We're reading from Acts chapter 1, verses 1 to 11.
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.
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 is not for you to know 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 end of the earth.
And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said,
Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?
This Jesus who has taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thank you, Margo.
So let me pray for us briefly, and then we're going to look at the scripture together.
Heavenly Father, your word is so wonderful and alive and speaks to us.
It's amazing that 2,000 years after it's written, in a very different context and culture,
your word still speaks to every human heart.
We pray, God, that you will speak to us.
God, we want to know what is your mind?
What is the will of the Lord?
What do you want to say to us in this passage?
And so help me to explain it, but help us to hear and receive and, Lord, to be challenged where we need to be,
but to be encouraged where we need to be as well.
God, call us to be aligned with you and to align our lives with your will.
I pray this in your great and wonderful name.
Amen.
If you are new to Watermark, my name is Kevin, and it's great to have you with us.
If I haven't met you, please do come and say hi afterwards.
I'd love to meet you and get to know you, but it's great to have you with us today.
And I'm glad to see so many people still in Hong Kong, despite the long weekend.
Sometimes on long weekends, there's like nobody here, just the staff that have to be here.
It's their job, but it's great to see so many people with us this morning.
We have recently celebrated Easter.
And if you don't know, Easter is the high point in the Christian calendar.
It's the biggest weekend of the Christian year, Jesus' death and resurrection.
And at Easter, every year, we are reminded that Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross
and his subsequent resurrection changes everything.
It changes the plot line and the storyline of the whole world.
This world is full of brokenness and pain and sadness and agony.
And Jesus' resurrection tells us that that's not the final story.
It inverts all of those things.
And in the words of Sam from Lord of the Rings, everything sad and broken and wrong and unjust with this world is becoming untrue.
Jesus' resurrection tells us that salvation and forgiveness of sins really is possible.
Jesus' resurrection tells us that he really is the Lord, the King that he proclaimed to be.
Jesus' resurrection tells us that hope is not just a fantasy or a wild idea.
It really is real and we can bank our lives on it.
In two weeks' time, we are going to be having a bunch of baptisms here at Watermark.
And baptisms is the most exciting thing.
It's a visible picture of an invisible spiritual truth.
And the picture is that when you put your faith in Christ, you are united with Christ.
You're united in his death.
In other words, our old life dies with him.
Our old life that is constrained by sin and death is put to death.
And we are raised to new life with Christ.
Just as Jesus rose again on Easter weekend, our lives were raised with him to a whole new life.
And one day we'll be raised in glory with him.
And so we're going to be celebrating that in two weeks' time.
But the question remains, if you become a follower of Jesus, you've died, you've been raised, you've been baptized, now what?
So what?
What should we do?
What does this mean for our lives?
Does this actually change anything?
If Christianity changes the storyline of the world, does it in any way change the storyline of your life?
Or is it that you become a Christian, follow of Jesus, and life just continues with no difference?
Maybe for those of us that are not yet Christians this morning, if you were to become a follower of Jesus,
what difference would it make in your life?
One of the things that I love about Watermark is that this church is full of people that have come to faith in Watermark Church.
All sorts of people, whether through friends or explore course or colleagues, many, many of us have become followers of Jesus in Watermark.
It's the only church you've ever known.
And of course, there are a number of us that became Christians maybe elsewhere.
Maybe growing up in another city or another church or another country.
And maybe through your parents or a friend or a colleague, you became a follower of Jesus.
But however you became a follower of Jesus, now that you are one, what do we do?
What does the next 1, 10, or 30 years of following Jesus look like?
And that's a very important question because sometimes we can think the goal of Christianity is just get as many people into doors as possible.
Just shove them in.
However, it doesn't matter how.
And once they're inside, well then, I don't know, just kind of hold on and hope for the best.
First, friends, here's a question.
Is the goal of your Christian life just to try not mess up, try not sin too badly, and just hold on and hope that you get to heaven one day?
And if, by the way, you do sin, just don't tell anyone.
Just put on a brave face and pretend that everything's fine.
Okay, don't do that.
That's not a good idea.
Is the overarching goal of our Christian life to maybe do more and more Christian things, get more and more involved in church, serve in more and more ways,
and kind of ascend the ranks of Christian leadership.
So you become a deacon, then a small group leader, and then maybe an elder.
And then if you're really amazing, a pastor, and if you're super amazing, you can become a missionary somewhere.
Is that the goal?
Okay, no, that's not the goal.
Friends, if you're a Christian, hopefully you know what Jesus saved you from, but do you know what he saved you for?
What does the next 5, 10, 30 years look like?
And maybe the same is true for us as a church.
Is the goal for Watermark just to become a bigger, more influential, well-known church in Hong Kong?
That we could draw everybody here and say, look how amazing Watermark is?
Or is the goal of Watermark just to remain small and intimate?
We all kind of know each other, and it's just a cute family.
And we don't grow too big because we all know each other one by one.
Friends, is the purpose of our church to be a nice community that gives nice talks and does nice things,
like handing out food to the poor and the marginalized?
What is it that Christ calls us to?
Well, for the last nine weeks, we've been going through John's Gospel.
And we've been looking at John's biography of the person in the ministry of Jesus.
And today we're going to be taking a pause on John's Gospel, and we start in the book of Acts.
And for the next two months, we're going to be working through the first six chapters of the book of Acts.
And we'll be starting today in chapter 1, verses 1 to 11, as Margo read to us.
And the book of Acts is all about what happens in the life of followers of Jesus and the early church,
and what it is that God calls us to.
And so in this passage today, we're going to see two very simple things, okay?
Very, very easy to start off.
Just going to start off nice and slow.
Jesus' mission and our mission.
Jesus' mission and our mission, okay?
So let's dive in and start.
Jesus' mission.
Let's just look at the book of Acts.
What is the book of Acts?
The name Acts is shorthand for the longer title, the Acts of the Apostles.
And the book of Acts is the second volume out of a two-volume historical record written by a guy called Luke, okay?
Luke's first historical record is the Gospel of Luke.
Remember Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the third Gospel in the New Testament.
So Luke wrote these two historical documents.
One is the Gospel of Luke, and the second one is the book of the Acts of the Apostles, or what we know as the Book of Acts.
And when you read these two books in the Bible, there's a lot of overlap, written by the same author for a similar intention.
And you would expect that, and that's what we see.
And so both Luke and Acts start off with an introduction that tells us why Luke is writing these historical documents.
Look at how he starts off his Gospel.
He says this in Luke 1, verse 1 to 4.
He says,
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile the narrative of the things that have been accomplished,
it seems good to me also, having followed things closely for some time,
to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,
that you may have certainty concerning the things that you have been taught.
Okay, so here's this high-ranking Roman official.
His name's Theophilus, and it sounds like he has commissioned Luke,
who we later find out is a physician, a medical doctor,
someone who's very good at diagnoses and investigation.
Theophilus seems to commission Luke to do research on this person of Jesus of Nazareth that he's heard about,
and to write a historical record whether the things that he's heard is actually true.
And Luke does this research, and he finds out it is true.
And he writes this historical record for Theophilus, saying,
I want you to know these things that you can have certainty about the things that you've heard,
and believe them to be true.
Well, look at how he starts his Volume 2, the Book of Acts.
He says something similar.
Verse 1.
In my first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,
until the day that he was taken up, that's into heaven,
after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles that he had chosen.
He presented himself alive to them after his sufferings, by many proofs,
appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
Okay?
So, here Luke is saying, I've written about Jesus and his early ministry,
but now Theophilus has the second account that I want you to know,
and it's the Book of Acts.
And look at how he describes it.
And he says,
In our first volume, in the first book of Theophilus,
I've dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,
until he ascended into heaven.
So, in Luke's Gospel, he tells all about Jesus' life and work and ministry,
but now what is he going to do?
In his second volume, which we call Acts,
he's going to deal with all that Jesus continued to do,
his life and work and ministry.
In Jesus, in the first volume, in Luke,
Luke tells us all that Jesus did himself in his bodily form.
Here he's going to tell us all that Jesus continued to do through his church.
And so Luke's point is that Jesus' life and ministry and work and mission
didn't end with his death and resurrection and ascension.
It continued, but now continues through the church.
Now, these two stages are going to look a little bit different.
In the first one, Jesus does it in his body.
In the second one, he does it through his church.
In the first part of Jesus' ministry,
it's initiated by baptism of John.
That's what he says in verse 3, I think, or verse 5.
In the second one, it's initiated by baptism of the Spirit.
And yet, both of these, the difference is not that big.
In both of these, Jesus is what Jesus began his work and ministry in the Gospels.
He's now continuing to do through his church.
So the book of Acts is actually the continuation of Jesus' mission
and his ministry here on earth.
When Jesus died and rose again and ascended into heaven,
that wasn't the end.
That continues through his church.
Well, then the question is, what is his work?
And Luke tells us.
He tells us both in Luke and in the book of Luke.
Look what he says here at the end of chapter 4.
Jesus one day is preaching, and the people are astounded.
And everyone says, okay, Jesus, come to stay with us for a minute.
Don't go anywhere else.
And look at what Jesus says.
Luke 4, verse 43 says,
No, I must go and preach the good news of the kingdom of God to other towns as well,
for I was sent for this very purpose.
So what was Jesus' work and ministry?
Coming to preach the good news of the kingdom of God.
What is the kingdom of God?
It's the fact that there is a king, and he rules and he reigns,
and there's a rebellion in the world.
That's why the world is not as it ought to be.
But this good king is putting everything right in the world again.
This king has come to his rebellious kingdom,
and he's helping to put things right and put things in order.
It's the good news of the kingdom of God.
That does sound like good news.
If your life is anything like my life,
there's a lot that's not right with this world.
And Jesus, the king, has said,
I've come to put things right,
first by his death and resurrection,
and secondly, when he comes again.
Jesus came to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God.
But look what he says here in the book of Acts.
Look at your, if you've got your Bible, your bulletin,
look at what he says in verse 3.
Jesus presented himself alive to the apostles after his sufferings
through many proofs,
appearing to them during 40 days,
speaking to them about the kingdom of God.
So throughout Jesus' three years of earthly ministry,
he's proclaiming in word and deed,
both his teaching and his actions,
word and deed,
the good news of the gospel of the kingdom.
The king has come.
And the king is squashing the rebellion
and putting all things right again.
And then in the book of Acts,
the kingdom of God is going to continue,
not through Jesus' ministry,
or not through his bodily ministry,
through the body of his church.
The kingdom of God is going to advance
through word and deed.
So when Jesus gathers with his disciples
for these 40 days after his resurrection,
this wasn't just the boys, you know,
sitting in the bar with a beer,
kind of laughing about,
ha, did you see the resurrection?
Did you see the look on those guys' faces
when they saw the empty tomb?
Ha, it's amazing.
Well, that was fun.
Boys, it's time that I leave.
I'm going to go to heaven.
Best of luck now.
Jesus wasn't just gathering the boys,
reminiscing about the good old days
and his final farewell.
Jesus is teaching them
and then sending them out and saying,
my mission to bring the good news of the kingdom
is going to continue.
But now it's going to continue
through you,
through the disciples.
Jesus' mission isn't finished.
It is continuing.
And that's what Luke wants us to see,
that the story of Jesus doesn't end
with his death and resurrection.
It continues.
It continued through the homes
and the streets of Jerusalem.
It continued through the synagogues
and the marketplaces of Judea and Samaria.
Jerusalem, sorry, Judea and Israel.
It spread into the villages
and the towns of Samaria.
That's the province next door to Judea.
And ultimately,
it spread to the ends of the earth.
And so within one generation,
the gospel is spread west to Rome.
Within another generation,
it spread east to India.
And it continues on and on and on
until the 6th century.
It reaches Xi'an province in China.
And then it reaches Japan and Korea.
And ultimately,
to the ends of the earth,
just as Jesus said.
Jesus' mission continues
and continues still to this day.
God's mission is not simply
to offer comfort and relief
for the terrible and uncomfortable things
that happen in life.
Jesus is not just a friend
or a buddy or a comforter
to help us get through life.
What is his mission?
His mission is the good news
of the kingdom of God.
And we see this,
and that's what Jesus is doing.
That's what Luke wants us to see.
That just as Jesus' mission
to Jerusalem and Judea
spread throughout his lifetime,
so it continues through the church.
But what is Jesus' work?
Well, look at what Paul tells us
in the book of Ephesians.
Ephesians chapter 1.
Paul tells us this,
that this is God's great plan for the world.
He says,
God has made known to us
the mystery of His will
and His purposes,
His plan for the fullness of time.
So at the end of time,
this is God's plan for all the world.
At the end of time,
to unite all things together
under Christ or in Christ,
things in heaven and on earth.
So Jesus' message is going out,
as we said,
Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,
the ends of the earth here in Hong Kong.
And what is His message?
His message is that
at the end of time,
Christ is going to unite all things
under the rule and the reign of Jesus
for the praise of His glory.
That's God's great, big, cosmic plan,
is to reverse the disastrous effects
of the sin of Adam and Eve
and to bring all things
under His gracious and His pleasing rule.
One day, Jesus, His king,
is going to rule over everything
and those who refuse His rule
will be separated forever
and those who receive His rule
will joyfully and gladly
live under His dominion
and His throne room forever and ever.
And that mission started
way back in the Garden of Eden
when God says to Adam and Eve,
I will send a snake crusher
who will reverse the effects of sin
and Satan and death
and bring an end to it.
And then it continued
through God's promise to Abraham
and to Israel and to David.
And it continued through Jesus
and His coming and His teaching
and His preaching.
And ultimately, the high point was
this death and resurrection on the cross
where He did defeat sin
and Satan and death.
But after Jesus' resurrection,
as we said,
Jesus didn't just gather His friends
and say,
oh, that was fun.
Okay, well, best of luck.
Jesus then says,
this mission to take
the good news of the kingdom
to the ends of the earth
continues.
But it continues through you.
And that leads to our second point.
Jesus' mission,
the good news of the kingdom,
and our mission,
our mission is to continue
Jesus' mission.
Jesus tells His followers
that neither the story of the world
nor the mission of God is over.
In fact, it's just getting started.
But the disciples,
they are a little confused.
Because they see that Jesus
has risen from the dead.
They know He's obviously the Messiah.
Neither the Romans
nor the Jews
nor death could stop Him.
Jesus died and rose again.
Obviously, He's the Messiah.
And so,
for the disciples,
this means
that the kingdom of God
is now going to come.
But in their thinking,
they're still thinking
politically,
nationalistically.
For them,
the fact that the Messiah comes,
the kingdom of God comes,
means a great king like David
is going to ascend to the throne.
And it means that Israel
is now going to be politically
and religiously powerful
and great again.
And this Messiah is going to
restore Israel's political
and religious fortunes.
And this Messiah is going to
make Israel great.
And so,
look at what they say
in verse 6.
It says,
when they'd come together,
the disciples say to Jesus,
Lord,
will you at this time
restore the kingdom
to Israel?
This is what we've been waiting for.
Jesus is risen.
This is now our time.
Our time to shine.
We're going to destroy the Romans.
Israel's going to be made great again.
Except Jesus says,
no,
look at verse 7.
No,
it's not for you
to know the times
or the season.
The Father is fixed
by His own authority.
Jesus says,
no,
that's not how it's going to work.
Actually,
my kingdom is going to go forward,
but it's not how you think.
It's not going to happen
through political power
or institutional power
or financial power.
How's the kingdom
going to go forward?
How's God's cosmic plan
to renew all things
and to bring all things
under Jesus?
How's that going to happen?
It's not through politics.
It's not through institutions.
It's not through
financial power.
It happens one life
at a time
that changes
as God's kingdom
gets into our hearts
and God brings us
into His kingdom.
Look what He says,
verse 8.
You will receive power
when the Holy Spirit
comes upon you.
You will be my witnesses
in Jerusalem
and Judea
and Samaria
and to the ends of the earth.
Jesus has this great
big cosmic plan
to unite all things
under Him.
At the end of time,
all creation,
things in heaven
and on earth
are going to be united
under Christ
in the new creation
and how's that going to happen?
One life at a time.
As His people
take His mission
and His message
of the kingship
and the lordship of Jesus
into their cities
and their workplaces
and the marketplaces
and the gospel advances
one life at a time
through the witnesses
of His disciples.
Jesus is bringing
His disciples
into His global mission
so that Jesus' mission
now becomes
our mission.
Jesus' mission
and our mission.
I think we see this clearly
in verses 9 to 11.
I don't know if you remember
when Margo read at the end
there's this story
about Jesus says this,
you know,
you'll be my witnesses,
Jerusalem,
Judea,
Samaria,
the ends of the earth.
and said when He said
these things
as they were looking on Him
He was lifted up
and a cloud took Him
out of their sight.
And you think
that's a bit weird.
What's going on here, right?
Well, there's a story
in the Old Testament.
There's a great prophet
in the Old Testament.
His name is Elijah.
Elijah is the greatest prophet
in the Old Testament.
Speaks God's word.
But there comes a time
towards the end
of Elijah's life
where he needs
to hand over
his mission,
his mantle,
his calling
to his kind of disciple,
the next guy.
His name is Elisha.
I know they sound similar
but they're two different people.
And so Elijah
takes Elisha
into the wilderness
and there he says
you are going to
carry on my mission.
You're going to
advance my mission.
And Elijah
then disappears
kind of
goes into clouds,
into skies
and he disappears
and nobody sees him
ever again.
And Elisha
now continues
his work
and his ministry.
I think Jesus
is saying
the same thing
is happening here.
As I go
you are taking over
my mission
and my responsibility.
The things
that I have
that I have been doing
I'm now asking
you to do.
Just as Elisha
handed over
his ministry
just as Elijah
handed over
to Elisha
so am I handing over
my ministry
to you.
Friends
all of history
the entire storyline
of the Bible
is moving
in a very clear
and defined trajectory.
I know at the moment
things feel very volatile
and uncertain
in the world.
You read the newspaper
and you think
what on earth is going on?
It's all melting
and falling apart.
No it's not.
The whole of the history
of the world
is moving
in a very very clear
and defined end.
And this is the end.
Hundreds of billions
of people
from every culture
every country
every language
every ethnicity
every people group
gathered around
the throne
of Jesus
worshipping
and declaring
that he is king
in the new heavens
and the new earth
and us living out
under the rule
and the reign
of King Jesus.
As Alan read to us
in the call to worship
Colossians 1
says all things
were made by him
and through him
and for him
and between now
and then
that day
Jesus
who is very much
alive and well
and his mission
is very much alive
and well
Jesus is working
to bring about
his master plan.
But how is he doing it?
through the church
through you
and I.
Jesus' mission
becomes
our mission.
Friends
for those of us
that are followers
of Jesus
what is Jesus
calling you to do
now with your life
now that you've
decided to follow him?
What are the next
5,
10
or 30 years
look like?
Is the overarching
goal of your life
just to try
and not sin
not mess up
too much
and if you do
don't tell anybody
about it
just try and hold
on and get to heaven
one day?
Is the overarching
goal of your
Christian life
just to try
and do more
and more stuff
to serve more
and more
here and there
and everywhere
and ascend the ranks
of the church
leadership
so that one day
you become a deacon
and a small group
leader and an elder
and maybe if you're
a super spiritual
person you can
become a leader?
Is that the goal
of your Christian life?
Friends
what is God
calling us to
as a church?
Is our goal
just to become
big and fancy
and popular
so that everyone
comes to Watermark
and whew
okay we did it.
Friends
it's our goal
to move to a fancy
building on the
south side
that looks so nice
and we get in there
and okay
we've achieved our
mission
we're in.
What a sad
and miserable
mission.
What a small
and pathetic
mission.
Friends
the goal
of your life
if you're a follower
of Jesus
is nothing less
than to join
his cosmic
grand
eternal
mission
to make
him known
to the ends
of the earth
and maybe that
starts with just
your family
maybe starts with
just your
block of flats
but for the gospel
the good news
of the kingdom
the good news
that the brokenness
of this world
is not the final
story
all that's wrong
with this world
is not how the story
ends
the story ends
with God
putting all things
right
and that all
people can be
included in that
story and reconciled
to this God
and made known
and have hope
in this world
and in the world
to come
our mission
our plan
our calling
in life
is to be part
of that cosmic
plan
that is going
to last way
beyond your
three score
in ten years
or maybe
eighty if you're
lucky.
Friends I wonder
how many of us
if we're honest
after becoming
Christians
and growing
in our basic
knowledge of God
in the Bible
how many of us
would describe
our Christian life
as a little sterile
a little boring
a little anemic
and if we're honest
our workplaces
and our jobs
are far more exciting
and exhilarating
and got more
of a challenge
because we think
the goal of the
Christian life
is just be good
and don't mess up
and if you do mess up
don't tell anyone
about it
just pretend
that you're doing
the good thing
and hold on
to the end
but Jesus
is calling you
and I
to something
far bigger
and grander
than that
you will be
my witnesses
my ambassadors
not just to the
UN or
to another nation
to cosmic powers
and forces
for all eternity
Jesus calling us
to nothing less
than joining God
in his cosmic plan
to bring all things
under the rule
and the reign of Jesus
and that doesn't mean
you need to be a pastor
or a missionary
you get to do that
just the way that you love
and serve
and engage your neighbors
or your colleagues
or your friends
you get to do that
in the way that you
parent your children
or the way that you
are a parent
to your children
or the way that you
are a child
to your parents
friends
whether you are
a university student
just trying to study
for exams
or a mom
with a two month old baby
that spends all day
feeding and changing diapers
or whether you're
the CEO of a bank
or managing director
or whether you're
a foreign domestic worker
or whatever you are
Christ has got
a cosmic calling
on your life
the vision God
wants us to grasp
is nothing less
than his cosmic plan
and Jesus says here
in verse 8
you will be my witnesses
Jerusalem, Judea
that Jerusalem
was the place
where they lived
Judea was the province
Samaria is the province
next door
and ultimately
to the ends of the earth
I don't know
if you've ever
gone on Google Earth
I know Google Earth
was like a long time ago
but once upon a time
when Google Earth
was still cool
I don't know if you ever
went to Google Earth
right
and what do we all do
on Google Earth
you all look for
your own apartment
right
so you search
where do I live
okay you find
your own apartment
and then you zoom out
and you zoom out
and you find your street
and then your suburb
and then your district
and then Hong Kong
or maybe if you lived
somewhere else
back in the day
your country
and then your continent
and finally you zoom out
as far as Google Earth
will go
that's something
of the plan
that God wants us
to see
this cosmic plan
for the whole world
to make his name known
in Watermark
there are two songs
that we sometimes sing
that always cause
a lump in my throat
and kind of get my eyes
a little bit moist
and I feel a little bit emotional
there are actually many songs
but two in particular
the one is this
there's a line that says
all the earth
will shout your praise
our hearts will cry
these bones will sing
great are you Lord
and the reason
the song gets me emotional
I first heard the song
first started singing it
when I was back
in our old church
in Cape Town
South Africa
and at that time
we were thinking
of moving to Hong Kong
and we were processing
God's call for us
to move and join Watermark
and I remember sitting
in Cape Town
the bottom of Africa
right
and thinking
about Hong Kong
the greatest city
in the world
and singing this line
all the earth
from the bottom
of Africa
where we speak
Zulu
and Nosa
and other things
like that
to Hong Kong
where you speak
Cantonese
and Mandarin
and Tagalog
and Nepali
all the earth
and everywhere
in between
will cry out
great are you Lord
that's the vision
I want to give my life to
here's another song
that always moves me
Psalm 150
the chorus is
praise the Lord
raise your voice
you heighten
all your depths
from furthest east
to furthest west
pray
let everything
that has breath
praise the Lord
friends are you a Christian
this morning
that's the mission
God's called you to
and that's the mission
that Jesus
sends his disciples on
and Luke is introducing
the book of Acts
is an amazing story
of how the gospel
spread to the furthest
corners of the
known world
and Jesus says
my mission
is your mission
are you up for it
he's sending
his disciples out
now
as we come to close
I want us to consider
one question
why is it
that this is so hard
and why is it
that we
don't really do this
why is it that
the global
cosmic
plan of God
that all things
are made by him
and through him
and for him
so seldom
grips our lives
and I think
there's many answers
but I want us
just to consider
two potential answers
this morning
why is it that
we find this so hard
and don't do this
I think the first answer
we've got to
reckon with
and wrestle with
is the possibility
that we just don't care
that if we're really
honest with ourselves
we actually
just
don't
care
and that in our list
of a hundred priorities
Christ and his kingdom
is kind of like
a hundred and ten
and that almost
anything else
in life
is actually
more important
to us
and friends
this I think
is maybe not true
for many of us
but if that
is true
I think we need
to grapple
with the possibility
that just maybe
we're actually
not even Christians
and we're actually
not even saved
and we're not born again
and we're not
Jesus followers
and we're not part
of his kingdom
and that we are
actually still dead
in our sins
and there's a
particular danger
with that
and this is a
very insidious
kind of danger
and the danger
with that
is that
the problem
with that
is that
this kind of sin
is a religious
kind of sin
which makes it
particularly dangerous
Jesus once
in his ministry
he says to some
Pharisees
he says you're blind
but the problem
is that you're blind
to your blindness
you can't even see
that you're blind
if you could see
that you were in trouble
and you came to me
and said
Jesus we're in trouble
help us
well then I could help you
but the problem
is you keep on telling me
no don't worry
we're fine
we're not blind
we can see
and the fact
that you are blind
the fact that you're blind
means that you're going
to die in your blindness
and friends
the problem
with religious blindness
is that we think
we are fine
but actually
we're dead
in our sins
and one day
we will not be part
of God's cosmic kingdom
we will be separated
forever
and ever
Jesus said
that in every church
there are true converts
and true disciples
and there are those
that think
there are disciples
and converts
and at the end
of the age
he will reveal
to us
what is true
and so
we must
reckon
with the possibility
that maybe
actually
we just don't care
because we're actually
not even saved
and that is
very very sad
and friends
if that is you
I encourage you
come to him
ask him
to change you
but I think
there's another
possibility
and there's another
reason why
we just find
this so hard
and I think
that for most
of us
for maybe
99% of us
the reason
why we
we don't engage
in God's
cosmic global
mission plan
to bring all
things under
the rule
and reign of
Christ
is that it
is impossibly
difficult
it's actually
just so
impossibly
difficult
you know
I've been a
pastor for about
15 years
which means
that for
Prince
the last
15 years
almost
every waking
hour
of my life
I have been
grappling with
this question
how do I
follow Jesus
and help other
people to follow
Jesus more
I mean that's
the question
that pervades
every moment
I'm awake
for the last
15 years
or so
and friends
as a pastor
this is my
full-time job
I find this
hard
and I suck
at this
I get
distracted
by a million
other things
and sometimes
if I'm honest
I love to get
distracted by
other things
I get
distracted by
almost anything
I love
sport
and so I
will find
myself
spending hours
scrolling my
phone
following sport
you know
sports scores
and as I said
to somebody
the other day
I'll start
at the cricket
and then the
rugby
and then the
football
and then the
golf
and then the
formula one
and I'll work
my way down
to ping pong
or whatever
there is
I mean twiddly
you know
flying chess
or Chinese
checkers
anything
sometimes
to distract
me
from having
to read
my Bible
okay I know
that's a bad
confession
I'm sorry
my point is
it's hard
if you are
a follower
of Jesus
hopefully
there's
something
in our
hearts
that says
I want
to follow
Jesus
but there
are a thousand
other things
that seem
more appealing
and if you
try and do
this on your
own
you will
fail
and what
Luke wants
to tell us
here in the
book of
Acts
is that
Jesus'
mission
is so
important
but it's
so big
and it's
so vast
and so
expansive
and it
demands
so much
of your
life
that you'll
never
do it
on your
own
never
unless
you're
empowered
by God
himself
unless
God
himself
comes
and works
in your
heart
and helps
you
and gives
you the
power
that you
can't do
on your
own
and so
look at
how
Luke
tells us
this
look at
verse 4
Jesus says
to his
disciples
he's going
to send
them out
on this
global
mission
okay
but he
says
before you
do anything
while staying
with them
Jesus
ordered them
not to
depart
from Jerusalem
but to
wait for
the promise
of the
father
that means
the
holy
spirit
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
Jesus
is about
to send
these
uneducated
unsophisticated
fishermen
and tax
collectors
on this
worldwide
mission
as his
kingdom
ambassadors
and
representatives
to speak
to governors
and emperors
and kings
and rulers
and authorities
the Jews
and the
Gentiles
the rich
and the
poor
everyone
but what
did he
say
you
can't
do it
but I
can do
it
through
you
so
wait
for the
holy
spirit
and when
god's
spirit
empowers
you
to do
it
then
you'll
be
my
ambassadors
god
gives
us
himself
to accomplish
the task
that he's
called us
to do
to take
the good
news
of the
kingdom
the
resurrection
of
Jesus
into our
homes
and our
neighborhoods
and our
workplaces
and our
city
and ultimately
to the
ends
of the
earth
and so
Jesus
says
you
will
receive
power
when
when the
holy
spirit
comes
upon
you
and
then
you'll
be
my
witnesses
in
Jerusalem
Judea
Samaria
and to
the
ends
of the
earth
friends
you can't
do it
on your
own
none
of us
can
none
of us
is smart
enough
educated
enough
powerful
enough
rich
enough
brilliant
enough
clever
enough
none
of us
can
do it
but
he
can
and so
what
God
asks
us
to
do
is
to
actually
get
on
our
knees
and
humble
ourselves
and say
Jesus
I hear
you
your
mission
is
my
mission
we
need
you
God
give
us
your
spirit
give
us
your
power
and
send
us
out
friends
Jesus
is so
gracious
and so
kind
he
never
leads
us
or
sends
us
anywhere
without
giving
us
himself
and
his
spirit
so
as
we
come
to
a
close
I
want
to
leave
us
with
four
very
simple
questions
many
of us
have
to
come
to
believe
and
experience
in
the
reality
of
Jesus
and
his
death
and
his
resurrection
but
now
what
does
that
mean
for
our
lives
does
anything
change
is
the
goal
of
your
life
just
to
try
and
hold
on
and
make
it
to
heaven
no
friends
Jesus
has
this
cosmic
mission
this
plan
and
he's
calling
you
to
be
part
of
it
and
Jesus
mission
is
now
your
mission
and
he's
sending
you
out
he's
empowering
you
to
call
all
things
under
the
rule
and
the
reign
of
Jesus
but
as
we
close
let's
think
about
these
questions
friends
are
you
part
of
God's
kingdom
are
you
truly
saved
are
you
born
again
is
there
even
a
remote
!
are
you
giving
yourself
to
Christ
and
his
kingdom
are
you
living
for
his
glory
or
is
Jesus
something
you
just
pay lip
service
to
and
you
live
for
your
own
glory
is
Christ's
cosmic
plan
even
interesting
to
us
friends
are
you
convinced
of
the
message
of
the
gospel
is
it
good
news
to
your
heart
is
it
good
news
enough
to
actually
tell
somebody
else
that
Jesus
has
come
that
forgiveness
of sins
spirit
and
living
dependently
upon
him
are
you
resting
in
him
have
you
come
to
the
end
of
yourself
and
friends
are
you
saying
Jesus
I
need
you
come
and
do
for
me
what
only
you
can
do
but
what
I
so
desperately
need
let's
take
a minute
to
think
and
ponder
on
this
and
then
I'll
pray
and
then
we'll
close
in a
song
let's
take
some
time
together
let's
pray
together
well
and
so
is
your
mission
and
God
one
day
your
mission
will
end
with
the
fullness
of
time
all
things
all
of
us
all
people
that
have
surrendered
to
you
and
received
you
as
Lord
and
King
be
part
of
the
new
creation
the
new
heavens
and
the
new
earth
and
we
will
love
you
and
enjoy
you
forever
!
to
live
for
your
kingdom
help
us
God
to
be
a
part
of
your
mission
God
whether
it's
at
home
with
babies
whether
it's
at
university
whether
it's
in the
marketplace
it's
the way
we
raise
our
children
or
the way
we
look
after
our
parents
in
every
sphere
of
life
to
live
!
for
you
and
your
glory
Jesus
we
confess
that
sometimes
there
are
a
thousand
other
distractions
that
actually
are
more
important
to
us
and
when
we
try
and
do
it
in
our
own
strength
when
we
try
and
live
for
you
in
your
glory
it
is
overwhelming
and
we
fail
a
thousand
times
each
day
but
God
you're
so
gracious
you're
so
kind
you
never
point
the
finger
!
and
tell
us
we're
pathetic
you
just
invite
us
back
to
you
Holy
Spirit
we
need
you
Spirit
of
God
we
need
you
this
church
watermark
we
need
you
individually
Jesus
we
need
you
God
as
we
sing
this
next
song
won't
you
come
and
fill
us
with
yourself
empower
us
call
us
to
yourself
and
then
send
us
out
on
your
mission
whether
in
the
streets
of
Hong
Kong
or
to
the
furthest
most
remote
parts
of
the
world
God
we
look
forward
to
the
day
when
people
from
every
nation
and
tribe
and
tongue
furthest
east
and
furthest
west
sing
great
is
the
Lord
worthy
to
receive
worship
we
look
forward
to
being
part
of
that
Jesus
come
and help
us
I pray
in
your
great
and
glorious
name
amen