Acts 5:12-42 Blessed to be a Witness Mar 3/4, AD2018 Nic Gilmour NCCC

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;

and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

1. Biblical and historical context – Acts of the Holy Spirit in the life of the fledgling Jesus-

Community. 2. V12 “apostles” – disciples. Also consider role of apostolic/pioneering gift in the Kingdom

(1 Cor 12:27-31; Eph 4:11-12) “…to equip [God’s] people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up…”

3. V12 “signs and wonders” – prayed for in Acts 4:30 – now witnessed. a. Naturally supernatural b. Not spooky sorcery, vain manipulation, or historically bounded

4. V12 “believers…meet together” (Acts 2:46) – social hangout, center of community. 5. Vv13-14 “no one dared join…nevertheless more and more… believed” – awe (holiness,

fear at disobedience, amazement at miracles) begets growth. a. Is the “them/they” the believers or the Apostles? b. Either way – the contrast speaks of gritty, authentic Jesus community that

allowed no phoniness, religiosity, faking or nominalism. c. The meteoric rise of early Christianity was due to its social subversion. It was

self-giving, classless, egalitarian, sacrificial and authentic (Rodney Stark, The Triumph of Christianity, Harper 2012)

6. Vv15-16 “all of them were healed” a. Peter’s shadow – spooky? Effective? b. Unclean spirits – not through shouting or formulaic prayer, but by the power of

the non-chaotic, powerful Spirit (e.g. Acts 16:16-18) c. Infinite power of God cf finite power of satan – what means of influence does

satan also use today? (Systemic oppression, technology, idolatry, various -isms) 7. Vv 17, 21, 34 The factions of politicized religion

a. Sanhedrin – religio-political ruling body, internecine power-mongering b. Sadducees – Liberal power-brokers, compromisers and holders of political power c. Pharisees – fundamentalists, tended to wards legalism, cerebral d. Zealots – dominionists, pursuing violent overthrow of Rome e. Essenes – escapists, set up their own schools & soccer-league (!)

8. Vv18-21 Persecution – Angelic advent – bold witness a. V17 “filled with jealousy” – not for spiritually pure reasons, but pride b. V18 “arrested the apostles and put them in …jail”

i. Christian character comes out under persecution (e.g. Paul and Silas singing in jail (Acts 16:25)

ii. Persecution – normative in much of historic and global Christianity. Christianity is NOT a Western religion!

iii. NCCC global engagement: 1. Indigenous empowerment 2. Partnership orientation 3. Transformationalism

Doing the Word Together - AD2018

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c. V20 Angel: “tell the people all about this new life” (ie not just cerebral) i. Col 4:5-6; 1 Pet 3:13-16; Acts 17:16-34; Rom 12:1-2 ii. “It will make a weak man mighty, it will make a mighty man fall, it will fill

your heart and hands, or leave you with nothing at all, it's the eyes for the blind, and legs for the lame, it is love for hate, and pride for shame, … that's the power of the gospel” (Ben Harper, ‘The Power of the Gospel’, The Will to Live, 1997 Virgin)

iii. Sharing Jesus is “…one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.' (D.T. Niles, Sri Lankan evangelist)

d. V28 “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name…Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching…”

i. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, ends of the earth ii. Christianity is increasingly shaped by the global South and is non-western,

socially involved, “charismatic, visionary and apocalyptic” (Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom, OUP, 2007)

e. “we must obey God rather than human beings” – how is our boldness? (Matt 10:32-33) Is it blunted by social convention? Our own fear, pride or laziness?

9. V32 “Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him” a. The ongoing gift of the Spirit – “…be filled [continuously] with the Spirit.” Eph

5:18b) 10. Vv 348-39 Gamaliel the Elder (הזקן גמליאל רבן, Rabban Gamaliel I, a revered leader,

Pharisee, and teacher of Paul the Apostle Acts 22:3) “if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop [it]”

11. V41 “rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the name.”

a. Let us not demean our brother’s and sister’s suffering by being timid b. “They overcame [satan] by the blood of the Lamb [ie the power of Jesus] and by

the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” (Rev 12:11)

c. God is kind, it’s never too late to be reinstated after we fail! (John 21:15-19) 12. V42 “in the temple courts and from house to house” (Acts 2:42-47) 13. ENGAGEMENT – just a couple of ideas (ALL on NCCC website!)

a. SharingJesus – how to be unweird as you live a blessed, witnessing life. b. Refugee Care (local/international) – love reaching across borders c. Unite NorthCounty – lunch May 3; mentor youth-at-risk d. Prayer & Intercession – the hard work is done on our knees e. Give 1hr a week teaching Iranians English – by skype! f. NCCC trips / partners / International Missions Fair (Fri Nov 9) g. Hero of the Faith – reception room, today, 12:30pm (Sun Mar 4)

QUESTIONS FOR THE BRAVE OF HEART:

• Do I passionately long for those I love to encounter Jesus? • Is radical, sacrificial love normative for me? • Who are my ‘Samaritans’? • What holds my spiritual development back the most – pride, laziness or fear? • Would those who know me best detect in me any phoniness, religiosity, faking? How? • What steps am I going to take this week to remind myself I’m blessed to be a witness?