Walk with Me

SCRIPTURE:  Acts 1:1-11         Read the passage

BIO:  I am Janet Cabascango and I serve with the Coalition of Counselors for FPCO. My ministry interests are people: serving the body of Christ through counseling, women’s ministry, Sunday School, missions, and music.

KEY VERSE: Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
You will be my witnesses expresses the heart of the book of Acts. 

CENTRAL TRUTH: The disciples of Jesus got a new title: witnesses. The task assigned to them was to tell what they had learned from Jesus, what they had seen in Jesus, and how the truth of His death and resurrection had changed their lives. The Holy Spirit through their witness would continue the work Jesus had begun on earth.

DEVOTIONAL: The gospel of Luke and the books of Acts are both addressed to Theophilus, whose name means lover of God or friend of God. As Luke begins his narrative, he states that the gospel was written to tell “all that Jesus began to do and teach” (Acts 1:1). He ends the gospel with the ascension of Christ, and begins the book of Acts discussing the same event in Jesus’ life.

What wonderful 40 days Jesus spent with the disciples after the resurrection and before the ascension, speaking of the kingdom of God. The disciples questioned him about when he would restore the kingdom to Israel … they still didn’t understand all that Jesus had taught them. However, Jesus told them that the power they would receive through the Holy Spirit would not be about a political kingdom, but rather the power to witness of all Jesus had done. They were to tell the world how he had suffered, died, and rose again, proving that they were eye witnesses to the truth of those events.

Witness is a legal word. A witness testifies with conviction what he or she has seen, heard and knows to be true. The word witness is used about thirty times in the book of Acts. Jesus gave them a simple plan: start where you are (Jerusalem), tell what you know to be true about Jesus, and depend on the indwelling Holy Spirit to give the power. Commission: Jesus is the theme (SEEK); Holy Spirit is the power (SHARE); Disciple is the vehicle (SERVE).

QUESTION 1: How are our lives affected by the “labels” we wear? If we think of ourselves as disciples (learners/followers of the teacher), how will we respond to others’ questions?  

QUESTION 2: If we think of ourselves as witnesses (testifying of what we have seen, heard and know to be true), how will we respond to others’ inquiries? 

QUESTION 3: What skills and attitudes might be required of us as disciples? … as witnesses? How will we be equipped to live this task?