Today on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Discover your compelling mission for the Kingdom.

Today on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Discover your compelling mission for the Kingdom.

Wherever you're at, that's the center of your mission field. And you say, Holy Spirit, give me power. Give me boldness, give me love. To be able to take this message of Jesus Christ in a bold, loving, clear way so that other people can also come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Wherever you're at, that's the center of your mission field. And you say, Holy Spirit, give me power. Give me boldness, give me love. To be able to take this message of Jesus Christ in a bold, loving, clear way so that other people can also come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Mark is president of Moody Bible Institute and the senior pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. We started a series called supernatural A study from the Book of Acts. And as we move forward today, we're going to be learning about our purpose in community. We're all called to gather in fellowship. But why? That's the topic Mark addresses today. And if you've missed any of the messages in this series so far, catch up online at Bold Steps. Org. Right now, let's jump in. Mark starts the message by reminding us who we are.

Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Mark is president of Moody Bible Institute and the senior pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. We started a series called supernatural A study from the Book of Acts. And as we move forward today, we're going to be learning about our purpose in community. We're all called to gather in fellowship. But why? That's the topic Mark addresses today. And if you've missed any of the messages in this series so far, catch up online at Bold Steps. Org. Right now, let's jump in. Mark starts the message by reminding us who we are.

You say, well, what is the church? Well, the building is not the church. The people is the church. We are the church. Some of you got up this morning and said, well, come on kids, get ready. We're going to church. You say, well, what did you do today? I went to church and I understand that. I understand that lingo and I use it too, with my kids. But but but to be clear about this, we don't come to church. We gather as a church in a building. Uh, this building is not the church. You and I, carriers of the kingdom, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We are the church. And if this building were to burn down tomorrow, I would be sad. But the church would not be extinguished because we are the church. The church would continue. The church would exist. And so Jesus spent 40 days explaining what it means to be a part of a kingdom. People. By the way, let me simply say this as well. If you understand that we are to spread the kingdom of God, it you'll understand why. As a church, as a people, we don't just come together in a community to do worship services and hear the Word of God, and then go out and leave the community the same, because that's called a Christian ghetto. That's not what we are. We are people of the kingdom. So if we meet in a community, we change that community. If we meet here, we spread the kingdom values. Here we don't just gather in a building to worship and learn. We begin to bring the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God begins to outflow wherever we're at. And what is the kingdom of God? It tells us in Romans chapter 14 verse 17, the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. That's why whatever happens in our neighborhood, it's our issue. Whatever happens in this city and among the people, it becomes our issue. Why? Because anything that contradicts the values of the kingdom should concern us, because our desire is to bring the justice of Jesus Christ into the heart of God and the values of the kingdom, the rule and reign of Christ. Wherever we go, it should be reflected among us. Amen. Amen. Alright. So it tells us that Jesus, with many convincing proofs, appeared to them over 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God. So the first thing is that we need to have a clear message. The second thing that I want you to grasp About the first chapter of the Book of Acts. As God prepares a people to change the world. Is that not only are we a people of a convincing message, but we need to be a people with a persuasive power. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift that my father has promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water. But in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Now Jesus read the disciples up with the message of the kingdom. He talked to them about the kingdom and what it meant, and how they were to spread, and the values of the kingdom, and what it meant to have righteousness and joy and peace among them. And so they were all revved up. It's almost like he got the team together, put their hands together and said, one, two, three. Go! Kingdom And they all said, let's go. And Jesus said, wait. They said, let's do it, Jesus, let's change the world. Wait, what are we waiting for? You need to wait in Jerusalem because you're not ready. Why aren't we ready? We've been with you for three years. We're full of zeal. Full of faith. We're ready to change the world. And Jesus said, you need to wait in Jerusalem because you're missing something. You're lacking something. What are we lacking? You are lacking the gift that was promised through Joel the prophet. Isaiah the prophet spoken about in Ezekiel. You're missing the gift. What gift was he talking about? He was talking about the third person, the Triune God. He's talking about the gift of the Holy Spirit. So the believers, instead of going to change the world, they start having prayer meetings in Jerusalem. They start gathering in the upper room and they're waiting. They don't know how this Holy Spirit is going to come. They don't know what the Holy Spirit's going to look like, but they're waiting. They know they can't go anywhere, move anywhere until they get the gift of the Holy Spirit. Well, you say, well, pastor, I thought they already had the Holy Spirit. Well, here's the thing they did and they didn't. You see, in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would come, and then the Holy Spirit would go, right. Do you remember Saul? King Saul? The Holy Spirit came upon him, and he started prophesying and dancing. And then when the Holy Spirit left, he got his spirit and tried to kill David. The Holy Spirit would come. The Holy Spirit would go. Psalm chapter 51 David says, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. And we sing that song, and I like that song, but that song is theologically Correct. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was not there to permanently indwell us. The Holy Spirit would empower people for a task, but he would come and he would go. It's almost like I need your power now. The Holy Spirit would come on, give us power. And then when it was done, the Holy Spirit would leave. However, Jesus was ushering in a new age, and in this age, the power of the Holy Spirit would be there not just to come on you. In certain times, the Holy Spirit's power would come on you to stay inside of you. I want you to hear this because this is huge. You see, it tells us in in John chapter 16, verses five through eight, Jesus says, it's good that I leave. You say, well, why is it good that Jesus would leave? I think it'd be better if you'd stay once in a while. I hear people say, I just wish I could walk with Jesus I wish I lived back in the days of the apostles, where I could just kind of put my arm around Jesus and say, Jesus, my wife's really acting up. What should I do? Tell me, or I wish I could just kind of hold Jesus and walk with him and hear his voice, and he could counsel me and give me wisdom. But I live in this age, and I just long to be with Jesus, and I wish I could have been there with Jesus. But I want to tell you something. This may strike you as strange, but it's true. You live in a better age than in the age of Jesus, because you live in the age of the Holy Spirit. You say, well, I don't understand that, pastor. Well, let me tell you. Let's imagine that Jesus were on earth today. By the way, he won't be on earth. He won't hang out on earth. And if anybody claims to be Jesus because he wears a long dress and long hair and a beard, uh, and says he's Jesus here's what I know. It's a false prophet. It's a false messiah. So don't worry if there's some wacko out there claiming to be Jesus, you can scratch it off and know, no, he's not Jesus. Jesus isn't going to come on, come around and hang out and live in South America anywhere. No, he's going to come back with power and might when he comes in his second coming. He's not going to hang out in some village in South America. Okay. Let's just get that clear. Someone said, well, I heard Jesus was living. No no no no no, Jesus isn't living anywhere on earth, so just scratch that off. But if Jesus were here on earth right now, here's the thing. There's only a limited amount of people that could hang out with Jesus. I mean, if he was here in the flesh, his 12 disciples, remember, the crowds would get around Jesus. They'd try to touch them. They'd try to, hey, just touch the hem of his garment. Because thousands of people trying to access one person would be very, very difficult to have one on one time with Jesus. So Jesus said, I need to go because I'm going to change this around. So it's better for you. Instead of trying to have face to face time with Jesus, I'm going to make it so that you have 24 seven access to power wisdom consultation that you can, any time you want, have all the power you need, all the power of God at your disposition whenever you want, in the middle of the night, in, in, in when you're at work at the daytime. And I'm going to do it this way, I'm going to send the third person of the Triune God called the Holy Spirit, and I'm going to send the Holy Spirit. And from this day forward, all those that call upon the name of the Lord, the Holy Spirit will live inside of you. When you need wisdom, the Holy Spirit will be right there to give you wisdom. If you access that wisdom when you need power, he will be there. When you need to know how to pray, he'll teach you how to pray. When you sin, he'll convict you. He'll give you gifts that you don't know how. You don't know how they how you got them, that you haven't trained for him or learned them. They're supernaturally given to you. You'll open up your mouth at times and the word will come out of you. Supernaturally empowered by the Holy Spirit. You will pray for people and some will be healed by the power of the Holy Spirit. You'll open up the Word of God and understand it in ways that you've never understood before, via the counsel and the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit inside of you. You'll have assurance. Inside of you. You'll have burdens to pray for people that you had no understanding, that they were going through a tough time. But the Holy Spirit will say, pray for them because they're going through a tough time. God will give you discernment and power and strength and wisdom and boldness because the Holy Spirit is called the helper. The Greek word is the Paraclete, the counselor, the one that's there to assist you in living for God. I'm glad I live in the age of the Holy Spirit.

You say, well, what is the church? Well, the building is not the church. The people is the church. We are the church. Some of you got up this morning and said, well, come on kids, get ready. We're going to church. You say, well, what did you do today? I went to church and I understand that. I understand that lingo and I use it too, with my kids. But but but to be clear about this, we don't come to church. We gather as a church in a building. Uh, this building is not the church. You and I, carriers of the kingdom, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We are the church. And if this building were to burn down tomorrow, I would be sad. But the church would not be extinguished because we are the church. The church would continue. The church would exist. And so Jesus spent 40 days explaining what it means to be a part of a kingdom. People. By the way, let me simply say this as well. If you understand that we are to spread the kingdom of God, it you'll understand why. As a church, as a people, we don't just come together in a community to do worship services and hear the Word of God, and then go out and leave the community the same, because that's called a Christian ghetto. That's not what we are. We are people of the kingdom. So if we meet in a community, we change that community. If we meet here, we spread the kingdom values. Here we don't just gather in a building to worship and learn. We begin to bring the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God begins to outflow wherever we're at. And what is the kingdom of God? It tells us in Romans chapter 14 verse 17, the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. That's why whatever happens in our neighborhood, it's our issue. Whatever happens in this city and among the people, it becomes our issue. Why? Because anything that contradicts the values of the kingdom should concern us, because our desire is to bring the justice of Jesus Christ into the heart of God and the values of the kingdom, the rule and reign of Christ. Wherever we go, it should be reflected among us. Amen. Amen. Alright. So it tells us that Jesus, with many convincing proofs, appeared to them over 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God. So the first thing is that we need to have a clear message. The second thing that I want you to grasp About the first chapter of the Book of Acts. As God prepares a people to change the world. Is that not only are we a people of a convincing message, but we need to be a people with a persuasive power. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift that my father has promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water. But in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Now Jesus read the disciples up with the message of the kingdom. He talked to them about the kingdom and what it meant, and how they were to spread, and the values of the kingdom, and what it meant to have righteousness and joy and peace among them. And so they were all revved up. It's almost like he got the team together, put their hands together and said, one, two, three. Go! Kingdom And they all said, let's go. And Jesus said, wait. They said, let's do it, Jesus, let's change the world. Wait, what are we waiting for? You need to wait in Jerusalem because you're not ready. Why aren't we ready? We've been with you for three years. We're full of zeal. Full of faith. We're ready to change the world. And Jesus said, you need to wait in Jerusalem because you're missing something. You're lacking something. What are we lacking? You are lacking the gift that was promised through Joel the prophet. Isaiah the prophet spoken about in Ezekiel. You're missing the gift. What gift was he talking about? He was talking about the third person, the Triune God. He's talking about the gift of the Holy Spirit. So the believers, instead of going to change the world, they start having prayer meetings in Jerusalem. They start gathering in the upper room and they're waiting. They don't know how this Holy Spirit is going to come. They don't know what the Holy Spirit's going to look like, but they're waiting. They know they can't go anywhere, move anywhere until they get the gift of the Holy Spirit. Well, you say, well, pastor, I thought they already had the Holy Spirit. Well, here's the thing they did and they didn't. You see, in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would come, and then the Holy Spirit would go, right. Do you remember Saul? King Saul? The Holy Spirit came upon him, and he started prophesying and dancing. And then when the Holy Spirit left, he got his spirit and tried to kill David. The Holy Spirit would come. The Holy Spirit would go. Psalm chapter 51 David says, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. And we sing that song, and I like that song, but that song is theologically Correct. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was not there to permanently indwell us. The Holy Spirit would empower people for a task, but he would come and he would go. It's almost like I need your power now. The Holy Spirit would come on, give us power. And then when it was done, the Holy Spirit would leave. However, Jesus was ushering in a new age, and in this age, the power of the Holy Spirit would be there not just to come on you. In certain times, the Holy Spirit's power would come on you to stay inside of you. I want you to hear this because this is huge. You see, it tells us in in John chapter 16, verses five through eight, Jesus says, it's good that I leave. You say, well, why is it good that Jesus would leave? I think it'd be better if you'd stay once in a while. I hear people say, I just wish I could walk with Jesus I wish I lived back in the days of the apostles, where I could just kind of put my arm around Jesus and say, Jesus, my wife's really acting up. What should I do? Tell me, or I wish I could just kind of hold Jesus and walk with him and hear his voice, and he could counsel me and give me wisdom. But I live in this age, and I just long to be with Jesus, and I wish I could have been there with Jesus. But I want to tell you something. This may strike you as strange, but it's true. You live in a better age than in the age of Jesus, because you live in the age of the Holy Spirit. You say, well, I don't understand that, pastor. Well, let me tell you. Let's imagine that Jesus were on earth today. By the way, he won't be on earth. He won't hang out on earth. And if anybody claims to be Jesus because he wears a long dress and long hair and a beard, uh, and says he's Jesus here's what I know. It's a false prophet. It's a false messiah. So don't worry if there's some wacko out there claiming to be Jesus, you can scratch it off and know, no, he's not Jesus. Jesus isn't going to come on, come around and hang out and live in South America anywhere. No, he's going to come back with power and might when he comes in his second coming. He's not going to hang out in some village in South America. Okay. Let's just get that clear. Someone said, well, I heard Jesus was living. No no no no no, Jesus isn't living anywhere on earth, so just scratch that off. But if Jesus were here on earth right now, here's the thing. There's only a limited amount of people that could hang out with Jesus. I mean, if he was here in the flesh, his 12 disciples, remember, the crowds would get around Jesus. They'd try to touch them. They'd try to, hey, just touch the hem of his garment. Because thousands of people trying to access one person would be very, very difficult to have one on one time with Jesus. So Jesus said, I need to go because I'm going to change this around. So it's better for you. Instead of trying to have face to face time with Jesus, I'm going to make it so that you have 24 seven access to power wisdom consultation that you can, any time you want, have all the power you need, all the power of God at your disposition whenever you want, in the middle of the night, in, in, in when you're at work at the daytime. And I'm going to do it this way, I'm going to send the third person of the Triune God called the Holy Spirit, and I'm going to send the Holy Spirit. And from this day forward, all those that call upon the name of the Lord, the Holy Spirit will live inside of you. When you need wisdom, the Holy Spirit will be right there to give you wisdom. If you access that wisdom when you need power, he will be there. When you need to know how to pray, he'll teach you how to pray. When you sin, he'll convict you. He'll give you gifts that you don't know how. You don't know how they how you got them, that you haven't trained for him or learned them. They're supernaturally given to you. You'll open up your mouth at times and the word will come out of you. Supernaturally empowered by the Holy Spirit. You will pray for people and some will be healed by the power of the Holy Spirit. You'll open up the Word of God and understand it in ways that you've never understood before, via the counsel and the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit inside of you. You'll have assurance. Inside of you. You'll have burdens to pray for people that you had no understanding, that they were going through a tough time. But the Holy Spirit will say, pray for them because they're going through a tough time. God will give you discernment and power and strength and wisdom and boldness because the Holy Spirit is called the helper. The Greek word is the Paraclete, the counselor, the one that's there to assist you in living for God. I'm glad I live in the age of the Holy Spirit.

You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, and if you'd like to hear today's message again, or if you'd like to send a link to a friend who might need to hear this message, go to Bold steps.org. Now, while you're there, be sure to sign up for our weekly email devotional, It's the Bold Stepper weekly. We'd love for you to join with hundreds of other believers across the country who are starting their week off with a dose of inspiration straight from Mark's desk. Once again, you'll find us online at Bold steps.org. Let's return to hear Mark's third point in our message. Our purpose in community.

You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, and if you'd like to hear today's message again, or if you'd like to send a link to a friend who might need to hear this message, go to Bold steps.org. Now, while you're there, be sure to sign up for our weekly email devotional, It's the Bold Stepper weekly. We'd love for you to join with hundreds of other believers across the country who are starting their week off with a dose of inspiration straight from Mark's desk. Once again, you'll find us online at Bold steps.org. Let's return to hear Mark's third point in our message. Our purpose in community.

And so Jesus said, I want you to wait because the Holy Spirit is coming. Two things will happen when you receive the Holy Spirit. Number one, you receive power. Power. The word for power there is dunamis, where we get the word dynamite from. You will receive dynamic, combustible spiritual power on your life. Power to overcome sin. Power to be a bold witness. It'll be something that is not natural. Christianity is not a self-improvement program based on some nice, nifty teachings of Jesus. Christianity is based on the indwelling of God inside of our life, changing us from the inside out. And we're not saying just come to God. We're saying that God, via the power of the Holy Spirit, lives inside of you every single day. It's powerful. It's a powerful concept. In fact, do you realize that Corinthians says that now you are the temple of God? So what do you mean, temple? That means that your body right now is considered the temple of God. Why? Because God lives within your body. I run into people sometimes and say, well, I never read anywhere in the Bible that says, don't smoke a little marijuana. I don't where anywhere in the Bible where it says, don't snort a line of cocaine. I mean, where does it say that? What it does say is that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Your physical body is the temple where you take your body. You take God with you. So when you talk about being filled with the Holy Spirit, we're talking about that the Holy Spirit has greater control in our life, that he has greater control over how we live and how we move. That's what it means to be full of the Holy Spirit. And he goes on to say that not only are we a people with a convincing message, a people with a persuasive power, but lastly, we are a people with a compelling mission. Look what it tells us here in these next verses. So when they met together, they asked him, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel? They still hadn't got it that the kingdom of God is not a political military kingdom, that it's a spiritual one. Verse seven he said to them, it's not for you to know the times and the dates the father has set by his own authority. Verse eight but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the utter ends of the earth. Wait till the power of the spirit comes upon you. And when the power of the spirit comes upon you, then you can go and be my witnesses. And if you read acts chapter two, you realize that at the day of Pentecost they were all gathered together. The Holy Spirit came upon them as of tongues of fire. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, began to speak in other tongues and languages and went out testifying to the power of God. And from that day on, the church was birthed. And from that day until this day, 2000 years later, the church has not been able to be contained. Because the church is not an institution, it's not an organization. It's a living organism filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. It's the change agent for this world. And how do you join this thing called the church? You join it by giving your life to Jesus Christ, by receiving his forgiveness. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And then you're a part of this thing called the church of the Living God. That's how it happens. And then he says, you need to be on mission with God. You see, you are not saved just to improve your life or to make sure you don't go to hell. You are converted and washed and cleansed and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, so that you can join the mission that God has for you. Notice what he says. I want you to. He says, I want you to be witnesses to me. And he said, Jerusalem, Jerusalem is where they live. Judea Judea was the surrounding area. Samaria was a place where it was a bad neighborhood, basically, where a lot of people that the Jewish people despised lived and they avoided. They drove around, like some of you drive around certain neighborhoods in Chicago. This was basically, hey, a tough neighborhood and then the ends of the Earth. This meant the Gentiles, sinners and people that the Jewish people didn't like at all. And what Jesus was saying, I want you to start here, and I want you to make sure that this gospel spreads like wildfire in concentric circles around where you live. But start where you're at. You say, well, pastor, I really want to do something for God. I think I'm going to go to India. Hey, if God leads you into India is a great place. But you know what? I would encourage you. Hey, how about starting with your family? You don't have to go to some exotic place to find people that need Jesus. All you have to do is get up in the morning, walk out your front door, take a breath of air, and I can guarantee you before you're two blocks away, you'll run into people that need Jesus. I love this. And after he said this. And by the way, it was during these 40 days that he was here on earth that he told them. He gave them what's come to be known as the Great Commission. He said, go ye therefore, and make disciples of all nations. What is a disciple? The disciple is a learner, a follower. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. How do we make disciples? Well, you start by giving them the message. And then one of the first thing that disciples do, he says, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit baptizing them. Yeah, that's kind of like an initiation, right? It's the first you are baptized into water as a sign that I'm a follower of Jesus Christ. And then it says. And teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you. So they're baptized, and then they are taught to follow the ways of God. He says, that's what I want you to do. I want you to make disciples of all nations. That's why once a month, we have a baptism here. At the end of every month we baptize. We just had a baptism uh, a couple of weeks ago and a few people got Mark, you got baptized. Anybody else here got baptized? Uh, okay. We had about eight people that got baptized there, and we celebrate it. Why does it end with baptism? Know that baptism is the start, not the end. It's the beginning of it. And then we help make disciples of all nations. And our goal is to begin with is right around our neighborhood. And then it expands further than that. If you live wherever you're at, whatever your address is, that's your mission field. That's the center of your mission field. And then you start expanding around that circle and you say, Holy Spirit, give me power, give me boldness, give me love to be able to take this message, not Bible thumping, not being obnoxious or obsessive or judgmental, but bringing the message of Jesus Christ in a bold, Loving, clear ways so that other people can also come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Amen. Amen. Alright. So imagine this. You're on the mountain. Jesus speaks these words. Go. Be witnesses to me. Those are the last words he speaks to his disciples. And as he's after he said that, then all of a sudden the Bible says that Jesus begins to levitate. It says they were looking intently into the sky when two men, dressed in white to angelic beings said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand there looking into the sky? Your mission is not up there. Your mission is here. And then he says, this same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven. Talking about the second coming of Christ the same way. So we believe that one day Jesus Christ will come again. Not some guy living in Indonesia dressed in long white robes with a beard. But he will come again. He will come again. The second coming of Christ. We believe that day will come when the second coming of Jesus Christ will come, and that's how it will come. And he said, until from now, until the first leaving to the second coming, we have a clear mandate, a clear mission, and we're living in that church age right now. We are the church of the living God. So you've heard the message I want to challenge you. If you are a believer today, you have a call, a mandate, a privilege of making disciples. And what does that mean? It means that Jesus left, but he gave us a mission. So I want to encourage you, challenge you not to hold your faith a secret. In fact, I want to encourage you to be bold not obnoxious, but bold in the sharing of your story. The simple message of Jesus wrapped in your testimony. Is there a neighbor that you need to share with? Is there a family member that you've been praying with? Is there a son or daughter that you haven't fully explained it to? I want to challenge you today to ask that God would fill you with the boldness and the passion to share the good news of Jesus with someone else today. Go and make disciples.

And so Jesus said, I want you to wait because the Holy Spirit is coming. Two things will happen when you receive the Holy Spirit. Number one, you receive power. Power. The word for power there is dunamis, where we get the word dynamite from. You will receive dynamic, combustible spiritual power on your life. Power to overcome sin. Power to be a bold witness. It'll be something that is not natural. Christianity is not a self-improvement program based on some nice, nifty teachings of Jesus. Christianity is based on the indwelling of God inside of our life, changing us from the inside out. And we're not saying just come to God. We're saying that God, via the power of the Holy Spirit, lives inside of you every single day. It's powerful. It's a powerful concept. In fact, do you realize that Corinthians says that now you are the temple of God? So what do you mean, temple? That means that your body right now is considered the temple of God. Why? Because God lives within your body. I run into people sometimes and say, well, I never read anywhere in the Bible that says, don't smoke a little marijuana. I don't where anywhere in the Bible where it says, don't snort a line of cocaine. I mean, where does it say that? What it does say is that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Your physical body is the temple where you take your body. You take God with you. So when you talk about being filled with the Holy Spirit, we're talking about that the Holy Spirit has greater control in our life, that he has greater control over how we live and how we move. That's what it means to be full of the Holy Spirit. And he goes on to say that not only are we a people with a convincing message, a people with a persuasive power, but lastly, we are a people with a compelling mission. Look what it tells us here in these next verses. So when they met together, they asked him, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel? They still hadn't got it that the kingdom of God is not a political military kingdom, that it's a spiritual one. Verse seven he said to them, it's not for you to know the times and the dates the father has set by his own authority. Verse eight but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the utter ends of the earth. Wait till the power of the spirit comes upon you. And when the power of the spirit comes upon you, then you can go and be my witnesses. And if you read acts chapter two, you realize that at the day of Pentecost they were all gathered together. The Holy Spirit came upon them as of tongues of fire. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, began to speak in other tongues and languages and went out testifying to the power of God. And from that day on, the church was birthed. And from that day until this day, 2000 years later, the church has not been able to be contained. Because the church is not an institution, it's not an organization. It's a living organism filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. It's the change agent for this world. And how do you join this thing called the church? You join it by giving your life to Jesus Christ, by receiving his forgiveness. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And then you're a part of this thing called the church of the Living God. That's how it happens. And then he says, you need to be on mission with God. You see, you are not saved just to improve your life or to make sure you don't go to hell. You are converted and washed and cleansed and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, so that you can join the mission that God has for you. Notice what he says. I want you to. He says, I want you to be witnesses to me. And he said, Jerusalem, Jerusalem is where they live. Judea Judea was the surrounding area. Samaria was a place where it was a bad neighborhood, basically, where a lot of people that the Jewish people despised lived and they avoided. They drove around, like some of you drive around certain neighborhoods in Chicago. This was basically, hey, a tough neighborhood and then the ends of the Earth. This meant the Gentiles, sinners and people that the Jewish people didn't like at all. And what Jesus was saying, I want you to start here, and I want you to make sure that this gospel spreads like wildfire in concentric circles around where you live. But start where you're at. You say, well, pastor, I really want to do something for God. I think I'm going to go to India. Hey, if God leads you into India is a great place. But you know what? I would encourage you. Hey, how about starting with your family? You don't have to go to some exotic place to find people that need Jesus. All you have to do is get up in the morning, walk out your front door, take a breath of air, and I can guarantee you before you're two blocks away, you'll run into people that need Jesus. I love this. And after he said this. And by the way, it was during these 40 days that he was here on earth that he told them. He gave them what's come to be known as the Great Commission. He said, go ye therefore, and make disciples of all nations. What is a disciple? The disciple is a learner, a follower. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. How do we make disciples? Well, you start by giving them the message. And then one of the first thing that disciples do, he says, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit baptizing them. Yeah, that's kind of like an initiation, right? It's the first you are baptized into water as a sign that I'm a follower of Jesus Christ. And then it says. And teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you. So they're baptized, and then they are taught to follow the ways of God. He says, that's what I want you to do. I want you to make disciples of all nations. That's why once a month, we have a baptism here. At the end of every month we baptize. We just had a baptism uh, a couple of weeks ago and a few people got Mark, you got baptized. Anybody else here got baptized? Uh, okay. We had about eight people that got baptized there, and we celebrate it. Why does it end with baptism? Know that baptism is the start, not the end. It's the beginning of it. And then we help make disciples of all nations. And our goal is to begin with is right around our neighborhood. And then it expands further than that. If you live wherever you're at, whatever your address is, that's your mission field. That's the center of your mission field. And then you start expanding around that circle and you say, Holy Spirit, give me power, give me boldness, give me love to be able to take this message, not Bible thumping, not being obnoxious or obsessive or judgmental, but bringing the message of Jesus Christ in a bold, Loving, clear ways so that other people can also come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Amen. Amen. Alright. So imagine this. You're on the mountain. Jesus speaks these words. Go. Be witnesses to me. Those are the last words he speaks to his disciples. And as he's after he said that, then all of a sudden the Bible says that Jesus begins to levitate. It says they were looking intently into the sky when two men, dressed in white to angelic beings said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand there looking into the sky? Your mission is not up there. Your mission is here. And then he says, this same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven. Talking about the second coming of Christ the same way. So we believe that one day Jesus Christ will come again. Not some guy living in Indonesia dressed in long white robes with a beard. But he will come again. He will come again. The second coming of Christ. We believe that day will come when the second coming of Jesus Christ will come, and that's how it will come. And he said, until from now, until the first leaving to the second coming, we have a clear mandate, a clear mission, and we're living in that church age right now. We are the church of the living God. So you've heard the message I want to challenge you. If you are a believer today, you have a call, a mandate, a privilege of making disciples. And what does that mean? It means that Jesus left, but he gave us a mission. So I want to encourage you, challenge you not to hold your faith a secret. In fact, I want to encourage you to be bold not obnoxious, but bold in the sharing of your story. The simple message of Jesus wrapped in your testimony. Is there a neighbor that you need to share with? Is there a family member that you've been praying with? Is there a son or daughter that you haven't fully explained it to? I want to challenge you today to ask that God would fill you with the boldness and the passion to share the good news of Jesus with someone else today. Go and make disciples.

And as Mark mentioned, if you are looking to learn more about taking your next step, visit us online at Bold Steps. Org. Just click the connect button at the top and go to the tab that says My Next Step in Faith. You'll be able to talk to someone, get some great resources. And here's special message from Mark that will walk you through your next steps. Again, that's on our website at boldsystems.org. It's because of the generous financial gifts of our listening family that we can offer these daily messages and our current bold resources and those who give a monthly donation of any amount have a special designation. We call them Bold Partners. Our bold partners believe in making the life changing message of the gospel accessible to people all over the country and around the world. So if you'd like to join us in this mission, we'd love to partner with you. Sign up online at Bold Steps. Org or give us a call. The number is 800. D.L. Moody that works out to be (800) 356-6639. And you can also send a one time gift to the mail by addressing your envelope to bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. When you write to us, be sure to ask for our current bold step gift. It's a book simply titled loneliness because in an age where loneliness is at an all time high, this book, rich with biblical truth and practical help, speaks to all hearts. Author Steve DeWitt explores the invitation of Jesus when our hearts feel alone and isolated. He addresses key topics such as loneliness in the gospel. Loneliness and singleness and loneliness in marriage, showing us the way out of our pain and into relational flourishing with God and others. And right now, we're offering this book to you as our way of saying thanks for supporting this ministry with a financial gift. And also, we're excited to announce the brand new Bold Steps app, which features full length original sermons from Mark Jobe, along with relevant teaching videos and exclusive series on relevant topics like identity, depression and family. Just open up your App Store and download the Bold Steps app and check it out today! I'm Wayne Shepherd, inviting you to join us again tomorrow when Mark explains how we can be living as people in community. That's Wednesday here on Bold Steps with Mark Jones. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.

And as Mark mentioned, if you are looking to learn more about taking your next step, visit us online at Bold Steps. Org. Just click the connect button at the top and go to the tab that says My Next Step in Faith. You'll be able to talk to someone, get some great resources. And here's special message from Mark that will walk you through your next steps. Again, that's on our website at boldsystems.org. It's because of the generous financial gifts of our listening family that we can offer these daily messages and our current bold resources and those who give a monthly donation of any amount have a special designation. We call them Bold Partners. Our bold partners believe in making the life changing message of the gospel accessible to people all over the country and around the world. So if you'd like to join us in this mission, we'd love to partner with you. Sign up online at Bold Steps. Org or give us a call. The number is 800. D.L. Moody that works out to be (800) 356-6639. And you can also send a one time gift to the mail by addressing your envelope to bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. When you write to us, be sure to ask for our current bold step gift. It's a book simply titled loneliness because in an age where loneliness is at an all time high, this book, rich with biblical truth and practical help, speaks to all hearts. Author Steve DeWitt explores the invitation of Jesus when our hearts feel alone and isolated. He addresses key topics such as loneliness in the gospel. Loneliness and singleness and loneliness in marriage, showing us the way out of our pain and into relational flourishing with God and others. And right now, we're offering this book to you as our way of saying thanks for supporting this ministry with a financial gift. And also, we're excited to announce the brand new Bold Steps app, which features full length original sermons from Mark Jobe, along with relevant teaching videos and exclusive series on relevant topics like identity, depression and family. Just open up your App Store and download the Bold Steps app and check it out today! I'm Wayne Shepherd, inviting you to join us again tomorrow when Mark explains how we can be living as people in community. That's Wednesday here on Bold Steps with Mark Jones. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.