A few weeks ago in our first service, uh the power went out in this building. Uh Something was happening in the neighborhood nearby and the power went out and some of you were actually here for that. Uh Dan was preaching, so not my fault. Um And uh no, so Dan was preaching and, and really grateful for our team for Dan staying calm and the, and the music team coming out having a little acoustic set there for the last little bit of the service for everyone staying calm here, the emergency lights work. So that's a good thing. And then also super grateful the power came back on for before the second service. But it got me thinking though that because power outages happen uh that I was just curious of what are some of the largest power, power outages that we've seen in our country's history. And so I, I went and started searching and came across actually uh one of the largest in our country's history happened about 21 years ago on Thursday, August 14th at about four or 410 pm when a power plant in the Midwest uh really had a systems failure. And really that system failure created a series of cascading other failures because they couldn't transmit it and, and create and then pass along the proper power to the grid, not just locally but really regionally. And so what started out as a software pro problem, an issue and that really then mixed in with some mechanical failures and then you throw in a storm and some tree branches inter interacting with some of the wiring. It actually created a power outage that covered the northeast and where 30 million people uh went without power for hours on end. Now, while the power was eventually restored, that got me thinking and I started thinking about this question. Is there a spiritual power outage in our country right now? And the spiritual power outage is different because I'm not talking about really whether the power left the church. But I'm curious, has the church left the power? In other words, not has power left the church building but rather we as the church, are we trying to gather, are we trying to leave these services? And then are we trying to live our daily lives apart from the Holy Spirit in our lives? Because as Christians, all of us are called to live in the power of the spirit to be the presence of Christ, to the people around us. Believers in Jesus are called to live by the power of the Holy Spirit to be the presence of Christ to the people around us. We're jumping into a book here that really the launching of the movement known as the church. And this book is a, so it's Matthew Mark Luke John A and I'm excited to jump into it. There's 28 chapters. We're not gonna get to all of that in this series. We're just gonna focus on the 1st 12 this fall. But I'm excited to, to really jump in and this morning's message is, is entitled Just getting started because it's really how the church movement began. Now, before we jump into specific verses, let's just give a little bit of context to the book of acts. So what is the background to it? Well, it was written by a guy named Luke who was both a missionary and a medical doctor. It's most likely written around 60 to 6280 or early sixties give or take. And the reason they put that date there is because he doesn't, he, he makes reference to a lot of persecution happening in the early church. But it doesn't make reference to when the temple was destroyed. And we know that was in 70 ad and it doesn't make mention of ultimately Paul being killed. And so we know it was while he was still alive. And so that's why it kind of dates it in like the early sixties ad. And what's fascinating too about both the gospel of Luke and Acts. It was written by the same guy is that it wasn't just written to a group of people, but it was actually written to a specific person. His name was Theophilus. Now, Theophilus actually means lovers of God. And so some people had argued, well, maybe he was writing to early Christians as lovers of God. But really, there's more uh indicated and evidence to point to a specific person. And so it actually refers to him as the most excellent theophilus, which typically that phrase most excellent was reserved for a ranking official. And so we see this in other parts of the letter. So acts 2326 refers to the most excellent Felix, uh someone in high ranking official and then in Acts 26 verse 25 there's a gentleman named Festus, um not Festivus for the rest of us. OK, for Seinfeld fans, but Festus and so most excellent. So an official there. Um So there's a question, OK, who is this gentleman most likely a gentile? Either he wasn't saved yet and he was writing to um him to kind of give an account of the gospel or maybe he was recently saved to in which he was writing an account to that. And then there's actually some really kind of intriguing theories uh between Luke's connection to theophilus. And so I'll just share some of them, I don't know the answer at the end of this. Um But some say that he was potentially uh Luke's master. So Luke was a doctor but might have been working specifically for this guy. And so he given an account for that. There's another theory out there that this guy theophilus because he was well off was actually funding the early missionary work. And so he was given a donor report back to Theophilus. And there's one more theory that theophilus actually uh was potentially gonna be the lawyer helping Paul in his trial in Rome, which that's kind of a fun theory because then if you're trying to prep for trial, he's actually walking through the details before that. And so we don't necessarily know the act for this gentleman. But what we do know is that he is a high ranking official and Luke who was a medical doctor gives an orderly account for this. Now, Luke was the travel companion, the missionary friend of the Apostle Paul and we know this for a couple of reasons. Uh Paul directly mentions him in Colossians 414, 2nd Timothy 411 and then Philemon verse 24. Uh and then what's another fascinating part in this letter is that uh in acts 16 verse 10. Uh Luke goes from the pronouns referring to Paul as he to then from act 1610 on, he goes to we meaning that he most likely joined Paul at that point in his journey and they moved forward. So Luke is writing medical doctor. He highlights a lot of um miracles that happen. And he's very detailed in this case, which I think is fascinating because if you are a doctor and then you see a physical miracle, you're gonna be intrigued with the details of that. And also the way that he writes, there's other letters and other books in the New Testament that's written in like common everyday Greek or language of that time. This is a little bit higher level um writing style. And so it's academic, it's detailed, it's a smart guy. He's writing to Theophilus who either has money or power or both. But in all cases here, we, we see something kind of intriguing and I wanna actually share this with you that comes directly from scripture. So I wanna read the intro to Luke which is part one and then a which is part two. So it's like the sequel and the series. OK? And, and just, I want you to see if you catch something between the two openings of these letters. The first one is Luke chapter one, verse three and four. It says it seemed good to me also having followed all things closely for some time past to write an orderly account for you most excellent theophilus uh that you may have with have certainty concerning the things that you have been taught. So he's writing to Theophilus, this ranking official uh that you may have confidence, right, or certainty of what really happened. Now, I want you to notice the opening of acts. It's right to the same guy. Acts one verse one and two. In the first book, o Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. The reason I find that phrase interesting is because the gospel of Luke actually covers what Jesus did and then the acts of the apostles covers what Jesus is still doing. So it's what Jesus did and what Jesus and Jesus is still doing. And the reason I can say that with pretty strong confidence is because he actually ends the letter in a unique way. It won't be up on the screen, but I wanna read the very last verse to you because it doesn't really make sense in the way that it's originally written. So it's 28 chapters. It's a long book, there's lots of stories, he's highlighting all the persecution that's happening in the church and all these miracles and, and judgments and trials and all that. I mean, it, this is a movie, right? This is a movie and so think of the series, the chosen and then just continuing that but in real life through and so he's got all these details. So you would think it's gonna end in a climatic scene, right? It's Paul verse Rome in the Pay per view showdown. And yet this is the very last verse here in acts 28 verse 3031. And Paul lived there two whole years at his own expense. He welcome them all who came to him proclaiming the kingdom of God, teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ and be with boldness and without hindrance, it doesn't tell you what happens. It doesn't tell you what happens to the church. It doesn't tell you what happens to Paul. It just kinda ends, imagine sitting through a whole movie and you get right to the point of the final battle and then the movie just ends and just says to be continued, right? Why does he do that? I think he does that because we are still in the book of Acts. He doesn't end the letter because the letter didn't end. Luke covered what Jesus did a covers what Jesus is doing and here we are 2000 years later and Jesus is still alive and active and working through his church today. Amen. And so we have this incredible picture of the launching of the movement that we are a part of. We're in the story. It continues today. Now, the key verse for the entire book has actually come from chapter one that we're studying this morning and it reads here in acts 18, but you will receive power. That word, the green word Dumas. We kinda now in present day we get our word. That's where they pull the root from where we get our word dynamite. OK. So you think of this, they didn't have dynamite in biblical times, but it's where we pulled that word from. And so you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth. Now, this is the final words of Jesus, but it's also the structure of the book. So acts chapters one through seven, the gospels taken to Jerusalem. Then in acts 89, the gospels taken to Judea and Samaria. And then in acts 10 through 28 the gospel is taken to the Roman Empire, which at that time for those people, they considered kind of the ends of the earth. But we can say that Acts is still beaten, being written today because now we are in a country that didn't exist at the time of writing where the gospel is still expanding and still reaching and still transforming today. And that's why as Christians, all of us are called to live in the power of the spirit, to be the presence of Christ to the people around us. Now, another way to break down the book is that acts chapters one through 12 is the Ministry of Peter and then acts chapters 13 to 28 is really the ministry of Paul. And so Paul gets a little bit more of the show. We're gonna focus at least through chapters, one through 12. Just so we can go through it a little bit more systematically. But, uh I encourage you also to read too. So don't just take it just what we get on Sunday, just use it as an appetizer to dive into it throughout the week. And you're gonna see that it's gonna have more meaning and more impact in your life. And it makes sense too that Luke would spend more time writing about Paul uh because that was his, that was his travel buddy, that was his missionary friend. OK? And, and he Paul writes all these letters and so he'll actually give you the context uh for a lot of where the letters were written from for the rest. So if you understand acts, you'll actually get the framework to understand how a lot of the other letters in the New Testament are laid out. So pretty cool. All right. So that's the, that's the context. That's the background. Let's go ahead and jump into the letter together. So acts chapter one verses 3 to 5 here it says, and Jesus, 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 and while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the father, which which he said you had heard from me for John baptized with water. But you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Now, what does this mean? This really lays out the gospel right out of the gate is that we don't have good news, meaning like we're just sharing good advice with people. We have good news and we are witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ himself that without the resurrection of Jesus, the church makes absolutely no sense. It makes absolutely no sense because here were, the followers were, a lot of them were uneducated. Peter denied them right before the cross. When he dies on the cross, they go and hide in a locked up room. They have no money, they have no political power, they have no buildings and yet a short time later, they start the largest movement in world history. None of that makes sense unless Jesus Christ in fact raised from the dead. And so Luke is writing and talks about how Jesus appeared to them and appeared to them over the course of 40 days, Paul in first Corinthians 15 actually shares that over 500 people interacted with the resurrected Jesus. And so it was not a one time hallucination, but over 40 days at different times during the day, sometimes eating, interacting with, with different people, different places. 500 people had an experience with the resurrected Jesus Christ. And it's the fact that he rose again from the grave is that really provides the basis for our faith and the church as a movement and a whole because if Jesus conquered death, then there is nothing that our God cannot do. And that's where their boldness came from. And it's belief in Jesus as Lord and as savior, that actually someone gets saved. In fact, Paul writes this in Romans 10, 9 and 10. And then in verse 13, he says, because if you confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord, and you believe in your heart, that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved for with the heart, one believes and is justified and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved. And then in verse 13, it says, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. This is what it means to receive Jesus into your life. You admit that you sinner, ok? You turn from that sin. It's a theological term repentance there, right? And then you're believing in what you're believing that Jesus is Lord and you're believing that he is savior that when he died on the cross, he took on payments of our sins. And when he rose again, it's through Jesus and Jesus Christ alone, we can be saved and have access to eternal life, but also abundant life right now. And forgiveness of sins and meaning and purpose and joy and all the things that comes from the power of the Holy Spirit coming into your life. That's why when you get saved. The idea there is being baptized with the spirit as the spirit comes into the life of the believer. And then when we practice water baptism, that is a symbol of what Christ did on the cross, bury with Christ and baptism raised to walk in newness of life. That's Romans 64. And so that is the story. And so what does this, these first couple of verses tell us, it tells us that Christ's resurrection should shape our resolution as Christians, we should be resolved to share and spread this gospel. What is the gospel? It's Jesus Christ resurrected. It's Jesus Christ alive. And it's this teaching this truth that launched the movement of the church. Ok. We continue reading acts one verse six through 11. So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord will you will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? And 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 in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. He says, when he said these things as they were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. I mean, talk about a mic drop moment, not even a mic drop like he dropped the mic and then he started going up, right? It is a savior up moment. Ok? Like he just says these things and starts floating in the sky. Now, that would be crazy, right? It says, and while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men, so the angels here stood by them in white robes and said, oh, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? I'll tell you why because that's wild, right? Can you imagine having a conversation with Jesus? Jesus says, you will live OK by the power of the spirit to be the presence of Jesus right up to the people around you to the ends of the earth and he just starts floating. Yeah, I think all of us in this room would just be sitting here like this, right? Like we're just staring up. But the angels say, hey, what are you doing? You got a job to do. This isn't the finish line. This is the starting line. It's go time, right? If you're on the track, right? The the the starting gun fires. Here we go. OK. The race has begun. It says, why are you 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. This Jesus not only left but he's coming back. He's coming back. This means for us today that Christ's future return should shape our current reality. I noticed something in, in, in this study that I didn't, it's not that I didn't know it before. I just didn't give it much attention, but because we're in an election season in a divided season in our country, I thought this was fascinating. Did you notice that when I read that passage right before verse eight, do you notice that the disciples asked a political question, Jesus is resurrected and he says, oh, is now the time Israel is gonna be in power? Are you gonna restore the kingdom of Israel? They ask a political question. Is, is Jesus coming? Are the, are the Jews now gonna be in power like the Kingdoms? And the Old Testament is now the time Jesus and Jesus responds, not with a physical kingdom but a spiritual one that's so important for us to remember why? Because I think two things can be true at the same time. I want you to hear me on this. OK. Number one, it is good for us to be involved in politics. I I really want our church. I want everybody in here registered to vote, uh be engaged with if you feel called to be in that arena, to be a political community or national leader to do so to be driven by biblical values in teaching and to engage with that. And so have conviction, have the conversation, you know, have the dialogue with people, stand for what we believe. May your choices be driven by the principles of scripture. I say all these things. So that is 100% true to go for it. And OK, this is the second thing and know that we live for a higher purpose, engage in the political. But remember that we are part of a spiritual kingdom. As pastor Tony Evans once said Jesus didn't come to take sides. He came to take over. Can I tell you something? Just as a friend? And pastor here as Christians, we have to remember a few things. OK. Again, engage, talk, vote, lead, share rally, do all the things. OK? And no, if your political candidate does not win, the world is not over. And if your political candidate does not, or if your political candidate does win, the world is not saved, our country didn't exist when this was written. A Yeah, they were in a country that was oppressed and was not being ruled by biblical principles. OK? And so the disciples went to Jesus and said, OK, so you're gonna take over like this is it? Now we're gonna be in charge, right? He says, no, I'm going to give you an even bigger kingdom to remember and to keep in mind, see a candidate's gonna rule or lead and set policies for a couple of years. OK? And then it moves on. Our country only existed for a short while eternity lasts forever. And God's kingdom is greater than all of that. So engage, share belief. Yes. OK. And understand that God is in control, that so much of our world communicate and sells based on what based on fear. But as Christians, we are not called to live by fear, by the spirit of power, love and self control, that we have a greater, a bigger kingdom. And the fact is, is that God is returning and so that should give us boldness, that should also give us peace. And the third thing here, can I just say this, that should also give us love for our neighbor, f our divided nation needs a united church. And so when you have those conversations, OK, when you have those stances, understand this, that we have been called by God to also love our neighbors and to love the people that we're dialoguing with. And that we serve not just a political candidate, we serve an eternal king who has called us to show and to share the love of Jesus with everybody around us. Ok? Christ's return should impact our current reality. It allows us in this political season. It's about to get crazy like I get it. We got a debate coming Tuesday if you want to have conversations and everything. Yeah, let's have the conversations about this policy and this right, let's do that also know that God is very much in control, right? And so we approach things differently than the world does. Let's take that in remembrance as his church, his body. Ok. Let's continue reading. Acts one verse 1214 says, and they returned to Jerusalem from the mount and called, called all of that. So the Mount of Olives there, which is near Jerusalem about a Sabbath day's journey away verse 13. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room and where they were staying and they start listing the disciples. So uh Peter and John and James and Andrew and Philip and Thomas and Bartholomew and Matthew James, the son of Alpheus Simon, the zealot and Judas, the son of James man. Talk about bad luck of names. This is not the Judas that betrayed Jesus. This is a different Judas. This was you Judas Iscariot and then you had Judas the son of James. Can you imagine being one of the 12 disciples? Two of them are named Judas and one of them is forever known as the ultimate betrayer in world history. And so for the rest of your life, you have to, you have to explain, I'm Judas not the guy that betrayed like the the good one, right? Like, can you imagine in the forties if you were leading a church, a congregation like in the thirties and forties and your name happened to be uh Hitler, right? That's the most evil person in the world. No, no, I'm not that uh like OK, like this is Judas, but here he is in the disciples also, I want you to notice in this list they have different political backgrounds, different stages of life, different levels of education. You got fishermen, you got tax collectors, you got religious zealots, you got people that are, there they go and replace the Judas that betrayed with a guy named Matthias. But then he even continues on. Not just the disciples in the room here in verse 14, it says all these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer together with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus and his brothers. And it goes on to say, there's about 100 and 20 people together. And so what does this mean? This means that Christ's command should shape our community. Christ's command to go and to preach the good news of Jesus with everyone around us should really shape and unify the church that the very first church was divided on cultural issues, but was united on the understanding of who God is and beyond. And they came together in prayer. Now this is cheesy what I'm about to say. But it helps me remember. So maybe it'll help somebody else remember that you cannot have community without unity, you cannot have community without unity that we have to come together. What do we come together over we come together over the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior that he rose again, defeated death, that the Kingdom of God is at hand and is here and the Kingdom of God is eternal and spiritual, that will ultimately become a physical reality for eternity. When Jesus Christ returns and until he returns, we are living out the book of acts, the power of the Holy Spirit, changing life after life after life unified in the fact that we're called to love God, to love people and to make disciples. And here was this band, this ragtag group of people who just days before were locked in a room. Afraid to that then launched the largest movement in history. And there are more Christians today in our world today than at any point in world history. God is very much still alive, very much still active. And we are living in the power of the spirit to change this world with the good news of Jesus. Amen. I was kind of a weak gay man, but I'll let I'll let that slide. Amen. We are called to live in the power of the spirit to be the presence of Christ, to the people around us. Let me ask you two questions. OK? Then we're gonna be done. Number one. Will you receive Christ today? Will you receive Christ? That's what it means to be a Christian. It says right there out of the gate, Jesus rose from the again or rose from the grave. He rose again. You admit that you're a sinner that you can't make it to heaven on your own that in this world we, we're not gonna make it. We believe. What do we believe? We believe that Jesus is Lord. We believe that Jesus Savior, that when he died on the cross, he died as payment for our sins. And when he rose again, he conquered sin, conquered death. And he says, receive me, believe in me to put the full weight of your life in me. She is the only way, truth in life. So you put your faith in Him, you receive that gift of eternal life, you receive forgiveness in your life and then you commit your life to Him. And then you live as a response too, as a renewed a change, new creation, child of God. Will you receive Christ today? And then the second question is if you have received Christ, will you share Christ today? We share Christ today where you look for an opportunity to share Jesus in your Jerusalem. You Judea Samaria to the ends of the earth. Is there somebody that you can share the good news of Jesus Christ with this week, if you haven't received Christ yet, I want to give you that opportunity right now. If everyone could just close their eyes and bow their heads for just a moment. If someone's sitting here thinking, you know what, I really have been living without power of God in my life, I've been trying to live on my own, but I'd like to have God in my life. I wanna put my faith and trust in Jesus with no one looking around heads bound. If that's you in the room today, will you just let me know by kind of raising your hand? Just raise your hand. If you're ready to receive the power of Jesus in your life, raise your hand. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. I invite you to pray this along with me. We pray this prayer. There's no magic in the words, other than just committing that in your heart, what you truly believe? I invite you to pray with me for God. I know that I'm a sinner. I know that I can't make it on my own. God. I believe that Jesus is Lord and savior. That when he died on the cross prayed for my sin. When he rose again, God, he conquered it. And so God come into my life. I confess with my mouth. I believe in my heart. I receive your gift today. Thank you for forgiving us. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for loving me. I'm your child and I commit my life to you. Thank God. I pray for our church right now that not that the power has left the church. But God, I just wonder if the church has left the power when we embrace that. When we embrace your spirit, that together collectively, all Christians, we can come together in this space at this time, continuing the book of acts when we live in the power of the spirit to be the presence of your son Jesus, to the people around us and beyond. Will we be a united church around your gospel? We give our lives to you and your son and we pray amen.