Motivators for Christian Living
Acts 1:1-11
Acts 1:8 (NIV)
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;
1. The Resurrection
Acts 1:3 (NIV)
After his [Jesus’] suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
John 20:14 (NIV)
She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn't recognize him. "Dear woman, why are you crying?" Jesus asked her. "Who are you looking for?" She thought he was the gardener. "Sir," she said, "if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him." 16 "Mary!" Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, "Rabboni!" (which is Hebrew for "Teacher").
Luke 24:15 (NIV)
As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.
Luke 24:30 (NIV)
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.
Acts 1:8
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."
Luke 24:35 (NIV)
Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.
John 21:12 (NIV)
Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
1 Corinthians 15:6 (NIV)
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time,
Matthew 28:16
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
Matthew 28:18 (NIV)
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
1 Corinthians 15:35 (NLT)
But someone may ask, "How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?" What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn't grow into a plant unless it dies first. And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in 6 strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies. What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later.
Isaiah 53:2 (NLT)
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.
1 Corinthians 15:14 (NLT)
And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can't be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.
2. The Responsibility
Acts 1:8 (NIV)
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses (martus/martyr) in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Acts 5:28
You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching...
Acts 17:30
But now [God] commands all men everywhere to repent.
Matthew 20:19
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations...
Matthew 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preach in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
3. The Return
Acts 1:6
So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
Acts 1:9 (ESV)
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.
Acts 1:10 (ESV)
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 was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."
Matthew 24:30 (NIV)
"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Matthew 24:14 (NIV)
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Luke 12:40
You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
1 Thessalonians 5:2
For you know quite well that the day of the Lord's return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. When people are saying, "Everything is peaceful and secure," then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman's labor pains begin. And there will be no escape.
