A Cyclical Mission

ME: Intro

Imagine for a moment that you get a call one day.

The person on the phone wants you to come and work for their organization.

They offer you a brand new dream home,

The place you will be working is also a brand new facility,

With all top of the line equipment making the work practically effortless.

The job comes with full benefits and paid vacation,

They even offer to triple your current salary.

It is everything you could ever want.

Now imagine you decide not to go.

At least, not right away.

You stay where you are for a period of time.

Why would you do that?

Why would you stay?

There must be a very important and meaningful reason for you to delay going to this perfect place, right?

This morning, we begin our study in the Book of Acts,

In ch.1, vs. 1-11, we see Jesus do just that.

He holds off going to heaven,

And the question is, why?

We will see this morning that it is for a very important and meaningful reason.

So, as we begin our study in the Book of Acts,

Slide

I have prepared an article available at the welcome table and sent out in the weekly email that discusses...

How to Read Acts

And this morning we will work through...

Who Acts is About (vs. 1-3)

What Acts is About (vs. 4-7)

Why Study Acts (vs. 8-11)

This outline helps us to understand this important and meaningful reason for Jesus’ delay in returning to heaven,

He stayed to prepare us to...

Connect with God by the Spirit, empowering us to Go and be His witnesses.

Slide

The title for our study in the Book of Acts is simply the Mission of FBC Afton.

Lord willing as we go through Acts we will see how the mission of the early church still defines our mission and vision today.

So, this morning, my hope is that we will begin to see how this mission Jesus wants us to embrace is a cyclical mission.

Because even though FBC Afton was founded in 1836,

Our Church is truly about two thousand years old.

The beginning of the church recorded in Acts is the beginning of our church.

We today are a part of the same history and mission recorded in Acts.

The history of the church is our history.

The people in Acts are our spiritual family.

And the time frame of this book is a relatively short period of time.

About thirty years.

Thirty crucial years that gave birth to a movement that has grown into the largest religion the world has ever seen,

That has changed the lives of countless people,

That has spread to every corner of the world,

Impacting civilizations, cultures, education, and medicine worldwide.

The foundation of all of this is recorded over a thirty year time span,

In Acts, starting with about a dozen men,

A handful of women,

And the Holy Spirit!

WE: How To Read Acts

As I said during the outline,

“How to Read Acts” is an article that gives helpful background for Acts.

If you have not read it yet, I would encourage you to do so this week.

If you did not receive it, I will post it on our Facebook page this afternoon,

Or you can call or email us at the church office and we will get a copy to you.

For this morning we are going to jump right into Acts.

GOD: Who Acts is About (vs. 1-3)

Slide

The book begins in vs. 1-3 with a short prologue introducing Who Acts is About.

The start of Acts feels like a story already in progress,

Because it is.

The traditional belief is that Luke, who was a physician, wrote Acts.

He joined the apostle Paul on some of his missionary journeys,

And most well-known as the author of the Gospel of Luke.

Where he also addresses this person named Theophilus.

Slide

The name Theophilus is a compound word for lover of God.

Theo means God,

Phileo means love.

This observation has led some to believe that Theophilus could be a fake name Luke was using to address Christians in general,

However, Theophilus was a common Greek name.

So, it is more likely and more widely believed that Theophilus was a real person.

Probably a believer, perhaps even provided money for Luke’s ministry.

But there is really nothing we know for certain about Theophilus,

Likely because he is not Who Acts is About.

Slide (vs. 1-2)

Similarly, most of what we know about Luke is what other biblical writers tell us.

He does not disclose much about himself in Luke or Acts.

But he is clearly a talented and detailed writer,

Who seems to display humility by writing so little about himself.

Because, he also is not who Acts is about.

His focus is telling his readers about the mighty works of Jesus.

The real living, historical Jesus,

Who died, rose from the dead, appeared to hundreds of witnesses, then returned to heaven.

This is Who Acts is About.

This is Who Luke always writes about.

This is what he says in vs. 1-2,

He says he wrote the first book,

A reference to the Gospel of Luke,

To explain the life and teaching of Jesus.

That Jesus welcomes sinners.

That He forgives sins.

That He prepared His followers.

Then the beginning of Acts, the second book, overlaps with end of Luke.

Luke ends with the details of Jesus,

Resurrected from the dead,

Teaching how the OT pointed to Him, His suffering, and His glory.

This was what Jesus trained His disciples for.

Slide

Now, Acts begins with Jesus ready to pass the baton to His apostles.

Luke says his first book dealt with Jesus’ personal ministry.

Acts deals with Jesus’ continued ministry through His apostles.

A ministry that continues today.

This ministry is an evangelistic ministry.

Acts is written with a clear desire to win people to Christ,

It shows how proclaiming the gospel of Jesus led to this explosive growth of Christianity.

Constantly reminding us that it was not because of the innate power of the apostles.

Rather, it was because the apostles were instructed by Jesus,

Then empowered by the Spirit to carry on the work of Jesus.

So, Jesus delayed His return to heaven,

Until after He had given specific commands.

These commands include both Jesus teaching and proving His physical resurrection.

He also taught about the truth of His calling as our Savior,

And the blessing of the Holy Spirit to come.

This third point is central to Acts.

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Notice how vs. 2 says Jesus issued these commands through the Spirit.

Jesus equipped, directed, and commissioned His apostles right up to the moment He returned to heaven.

And He did this, it says, to the people He had chosen,

Specifically His original 12 apostles,

Minus Judas, the betrayer.

This is the preparation for Jesus’s ministry to continue through the church.

If you scan through every verse of our passage this morning,

You will notice frequent references to Jesus.

Acts is about Jesus and His ministry.

Slide

A ministry of reconciliation accomplished by His death and resurrection.

His resurrection is crucial to His ministry.

Therefore, after His resurrection, vs. 3 elaborates on Jesus presenting Himself to the disciples,

Proving His resurrection to be authentic.

1 Cor. 15 adds that Christ appeared to more than 500 Christians in addition to the disciples.

These appearances were vital because it gave us simple-minded humans,

Irrefutable evidence of the supernatural personhood and resurrection of Christ.

It is not like people back then believed that rising from the dead was possible.

But Christ’s proofs were extremely convincing,

Because it is difficult to deny the factual evidence of someone who was dead now standing right in front of you, saying, “I am alive.”

People saw Him, touched Him, and learned from Him.

They knew He truly rose from the dead.

And His ministry continues today because He is alive.

His resurrection was not some spiritual resurrection.

It was a physical, glorified, bodily resurrection.

And the Bible teaches the same physical, glorified, bodily resurrection awaits everyone who trusts in Christ before they die.

This is the foundation of the ministry Jesus calls His disciples to.

So, vs. 3 says Jesus delayed going to heaven to prove and teach these things for forty days.

The fact that Jesus took forty days to do this is no coincidence.

Forty is a number that represents preparation throughout the Bible.

Moses was on Sinai for forty days as God prepared him to receive the law.

The prophet Elijah visited Horeb for forty days as he prepared to reengage in his work as a prophet.

And Jesus Himself spent 40 days in the wilderness to prepare for His public ministry.

So, now Jesus spends forty days with His disciples to prepare them for this new phase of Christ’s ministry they are about to begin.

We see in vs. 3, it is a ministry about the Kingdom of God.

The kingdom is an implicit theme in Acts.

It refers to Christ’s rule and reign.

It is not about a specific location or ethnicity,

It is about Christ’s reign in the lives of His followers through the power of the Spirit.

The Bible teases an unimaginably glorious final manifestation of this kingdom,

Ruled by no ordinary king.

He is a King who suffers for His people,

Who urges us to give up the rights to our own lives,

And live for the interests of others, just as He does.

And He does not assemble an all-star team for His kingdom.

He commissions people who are not wealthy,

Or particularly gifted in terms of education, position, or status.

Acts says that after spending forty days with these unspectacular followers,

He leaves them to go to His throne in heaven.

So, while Acts is for Jesus’s followers,

It is most certainly about Jesus.

YOU: What is Acts About (vs. 4-7)

Slide

Now that we understand Who Acts is About,

Let us look at vs. 4-7 where we see What Acts is About,

In vs. 4, Jesus gives His disciples an unexpected command.

And what was this command?

Stay and wait.

Imagine being one of those disciples.

For three years now,

You have left everything to follow Jesus.

Then rapidly one night,

Everything escalated to the point that Jesus was arrested then murdered on a cross.

So, out of fear,

You went into hiding,

Hoping to not also be murdered.

Until days after Jesus died,

You are hiding with the other disciples,

When you hear the news that His tomb is empty.

You are still trying to figure out what all happened,

When Jesus suddenly appears to you in the flesh,

And proves He is not a ghost.

He is alive!

He has risen from the dead!

Could you imagine how fired up you would be!

Jesus is back!

You would be ready to take on the world with Jesus!

Instead, Jesus says wait.

Wait!? Wait for what?

He says, wait for the promise of the Father,

Which is the Holy Spirit.

Why?

Because you cannot be a witness of Jesus without the Holy Spirit,

Despite how hard you may try.

The Spirit is the power Jesus gives you to enable and embolden you to be His witness.

Slide

This command to wait is a truly climactic moment.

Jesus went on in vs. 5 to explain this truth the best way a simple human mind could understand.

He brings your attention to how John baptized with water.

The word for baptize literally means immerse.

So, by this time, all of Jesus’ followers were baptized with water.

Slide

This background reality is the first specific application for our church’s mission.

Here is a part of the chart that Paul introduced last week.

When we talk about Connecting with God as a part of our mission,

This includes baptism.

Baptism is a symbolic outward act that demonstrates an inward reality.

Because the word literally means immerse,

We practice, in all possible instances,

That a person who inwardly trusts in Christ,

Would outwardly display this by being immersed, or dunked, in water.

The act of baptism itself, does nothing to save you.

It is a symbol that represents passing from death by going under water,

Into life, by coming out,

Through the resurrection of Christ.

And Acts really develops the practice of baptism in the church,

Slide

Four primary themes regarding baptism emerge,

First, the priority of expressed faith in Jesus and repentance prior to baptism.

Second, being washed by water symbolizes forgiveness of sins.

Third, it became an act of initiation into Christian fellowship.

Which is why we as FBC Afton include it for membership.

And fourth, it points to God fully immersing Christians with the Holy Spirit.

Slide

That is what Jesus is teaching here in Acts 1.

He was saying to His followers,

“Remember how John would fully immerse you with water to symbolize forgiveness of sins?”

“In a few days, God will similarly immerse you,

But God does not immerse you with water, like John,

He immerses you with the Holy Spirit.”

This was exactly what John the Baptist said back in Luke 3:16.

Throughout Acts, baptism is connected with the presence of the Holy Spirit.

But don’t misunderstand me,

Being baptized is not what fills you with the Holy Spirit.

The Bible says when you trust in Christ,

God immerses you with the Holy Spirit.

And this is what baptism of the Spirit refers to.

It is the Spirit that sets Christians apart,

Not baptism.

The Holy Spirit is God’s presence mysteriously dwelling inside Christians to transform and empower you to be Christ’s witness.

The Spirit transforms your character to more closely reflect Christ.

And He empowers you to fulfill the mission Christ has given you.

You are dependent on the Spirit to be a witness for Christ.

This is noted all throughout the Book of Acts,

As the Spirit is credited for empowering God’s people to grow the church.

Slide

But another pattern we see in Acts is that a person is immediately baptized after they are immersed with the Holy Spirit.

This happens with an Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8,

With Saul in Acts 9,

With those who believed in response to Peter’s sermon in Acts 2,

With Cornelius in Acts 10:1,

With the people present for Peter’s sermon in Acts 10:48,

And with the Philippian jailer in Acts 16.

But not long after the Book of Acts,

Churches began requiring people to memorize ethical teachings of the church,

And a period of fasting leading up to baptism,

Before a person could be baptized.

Now, these are good things,

But when we make them prerequisites, we get ourselves in trouble.

Because the events of Acts indicates that these were not requirements.

So, when part of the mission of FBC Afton includes Connecting with God,

This is the idea of salvation.

It includes Connecting with God by the Spirit,

Which is then represented by baptism.

Slide

So, let me ask you two questions,

But before I do, understand that your answer to these two questions should be the same answer.

First question: Do you trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?

Second Question: Have you been baptized?

If your answer to the first question is no,

Then you should not be baptized because being baptized means nothing if you do not trust in Jesus.

But if your answer to the first question is yes,

Then you should be baptized.

It really is that simple.

I am not trying to pressure you into getting baptized,

But Acts demonstrates that we must do this if we trust in Jesus.

So, one of the ways we Connect with God is through baptism.

Therefore, let me give you a helpful application here.

If your answer to these two questions is not the same,

Then you must change your answer to one of them.

If this is you, my hope is that you have said yes to trusting in Jesus Christ.

But for a variety of reasons may not have been baptized yet.

If so, you are not alone.

It took me five years from when I first trusted in Jesus before I finally realized I needed to be baptized.

So, if this is you, we have a trough in this closet right over here,

We can fill it with water today if you trust in Jesus and want to be baptized.

But at the very least, I would love if you would be willing to give me the opportunity to listen to some of your reasons for not being baptized.

There are three options for you to choose from for us to connect.

First, on the bottom of your bulletin is a space for you to put your name and the best way to contact you,

Fill that out and leave it in the offering plate before you leave today.

Second, on the bottom of the bulletin is also the contact info for the church.

Send an email, right now if you want to, pull out your phone and just send an email.

Third, I am at the Welcome Table immediately after service,

Visit me there after service and we can set up a time for you to share with me.

My hope is that you would be willing to do that.

My fear is that there may be some who have been baptized but do not trust in Jesus.

If that is you, understand that your baptism has not saved you.

You must confess that you have sinned and trust that Jesus Christ died for your sin,

That He is your Lord and Savior.

Then, we can go ahead and celebrate your salvation with baptism.

That is part of our mission here at FBC Afton; connect with God through baptism.

Slide

Turning our attention back to vs. 6,

The disciples had just been told to wait to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

They seem to be at least slightly confused by this command to wait,

Asking in vs. 6 if it is time to restore the Kingdom of Israel.

They are thinking, Jesus rose from the dead,

It is time for Him to sit on His throne,

They are ready for Jesus to restore the Kingdom!

We cannot be too harsh with the disciples here.

It would be natural for first century Jews to expect the Messiah to restore the kingdom of Israel.

This is what OT prophets like Isaiah and Ezekiel predict.

Think about it, Jesus just taught the disciples about the kingdom for forty days,

It is not hard to imagine these OT prophecies came up.

But notice how instead of directly answering them,

Slide

Jesus says in vs. 7, it is not for you to know the times or seasons.

So, their question was simply misguided.

Therefore, Jesus redirects their focus from the time of the restoration,

To the reach of the restoration.

Jesus’ kingdom is a global kingdom,

And His disciples are a part of the expansion.

So, Jesus essentially says the timing is not your business,

Being a witness is your business.

And this business is what Acts is About.

WE: Why Read Acts (vs. 8-11)

This comes to a culmination in vs. 8-11 with a final commission from Jesus,

Followed by His return to heaven.

Slide

This commission tells us Why we Study Acts.

Jesus uses His last words to speak some of the most memorable words of the entire Bible in vs. 8.

He says;

“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.”

So, in one sense, the disciples question back in vs. 6,

Shows that they were too narrow in their understanding of Christ’s kingdom.

Here, Jesus teaches that His kingdom stretches across geographical and cultural barriers.

The disciples are not given a timeline that outlines when Jesus will return,

He gives us something better,

He gives us power from the Spirit.

More precisely, the Spirit is the power.

And the Spirit, Jesus says, will empower the disciples to be His witnesses near and far.

Brothers and sisters,

This means we will reach the world with the gospel message.

Jesus specifically outlines a geographical trajectory here in vs. 8,

That outlines the progression of the church in Acts to today.

It guarantees that this is what Christ’s followers will do.

We will be His witnesses,

That is, we preach the gospel,

Beginning in Jerusalem,

Eventually spreading to the ends of the earth.

Think about it, at this point, Jesus has already thoroughly trained the disciples.

They are almost completely ready!

Except for one important little detail.

They still lack the power of the Holy Spirit to transform the world with the Gospel.

So, Jesus says our role is to be His witnesses,

And the Spirit does the rest,

The Spirit is the transformational power.

So, Jesus says here that once we are fully immersed in the power of the Holy Spirit,

He expands His work starting in Jerusalem,

Then into all Judea and Samaria,

Then to the ends of the earth.

But this outline is more than geographical.

These locations represent the divided kingdom of Israel,

So, Jesus sets the disciples target on these places as a fulfillment of the OT prophecies.

Israel splitting in the OT was one of the main,

And most tragic, reminders that the OT alone never finds a point of resolution.

In fact, it just seemed to get more despairing over time.

So, Jesus is telling us that we are on the cusp of restoring the kingdom,

But this kingdom is a new kingdom, filled with new people.

A kingdom which Jesus extends beyond lands specific to Israel,

A new kingdom that extends to the ends of the earth.

Slide

So, throughout history, as new lands and new peoples have been discovered,

Christ’s witnesses continues to expand to the ends of the earth.

Today, we have been called to be Christ’s witnesses to all people, everywhere.

This is what the disciples in Acts did.

And this is what our mission as a church today entails when we talk about going,

We are to Go and be Christ’s witnesses.

We are not just fans or observers of Jesus,

We are players on His team!

Throughout history, the gospel has advanced through the words and deeds of ordinary people,

Given extraordinary power through the Spirit.

We must continue this practice today.

The only difference between us here in Afton and a missionary in Africa,

A Pastor in South America,

Or a Christian in Asia is location,

Not mission.

We all have been given this commission in vs. 8.

We all must Go and be Christ’s witnesses.

And Jesus warns us that being a witness of His entails suffering.

Lord willing, we will see numerous examples of this throughout Acts.

When crossing entrenched cultural barriers,

Or standing in the face of opposition,

Receiving threats or genuine persecution is to be expected.

But suffering does not need to be a reason for despair,

God uses it to extend His witness,

The Spirit empowers us to continue to be His witnesses wherever we go,

Despite the suffering we may encounter.

Ultimately, the message we are witnesses to triumphs on the basis of Christ’s suffering.

This is the reason God gives us the power of the Holy Spirit.

So, we are not left alone to figure out this mission on our own.

The Spirit is the essential power required for us to be Christ’s witnesses.

Slide

When ordinary people of God,

Are equipped with the Word of God,

Empowered by the Spirit of God,

Dedicated to the Son of God,

We accomplish the mission of God!

So, who are you witnessing to?

We are not reliant on our own knowledge, memory, or charisma,

We are reliant on the Spirit!

Lord willing, we will see this as we go through Acts,

Where the Spirit empowers the disciples with boldness,

And with this constant focus on Jesus.

And we will continue to deepen our understanding of this idea of being Christ’s witnesses as we go through Acts.

For now, we can summarize it this way,

When we are living a Spirit-empowered life,

Our thoughts and words are centered on Christ,

Not on ourselves.

Jesus loves, and died for, people from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

We must be willing to relinquish any obstacles that keep us from being witnesses to every tribe, tongue, and nation.

We must, like Jesus, have a concern for all unreached peoples.

But this only happens when we, like the disciples, have a passion for Jesus.

Slide

As we see in vs. 9-10.

Immediately after giving His final commission in vs. 8,

Jesus is lifted up on a cloud in vs. 9 until the disciples could no longer see Him,

Leaving them in awe.

This lifting up is Christ’s ascension and it symbolizes exaltation.

This was not Jesus hopping on a cloud and riding it up to outer space like an astronaut,

It was Christ going up to heaven.

It was the next step of His return to glory after humbling Himself to the point of death on the cross.

Jesus had foretold of His ascension multiple times,

And it is important because,

As Hebrews says,

His ascension to glory provides encouragement for our faint-hearts.

His ascension is proof that He is Lord of the entire universe.

But for us, it also paves our way to glory,

As He says in John 14:6, He is the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father, except through Him.

Without Christ’s making this way for human kind to heaven,

There is no way for us to come to God.

But now that Christ has ascended,

The Bible says, He reigns at the Father’s right hand.

Interceding for us,

Slide

Hebrews 7:25 explains,

Hebrews 7:25 ESV

Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Slide

R.C. Sproul comments on this,

“[Christ] now lavishes upon us the benefits that His suffering won for us. From His throne He sends the Holy Spirit constantly to enrich His people and equip them for service.”

After Jesus ascended to heaven,

Slide

Vs. 10 says the disciples just kept on looking up.

They had just witnessed a supernatural event unlike anything this world has ever seen!

The whole sight was incredibly glorious!

And they were astonished!

They were enamored with what all they had heard and seen.

Slide

Likewise, we must be enamored with Christ.

If we only have a little love for Christ,

We will only have little passion for Christ’s mission.

This means the measure of how effective we are at going and being Christ’s witnesses

Is fueled by how connected we are to God by the Spirit.

This connecting is what we invite other people into when we go and witness to them.

This is why this is a cyclical mission.

Slide

While the disciples were staring up in awe,

Acts says that suddenly two angels are standing by them,

And they essentially ask,

“What are you doing?”

“Jesus is going to come the same way you saw Him go.”

In other words,

As Revelation also teaches,

There is a day coming where Jesus is going to come down from heaven on the clouds, in all His glory,

Bringing heaven to earth.

The thought of heaven stirs up many images in our minds.

We tend to think of heaven as a place,

Which is is, but it is not just a place.

These verses are not just talking about getting a peek into the place of heaven.

Jesus was returning to the presence of the Father.

This was a meeting of heaven and earth.

As Jesus stepped from earth into heaven.

So, yes heaven is a place,

It is the place of God’s presence,

Which extends beyond a single location.

So, the focus of heaven is the presence of God.

That is where Jesus is ascending,

To the presence of the Father,

Where He reigns on His throne,

Interceding on our behalf,

Making a way into the presence of God possible for us.

And the temptation, like we see with the disciples,

Is to just sit and stare up at the clouds waiting for heaven to come.

But the question from the angels has an implicit reminder;

Jesus has given us a commission,

To be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.

Slide

So, as we go through Acts this year,

Pray the Spirit will deepen our love for Jesus as we seek to understand and apply the mission He has given us.

Pray that we of FBC would have Spirit-empowered boldness,

Pray we would have a love that stretches to the ends of the earth,

And pray our hearts would be enthralled with Jesus.

Because, going back to my opening question,

Why did Jesus delay His return to heaven after His resurrection?

He stayed to teach us needful things.

Things like the certainty of His resurrection,

The kingdom of God,

Our need to connect with Him through salvation by the Spirit,

Symbolized in baptism,

And our cyclical mission of being His witnesses by inviting others to connect with God in these same ways.

To put it simply, Jesus delayed going to heaven the same reason He left it in the first place,

Out of His loving concern for us.

So, when we Connect with God by the Spirit,

He empowers us to Go and be His witnesses.

Pray.