Intro: We always like to tell people about good deals.  We tell our friends about it, and hopefully they go out and take advantage of the same deal.  This remote I am holding is an example.  I picked up an advert for Office Depot and saw they had these on sale.  So I picked up one, and then I mentioned it to 2 of my friends who often make use of powerpoint presentations during the course of their jobs.

For a lot of people, sharing Jesus does not bring such desires.  For a lot of people, thinking about sharing their faith involves sweaty palms, a tight throat, and a lot of "hemming" and "hawing".

The truth of the matter is if we are relying on our smarts, charisma, and overall personalities we will fail.  Ultimately, we need help.

Context:  The Book of Acts is one of my favourites…

-          written by Luke

-          after the resurrection

-          Jesus is with the disciples and will be ascending

-          Sum up Acts 1:1-11

-          We will focus primarily on Acts 1:8

1st Point – The Power: The Spirit

-          Some Christian speakers and authors have called the Holy Spirit the neglected part of the Godhead

o   Results in a misunderstanding of the relationship of the Trinity

-          The Spirit’s coming is connected with Jesus’ ascension

-          It seems as though the twentieth century produced the most theological writing on the subject of the Spirit

-          The uniqueness of the Spirit in OT: certain people at certain times for specific purposes

o   The 70 elders under Moses (Num 11:24-30)

o   Bezalel in Exodus (Ex 35:30-35)

o   Saul (1 Sam 10:1-13; 16:14; 19:18-24)

-          The uniqueness of the Spirit in the NT: the distinguishing mark of God’s people

o   The build of Acts (Acts 2, 8, 10, 15, 19)

-          The Spirit provide us with the power we need, but why, for what prupose

2nd Point – The Purpose: To Be Witnesses

-          Looking at this verse, Jesus connects the Spirit with the act of witnessing

-          The disciples are the best example of the Spirit’s empowering for witness

-          Other examples

o   Stephen (Acts 7)

o   Paul (Acts 9:20-22; 21:37-22:21; 22:30-23:11; 24:10-21; 26:1-32)

-          The Ultimate example of Spirit filled witnessing: martyrs

-          So where does witnessing take place

3rd Point – The Place: Wherever we go

-          The locations listed he set the table of contents for the book of Acts

o   Jerusalem (Acts 1-7)

o   Judea and Samaria (Acts 8-12)

o   The ends of the earth (Acts 13-28)

-          Wherever the apostles and the Christians go, they share the gospel

-          According to the US Center for World Missions, there are 24,000 people groups in the world, 14,000 are capable of sharing the gospel in their own context without outside help

-          Story: Paul and his guards: one early Christian holds that while Paul was in custody, he would witness to his guards, and they would eventually get saved. However, Rome did not want Christians guarding Paul, so they would reassign them somewhere far, thus taking the Gospel with them throughout the Empire.

-          What does this all mean for us

Application

1)      If you are a believer, you have the Spirit living in you.  You are identified as belonging to God, and part of God’s people.  God resides with you and is there to help you…

2)      Because we have the Spirit, we have been empowered to share the good news.  While it helps to have aids, ultimately, we need the Spirit to guide us and direct us in our witness…

3)      Whenever we have opportunity, we should share the Gospel, wherever we might be.  We might not become overseas missionaries, but we are missionaries wherever we are…

Conclusion

As people we excel at complicating things, and that includes sharing Jesus.  It seems like we feel the need to set up systems and courses, when a lot of the time we miss the nose on our face.  God has not left us unable to share the hope we have in Christ Jesus.  He provides us with the Holy Spirit, the mark of His people from every people group.  That same Spirit allows us to be witnesses for Him, giving us the power and authority to speak His word.  We are also able to do this wherever we end up, whether we are at our jobs, playing games, or traveling the world.  As we interact with the world around us, we should always bear in mind the Great Comission: (Matt 28:18-20)