To The Ends of the Earth - Week 1: Journey to Acts

ACT I — The Risen Christ & the Promised SpiritActs 1:1–11 | Jerusalem: Witness Prepared BIG IDEAThe risen and reigning Christ advances His kingdom through Spirit-empowered witnesses living between ascension and return. 1. THE STORY CONTINUES (Acts 1:1–2)Acts is Volume Two of Luke’s orderly account.Focus is not merely church history, but what Jesus continues to do.Resurrection did not end Jesus’ work — it expanded it.Key Truth: Jesus is still active, still leading, still advancing His mission. 2. THE KINGDOM PROGRAM OF THE RISEN CHRIST (Acts 1:3)Jesus teaches on the kingdom of God for forty days.The resurrection vindicates the kingdom message.The kingdom is already inaugurated but not yet consummated.Key Insight: Before power comes clarity. Truth precedes task. 3. THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (Acts 1:4–5)Jesus commands the disciples to wait.Waiting is not inactivity, but dependent obedience.The Spirit is promised not for experience alone, but for mission.Warning: Ministry without the Spirit leads to burnout and moralism. 4. THE COMMISSION OF WITNESSES (Acts 1:6–8)The disciples misunderstand the scope of the kingdom.Jesus redirects them from timing to testimony.The mission is clear:Jerusalem — familiarJudea — regionalSamaria — hostileEnds of the earth — globalKey Calling: We are witnesses, not empire builders. 5. THE ASCENSION OF JESUS (Acts 1:9–11)The ascension is enthronement, not absence.Jesus reigns at the Father’s right hand.He will return in the same way He ascended.Eschatological Tension: We live between confidence and hope. LIVING BETWEEN ASCENSION & RETURNDepend on the Spirit through prayer.Witness faithfully where God has placed you.Hope confidently in Christ’s present reign and future return. FINAL SUMMARYChrist reigns in heaven, the Spirit empowers on earth, and the church bears witness until the King returns.