The days we're living in
September 18, 2022
Karl Barth said we should ‘preach with the bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other’. In this message we take time to reflect. In the last few years, we’ve all had to walk through so much; covid (lockdowns), racial tensions, the war in Ukraine, a cost-of-living crisis, and the passing of Queen Elizabeth to name a few… let alone our many personal challenges! Our need and the needs in our city are greater than ever before. And therefore, we need God’s love, comfort, and power more than ever before! In Acts 1 we find hope that Jesus is still on the move. He has plans for His people. And that He will empower us, by His Holy Spirit, in our time of need!
Stephen Morrison
In this series:
Acts 1:1–9 (Listen)
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
4 And while staying1 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; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with2 the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
The Ascension
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 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.” 9 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.
(ESV)
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text provided by the Crossway Bibles Web Service.
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