Acts 1:4-11 teaches us Jesus calls His people to a faith that waits, a testimony that goes, and a hope that looks up. With our “spiritual ears” we can hear in this passage a summons to Spirit-dependent ministry, Christ-centered unity and kingdom-influenced expectation that shapes everyday church life. (4) And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; (5) for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (6) Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (7) And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. (8) But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;...
Matthew 10:37-39 " He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." The tenth chapter of Matthew is full of instruction that Jesus gave to His disciples. He warned of men who would seek their destruction. He told them He was sending them forth as sheep among wolves. They would be persecuted and brought to stand before both Jews and Gentiles to bear witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Those that follow Christ are to revere God rather than man. In this instruction we find a very simple yet profound statement about the way our Heavenly Father watches over us. Jesus tells us that not one sparrow falls from the sky without our Father’s knowledge. The sparrow is found on every continent in the wor...