2. S U N D A Y 1 5 J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 7
RECEIVING POWER
ACTS 1:12-2:41
3. ACTS 1:12-14 NASB
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is
near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. When they had entered
the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that
is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas,
Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the
Zealot, and Judas the son of James. These all with one mind were
continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and
Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
5. The Spirit of the Lord is on
me, because he has anointed
me to proclaim good news to
the poor. He has sent me to
proclaim freedom for the
prisoners and recovery of
sight for the blind, to set the
oppressed free,.”
CORPORATE ANOINTING
Luke 4:18 NIV
6. ACTS 1:21-26 NASB
"Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all
the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—beginning with
the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of
these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” So they put
forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus),
and Matthias. And they prayed and said, "You, Lord, who know the
hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen to
occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to
go to his own place.” And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to
Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.
8. While they were worshiping the
Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit
said, "Set apart for me Barnabas
and Saul for the work to which I
have called them."
CHOSEN
Acts13:2 NIV
9. ACTS 2:1-4 NASB
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one
place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent
rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And
there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and
they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy
Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving
them utterance.
11. In Christian brotherhood
everything depends upon its
being clear right from the
beginning, first, that Christian
brotherhood is not an ideal,
but a divine reality. Second,
that Christian brotherhood is
a spiritual and not a human
reality.
KINGDOM COMMUNITY
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
12. BECOMING THE CHURCH
• Not by Human Effort
Signs of The Spirit
• Wind – Creation Power
• Fire – Revelation Power
• Languages – Transformation Power
13. ACTS 2:5-13 NASB
Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation
under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came
together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing
them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished,
saying, "Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? "And how is
it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?
"Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia,
Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt
and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both
Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own
tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.”
14. ACTS 2:5-13 NASB
And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to
one another, "What does this mean?” But others were mocking and
saying, "They are full of sweet wine."
15. ACTS 2:36-41 NASB
"Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has
made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now
when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter
and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to
them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit. "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are
far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many
other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying,
"Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had
received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about
three thousand souls.
Cocacolonization
Think of Coca Cola, originally intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Pemberton, it is now found everywhere in the world which means it is transportable into every culture. Coke is said to be a sign of purity, when you are not sure about the water you drink coke.
The Gospel has done even better than coke not only is it found everywhere but has been doing it for much longer. The secret to its success is its business model which is it’s people. It touches and empowers ordinary people that then feel compelled to testify of its effect.
The great commission requires a personal response from each of us.
We each have a measure of grace but together we can have grace without measure.
Kingdom Communities must discern the rhythm between gathering and going, between staying and sending. It seems here that in terms of kingdom transformation the pattern was first corporate anointing and then flowing from that was individual anointing. Jesus gathered the disciples and then sent them, here the church gathers first and then is sent. Our gathering is not merely a team of healing and refreshing but also a time of anointing for when we are not together. We each spend time with God in the spirit and I don’t think without that you will survive in the mission, you cannot live of corporate anointing we all need both.
Accurate Witness – The had to choose someone who had been with them from the beginning, someone that could accurately tell the story of Christ. This was vital for the preservation of oral tradition. You see we are all disciples and have been sent out to be witnesses of Christ but here we see a disciple chosen for a different level of leadership and made an Apostle.
Chosen Apostle - Although the words disciple and apostle are sometimes used interchangeably, they mean different things. A disciple is a follower or student of someone. An apostle is someone who is sent out with a message or mission. The word apostle is from the Greek word “apostolos” and means “a delegate, messenger,” and “one sent forth with orders.”
Follower First - We must all be disciples first, called to Christ to learn before we can be Apostles sent by Christ to lead. First you operate in the anointing of followership before you can operate in the anointing of Leadership.
Be Chosen - All of us are disciples but not all are called to be Apostles, we are all charged to be witnesses of Christ but we are not all charged with leading others and planting churches. I believe we can all operate in the anointing of the 5 fold ministry but not all are called to stand in any of those offices. We can all teach, prophecy, evangelize, pastor or do the work of an Apostle. When we serve in a local church and its mission we partake in these functions and operate in them we also believe that we have primary and secondary gifting's but there are people wo are called out from the rest to be the leaders and equippers in a community, people that are set apart. Acts 13:2 Set apart for me Paul and Barnabas for the work I have chosen them.
So in a community we are all disciples first we assume the position of learning, and that is not that we stop learning we always learn. Secondly we then become sent ones, we are tasked to go and share what we have learnt. As a community we do recognize that some have been set apart to operate in the office of the five fold and that they have been chosen to equip the saints.
No amount of human effort can produce the community God wants. It is only when God pours out His Spirit and His presence becomes real that kingdom community, the community that is unlike any other becomes possible.
In Christian brotherhood everything depends upon its being clear right from the beginning, first, that Christian brotherhood is not an ideal, but a divine reality. Second, that Christian brotherhood is a spiritual and not a human reality. Bonhoeffer
Wind – Creation Power: In the story of creation, a mighty “wind from God” sweeps over the unformed dark, deep space that God is about to transform (Gen 1:2). He breathes life into Adam. The world was created by the Spirit.
Fire – Revelation Power: God had earlier appeared to the Israelites’ leader, Moses, in a mysterious “flame of fire out of a bush” at Mount Sinai (Exod 3:1-6) and guided the Israelites out of Egypt in a guiding “pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night” (Exod 13:21-22). After crossing the Reed Sea, Moses returns with his people to Mount Sinai, where God makes another dramatic appearance, engulfing the mountain in smoke and fire and giving instructions (Exod 19:18), including the Ten Commandments. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of revelation, He shows us who God is.
Languages – Transformation Power: Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. The Spirit is the teacher that transforms us by guiding us in the truth. He causes us not to live on the mere natural reality but transforms us into a spiritual reality. We live in the place where Jesus is King, the Holy Spirit transforms our thinking and enables us to see.
Without the Holy Spirit we cannot be recreated, know God or be empowered to live in His Koingdom.