Featuring Special Guest Blogger, Gowdy Cannon.

From His Revival Series: Three Relationships that Determine Everything

Acts 1:1–11

Every person wrestles with certain unavoidable questions.

What is my purpose?
Where did everything come from?
How should I live?
What happens after I die?

According to Christianity, three relationships shape how we answer those questions. These relationships determine how we understand God, how we understand ourselves, and how we understand the world around us.

In this series, we are looking at those three relationships. The first is our relationship to truth. The second is our relationship with the church.

Acts 1 gives us a powerful picture of how the church began and why it still matters today.

Luke records that Jesus presented Himself alive to the apostles after His suffering. He appeared to them over forty days and gave them many proofs that He had risen from the dead. Christianity is a faith, but it is a faith rooted in eyewitness testimony and historical events. The apostles saw Jesus, heard Him, and spoke with Him. They knew He was alive.

Then Jesus gave them a mission that would change the world.

Power to Witness, Not to Rule

When the apostles gathered with Jesus, they asked Him a question.

“Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

They were living under Roman oppression, and like many people in their time, they longed for political freedom. They remembered the days of David and Solomon, when Israel had power and independence. Naturally, they hoped the Messiah would restore that kind of kingdom.

But Jesus redirected their expectations.

He told them it was not for them to know the times or seasons that the Father had set. Instead, He promised something different:

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses.”

Jesus did promise power, but not political power. He gave them the power of the Holy Spirit so they could testify about Him.

This power would accomplish things the world could never accomplish. The apostles would heal the sick, preach the gospel, raise the dead, and bring eternal hope to people who were spiritually lost.

Governments can pass laws. Kings and presidents can wield authority. But the kind of power Jesus gave His church is different. It changes hearts. It brings new life. It points people to eternity.

That is the power the church has been given.

Power to Thrive Despite Persecution

The rest of the book of Acts proves something remarkable. The church did not grow in comfort. It grew in persecution.

The apostles were imprisoned. They were beaten. Some were killed. Again and again, authorities tried to silence them.

But the gospel continued to spread.

Why?

Because the power behind the church was not human strength. It was the Holy Spirit.

History confirms this truth.

The Roman emperor Nero attempted to stamp out Christianity. Christians were thrown into arenas and killed for entertainment. The Colosseum in Rome became a place where believers were executed for their faith.

Yet two thousand years later, Nero is dead, the Colosseum stands empty, and billions of people worship Jesus Christ.

Persecution cannot stop the church because the Spirit of God sustains it.

This same truth appears throughout Scripture. When the Assyrian king mocked God and threatened Jerusalem, King Hezekiah prayed for deliverance. God answered by destroying the invading army without Israel lifting a weapon. The same God who defended His people then is the God who empowers His church today.

The church thrives not because of human strategy, but because God Himself is at work.

Power to Unite a Diverse People

Another remarkable feature of the early church is its diversity.

The New Testament shows how difficult this unity was. Jewish believers and Gentile believers had deep cultural and religious divisions. Many Jews struggled to accept that Gentiles could come to God without first becoming Jewish.

Even Peter struggled with this. Yet God made it clear that the gospel was for all people.

The church would not be built on ethnicity, culture, or social status. It would be built on Jesus Christ.

That is why the early church included people from radically different backgrounds. Tax collectors who had served Rome stood alongside fishermen who despised Roman rule. Zealots who wanted to fight Rome stood alongside those who had worked for it.

Humanly speaking, those people should not have been able to function together.

But the gospel united them.

This unity was not political or superficial. It was rooted in Christ. Everyone comes to God the same way, through Jesus. Romans makes this clear. Jews and Gentiles alike are sinful before God and saved only by grace.

One day in heaven there will be people from every tribe, language, and nation. The early church was the beginning of that global family.

The Hope That Fuels the Church

Acts 1 ends with a promise.

As the disciples watched, Jesus ascended into heaven. Two angels then told them that this same Jesus would return.

The church does not only look backward to the resurrection. It also looks forward to the return of Christ.

That hope shapes how Christians live.

We do not live passively. We serve, love, and speak truth in the world around us. We bring mercy, healing, and the message of the gospel wherever God places us.

But we also live with expectancy.

Jesus is alive. And one day He will come again.

Living as Witnesses Today

The message of Acts 1 is clear.

The gospel will not yield.
The gospel will not fade.

God has given His church power to witness, power to endure persecution, power to unite people in Christ, and hope in the promise of Jesus’ return.

Because of that, the church still carries the same mission today.

We live in the confidence that Jesus rose from the dead, that the Holy Spirit empowers His people, and that the gospel continues to change lives.

And until Christ returns, the calling remains the same.

Be His witnesses.