The Book of Acts: - #1

Today i'm beginning a brand-new teaching series from the book of Acts. Or at least I'm setting out a foundation for what’s to come! And I’m excited because Acts is one of the most exciting books in the New Testament!

The Book is also appropriately named because it's a book of action. It’s the story of how the Christian faith moved from a tiny beginning in Jerusalem where just a handful of people were gathered in a room, to the most important city in the world - Rome.

As we go thru the book, you'll discover how a little group of people who believed in Jesus changed the course of world history.

Now, if I were you sitting there right now reading this, I’d probably have two questions: why Acts? and why now?

Well, the book of Acts relates to us because there’s a lot of correlation between the 1st century and the 21st century.Back then Christians lived in a mainly pagan culture where the majority of people had no knowledge of God. The earliest Christians were part of the Roman empire, with its emperor worship,its child sacrifice,  its loose morality,  and its violent opposition to anyone who claimed to possess the truth.

Back in the first century if a Christian stood up and shouted, “Jesus is God,” no one would care because you could worship whatever god you chose. But if that same guy were to shout, “Jesus is Lord,”  he’d be arrested and probably put to death.

We live in a similar situation today. No one cares about your religion – just as long as you keep it to yourself.
But if you dare to stand up and say that certain things are right and others are just plain wrong, you get branded a bigot—or worse. Today—just like in the first century—no one gets in trouble for being religious. But if you speak out publicly, you risk losing everything.So, let me sum up the importance of Acts in 3 simple statements:

#1: Acts tells us how the Christian movement came into being.
Its a transitional book that links the gospels with the epistles. It is the historical link that joins the life of Jesus with the growth of the Christian church. And it answers a whole lot of questions

Acts shows us how the church should respond to a predominately pagan culture.And Acts teaches us about the mission of the Christian church. Now the whole the theme of Acts is found in 1:8

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”

Look at that phrase “to the ends of the earth.” What started in Jerusalem will one day reach to the farthest corners of the globe. Today, at New Hope, we’re working on Orange City and Sanford…That was Jesus’ plan from the beginning. He always intended that his followers would take his message and go in every direction with the good news.

See, Jesus didn’t want a Jewish church or a Roman church or a Greek church or even an American church.
He wanted a church that would include people from every tribe and nation on the face of the earth. And God’s plan to get that done that is really very simple.

He uses people like me and some of you to take the message from one place to another and from one person to another, sharing the gospel, and passing the faith along one person at a time.

Our cities are full of hurting people. Every street, every appt block, every neighborhood is full of broken homes, broken families and broken people. Everyday, you’re gonna meet some of these people –
people who are hurting, crying, fighting; people who are lonely, despairing, and grieving; people who don't know there is more to life than sex, drugs or beer. You’re gonna meet people who are hardly aware they are alive. We meet people who are scared of death, people whose bodies are riddled with cancer and whose every breath is filled with pain.

Five Days a week - I work with people who have real issues. People who have problems with alcohol or chemical dependencies, people just out of jail – and are looking for a new direction, people who are victims of abuse

So.... what do we say, what can we say, to such people

The answers really kind of simple.  See God’s given us a message to take to these people. The message tells us what’s wrong, and exactly what it is that’s afflicts mankind.

God's message tells us why some people never worship on Sunday. It tells us why there are fights and even divorces in marriages.  It tells us why there’s death, drug-abuse, shop-lifting. It tells us why there is suffering, pain, death, and cancer. It tells us why someone's daughter gets pregnant and why someone's son becomes an adulterer. It tells us why there is crime and prison and punishment. It tells us why there are physical, mental, and emotional disabilities.

What's the answer? What does God's message tell us?

It points the finger squarely at sin.Sin’s not a very fashionable word today. Many people don't consider sin to be sin anymore;instead, they talk about acceptable, alternative lifestyles. But God's message points at sin. It tells us straight out that we’re all sinners. It tells us that everyone, from conception on,  is infected with the disease of sin and therefore condemned to die from the minute they’re born.

But God's message doesn't stop there. It also tells us the cure for the disease of sin. It tells us that that cure, that antidote is the blood of Christ.

What exactly is God's message, then, for us and for the world?

It is the same message He gave to the Apostle Peter at Pentecost:

(Acts 2:38) “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

So, in the weeks ahead as we study the Book of Acts we’ll see Jesus continuing the work He started on the earth. When Luke wrote his Gospel, he wrote about what Jesus did in His physical body. He wrote The Book of Acts to explain what Jesus is doing from heaven, through His spiritual body - which is you and me
Jesus laid out very clearly what He was beginning to do in Luke 4:18-19. He said:

The Spirit of the LORD is upon me,for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,that the blind will see,that the oppressed will be set free,and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come

then next verse tells us what happened next: When He finished stating what He was going to do, He closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down.

When Jesus did that he was showing us that once He’d done his part the responsibility would be given to you and me to carry on what He began while he was on earth. So now, 2000 years on his work continues through the people who make up His church.It’s the work of spreading the the good news of slavation.

Some of you heard me talking about the 29th Chapter of Acts. And you scratch your heads because Acts contains only 28 chapters.What I mean is simply this:you and I are writing the 29th chapter of this book every single day.

You’ve heard of Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony? Acts is the story of the Unfinished Work of Jesus Christ.
His work in the world isn’t finished yet.I know it isn’t because of what I read in the headlines. His work isn’t finished as long as babies starve and families break up and children run away, and parents abuse their children and students carry guns to school. His work isn’t finished as long as Satan still rules this earth and sin reigns in the heart of man. His work isn’t finished while the drug lords make a fortune with their merchandise.
His work isn’t finished when people of different races hate each other and men kill each other because of skin color. His work isn’t finished while 1.3 million unborn babies die each year in America  through legalized abortion. His work isn’t finished when homosexuality is welcomed as normaland those who defender traditional marriage are publicly ridiculed.

His work isn’t finished in Orange City or Sanford either. And that’s why we’re still here.  Our work’s not finished because his work’s not finished. The Church in Sanford is just one platoon in God’s army. He commissioned us 6 years ago and said,  Share Jesus with hurting people. And then take the message to the ends of the earth.” And why we started this church in Orange City last Sunday

The first Christians took the message of Christ and turned a pagan world upside down. Luke left plenty of blank paper at the end of his book so you and I could write our own contribution to the story of his work in the world. The early Christian church grew by leaps and bounds. it grew from 120 to 3,120 believers in just one day.  And then it spread from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria

We’re gonna look at how come the church grew so fast in the next few weeks' But in the meantime, remember our calling. You’re here cos somebody invited you.Next week, I’m looking to see who you’re gonna invite and bring to church

See that’s our calling: to share the good news.

What's the best way to do that? one person at a time.

So this week - I like to ask you to do something. Pick one person, any person, someone you know, someone who is not a believer, and bring them to church with you next Sunday night

See here’s the math:

The great Commandment (Matt 22):  love God and love people

PLUS

The great commission:  go share Jesus with hurting people

=

a great Acts 2 Church