Acts

How do you keep speaking about Jesus when you’re persecuted for doing so?

Assume for the moment that you want to share the good news about Jesus, how do you keep doing so if you’re threatened, or silenced in other ways?

That may not be the question some of you are asking. Some of you may be wondering: “Why would I want to tell other people about Jesus at all?” We’ll answer that question as well. If we come up with some good reasons to keep talking about him when it’s costly, those will also be good reasons to start talking about him.

You only have to look at the news to see ways in which society is broken.

There are deep levels of mistrust, hatred, resentment and racism. People are lost, unsure of their purpose in life. Many are angry. Many are bored. Many are lonely.

Jesus did not just come to mend broken people. He came to mend broken society, to build a new society, one which functions in a healthy way, one which is deeply attractive, one which we’d all like to be a part of.

We’ve just baptized Finlay. I don’t know what you make of baptism.

The Bible reading we had told the story of one of the biggest baptisms in history. About 3000 people,  baptised on a single day. 3000. That’s most of the population of Kemsing. What could possibly make that number of people decide to be baptized on a single day?

How do we know anything about Jesus? We weren’t there when he fed the 5000, or when he rose from the dead? So how do we know these things happened? How do we know what they mean for today?

This morning, we’re continuing our journey through the book of Acts. Last week, I showed us how Acts is the second volume of Luke’s gospel. It picks up the story where Luke left off. 40 days after Jesus rose from the dead, Jesus returned to heaven. But his story doesn’t stop just because he’s gone home. And Acts is all about the things that Jesus did and taught next.