I80 to Omaha and Des Moines and across the US and around the world.
BUT 10 years had past between Acts 2 and Acts 10…
God had to do something!
Timeline: Acts 2 to Acts 8 where Phillip goes to Samaria is 2-5 years.
God breaks the hatred between the two cultures.
Between Acts 8 and Acts 10 could have been as many at 5 years.
Still the church is struggling cultural differences!
There is no place for racial or cultural hatred in the Church!
We are one body!
One body with distinction YES, but one body!
Hand is different than the ear, the ear different than the foot BUT ALL PART OF THE ONE BODY!
How did Jesus deal with prejudice?
On his team was a man names Simon the Zealot
Simon was a first century political reformer who belonged to a very violent group whose purpose was to overthrow the Roman occupation of Judea.
They were a network of spies and rebels conducting guerrilla warfare on the Romans.
One of there favorite things to do was to kill tax collectors.
Also on Jesus team was Matthew tax collector!!!
Conclusion: The church is to each everyone!
Close to 300,000 people in Lincoln.
78% white = 234,000
4.5% Asian = 13,500
4% black = 12,000
8% Latino = 24,000
Who are you going to reach?
Problem of the early church is that they wanted to evangelize only those that looked like themselves…
What about those that don’t look like you?
What about those that don’t talk like you?
What about those that don’t eat like you?
What about those that don’t dress like you?
Who are you gong to reach?
The whole world has come to Lincoln Nebraska!
