ACTS of the Apostles

ACTS of the Apostles

Learning How to be Daring and Dynamic

Monday, April 18

ACTS of the Apostles

Learning How to be Daring and Dynamic

Read Acts 1:1-11

Focus verses: Acts 1:8-9

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight.

Hope everyone had a beautiful Easter remembering who our Jesus is and what He endured for each one of us as we celebrated his resurrection. Today, we begin a new study of the Book of Acts. This book was written by Luke, so it will read in the same way the book of Luke did in our last study. We learned that Luke is a great story teller. The book of Acts picks up where the Gospels leave off, reporting on the ACTions of the apostles and the work of the Holy Spirit. Our goal is to learn from these first apostles—they were “daring and dynamic” due to the Holy Spirit who now resided in them.

Acts 1: 1-11 are the bridge between events recorded in the Gospels and the events marking the beginning of the church. When looking at our highlighted verses (8,9) , Jesus promised the disciples they would receive power to witness after they receive the Holy Spirit. Notice the progression:

1. They would receive the Holy Spirit

2. He would give them power

3. They would witness with extraordinary results

Lastly, the ascension allowed them to know without a doubt he was God and his home was in heaven

Often we try and reverse the order and witness by our own power and authority . Witnessing is not showing what we can do for God but rather allowing his Holy Spirit in us to “show and tell” what God has done for us.

These are simple words, yet waiting on the Lord is sometimes such a challenge for us. We want to get ahead of God and get the job done. A good question to ask yourself today is are you waiting and listening for God’s instructions, or are you running ahead of his plans? We need God’s timing and power to be truly effective.

This sets the stage for our Acts study. Stick with us and let’s learn together how daring and dynamic these men were.

Heavenly Father,

How we are in awe of what we celebrated yesterday. The gift of ever lasting life you gave came with great sacrifice. We know we are not worthy but we are beyond grateful for who you are and what you did on our behalf.

Father, we know you always know best and no situation comes as a surprise to you. Please, open our hearts and minds to learn new things through the apostles in this book of Acts. Just as you instructed them, please give us the desire to first seek and listen to you before acting. We ask these things in your precious name, Amen.