He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 1:7,8

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20

Prayer Points

Pray for more of the Holy Spirit’s power for yourself and others in your church in ministry and mission, holiness and service.

Pray that the church will properly engage in the task of making the good news of Jesus known. Pray for church leadership to prioritise this, people who will do it and response to the message.

Pray for the ‘demonstration of the Spirit’s power’ as God’s word is preached in churches this Sunday, so that people’s faith will rest not on human wisdom but on God’s power.

     DAY 8 : EMPOWERING

The New Testament shows Christianity to be an engaging interacting experience of God’s presence and power through the Holy Spirit. It speaks about Jesus the Son of God teaching, doing miracles, healing the sick and raising the dead; about a conflict between spiritual forces of good and evil and about the Holy Spirit equipping to reach the ends of the earth with an amazing message.

So who is the Holy Spirit? He is the person and the power behind the message of Jesus. As the third person of the Godhead he comes to make God real to us convicting us of sin, glorifying Jesus, and empowering us to live as we should. Heenables us to be witnesses (Acts 1:8).

The Holy Spirit empowered those first disciples to extend the

work of Jesus. In Luke 9:1 and Luke 10: 1 Jesus sent the disciples

off on a couple of mission trips to do what he had been doing

himself: preaching and healing. It turned out to be something

they were hugely excited about when they returned. But then

after Pentecost the Holy Spirit came to dwell among them they

really got going in carrying his life-changing message wherever

they went. Jesus had trained them over three years but now

through the presence of the indwelling Spirit they continued

his work.

The challenge for us today is to make Christ known to those

around us. We participate in this by the power of the Holy Spirit.

He is as present today as he was in the first century. We can

trust him to give us the words to say and even for signs and

wonders to accompany what we do in his name.

Pray

*    Pray for your ‘big issue’

*    Pray for your ‘three friends’

*    Pray for a new wave of revival.