Friday, September 12th

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Friday, September 12


Acts 1:1-11

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

A few weeks ago I spent 3 days and nights in the Boundary Waters that separate Minnesota from Canada. A friend from FBCG helped me set up the trip in honor of my son’s 21st birthday, which was a year late because I didn’t apply for the permit in time a year ago.

My son invited 3 of his buddies from his high school Discipleship Group, all now working or in college, to reprise one of their favorite trips while in FBCG’s youth ministry years ago.

Now you have to understand that my son and I don’t fish or camp very often, so everything about camping and fishing for three days in the Boundary Waters was out of our comfort zone. In some cases, like taking a 30-inch northern pike off the hook, WAY out of our comfort zone. Fortunately we had a couple of guys who were pretty much wilderness survival experts and could not only take the fish off the hooks but cut them up and fry them for lunch as well.

But even though we lack most wilderness skills, we had a blast! We spent hours fishing on a pristine lake; we sat around a campfire at night roasting marshmallows; we watched bald eagles soar across the sky and coated ourselves in enough mosquito repellent to kill a moose.

It was fun because it was an adventure. It was an adventure precisely BECAUSE it was outside our comfort zone. And that brings me back to the great Book of Acts.

The Book of Acts tells the story of how 12 men (the 11 disciples plus the Apostle Paul) who knew Jesus and were filled and guided by the Holy Spirit changed the world. It’s a story filled with faith, courage and a relentless willingness to share the story of Jesus to anyone who would listen and often to those who wouldn’t. It’s a story filled with riots, angry mobs, prison, shipwrecks, snakebites, miracles and long journeys. It’s a story of adventure; the adventure of the church; the adventure of the gospel.

My brother was once returning from a short term mission trip somewhere in the developing world. He had just spent a couple of weeks sharing the love of Christ in tangible ways to some of the poorest people on the face of the earth. He had mixed concrete by hand in helping construct an orphanage for children; he had bathed in a river and slept on a concrete floor; he had held malnourished children in his arms; he had lived the adventure of the gospel in a way that brought joy and satisfaction to his soul.

On the last leg of his flight home he sat next to an extremely well-dressed man who appeared to be traveling for business. At some point my brother struck up a conversation. It became clear that the man was indeed a very successful executive in his industry and definitely enjoyed talking about his success. At some point he asked my brother what he did for a living and my brother explained that he was a pastor and was returning from a mission trip to the Dominican Republic.

When my brother tells this story he says the man nodded and said something like, “Hmmm, good for you,” but couldn’t have been less interested.

In that moment my brother says he felt intense pity for that man. He felt pity because even though that man might have had a net worth of 100 times his own, he wouldn’t have traded places with him for any amount of money in the world. The reason he wouldn’t have traded places with that man, no matter what the financial or material benefits, was the adventure of following Jesus.

Some mistakenly think that becoming a follower of Jesus will make one’s life tedious and boring. Read the Book of Acts and you’ll find that quite the opposite is true!

G.K. Chesterton said it this way:

“And the more I considered Christianity, the more I found that while it had established a rule and order, the chief aim of that order was to let the good things run wild.”

The Book of Acts is the story of what happens when the good things run wild; when the gospel is turned loose in the world. What happens is the great adventure of the church; and we are each invited to join the journey!

Pastor Brian Coffey