What Now?

Have you ever worked to complete or accomplish something that you have put a ton of work into?

You know you have been trying to get that promotion

You have been working toward retirement

You have been trying to complete this project

and you get to the end and it feels amazing because you did it.

But not too long after you finish the amazing accomplishment, or goal you almost get to a point where you ask yourself what now?

because you have been devoting all this time into this task or goal and now that its complete you ask your self what am I going to do next?

And you know as I was thinking about this I couldn’t help but think about last week (Easter)

Because last week we celebrated really what the entire old Testament was leading up to and really we celebrated what the center of the Gospel message is

which is that Jesus came down died, for our sins, defeated death by rising from the dead and because of that we can be in a relationship with Him.

Which is amazing!!!

and what happens is the entire Bible leads up to this point and you get to really the pinnacle of Jesus’s ministry and Easter happens

but once this happens if you are like me you catch yourself asking “What now?”

You know Jesus defeated death

He died for our sins

We have hope

But “what now?”

Do we just sit around?

Do we celebrate it?

Do we tell someone about it?

What do we do now that Easter is over?

And this was a question that the early followers of Jesus have to ask themselves?

What do we do now that Jesus is Risen?

And we are going to be in Acts chapter 1:1-11 today and in this passage we are given instructions on what this should look like.

But this is the last week of our series “Following” which if you have been with us we have been going through the gospel of Luke following Jesus through His ministry.

and as I mentioned today we are switching it up a little bit because we will be in the book of Acts and this book is actually written by Luke who wrote the gospel of Luke as well and this is even written to the same person

because this first chapter we will be diving into gives us instructions on whats next for us.

So once again turn with me to it says:

Acts 1:1–11 NIV

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 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. 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. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 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.” After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

So I want to begin right at verse 1 because verse one Luke the author is writing to this person

and says I already told you in the other letter all these amazing things Jesus did.

I told you what he taught, I told you about his ministry, I told you about how He died.

But look at the words that Luke uses here because He says I told you what “Jesus began”

it did not say what Jesus finished, but what he began.

and this is the first point I want you to get because often times we view Jesus’s ministry as the end when really His ministry is just the beginning

Do we have any baseball fans in the room?

If you are watching baseball and someone gets a base hit and gets to first or second base or even third its exciting, right?

its exciting, right?

But if they don’t get home what happens?

non of there base hits matter, because if they get out or there are three outs those base hits end up not meaning much.

That why my team the Orioles aren’t good!

and I need to watch myself because I can’t emphasize the importance of Jesus dying of the cross for us and how that demonstrated His love and grace to the world.

But if we allow his death resurrection to be the end we are in trouble.

Because the things that Jesus taught, the things that He did are just the beginning of His ministry.

because His ministry is continued through His spirit living in us as His church.

Isn’t that exciting that God is allowing us to play a role in what He did while He was on earth?

taking care of the pour, watching out for those who are marginalized, and bringing His healing to our lives.

and Jesus even tells us in that we will go on to do even greater things then Him?

Isn’t that exciting?

And in this passage Jesus actually gives instructions to these followers of Christ to tells them what they need to do to continue Christ ministry.

and these instructions are for us too because we are continuing Christ ministry in our lives as well.

and if you are like me you get all excited because Jesus is getting ready to tell us how are we going to bring healing to the world, how we are going to fix families, help the poor and change lives

But are you ready for the first things Jesus tells us to do to change the world and continue His ministry?

(its in verse 4) He says wait!

its like He gets you all excited to just say wait.

Who here enjoys waiting?

and we hate waiting. If you have ever gone to the Secretary of state office you know its true.

High schoolers, how many of you just want to be done with school to get going with real life? (which btw its not all its cracked up to be)

But we hate waiting

But Christ tells us to wait for His Holy Spirit

and this is because if God is not part of what we are doing it is destine to fail.

We can’t continue Jesus’s ministry without Jesus or we are just wasting energy.

In fact I am almost positive that the people who Jesus was telling to wait were preparing for what God was getting ready to do.

They were probably praying

Reading the scripture they had

And getting ready for God to tell them whats next.

And in our lives we need to prepare for God’s work that He is going to do in us.

So first Jesus tells us to wait for His spirit.

they made the most out of the waiting time.

But then the second thing He tells us is to get drenched!!!

Are you ready for the second point

Because look at verse 5 it says John baptized with water but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

and I love this symbolism because when someone gets baptized they get dunked into the water that represents dying to their sins but they come out alive in Christ.

and not only that but they come out drenched in water.

And what Christ is saying is you are going to be baptized by the holy spirit where you die to yourself and your sins and come alive in Christ.

and not only that but you come out drenched in His Spirit and you are so drenched that His spirit is literally dripping off of you!

and when this happens it doesn't say then go proclaim the gospel but it says when this happens you will proclaim the Gospel all around the world!

it is just going to happen because you are so in tune with what God is doing.

It just becomes part of who we are.

But look at this last part of the story with me because the disciples are told all of this and these are the last things Jesus is saying to them

and all of the sudden it just says Jesus was basically beamed up into the sky (with no warning) and it says the disciples are just staring at the Sky.

Can you blame them

they are probably thinking what just happened and they keep staring in the sky thinking where did Jesus go

and the Bible doesn’t say how long they were saying, but I imagine it was awhile because it said God had to send a couple angels to tell them to stop staring.

and these angels tell them why are you looking up into the sky?

Jesus is coming back and you need to get ready

You need to get ready to wait for his presence to drench you.

because it is going to change you and through Christ changing you, you are going to change the world.

Church can I ask you this morning are you ready to make the change?

Are you ready to wait for Christ to change your life and be drenched by His spirit?

because we need to be drenched in Christ Spirit as a church

But also individually.

and I am getting a little outside of the passage but before the disciples are drenched with the Spirit, lets be honest they are a mess!

they are always doing something wrong, I think almost any church you go to the disciples are always the first ones to be picked on.

But then if you look after they are baptized by the Holy Spirit, they are suffering for Christ and really leading the early church and spreading the gospel of Christ.

I dont know about you but Christ is wanting us to be drenched in His spirit today.

he is wanting us to have His spirit dwell in us because Jesus died for us and rose from the dead, but He doesent want us to end there.

He wants the Spirit of God to dwell in everyone of our lives because He is redeeming us.

God wants us to change the world and continue His ministry.

so Are you ready to do that? Are you ready to wait for God’s spirit to come in your life?

because it will all you have to do is ask.

You know some of us made the commitment or recommitment to follow Christ last week and you may have been asking what is next?

What now?

And Christ is saying I want to drench you in my Spirit.

I want to make it so there is not one part of you that does not reflect my spirit in your life.

You know you may be thinking how can I make a difference?

A

Its just me, I am messed up flawed, broken.

How can I change my life?

How is it possible to make an impact like we see in the Bible.

And the truth is if you have accepted Christ you can change lives and really your life because His sprit dwells in you

and you are a child of God.

I am going to pray but after I pray Grace will come up and sing the song child of God. Because you are a child of God and His Spirit can dwell in you where you can change lives.

and God will move in you.

Pray with me.