Acts 1:1-11 Will you risk?

We just wrapped up Luke and we're going to jump into the book of Acts now.

And we know that Luke was written to a guy named Theophilus, and uh he wanted Theophilus to be certain of everything that he had been taught.

And so he shares about Jesus.

And now we're picking up an Acts 1, and we've just seen as we finished Luke, there was the ascension of Jesus.

So Luke is picking up an Acts in this letter to Theophilus, and we're going to pick up right where we left off.

So can we start Acts 1, verse 1?

Acts 1:1

Uh, and I figured out the other day if our timeline is about the same with Acts as it was with Luke, we'll wrap up around Christmas of 2027.

And uh my brother-in-law joked with me yesterday.

He's like, I'm a few years away from uh retiring.

Uh I'll get to come uh when you guys are wrapping up the series.

And I thought that's hilarious, but probably true.

Uh this is what he says.

In my first book, I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began.

That's highlightable, that's underlinable, everything Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit.

During the 40 days after he suffered and died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time and proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive.

And he talked to them about the kingdom of God.

Let's keep going.

Once he was eating with them, he commanded them do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift that he promised.

As I told you before, John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?

He replied, The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere, in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him.

As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white robed men suddenly stood among them.

Men of Galilee, they said, Why are you standing here staring into heaven?

Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go.

Let's jump back to first one.

I have got a lot to get through in just a few verses.

The first thing is this, and this is just a quick uh encouragement for you.

I recognize that as we read this, we recognize, and we've talked over and over and over, but maybe the fact has escaped us.

Luke is writing to how many people?

He's writing to one person.

However, we are in 2026 in America, in a completely different country, completely different section of the world, and yet we are still finding comfort, peace, challenge, hope, love from the writings of Luke to one person.

Don't ever in your life give up on ministering to one because you have no idea how far those echoes will travel and how many people they will minister to.

Sometimes you're like, man, am I doing enough?

Don't ever stop being faithful.

If God puts one person in your life, they are worth it to him.

And you never know what might happen through them to others.

Your ministry might be to one and their ministry might be to thousands, but it's all the love of God moving in the kingdom of God moving.

You with me on that?

So, what I would say to you, when you live this week your life, you're gonna wake up tomorrow and understand, don't start searching for thousands, but find one.

God, who is Theophilus in my life today?

Who is Theophilus that you want me to encourage to share the hope of Jesus, to share the facts of the good news with, so that they could be certain in a faith maybe they don't even have yet.

You with me on that?

Because you've got no clue that the world might be changed by the Theophilus that you minister to.

That letter went like I just sat there and it boggled my mind to think, I have no idea that even as Luke wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to Theophilus, I don't think you think in his mind he thought 2,000 years later that people would still be reading the letter he wrote to Theophilus.

I don't know that that was could could you comprehend that possibility if you were writing a letter to somebody?

I don't think that he, but he was faithful with who God put in his life.

Be faithful with who God puts in your life.

Yeah?

Cool.

That's got nothing to do with the message, but I still feel like it was a good point.

In my first book, I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do.

If you read the word began, you have the understanding that it's not done.

Right?

So he's not done.

So in Luke, we read about uh everything that Jesus began to do and teach, and in Acts, we're gonna read about everything that Jesus is still doing and teaching through the church.

Right?

So he's not done teaching and doing, but he's doing it through the church.

And so I want you to recognize that this is carrying on.

So during the 40 days, this is verse 3, during the 40 days after he suffered and died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time.

We don't get like really insight.

How often is that?

Every half hour, every other day, but from time to time, he shows up and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive.

So if you weren't here last week as we wrapped up Luke, we know that one of the ways he proved to them was eating some fish.

You guys got something to eat, boom, they plop down a boiled fish in front of them, and he starts eating as everybody stared awkwardly, right?

I wonder, and I'm curious all the ways, and I hope there's a time in heaven where maybe it won't matter once we get there because we're so enthralled with who God is.

But I'm curious about what are all the ways he decided to show himself, to prove himself.

But I love that he didn't stop with one, but he recognized that there was going to be somebody that might be moved by one way and somebody else moved by another way.

Somebody else is like, oh, you really are him.

You really are risen, you really are alive.

And there might be a different way that he ministered to somebody else.

And I love that God moves like that.

And this is what it says.

Listen, he proved to them.

The word prove in the original language carries this definition undeniable evidence.

I thought that was a banger of a word.

I thought I read that.

Prove, okay, cool.

Undeniable evidence.

I was listening to somebody the other day, and they were talking, they said, listen, in the Western world, we use the Bible to try to prove the existence of God.

In the Near East, in the Mideast, the existence of God is already assumed, right?

So Luke is not trying to prove that God exists.

Everybody in that world knew God exists.

What Luke is proving is that Jesus is the only way to the Father, that Jesus is the prophet, the priest, and the king prophesied from the Old Testament, that he is all those things.

That's what's being proved.

They're not trying to get people to believe that God exists.

No, everybody believes that he exists in that culture, but he's trying to get everybody in that culture to understand this is the one true God.

And he's not mincing words and he's not saying, hey, listen, you you you choose your truth, choose your path.

He's like, no, no, this is the way, the truth, and the life.

Right?

So he's proving to them, and he's giving, check, Jesus is giving this, Jesus is giving undeniable evidence.

If anybody ever tries to press you that you've just got a blind faith, man, I feel like people that say that have a blind eye because they just haven't studied.

They haven't listened.

There are people that will push back.

And check this out.

We know that there's people that encounter Jesus face to face and still didn't believe.

His brother didn't believe until the after the resurrection.

If you live with a person your whole life and they're like, not you.

Could you imagine that conversation?

He's just sitting with James one day.

James like, hey, Jesus, listen.

That's my bad.

Like, how is that awkward conversation?

I was listening you know, you were right there the whole time, and that's on me.

But Jesus gave undeniable evidence, conclusive proof, legal and historic proof.

That's what this word means.

It's so much stronger than simply saying he just gave some signs.

Luke, as we we we we discussed in our last series, is a historian of the highest class and measure.

And he's emphasizing the certainty of the resurrection.

And he didn't just stop in Luke, but now he's giving that certainty.

He's weaving that thread into Acts.

And we we can't you can't leave the certainty behind if you're gonna be able to get into the obedience ahead.

You with me on that?

Your obedience will waver if your certainty ceases.

But if you're certain of who Jesus is, then you won't waver when the storm comes.

Because I promise you it's coming.

Right?

So I'm not gonna waver.

And listen, Luke is just like, he's hammering this over and over and over.

And Jesus is not making it difficult.

He's giving like all these ways.

He's like, I am alive.

Put your fingers in my wounds.

Watch me eat this food.

We talked about last week.

Listen to me eat this food, right?

I am in front of you.

I am alive.

Man, he proved to them.

Make no mistake.

Check this out.

So many of those that witnessed all these evidences, these people that witnessed it, they would eventually be persecuted and even put to death.

Yet the pain came with the joy that they could be identified with Jesus in this way.

They were so certain of who Jesus is that when death was on their doorstep for saying that he is the one way, when they knew that they were going to be persecuted or tortured, they considered it joy that they could be counted worthy to suffer in the name of Jesus.

I think the idea of suffering in that world is maybe different than the idea of suffering we have in our context.

Right?

If my finances get lean for a season, I'm suffering.

If my workplace isn't going just right, I'm suffering.

If there's somebody saying something nasty about me on social media, I'm suffering.

These are people like, I'm not saying that your pain's not real, but sometimes I think we need to step back and check perspective.

And I wonder sometimes if because um everything we deal with is is a lot on the surface, I wonder if sometimes it's not why we live with such deep conviction.

Because what if when you left today you could be losing your life for sharing the gospel with somebody?

Let me ask you this: would you still be desiring to share the good news of Jesus if it would cost you your life?

Would you still be willing to tell somebody that has no hope, hey, there is hope, and his name is Jesus.

And he did live a perfect life and die a death for your sin and for my sin, and he lives now.

And if your life was on the line for that message, would you still share it?

I love that Jesus proves.

Once when he was eating with them, verse 4, he commanded them do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before.

So we know with the Holy Spirit, obedience is necessary.

If you're gonna go and leave and do your own thing, you're gonna miss out on what God has for you.

And so he's giving clear direction, don't leave Jerusalem.

And uh my wife Ashley asked me a good question the other day because we know that Jesus leads him out uh to the ascension to this place.

And she's like, How far was that journey?

And we find out that it's about a half day away, right?

It's it's like point, like it's it's not, he's not left Jerusalem, right?

And so he's like, did he tell him to do one thing and then let them and did a different thing?

No, no, no.

The word is consistent when you understand the context of the of the geography of where they're at.

So he said, Don't leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised.

As I told you before, John baptized with water, but just in a few days, you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Reminder, baptism means what?

Immersion.

Bubbles coming up, right?

You're all the way in it, right?

You're completely soaked.

And so baptism with the Holy Spirit is what?

I'm not asking the Holy Spirit just to come into this one area of my life.

I'm not making room on my plate or on my table to say, okay, Holy Spirit, uh, there's enough room you fit, you fit right here.

I've got workplace, I've got church place, I've got personal life, and Holy Spirit, you come right here.

No, it is an immersion, everything in me is immersed in him.

Everything in me is saturated and soaked in him.

He said, You're gonna receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, right?

That's what we're gonna get to in a moment.

But do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised.

So when the apostles were with Jesus, check this out.

How long had he been spending with them from time to time?

40 days.

He's showing up, he's proven in all these ways that I'm alive, I'm real, I'm in front of you.

Touch me, hug me, listen to me, eat, all these things.

For 40 days he's been there.

And check this out.

So the apostles were with Jesus.

They kept asking, Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?

These guys are still on the political freedom that they're in that moment.

They're like, is now the time that you're gonna punch Rome in the face?

Is now the time that you're gonna give us our city back?

Is now the time that our nation becomes independent again?

And they're still looking after all this time for this momentary political freedom in their life.

And they're not recognizing, still, listen, this gives me such hope because there are some areas of my life I am so slow to understand God.

And God yet doesn't get mad at me, and he didn't get mad at them.

He didn't say, You dummies, I've told you over and over and over that this isn't about just now, this is about eternity.

I'm shifting the kingdom, not just of this world, but of the universe.

There is something new that's happening.

And the disciples are like, is now the time?

Are we gonna overthrow Mormon today?

Right?

This is where they're at.

And he replied, the Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times.

And they are not for you to know.

But you will receive power.

Stop right there.

We're in a culture where people are trying to get power, they're trying to get it either through political means or or however they can in cultural landscape.

They're trying, people want power.

If you don't believe me, slow down, look around and see.

We've got things called homeowners' associations out there, people.

People want power, even if it's over a few houses to tell you what color you can paint your shutters, right?

Sorry, I'm just dealing with some personal stuff in my life right now.

Just put that out.

Jesus loves the HOA, he died for them too.

And so people are just, it's like whatever power they can get.

Have you ever known somebody that maybe got a uh a promotion at work and they were cool one day, but then the next day they're like, who is this person?

You've let the power go to your head.

You're not the same, it's changed you, right?

And so people uh in in the same in this culture that we're in now is in the same that culture, then people are trying to get power.

What does Jesus say?

He doesn't tell them to go get power, he doesn't tell them to create power, he tells them to receive.

You will receive power.

I want to receive what God's got for me, not try to cultivate what I can do in this life.

I don't want to try to I don't try to get and hoard power.

I just want to receive what God's got for me.

Isn't that incredible that He's got power for you that you can receive when the Holy Spirit comes upon you?

This receiving of power, power is what?

It's miraculous enablement from God.

There's a lot of definitions you can go down the path, and I tried to find one that maybe you hadn't heard, but miraculous enablement from God.

And I said it last week, I'm gonna say it again this week so that you understand what I mean by this.

When you are empowered from God, for the believer that's following Jesus, a life that is not supernatural is unnatural.

Okay, I'm gonna say, yeah, because I knew I needed to say that again.

I appreciate the confirmation.

If you're following Jesus and you've been empowered by the Holy Spirit with dunamis, right?

We get the word dynamite.

Every pastor forever that teaches this passage talks about that.

But when we're talking about a miraculous enablement where you can lay hands on the sick and they'll recover, right?

Where you can see like signs, wonders, and miracles.

Like a believer in Jesus, if there is not a supernatural evidence in their life, that life is unnatural.

Believers, it is natural for us.

Here's what's happened is now the people that are living supernatural lives we look at and say, look at those radicals.

They believe when you lay hands on the sick, they're gonna get healed.

That's so crazy.

Ask me if it's not true.

I've heard I've heard I've heard pastors with degrees from seminaries mocking prophetic words.

Jesus still loves them, Jesus still uses them.

But my heart breaks because I'm like, man, they don't know the power they've been given.

They're living a normal life.

Can I tell you something?

This community does not need a church that is normal.

It needs a church that's supernatural.

It needs a church that's like we're gonna function with whatever God's called us to do.

Like we can't trying to trying to keep up with like how big can we make the next show?

How fancy can we?

How can we entertain?

Listen, uh Hope City, it will be about not entertainment, but about saying, God, how may we worship you?

How may we equip the saints, and how may we reach the world.

It is not, check this out.

I'm gonna go back.

We went back to our pillars.

This was several months ago.

We're not flipping it upside down saying, reach people first.

We invite the presence of God before we invite people.

Because when you get fixated with numbers, you'll miss out on the presence of God.

So you could have a full room but no, but no move.

Right?

We talked about this.

You can end up with an altar that's got fog but no fire.

And so we're like, okay, God, how do how do we live supernaturally before you?

And when we say supernatural, we get weirded out by that.

I love, we love, didn't we love reading in Luke, seeing Jesus bring deliverance to people who are demonically possessed?

We're like, I feel uncomfortable about that because I've seen the movies.

You paid money to see a movie to entertain your flesh, but then when you realize that it could actually be real and that God brings deliverance and freedom, now that's weird.

So you've got miraculous enablement from God to do what?

To spread the gospel.

He says, He says, You receive power when the Holy Spirit comes.

Let me just stop real quick and say this.

What do you have to do to receive?

Do you have to work for it?

Do you have to do you have to pay a profit?

If you if you know the amount, let me know and I'll I'm just kidding.

Like, what do you have to do?

It's just receive.

Sometimes we get so complex and complicated about like how do we receive the Holy Spirit?

And Jesus says, if you ask a father for bread, he's not going to give his son a stone.

So, how much is your father in heaven going to give you good things when you ask?

It was said about you that John baptizes with water, but you would come and baptize with spirit and fire.

So immerse me in your spirit.

Holy Spirit, come and completely wash over me.

I receive.

But there takes a heart that's honest and open and vulnerable to say, I want to receive, I want to be obedient.

How do we know the disciples?

How did they receive?

What did they do to receive?

Was there a prayer they prayed?

They just showed up in the room where they were told, Don't leave.

Don't leave Jerusalem.

Okay.

And they're just waiting.

They're like, is today the day?

Is today how long were they there?

This talks about Jesus was with them for 40 days, showing and proving himself.

Also, if you didn't know this, that Jesus doesn't just show up to A few people, but um it is in is it in First Corinthians?

Yeah, 1 Corinthians Paul lets us know that uh Jesus shows up to over 500 people in those 40 days, right?

Probably just mass hallucinations, right?

So Jesus is showing up to all these people, and he says to the disciples, don't leave.

And they're obedient.

The day of Pentecost is what, 50 days after Easter, right?

50 days after.

Jesus has been with them for 40 days.

So if we do our math, how long are they waiting?

10 days.

Good.

All right.

Bring out a bunch of apples and count them.

So so they're so they're waiting for 10 days.

I don't know if if the disciples are impatient as I am.

But if Jesus said, hey, don't leave.

The Father's sending you a gift that's been promised.

I'm auntie.

I listen, I am antsy.

I'm trying to figure it out.

I'm like, hey, I'd be on day three.

I'm like, are you sure?

This is the spot?

We're not missing it, are we?

And there's got to be somebody that pipes up and is like, just be still.

Just let's not leave.

He gave us one direction: don't leave.

And they stayed.

And what happened?

Then they received.

They were obedient and received.

Cool?

All right.

I've got so much more to get through.

Here we go.

Everybody, deep breath.

We're gonna press in.

You receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere.

Telling people about me everywhere.

In Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria into the ends of the earth.

Right there, in that in that sentence, and in that verse, you get the outline for Acts.

In that one verse, you get the whole outline for Acts, right?

You're gonna receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you're gonna be my witnesses telling people about me everywhere in Jerusalem.

So this is where it starts.

And as we read through Acts, we see it go to Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

He's giving you the outline for the whole book that's coming up.

So witnesses, witnesses, witnesses, witnesses.

I'm telling about what I've seen and what I've heard.

Can we just keep it as simple as that?

Jesus, I saw him die, I saw him alive, I saw him ascend, and now I've received the Holy Spirit.

And now I'm sharing to this world the gospel, the good news that he is the fulfillment of all those prophecies, right?

Check this out.

I want to push you right now to believe big.

If Luke was about certainty, then Acts is gonna be about risk.

Okay?

So I'm gonna push you this morning to start risking something, start risking truth or start risking belief that the word is true.

So check this out.

I'm gonna push you a little bit.

In Ephesians chapter 2, verse 17.

Ephesians 2:17

It won't be on your screen, but just listen to this.

Ephesians 2, verse 17 says, He, this is talking about Jesus, he, another version said, He himself, he himself brought this good news of peace to you Gentiles who were far from him, and peace to the Jews who were near.

Ephesians 2:17

Paul's writing a letter to the Ephesians.

Where is the church in Ephesus?

It's in Asia Minor.

There's a problem.

Did Jesus ever go to Asia Minor?

No.

So this is a weird verse.

I'm gonna jump ahead to Ephesians chapter 4, verse 20 through 21.

Ephesians 4:20–21

This is what it says.

But that isn't what you learned about Christ.

He's talking to the people since Paul's writing to the church.

Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.

So it says in verse 21, since you have heard about Jesus, since you have heard about Jesus, this is again, it's in Ephesians 40, excuse me, Ephesians 4, verse 21.

Ephesians 4:21

Since you have heard about Jesus, translators are doing something tricky here because they don't feel like if you get the right translation, that maybe it won't comprehend smoothly.

In the the original Greek, it does not say you have heard about Jesus.

It says you heard Jesus.

This is significant.

It doesn't say you've heard about Jesus, it says you heard Jesus.

How did they hear Jesus?

Well, the apostles showed up and preached the good news, and the people heard, and then they were converted.

How were they converted?

They heard the preaching of who?

The apostles.

How did they hear it?

It was Jesus speaking to them.

They didn't, it doesn't say they heard apostles, they heard Jesus.

When you are a witness to this world, empowered by the Holy Spirit, can I tell you something?

When you speak to somebody, come and do it with humility, but also do it with authority, because as you speak, it is as if Jesus is speaking to the soul of that person, to the life of that person.

Could you let that weight hit you?

We get nervous to share the gospel with people.

He wants to talk to people in your life.

If you would open your mouth, he can talk to them.

He can tell them hope.

He can tell them truth.

He can tell them redemption.

He wants to speak.

We need to move our mouth so that he can.

You with me on that?

There's something I want to challenge our church with in taking risk that as we go through Acts, we would risk to believe that this stuff is true.

That if I am empowered to be a witness, then my witness will be supernatural.

And it won't just come with signs and wonders, but will come with the authority of his voice into the lives of others.

That they would be changed for eternity.

It doesn't come with my fancy words.

It's not about how eloquent I am.

It's not about how cool I can look or how much I can connect.

It's about the authority from heaven that there is a lost son, a lost daughter, and the king wants his son and daughter to come home.

When you tell someone about Jesus Christ, they hear the voice of Christ through you.

Please don't forget that.

Witness, the Greek word for witness is uh martyris, which is where we get the word martyr, right?

These people were witnessing so much that now they're dying for what they're witnessing about.

And that word witness becomes so anonymous with death, we now use the word martyr for witnesses that died.

Right?

It's like that's how they're not backing off, they're not backing down, but they're letting the voice of Jesus speak in their culture and in their world.

I've got so much to get through.

Here we go.

After saying this verse nine, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching and they could no longer see him.

As they strained, I love this language, as they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white robed men suddenly stood among them.

Last night I was uh I was about to um uh take this pill and I couldn't remember do I take two or I take one.

And I didn't have my glasses.

And bro, this is written in like a number one font, right?

Like I I could see the bottle, I could tell I was holding a bottle.

But but but I couldn't tell what was written there.

It was just all just this blur.

I'm like, I'm trying everything.

I'm like, squeeze my I'm changing.

Have you ever tried to change the lighting to change your eyesight?

It's like if I could just get more light, my eyes would would actually focus.

And I couldn't see.

I'm like straining, I can't do it.

And I'm thinking about the disciples.

Are they out there like trying to get a different perspective?

Are they doing the hand over the eyes thing?

What are they doing?

They're focusing, like they gotta be tripping out because Jesus, like he told us he was gonna do this, but this is crazy, right?

This is like these going, a bird flies by him, right?

Could you imagine?

I don't know if that really happened, but wouldn't that be cool?

Like some duck is like, oh my gosh, are you supposed to be up here and just right by him?

And he's just going straining and straining, and then two guys in white robes are like boom boom.

Guys, why are you standing here staring into heaven?

Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go.

I love the continuity of the Bible that angels were there when Jesus shows up at birth, and angels are there when he leaves.

I love the continuity of scripture.

How incredible that is.

We celebrate in the church, we do really good with celebrating um Christmas.

Give us them presents, baby.

Like we love decorating all the things, like we get the trees up and the garland and the lights and the hot chocolate and all the stuff, or you know, like cider if you're bougie and nobody's mocking you.

And so, like all the things, and we love we love the Christmas season.

We're celebrating the birth of Christ, right?

And you get the nativity scenes out there, even though they're false gospel, and I'm just kidding with you.

But it's fun.

You get the nativity scene out there, you got all the stuff, and you're like, man, we love Christmas.

And then Easter is coming, and we get amped up for Easter, and you know what we get uh amped up for?

It's Good Friday, because that's when the sacrifice is made, right?

And there's Good Friday, and we come with a with a uh um just a sincere heart in that moment.

And then there's a heart that celebrates on Easter morning that the tomb is empty, and we we are all about it, and then you know what we don't talk about at all?

The ascension.

There's a guy named Tim Keller that talks about, he says, it if Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter is all the things that Jesus was beginning to do in the world to change it, then the ascension is the detonator.

He was until that point, Jesus was showing up in one place at a time.

But he ascends to heaven, sends the Holy Spirit.

Now, where is Jesus showing up?

Everywhere.

Everywhere.

The ascension changes everything, right?

Like he could have not told the guys that he was going.

But he he lets them know, check this out.

Maybe you forget about this.

In John chapter 20, verse 17, he's talking to Mary.

John 20:17

He says, Don't cling to me, Jesus said, for I haven't yet ascended to the Father, but go find my brothers and tell them, I am ascending to my father and your father to my God and your God.

Luke 9, can you remember all the way back to Luke 9?

That was like in 1978 when we went through that.

Luke 9, verse 51 says, When the days were approaching for his ascension, he was determined to go to Jerusalem.

Luke 9:51

Ascension was the plan.

His leaving marked, check this out, his leaving marks the anticipation.

That's not the word.

Anticipation, thank you, wife, of his return.

Man, that would have sounded so much cooler if I just said it clean.

Right?

So, but his leaving, his ascension marks the moment we begin to anticipate his return.

How do we begin doing that?

By being obedient.

If I don't think he's coming back, I'm not going to be obedient and diligent with what he's asked me to do.

So I would push this at you right now.

When you look around at the church, does it look like a church that believes he's coming back or has forgotten that he is?

Because if you know that he is, then there's a determination in your heart when you wake up in the morning to say, it could be today, it could be tomorrow.

I better live on mission the way he's asked me to.

I better live with purpose the way he's called me to, designed me to, created me to.

That you live in this world right now, because God designed you to be alive right now in Virginia, right now in 2026.

Here you sit, here you are.

Why?

Because God could have put you anywhere in history, but he's got you right here, right now.

And he's not an accidental God.

So you're here with purpose, you're here with intent, but when you forget that he's coming back, you won't live like it.

We look forward to his return by fully investing our lives and informing our world that he has come and that he is coming again.

He ascended, right?

Check this out.

The ascension is so critical.

In Acts 7, I'm going to give you a sneak peek into Acts.

There's a guy named Stephen.

He's been preaching the gospel.

People are mad at him.

He's on his way to being martyred.

But this is what he says in verse 55 of Acts 7.

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven.

Check this out, and saw the glory of God.

And he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God's right hand.

And he told them, Look, I see the heavens open.

And the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God's right hand.

What does it mean?

Where did where did where did Jesus ascend to?

To heaven.

Not the heavens.

There was uh a Russian, I guess it's called cosmonaut, right?

The first one that circled the world.

He's like, I I I saw the heavens and God was not there.

Well, yeah, because he didn't say that's where he was going.

Right?

So we don't think that like Jesus is out there floating somewhere around like Jupiter.

Right?

Like he's just like, he's just somewhere out there, big universe.

He's just floating around.

No, no, no, no.

He went to heaven and he's sitting at the right hand of the Father.

Ephesians chapter 1, verse 20 says Christ is at his right hand, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion.

Ephesians 1:20

And read that one more time.

Christ is at the right hand of the Father, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion.

If he's at the right hand, then he is fully in his what?

His kingship.

What is he king over?

He's king over his kingdom.

So we, when we pray, God, not my kingdom, it's your kingdom.

Let your kingdom come, let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

I want your kingdom to invade the life that I live on earth.

I want to live my life in alignment with your kingdom, not the kingdom of this world.

Because you're in charge of this kingdom.

I get stressed out when I get nervous about who's in charge of the kingdom of this world.

I find peace when I live in the kingdom that is his because I know he's in charge.

I know he's in control.

I know when it's all said and done, even if I am martyred, I end up bringing glory to his name, living forever in his presence.

What happens when I'm in his kingdom?

Fear's not in his kingdom, shame's not in his kingdom, anxiety's not in his kingdom.

You with me on that?

So if he's at the right hand, what does that mean for me?

I get to live either in submission to him or in rejection of his authority.

There's not an in-between.

There are no neutral nations in the kingdom.

Either you're in submission to his kingdom or you're in rejection of it.

So not just in submission of I'm not going to do bad things, but in submission saying, I'm going to do what you've asked me to do.

This could be the biggest place the church needs to repent, is that we've not been obedient to the calling to make disciples and go into all the world.

The greatest place of repentance in the church might be repenting for not being obedient to walk into the Great Commission.

Where is your Great Commission?

It's wherever you're going to be later today.

It's wherever you're going to find yourself tomorrow.

It's whatever your workplace looks like, your home looks like, your community looks like.

That's where the Great Commission goes.

Christ's ascension, the second thing.

Ashley, would you come up for me?

He ascends, he's sitting at the right hand of the Father.

That he is sitting at the right hand of the Father.

Why is that important?

That's a great question.

I'm glad you all asked.

Scripture will tell us that day after day after day, the priests in the temple, they would make sacrifice after sacrifice after sacrifice after sacrifice after sacrifice after sacrifice.

You get in it after sacrifice after sacrifice.

Day after day, the priests of old, they would they would make sacrifice day after day after day for the sins of the people.

But our high priest, Jesus, made one sacrifice for all time.

And then what does he do?

He sits down.

Him sitting at the right hand of the Father is a revelation that the atonement for my sin and for your sin is intact.

That the redemption for your life and my life is intact.

This is what the priest does.

He's at the right hand of the Father, who indeed is interceding for us.

It says Jesus is interceding for us.

What does that mean?

He's the go-between of any accusation that would come up and say, Yeah, but there's sin in Adam's life, or there's sin in Joy's life, or there's sin in Brian's life.

And Jesus is like, no, no, no, no.

Look at the scars.

I paid.

The price is paid in full.

As Jesus looks at you, he looks at you through the beauty of the perfection of Jesus.

That's what your high priest is doing right now in heaven.

The ascension, when you forget about it, you'll live in shame because you forget that God is seeing you through the perfection of Jesus.

He's not seeing you through the faults and flaws and mess-ups and screw ups of your life.

He's seeing you through the perfection.

We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

But I'm so worried about my past.

I'm so worried about what I've done.

When you're so worried about all those things, you cannot walk into the fullness of what He's got ahead of you because you're spending your effort maintaining the past that's behind you.

You're trying to earn more forgiveness, you're trying to earn more whatever.

If you are a follower of Jesus, and if you're not, I want you to hear me clear because the Bible says the wages of sin is death.

Death is eternal separation from God.

Sin is a term that means artery.

Every time you shoot, you miss the mark.

We have all shot in our life, every single person that's breathing has shot and missed the mark.

For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

So we needed Jesus to come shoot, hit the bullseye, pay the price for us.

If you've prayed that prayer, when shame begins to creep in, don't not think about the shame.

Run to Jesus.

Jesus, you're my high priest.

You paid the, you're sitting if you could close your eyes and just say, God, give me a glimpse of what it looks like.

Father, give me a glimpse of what it looks like.

Because your son is sitting next to you with full authority, full power, full honor, fully holy.

He's the high priest that paid the price for every sin in your life.

And now you stand before the throne, and the God for the Father looks through Jesus and sees you pure, holy, made righteous.

Can you risk to believe that?

Man, I hope this is hitting.

And um I couldn't not think about my life.

I know I'm about to tell you guys, like, hey, don't let shame have a place.

And I'm like, Joey.

But you're dealing with shame.

Right.

Joey, you still failed.

Right, you know, like this in my mind, I'm like, how am I?

I need to deal with this stuff too.

I had this thought.

I was not worthy of dying for until Jesus died for me.

I wasn't worthy of dying for.

I would have done that.

I wasn't worthy of that until Jesus declared my worth by dying for me.

Jesus declares your worth.

Listen, in this room right now, I don't know what you've gone through in your life.

But Jesus declares your worth by having died for you.

He loved you so much.

He's like, man, this is the worth I place on your life.

I don't know what your parents spoke into your life.

I don't know what people that have been angry at you.

I don't know what your enemies have spoken to your life.

But they don't get to set the value of your life.

Jesus has already done that.

He declared your life was worthy of his death.

So as we live with this understanding, I want to push you.

And maybe you could write this down, and you don't have to do it now, but maybe later.

What am I willing to risk?

If I'm going to believe that Jesus was real, that he was the Son of God, and that he died for me, and he rose again, and then he ascended to heaven, and he sent his Holy Spirit.

If I'm going to believe all that, then what am I willing to risk?

Am I willing to risk that as I read and as we study through this, that this is true, and that the Holy Spirit wasn't just working then, but he's working today?

That the acts of the apostles have not stopped, but they continue even now.

That you are in fact still today a royal priesthood and a holy nation, and you can minister not only to one another, but minister to your world.

That we are not a church that's been endowed and gifted with signs, wonders, and miracles so that we can come together week after week, the same group of people, not changing and just curating a personalized experience for one of us.

I've grown up in a Pentecostal background.

I've been to those churches.

Not all of them are like that, but I've been to places where they want a small group that can be a curated experience just for themselves.

No, no, no, no.

The Holy Spirit has called us to go into the world.

Then healings will happen here, but they will and must happen there.

And it's gonna go in unsavory places.

I was talking to a friend, this was a week and a half ago, I was talking to a friend, and he had just gone to a college campus that while school was out, they were they were they they used this, whatever it's called, the rotunda or something like that.

And there was this a huge uh LGBTQ festival.

And he's showing up and he's like, I just want to find people and love people and let them know that Jesus loves them.

I'm trying to find Theophilus.

And so he he walks up and he's telling me the story.

Oh, you guys remember Nick.

Nick was here.

This was Nick telling me this story.

It's a couple weeks ago, a couple months ago that he was here.

So, anyways, Nick's like, um, he's walking around and he walks next to this uh trans man wearing a dress, and he's like, Hey, I really like your dress.

Just trying to find a way to start a conversation.

I was like, Nick, that thought never would have occurred to me ever.

Right?

Like, what a what a great end to a conversation.

So, hey, cool dress.

And just starts talking to him, finding out what's going on.

And uh his wife is is is they've got this like, you know, um, not tent, but you know, tent, I guess.

And his wife is sitting in there because her knee is in such pain she can't stand.

And Nick's like, man, that's I am so sorry to hear that.

He's like, Do you know what?

He's like, I believe that there's a guy named Jesus who died for us, and in fact, he paid a price that we could be healed.

And and I get to in my life, I get to go around and pray for people, and I've seen so many people get healed.

Could I pray over your knee right now?

He just knelt down in this tent and he began praying.

And as he prayed, he said, Joey, I can't tell you how the presence of God showed up.

You just felt it like a blanket just and all of her knee pain went away.

And then she's crying, and I'm crying, and God has encountered us in this moment, and the love of Jesus has encountered her.

There's places that we are called to go that might make you nervous.

But God's not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind.

Amen.

He might call you to talk to people that you don't know how to talk to.

How do you start a conversation?

What is it gonna look like?

What are you gonna say?

I don't know, but you need to know when you start talking, they're hearing Jesus.

In the same way that Jesus loved you, you need to love them.

Because they're so valuable that Jesus died for them.

So may we treat people that don't know him yet in that way.

And may we do it with a conviction.

And listen, I'm gonna ask right now, I was gonna wait till next Sunday.

But right now, if you if you're not sure, like, man, have I ever been filled with the Holy Spirit?

Have I ever lived in that promise that Jesus said, stay put to the disciples, I'm gonna, the Father's gonna send the Holy Spirit.

And you're gonna receive power.

If you're uncertain in this right now, I would just encourage you.

Ask yourself, do I want the gifts that God has for me?

And if you do, this is a gift he has for you.

And we're gonna dive through as we go through Acts into the gifts of the Spirit.

We're gonna dive through and go through what the Holy Spirit looks like moving in our lives and through our lives.

But could you just today say, God, I'm asking for the gifts you have for me.

And I position myself.

I'm ready not to earn, but to receive your Holy Spirit.

I'm ready to receive.

If that's you, just say, God, I'm ready to receive.

Holy Spirit, I thank you that you would just move in this place right now.

Jesus, I thank you that your word says that you baptize with spirit and fire.

So baptize these your sons and daughters with spirit and fire in this place right now.

I thank you it'd be a fire that doesn't know about boundary lines.

It's a fire that doesn't just burn in the walls of a church, but it's a fire that goes into the world.

It's a fire that finds its way into schools, it's a fire that finds its way into families, it's a fire that finds its way into workplaces, it's a fire that finds its way into government, it's a fire that finds its place into the arts, it's a fire that finds its place all over this world.

And that your presence and your kingdom would flow, that your redemption would be known.

Lord, that we would be able to be your hands, your feet, and literally your voice to let people know that they can repent and be forgiven.

Thank you for that.

And Lord, I just want to pray right now, if there's anybody in this room, God, that you would just stir their heart, that if they don't know you like that, I want to encourage you today, church, if you've here and you don't know Jesus like that, you don't know him as Savior, you don't know him as King, he's not trying to be the co-pilot in your car.

You just need to hand him the wheel.

If that's you, I just want to encourage you right now to pray this prayer.

And family, let's pray it together.

Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God, that you died for my sins, you paid the price, paid it in full so that I could be free.

No shame, no guilt.

Thank you for dying for me.

I receive your forgiveness.

I receive your love.

Be my Lord, be my king, be my high priest.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.