The Seven Next Words of Christ: Wait for the Gift Devo

June 4th, 2017  

Devotional

“The Seven Next Words of Christ: Wait for the Gift” -Acts 1:1-11

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Theophilus” - Acts 1:1-2

The Book of Acts is composed by the same author as the Gospel of Luke, starting another letter to Theophilus, lover of God. The general premise is that the gospel told chiefly of the works of Christ and his life, while the book of Acts speaks about the formation of the church, the body of Christ. But notice what the author starts this account of the church by telling – the ascension of Jesus.

The sermon series we have been engaging about The Seven Next Words of Christ is based off of a book bearing the same title by Pastor Shane Standford. Pastor Stanford states that we lose something when we don’t focus on the accession of Jesus. We forget where we come from. We forget Jesus’s power and we forget what comes next. 

Have you ever missed the point when God was trying to revel something new to you? What was that experience like?

What have you previously learned about the Ascension? Would you consider the Ascension to be important to your faith life?

Prayer: Jesus, we confess that sometimes we try to place your power and glory between the cradle and the cross and by doing so we forget what comes next. We forget the powerful words that you spoke to your disciples after your resurrection and we forget how you encouraged them to wait for the birth of the Church. Help us, O Lord, to reclaim the power of your Ascension, and all of the glory it ascribed you, as part of our faith story. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Forty Days” - Acts 1: 3

Forty is an important number of days in the Biblical narrative and shows a season of preparation. Jesus was in the wilderness, praying, for forty days before his ministry started. Noah was on the ark for forty days and forty nights. The Israelites wandered in the dessert for forty years before reaching the promised land. In the church, the season of Lent to prepare us for Easter is forty days (minus Sundays). 

Jesus took forty days to prepare his disciples after his resurrection before retiring to heaven. He used this time to continue to teach them, to prepare them for what is to come as they go forth to be the hands and feet of his ministry. 

What could forty days prepare you to do? What if you took forty days to simply read your Bible? Or pray to God for wisdom? What if you tried a new spiritual practice for forty days? What is God preparing you to do?

Where does the number forty appear in scripture? Why is it important?

Prayer: Lord, we praise you that you prepare us for what is to come! And we thank you for taking forty days after your resurrection to prepare your disciples for the birth of your church. Continue to prepare us, we pray. Amen. 

Wednesday: “ Not to Leave Jerusalem” - Acts 1: 4-5

This is not the first time that Jesus spoke about what was to come, spoke about the gift of the Holy Spirit. Yet, even today, Christians often find the Holy Spirit hard to understand or capture in words. 

The Holy Spirit gifts us to serve the body of Christ and the world in the name of Jesus. The gift of the Holy Spirit would give birth to the church. In Acts 2, directly after the Ascension, we find the Spirit appearing like tongues of fire and enabling the disciples to share the Gospel in languages that they had not studied or known. 

That same Spirit dwells inside us when we believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. What gifts has the Spirit given you and what power has the Spirit urged you to share with the world? 

Why did Jesus tell the disciples not to leave Jerusalem?

What would the disciples have been reminded of as Jesus refers to John the Baptist?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit - even when we do not fully understand. Lord, by the power of the Spirit, help us use the gifts you have given us to step out in faith and share the Gospel like the early church so long ago. Amen. 

Thursday: “It is Not for You to Know” - Acts 1: 6-7

“It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.” This is one of my favorite verses in all of scripture. The disciples were missing the point again. Jesus is talking about the Kingdom of God and the power they will be receiving, as a gift of the Spirit, to enhance that Kingdom, and they are talking about the world as they see it - restoring Israel.

Jesus just lays it out for them - sometimes the things that we are most concerned about, aren’t the things that its for us to know. In other words, God is in control. We can either get on board and follow God as faithful servants, or we can continue to miss the point as we dwell on other things. May we be people, who trust God with the authority of Heaven and Earth, and serve God as faithfully as we can, even if we don’t have all the answers because they are not ours to have. 

Tell of a time when God has responded to you saying that it is not for you to know. What was that experience like for you? Did you find it easier or harder to trust God after receiving this response? 

Prayer: Lord, we confess that we do not like to hear the word “no” in the many forms it presents itself. We don’t like being told that it is not for us to know when we ask about the future. But in receiving this answer we are invited to trust you more fully and to put the world into your hands, so we do do this day. Amen. 

Friday: “Why Do You Stand Looking Up Toward Heaven?” - Acts 1: 8-11

Jesus’s last words were to tell his disciples that they would receive the power of the Holy Spirit, then he was lifted up into heaven as they watched. He was long gone, as they continued to gaze up into heaven, perhaps wondering when he was going to come back down, when two men in white robes asked them why they were gazing up, since Jesus has now ascended.

Sometimes we spend a lot of time looking up, when God is trying to get us to look out. We keep trying to guess when the Lord is coming back or say that the world is such a mess that the best solution would be for Jesus to return, when Jesus is trying to get us to to look and go out, outside to tell our neighbors about his love. Out to tell the Good News. Out to serve the widow and the poor and the orphan. Out to be part of the solution. Out to be the Church. 

What is the gift of the Holy Spirit? How will this gift affect the disciple’s future?

Why do the “white-robed men” question the disciples about looking into the sky?

What is the best gift you have ever received? What made it special?

Prayer: Lord, propel us out. Out into the world that we sometimes fear. Out into the chaos and brokenness that our neighbors experience daily. Out to be your hands and feet and to build up your Kingdom for the sake of the Gospel. Use us, we pray. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “The Gospel of Mark: Follow Me” - Mark 2: 13-17

Family Activity: At camp, one of my favorite things to do is “Highs and Lows” but we call the Highs - God Moments. Start engaging conversation with your family about where you saw God at work today or how you experienced the love of God!