Uncharted to Acts of the Spirit

The Kingdom, The Promise, and the Mission:

Acts 1:1-11 New King James Version

The promise and mission are essential for the church’s continuity, growth, and progress.
Much of the preaching in the book of Acts focuses on the coming of God’s kingdom in the person of Jesus Christ.

The Book of Acts begins with God’s kingdom and ends by declaring it.
Acts 28:31
Preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.

The Kingdom of God
Matthew 13:44-52 New King James Version

Luke 17:20-21 New King James Version

The Promise
In 1:4–5, Luke indicates that Jesus told the apostles to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them. These verses introduce another incredibly important theological theme that will develop throughout the book of Acts—the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit falls on the apostles at Pentecost (Acts 2:1–4), their lives and their ministries are radically transformed. Acts shows us that Christ sends the Spirit to make the proclamation of the gospel effective. The church is built by God’s word and God’s Spirit.

This point is something we must remember, especially today. God does not build His church through gimmicks or programmatic cleverness. The church is not dependent on marketing strategies for its success.

Our only hope of seeing lives changed by the gospel is to faithfully proclaim God’s word and trust God’s Spirit to make our proclamation effective.

Even in our lives as Christians, as we seek personal transformation into Christ’s likeness, we must turn to God’s word and ask God’s Spirit to make it effective in our lives as we trust in the gospel of Christ.

The Holy Spirit was primarily connected to the task of bearing witness to the world. The early believers were to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, not for an ecstatic experience or an emotional high, but to share the good news of Jesus and his resurrection with others. The Holy Spirit came to empower them to serve, pray, preach, give, and go. It was not the power to feel something but rather the power to do something. The Holy Spirit empowers us for our mission.
It calls us to actively witness for Him in our daily lives and find comfort in His promised return.

If you want to see the miracles, signs and the wonders, we must proclaim the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Don’t get Distracted

Don’t be distracted or try to get ahead of God; walk with Him.

Focus on this promise and this mission!

Acts 1:6-8 NKJV
6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The apostles are essentially asking if the end has come. Jesus rebuffs their question, indicating that their job is not to know the exact timing of the fulfillment of God’s plan. Instead, their job is to be faithful while they wait. They may not witness the final culmination of God’s plan, but they are to witness to God’s Son (Acts 1:8).

Jesus describes what the Spirit will equip the apostles do:
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,
You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
This verse is one of the most important in the book of Acts. First, it shows us that the power the Holy Spirit gives to God’s people is the power to witness to Christ.
Second, this verse also functions as a second “Great Commission” (see Matthew 28:18–20).

Jesus describes the gospel moving out through concentric circles from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and finally to the entire world.