Acts – The Church on the Move

Today we begin a series on the Book of Acts. Acts is the account of the new Church on the move. Acts might be subtitled, “Who We Are and How We Do It.” As such it really is the training manual for the church today.

We are the Church on the Move. We are a FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH.

This evening I have my first practice with my Pee Wee Pirates baseball team. Even though I coached this team last year, some of the kids are new. But without having met them I can already tell you one thing about them – none of them wants to sit the bench. And I know for darned sure their parents don’t want them to sit the bench.

In the Church of Jesus Christ there are no benchwarmers either.

The Book of Acts begins with this:

“In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them during forty days and teaching them about the Kingdom of God.” Acts 1.1-3

So there is this period between the Resurrection and the Ascension of Jesus in which he spends this 40 days giving what we might think of as a graduate level course in the Kingdom. We can assume it was an intense period of time. If you’re one of the eleven you are spending your time with the first person to rise from dead. How could that not be intense?!!!!

Their world had changed. Everything had changed when Jesus rose from the dead, they saw him, they touched his scars. You just can’t go back to fishing or gardening anymore.
Jesus gave them a how to course on Kingdom preaching and Kingdom living.

“As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” John 20.21

“I will build my church. . .I will give you the keys of the kingdom.” Matthew 16.18-19

You know the feeling you got when mom or dad gave you the keys to the car for the first time and said go ahead and take it for a spin? Jesus gives the apostles the keys to the Kingdom! There’s a lot more at stake.

And remember, you had to be taught and instructed in how to drive a car. And maybe you went and sat in a classroom, read from a book, sat at a simulator – all good stuff – but at some point you had to get behind the wheel of an actual car if you were ever going to really learn to drive. So it was with the apostles. So it is with us.

The Kingdom of God contains world-changing beliefs and ideas – but it’s not only ideas. It’s the presence and power of a person, this humble carpenter, this cosmic Lord.

“But Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, raised his voice and spoke to the crowd. . .” Acts 2.14

Here’s Peter. When last we saw him he was being asked the embarrassing question, “Peter, do you love me?” It was embarrassing to Peter because Jesus was asking him this. It touched the wound in Peter’s soul, the jumble of emotions that was the shame of his denial and cowardice, the devotion he felt, and the desire to be faithful once again.
Peter easily could have went back to the fishing business, or at least, take a less prominent role in the ministry.

But Peter stood up. This may have surprised some people who knew him. Not because he hadn’t always been a bit bold, brash, or reckless; but because he was standing up to speak – putting words together intelligently was never his strong suit.

I bet his wife was surprised. Yeah, Peter was married. They had a home in Capernaum. Jesus had been there; even stayed there. Mrs. Peter had seen how taken her husband was with this Rabbi. But never before had she witnessed her husband quite like this, bold yet humble, simple yet eloquent. Maybe at first, for a second she thought, “Oh no, what’s he doing!” But as she listened and watched her husband, I’m sure she thought, “Oh yes, my man.”

I think all of us are a little afraid of doing what Peter did. We want to talk about our faith in Jesus with others, but we’re afraid we’ll come across sounding arrogant or judgmental or preachy. We’re afraid we’ll sound like all the religious people we’ve ever met and not liked.

There is a newspaper cartoon that depicts a man standing before, who else, Peter at the heavenly gates. Peter asks the man, “Why should I let you in?”

“I witnessed to the Gospel all my life,” says the man.

“Yeah,” replies Peter, “but you forgot the part about not being a jerk about it.”

There is a book out now by David Kinnaman called, unchristian, what a new generation really thinks about Christianiity. Kinnaman, who is president of the Barna Group, has published the results of three years of polling to determine what outsiders really think about American Christianity. The research indicates six attitudes that outsiders attribute to Christians: hypocritical, too focused on conversions, anti-homosexual, sheltered, too political, and judgmental. These are perceptions people have of Christians. It’s open to debate how accurate they are or how much they reflect simply a disagreement with the truth claims of Christians. But to me, the best way to answer these perceptions is this:

Be different. Be like Jesus. Be like Peter, for that matter.

Peter is so large in the early church because he really has become this Rock, this leader that can lead the church into action. He is humble, with the kind of humility that can only come through falling and rising again. He is brave – he fears nothing that this world can do to him. He is loving – he loves others and he loves God, and that love shines brightly. He is godly – truly here is a man who lives for God.

Is it any wonder that in the New Testament there are many lists of the disciples and apostles – on every one of them, Peter’s name appears first, always.

Peter stood up. And by God, Peter preached. He preached that Jesus suffered and was crucified. He preached that this same Jesus rose again and is Lord of all. Peter preached and had the audacity to believe that God would win hearts and minds. And God did.

“they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what should we do?’”

The Gospel is powerful. The Gospel is true. The Gospel is Good News for everybody, even everybody you know.

Now, in light of this Gospel, fresh from news of the Resurrection, will we just sit around and be bored, or are we gonna get moving and speak up and show up? You didn’t come here to just sit around.

We are Church on the Move. We are a FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH!