Christian Life Church
January 5, 2025 at 8:30am & 10:00am
His Work & My Work
Locations & Times
Christian Life Church Columbia
2700 Bush River Rd, Columbia, SC 29210, USA
Sunday 8:00 AM
THE BOOK OF ACTS JANUARY 5, 2025
HIS WORK & MY WORK
SCRIPTURE
Luke is a historian, medical physician, and the author of Acts. The Book of Acts is a sequel to the Book of Luke. It covers the first 35 years of the Church. Luke is being paid by a non-Jew named Theophilus to investigate the work and claims of Christ.
In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen. After His suffering, He presented Himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Then they gathered around Him and asked Him, “Lord, are You at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After He said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.” Acts 1:1-10
THE BOOK ENDS OF THE CHURCH
The opening chapter of the Church is the Ascension of Christ into Heaven.
The closing chapter of the Church is the Return of Christ from Heaven.
But the middle chapters of the Church are still being written.
These middle chapters are all about the Church exalting the Savior, equipping the saints, and evangelizing the sinners.
The mission is to unfold from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth.
1/ The mission includes my “Jerusalem”.
2/ The mission includes my “Judea”.
3/ The mission includes my “Samaria”.
4/ The mission includes my “Ends of the Earth”.
Fulfilling the mission involves what we do and how we live.
“In order to leave a legacy, you must live a legacy.” Darren Hileman
(David) served the purpose of God in his own generation. Acts 13:36
PUTTING DOWN & PICKING UP
The Lord is enabling people to put down some things and pick up other things.
Remember Peter’s journey: He put down shame and picked up leadership.
Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 1 Timothy 4:14-15
The mission of the Church doesn’t work if we don’t work.
Disturb Us, Lord (Francis Drake)
“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves.
When our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little.
When we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life. Having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity.
And in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly.
To venture on wilder seas, where storms will show Your mastery.
Where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back the horizons of our hopes and to push back the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.
This we ask in the name of our Captain, who is Jesus Christ.
HIS WORK & MY WORK
SCRIPTURE
Luke is a historian, medical physician, and the author of Acts. The Book of Acts is a sequel to the Book of Luke. It covers the first 35 years of the Church. Luke is being paid by a non-Jew named Theophilus to investigate the work and claims of Christ.
In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen. After His suffering, He presented Himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Then they gathered around Him and asked Him, “Lord, are You at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After He said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.” Acts 1:1-10
THE BOOK ENDS OF THE CHURCH
The opening chapter of the Church is the Ascension of Christ into Heaven.
The closing chapter of the Church is the Return of Christ from Heaven.
But the middle chapters of the Church are still being written.
These middle chapters are all about the Church exalting the Savior, equipping the saints, and evangelizing the sinners.
The mission is to unfold from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth.
1/ The mission includes my “Jerusalem”.
2/ The mission includes my “Judea”.
3/ The mission includes my “Samaria”.
4/ The mission includes my “Ends of the Earth”.
Fulfilling the mission involves what we do and how we live.
“In order to leave a legacy, you must live a legacy.” Darren Hileman
(David) served the purpose of God in his own generation. Acts 13:36
PUTTING DOWN & PICKING UP
The Lord is enabling people to put down some things and pick up other things.
Remember Peter’s journey: He put down shame and picked up leadership.
Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 1 Timothy 4:14-15
The mission of the Church doesn’t work if we don’t work.
Disturb Us, Lord (Francis Drake)
“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves.
When our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little.
When we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life. Having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity.
And in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly.
To venture on wilder seas, where storms will show Your mastery.
Where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back the horizons of our hopes and to push back the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.
This we ask in the name of our Captain, who is Jesus Christ.