The Church Sent Out

In Acts 1, we see the very last words of Jesus that we will be His witnesses sent out into all the world, starting with Jerusalem (the place they were at), and then Judea (the greater region), and Samaria (the region that they would have hated the most), and even to the ends of the earth (All peoples, everywhere). That is quite a task to be given! How can we possibly live up to this mission? But that is where God is so gracious to us. He sends us His Holy Spirit so that we might have the power to fulfill this mission. Jesus promises that the very presence and power of God will be with us as we go about this! What good news this is to us today! How often we feel overwhelmed in sharing the Gospel. How far short we often fall. Yet, we think it is us, and only us, who must convert people. The beauty of this message is that we are God's witnesses sent out into the world in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are not alone in this. We have Almighty God who works in us, "both to will and to work for His good pleasure." Therefore the burden is really not on us to save. It is our mission to tell people what Jesus has done, and the Lord works through that. The Lord will work through you - not because you are so great, but because He is. "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit," says the Lord." Let us therefore go boldly and tell others of what Christ has done for us and let Almighty God work out the rest.