Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria…

Last Sunday I had another opportunity to be stretched. While I have delivered several sermons before, never was it in a formal church setting. For those of you who don’t know me well enough yet, I am a perfectionist and that perfectionism is focused primarily on me, not others. I’m willing to extend tons of grace to others, but I beat myself up pretty good. And if it involves teaching and preaching the Word of God, well the stakes are thru the roof!

I want to thank the dozens of people who encouraged me following my message. Frankly, I’m trying to make myself believe the compliments I received since I’m dwelling on the places I didn’t communicate exactly what I meant. Again, my perfectionism rearing its ugly head. The comments which meant the most to me were the ones about the significance of the message I brought from Acts 1. One woman told me that she had been a missionary’s wife for 39 years and had never heard such a compelling call to live a life on mission for the Lord. Wow!

But isn’t that truly the message of Acts 1:1-8? The language that Luke uses to instruct Theophilus about the responsibility of those who follow Christ is full of authoritative descriptions of Christ as commander or king. And Luke’s preference for calling the Christ followers “apostles” conveys his understanding that we are to be His envoys or ambassadors, to be His “sent ones.” And just so that we don’t make too much of our role in God’s redemptive plan, Jesus tells us that we need divine power in order to accomplish our enormous task.

So, you and I are sent to our Jerusalem. Have you thought about that this week? The people in your Connect group are part of your Jerusalem. So are your family members and your neighbors, and your co-workers. Have you been sent to them this week? Have you been a faithful witness for Christ and His Kingdom?

And how are you doing with your Judea and Samaria? There hasn’t been much time to go, but have you at least thought about them? Have you begun praying about them? Maybe your group could start praying about people having hearts ready to hear the message of the grace of God. Maybe you all could be praying together that you would have opportunities on the coming weeks and months to have an impact somewhere outside your Jerusalem, even if just in Judea. Is that something you even desire? If you don’t, does that trouble you in light of Acts 1:1-8?

Because, if we’re truly honest about it, most of the time we are really looking to build our kingdom, not His. We are looking for things or status or comfort. Do you think I’m wrong? What did Jesus say in the Sermon on the Mount when He was addressing the masses?

So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:31-33

Were people that way in ancient Israel, but we have evolved beyond that? Really? Maybe I’m the only one who has a tendency to slide back into my self-centeredness. But I doubt it, since I have eyes to see the world and there’s still much need for faithful witnesses for Christ but many who would call Him “Lord.”