The First Next Step in Building God’s Kingdom Here on Earth
Last week we discussed Jesus’ earthly journey coming to an end and how Peter got scared and denied knowing Jesus. Admitting to knowing and following Jesus can be a scary thing still for us today.
I also told you that Jesus’ death wasn’t the end of the story…just the beginning. In Acts, Luke tells us how the followers of Jesus were scared and lost and didn’t know what to do.
They were feeling lost and wondering “where do we go from here?”.
This is something that is common for us still today. We wonder what to do, where to go, and how to get there.
As some of the followers were together, Jesus showed up and shared God’s plans for building His kingdom here on earth. (Acts 1:4-8) These plans are still the same today. Just like the followers of Jesus then, we have everything we need.
After Jesus finished giving them the instructions, He went up into the sky while they watched. (Acts 1:9-10) Then two men dressed in white told them that He would come back.
Then, when about 120 followers were meeting and praying, focused on a single purpose, the same Peter that had denied Jesus, stood up and began speaking. He shared how the Holy Spirit had told David about Judas and what would happen. (Acts 1:16-19) Peter went on to say that…
“We need to tell others that Jesus was raised from the dead.”
On the day of Pentecost all the Lord’s followers were together in one place. Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in all directions, and a tongue came and settled on each person there. The Holy Spirit took control of everyone, and they began speaking whatever languages the Spirit let them speak.
Many religious Jews from every country in the world were in Jerusalem. And when they heard this noise, a crowd gathered. They were surprised because they were hearing everything in their own languages. They were excited and amazed, and they said:
“Don’t all these who are speaking come from Galilee? Then why do we hear them speaking our very own languages? We are from a lot of different places, yet we all hear them using our own languages telling us of the wonderful things God has done.”
Everyone was excited and confused. Some of them even kept asking each other, “What does all this mean?”
Others mocked the Lord’s followers and said, “They are drunk.” (Acts 2:1-13)
Then, the “not so scared” Peter stood up and spoke in a loud voice to the crowd. “You are wrong to think they are drunk, it is only 9:00 in the morning!” Then he told them what the prophet Joel had said about the Holy Spirit being given to everyone. (Acts 2:14-21) The followers continued meeting and worked together to build the church and God’s kingdom.
We are still presented with the opportunity to continue building God’s kingdom today.
We have everything we need to accomplish this. We have the Bible which is the blueprint for building God’s kingdom. We have the workforce, otherwise known as the church. This workforce provides all the different skills needed. We can communicate directly with the Architect through prayer.
Now like Peter, be bold and don’t be afraid to do your part in building God’s kingdom here on earth.