Sunday Worship Service May 4, 2025

Prelude
Call to Worship Psalm 118:25
Hymn JBC # 80 Father, we love You
The Prayer Time
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 320 Shine and Live
Offering
Scripture Acts 1:6~11
Prayer
Sermon “You will be my witnesses”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 2 Come, Thou almighty King
Doxology JBC # 676
Benediction
Postlude
Welcome & Announcements

We are hearing God’s message from the New Testament book of Acts. Today's passage is from Acts 1:6-11.
It is where the apostles (disciples of Jesus Christ) are talking with the resurrected Jesus.
Just before today's passage, Jesus told his apostles not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father has promised: the Holy Spirit (verse 4).
When believers receive the Holy Spirit, they are empowered, shown the path they should follow, and given the desire and courage to begin walking that path.
However, at that time, the apostles seemed to be more preoccupied with their own thoughts and desires, rather than pondering Jesus’ words, “wait for what the Father has promised” (the command to “wait”).
This is evident from the question the apostles asked Jesus at the beginning of today's passage.

They asked Jesus:
“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

　 The apostles were excited to see the resurrected Jesus and must have had great hope that now was the time for their country, Israel, to regain its past prosperity and strength!
When they asked, “Is now the time?” I think it is fair to say that rather than a genuine question, they expressed their strong desire that “Now is the time for you to rebuild Israel!”
When we pray to God, we may also be strongly expressing (wishing) to God what we desire and what we hope God will do.
We are allowed to pray like this, but if our desire for what we want is too strong, if our prayer is just a list of our hopes, it can become a “mere request” to God, rather than a prayer to God.
And it is possible that when those requests are not met, we are not satisfied and complain to God.
We have many hopes and desires. We usually think that if our hopes are fulfilled, we will be happy, and if our hopes are not fulfilled, we will be unhappy.

However, Christians can find happiness in the fulfillment of God's will and God's plan.
At the beginning of the Lord's Prayer we pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
We pray for many things, but Jesus taught us to first pray, “Thy kingdom (God’s kingdom) come. God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
For it is not our will, but God's will that is best and that will always come to pass in the end.
　In the Old Testament book of Proverbs 19:21, it says the following:
　 Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
It is the Lord God's plan and His will that leads us to true happiness. Therefore, let us first desire to know God's will and hope and pray for the realization of God's plan.

And let us hope to live and be used to realize God's plan.
Jesus answered the apostles' question as follows. Let me read from verse 7.
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.

　 We live in God's appointed time. Every decisive time is set by God.
　We tend to be impatient and ask, “God, when will it be? Is it now?” But decisive events will occur at the time that God has determined.
Therefore, Jesus’ teaching to “wait for the promise of the Father” is also very important for us.
When we must wait in faith, we want to be clothed with patience so that we are able to wait, so that we can wait for God's timing.

Jesus then goes on to say (verse 8):

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

It is said that when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles, they received power. So, what does the power that comes from the Holy Spirit enable the apostles to do?
Jesus said that after the Holy Spirit came upon them and gave them power, they would be His witnesses, not only in Jerusalem, but also in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
When we hear the phrase “the power of the Holy Spirit,” some might imagine some kind of remarkable, superhuman power being given to people.
However, in today's passage, the manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus speaks of is that the apostles will be witnesses of Jesus Christ.
　The power of the Holy Spirit enables people to convey the message that “Jesus Christ is Lord and God, and it is Him that we should follow and live for.”
And when believers are empowered by the Holy Spirit, they are able to spread God's message “not only in Jerusalem, but also in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The apostles first asked Jesus, “Are you going to restore the nation of Israel to us now?” Their first desire was for their own benefit. Me, (my country) first.
However, those who have been empowered by the Holy Spirit will be witnesses for the Lord, not only to themselves, but also throughout the country, in Samaria, and to all nations, to the ends of the earth.
In particular, we should know that Samaritans and Jews were at odds with each other at the time.
When Israel was destroyed by the Assyrian Empire, many Gentiles began to move to the region of Samaria, which was the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and they began to intermarry with the Jewish people.
The Jewish people, who valued Jewish purity, began to despise the mixed-race Samaritans.

However, when Christ's disciples receive the power of the Holy Spirit, they are then motivated by the power of love that transcends such ethnic animosity.
　Jesus said that the apostles, empowered by the Holy Spirit, would preach Christ to Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
The power of the Holy Spirit is the power that binds us together. The power of the Holy Spirit enables us to overcome our differences, our barriers, and even our opposition to one another.
May we too receive the power of the Holy Spirit, open our hearts to others, and become witnesses of Christ to others.

The Holy Spirit also empowers us to turn our thoughts and desires from those that are inward-looking to those that focus on others, to others outside of ourselves, to the wider world.
Let us not only focus our thoughts on ourselves, our companions, and our own churches, but also on the communities around the church, society, and the world, and hope and pray for the gospel of Christ to spread.
When Jesus finished speaking, He was lifted up to heaven before the apostles' eyes. Then it says that Jesus was covered by a cloud and was hid from their sight (verse 9).
The apostles were looking up to heaven where Jesus had ascended, when two men dressed in white (probably angels of God) said to them the following. Let me read you verse 11.

“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
What were the apostles thinking as they watched the resurrected Jesus ascend into heaven?
Perhaps they were hoping that Jesus, who had been resurrected from the dead, would remain with them and this time fight alongside them to restore the nation of Israel.

However, contrary to their expectations, Jesus ascended into heaven, saying, “Wait for the promise from the Father. You will receive the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus ascended into heaven, leaving behind these words (this promise): “When the apostles receive the power of the Holy Spirit, they will become witnesses to spread the gospel of Christ beyond their own races and nations, to every nation and region, and to the ends of the earth.”
And the promise that “Jesus will come again in the same way that He ascended into heaven” was given to the apostles at that time. This promise is also given to us today.
Christians can live in the promise of hope that Jesus will come again. Although we do not know when that will be, as it is God who will decide it with His own authority.

However, in this earthly world where the Lord Jesus will come again, we are given hope through faith and live each day keeping our feet on the ground (live in a sensible and realistic way).
The resurrected Jesus Christ taught His apostles to live in God's appointed time, waiting for God's timing.
He encouraged them to be witnesses and evangelists for Christ by receiving the power of the Holy Spirit. An encouragement that is still given to us today.

The Lord Jesus Christ will come again. Christians can live in the hope that the Lord Jesus Christ will come again.
And the fact that we are alive each day is evidence that the Lord God has a great plan for us. He will surely use each and every one of us in a great way for the fulfillment of that plan.
　As long as we live, we can have hope in Christ. Let us live each day as witnesses of Christ, testifying to and spreading the news of that hope to the world.