LOOK:

The early church placed high value on honoring their widows and making sure they were cared for. As I was preparing this lesson, I became much more aware of the number of widows that sit in our class week after week. I found myself asking “How well are we as the WITW taking care of the widows in our class?”

Q: What do you think are the needs of widows today, and I would especially like to hear from those in our class who are widows to help us understand your needs. [Widows who were left behind in the NT were literally left in poverty, which is why they rec’d daily distributions of food.]

Q: What would be a good action plan to take care of our own?

LOOK:

Q: Do you see yourself in this story? It’s hard to read accounts like this with all of the miracles going on, the boldness in a courtroom, and wonder how this looks for each of us in this culture.

So here is something to reflect on. We don’t get thrown in prison for sharing the gospel in this country. But what concerns me is that we not only have freedom to share the gospel, but we are more silent than vocal with the gospel message. God said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” That means He’s with us right now – just like he was with the apostles when they were obeying God’s Great Commission.

I challenged you last week to pray not only for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit, but the filling of the H.S. in order to enable us to speak boldly in the name of Jesus. Did anyone do that? [Invite testimonies] This week: Ask the Lord to remind us daily that we can’t fail in the Great Commission because we’re empowered by the H.S. who will tell us what we need to say!

LOOK:

Warren Wiersbe astutely points out that “the early church had none of the ‘advantages’ that some ministries boast of and depend on today.” They did not have big budgets provided by wealthy donors. Their pastors lacked credentials from the accepted schools, nor did they have the endorsement of the influential political leaders of that day. Most of their ministers had jail records and would probably have a hard time today joining our churches, let alone leading them.” What they had going for them was their understanding that they had the power of the Holy Spirit and their marching orders to go tell the good news in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth. So they prayed to that end regularly in spite of opposition. Satan has been trying to silence God’s people from the beginning, and we are playing into his hands when we become “silent witnesses” of God’s church.

Challenge Application: I have asked you to pray for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit each day since beginning the study of Acts. I now have an addendum: enable me to speak boldly in the name of Jesus to share the good news. Our prayer closet may not shake like the room did when the apostles prayed, but be assured – God has our transcript, and He has a vested interest in assisting us to effectively share the Good News. So let’s go do it for HIS GLORY.

LOOK:

If we’re going to be effective ministers in God’s Kingdom, then we need to follow the lead of Peter and John. They appropriated the power and authority given to them through the Holy Spirit to express compassion to a lame man. They were able to look beyond the physical need of the lame man and invited him to have faith in the name of Jesus to be healed.

They also didn’t hesitate to leverage the opportunity to see a Jewish crowd filled with wonder  and amazement and share the good news with them. Peter and John made sure that the Jewish people heard a message of hope. It was not too late to repent and turn to Jesus who was spoken of by all of the prophets.

Do you really live with a strong awareness that you have the power and authority to make the Kingdom of God a better place to live? Do you see that what we have to offer, i.e. the Good News and the power to invite healing in the name of Jesus, is something an unbeliever can’t offer? If we see someone hungry, both a believer and a non-believer can hand out food, but what separates us from the unbeliever is our ability by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to offer someone a message that offers them eternal life in Jesus. You and I are the ones who are in position to do that. So we need to step it up!

Challenge: “As we are going,” let’s pray that this week God prompts us to show compassion to someone in need and introduce them to the spiritual or emotional or physical healing that is available in the name of Jesus. I have no idea how that will look, but I believe if our hearts are truly yielded to the Spirit’s prompting, the Lord will put us in the right place at the right time to bring about the result He desires through us. Just be committed to be available to be used at all times. Please keep praying for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit.

LOOK:

It’s hard to read such an inspiring picture of how powerfully the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and not wonder if we’re missing something. I think we all understand that every believer has the same Holy Spirit we just read about living inside each of us.

God’s Word tells us in Eph 5:18 to be “filled with the Spirit” because we need His power constantly if we are to serve God effectively. This is a request we should be making daily. So the first application is to incorporate into your prayer life the request to have a fresh filling of the Spirit.

The second application requires a viewpoint that the Holy Spirit would love for you to ask Him to be involved in all of your endeavors. Picture the Holy Spirit waiting each day for you to ask Him to empower you. Are we willing to yield to the Spirit every day? Will we allow Him to have all the spiritual space in our lives He wants? So here’s the suggestion: Not only pray daily for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit, but specifically ask Him to completely involved in every phone conversation, every meeting, every encounter you have, every email you write. Anticipate his power being released through you!