What Now?
Just before His ascension into heaven, Jesus delivered a mandate to His followers commonly known as “The Great Commission.” Our goal is to discover how this decree from Jesus applies to life today.
Many of us want to share or pass on our faith to our kids, our grandkids, our friends, and any others God brings across our path. But when we think carefully about it, do we understand what we’re trying to achieve? If not we can easily and unwittingly undermine our efforts.
Because faith in Christ isn’t about morality, doctrinal precepts, or church traditions, sharing our faith is not about passing on a set of morals, doctrines, or church traditions.
Instead, we want to pass on love for the Lord. By changing our question from how do I pass on my faith to others? to how do I live so as to cultivate a love for Christ in others? we shift our focus.
Just before His ascension into heaven, Jesus delivered a mandate to His followers commonly known as “The Great Commission.” Our goal is to discover how this decree from Jesus applies to life today.
Everyone who ministers, whether as a vocation or as a volunteer, is commanded to “guard what has been entrusted” (1 Timothy 6:20); it’s an essential part of ministry.
Change is one of life’s rare certainties! We aren’t exactly the same people we were last week, and we won’t be exactly the same next week, either. With each day and each experience, we grow to become different people.
God’s miraculous power might seem distant or theoretical at times, but it’s not. It is real! The Acts of the Apostles proves it, teeming with true stories of supernatural encounters and glorious surprises. In this lesson, we discover how God used intercessory prayer to perform an incredible miracle in the life of Peter, the fisherman-turned-apostle.
In Acts 9, Saul was in hot pursuit of Christians located miles away from Jerusalem, in Damascus. Saul was in hot pursuit of Christians, but God pursued him even more relentlessly. Saul’s own words in Acts 22:3 to 5, Acts 26:9 to 11, Galatians 1:13 and 14, 1 Timothy 1:13 serve as a confession, as he describes his former ruthlessness in stark relief to the great grace of God.
The apostles certainly had their share of adventure! After receiving the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room on the day of Pentecost, they embarked on the journey of a lifetime. Empowered and emboldened by the Spirit, they preached the Gospel and performed extraordinary miracles, touching others’ lives as they went. Let’s take a look at how they effectively ministered to others so we can discover some positive principles to use in our own lives.
Acts 2 marks the successful delivery of more than three thousand “baby” Christians! It was the miraculous, Spirit-fuelled birth of the church. What an adventure! A large gathering of people witnessed the incredible, supernatural power of the Holy Spirit and heard the life-changing Gospel message preached by Peter and the other apostles. Birthday: Pentecost.
In the first chapter of the book of Acts, the apostles were gathered in Jerusalem, waiting and even a bit confused. Would the kingdom of Israel be restored now that Jesus had risen from the dead? What was the nature of the kingdom of God? What did Jesus mean when He said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you”?
At a time when we have every reason to pull together and work in harmony to get the job done, it seems as though some would much rather weaken the ranks and hinder our effectiveness. Today, let’s go back to some of the basics that our indulged era seems to have forgotten.
Evangelism and discipleship were never designed to be ministries limited to “the pros.” Many of us grow up believing that serving God is for somebody else. Let’s take some time to examine the truth.