No Time to Waste

INTRODUCTION

*Open your Bibles with me to Acts 1

This morning as I stand behind this pulpit, it is hard to believe it will be the last time that I do so as your pastor

I came to Friendship expecting to spend the rest of my ministry career here

I love this church family-you have truly become family to us

I love this community and the things that we have been able to accomplish together

And as I look around, I know that there is still so much more work to be done.

I have enjoyed being your pastor, and I am saddened to be leaving you

And yet, as I look forward towards Idaho, I am excited about tomorrow

I am excited that a people that have yet to know the Gospel of Jesus Christ will hear it

I am excited to see these different pieces of our lives and ministry sewn together by God in a new work

I look forward to build a Kingdom work where no one has built before, where the work and the vision are God-sized

I am overjoyed at the way God has used this to mobilize Suwannee Baptists, opening eyes to God’s call for us to engage in starting new churches.

And all of these feelings coalesce together this morning as I share with you what is my final message here

I never have been good with goodbyes. As many times as we’ve moved, they only seem to get harder

It is hard to know that the next time I come to visit and to share with you what God is doing that some of you may no longer be with us

It is hard to know that there will be many moments and seasons of joy, sorrow, and life that we will not get to share

I know with all that I am that if God is moving me elsewhere, He is also going to bring someone even better to fill my place here

But it doesn’t make saying goodbye easy by any stretch of the imagination.

As I’ve spent time in prayer and reflection in the weeks leading up to today, the question that constantly came to my mind is what do you say?

From the day that I started at Friendship, God put a vision on my heart that this church needed to Know Jesus and to Make Him known

That vision remains in front of you this morning, and any pastor that follows me here will echo it to you

It may come in a slightly altered form and fashion, but it is the heartbeat of God’s Kingdom

And so, as I looked for the best expression of this to share with you on my final Sunday, the Lord brought my eyes to the ascension of Jesus

After all, Jesus is better at everything than I am, and that includes goodbyes

And in Acts 1, what we find is a plan for success, even when everything is changing

Acts 1:1–11 NASB95

The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of 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 were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

PRAY, INVITE THE CHURCH TO BE SEATED

*LISTENING GUIDES OUT

As this passage opens, Luke is writing to the same man he wrote to in the Gospel of Luke

He is writing to Him and to us

And the first thing that Luke wants His reader to do is remember the Gospel

The Gospel is the very center of our lives in Jesus

everything else comes second to knowing Jesus and making Him known

And what we see in Acts 1 is the beginning of what happens when Christ’s followers make Jesus their purpose in life.

This passage shows us the moment that Jesus says goodbye to His friends

And in His goodbye, there are three key points that will help us to be successful in Knowing Jesus and making Him known

Look at the first three verses:

Acts 1:1–3 NASB95

The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

The first Key to knowing Jesus and making Him known is this:

Live focused on God’s Kingdom, not your own

Isn’t it interesting that in this passage we see Jesus had 40 days after His resurrection with His disciples

These would be the last 40 days they would have with Him directly teaching them on earth

It was a time where He could now frame everything that He had taught them through His death and resurrection

AND what we see is that Jesus focuses their attention on two things

First, He wants them to truly know Him!

To know who He is who He says that He is

To know why He came

To truly understand and believe the purpose in His death and resurrection

To be confident in their relationship with Him

Secondly, He wants them so set their minds on marching orders for the Kingdom of God

He wanted the to be focused on eternal things, not things that fade

He wanted them to understand that their purpose and calling in Him were for building the Kingdom of God, not their earthly Kingdom

Jesus focused on these things because these two things are the only things that truly matter

Remember, you will drive your life towards what you focus on!

If Jesus was set on keeping Knowing Him and making Him know before His followers, as His followers, we must focus on these things ourselves

Focus your eyes on Jesus and on the things that He has called you to. Doing this will keep you on the right track. This leads us to the next thing we need to look at.

Look at verse 4 with me:

Acts 1:4–5 NASB95

Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Now, skip down to verse 8

Acts 1:8 NASB95

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

The second key to knowing Jesus and making Him known is this:

Move in His power and share the Gospel everywhere

Sometimes, when we read verse 4, we see the wrong thing: we focus on the Word wait, not what we are waiting for

It is good to wait upon the Lord and His presence

We need to be sure we are moving in His will before we move

But this verse is telling the disciples to wait because the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen on them

Pentecost had not yet happened

But now, it has

Now, we have marching orders from our Savior!

Now, we have His Spirit to lead us!

If you are a follower of Christ today, you already have the Holy Spirit inside you!

And we need to make good use of this blessing

What you and I should take away from this is that we need to move in His power and not our own

When you do things on your own, this leads to

failure-you can’t do what God can

burnout-You aren’t strong enough to bear the load

or both

When you do things in His power, it leads to

God accomplishing the impossible before you

joy in the midst of the journey

glory to the Kingdom

One way that we ensure that we are moving in His power is that we fix our eyes on sharing the Gospel!

In verse 8, Jesus tells us that what happens when the Spirit comes into His people is that they are empowered for sharing the GOSPEL!

Sharing the Gospel, telling others about Jesus is your primary job assignment!

God calls us to share the Gospel here, there, and everywhere

The task is too big for us, which forces us to lean on Him

Moving in God’s power will always mean doing things you can’t do on your own

Things that will grow believers and bring salvation to those that don’t know Him

Many believers never experience the power of the Living God because they don’t live for His Kingdom purposes.

You have the power of the Living God in you, my friend-won’t you choose to live like it?

Let’s look at the last few verses. First, Verse 6:

Acts 1:6–7 NASB95

So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;

Now, look at verse 9:

Acts 1:9–11 NASB95

And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

The last key to making the most of your time on earth we will look at today, friend is this:

Don’t get distracted from Kingdom work, even with thoughts of Heaven

When we get to verse 6, Jesus had just promised that the Holy Spirit was coming to live in and among them

They were going to be baptized with fire!

They were going to be filled with the power of Heaven!

They were going to have a helper with them as they walked in obedience

And what is their response? They are worried about this earthly kingdom!

And before we judge them too harshly, this is also what we do!

When will the end times come? Are these the for sure signs it’s coming?

Will we have to face persecution, or will the rapture happen first?

Man, our country is falling apart.

Our community is falling apart

What about my health? My retirement? My life here on earth?

But how does Jesus answer their question?

It isn’t your place to know these things!

In other words, you’re focused on the wrong things!

We can’t get distracted chasing the wrong things

Not in building or maintaining earthly Kingdoms

Not even in trying to figure out the big picture

Instead, you need to focus on doing your Kingdom assignments

ILLUSTRATION

Our kids ask where we’re going

I tell them, “Don’t worry, where I’m going I’ll take you”

I can only imagine how cool it was to watch Jesus ascend into heaven

That moment must have been

fantastic

awe-inspiring

terrifying

and glorifying in ways we only wish we could have seen

There was quite a scene in the heavens that day

And as they stood around, staring up, Jesus sent messengers to them with one clear message: don’t get distracted!

Don’t let your head get turned-even by thoughts of Heaven.

Have you heard the phrase “he’s so heavenly-minded he’s no earthly good”?

It is fun to think of the glory of God we will experience in heaven

But that is not today

Today, if there is still air in your lungs, God Has a purpose for you.

Today, there are things that God would teach you

Today, there are things that God would change in you

Today, there are others that God would use you to reach with the Gospel

Today, there are others that God would have you lead to be more like Him

Today, you have Kingdom marching orders

Don’t get distracted!

Invitation:

There are so many things that I wish I could share with you

There are so many Kingdom adventures and blessings that God has ahead of this church

There are so many things that we have left to do before Jesus returns

As I leave this place with my marching orders, won’t you commit yourselves this morning to be obedient in yours

The altar is open this morning for all who are ready to focus their lives on knowing Him and making Him known.

PRAY