Only witness
Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witness in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Hymn for scheduled worship: Korean/English Hymnal #315 My Jesus, I Love Thee (#512 in previous version) Everyone has an embarrassing past. We are distressed by embarrassing mistakes, scars that we do not want to remember, and weaknesses that we want to run away from. We do not seem to have a background that is worth boasting about or talent that is outstanding. To people like this, God says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses.” How should we apply this Word to ourselves?
1. Have you found God’s plan? (Acts 1:1~14)
What do you pray for? Your prayer defines your state. Because the desperate desire of the Early Church was to receive the filling of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised, they could pray “constantly”. Prayer is not informing God of your plans, but finding what God plans to do through you. God gives us the Word through Sunday worship and shows us the way we must go. If you have found God’s plan, the evidence that you are with God will be revealed from then on and people around you will come to know the Gospel through your work.
2. Have you seen the person God has prepared? (Acts 3:1~12)
When the Gospel is testified in the place you are in, you come to meet the “one who is hidden” by God. You will see the person who is lost because he does not know the Gospel even after suffering from having an empty heart and continuous unhappiness. Disciples who love and spread the Gospel without shaking before any kind of problem or event must arise in every region and nation. You must meet the disciple who can influence many areas such as politics, economy, society, and culture and who will change the entire world with the Gospel.
3. Who am I? (1 Peter 2:9)
Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the unique name through which you can receive salvation? If so, you are both a child of God and an evangelist. You are a royal priesthood who has been chosen by God. It is our commission to proclaim the grace of God who has called us out of the control of darkness under which we would have been until now if we had not known the Gospel and made us His children.
-If you are unsure as to whether the filling of the Holy Spirit is the unique answer, you will come to search other methods and focus on other things. Question yourself and give yourself the answer as to whether only Christ, only filling of the Holy Spirit, only witness, and the word “only” is embedded in the centere of your heart. Evangelism Training Center Closing Seminar / 2012. 6. 2