Brian Underwood
“Are we there yet? How much longer until we get there?” Ah, what would a road trip with children be without these iconic questions. To be fair to all the kids out there, adults, too, can also be hyper focused on getting to a destination.
Call it a control thing. We have a great need to manage, maneuver, and manipulate our way to where we’re going. But that’s not necessarily the way of the Christian walk. The joy of Jesus’ resurrection celebrated last Sunday can sometimes be construed as a destination.
And while Easter represents the end of the Lenten walk to the cross for many Christians, it, in many ways, represents the beginning of the journey of the Christian walk.
The Book of Acts, commonly referred to as the acts of the apostles, beautifully links the Gospel of Jesus with the service of the 12 apostles with the work of the apostle Paul in establishing the beginning of the Christian church. In doing so, it advances many important themes.
Acknowledging, studying and sharing these themes represent important steps of the lifelong walk to the cross. Accordingly, the weeks of the Easter season offer a glorious opportunity to embrace studying the Book of Acts to draw closer to the Lord and our discipleship.
Three particularly important themes to study include the introduction of the Holy Spirit, prayer, and witnessing. One of the most significant events following Jesus' death and resurrection was the pouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, recorded in Acts 2.
Prophesied in the Old Testament books of Isaiah and Joel, God promised to pour out his Holy Spirit to fill and dwell in people.
In Acts 2:4, the disciples were gathered, and a rushing wind came through and, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the spirit enabled them.” In this way, God empowers the disciples to proclaim Jesus and the Gospel message in the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Matthew 28:16-20
Later, in Acts 2:38-39, Peter says to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
The Book of Acts also importantly enjoins and emphasizes believers to prayer, more than any other book in the New Testament. It was the first activity of the disciples after returning to Jerusalem where they gathered in the upper room, “devoting themselves to prayer” (Acts 1:14), thus pointing to the prominence of prayer in the early church.
Prayer was similarly lifted up at the end of Peter’s sermon at Pentecost. In Acts 2:42, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
Of the many important themes emphasized in acts, witnessing for Christ is another prominent topic.
Though faced with persecution, the apostles boldly shared the Gospel. Noteworthy among them was Paul, who in Acts 22:15, Paul recounts how he is chosen to deliver a message of transformative grace based on his firsthand experiences, “For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.” Here, despite the persecution he is to face, Paul is instructed to articulate what he has seen and heard regarding Christ.
The joy of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter morning is surely to be celebrated. But in the days that follow, consider also the joy of the journey of proclaiming him, with the help of the Book of Acts, so others can know God’s great love.
How long our walk here lasts, only he knows. But we will certainly rejoice in our desired destination when we are resting in the arms of Jesus.
Brian Underwood is president of Sierra Vista Ministries.