Acts 1:

Text

Acts 1:1–11 ESV

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 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. 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; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 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.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Main Idea

We are living in

Jesus is continuing to act through the Church to make Himself known to the ends of the earth

Development

The Gospel of Luke tells us all that Jesus began to do and teach before and immediately after the Resurrection. Acts tells us all that Jesus continued to do through the Church (not just through the Apostles) after his Ascension. Power was given to every Christian to be witnesses to Jesus, starting in Jerusalem and continuing until all the earth has heard about Jesus. The story of Acts ends with the Gospel reaching Rome, demanding a part 3 to a trilogy - this 3rd part is being written right now by the Church, of which we are all part. Jesus continues to work through the Church, and we are all called to be Jesus witnesses until the mission is complete.

Introduction

Commonly known as the Acts of the Apostles

Actually written as the second volume of a two-volume work which was the History of Christian Origins

The first volume starts very much the same way -

Luke 1:1–4 ESV

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

You’ve heard the introduction to this volume, let me read you the introduction to the first volume:

Luke 1:1–4 ESV

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

That is of course, the introduction to the gospel of Luke

The first volume is Luke’s Gospel

These 2 volumes were probably circulated together as a complete set, until...

Early in 2nd century, the 4 gospels were gathered together as one collection called the “fourfold gospel”

And then, when the canon was put together, Luke’s second volume - Acts - was placed right after the fourfold gospel as a natural progression from the resurrection of Jesus...

and as a narrative background for the rest of the New Testament letters

The Purpose

The Purpose

What is the purpose of the book?

First, let me tell you what it is NOT

The book of Acts is not a manual on running the church

The first thing we need to understand is that for the most part, Acts is narrative

Most of Acts is descriptive - not prescriptive

It tells us what happened - not teaching us what to do

For sure there are some passages which contain teaching, but much of Acts is an eyewitness account of what happened that is not necessarily the formula for us to replicate

For example, it records the apostles drawing straws for who should be the 12th apostle to take over from Judas

Should we all draw straws to see who might become our next elder?

It records Peter telling a paralysed man to get up and walk

Does that mean that we should visit every paralysed person we can find and command them to stand up walk?

It records the people in the church selling everything they had and sharing everything in common

Should we all sell everything we have and share it all with each other?

Its funny - most people who believe that Acts is prescriptive and shows us how we ought to be running the church, and that we should be seeing the same performance of miraculous signs through our preachers and pastors today, are not willing to do that.

Acts is a record of what happened, and we need to apply proper exegesis and interpretation principles to understand what is narrative and not the formula for us to follow, and what is instructive for us to follow

The book of Acts is not a book about miracles

That’s how most people view Acts - “Oh thats the book about the miracles”

Its also suggested that it should be called The Acts of the Holy Spirit - but not because of what the Holy Spirit is teaching through the book, but because some associate the Holy Spirit only with miracles and signs and wonders

For sure there are many miracles recorded in Acts, and there is no doubt that Christianity is a supernatural religion

but signs and wonders and miracles are not the central focus of Christianity - and they aren’t even the focus of Acts

In fact, miracles and signs make up only a tiny portion of the book

In fact, preaching receives far more emphasis in Acts than miracles and signs do

Far more verses are devoted to reporting on the sermons that were preached than to the miracles and signs that were witnessed

The people in the Acts narrative were amazed at the signs and miracles that Jesus performed through the apostles, but it was through the preaching of the Word and the sermons that Peter and the other Apostles delivered, that people repented and believed and were saved

Far more

So if Acts gives us one example for the modern church to follow, it certainly is not a focus on signs and wonders -

it is that the preaching of the gospel is of first importance and nothing else must overshadow the preaching of the Word

OK so Acts is not the handbook fhow to r

What IS the purpose of Acts?

Luke actually tells us quite plainly in both Luke and Acts what his purpose is, and his introduction and purposes statement in Luke can also be understood as the introduction to the whole 2 volume work, including Acts

Purpose of Luke’s gospel was to give Theophilus an accurate and orderely account of the origins of Christianity ()

Christianity was “everywhere spoken against ()

Christianity was “everywhere spoken against ()

Misunderstood as a movement that was a threat to imperial law & order

Their leader was executed as an enemy of Rome

All created by misleading accounts of the Pharisees

Luke wanted to provide clarity as to the nature and origins of Christianity

Roman government always legalised the religions of the nations Rome conquered

Judaism was therefore a legal religion

The Pharisees persuaded Rome that Jesus was an enemy of Rome and that his followers were too

It was therefore urgent that Luke give an accurate account of all that had transpired:

to show the Jewish roots of Christianity so that Christianity would be understood - not as a new religion - but as the continuation of the Jewish religion and story

so that Christianity would be understood as the continuation of the Jewish religion and story

so that he could show that Christianity was not a threat to Rome

to assure citizens of Rome that nothing should prevent their participation in the Christian community

Now in Luke’s second volume he says by introduction in “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up...”

Acts 1:1–2 ESV

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

Acts 1:

The Gospel of Luke gives an accurate eyewitness account...

of all that Jesus had begun to do (miracles, his death, resurrection, ascension)

So Luke gives an account based on eye-witness testimony, of all that Jesus

AND all that Jesus had taught

The key word there is began...

If Luke’s gospel tells us all that Jesus had begun to do and teach until the day he was taken up and ascended to the throne...

then Luke’s second volume tells us what Jesus continues to do after the ascension

The book of Acts then, is an accurate eyewitness account of the work of Jesus Christ in and through the Church after the Ascension, to grow the Church and make His name known to the ends of the earth

This is our story - this is where we are in history - the last days

So then, the book of Acts should not be referred to merely as The Acts of the Apostles, because...

the book doesn’t only record what those 12 men did, but what Jesus Christ did in and through not just through the apostles, but through the whole Church

the climax of it’s story does not end with the apostles...

Jesus tells the disciples in “...you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Chapters 1-7 record the spread of the gospel and the growth of the Church in Jerusalem

Chapters 8-12 record the spread of the gospel outwards from Jerusalem and northward to Samaria and the surrounding regions

The book reaches it’s conclusion with Paul arriving in Rome

Is that it?

Rome was in many respects the end of the known world for the apostles...

but the ending demands a sequel… a third volume

and we are living in it

the climax is still to come

the spread of the gospel is still making its way outward to the ends of the earth - and we are part of the third installment of the trilogy...

we are also those in and through whom the resurrected and ascended Jesus is working to make His name known to the nations

so Acts is much bigger than a record of what 12 men did 2000 years ago...

Rather, Acts is the record of the continuing acts of the ascended and living Jesus working in and through the Church to make Himself known to the ends of the world

Every other religion’s prophets are all dead

But our Lord Jesus is alive - and He is working even now, calling people by name to repent of their sins and believe the gospel, and receive eternal life

So this book is about the Acts of Jesus...

Acts 1:8–9 ESV

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.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

... and the main principle I will be trying to show through this sermon and the whole series is that...

So the main idea that Acts teaches us, and the main principle I will be trying to show through this sermon and the whole series is that...

Jesus is continuing to act through the Church to make Himself known to the ends of the earth

Today, we are going to focus in on Jesus’ commissioning of the apostles and his last words to the Church before ascending to heaven

and his last words to the Church before ascending to heaven

and I believe that his last words should be of first importance to us

And those words are found in verse 8 which will be our main verse for this sermon:

Acts 1:8 ESV

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.”

Acts 1:8

We are going to look at 3 things concerning Jesus last words to his Church before the ascension:

The Power they will receive to carry out the mission

The Purpose of the mission

The Plan for the mission

The Power

The Power

If you read Luke’s gospel again, you will notice that the first 11 verses of Acts are like a short summary of the last chapter of Luke.

Luke begins Acts by reminding his reader that Jesus rose from the dead...

The Plan

… and that his resurrection was evidenced by many proofs, not least of which was that he spent 40 days eating with and talking to his followers.

shows how Jesus appeared physically to the disciples and talked to them and ate with them.

Then Jesus says to them in

Luke 24:46–49 ESV

and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Luke 24:

So here we see Jesus saying at least these 4 things:

That Jesus died and rose from the dead exactly as promised in the scriptures, for the forgiveness of sins. Paul says in that he was “delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

That just as is promised in the Old Testament scriptures, repentance and forgiveness of sins (in other words the Gospel) must be proclaimed to all nations - and it begins in Jerusalem

That the proclaiming of the gospel must begin in Jerusalem

That his disciples are to be his witnesses and the messengers of the gospel

They are to wait in the city of Jerusalem until they have received power from on high

Now what do we see in these first verses in Acts?

That the disciples are going to receive power from above

That the power will equip them to be witnesses of Jesus - His death & resurrection for the forgiveness of sins

That his disciples are to be witnesses of Jesus to all nations - beginning in Jerusalem and working their way out to the rest of the world

That they will be witnesses of Jesus to all nations - beginning in Jerusalem and working their way out to the rest of the world

So there we have the power to carry out their mission, the purpose of the mission, and the plan for the mission.

And the power that Jesus is referring to in Luke is then clearly defined here in - it is the promised Holy Spirit.

This is what was promised in - “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;”

and “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

The reason for sending the Holy Spirit will be to empower

Jesus also promised them in and that the Holy Spirit would come, saying in “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,”

Joel 2:28 ESV

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.

John 14:

John 14:16 ESV

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,

From those teachings of Jesus in John concerning the Holy Spirit, we know that the Holy Spirit would be sent to them after Jesus had gone to be with the Father, so that:

Joel 2:32 ESV

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

He would dwell in them

Empower them to live in obedience to God

Lead them to all truth concerning Jesus

Guide them in what they should say and do

Empower them to declare the gospel of salvation -

He would in doing these things glorify God through them

Now in the last chapter of Luke we see Jesus telling the disciples that they must wait in the city until they receive this power - until they receive the Holy Spirit.

What does that tell us?

They would not have been able to carry out the mission and be witnesses for Jesus without the Holy Spirit

Missions and evangelism is not something that can be carried out in the flesh, using carnal or worldly means

missions and evangelism is a spiritual exercise that requires supernatural intervention by the Holy Spirit

That is because salvation itself is a supernatural miracle where the Holy Spirit changes a person’s heart

It means that the mission of witnessing about Jesus to the world can never be achieved by any other way than through the supernatural working of Jesus through the Holy Spirit in us

Gimmicks won’t work

Intellectual arguments won’t work

Pragmatism - the idea of simply repeating whatever appears to be working - ironically - won’t work

We have to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to both guide us in our words and actions, and to work in the heart of the one hearing.

Th

the good news is that Christians don’t have to sit and wonder if we have the Holy Spirit or wonder how to receive the Holy Spirit - we received Him at the moment we believed

The other good news is that this takes all the pressure of us to deliver a perfectly worded gospel presentation

The power is not in our reasoning - but the Holy Spirit supernaturally bringing to our minds the Scriptures and helping us know what to to say...

… and then in spite of our stumbling and messing up, he uses even our messy presentation to open ears and hearts to believe

When we were saved we received this power - we were baptized in the Holy Spirit and received power from on high.

The Purpose

Power to do what?

What is the purpose for giving us the power of the Holy Spirit?

To sit around and talk theology?

To have good fellowship?

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses...”

The purpose for giving us the power of the Holy Spirit, is to enable and empower us to be witnesses for Jesus Christ.

That is our mission, that is our purpose.

We must never allow anything else to replace that as our core mission

If we are focusing more of our attention and resources - personally or corporately - on anything else, we are missing it.

It is the primary mission of every Christian to be a witness for Jesus

Now maybe that’s a shock to you - maybe you feel ..... well… that’s not really my thing, its not my gifting, its not what I’m good at, I’m shy...

Look.... it was a culture shock to the Jewish men that the Lord was speaking to then as well.

Jews were brought up to have no dealings with Samaritans and they wouldn’t go near Gentiles because they saw them as unclean

There were significant psychological and cultural barriers for them to overcome as well

That is why they needed power to do what Jesus was calling them to do

The Holy Spirit empowers us and gives us boldness to do what He has called us to do - which is to be a witness for Jesus

Have you heard that

which is to witn

How do we witness?

In our day and age if you ask someone what does it mean to witness?.... they will normally say it means to tell somebody about Jesus

That is true, but only in part

Evangelism is one way of witnessing, but it is not the only way we bear witness for Jesus

Being a witness is revealing something that is invisible or unknown. It is to show people something that they dont see.

John Calvin said that the task of the Church is to make the invisible Kingdom visible.

We do that, first of all by proclaiming the gospel and telling people about Jesus - you can’t be a witness without doing that

preach the gospel, and if necessary use words - nonsense

preach the gospel, and if necessary, rebuke anybody who says if necessary use words

but we also do it by living out the gospel - which if you haven’t already forgotten, is what we got out of Ephesians

By the way we live, the way we demonstrate God’s love, mercy, forgiveness, kindness and compassion in our relationships with each other and the world, we are also demonstrating to the world what the Kingdom of God looks like.

Both the proclamation and the living out of the gospel combined are what it means to be a witness for Jesus

What are we witnessing about?

The next question is, what are we witnessing about?

What invisible Kingdom are we trying to make visible?

This is where I believe we tend to go a bit pear-shaped in our witness

The disciples were even now confused about the kind of kingdom that was being set up.

Acts 1:6 ESV

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

The disciples were still convinced that Jesus was going to restore the nation of Israel to its former glory...

They were hoping for political power and political victory - for Jesus to take their country back to its glory days (sound familiar?) ........ because their minds were still set on a worldly kingdom.

but they missed it.

Jesus didn’t come to fix Israel’s political problems and save Israel from bondage to Rome

Because Israel is not the Kingdom.

There is a massive movement developing in South Africa, with its focus being on Jesus fixing our own country’s political and social problems...

and I want to say to everyone jumping on that wave to be careful…

It is a good thing that we pray for our leaders, and pray for social and political justice, but this is not our Kingdom

Don’t lose sight of that.

Jesus didn’t come to save us from bondage to corrupt rulers - He came to deliver us from bondage to sin and death.

There is no good in calling for political reformation, if you are not first and foremost calling for a spiritual reformation...

My friends what good would it do for our people to be delivered from corrupt rulers and live in a materialistically prosperous country only to end up in hell???

What good will it do if

Jesus didn’t come to fix this kingdom - He came to bring in a new Kingdom

We are

Make sure that you are being a witness for the right Kingdom.

Jesus said seek FIRST the Kingdom of God ---- then everything else will be added

YES we want to see political change

YES we want see an end to corruption and poverty

YES we want to see social justice

What must we then do???

Proclaim the gospel - be witnesses for Jesus Christ

The disciples were looking for political power - their minds were set on earthly victories and a worldly kingdom -

Political power for political victory

worldly power for a worldly kingdom

Their perceived purpose was to build a kingdom on earth, and they thought they needed a worldly miltary power to obtain that objective

but the Power Jesus promised was not a political leader or political influence

The power Jesus promised was a supernatural power - the Holy Spirit

The power was to help them be witnesses for Jesus - witnesses for another kingdom that is to come, and repentance and forgiveness of sin

Witness the Gospel!

THAT is our purpose - that is our primary mission

and repentance and forgiveness of sin

The devil has always been working very hard to take the Church’s eyes off our main purpose

Various forms

can take forms that are good - social justice

These are efforts of improving / rebuilding this kingdom - but our mission is to proclaim the kingdom to come

Our primary mission to to proclaim the gospel

Through the power of the Holy Spirit in us, as we bear witness to Jesus, the Holy Spirit is going to do exactly what Jesus promised he would do:

John 16:8–11 ESV

And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

John 16:13–15 ESV

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

John 16:

So here’s what the Holy Spirit is going to do in power:

Through the proclamation of the gospel and the witness of the Church, the Holy Spirit is going to convict sinners of their need for repentance and forgiveness...

He is going to convince them of Jesus’ perfect atonement and the righteousness that he purchased for all who believe...

…and sinners are going to repent and believe and be saved!

And what happens when sinners are saved?

They too receive the Holy Spirit and power to live in obedience to God and to be witnesses to Jesus themselves!

If you want to see change in our country - proclaim the gospel!

Be witnesses for Jesus.

Whatever injustices need to be overturned

Whatever the poverty that needs to be eradicated

Whatever the social ills that need to be healed...

The answer is ..... PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL - witness to Jesus Christ

Do that which is of FIRST IMPORTANCE and watch as by the power of the Holy Spirit, the world is changed.

We are just like the disciples in so many ways - they thought they were building a worldly kingdom with worldly power, and so do we

We are just like the disciples in so many ways - they thought they were building a worldly kingdom with worldly power, and so do we

The disciples thought they would bring in the kingdom by worldly power and force

We see growing calls in South Africa for the church to lead from the front in petitioning government and society in general for social justice

Now it is good to want social justice and equality for all people - but there is no power in petitions, strikes, marches

The power is the work of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Gospel.

Petitions and marches have no power to change people’s minds - let alone their hearts! We have seen this in South Africa - what good have any of our marches done except to wreak havoc and civil unrest (and the church and Jesus’ name be attached to that??)

But the Holy Spirit has power not just to change minds and actions but to change hearts!

The church’s role in society is not to lead marches, it is to proclaim the gospel

If you want to see real lasting change - proclaim the gospel

For once I am going to be giving you homework - and your homework is to go home and in preparation for the rest of this series I want you to read the book of Acts

It should take you about 2 hours total

If you read it you will notice something about the Church’s activities in a culture that was hostile to them and politically unjust and riddled was social injustices...

....they never once led a march or took on Rome in a political battle

they preached the gospel. They bore witness to Jesus Christ.

Peter would preach a sermon calling people to repent and believe and thousands would be added to the church in a single day.

The battle for souls is where we do battle.

We don’t petition government - we take our petitions to the Lord.

And we bear witness to Jesus Christ and to the coming Kingdom

The church’s role in society is not to lead marches, it is to proclaim the gospel

and we call people to repent of their sins and believe the gospel.

In our churches, we want to see growth and success - how do we try to achieve it?

We might try all kinds of worldly things to get people in the doors and get them to stay

We might feel that we need to entice them in with big budget advertisements

Once they’re in the door, we might try to keep them here by entertaining them with jokes and rock concerts instead of worship

and making the church look more like the world, more like them.

We might try to keep them busy by creating lots of programs and activities and ministries that actually just serve to keep the sheep too busy during the week to be witnessing to their neighbours

But do you know what happens then?

You have to keep entertaining or the power to keep them is gone

You have to keep coming up with new innovations and new activities - and the pressure is then on because if you fail they leave and go somewhere else

My friends, the power to see real growth and lasting growth of the church is not in gimmicks. It is in the proclamation the gospel.

Only the power of the Holy Spirit can convince people of their need for Jesus and change their hearts -

so that what they desire is not to be entertained or made to look busy

but so that they would desire to be fed the true bread and to know Jesus and make him known

And so my heartfelt desire for Cambridge Baptist is that we would be a church that relies on the power of the Holy Spirit working through the preaching of the gospel

and that we would be a church that when people are convicted and saved by the power of the Holy Spirit and receive these new desires...

that this is where they will find what they are looking for

We don’t exist to feed the goats

We exist to feed the sheep.

7 hebbes street in Cambridge is where the sheep gather to be fed

It is where the sheep gather to be equipped for their mission.

When you invite people to come to worship, then when they come, let them see worship, not entertainment - they can get that on channel 202

Let them see the Bride of Christ, receiving with joy their spiritual food and and being equipped again with the words of Jesus and the reminder of the gospel by which they are saved.

You can pick a fight with the governme

Church - this is our mission.

To every individual in the Church - this is your calling.

Be witnesses for Jesus.

The Plan

Now you have the power of the Holy Spirit, with the purpose of bearing witness to Jesus...

what’s the plan?

Hopefully you’re saying “OK I am sold on this - my mission is to bear witness to Jesus, and I believe God has given me power and boldness through the Holy Spirit to be a witness for Jesus...

The church building must not be the bushel that covers the candle. The light must be shone outside of the building.

Just give me the plan - tell me what to do now..

Here’s the plan Jesus gave to the disciples: start in Jerusalem, then go to Judea and Samaria, and keep going until you’ve been to all the earth

And that is exactly what they did. First 7 chapters of Acts show the establishment of the Church in Jerusalem.

Chapters 8 - 12 show the church spreading out from their base in Jerusalem to go out to Judea and Samaria,

and after that we see it spreading into the surrounding Gentile nations and we see churches being planted all over the Roman empire, and Acts ends with Paul being in Rome.

As I said in the beginning, that kinda ends in a place where it seems like the story isn’t finished.

And it isn’t.

All that Jesus began to do and to teach before his death and resurrection, he continued to do after his ascension through the church - and He is continuing even now

This is where we come in - we are part of this epic story and Jesus is now working through us in these last days - through you and me and every Christian on the planet.

Nothing has changed - He is still giving power through the Holy Spirit to His people and calling us to the same purpose and mission ----

--- to make the invisible Kingdom of God visible

--- to bear witness to Jesus Christ

The plan has also not changed: start where you are.

Cambridge is our Jerusalem. From there we will go out to East London.

From there we will go out and where we can’t physically go we will God-willing be open-handed in our giving to support those who can go.

We have opportunities to support missionaries and organisations sending missionaries.

AJ & Aven are one example of how we can support the witness of Jesus Christ being taken to the ends of the earth.

Your Jerusalem is where you are - God has providentially placed you exactly where you are for a reason

it was no accident

Start where you are - if all of us are simply bearing witness to Jesus in our circles of friends...

… our workplaces

…and so on

… relying on the power of the Holy Spirit

we will see God’s powerful hand at work

We have seen it here already people - there are people here today, worshiping God with us because they were doing some work for someone in our congregation, or met one of us somewhere,

and the conversation was steered in the direction of talking about Jesus and somehow, in mysterious ways, God used those conversations and those people were saved and are here.

It is so natural

We all love to talk about and witness to our love for sport and our hobbies and passions...

We can also share our love for Jesus and be witnesses where we are for Jesus love and grace...

We can bear witness to Jesus by living out the gospel in our daily lives

And it all happens out there folks - Monday to Sunday wherever you go.

Jesus said

Luke

Luke 11:33 ESV

“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.

We must be careful not to allow these walls, this building, or even this timeslot on a Sunday, to be a cellar or a basket under which we hide the light that has been given to us.

There’s no point in the light only shining in here - it needs to be shown out there.

Here we worship and we get equipped

Out there we let the light shine bright.

May Jesus help all of us and work through all of us this week and beyond so that his name will be heard where it has not yet been heard.