What's the most amazing thing you've ever seen? When we've seen something amazing, we can't help but want to tell everyone we see.
That's the situation the disciples were in after Jesus visited them after having risen from the dead. The Book of Acts - tells their story.
The book of Acts (written by Luke) is all about...Acts! Theirs, but also God's through his Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is key in the book of Acts - Jesus told them to wait for it before they did anything else in his name.
2 Questions throughout our study of Acts:
What did the Holy Spirit do?
Why did God send it?
The disciples expected that maybe Jesus himself would return soon and restore the kingdom of Israel - then they would reign with Jesus as king! They did not know how much they were going to suffer for his name. Instead - they waited. And waited. They prayed and met together, and they selected a replacement for Judas, who had hung himself after betraying Jesus.
Important verses: 7 & 8 - it's not for them to know the time God is going to act. Sometimes we want God to act on our timetable, and we get impatient when he doesn't act right away or in the manner we want. But, we can be reassured that God has the time set - he knows - we wait.
As we wait...God is making us ready, and he is also building our faith. "Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1) How can we be certain of something we do not see? Belief in God and waiting on him to act takes faith.
