Your Mission Has a Deadline | Acts 1 Sermon

Acts1 esv2 50p bg 10p music 10p: We all have a name. Or a face. One that you don't really have to think about. When when the topic comes up, you know the name. It's that person who you really want to see come to faith in Christ. You have a name. Maybe it's a sibling. Maybe it's a parent. Co worker? A friend? We all have the name. And you've had the conversation a hundred times in your head, you know how you're gonna start it. You know how the conversation needs to go and you think about it. You've even got the first line ready. You know what you're gonna say. You just haven't started it yet. It's not the right time. gonna make things awkward at Thanksgiving this year. But they already know I'm a believer, that's enough, right? So you tell yourself maybe next time, maybe later, maybe down the road. But here's what nobody tells us about that. You can't schedule when the next time's gonna be. You can't say, I'm gonna speak to them later. Because you don't know. You don't know what the next time looks like if there will be a next time. All you know is that there's a deadline. There's not a fixed date, but there is a deadline. And that's what we're going to talk about today as we open up the book of Acts. The book of Acts is telling us the story of the early church, and we You you've already seen you're going to see some stories from our people over the course of this series. We opened up with Joy's testimony this morning. You also see all of you should have one of these folders at your seat. This folder is so you can follow along so that you've got some notes that you can actually take home and study further with. I was told I didn't get all the blanks correct in the first one, so I'll try to get them right in the second one. We'll see how it goes. If not, come see me and I'll help you out. Do me a favor as you pick your folder up though. I know you all. And I know I'm gonna find these everywhere. write your name inside the front cover. So when I do find it, we can get it back to you. So just write it somewhere in there so we know where to look. And bring it back with you each week. You'll have a new sheet that goes in each week. Yes, sir. it's would you hand him one Havila? Yeah. When you're in the s second row, they're in the seat pockets, but you're not, so So bring those back with you so you can follow along as we dig into this. We're gonna spend the next 30 weeks or so with a break. So it'd actually be a little bit longer than that, but we're gonna walk through the book of Acts in 30 weeks. And the whole core of what we're gonna talk about is this Acts 1.8. It's our core verse. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. That theme runs all throughout the book of Acts. The book of Acts, known as the Acts of the Apostles, should probably be more termed, as most pastors will tell you, the Acts of the Holy Spirit. But maybe it should be the Acts of the Apostles and the work the Holy Spirit did in them. This is the story of how the church began, the very beginning of it all. In verse 1, it says, In the first book, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and to teach. In the first book, he says, this book was written by Luke. Luke, the doctor, the friend and companion of Paul, wrote this letter or this account to a man named Theophilus. And he says, In the first book, I dealt with everything Jesus began to do and to teach. He says began because it's not over. Jesus is still at work. And Luke says in the first book, I told you about the first things. You remember what the first book is. Maybe if you were here last week, Craig kind of shared with us the prequel to the book of Acts. That would be the book of Luke, the gospel of Luke. So Acts is volume two. It's the same author, it's Luke. Telling the same story about the same Savior and how he's now working through the church. As you get to the end of this book. In chapter 28, as we've now walked, as we'll walk through this together, through the calling of the Apostle Paul, the missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul, it gets to the end, and Paul is still, it says, preaching with all boldness and without hindrance. That last word, unhindered. Luke never tells us how Paul's story ends because it's not over. It was not over when he finished the book. Paul's story would end with his death for the gospel. It stops mid stride here. And honestly, the mission is not over. They've all gone before us, but we are still on the mission. Luke finished this book, his two volumes, but Jesus has not finished the mission. He is still at work. He is still using his church, you, to go about what he's called you to be here and to do. This book is bookended. At the very beginning, there's 120 people gathered together in this upper room. That was the church at the time. Think about that for a moment. The church existed in 120 people, about the size of what we have here on a typical Sunday morning. Usually we have 120 to 150, 60 people here. This was the size of the early church. The very beginning. And then we're meeting. in a borrowed room in this upper room and and then you get to the middle to to verse chapter seventeen and it says these men have turned the world upside down. That's the story we're going through. These men, these women, these early church leaders, they turn the world upside down. It goes from 120 people gathered in a room to a worldwide movement in the course of 17 chapters. And it all begins right here. That's the whole series. That's what we're going to talk about for the next 30 weeks. 120 people, then the world. So let's pick up in chapter or v chapter one, verse three. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during the forty days, or during forty days, and speaking about the kingdom of God, and while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, You heard from me. For John, baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now. Six weeks earlier, they were watching him die. Craig talked about that some last week. Six weeks earlier, they watched him go to a cross and they watched him die. Some of them ran. One of them, who we'll see his story more in this book, Peter, cursed him, denied him. But then here he is, he walks into the room. And he's showing them proof. Maybe you remember Craig's message last week. He talked about the proof when he first came back. They had a breakfast on a beach. Some broiled fish. Who eats fish for breakfast, by the way? Anybody do that? Kind of a weird thing. You do it? Okay. I eat. And for breakfast? I've never had fish for breakfast. I'm more of a chicken or a sausage kind of guy, but whatever. he was having fish for breakfast, gathered with his disciples. Do you remember the significance of the broiled fish? Craig shared it last week. It's pretty important. Showing he was human. The fish itself really had no significance, but it was showing he's alive. Because ghosts don't eat. He was showing proof. And this, as Luke is talking about this here, he says he showed many proofs. Breakfast on the beach. He appeared to 500 people at one time. We read about that in 1 Corinthians. Hallucinations, they don't happen to 500 people all at the same time. He was proving he was who he says he was. He presented himself alive to them after his sufferings by many proofs. That's one of your blanks. Many proofs. And what can we learn from that? You don't have to check your brain at the door to follow Jesus. You don't have to check your doubts at the door to come to faith. Your faith comes on an event and there is evidence of it. But if you have questions, bring your questions and don't be ashamed to bring them. Questions are okay. Questions are actually good. Because under the weight of those questions, the truth of the gospel always holds. So bring the questions. And look for the evidence. Take them to scripture. Bring them to your leaders in the church. Bring the questions. Why does it matter for the mission that Christ is putting us on? Because we need to know that the one who's giving out the assignment, he is alive. He is not dead. He is seated at the right hand of the Father on his throne right now. He is alive. This is not a fan club for a dead teacher. We are following the one true living God, the only answer. He is living today. And he doesn't send them out on their own strength. He sends them out, this is one of your blanks, he sends them out in power. The same power that you are filled with. He sends us out on mission, on assignment, in power, not expecting you to do it on your own. He told them to go and to wait, to wait on the coming of the Spirit. And I want be clear, you don't have to wait. The Spirit came on the day of Pentecost. We don't wait for a second baptism. We receive it when we receive Christ and surrender to Christ as our Savior. You are indwelt in the power of the Spirit in the moment. If you belong to Christ, according to Romans 8, 9, you already have him. You're not waiting. You're not waiting on anything. You are empowered to do what he called you to do right now. Verse six. So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, It's not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. But let's look at what's going on here. They're at the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem down below them. Forty days. Forty days of a resurrected Savior who's appeared to them, who has walked with them, who's ate meals with them. Forty days. The king is there. And their question, at this time, are you going to restore the kingdom? In that we see a motive that they had. Can we finally get what we want? You see, they were under the understanding that the Messiah was going to come and restore Israel's kingdom, that he was going to be a warrior, that he was going to overthrow the oppressive government that they were under. And they're saying, Are you finally going to do this now? Can we finally get what we want? They're asking him, Is this the date? Is this when it's going to happen? That's one of your blanks. They want a date. We do the same thing. We bring our timeline to Jesus and say, Jesus, I need this, I want this, I know you want me to do something. Here, I'm gonna do it this way. Can we do it in this time? Can you work within this time frame? We ask him to sign off on the way we want it to be done, but that's not how Jesus works. He works on his own timeline and his own power, not on what we're telling him to do. The win. When it happens, it belongs to the Father, not to you. Jesus refuses to be restricted by a calendar, he does not give a date, but he does give a deadline. And here's what I want you to know, church. I want you to know this is why this series is so important. Time is short. You are one day closer than you were yesterday. To Jesus returning or to the end of your life? Time is short. And he's put you on a mission. Time is short, are you taking the mission seriously? Thomas Short. It says it's not for you to know the seasons, the times, that the Father has fixed. Time is short. Instead of a date, he gives them an assignment. He says, You will have power and it will be for a reason, for a purpose. You will be my witnesses. Your blanks, assignment and witnesses. He doesn't say, go do some witnessing. He doesn't say get a program together and go knock on some doors. Go do some man-on-the-street interviews. He says, you are a witness. That is, that's not a thing you do. That is an identity of who you are. It's not a program. You are a witness to what God is doing in this world. He says, You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem. For us, our Jerusalem would be Kodak. Your neighborhood, your jobs, your schools. You are a witness in this community. Kind of witness are you? Are you a witness to Christ? Are you a witness to other things? He says, You will be my witnesses in Judea for us. That is our region, Severe County, Jefferson County, East Knox County, East Tennessee. We are to be witnesses in our region. We are not to be secluded behind four walls on a Sunday. We are to be witnesses every single day. It's not a church program, it's who you are. You are his witnesses. He says, Be my witnesses in Samaria. Maybe you remember the relationship between the Jews and the Samaritans. Not a good thing. They hated each other. Jesus says, be my witnesses in Samaria. That's the person you don't really want to reach out to. That's the person who you got a grudge against. That's the person whose politics are on a total opposite spectrum, whose lifestyle is totally different than yours. That's the person who you think, I don't even know if my church would accept them. Jesus will. And this church will too. That's the family member you want to avoid. We all got one of those, right? Not Dalen, my sister. Then he says to the end of the earth. That's everybody else. That's every nation, every tribe, every tongue. We are to be witnesses. And you live in a generation where it could never, it's never been this easy to be a witness to the end of the earth. You can go get on an airplane this afternoon and be wherever you want to go. Or you could get on your social media feed. Reach the globe with a click. So my question is, if somebody was to look at your social media feed, do they even know you're a Christian or do they just know the music you like, the recipes you cook, the places you've been? Use the tools you have to be witnesses. Witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. It has never been easier, church, and you are running out of time. He says, my witnesses. What does a witness do? A witness points to a truth. And as we are witnesses, we point to Jesus. We don't point to a church. We don't point to a denomination. We point to Jesus. That means if you say, I've done my job, I invited so and so to church, that's not witnessing. That's outreach. That's not witnessing. Do they know why you love Jesus? Do they see any difference in you? That is what God is calling us to. Now, if you're sitting there and you're getting uncomfortable thinking, well, I can't do that, okay, then take that step. Invite them to church. We will be happy to share the gospel with them. That's what you're called to do. Be my witnesses. They asked Jesus for a date. He gave him a deadline. You've got the same one. Verse nine. When he said these things as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. Now put yourself in that scene for a moment. You've already seen him die. You've seen him resurrected from the dead. Now you've been hanging out with him for 40 days. You're talking to him, and all of a sudden, he's flying. Being lifted up on a cloud into the sky is what it says. What would your response be? Probably what theirs was. At this point they believe. In verse ten, while they were gazing into the heaven as he went. That's probably what I'd do. Just kind of like did you see that? That's crazy. It's crazy. And it's true. It happened. It says they were gazing into heaven as he went. Behold, gets crazier. Two men stood beh beside them. In white robes. They weren't there a second ago. Now they're there. And they said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. They're standing at the Mount of Olives. And he's taken up. What would you do? They're looking on, shocked. Eleven guys. It's eleven because you know what happened to the twelfth, right? A guy named Judas who was never part of them. He betrayed him. Eleven guys with their necks craned, they're probably squinting, just seeing, is he still there? Probably wanting him to come back. Nobody moves, nobody talks. How long would you stand there? Ten seconds, ten minutes. They stood there until d two dudes showed up standing next to Why are you standing here looking in the heavens? Heaven's message in that moment is stop standing still. You've got work to do. Get about the mission. Go do what you've been called to do. They said, This Jesus, He's coming back. He's coming in the same way you saw him go. It's not a maybe. He's coming back. We don't know when. But he's coming back. His return is certain. It's one of your blanks. His return is certain. He is coming back. We don't know when. I believe we are close. But so has every pastor who came before me. For 2,000 years, every pastor stood up in front of a congregation and said, He's coming back soon. I think he is. But if I'm wrong, I still know I'm a day closer than I was yesterday. And I still know my life is a day shorter than it was yesterday. I still know that time is running out. Whether he comes in my lifetime or not, it doesn't matter. He's coming. The same Jesus. The same body, the same person. The day may be hidden, but the fact that he's coming is not. We don't know when, but he is coming. Eleven men staring at the sky. Some of you've been doing it for years. Waiting. And not moving. Verse twelve. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem. The Sabbath day's journey away. Why does he say a Sabbath day's journey? Sabbath day's journey was about two-thirds of a mile or so. They said it at that because the priest said, if you walk further than that, well, then you're working and you broke the Sabbath. It's just kind of a law that they put on top of the law to make sure you weren't working. They walked a Sabbath day's journey back to Jerusalem. When they had entered, They went up to the upper room where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, the son of Alphaus, and Simon the zealot, and Judas, not that Judas, this is a different one, the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer together with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. They returned to Jerusalem. They went back to the city where their rabbi was killed six weeks ago. The first act of obedience, they ran back to the danger. They didn't say maybe another time we'll wait till things calm down. They were obedient. And they went right back to where they were called to go. And they were in an upper room, a borrowed room. Peter, John, James, Andrew, all of them. They ran away on that Friday. Here they are, six weeks later, in this room of one accord. That means they're together, united. says his brothers were there. These were the brothers who said he's crazy. Well now they've seen enough proof and they're there. They're praying in the room. James is there. We know the story of James. We went through his letter a few months ago. He's there. All of those with one accord devoting themselves to prayer. It was an urgent mission, but it didn't lead to panic. It led to them being obedient. They obeyed. It's one of your blanks. And they prayed. And they did it together. As a body of believers, they gathered together in obedience and they prayed. What's your prayer life look like? Is your prayer basically Lord bless this meal or protect me today or give me this? Or is it Lord use me? Come soon, Jesus. Is it lifting up that name who who's been there? Who you know they need hope? Is it lifting up them, Lord, just open a door? Give me an opportunity. They obeyed and they prayed together. Church, we are on one mission together. We must be obedient together. We must pray together. Time is short. There is a deadline, but the deadline did not make them frantic. It made them faithful. They took it serious. And they got about the work. They didn't know a date. They knew there was a deadline. At this point, they're in the room, hundred and twenty people. Down a man. Judas in there. And the rest of that chapter it tells us How they replaced Judas. See, Judas was never really a follower of Christ. So they replaced him with someone who was. Judas was replaced with a guy named Matthias, restored to the twelve apostles before the Pentecost, before the Spirit came. The mission was not at risk because of a betrayal. One of their own betrayed them, it did not risk the mission. God is still sovereign. Time is short. You don't go witnessing. It's not a program, it's who you are. You will be my witnesses, he says. That's who Jesus says you are. And some of you, you believe every word of this. You've been in church for years. But you've never once been the reason someone met Jesus. You will be my witnesses. You're not a bad person. I was in church for years before I ever shared the gospel. Your spectator. Still staring at the sky. Waiting on some clear answer. His answer is, You are my witnesses. You are on mission. Love God, love people, make disciples. That's what it is. To be a witness is to fall in love with God and to love his people enough to go and make disciples. You are on mission. And I know this, every single one of us when we walk out those doors, we are one hour closer to his return than when you walked in. Time is short. Years ago I had a friend, the guy I worked with, loved him. Younger than me, didn't love that part. He was the funniest guy in the room. He just lit it up when he'd walk in. He'd come in, all of us were just like, hey, Don's here. We loved him. Don, he he lived for the good life. He liked fast cars and he liked a full bank account and he had it all. We had dead time during our work day, we just kinda hang out, or maybe we were on break and we talk about life, get to know each other a lot. And he told me he was raised a Baptist, but he married a Catholic. He said, I'm kind of stuck in the middle. That's where it always stops. I was young. I wasn't very confident in how to share my faith. But he knew I was a believer. He knew that I wanted to be in ministry someday. So I just kinda said maybe later. Put it on the back burner. Well, we talked about church, but we never talked about a relationship with Jesus. What it really looked like. After a couple of years I changed jobs. We lost touch. I didn't talk to him a whole lot after that. Occasionally, this was like if you did text, it was back when you had to like do it on like the number thing, you know, and it would take an hour and a half to send a text. So we would have a phone call every once in a while. We never exchange texts. Then I got a call from a friend, mutual friend of ours. We worked together. Dawn was gone. Young guy. A tragic, crazy accident. Nothing he did wrong. It was just an accident. I was in shock. Hadn't talked to him in a while, but still, we had been close. I don't know what happened after Don and I lost touch. I don't know if he ever surrendered to the Lord. I have no idea. I waited. And now I don't know. I also know that I'm not responsible for his salvation, for his eternity. God's sovereign. But I know God gave me an assignment. He gave me an opportunity. And I chickened out. Now I don't know. You still have time. That name, that face, if they are still alive, you still have time. But I don't know how much a neither do you. Time is running running out. Be about the mission. We don't have a date, but we do have a deadline, and that's when Jesus returns. We have to take the assignment seriously. It is the difference between life and death. Who's the name? Back at Sacred Assembly in January, if you were with us, you wrote down a name. Have you even started a conversation with that person? Have you prayed for opportunities, open doors? Or did you write it down? Say maybe later. And forget about it. I don't know if you'll have tomorrow. But I know you're closer to the end than you were yesterday. Either your life's gonna end, you're out of time, or Jesus is coming back and you're out of time. But one way or another, time is going to run out. Are you about the mission? In your handouts, you'll see a box on the back page back flip side of the page down at the bottom. It's just a reminder of who is the one. What's the name you've been praying for? And if you weren't with us at Sacred Assembly, what's the name in your head right now? What's that face that you see? Write it down. And here's my challenge to you this week. Pray for that person every single day. Ask for an opportunity to share the Lord with them. Be a witness doesn't have to be a program. It doesn't have to be some formal thing where you sit down and walk through a plan of salvation. It is Jesus did this for me. This is the hope you can have. And this is how you can get it. Be a witness. What has he done for you? That is your story. Tell somebody about it. Time is short. As we close, we're gonna ask the band to make their way back up. And as they come. Maybe you need to come up here, just an act of worship, an act of surrender. Come to the altar, pray for the name. God, would you give me an opportunity? Would you open a door? Would you soften their heart? Would you give me courage? Who's the name? Maybe you're in here and you you don't know Jesus anyways. He's not yours. You don't have a relationship with him. Jesus says, Scripture says you are a sinner, every single one of us. And that means the penalty of that, according to the Bible, is we are sentenced to death in hell, away from God forever. But Jesus. The Bible says that God loved you so much. He wanted a relationship with you so much. That he sent a solution. His name was Jesus, his Son, God in the flesh. And he sacrificed him on a cross. For you. Two thousand years ago, hanging on a cross, bearing the weight of all man's sin for all time, underneath that burden. And then he died. Three days later he walked out of a tomb. He defeated that death. So then all of us can have life. But it is only available in Jesus Christ. And the Bible tells us that if you confess Him as Lord, which means you surrender to Him. He's got it all. He is my Lord. If you believe that He is who is who He says He is, that He is alive, that He walked out of the grave, Scripture says you will be saved. But it's not just believing it, it is surrender. Have you ever really done that? I ask you all to bow your heads. Take a moment with the Lord. And if you've never surrendered to him and you know it, you can right now. We we've already seen the picture, life to death with baptism today. He's calling you life. Confess him as Lord. Surrender to him in his leading. If you've never done that, you can today. And it's just a a prayer. You have time with the Lord on your own. It's not anything magic. It's Lord, I know I need you. I know I'm broken. Would you save me? I give you my life. It's really that simple. But it's not easy because it is surrendering your life. That means you surrender your desires, your finances, your relationships, all of it. But it is so worth it. It is the only hope you have. And if you do that this morning, I beg you, would you just share it with with somebody? I'd love to hear it. Just come up while we sing and share it with me. Or if you don't know me or don't feel comfortable with that, just tell somebody Jesus did this for me today, and then follow in baptism. But if you are a believer in Christ, you're on assignment. You got a mission that he handed you, and time is running out. Are you taking it serious? Does it even cross your mind? So as we close, the altar's open. If you're coming to Christ for the first time, come and talk to me. If you have that name, come lay it on the altar. Just pray, Lord, give me the give me the opportunity and give me the courage. Maybe the Lord is stirring you to respond in a different way. However, He leads this morning, would you be obedient? Father in heaven, we love you. We thank you. Thank you so much that you gave us a Savior in Jesus. Thank you for loving us that much. That He bore our shame, our sin on His body. That He died for us. So that we can know you. Thank you that he is alive today, at this moment. We do not serve a dead God, we serve a risen King. Thank you, Lord. And thank you for putting us on mission, for giving us a purpose. And I ask you, Lord, to help us all be obedient. Lord, for anybody in here, anybody in here who doesn't know you, God, right now, would you just draw them to yourself? Let them see your love. Help us to see God that time is short. Take the assignment seriously. In Jesus' name. Amen.