We can read about the early church in the book of Acts (stories of thousands coming to faith from a single sermon) and feel like these were "professional" Christians, well beyond ordinary followers like us. But the truth is that most of them were likely still trying to wrap their minds around who Jesus was and what He came to do when He was suddenly killed. For most of them, it probably wasn't until Jesus left and they received the Spirit that their eyes were opened to the truth of who Jesus actually was. These were baby Christians leading thousands to faith! God sought out commoners, the unlearned, those without cultural acceptance or influence, and then He breathed His Spirit into them and spoke through them...and He is still doing that today. You and I can have this same Spirit of power and can see God work mightily through us in spite of, and even because of, our weakness. He doesn't need your resume or your proven track record. He brings both. He simply asks you to trust and obey!
ABOUT THIS SERIES: The Acts of the Apostles could be better titled, "The Acts of the Holy Spirit Through the Empowered Church," because it is the story of what God did through an unlikely group of people as the early church was born. God takes unlikely, weak, foolish, and unequipped people, and sends them on a mission to bring His Good News to those who are in need of it. But He doesn't send them out alone. He gives them His Holy Spirit, who unites them, strengthens them, equips them, and leads them in His wisdom to do an accomplish His will and work. Every believer is given His Spirit, and every believer is called to this mission, and together we will walk in the good works that He has prepared for us in this Unstoppable Mission: to see His glory and salvation proclaimed to the least, last, and lost from every tongue, tribe, and nation, even to the ends of the earth.
