The First Steps in the Heavenly
Reign of the Conquering King
Acts 1:1-5
July 29, 2007

How did a handful of fearful disciples in the early church conquer the world for Christ?

What can we do at Faith Presbyterian Church in the next generation?

Dry bones come to life and form an Army (Ezekiel 37)

How are Luke and Acts similar and how are they different?

What could the title of this book be? Why?

Is Christianity based on the facts of history?

The Things that Jesus Continues to Do and to Teach

What did Jesus teach the apostles?

The apostles:
Jesus chose them, convinced them, taught them, sent them.

What is the kingdom of God?

Jesus equipped them
John 14:15-17; 15:26-27; 16:7

Summary of our passage (Luke 24:44-49)
Application:
In Acts we can learn how to communicate the gospel to a hostile culture with integrity, even in the face of persecution, without compromise.
In Acts we see the mandate of the church and that the mandate cannot be fulfilled without the Holy Spirit.
In Acts we see individual lives altered by the presence of the Kingdom of God and the intense fellowship that develops around the gospel.
In Acts we learn to be hopeful and expectant about future ministry.
In Acts we learn confidence in the heavenly reign of King Jesus. Jesus is going forth conquering and to conquer, by his Spirit through his people.



Hope
“If the Church could be aroused to a deeper sense of the glory that awaits her, she would enter with a warmer spirit into the struggles that are before her. Hope would inspire ardour. She would even now arise from the dust, and like the eagle, plume her pinions for loftier flights than she has yet taken. What she wants, and what every individual Christian wants, is faith – faith in her sublime vocation, in her Divine resources, in the presence and efficacy of the Spirit that dwells in her – faith in the truth, faith in Jesus, and faith in God. With such a faith there would be no need to speculate about the future. That would speedily reveal itself. It is our unfaithfulness, our negligence and unbelief, our low and carnal aims, that retard the chariot of the Redeemer. The Bridegroom cannot come until the Bride has made herself ready. Let the Church be in earnest after greater holiness in her own members, and in faith and love undertake the conquest of the world, and she will soon settle the question whether her resources are competent to change the face of the earth.” –J. H. Thornwell from Collected Writings, 1871, vol. 2, 48