Acting Out - Part 2

Written by Ed Allen
Sunday, 29 June 2008 09:00

Acting Out

Sermon Notes

Transformation starts when we get plugged into the power source >> God’s Spirit.

Who is Luke? What is Acts?

• Luke was a:
  • Well educated doctor
  • Talented author
  • Careful historian
• Acts is the companion book to volume one, which is “Luke, the biography of Jesus.”

Acts Chapter 1-2 Summary

• A whole person experience with God’s Spirit takes all of our capacities to the next level.
  • Mental, emotional, physical
  • “Baptized in the Spirit” = whole-person encounter

Acts Chapter 3-4 Summary

• The apostles have been given the power to heal, which creates the leverage / opportunity to tell about Christ and advance the story of Jesus.
  • Side Note: One of the “sins” of the suburban church is a desperation to be “normal,” to be cool... It was never Jesus' strategies or his first followers' strategy to be normal or cool.
• The first followers’ normal capacities were also taken to the next level, such as Peter’s courage before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:13) and the other believers in Acts 4:31.
• A whole-person experience with God’s Spirit also changes our passions and priorities.
  • Acts 2:42 “They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
  • Acts 4:32-37

What is a whole-person encounter with God’s Spirit? 3 Aspects:

1. A life-altering encounter with God’s Spirit that affects our whole person.
   • More than an emotional encounter
   • More than a new set of beliefs
2. A life-altering encounter with God’s Spirit accompanied by a noticeable change in our capacities, passions and priorities.
3. A repeatable encounter with God.
   • baptized, Spirit comes on you, filled with the Spirit, the Spirit poured out on you, receive the Spirit, ...