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Teaching Text: Acts 1: 1-11

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 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.”

After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “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.”

Themes

Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:

Ascension

Formation

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

Can you think of a time in your life when waiting was excruciating?
Share this with the group.
How good would you say you are at waiting patiently?
Luke begins the sequel to his first book with these words…
“In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” – Acts 1
Luke starts Dear Theo
Acts is the continuation of Jesus’ ministry
Luke is attempting to lay out an honest and orderly account of Jesus and His movement so that Theophilus can know the truth of it all.
And His resurrection changed everything for them and He showed them that the Kingdom of God was coming on earth as it is in Heaven!
Now Jesus is leaving.
Advent and Christmas we get - We celebrate the Incarnation - that God would come and live among us in the person of Jesus - Immanuel - We have Advent and Christmas
Holy Week and Easter - we throw a party - we celebrate the power of the Cross and Resurrection - that Jesus has died and on our behalf taken all of our sin on himself and then having dealt with sin and death has risen to new life - we have Holy Week and Easter
But Ascension Sunday??? we certainly have no similar culture-wide celebration for and can often be easily overlooked even by those who are followers of Jesus
The could be many reasons for this…
1. The incarnation powerfully communicates God’s nearness, revelation, and love, that our pains and joys are known by God
2. The cross and resurrection powerfully show God’s love and make possible salvation for us and the world. That death is not the end
3. The ascension however is a moment where Jesus becomes absent and where we are reminded of the unfamiliarity of God
But consider what we see in this moment of Jesus’ disappearance …
- On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Then they gathered around Him and asked Him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
  He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 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.” After He said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 1“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.” – Acts 1 v 4-11
Wait for the gift
There are times when then most important thing you can do is WAIT.
Jesus is leaving in physical form because JESUS IS GOING TO ARRIVE in THE HOLY SPIRIT
How should we begin this mission of God… a world changing initiative?
- WAIT
There are some echoes of the first sabbath here…
We work from rest. We don’t work to rest.
Jesus mission for them to join is to bring redemption, salvation, forgiveness and new life to ends of the earth
And they being by waiting in prayer
What do we know of what God the Father is doing - making promises, setting time and dates by His own authority, King of the Kingdom
What do we know of what God the Son is doing? He suffered and died, He rose, He ate with them, He instructed them
What do we know of what God the Spirit is doing? - how Jesus gave instructions, the promised gift, the oOe who will baptize them, the One who will give the power to accomplish Jesus mission
The Holy Spirit will accomplish the mission of Jesus in communion with all people all through the book of Acts
So they wait for the Holy Spirit
- “You will receive power and you will be my witnesses.”
Where in your life do you need the Holy Spirit to help you be a better display of the character of Jesus?
“They believed that ‘heaven’ and ‘earth’ are the two interlocking spheres of God’s reality, and that the risen body of Jesus is the first (and so far the only) object which is fully at home in both and hence in either, anticipating the time when everything will be renewed and joined together. And so, since as T. S. Eliot said, ‘humankind cannot bear very much reality’, the new, overwhelming reality of a heaven-and-earth creature will not just yet live in both dimensions together, but will make itself—himself—at home within the ‘heavenly’ dimension for the moment, until the time comes for heaven and earth to be finally renewed and united.” – NT Wright
“That is the point of the event, and its explanation. Jesus is ‘lifted up’, indicating to the disciples not that he was heading out somewhere beyond the moon, beyond Mars, or wherever, but that he was going into ‘God’s space’, God’s dimension. The cloud, as so often in the Bible, is the sign of God’s presence (think of the pillar of cloud and fire as the children of Israel wandered through the desert, or the cloud and smoke that filled the Temple when God became suddenly present in a new way). Jesus has gone into God’s dimension of reality; but he’ll be back on the day when that dimension and our present one are brought together once and for all. That promise hangs in the air over the whole of Christian history from that day to this. That is what we mean by the ‘second coming’.” – NT Wright
He is our High Priest and He intercedes for us
We have a praying Savior and We are a praying church
Pray for His Kingdom in your life, your family, your neighborhood, city, and world.
The way to be good at waiting is to wait and pray.