New Year, Same Mission

• What We Do: Worship God, Love People, Make Disciples, Make a Difference
ª Our Ultimate Goal: That every person we encounter would see and treasure Jesus as Savior and Lord.
• The truth that we are going to see today is the God is the

mover, whose sovereign purpose and plan will not be thwarted and who is at work through His church, made up of His individual children, to change the world.

The

Reveal Answer

of the Church

• Jesus rose from the grave and spent time with His disciples. He then commissioned them to take the Gospel farther >> Acts 1:8 | But 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, Peter preaches at Pentecost and thousands of people believe in Jesus, were baptized and added to the church. >> Acts 2:41 | So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
• Acts 2:42-47 | And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
• What you cannot see here in this passage is that the church is teetering on the edge of

. While the birth of the church was a miraculous and dynamic experience, the enemies of the church were on the march.

The

Reveal Answer

of the Church

• The enemies of the church are not first and foremost human opponents or earthly philosophies and ideologies. The real enemies that the church must be prepared to face are the ones we want to ignore:

and

Reveal Answer

.
• God knew that is what was happening to the early church. That’s why He allowed the persecution to come. Comfort and complacency would have distanced them from their mission to take the Gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. So, God disrupted their comfort and they moved.

Move

• A.W. Tozer >> The Bible recognizes no faith that does not lead to

, nor does it recognize any obedience that does not spring from faith. The two are at opposite sides of the same coin.
• Trust and obey >> baptism, discipleship, service, mission, say “Yes” to fellowship, community, and ministry; His supernatural power for transformation and ministry floods into your life as you take the next step of obedience. That strength or clarity doesn’t come before. It comes as we obey.
• Find your

Reveal Answer

>> gifts, passion, God has made you to fit, but that fit is found as your function. Like the strength and clarity, the step of faith-filled obedience is required.
• Personal, spiritual

Reveal Answer

>> cling to your Father, stay in His Word, and walk in His Spirit. As you stay near to Him, you will always see the areas where He is working in and around you, growing you, and guarding you against your real enemies.