3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them andgave many convincing proofs that he was alive. Hepeared to them over a period of forty days and spokeabout the kingdom of God. - P98
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comesand youwill be mywitnesses in Jerusalem, andin all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their veryeyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. - P99
11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand herelooking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has beentaken from you into heaven, will come back in the sameway you have seen him go into heaven."
11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesushas been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in thesame way you saw him go!" - P99
Luke writes to Theophilus. In his previous book, he had detailed Jesus‘ worksand teachings. After His resurrection, Jesus, appears before His disciples manytimes and gives His final commands. - P99
Jesus tells the disciples to wait untilthey are baptized by the Holy Spirit. Once Jesus is taken up, an angel tells thedisciples that just as He went up, He will come back. - P99
Luke makes a summary statement of how his first letter ended. The dis-ciples are told to wait for the promised Holy Spirit who would empowerthem for their mission to be witnesses of Jesus to their known worlds.
- P100
On one hand, the story of redemption is finished and on the other, ithas only just begun. It is finished in the sense that victory over sin hasbeen completed through Jesus‘ death and resurrection, but it is just thebeginning in the sense that the church will now carry this news to theworld as it declares what Jesus has accomplished. - P100
Christians today aretasked with the same mission as the disciples in the book of Acts. Wehave heard the good news of the completed work of Christ, and ourwork of proclaiming this good news will continue until He returns.
- P100
But we will not be doing this work alone, we too carry the power of theHoly Spirit-God‘s very presence in our lives. - P100
Dear Jesus, thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit. Help us to always listen to Hiscounsel and to be bold in love as we share about You with those around us. InYour name, amen. - P101
The African nation of Togo struggles with an unstable economy, ethnic tensions, and a historyof human rights violations. - P100
Extreme poverty has led to many children becoming orphanedand exploited. Christianity was introduced to Togo in the fifteenth century, and the churchhas experienced significant growth in recent decades, across all denominations. - P100
However,
unity among churches has been hard to achieve. The people of Togo are open and responsiveto the gospel and there are many ministry opportunities, but sadly workers are still scarce. - P100
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