Pastor Joe Fuiten,
“On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave
them this command: "Do not leave
If we take this passage, and compare it to the Great Commission passages in Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:15-20, it is quite clear that God wants his story told in the whole world. In this passage, Luke is highlighting the important concept that this is done by the Holy Spirit’s power that comes upon us. In Luke’s Gospel he records Jesus saying, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.[1] Disciples are first of all witnesses to what they have seen. In the Acts passage Jesus tells about receiving power to do this. Even with that, we must recognize that the power is the means. The point is to be a witness of what we have seen. Jesus even said that persecution was so we could be witnesses.[2]
One of the ways of interpreting Acts is that it is the story of how the disciples, by preaching and through suffering persecution, told God’s story. I have been reading Acts a lot lately and thinking about Paul in his world. The more I study the first century world, the world I think it is back. That makes me what to think about Paul and his approach to his world. If his world is like mine, maybe I can learn something from him.
One of the
things you observe about Paul as he traveled is that he went to the synagogue
first thing.[3] If they had a synagogue in town, he went
there. There are some obvious reasons
for that, and some less obvious. First,
he was Jewish himself. People tend to
hang out with other people like them.
Second, his theology may have suggested that the Gospel should go to
Jews first. He kind of says that in
three places. For example, in Romans
Paul would just drop his hook in the water and wait for the fish to bite. Have you noticed that when you really are fired up about something, it almost always manages to work its way into the conversation?
I would like to come alongside you as a congregation and help you to do what Paul did. Let’s use this as a learning time. We want to learn to do what Jesus asked us to do!
Our main job is to tell God’s story. The story is not so much the Bible as it is what God is doing today. No need to preach. We just tell stories of what is happening in people’s lives. Or, we tell people where they can find help for something that concerns them.
Let me
illustrate. Let’s say you are watching
some football game on TV today. I heard
there might be one on. You’ve got a
couple of friends over. You got your can
of buuuuubling soda pop in your hand. All of a sudden, some linebacker
intentionally plays dirty and hurts the star on your team. What do you say? You say, “Its too bad some people think they
have to leave character behind when they walk on the field. You don’t have to cheat to be good. Did you know that
Another
example. They announce on the news that
terrorists seem to have plans to blow up the Space Needle.
Another example. Somebody at work starts talking about their spouse who has cancer. You say, I would like to pray with you about that. Pray really works. Did you know that we pray for infertile couples? Last year the Seattle Times came to our service and took a picture of four couples praying to have a baby. This year, those couples came back and three out of the four had babies. If God can do that, it gives me faith to pray with you about your family.
You ought to have a list of topics ready to go. When personal troubles are rehearsed, you can recommend Cedar Park Counseling Network where we have professionals who can walk with people to the answers. Everybody needs their car repaired from time to time. You could recommend Mechanics Ministry. Mention that their full-pay repair will make it possible for a poorer person to get their car repaired for less.
If you do that, you are a witness to what you know about. You have seen things and you just report the facts. You aren’t pushing anything on anyone.
I read a
report that Assemblies of God people lead the nation as witnesses. Just out of curiosity, how many have told
someone this week about the Muslim couple’s miracle? The Seattle Times story? The
You’ve got the stories to tell about what God is doing. Maybe all that is left for you to do is to receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit in your life so you can do it.
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
[1] Luke 24:46-48
[2] Luke 21:12-13 "But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. This will result in your being witnesses to them.
[3] Acts 14:1 “At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the
Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews
and Gentiles believed. Acts 17:1-3 “When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they
came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As his custom
was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with
them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer
and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the
Christ," he said.” Acts
[4] Greek: proton 1) first in time or place; in any succession of things or persons 2) first in rank a) influence, honor b) chief c) principal 3) first, at the first. Also in Rom 2:9-10 he says, “There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
[5] On the other hand he said in Gal 2:7-8 “…they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews. For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles.”