– Acts 1: 1 – 14 / John 17: 1 – 11
– They all joined together constantly in prayer.
S We have completed the series on the gospel of Mark at Easter and starting a new series on the book of Acts from today. S Plan for Narrative lectionary reading up to Pentecost is ….7 Apr Acts 1:1-14 / 14 Apr Acts 3:1-10 / 21 Apr Acts 17:1-9. 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 and then 1 Corinthians for three weeks, and then back to Acts on Pentecost with 1 Cor 12:1-13.
Let’s have an overview of this book, Acts of Apostles.
S Contents: The Book of Acts clearly focuses on the beginnings of the church, and two people – the apostle Peter and Paul the Apostle. S The Gospel spread from Israel, northward to Antioch, and then westward to Asia Minor, Greece and finally Rome, the heart of the Roman Empire. S The first 12 chapters of the book of Acts deal with Peter, and the remainder of the book, the last 16 chapters, is devoted to the apostle Paul.
S Audience: The book of Acts is addressed to Theophilus, usually thought to have been a Gentile who was interested in learning more of Christianity and whose name suggests may have been a symbol of all lovers of God.
S Authorship: S Luke wrote the Book of Acts and the Gospel of Luke and he dedicated his work to a man names Theophilus. Luke was a companion of Paul on his missionary journeys, and in many parts of S the book of Acts it says “we” did this or that (Acts 16:10-17:1; Acts 20:5-21:17; and Acts 27:2-28:31). These Scriptures indicate that Luke joined and left the missionary party on several occasions and that he accompanied Pual on his journey to Rome. S The medical language in Luke and Acts gives credence to Luke “the beloved physician” (Col. 4:14) as the author of Acts.
S Date: Scholars agree that Acts was written around 62 or 63 AD.
S Place written: Most scholars believe that the place of the writing of Acts was in Rome. The whole book is an account of the advance of Christianity from Jerusalem to Rome and the last events described take place in Rome.

S The book of Acts begins (v 1) by looking backward to Luke’s account of the life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus. There is little evidence that early Christians read Acts in connection with Luke. Nevertheless, there is a significant overlap between the end of Luke and the beginning of Acts. S Luke 24 provides three richly detailed accounts of Jesus’ resurrection. There is the first story of the resurrection revealed to the women who come to prepare Jesus’ body (24:1–12). That is followed by Jesus’ appearance to the two disciples walking to Emmaus (24:13–35). Finally, Jesus appears to the gathered disciples (24:36–49). In contrast to these rich accounts, Luke concludes with a very brief account of Jesus’ ascension (24:50–53). Acts picks up where Luke finishes, providing a summary account of Jesus’ resurrection appearances and focusing instead on the ascension in Today’s reading.
S Today’s reading, Acts 1:1–14 also sets the stage for the sending of the Spirit at Pentecost. The Spirit has already played a significant role in the story of Jesus. S Luke makes it clear that Jesus’ ministry is soaked in the Holy Spirit.
There is no gap between what Jesus is doing and saying and what the Spirit of God wants.
At this point in Acts, the resurrected Jesus also begins to prepare his followers for his departure (verse 2-4). He assures them that although he will not be with them, the Father has promised to send the Spirit. S One way of thinking about the ascension is that it removes Jesus from the scene, allowing the Spirit to take center stage.
Over the 40 days after the resurrection, Christ was S “speaking to them about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). In response to this, the disciples ask if Jesus is about to S “restore the kingdom to Israel” (1:6). Both S at the end of Luke and here in Acts 1:8, the promise of the Spirit is tied to receiving “power.” It is understandable that the disciples would focus on political power, the power to overthrow a foreign government.
But rather than preparing the disciples for political power, S the Holy Spirit will turn them into “witnesses” (see also Luke 24:47–49). S Here, the redemption of Israel is ultimately directed toward the blessing of the nations, toward drawing all the world to God. S Such a message requires witnesses, not rulers.

When the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost, all the lives of the disciples were not ordinary lives any more.
We are likely to think that the Holy Spirit just came to the disciples and many people as a very gracious gift.
Just? Well, it is true, because it was the will of the Holy Spirit given as a gift.
At the same time, it seems it was not just given. The disciples were hard at preparation.
What I want to highlight this morning is what the disciples were doing. In the last verse of Acts reading, it is written that S “They all joined together constantly in prayer”. In other translation, it says, S “All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together.”
In other words, the disciples were not simply sitting back and relaxed, not caring about what would happen. They gather together constantly and prayed. They were looking forward to witnessing what would happen. They anticipated receiving power when the Holy Spirit comes on them, as Jesus promised before his ascension.
We also hope to receive the power of the Holy Spirit. Less than ten days after Jesus’ ascension, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples. So the disciples would have thought that Jesus would be coming back within a very short time. He did not return within their life time. The waiting is going on and on. And nearly two thousand years after, we are still waiting.
As we do not know when it will happen, does that mean we just enjoy ourselves and never care about our preparation and live our lives without any expectation and excitement? No. Not at all.
We see how the disciples prepared for the coming of the Holy Spirit, when they went back to Jerusalem.
I think two aspects of their behavior can help us to reflect our preparation and our daily spiritual discipline.

S First, they all joined together. We gather together and we join together this morning. Most of significant events in the Bible take place when people meet together. When the followers gather together with a same purpose and intension, that is when something significant happens. Often people question why the Christians gather together to do something, as you can stay at home and worship God quietly and more seriously in your dark room. Sometimes we do need to be alone and talk to him quietly. But most other time, we gather and join together, as we are humans and we are created to be in a relationship and to be in a community. Within this relationship of faith, we grow together, we share joy with one another. We struggle together. We face challenges together and we overcome the obstacles together as a community.
That is an example that Jesus showed us through his little community. S His community consists of many different characters. Former fishermen, tax collector, the zealot, different women as well. Each of them was not very welcome in their society. But when they all joined together, the most remarkable thing happened.
It is a privilege for each one of us to be part of this community. And it is even more privilege that we can gather together to worship God.
S On Easter Sunday at St Andrew’s Uniting in South Turramurra, we had a combined service with Korean Hosanna congregation, which is a tenant group using the church building. They are not part of Uniting Church. St Andrews group meets at 9 am and Hosanna meets 11:30 am. Both were willing to move their time to 10 am and it was a great gathering, especially as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, and we experienced the unifying spirit moving and working through us beyond our difference, language and culture and worship style. As a bilingual service, not every part went smoothly as we planned and it was chaotic, but everyone was waiting and patient and at the end we created a unique space over the difference.
S In anthropology, there is an interesting concept called liminality. S Liminality can be described as a threshold state of transition; a space of in-betweenness; existing between and across boundaries. When you have some cross-cultural experience between two different culture, S it could bring together two culture and create a liminal space. During this combined Easter worship, I experienced this liminal space. We were able to create a new community and space as we came together and were willing to do something new.

S Second, they constantly prayed. They were constantly devoting themselves to prayer.
S Why prayed? Because they were desperate. Because they needed the power and guidance from God. Because they want to see Jesus’ promise fulfilled. Do you have problems that seem to hang around your life forever?
Share the burden to one another, so that we can pray together for you. Not only have we prayed, but we constantly whenever we gather.
S What else do we do when we gather? That is the very reason that we are gathering.
To worship and praise God and pray for one another. And let us pray for one another more, as that might be the easiest thing we can do for someone else, and that is the most important thing to do for one another.
S
So as we journey through this new season after Easter, we are reminded that the disciples were doing their best to be ready.
When we are ready, God can use us for many different ways. “They all joined together constantly in prayer.” This morning, we commit ourselves once again that we will gather together whenever we can and constantly support each other by prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.