Living Hope - Part 4: The God Who Sends | Zach Wylie

Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is

an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,

with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.

We invite you to connect with us from wherever

you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our

mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed

by this week's sermon. I want to go on a bit

of an adventure with you guys today. The last

few weeks' messages have explored how the risen

Jesus doesn't just save us, but today we want

to look at how he sends us. And we see in the

story of Easter, which was a true live one, the

story relates to us because we see these disciples

who witness Jesus. They get a little bit scared.

They head behind some locked doors. out to some

fishing boats, to the Mount of Olives, and then

we watch as Jesus begins to reframe the disciples'

fear into a global calling. And he invites us,

he goes beyond the disciples in that moment,

and he enters into this moment here, and he invites

us to live that same kind of spirit -empowered

witness right where we are. And so whether you're

here for the first time or whether you've been

with us through the entirety of the series, I

want to say, welcome. We never believe that you're

here by accident. And if you've been journeying

with us, you've seen that we've walked through

a series called Living Hope. And we started exploring

some of the unexpected portraits of Jesus that

raises out of the days that were surrounding

his death and his resurrection. We've seen him

weep. We've seen him serve. Last week, we saw

that he lives. He died and he rose. And today,

we meet him as the God who sends. And we meet

him as a God who sends because resurrection wasn't

the end of the story. It was actually the beginning

of a really cool movement. And Jesus, just as

he was then, is still sending his people into

the world today. And that includes... I like

it. There's you, me, us. It's a bit of a blend.

And so go with me for a little bit of a moment

to Pastor Pablo's map. Thank you, Pastor Pablo.

To the Mount of Olives. So we're a little bit

east of Jerusalem. This is the same place where

if we read scripture, we see that there's a lot

of things that actually happened here. This is

where David, King David, fled and wept as he

was trying to flee his son, Absalom, who was

following him. This was a place where the prophets

came and were buried in hope for the awaited

Messiah. Jesus wept over Jerusalem. And then

just days before this is where Jesus' triumphal

entry had began, Palm Sunday. And so here we

are standing post -resurrection. So Jesus has

died and he's resurrected. He came back to life,

which is insane. And this is just before he ascends,

which is equally as crazy. And here he is standing

again with his disciples, resurrected, alive,

and he's about to leave. But he's not abandoning

them. He's standing on the precipice of this

thing that we call empowerment. He's about to

empower them. And if you were like the disciples

or if you're like me when you started reading

the Bible for the first time and you get to this

and you see who the person of Jesus is, you think

maybe he's about to launch a global revolution.

But instead, he says to them, you will be my

witnesses. So let's read the text together as

a whole. Acts chapter 1, verse 1 to 11. It says,

Acts 1:1–11

in my former book, so Luke is writing to a friend

of his named Theophilus, and he's talking about

his former book, Luke, which talks about all

of the things that Jesus did and taught until

the day that he was taken up to heaven. And after

giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to

the apostles he had chosen, After his suffering,

he presented himself to them, and then he gave

many convincing proofs that he was alive. He

appeared to them over a period of 40 days and

spoke about the kingdom of God, and on one occasion,

while he was eating with them, he gave them this

command. Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for

the gift my father promised, which you have heard

me speak about. For John baptized with water,

but in a few days you will be baptized with the

Holy Spirit. So then they gathered around him

and asked him, Lord, are you at this time going

to restore the kingdom to Israel? And we'll talk

about what that means. And he said to them, it's

not for you to know the times or the dates the

Father has set by his own authority, but you

will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes

on you, and you will be my witnesses. all of

Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

And after he had said this, he was taken up before

their eyes, and a cloud hid them from their sight,

and they were looking intently up at the sky

as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed

in white stood beside him. Men of Galilee, they

said, why do you stand looking into the sky?

And then the same Jesus who was taken from you

into heaven will come back in the same way you've

seen him go into heaven. Lord, thank you that

your word is alive and you tell us it can pierce

bone marrow, get right into parts that no human

eye can see on our own, but your word can see

it and can go right to where it needs to go.

And so Holy Spirit, thank you that you lead us

into truth. And so would you take words and study

things that we see on a screen and would you

connect them together in such a way that makes

sense to the people who are in this space today

and those who are watching online? We need you,

Holy Spirit. Amen. So you will be my witnesses.

And then he ascends. He ascends. He begins to

go up. And from my perspective, this is both,

like, super climactic, because, like, when have

any of us ever seen anything like this? And yet,

at the same time, probably for the disciples,

a bit anticlimactic. Like, what's going on? Like,

he just said he's giving us power, and then he's

disappeared. And, like, it's going to start,

right? Like, something's going to happen. But

he ascends. So even after everything it is that

they had seen, including the resurrection, the

disciples ask the question, Lord, so let's go

back before he ascends. He gives them instruction

and they say to him, Lord, are you going to restore

the kingdom to Israel? And some of the people

there, if you've studied this a bit, you might

have heard it before, but the disciples and the

Jewish people of the time were holding out for

some kind of political victory. They thought,

There's going to be national renewal that happens.

There's going to be a king that comes, sets us

free. They're in their mind Jesus was actually

physically going to sit on a throne. He was going

to overthrow Rome and he was going to fix it

all. And what's neat here is Jesus doesn't rebuke

their longing and be like, guys, no. He doesn't

rebuke their longing. He actually begins in this

moment to redirect their expectation towards

something that was far greater than they could

even hope or imagine for themselves. And so he

says, it's not for you to know the times or the

dates, but you will receive power and you will

be my witnesses. And so here they're asking for

restoration, but Jesus is talking about witness.

They wanted certainty in this moment, but Jesus

was giving them a calling. And so before the

mountain... of Acts chapter 1, there was the

Acts 1 · chapter mention

shoreline of John chapter 21. I love the Bible

John 21 · chapter mention

because there's certain times when you're reading

it where your brain just like comes alive. At

least mine does sometimes. I feel a bit like

childish at times. I imagine things as what it

could be. But I love that we can pray that the

Holy Spirit would inspire creativity and he could

actually help us understand scripture. So when

I read John chapter 21, this is just a ridiculous

John 21 · chapter mention

story. The resurrection has happened and the

disciples don't run to the streets preaching.

They actually go and hide behind locked doors

because scripture tells us they were a little

bit scared about what the people were going to

do to them. They were afraid of what might happen

next. And then... Even after Jesus appears, remember

he comes and appears to them, and Pastor Pavel

talked about that last week. They're like, unless

I can put my hand in your side, put it in the

hole in you, I won't believe. So even after they've

touched his wounds, they still don't move. They

actually returned to what they knew. And what

they knew was fishing. So imagine the scene with

me. The disciples are together. When they finally

decide, all right, let's get out of this house.

It doesn't seem like anybody's trying to kill

us. Somebody says, let's just go back to doing

what we were doing before. And isn't that the

case with humanity? When we're feeling disoriented,

we usually return to the familiar. And so when

we don't know what to do next, we just go back

to what it is that we know. And so the disciples

were unsure of what was next. And so they went

back to fishing. And the Bible tells us that

they went back to fishing and they caught nothing

all night long until Jesus showed up on the shore.

And this is where I think it's a bit of a comical

thing that takes place. My Bible says that Jesus

sees them fishing and he says to them, children,

do you have any fish? And I like, maybe Jesus

is, I imagine Jesus is slightly more cheeky than

he actually was. Maybe it was a genuine question,

but of course he knew the answer. He could see

that they didn't have any fish. And the disciples

we know from reading the text were frustrated

that they had fished all night and had nothing.

And what happens in this moment is Peter, who's

kind of the crazy disciple who does these erratic

things, realizes who's on the shore. And the

Bible tells us that he begins to take off his

clothes and then he jumps into the water and

Swims to shore. Love that. As he's doing this,

Jesus says, cast your net on the other side.

And so they cast the net on the other side of

the boat, like they needed instruction because

they are fishermen. And they probably already

done this, but he does it anyways because God's

the God of miracles. And they pull up this huge

catch. And by the time they get to shore, again,

I think this is just so cool, the relational

nature of God. Jesus is setting up a barbie.

He's having charcoal, setting up a barbecue to

eat breakfast with the disciples. The God of

the universe setting up a barbecue to talk with

the disciples. And so as he's cooking them breakfast,

he turns to Peter. And three times he asks him,

do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?

And each time Peter answers and each time Jesus

says, feed my sheep, feed my sheep. And then

he commands him to follow him. And that follow

me was a familiar thing because if you remember

when Jesus began his ministry, the first thing

he said, he invited the disciples to a sleepover.

John was baptizing people and they're like, whoa,

there's Jesus. And John says, you should go.

And then as they went, Jesus said, come and follow

me. They're like, where are you going? And he's

like, come and follow me. So here we are at the

climax of Jesus's life, death and resurrection.

And he's saying the same thing to Peter again

that he said, but this time. It wasn't an invitation

to a road trip or to a friendship. This time

the invitation was to a mission. And he was calling

Peter to move from a place of witnessing miracles

to deeper surrender. He was calling Peter from

comfort to cost. And as we discovered that cost

meant even to death. And so this for Peter wasn't

just forgiveness. It was a recommissioning. It

was a second follow me, but this time towards

sacrifice and sending and ultimately towards

martyrdom. And so the fishing boat was over and

a global mission was just beginning. They were

no longer fishermen. No, but they were becoming.

And I think that they might have been a little

bit scared. They were moving from people that

had a job to being people with a destiny. And

I remember in my own life encountering a moment

where I felt very similar. A bit fearful, a little

bit scared. I had finished college, university,

and I had felt like there was an opportunity

for me to move to East Africa, and a job opportunity

opened with an NGO, and I said yes to it, feeling

grossly unprepared, but the opportunity came,

and I felt like I needed to say yes. And then

another opportunity came to help lead a hospital

in South Sudan, and I felt deeply unqualified.

I had no medical background. I had no experience

in managing emergencies in a war zone. I didn't

know the systems. I didn't speak the language.

Quite frankly, I just felt like I'm not ready.

But I felt like the Lord was saying in that moment,

I'm not asking for your qualifications. I'm asking

for obedience. And then it happened again. Months

after returning, there was an opportunity to

actually go back to this college and university

and take over as a director of this program.

But I was 21 turning 22. I had got dreadlocks

when I was in East Africa. And I looked and smelled

a lot different than I do right now. And the

role had me teaching students who were older

than me because it wasn't just some first -year

program. Anybody could come into the program.

And here again, I thought, man, they picked the

wrong person. But again, God wasn't looking.

He wasn't asking in that moment for my confidence.

He was asking for my availability. He saw my

fear, and then to my fear, he began to speak

to my potential. And I think he did the same

with Peter. And I think he can do the same with

you. And that's what Acts 1 is all about. Jesus

sees their fear, but he begins to speak to their

potential. And today, Jesus sees our fear, your

fear, and he speaks to your potential. So by

the time that we get to Acts chapter 1, we've

Acts 1 · chapter mention

seen them on the shore in John 21. These men

are no longer, as I said, fishermen. They are

apostles with a destiny. And he didn't just forgive

their past, but he began to reframe their future.

And he wasn't just giving them fish, he was awakening

them to a new calling. And so by this point,

the question probably isn't, do they believe

that Jesus is alive? No, because they'd seen

it. They'd heard it. They'd experienced it. The

question is, is will they still try to follow

him the same old way? And so when they ask the

question like, Lord, are you at this time going

to restore the kingdom of Israel? They still

expect Jesus to be the one who does the heavy

lifting. But Jesus doesn't just confirm their

small vision of Israel. Instead, he flips it

and he begins to give them a global mission of

redemption. And he answers them and says, it's

not for you to know the times, but you will receive

power and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,

Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

In other words, he's saying, I'm not going to

do this for you. Sometimes I say to my kids,

I'm not going to do this one for you. You can

do it on your own. He's saying, I'm not going

to do this for you. I'm going to do this through

you. And so in that moment, the resurrected Savior

reframes their life. And I think this is so cool.

This is the power of the risen Christ. He didn't

give them a job. He was giving them a destiny.

The apostles weren't handed these fancy job descriptions

or titles. They were handed a mission to make

Christ known among the nations. And so one by

one, they followed. And one by one, they gave

their lives for that calling. Man, what an exciting

and crazy start. And so he doesn't just forgive

our past, but he begins to reframe our futures

too. And once Jesus reframes your life, my life,

we don't go back to fishing. As we look at this

story, as I was praying through and preparing

and reading it again, I felt like I was getting

this neat gift of opening up some sort of window

into this movement of God. And if you think it

through, it starts on a beach, it passes through

this locked room, and then it echoes from the

mountaintop, and only in a way that God can do

it, he brings it right here to land in the heart

of Bangkok. And so I think, like, maybe this

story isn't just about the disciples. Maybe it's

actually about you and me, too. Maybe you're

here today, and you're not quite sure what you

believe. Maybe you've come with questions or

you've come with curiosity or maybe you're watching

online and you're wondering if this Jesus is

real. If his story could possibly reshape yours.

What you need to hear today is Jesus didn't just

rise. He actually came looking for you. He met

the disciples on the beach. He met them in their

fear, and he still shows up in the same way that

he did then, now, and here, right in the middle

of our uncertainty, right in the middle of our

disappointment, right in the middle of our doubts.

The same Jesus, come on, the same Jesus that

cooked breakfast for confused friends is the

one who's calling out to you and I now saying,

follow me. I've got more for you. And just like

Peter, just like Peter, you might know him for

years, or for some of us, you might be meeting

him for the first time. He's not asking for perfection.

He's inviting your presence. He wants you. And

it's so sweet. And just like Peter, it starts

with love. he asks the question, do you love

me? Do you love me? And that's always the first

question because once Jesus reframes your life,

you don't go back to fishing. So here we are.

Acts... Chapter 1. Jesus appears for 40 days

and he's speaking about the kingdom and he tells

them to wait for the Holy Spirit. He says, you

will receive power. And he commissions, he makes

a promise to them that you will be my witnesses.

Then he ascends and two angels appear and they

ask the question, why are you standing there

looking into the sky? And if you're like the

disciples or like me, I might be thinking the

same thing. Like, what's going on here? Like,

where did Jesus go? Did he move into retirement,

like the boss leaves, succession plan initiated,

and you're like, where did he go? But no, Jesus

didn't disappear, he reigns. And if you don't

grow up in a kingdom mindset with a king or a

queen that's actively engaged in what it is that

you're doing, like me, this doesn't make a whole

lot of sense. But a king who reigns is actively

engaged, participating with those that he or

she leads. And so Jesus hasn't retired. He's

seated at the right hand of God. He's got every

power above every name. And he's handed this

mission to us. Not because we're somehow flawless,

but I actually think he hands it to us because

he's faithful and he promised that this is what

would happen. So he doesn't just hand over the

reins and be like, have a good time, work it

out. He's like, no, I'm going to rule. I'm going

to reign. I still have full authority. I have

full power. I'm seated at the right hand of God.

My ability to intervene at any moment is there,

but I'm going to work in and through you. I haven't

left you. I haven't forsaken you. I am reigning.

And so this idea of the mission of God isn't

a new thing. It's actually quite old. It's been

happening for quite a long period of time. Jesus

says, you will be my witnesses. And so this is

not a strategy. It's a legacy. Do you hear me?

This you will be my witnesses is not a strategy.

It's a legacy. For God has always been sending.

Next slide, please. He's always been sending.

From the book of Genesis, the very first book.

Blessed to bless all nations. Through Isaiah,

the prophet says, it is too small a thing to

restore Israel alone. God's plan was always for

the entirety of the nations, not for one people

group. And then as we move into John chapter

John 20 · chapter mention

20, we see Jesus himself saying, just as the

Father has sent me, I am sending you. And so

this isn't something that is just thought up

on that spot. Jesus is like, oh, I've got to

come up with a good sending message. And so I'm

just going to tell them something that sounds

good and then leave them. No, it was planned.

He knew what was required. And so this word for

witness that comes out is this word. Can you

read it with me? Say it out loud. Say it again.

What does that sound like? Sounds like martyr.

And so the Greek word for witness is martis.

And this is not just somebody who like talks,

but this is somebody who lives and dies for the

truth. And this is their calling. To be a witness

who tells of, who speaks of the truth that they

saw. And it's our call too. It's extended to

us. And so, As we're thinking about this, Jesus

says, you will receive power. And the Holy Spirit

comes to empower us to live boldly, to speak

courageously, to heal miraculously, to love radically,

to live righteously, to pray deeply, and to serve

faithfully. All for his glory. And so when he

says, you will receive power, the Holy Spirit...

gives more than some emotion. He actually gives

divine help, courage to stand like Peter did

at Pentecost. I don't know what to do or stand.

Language when we don't know what to say. Guidance,

when we're like, I don't know where to move,

the Holy Spirit redirects Paul to the right place,

and he can do that for me. So someone saying

these things, this is not like Jesus standing

as a coach being like, you guys are going to

do great things, I really believe in you, you've

practiced really, really hard, and I think you're

going to do great things. He's like, no, I believe

all of those things, but then I'm also going

to be working in and through you. I'm going to

empower you, I'm going to give you what it is

is that you need to fulfill what it is that I'm

saying you're going to do. And it's like, whoo,

the coach is coming with us. Like, he's in us,

working through us, those skills. Jesus even

said, I am going to send the Holy Spirit. I gotta

go, and I gotta send the Holy Spirit. John chapter

John 14:12

14, verse 12. So that you can do everything that

I did and more. And so, this isn't hype. This

is like real help. This is him promising you

and giving you everything you need to do it,

empowered by the Spirit. And this idea had a

global scope, but it had a really cool local

start to things. And so he talks about this Jerusalem,

Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

And though we talk about it being geography,

yes, it is. It's also a bit of a roadmap for

our own lives. Jerusalem, it's like your people,

where are you? For me, I think of my apartment

complex. Yesterday, we had, yeah, yesterday?

Yesterday. Day before? We had the Easter party

at our condo on Saturday. Yeah, it was Saturday.

Yeah, I think it was Saturday. Yeah, we had Easter

on Saturday. I know it was a week ago, but we

had Easter at our condo yesterday because we

couldn't do it last the week before because we

had a bunch of people. So there was like 60 people

going on an Easter egg hunt and hearing the story

of Jesus yesterday. Why? Because it's my Jerusalem.

That's my people. It's not like a location far

away from me. It's right here. Judea, your region,

where are you? We're in Bangkok and we're in

our country that's here. Samaria, it's a place

of discomfort. What do you mean when you say

that? Well, Jewish people had a bit of a stigma

towards the Samaritans, so much so that if they

needed to go to a city that was beyond Samaria,

instead of just going through Samaria, they would

what? They would go around it. And so sometimes

where God calls us to in this empowerment is

to a place of discomfort. But then there's also

the ends of the earth, which is our beyond. And

what's super cool is sometimes our ends of the

earth is somebody's Jerusalem, and sometimes

their Jerusalem is our ends of the earth, so

it works together. But ECB is actually uniquely

positioned for this very thing. We're gathered

from many nations. We're 60? 50? Yeah, let's

just say 30 in case someone says that's wrong.

Over 30 nations. And what happens is ECBers don't

always stay here for a long period of time. They

go. So we're constantly sending people around

the world from the nations to the nations. And

so in this instance, what I love is that Jesus

isn't just saying, you're going to be teachers.

No. He said, you'll be my witnesses. And the

apostles, they had seen him. So they could legitimately

be like, yeah, yeah, I've seen, I've witnessed

this, but we haven't seen him physically, but

we've received the spirit. And as a result of

that, we've experienced him spiritually. And

because the disciples did such a fantastic job

witnessing, we read it all in here. And not only

in these places, other non -Christian spaces,

we see as a result of that, that Jesus is on

the move. And what happens is sometimes when

we give witness to things, people ask like, what's

going on? And I love in Acts chapter four, the

disciples are kind of being pulled aside by some

people that are a little bit frustrated by what

it is that they're doing. And they say like,

listen, we can't help speaking about what it

is that we've seen and heard. Witness. And so

true witness actually flows from both this objective

truth and subjective experience. And you're like,

what do you mean objective truth and subjective

experience? Let's unpack it for a moment. So

consider this. Objective truth is truth that

is true, regardless of how we feel about it.

It's rooted in reality. And so Jesus, objective

truth, in the gospel, Jesus lived objective truth.

Died. Objective truth. He rose from the dead.

Objective truth. And he offers salvation through

him. Objective truth. These are facts of history.

They're facts of faith. Track one. But then we've

got subjective experience. And this is us here.

It's how that truth becomes personal to us. This

is our personal, it's our lived out encounter

with the risen Jesus through the Holy Spirit.

For example. Sometimes we feel forgiven when

we were burdened by guilt. Subjective experience.

Sometimes we experience peace that we can't explain

during hard times. Scripture even talks about

that. Subjective truth. Experience. Sensing God's

guidance when we pray. Subjective experience.

Seeing prayers answered in ways that we can't

really explain. Subjective experience. And so

if our witness was only truth, it feels a bit

rigid. And if it's only experience, it's a bit

rootless, and it's not grounded in anything.

So we need to imagine that objective truth is

kind of like a train track, and subjective experience

is the train that's running on it. And so you

need the tracks, the truth, or you derail. but

you also need movement and experience or you

stay stuck. But what happens when both of those

things come together is that we become a beacon

of living hope. When we witness to the world,

we don't just explain the nice facts about Jesus,

he rose from the dead, but we also tell the story

that he changed my life and he can change yours.

So it's truth and transformation. It's knowing

and it's living and it's believing and becoming

or experiencing it. And so let's take this a

little bit further. Now, if Jesus were on trial,

imagine Jesus is in Bangkok. The police are like,

where's Jesus? We got to find him. Why? What

has Jesus done? Well, he's the master of saving.

Some people are calling him the Lord of Life.

Can we actually prove that? Is he transforming

lives? Can we actually prove that? Is he forgiving?

Is he Redeemer? Is he bringing a holy world order

to where it is that he is? Would there be enough

evidence to convict him? If you flip back to

the book of Acts, Acts is like the courtroom

transcript. That gives direct evidence of what

it is that people witness. And according to the

book of Acts, One absolutely, Jesus would be

convicted of that. And it tells the story right

in here, and then it comes out to us of a movement

that spread, which is good news for us, not through

professionals, but through everyday people. Everyday

people doing what? Everyday people being, everyday

people doing, everyday people saying. Through

what they were, through what they did, through

what they said, they lived like Jesus. Grace

flew out of them. They gave people what they

didn't deserve. Sometimes they didn't give people

what they probably deserved. They were generous,

ridiculous. They sold things that were theirs

for the benefit of other people. They were healing

people, not just physically, but mentally and

restoring lives. They were evidencing incredible

hospitality. They were living simple lives and

their speech, how they talked was soaked in the

name of Jesus. And so like, Think about this.

This isn't all like weird things giving witness

to the person of Jesus. This is just like quite

logically functional, nice human being things

that God created us to be. Grace, generosity,

healing, hospitality, simplicity, speech soaked

in the name of what we were, what we did, what

we say. And even a 19th century critical philosopher

and cultural critic, he says this. I love it.

He says, I'll believe in your Redeemer when you

look a little more redeemed. And so when persecution

hit the early church at this moment, the apostles

stayed. People scattered, and the empire, the

Roman empire, was changed. And why was it changed?

The empire was changed because scattered believers

lived as evidence. So would there be enough evidence?

Yes. Why? Because of you. But here's the thing.

If you're anything like me, even in our own personal

lives, this kind of witnessing doesn't always

feel logical, the promise doesn't even seem reasonable.

And I rewind almost nine years ago now when my

wife Megan and I at the same time, two kids,

were feeling like God was calling us up and out

of Canada. But we didn't know where to or what

at that moment. We just knew he was calling us

out and we knew it was going to happen. And as

we began to say yes, my wife tells a story of

feeling absolutely overwhelmed with fear. It

wasn't just like dreams of drowning. It was like

she felt like when she walked through life and

would give thought and consideration to a new

culture, a new language, a new country, she just

felt like she was drowning and suffocating. And

then one day we're sitting in church and one

of our friends is preaching and she shares this

image and says, I believe there's somebody that's

here who might need to hear this. And when people

say that, sometimes I'm like, this is going to

get crazy. She says, I have a vision of somebody

who feels like they're drowning, overwhelmed

by waves. But to you, God is just saying, stop

swimming. Stop swimming. And you will see my

hand holding you. And you will walk in my peace.

And then one day, an older woman came up to her

a few weeks later, a spiritual mentor, a bit

of a saint, and she said, hey, I feel like God

has given me some scripture for you. And same

thing. Some of us have had experiences where

that's been really good, and others of us had

experiences where we're like, this is about to

get crazy again. But this was a positive experience.

And she begins to read. When you pass through

the waters, I will be with you. The rivers will

not sweep over you. That moment brought peace.

Not just for a year, but as long as the Lord

has us here. And I think just like the disciples

on the mountain, we realized that we weren't

actually being sent out alone. God had actually

already gone ahead of us. He was holding us.

He was empowering us and inviting us to step

into a story that was a whole lot bigger than

our fears. And so Jesus didn't say, you will

be my witnesses as a one -time moment. Say it,

one -time moment. No, he didn't say it as a one

-time moment. It became a blueprint for the whole

of the book of Acts and for us. And what's crazy

is if you take this, because I think I lied this

morning, and I go all the way to the end to Acts

chapter, how many chapters are in this book?

27, 28. You head to the 28th chapter, and you

read about this guy who was proclaiming the gospel,

and then it just kind of stops. Paul's in Rome,

and then what? There's no happily ever after.

There's no climactic ending. Nobody all of a

sudden dies. There's no trial, martyrdom, no

closure. It stops mid -sentence. The feeling

is like that. And some have suggested that perhaps

this is God and his creativity. Maybe, I don't

know. But God and his creativity is doing this

because the movement actually hasn't stopped.

Sometimes people say, you're Acts 29. We're living

it. Acts 29, the next chapter is us. It's our

lives. We're doing it right now. And so consider

this. This is the task. People, who are supposed

to fulfill the tasks? You, me. The power? Spirit?

The plan? Where does that come from? Well, he

laid it out. Start in Jerusalem. Go outward.

What about the philosophy? How are we going to

do this? Say what you've seen. Witness. And that

final chapter, that final chapter, it's still

being written. It's still being written. And

you're in it. And I'm in it. And ECB is in it.

And that same spirit is still sending. That same

spirit is still empowering. That same spirit

is still... It's still promising that you will

be my witnesses. Friends, we're living Acts 29.

And so the disciples stood. There's like this

U2 song. I'm not the only one staring at the

sun. Does anyone know that song? The disciples

stood there staring at the sky. And all of a

sudden the angels appear to them and they say,

stop staring, start going or being. And so I

wonder for some of us, maybe we're in our kind

of Mount of Olives moment. And you're like, what

do you mean your Mount of Olives moment? Well,

maybe you're unsure. Maybe you're a bit afraid.

Maybe you feel, I am not quite ready yet. But

the cool thing is, is that Jesus sees your fear.

He sees my fear, and he speaks to our potential

in that. He says that you don't have to be fully

ready. Just be fully available. Do you see what's

going on? Before we respond, I want you to hear

this very clearly. What Jesus gives them here,

or there, depending upon the way you say it,

it's not a command. It's actually a promise.

He doesn't say, go and be my witnesses and just

try really hard. No. He says, wait, and you will

receive power. Wait, and you will receive power.

And so being his witness isn't first an assignment.

It's the result of an encounter. Let me say that

again. Being his witness isn't first an assignment.

It's the result of an encounter. It's not about

you trying to muster up boldness. It's not about

you trying to figure it out on your own. It's

actually about the Spirit making you bold. You

hear that? It's not about you trying to muster

up boldness. It's about the Spirit making you

bold. It's not about you forcing yourself to

care. It's actually about the Spirit filling

you, filling you with love that overflows. And

so the Great Commission sends us, but this promise

empowers us. You will receive power. And because

of that, you will be my witnesses. And so maybe

today isn't just about being sent. Maybe today

is the day that some of us, some of you need

to say yes to Jesus for the first time. Whether

you're in person, whether you're online, this

invitation is for you. Jesus... doesn't wait

for you to have it all together. Thank God. He

meets us in our questions. He meets you in your

questions. And so today, if you feel him stirring,

pray simply, Jesus, if you're real, make yourself

real to me and watch what he will do. And so

this month, I stepped into a new role here at

ECB as a director part -time interim of mobilization.

But I believe that God is doing something more

than me. I think that he's actually mobilizing

us. And so I wonder if you'd be willing to see

your workplace, your muban, your school, your

friendships, your family become the place that

Jesus is. is seen, where people see Jesus in

you. So I have a question. Will you say yes?

Let's pray. Lord, I thank you that you trust

us with your mission. That you see our fear and

all the baggage and things that we bring with

it, but you also see our potential. You see the

possibility. You see what is possible. And so,

Holy Spirit, I pray that you would breathe your

Spirit into us again. Just as we prayed in the

first service, we pray again, send us into our

city, into our circles, into our world, to our

friends, to our family, Lord, carrying your living

hope with your promise that you gave to us to

be the witness. In your name we pray. Amen. Thank

you for tuning in to the ECB Sermon Podcast.

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