Witnesses to the Gospel

Dear Friends,

There are many challenges before our church and before people across the world, but God’s mission doesn’t stop. Jesus’ first disciples were a minority and uncertain about what to do next. Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He told them to wait in Jerusalem until they received power from the Holy Spirit. God promised His apostles power to be His witnesses to the ends of the world and this promise is for all of Jesus’ followers because we are all His witnesses.

In the Bible, the witnesses had a double aspect to their message. In Peter’s first sermon in Acts, he points to the historical facts of Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection and shows how this was anchored in the OT promises (see Acts 2:14-41). Our witness first points to the objective fact of the Gospel of what Christ did, as declared by God’s Word. Secondly our witness points to our personal experience of the love of Christ in our hearts.

The Apostle Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus and had a vision of Jesus (Acts 9). Genuine churches make evangelism a priority because Jesus told His disciples that they would receive power from the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses throughout the world. Genuine churches are outward looking because the passage from Acts 1:1-11takes us out of the church and into the world.

God’s blessing David O’Mara

From the 10am Pastor’s Bulletin, 6 Feb 2022