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This morning we are picking back up in our study of the book of Acts.
If you’re new to our church, it would be good for you to know that we practice a form of preaching called “Expository Preaching”.
What that means is we believe the Bible is best taught by taking books of the Bible and then studying them from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, in order to understand what the Bible means in our lives today.
With that said we are currently working our way through the book of Acts, in fact, we just started Acts a couple of weeks ago, so if you are new to MCF, you’ve come at a great time and I would encourage you to go online where you can watch all the messages leading up to today.
You may recall last week that we started the journey of learning what it takes to become spiritually empowered.
And when I say spiritually empowered, I’m talking about the spiritual empowerment that Jesus promised us in the Gospel of Luke.
In Luke 24:49 of that chapter, Luke writes:
And when I say empowerment, I’m talking about the promise of the Father, the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus references this promise in .
Luke writes:
What Jesus is referring to in this passage is one of the works of the Holy Spirit, the work of empowerment.
An empowerment that allows us and enables us to be the witnesses Jesus wants us to be.
An empowerment that awakens the spiritual gifts and abilities God has given each of us.
An empowerment that Jesus said is necessary if we want to accomplish the mission of reaching this World with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In fact, so necessary was this empowerment that Jesus told his disciples not to do anything until they had received it.
In Luke writes:
Jesus said, “Don’t go anywhere or do anything until you’ve been empowered by the Holy Spirit.”
The fact of the matter is, if the disciples were going to take the Gospel from Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, they were going to need help to do it.
They were going to need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
And what was true for them is true for us as well.
The fact of the matter is, if we truly want to reach our community, our county, our region, our state, our country, and the entire world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then we need more than a building, more than fancy marketing, more than great worship and preaching, and more than a great kids and youth program.
If we truly want to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ then we need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
The question then is, “How do we get that empowerment?
How do we get spiritually equipped with everything we need to lead people to Jesus?”
That’s a great question, and if we’re serious about following Jesus, it’s a question we need to know the answer to.
Well, like anything that advances us or betters us, the empowerment of the Spirit comes with some prerequisites.
And when I say prerequisite, I’m talking about something that is required as a prior condition for something else to happen or exist.
The example I gave you last week was my desire to attend the Air Force Academy out of High School.
And if you recall, there are four primary prerequisites that have to be met in order to attend the Air Force Academy.
To be considered you have to obtain an appointment from a congressman or state senator.
You have to complete specific high school courses that includes four years of English; Four years of math that includes geometry, algebra, trigonometry, and calculus; Four years of science that includes biology, chemistry, and physics; and two years of modern foreign language.
You need to obtain a class rank in the top 40% of your high school, but preferably be in the top 3%.
Those are the ones they truly consider.
You have to obtain an average score of a 30 or above on the ACT.
The point is, most things that advance us or aid in our growth typically come with a set of prerequisites.
And what is true for getting a certain job or getting into a certain school or program is true for our spiritual journey as well.
In order to grow and advance in our journey of faith, there are some spiritual prerequisites that must be met.
In other words, in order to be empowered, there are some prior conditions that we need to be committed to in our life:
Conditions that require a certain level of spiritual commitment and focus.
Conditions that requires a certain degree of self evaluation and honesty.
Conditions that when met open the door for you and I to receive the promise of empowerment.
So, what are the prerequisites for spiritual empowerment?
Well, as we learned there are four primary prerequisites, and last week we looked at the first two.
So, just to make sure we are all on the same page, I want to take a few minutes and review the first two prerequisites before we move on to the final two.
You may recall the first prerequisite for spiritual empowerment revolved our our faith in Jesus.
It could be stated like this:
Prerequisite #1: In order to be spiritually empowered, I must be a commited Christ follower and disciple of Jesus.
Luke writes:
The point that Luke is making here is that everybody in the this room that is waiting for empowerment, is a disciple of Jesus.
They were committed Christ followers.
Men and women who had fully committed their lives to Jesus.
Men and women committed to the mission of leading others to Jesus.
Men and women who have moved beyond just being a church goer and have become Christ followers.
Men and women who have committed their lives to Jesus.
Men and women committed to the mission of leading others to Jesus.
Men and women who are no longer just church goers, they are Christ followers.
Everything about their lives now revolves around their relationship with Jesus.
Men and women who now revolve their life around their relationship with Jesus.
That’s the kind of person that God empowers.
Somebody that has devoted their life 100% to following Jesus.
Now, when I say that, some might think, “Wow, pastor, that sounds pretty radical.
It sounds like you are saying in order for a person to follow Jesus, they have to be some kind of Jesus freak.”
Yeah, in a way I am saying that.
If you want to follow Jesus, there needs to be a high degree of Jesus focus in your life.
So, what does that look like?
Well, it doesn’t mean that you have to wear
So, what does that look like?
Well, it doesn't mean you have to join a commune or move up in the alps with a bunch of monks in order to follow Jesus.
What it means though, is if you want to follow Jesus, then Jesus needs to be Lord of your life.
In other words:
You’re no longer king of your life, He is.
You no longer call the shots, He does.
You no longer live for you, instead you live for Him.
As a Christ follower you now recognize that without Jesus, there’s nothing worth living for.
As a Christ follower you have now moved from a temporal way of viewing life to an eternal perspective.
The apostle Paul puts it like this:
For example, your career isn’t just a way to make money, your career is now a way to share the gospel.
Paul says our relationship with Jesus should change the way we live and view life.
And that my friends is radical and requires an entire shift of your worldview.
Now:
Does that mean we can’t have a successful career focus?
No.
I know a lot of successful Christ followers who have amazing careers.
Does that mean we can’t have hobbies?
No.
I know a lot of Christ followers who play golf, workout, play tennis, and invest a lot of time in extracurricular activities.
Does that mean we can’t have material possessions?
No.
I know a lot of Christ followers who live in nice homes and drive new cars.
B
Being a Christ follower doesn’t mean you have to be some kind of freak that gives up everything in this life.
It just means you now understand those aren’t the most important things in life.
That how much money you make, what your title is, how many points you score, what kind of home you live in, or what kind of car you drive really doesn’t matter.
Because in the end, we can’t take our career, our hobbies, or our material possessions with us.
How much money you made, what your title was, how many points you scored, what kind of home you lived in, what kind of car you drove, none of that will matter.
When you stand before God at the end of your life, the only thing that will matter is this question, “Were you a committed follower of Jesus?
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