To The Nations
To Build the Church
January 1, 2023
Rev. Dr. Gabe Sylvia
This sermon launches a 2023 series in Acts, showing that Acts tells of God’s victorious movement—fulfilling promises, empowering witness by the Holy Spirit, grounding the church in truth and testimony, and calling believers to faithful, active disciple-making until Christ returns.
Summary
The sermon introduces a series through Luke–Acts, portraying Acts as the story of victorious movement in which God keeps his promises: people are saved, churches are built, and God is glorified. Luke ties the story to the Old Testament and emphasizes the mission of bearing witness to the resurrected Christ. Effective disciple-making requires both credible evidence (e.g., the many eyewitnesses and thousands of New Testament manuscripts) and compelling personal conversion stories. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit’s power so the church would be faithful, dependent, and persevering as witnesses from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. The sermon calls for active ministry—preaching, teaching, baptizing, planting churches—motivated by truth, empowered by the Spirit, and urgent because Christ will return, with the Lord’s Supper as a reminder of that movement.
Key Points
- Acts is the story of God’s victorious movement: promises kept, people saved, churches built.
- Luke connects the New Testament mission to the Old Testament and centers on witnessing the risen Christ.
- Effective witness needs both truth (apologetic evidence: eyewitnesses and thousands of NT manuscripts) and personal conversion stories.
- The Holy Spirit empowers believers to be witnesses “in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
- The church must be faithful, dependent, and persevering; movement requires active ministry: preach, make disciples, teach, baptize, plant churches.
- Opposition may be resistant, but lacks a compelling answer to the truth of the gospel.
- The return of Christ and final judgment add urgency—commit to mission in 2023.
- The Lord’s Supper reminds us of this truth-driven, Spirit-empowered, forward-moving mission.
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