Wednesday, September 10th

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Wednesday, September 10

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."

The songs and slogans are permanently embedded in our brains.

“I’d like to buy the world a Coke...”

“It’s the real thing.”

“Things go better with Coke!”

“Open happiness.”

Just by reading and remembering these marketing campaigns some of you are starting to crave a cold Coke!

I have often said that Coca-cola is arguably the greatest marketing success the world has ever seen. One researcher claims that the phrase “Coca-cola” is the second most recognized phrase on the planet, just after “OK.”

From its humble beginnings in Dr. John Pemberton’s back yard to sales in over 200 countries today, Coke has become the most recognized trademark in the world.

What I want to point out is that Coke’s success didn’t happen by accident. It happened because somewhere, sometime, some executive cast a vision for Coca-cola as a global product and then set about the business of penetrating as many markets, cultures and languages as possible.

In other words, someone established a mandate for the Coca-cola company; we will sell Coke to the whole world! As the Book of Acts begins Jesus gives a similar mandate to a small group of his followers.

“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."

See it? The mandate is clear: we are to be witnesses of Jesus and we are to be witnesses to the whole world.

What does it mean to be a witness of Jesus?

To “bear witness” is simply to testify to that which one has seen, heard or experienced. It doesn’t mean we have to have a theological degree or be able to quote whole books of the Bible from memory. It just means to be willing to share what we have seen, heard or experienced of Jesus.

The church I grew up in had a Sunday evening service. My Dad was the pastor and on Sunday evenings he often reserved a time for “testimonies” when people could stand up and share with their church family something that God had done or was doing in their life.

One Sunday night a lady stood up two rows behind where my brother and I were sitting with our Mom. I didn’t recognize the woman because it turns out that she was brand new to our church. I don’t remember everything she said but I do remember that she shared that she had only recently heard the gospel and invited Jesus into her life. Then she said, “I know I have a heckuva lot of changin’ to do, but with Jesus’ help I’m gonna change.” Only she didn’t say “heckuva,” she said a word that people aren’t supposed to say in church! My brother and I started elbowing each other as if to say, “Did you hear that? She said a bad word! I’m sure our mother had to give us “the look” to keep us from giggling right there in the pew!

Looking back there were two great things about that woman’s testimony. First, it was genuine. She didn’t know enough not to use that word in church but she knew Jesus had begun his work in her life. Second, everyone in church that night (with the exception of two little boys who giggled) celebrated with that woman and accepted her with love and grace because she simply bore witness to Jesus and what he had done.

She did what Jesus told his followers to do in the Book of Acts. She became a witness!
If you are a follower of Jesus; if you have believed the gospel and received the gift of eternal life; then you, too, are a witness. The only question is whether we are willing to stand up and share the story of what Jesus has done in us and for us, or just sit in the pew and keep it to ourselves.

Pastor Brian Coffey