Look into the Book of Acts to Find God's Purpose for Our Lives

The following is an excerpt from the Storyteller Acts Bible study.

Acts, like Luke’s Gospel, is a letter written from one friend to another. When Luke wrote to Theophilus in the Gospel of Luke, he wasn’t thinking, People around the world are going to read my words by candlelight every Christmas Eve for centuries. When he wrote Acts, he wasn’t thinking, I bet this is going to help form mission statements for churches everywhere! If anything, Luke may have wondered if he should attempt to write historical accounts of Jesus and the church to anyone at all. He wasn’t one of the twelve disciples. He might have thought he should leave the task up to someone like Peter, James, or John. Luke was a doctor. He had sick people to take care of. And writing such lengthy manuscripts in that day involved a huge investment of time and money. There were plenty of reasons not to write Acts, but Luke wanted Theophilus—and whoever else might read or hear his manuscripts—to know about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He wanted people to know the incredible ways the Spirit empowers those who, believing in the living Christ, join in His kingdom purposes. So Luke grabbed a pen and got to work. He stepped into the calling Jesus had placed on his life, which is the calling He has placed on all of our lives: to go and make disciples.  

From the first sentence of Acts, we see that the Spirit empowers us to live out that calling. Through the faithful work of writing two letters, God did a greater work than Luke could have imagined. Luke simply served. He committed to tell the truth about Jesus and His church, and look what God did! He inspired and empowered a work that has drawn people around the globe to Jesus and encouraged the church for millenia. Are you waiting for God to use you? Do you wonder what you’re supposed to do? Are you waiting for an invitation to serve the church in a particular way that you feel capable? The message of Acts is that the Spirit comes to those who believe and empowers us to live out the calling we have received. So, don’t wait. Step into the faithful work of telling others about Jesus and the power of life in Him—and see what God will do. 

We often have one thing in mind we would like God to do. We want Him to help us with our jobs, relationships, health, or money. And He responds to those requests, but His Word always redirects us to His mission. We are to be His witnesses and to share the testimony of what we have seen and heard in Christ in our everyday lives and around the world. Acts 1:8 summarizes the whole book, as well as our own roles as kingdom citizens today. From chapters 2–8, the gospel spreads in Jerusalem. In chapters 8–12, the gospel spreads throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 12–28—and until Jesus returns—the gospel spreads to the ends of the earth. Does “to the ends of the earth” seem intimidating or overwhelming to you? It should, except what comes before it assures us this mission will be completed in Jesus’s power, not ours. The presence of the Holy Spirit imparts the nature of God into every believer. If you are a follower of Jesus, God’s power is at work in you! You never pursue God’s mission alone. He is with you. He equips you. He created you and made you for this. In and through your relationships, jobs, gifts, passions, desires, and even struggles, you can know this one thing: God’s power is at work in you to carry out His mission.