Lord, Awaken Your Church to Your Mission

April 7, 2013

Lord Awaken Your Church to Your Mission

Acts 1-2

Scott Howard

 
(Get out your Bibles, this is a page flipper!)
 
Most of us have read these first few chapters of Acts about the Great Commission and the empowerment of the disciples and the early church.  We will get into the parallels of the Old Testament as well.

• The driving force behind the Mission of the early church was the Person of Jesus Christ.  They not only had the opportunity to walk and talk with Him, but when He was taken to Heaven, He left His Spirit to dwell in and empower them.

CHARACTERISTICS OF JESUS CHRIST: Jesus is…

• The Risen Savior (Acts 1:3) –We now have victory over death through a Risen Savior.  How will we respond to this Risen Savior?  He is worthy of praise and all that we have.

• The Exalted Lord (Acts 1:2, 1:9, 1:11, 1:22, Philippians 2:5-11) Jesus is on the throne in Heaven, He as control.  So when we are confused, when things aren’t going well or as we planned, we can trust Him and have faith in His plans.

•   The Coming King (Acts 1:11) Knowing that Jesus will come back for us to bring us to our eternal home that He has prepared for us, to be co-heirs with Him to the Kingdom of Almighty God, that is a God worth following!

Passion for the Kingdom of God is fueled by passion for the King.  When we truly begin to grasp His goodness, His Holiness, His sovereignty then we will have the passion for Him and His mission.

God, awaken our affections so that we obey Your Spirit.

THE HOLY SPIRIT ENABLES US TO...

• Experience God's Presence (Acts 2:2, Ezekiel 37:13-14) --the symbol of God's presence is wind.  The passage said it "sounded" like a mighty wind.  Just the sound was enough for the people to know that this was a supernatural event.

• Obey God's Commands  (flip back to Exodus ch19:16 - ch20:21) --At the time of Pentecost (our main text) the reason so many Jews from so many different countries and languages were in town was because they were celebrating.  On the 50th day after Passover (which, consequently, was happening when Jesus was crucified) the Jews celebrated another feast for the giving of the Ten Commandments.  So when we read about how and when the commandments were given we see God's fire on the mountain, whereas now we see God's fire as individual tongues of fire on each person.  This shows the relationship between God and man became more personal because of the sacrifice of Christ.  Also after Moses came down the mountain we see God's judgment against the people for creating their own god (the golden calf) and forgetting God.  3000 people died because of a plague that God allowed to strike them, however, when we go to Acts 2:41 during Pentecost we see how many people were saved because of their new belief in Christ: 3000!   

And how did all these people (from different lands) come to believe in Christ?  They spoke languages that the Holy Spirit enabled them to speak.  Which brings us to the third thing the Spirit enables us to do:

• Fulfill God's Purpose (Acts 2:4-12) --The people could hear the Good News of Christ's sacrifice and resurrection in their own native languages.

The Spirit wants this place and the world for Christ.  The Spirit's passion is to exalt Christ in this place and in the world.

When the Spirit fills the Church:

• The Church stands in Awe

When the Spirit fills His people:

• The world stands Amazed

Lord, give us your passion.  A passion for Christ and His mission so that the people will see God's power in and among His people.