JANUARY 31, 2021 | IN THE MEANTIME PART 1 | DR. JEFF JACKSON

In the meantime, Part 1 – January 31, 2021

The Christian dilemma
Philippians 3:20-21 (NIV2011)
20 …our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Example: Last school day before Christmas

Sermon Text:
Acts 1:1-11 (NIV2011)
1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach
2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them 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. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 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.”
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? 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.”

How do we live well in the meantime?
Live with compelling conviction

Live with compelling conviction
Conviction: “A firmly held belief”

Live with compelling conviction
After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive (Acts 1:3).

Example: Attacks on facts
- Evolution

2 Timothy 1:12 (NIV2011)
12 …I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

Live with the power God provides

Live with the power God provides
...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you (Acts 1:8).

Example: Superbowl

Application:
- Grieving the Holy Spirit
- Quenching the Holy Spirit

Live large for God

Live large for God
…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

Example: “What if?”

Application: Idol worship of comfort and convenience

What does God want you to do in the meantime?


Lord’s Supper
1 Corinthians 11:23-29 (NIV2011)
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.