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Last week we were in this verse in Acts chapter 1. We were encouraged and challenged by these words, 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. As people, as followers of Christ, as the church, we were reminded powerfully last week that we are given purpose, we are given power, and we are told where to go. Purpose. We are witnesses, telling what we know, giving testimony or voice to the goodness of our Savior. It's that simple. That's what we're called to do. That's our purpose. The power we're given, the very words we're given are those from the Holy Spirit working in and in us, through and in us, and He's enabling that testimony, enabling that witness. And we're called to do that to be witnesses here in this community where you live and work and play. And then in the next circle, like if you think of expanding circles from here, and that's how we think about it. But we're expanding not just from ministry here in the Hudson Valley or here in Kingston or Hurley, but we're seeking to be faithful with the gospel to the ends of the earth, that every tribe and tongue and nation would have an opportunity to hear the good name of Jesus. And so we, as followers of Christ, live on mission. And it's that incredible story that we get to see lived out in the pages of Acts. We get to watch this happen, and it happens through people. It happens through people, normal people, people not unlike you and I. In the eyes of the world, they would say, wow, this is a group of pretty normal people, maybe some unimpressive people, some insignificant people, some obscure people. Think about where they're from, Galilee of all places. We hear about that place in the news often. But think about what God did through these normal people from this obscure corner of the earth, and he uses them to change the world. Ordinary people, obedient people with an extraordinary God. That's the testimony of God's word. That's how God works, how God chooses to work. God's plan is to use people, God's plan is to use the church. So if I were to ask you the question, how does God intend to accomplish his purpose? Where would you look or what would you say? How does God intend to accomplish his purpose? The place you should look is your neck should just start to swivel, church. That's how. It's through you and me. People like you and I, normal people. We are plan A. You and I. That can be terrifying as you look around, or very encouraging as they look around, right? You and I are the plan to reach the nations. That's our goal. And we do that by the power of the Holy Spirit. God acts in history in the lives of people by the power of the Holy Spirit. He gives people like you and I the opportunity and the joy of being used by Him. So we know the task. So this is where we were last week. We know the task, Jerusalem and Jerry, Judea Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. We know the plan that it's you and it and me, but at the same time, we know the realities of our lives, right? All that we have going on, all that you have going on, the pressures, the challenges, the busyness. Does just surviving seem like a struggle some weeks? Right? You're like, I made it through the week. So you have this picture, purpose, power, places. Then you know the reality of your life. So this is maybe more for you aspirational and not a reality? Anyone feel like that some weeks? Some weeks more than other weeks? Well, this week, church, I pray that you are encouraged because what we see in the next few verses in the book of Acts are truths that help us live with confidence. We, you and I, can live on mission, can accomplish what it's talking about in that verse, verse 8, with confidence. Now, we've looked, heard about confidence recently because as we remembered the events of Good Friday together, as we looked at those two chapters in the Gospel of John, what we saw were the foundations of Christ's confidence as he approached the cross, which are our foundations. Those same truths that Christ focused on are the truths that we focus on, but then those truths, those foundations, are built as the story continues. And that's what we're going to see this morning. Acts chapter 1, verses 8 to 11. You can turn there in your Bibles or it's in the bulletin, and we'll also have it up on the screen. And what we're reading this morning is Christ's ascension or the story of his ascension, where he returns to heaven. So follow along as I read. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. How incredible is that. Try to use your imagination this morning, all right? It's a lot easier for our children, I feel like, than it is for us sometimes. You're a disciple. It's been a wild few years. Think about it. Many of them you go from a fisherman or a builder or whatever you were doing. The Lord calls you to follow him, and then you get to follow him for three years in ministry. Now imagine the craziness of the last five to six weeks in the life of a disciple. Jesus is now, he's there with you in his glorified body. He has some parting words, some incredible words, and then you watch as he's taken up to heaven. According to some smart people, the language suggests that the cloud envelops him from underneath and takes him away. Imagine that. You could watch that, witness that. A cloud envelops him underneath and takes him into heaven. That would be an incredible sight. Think about the symbolism of a cloud. Symbolism of a cloud from the Old Testament. The cloud being a symbol of God's glory, at the same time manifesting and hiding the presence of God. God's glory, if you think about the symbolism or the imagery, envelops the resurrected Christ and lifts him out of their sight. And they get to witness this. They get to see this happen. In Luke chapter 1, verse 4, he's the author of the book Acts. He said, he writes that you may have certainty. Acts' purpose would be no different for its audience, that you would have certainty. Jesus ascended. Something objective took place. His death, if you look at the overwhelming testimony of history, his death happened. He died. The resurrection happened. And the proofs or evidence for the resurrection, even in the last, our generation just keeps going up and up and up. He rose and he ascended. Our faith is based in evidence. It's based in history. It's based in things that happened. You can have certainty this morning. So you're a disciple and you're looking up, you're kind of blown away by this thing that's just that's just happened. Who is the guy that like broke? We wouldn't be the guy that broke the silence, right? Imagine that you're just kind of all standing there looking. What do you say? Anything you'd said seems like it wouldn't be worth it. So they're standing there, they're looking up into heaven, and then two men in white robes show up, angels, two guys in white robes, and you're thinking, that sounds familiar. Like from a couple weeks ago at Easter? Yeah. The women looking up, going to the tomb. Listen to these. This we just read this at Resurrection Sunday. Luke 24. But on the first day of the week at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen. Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men. I got reading too far. Similar story, isn't it? You see the parallels there? Question. We don't know the answer to this. Think it was the same two angels? Like the VIP angels or something? Like, how do you get these two things? You get to go, hey, he's arisen, and then you get to go and say, guys, get at it. Luke 24, it's early dawn, still pretty dark. The angel's clothing is dazzling. Acts 1, it's the middle of the day, so the clothing doesn't look quite as dazzling. In the first, the angels say, Women, ladies, uh, why do you look for the living among the dead? He's risen. In this scene here in Acts, why do you stay, why are you still looking up? He is gone, he's coming back. Two incredible scenes filled with encouragement. This scene in Acts, I saw as I was looking at it, thinking about it, at least three truths stood out from this simple recounting of the ascension. Because on first glance, it's very simple. But in these verses, we see we can live with confidence because of a present power, we have an advocate, and we have a glorious hope. First, present power. The power of the Holy Spirit for witness, the promise of Christ. Acts 1.8. You will receive power. Pete talked about this last week, but it's important enough that we wanted to hit it twice. We could hit it every week, probably, and need that encouragement. You will receive power. When you come to faith in Christ, you receive the fullness of his spirit. When you come to faith in Christ, you receive the fullness of the Spirit. You're not waiting for more. You don't need more. You have His Spirit in all its fullness. Our is the joy of yielding to that Spirit. He gives you power, life-changing, world-altering, witness-empowering, mission-enabling, power. Power. Acts tells the story. Peter testifies to this power at Pentecost in chapter 2, verse 33. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. On the day of Pentecost, we're going to get there shortly. What the people are hearing, this gospel proclamation from the lips of these ordinary people is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And Peter is testifying to the power of the Spirit that enables that testimony. This was incredibly personal for Peter. Remember what happened not that long ago. Just weeks after miserable failure, weeks after he denies even knowing Christ because of his fear. Now he stands publicly, boldly proclaiming the name of Jesus to everyone who will listen. He's saying, guys, this isn't about me. He didn't go to seminary in the past 40 days. It's not what happened. He didn't take a bunch of classes on how to share his faith. No, the Holy Spirit enabled powerful gospel witness in the life of Peter, and that's what he gives testimony to. That's what he glorifies. Power, life-changing, world-altering, witness empowering, mission-enabling. It's power. Verse 11. Notice how the angels address the disciples. Men of Galilee. That's a reminder of who they were. This is not the elite. It's not the super educated. It's not those the world would have picked. These are hokul yogul locals with a worldwide task ahead of them. Think about that. Ever feel like a yoga like a local? Like just, I don't know, stuck? Like your world super small? It's those kind of people, people like you and I, to whom the worldwide task is given. And what's shocking as you continue to read is that against all odds, that's what they accomplish. God powerfully works through them. And we share this present power. That same spirit indwells us. Our confidence in mission is not our education or our preparation or even how far our lives reach. Our confidence is his spirit working through us and working in our obedience. We can have confidence in this task that he's given to us. Second truth is that we have an advocate. An advocate who has authority and is sympathetic. Listen to this prayer of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 1 as he thinks about this church. For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. In Christ, our advocate, we have wisdom and revelation or understanding. Our eyes are enlightened so we can see. We have a rich and glorious inheritance, and the power that we're given by our Jesus, our Savior, is an immeasurably great power on par with resurrection power, and it's given to us. Christ, our advocate, has authority. We have his fullness. Christ sits at the right hand of the Father, exalted above all rule and authority, having authority, supplying to us everything we need for life and godliness and mission. Our advocate has authority. How many of you ever kind of think like that? You got life and your pursuit of Christ, and then the mission He's given to us. So we know God gives us power for mission. We just read that in Acts chapter 1, verse 8, and we focus on that a lot as a church because it's important. But God, let's go back through the boxes: godliness, following Christ, being better, not doing the things we shouldn't be doing, doing the things we should be doing, spiritual practices, prayer and Bible reading and fasting, godliness, that one's on us, right? Then life, work, school parenting, making meals, cleaning the house, all the other things that sap us of all our energy, life's on us as well. Missions empowered by God, but godliness in life, we're on our own, suck it up, get going, and stop whining, right? No, that's not actually how it works. It's not what Scripture teaches. 2 Peter 1, verse 3. His defier power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence. God's divine power is at work in us for life and godliness and mission. You are not on your own at any point for anything in your life. Can I get an amen? That's good news. You are not on your own for life. Work and school and all the things that sap you of all your energy. You are not on your own for godliness, becoming like Christ in the spiritual disciplines as you seek to grow in Him. You're not on your own for that. And you are not on your own for mission. We know that. God helps us. He is our advocate who has authority and great might, and he helps us in all of life. Our advocate is also sympathetic. Christ sits at the right hand of the Father with all authority and power, not looking down on you and wondering when you're going to get it together. Like, goodness gracious, there goes Adam again. Off on his own. That's not how he's looking at us. He knows what life is like. He walked this walk. He knows what it's like to grow up. Kids, teenagers, he knows what that's like. Those pressures, those confusions, that turmoil, this challenge of parents and siblings and relatives and all that you've got going on. He knows what it's like to work, to have a career, to provide, to struggle. You ever think about the fact that Jesus paid taxes? April 15th was his past week. He might have paid some taxes. Jesus knows what that's all about. He knows what it's like to be tired and road weary. He knows what it's like to lose people you love. We think he lost his father at a young age. His earthly father, Joseph. He knows how hard ministry can be. He knows how hard-hearted people can be. He knew love and joy, but he also knew betrayal and disappointment and rejection and despair and pain. He knows what it's like to be misunderstood and persecuted and hated. That's our advocate. He's our advocate before the Father. The language in Scripture is that He's our priest, our mediator. Listen to these couple verses from Hebrews. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect. He knows what it's like, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. You and I have a sympathetic, merciful, and faithful advocate. Chapter 4. Since then we have a great pride priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God. Let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but one who in every respect has been tempted. Tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. In your life, in the things that you have going on, Jesus may not have experienced them perfectly, right? He wasn't a mom. He doesn't understand that. He understands and he walked through enough of life to understand and be able to sympathize with exactly what you're going through. And in that place, he is merciful. He sympathizes. He extends grace. You have a powerful and merciful high priest. He knows what you need and he wants to help you. Present power, sympathetic advocate, because he ascended. That's what we see in here in these in chapter one. He ascends to the Father, to the right hand of God the Father, as our priest, as our meteor advocate. And we have in these verses a glorious hope. So the disciples, they watch Jesus go up, taken up in the cloud, and the angels tell them that he will return in the same way. They promise the disciples, God will complete his plan. That redemptive ark that starts in Genesis chapter 3 will, and we're somewhere in the middle, maybe toward the end, we're not quite sure. That redemptive ark will come to its fullness or completion at the day of Christ's return. It will happen. He will return, he will restore, he will make all things new. He will eternally bless his people, for this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but things that are unseen are eternal. And so as followers of Christ, we fix our eyes on that incredible, glorious hope. We can lift our eyes from the fray, from the chaos, from the confusion, from the busyness, from the temporary, and from the fleeting. We can fix them on the glorious hope of Christ's return. That picture that's painted in the last couple chapters of the book of Revelation, that mind-blowing glory of God's presence, a life filled with purpose for all of eternity. We can look forward to that and look to that. This light and momentary affliction in the span of eternity, the things that we're going through now, these years we spend on this planet, it's a light, it might not feel like it at the moment, a light and momentary affix and when compared to the eternal weight of glory, compared to that which we look forward to for all of eternity. And that hope of heaven is not just future. Jesus came and said, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Not it's gonna come someday. The kingdom of heaven is at hand in the presence of Christ, and the kingdom of heaven is breaking in through the lives of his followers, in their lives as they experience relationship with them, and then through their lives as they extend the love and grace and mercy of Christ to a world that desperately needs it. We have a present hope. It's not just future, it's now. We're experiencing the inbreaking of the presence and kingdom of God. Christ lives providing the power we need, helping us, interceding for us, and he is coming back. We can live with confidence. So I want to think about the application of this confidence that we've seen in two areas: the confidence that we have in opportunity, and then the confidence that we have in struggle. Because our lives are both of those things. Our lives are filled with opportunities if we'll open our eyes. Opportunities to love, opportunities to serve, opportunities to witness in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces, even to go to Panama. It's an opportunity. Our confidence in these opportunities that are before us are not in our ability to love or our strength to serve or our skill to witness. Our confidence in the opportunities that are in front of us is in Christ. It's in his love overflowing in our lives. We do not serve, like you hear about a workday coming up on May 5th. We don't serve because we feel like it or have the time or energy. You might be like, man, I'm definitely busy that Saturday, you know, like all kinds of other stuff I could do. We don't serve because we feel like it or because we have the time or energy. We serve in obedience because we know that he will give us the time and the energy. If he calls you to do something and you're being obedient to that, you can be guaranteed he will give you everything you need to accomplish that opportunity. He will give you the time and energy. He can stretch time. I don't think the sun's gonna stand still like we read in the Old Testament, but he can stretch time. We do not witness when we are ready. You could go to classes on sharing your faith till the cows come home, like forever. You could have every single one of those figured out. You could have your story and his story just dialed, like right, you're just you're there, you're ready. That is not our confidence. No. Our confidence is in his spirit at work. And no matter how much you bumble or stutter when you're trying to communicate the grace and mercy of God that you've experienced in your life or as you're trying to tell about Jesus, no matter how much you mess up, the Holy Spirit takes that. He takes your obedience, your faithfulness, and works his glorious purposes out. That's our hope. Confidence in opportunity. It's in Christ. What about our confidence and struggle? Warren might seem like a roadblock or might seem a challenge. And you guys, there's no doubt. And if you are get our emails and see the prayer requests coming through, there's no shortage of struggle. What's our confidence in struggle? I was challenged in this a couple weeks ago. Our family got sick, like more sick than we've gotten in a while, and we didn't really do anything but survive for a full week. Felt like a total waste of a week. Anyone you know, anyone you know what I'm like? Like, anyone had that expand experience recently? Oh, that was a waste of a week. I didn't even see anyone. But I think we feel like that because if we're honest, we're putting our confidence in doing and accomplishing. That's what we can put our confidence in. We can put our confidence in our feelings and our fruitfulness, as if we can as if those are reliable guides. Our confidence is not in feelings or visible fruitfulness, it's in Christ that his power is made perfect in weakness. That's our confidence. We go through seasons of illness or sickness, seasons of weakened physical ability. Sometimes that's in our lives, and sometimes it's in the lives of the people we love, and we have to care for them. We get not we have to care for them, we're given the opportunity to care for them. We go through seasons of craziness at work. It just happens. There's seasons of parenting that are just plain hard. We have tough winters like this past one. But in those seasons of struggle or roadblock or challenge, our confidence is that God is present, that God knows, and that his power is made perfect in weakness. Our power is that he can cause confidence is that he can cause all things to work together for good. My confidence that week being sick was that even though I couldn't be with people, I could still pray for them. Even though I can't be with people, I can still do the practice, I can still spend time with the Lord in relationship and read his word with a little bit of energy that I had. There's things I can continue to do. And those things like prayer, that's not a backup plan, right? That's an effective tool. That's a weapon. Last week, Adam was said, everything goes back to prayer. Our confidence is not in how we're feeling or our fruitfulness. Our confidence is not in the abundance of our resources. It's in the greatness of our Savior. In struggle, in roadblock, and challenge, our confidence in Christ. I pray that you would remember that the rest of the day today. I was talking with my sister this past week, and she's one of those people that her mind races at night. Anyone have a mind race at night, like when you lay your head on the pillow? Then there's other people, it seems like that their mind races the minute they have consciousness. I'm the minute I have consciousness, my mind is racing. So whatever camp you're in, maybe you're in both, and I feel sorry for you, but I don't have any trouble falling asleep. It's just when I wake up. But tomorrow or tonight, when your mind starts to race and you start to, you just all those things are going on, just simply remember our confidence, your confidence is in Christ. He is 100% faithful, 100% trustworthy. He gives you present power. He is your advocate before the Father, and you in him have a glorious hope. So go this week, and I pray that you have confidence. Let's pray. God, I thank you, Lord, for the power of your word and the power of your word lived out in normal people, people not unlike us. God, thank you that you're accomplished your purposes through us, through this church. And God, even if that aspiration of you accomplishing your purposes through us and the reality of our lives seem like two completely different things. Lord, I pray that you would give us confidence to know that, Lord, you're working those things out. You're using us. God, help us to be obedient. Help us to trust you. Lord, we thank you for the promises you give us in your word, the help you give us, and God, we thank you for this community that we can grow in faithfulness with. Pray all these things in Christ's name. Amen.