The Mission and Power

Story from John 20, Matthew 28 John 14 Acts 2 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

In the weeks that followed Jesus death, he appeared to his disciples many times and was seen by over 500 eyewitnesses. Quickly, the news about his resurrection spread throughout the land.

One of Jesus’ disciples named Thomas said, “I won’t believe he is alive unless I can put my fingers into the holes where his hands where nailed to the cross.”

A few days later, Jesus appeared to his disciples and said to Thomas, “Put your fingers here—feel the hole in my hand. Put your hand into the wound on my side.” Thomas shouted, “It is you, Jesus—my God!” Then Jesus said, “I will bless those even more who haven’t seen, but still believe!”

Soon after that, Jesus met with his disciples over a meal. He said, “John baptized you in water, but in a few days you will be baptized with God’s Spirit. This will give you power to live in my ways and tell the entire world about me.”

Jesus commanded his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, GO and make disciples of all the nations, all over the world. Baptize these new disciples in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey all the commands I have given you and to walk in my ways.

And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” God’s Spirit will come and live inside of you—giving you peace and leading you in all the ways of truth.”

As the disciples watched, Jesus went up into the sky, disappearing in the clouds right in front of them!

A few weeks later, a group of 120 of Jesus’ followers, including his closest disciples gathered to pray together in Jerusalem. All of sudden, they heard a loud sound, like a roaring windstorm, that filled the house where they were meeting. Each of them was filled with God’s Spirit and started speaking in languages that were not their own! They went out into the street and began to tell people about all that Jesus had done.

This roaring sound was heard throughout the entire city, and a large crowd had gathered outside the house to see what was going on. At that time, Jews from all over the world were living in Jerusalem.

When the people heard Jesus’ followers speaking, they said, “How can this be? They’re from Galilee, but they’re speaking in our own languages. This is amazing!”

One of Jesus’ disciples, named Peter, stepped forward to explain to the crowds what was happening. He said, “This is part of God’s prophecy being fulfilled. We are eyewitnesses of the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead and is the true Messiah!”

Then Peter explained how Jesus had fulfilled everything the prophets said about the Messiah. He told the crowd, “Each of you must turn from your sins and turn to God. In Jesus, you will find forgiveness—he is the final sacrifice for everyone’s sin. This is God’s new covenant offered not just to the Jews, but for all who want to be part of God’s family.”

That day, thousands believed what Peter said and repented putting their trust in Jesus. They turned from their sins to follow Jesus and walk in God’s ways. They were baptized and became a part of God’s family—once again empowered to live out God’s promise to be a blessing to all people.

God’s new covenant was not written on tablets of stone like before, but on the hearts and minds of his people, so they would always know how to live in his ways.

These followers of Jesus were deeply committed to God and each other… sharing everything they had, praying, learning God’s ways together, and helping anyone in need—all with great joy and generosity.

Daily they ate together to honor and remember Jesus’ life given for them.

They saw God do amazing things through them—miracles and healing—as he added people to their group each day.

This was the beginning of what the Bible calls the Church—a community of people all over the world who, because of Jesus, once again enjoy a life that is full and complete—a life lived close to God—the way God always intended it to be!

(Today’s post is from: The Storyformed Way is a derivative of The Story of God © Copyright 2003-2006 Michael Novelli & Caesar Kalinowski, all rights reserved. This derivative was created and distributed with permission. You are free to use, remix, and build upon this work non-commercially if you attribute Soma Communities. For details, see creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/)