It is a confusing fact that the first passion of the first Christians was not to evangelize their world, though they did.  This week we have watched them take Christ to the "ends of the earth."  Why would Peter preach to the very men who crucified Jesus? 

Against all odds, the illegal Christian religion quickly grew from its Jewish roots to traverse the entire Roman Empire.  When Paul brings the gospel to Athens, capital of the skeptical philosophies of the day, "A few men became followers of Paul and believed.  Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others" (Acts 17:34).

And now the gospel moves into the larger world, in the first three missionary journeys in religious history.  Paul and Barnabas sail first to the island of Cyprus, and "when the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord" (13:12).

Now we'll see Christianity becomes the first universal faith in human history, transcending local religions and local gods to reach across the globe and across the centuries to you and me today.  We can chart its growth by key statements of the movement's progress and success.

Yesterday we watched the Holy Spirit "fill" the first Christians and expand their ministry.  Now watch as he empowers their witness:

Does God still move?  Can we see "Book of Acts miracles" today?  Can some of us be the next Paul, Barnabas, Peter, Lydia?  Can God do in the twenty-first century what he did in the first?  The answer is up to us.

This week we're learning steps to the power of God.  First, receive Christ as your Lord.  Second, admit your need for the Spirit's help.  Third, ask the Spirit to cleanse your soul and restore your relationship with your Father.  To experience the Spirit's power, we must be cleansed from everything which hinders the Holy Spirit in our lives.

God will not do for us what we try to do for ourselves.  If we are comfortable and complacent with our spiritual lives, our witness, our ministry in our communities and world, we will never know the power of God's Spirit.

Do you want God's Spirit to work in your life and church as he did in the first Christians and church?  Do you believe Scripture when it says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8)?  Do you believe that God can do anything he wishes, and that he could move in our lives and service with the same power we saw in theirs?  Do you believe that he wants to do this morning what he did at Pentecost?

The Book of Acts says that the first Christians were "filled" or controlled by the Holy Spirit.  They immediately begin to fulfill their purpose of being Jesus' witnesses in Jerusalem.  Soon the people gathered for the Pentecost holiday say in surprise, "How is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?" (Acts 2:8).