Believing Jesus: A Journey Through the Book of Acts Bible Study by Lisa Harper | Session One

a few months ago I was putting my little girl to sleep and after we went through our normal ritual of you know the story and the bedtime and the extra glass of water I said good night and right as I was getting ready to leave her room she said Mama is jabla here and I just saw this look of fear i' had never seen before cross her face and I thought who's jbla i' never heard her bring up jabla before but she said it with her Creole accent so I thought it probably a Haitian word and I said hang on just a second baby and I ran downstairs and I got my creel dictionary and I looked up jabla and I was just shocked to see that jabla and creel refers to the devil it's a a feminine derivative of Satan and I thought oh no not in my house and I ran into the kitchen and I grabbed some olive oil CU that was the closest oil available and I ran upstairs and I real quickly I put oil on my little girl's forehead I prayed in the name of Jesus I put it on her bed I slathered oil on the wall and then I got Missy's least favorite stuffed animal and in my apologies for those of you who live in Colorado and like moose I I don't know what the plural is of of moose but this is my baby's least favorite stuffed animal so I got this and I said Missy this is jabla and I said and this is Jesus and I proceeded to just beat the fool out of this little stuffed Mose I even threw it on the ground and I stomped on the moose and Revival broke out in my little girl's room that night I determined in that moment I'm gonna run so hard after Jesus I'm going to be so obviously passionate in my love for Jesus that my little girl never again has the reason to to doubt his presence or his power or his protection and y'all that moose Stomp and Revival that broke out of my little girl's room that's just a microcosm of what happens in the book of Acts this book is an amazing story about about these early Christians who were so undone by the love of Jesus that they became bold witnesses to the gospel I mean everywhere they went Revival broke out this is going to be an awesome Journey as we spend eight weeks in this study called believing Jesus it's all about Revival so strap yourselves in because this is going to be one Wild [Music] Ride hey hey hey hey hey hey hey [Music] come on get up get out and get it come on come on on get up get out and get it come on come on on get up get out and get it come on get up get out and get [Music] it hey y'all my name is Lisa Harper and this is the very beginning of an 8-week bible study on the book of Acts and it's called believing Jesus a journey through the book of Acts now there's a subtitle that says are you willing to risk everything that's kind of a common theme in the book of Acts so I'm going to start with a story about risk before I dive into the text of Acts it happened to me recently I was at a Women's Conference and the women at this particular conference I'm not going to tell you where it is um it rhymes with schile buer but anyway the women at this particular conference they had the spiritual gift of stiff they were just a a rigid crew and so the whole conference I felt like I was just plowing cement I mean hardly anybody was engaging or or responding and so at the end of the conference I thought you know I just need a little break and I was there with two girlfriends who were leading worship and one of the friends said you know I saw a spa on the way to the conference and so why don't we go to the spa and we could all get treatments and relax and I thought well that would be cool so we get to this very fancy Spa my two friends decide they're going to get facials and I thought you know I I feel like I need more than a facial I just need a little more than that so I decided to sign up for a massage I I thought you know I'm I'm 51 I'm single I don't get rubbed on very often I mean I think I deserve this so so I I start reading the menu of the massages that this particular Spa offers and the one that just really resonated with me I actually wrote the literal definition or description of this massage in my Bible and y'all see why in just a minute since our theme is risk but this is verbatim the description of the massage I signed up for it's called The Four Hands one heart massage and here's how it's described in the brochure two therapists work in unison on your body you will lose track of where you are mental chatter will disappear it is an extraordinary overthe top experience and I thought I need me some of that I mean I am I am so willing it's been a hard season I am willing to pay the equivalence of a mortgage payment for a massage and usually I get my massages on Groupon for like 39 bucks and I thought I'm willing to pay a lot of money for this massage to have two people rubbing me at the same time so my friends went off for their facial and I was so excited about my massage that I didn't even sit down in the reception area I'm just kind of Shifting my weight from one foot to the other I'm so excited I'm there in my little rental robe you my squishy sandals just waiting for my massage I'm thinking this is going to be the bomb this is going to be amazing and sure enough after a few minutes this tiny little therapist she was obviously gluten-free she comes walking into the reception area and she says um are you Miss Harper and I said I am and she said Namaste and I said well you have a nice day too and she said um if you will follow me I'm going to take you to your private YT you know it's just a fancy tent I'm going to take you to your private YT where the massage will take place and I said said okay that's cool so we start walking up this gorgeous Stone path the St is setting in the mountains we're in the San grea Cristo mountains and as we're walking up this path she kind of leans over and says in a whisper do you have any hot spots or danger zones we should be concerned about and I wasn't exactly sure how to respond to her and so I said well you know I haven't had a good date in a long time so I'm not positive I said but I had surgery on my lower back right here so my lower back a little tricky now I can tell you how she responded to that verbatim I will never forget what she said or how she said it for the rest of my life here's how she responded oh not to worry this is actually more of a dance than a massage now y'all I'm just telling you if you ever pay a lot of money for a massage and some chick tells you it's more of a dance you need to raise some questions you need to go what exactly do you mean by the word dance like do I have to get in the dance skin I mean let's let's process this a little further but I didn't I was just so excited about being rubbed on by two people that I just trotted along like chunky lamb to the slaughter and we get we get to the door of the year she opens it up and when she opened it up I was a little surprised because I was expecting one of those low massage tables you know the ones with the padded pleather tops I thought that's what they were going to massage me on but it wasn't one of those low massage tables it was a very high uh stainless steel table about that thick about that wide do y'all watch CSI have y'all ever seen CSI was exactly like the autopsy table in CSI and and she says you know tiny perky says if you will please uh disr completely and lie face down on the table we will come back for the massage and and I grew up Baptist I'm very submissive I did exactly what she said I got face down on the table and I didn't see her walk back in but I heard her you know because I'm lying face down on the table now it's a very cold table and she comes walking back in the Y with another therapist and she bends down and Whispers in my ear this massage is going to require more oil than normal so we are now going to coat you with warm oil please do not be alarmed y'all I've never felt so much alarm shooting through my mind in my whole life but you know I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed and so I still couldn't verbalize an objection and before I knew it she had grabbed me by the wrist and another therapist had grabbed me by the ankles and somebody flipped on some new age music and they just began to slide me through the oil and at one point I was perpendicular over the table and my eyes were so wide I thought I'm going to need Botox next and and I thought to myself you know they were right this is extraordinary you know in a an unconventional kind of way um but whoever wrote The Copy in the brochure about this being relaxing lied they just flat lied there's nothing about this that is relaxing when you are perpendicular naked over a stainless steel autopsy table it was horrible now y'all the book of Acts I know some of you are thinking I thought this was a Bible study we' come to the book of Acts is kind of like that forehand one heart massage and here's why it is not at all relaxing it is a wild book there are no Jack Johnson type Shepherd you know playing guitars whether sheep graze contentedly in the valley below this is not boring scripture as some describe the Bible to me I mean this is an adventurous risk teing kind of book this is way more eye widening than it is eye rolling this is kind of more like a Liam Nissan action flick instead of a Hallmark movie of the week and before we dive in to chapter one I want to back up and give you a little historical context of Acts Luke who was a physician in the first century he wrote both The Gospel According to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles and Luke is the only known Gentile author of scripture all of the other known authors of the books in the Bible were Jewish and Luke wasn't Luke was a gentile and so he has this really wonderful inclusive style it's like you can tell he knew what it was like to be an outsider when he wrote this book now because he wrote The Gospel According to Luke and acts together they were kind of like Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back we're going to start in the Gospel of Luke when they canonized the Bible when they organized it so it'd be more readable they stuck The Gospel according to John between Luke and acts but they should really be together they were together chronologically so back up to the Gospel According to Luke the end of that story turn to Luke chap 24 that's how we're going to set up the book of Acts Luke chap 24 beginning with verse 10 now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles but these words seemed to them an idol tale and they did not believe them but Peter Rose and ran to the tomb stooping and looking in he saw the linen cloths by themselves and he went home marveling at what had happened you know that that that paragraph describes that first Easter morning Mary we call her Mary Magdalene but it would actually be more appropriate to call her Mary from magdala because magdala is the town she grew up in and earlier in Luke's gospel account in chapter 8 he tells us that Mary from magdala was at one time afflicted by seven demons now in the Bible the number seven is significant and it usually denotes completion so most theologians think what Luke was trying to say about Mary from magdala is that she was complete L oppressed by Demons by Shame by hardship until she met a man named Jesus from Nazareth when she met Jesus everything changed he healed her completely no more demonic oppression and she became completely devoted to Jesus so she followed him everywhere he went in his approximately three years of Earthly ministry as a matter of fact she was one of the few who followed him all the way up a hill called golgatha and sat at the foot of the cross while Jesus died this agonizing painful death and then she's the one on that Sunday morning a few days after his physical death who went to the tomb she trudged to the cemetery because she was going to prepare his body for burial and y'all know the Paul Harvey part of the story you know when she got to the tomb it was empty Jesus wasn't in the Tomb anymore and at first she thought the gardener the guy that she talked with was the gardener at the cemetery but then she realizes I'm talking to Jesus he is alive and she goes flying back to tell the disciples but Luke tells us at first they thought it was an idol tale they weren't sure but even though Peter saw that the tomb was empty he was confused you actually read in John's gospel that after he saw the tomb was empty he went fishing along with the other disciples because they were just kind of discombobulated at the fact that Jesus was no longer there now of course he had told them y'all I I have to be crucified I have to be put to death in order to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies but then I will rise again so they they knew that but my guess is they were not the sharpest tool in the sheds just like me just like some of you and they thought maybe he's being metaphorical here you know maybe he's being figurative maybe he doesn't really have to die so they were they were a little flustered Luke says they thought it was initially an idle tale and so after Luke chap 24 we get to Acts chapter one which shows that Jesus didn't Ascend immediately into heaven after the resurrection but he chose to H hang out he hung out for over a month for 40 days and he appeared to over 100 people and that's detailed in Acts chapter 1 so let's start the story acts chap 1 verse one the beginning of this journey we're taking through this risky book called acts in the first book oh Theophilus and that name means friend of God I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach so obviously this is Luke saying remember all the things I wrote to you in my gospel account he says um until the day when he was taken up Luke is the only author who says the Ascension went up he's the one who gives us the word ascension after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen to them he presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God we don't have time to go there but there are 10 separate occurrences in scripture where Jesus after he had been crucified and then rose again from Death to life he appeared 10 different times to at least a 100 people during that period between Luke and acts those 40 days and while he was staying with them he ordered them not to depart this is verse four from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father which he said you heard from me for John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now verse six so when they had come together they asked him Lord Lord will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel because of course they were still thinking about an Earthly kingship they thought he's going to bring Jerusalem back to its former glory and he said to him it is not for you to know times or Seasons that the father has fixed by his own authority 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 and when he said these things as they were looking on he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight now y'all those two declarative statements Jesus makes in Acts chap 1 ver8 that is the scaffolding of Acts that's actually the scaffolding of the rest of the New Testament that's kind of the foundation that the early church was built on those two declarative promises you will receive power from the Holy Spirit he's saying that too at the time his disciples and probably about 120 other followers were told you will receive power he doesn't qualify it he doesn't say those of you who come from a Pentecostal background and you're comfortable raising your hands and wiggling dear and worship you'll be the ones who receive power from the Holy Spirit he doesn't qualify it he says all of you who put your hope in me you will receive power from the Holy Spirit second promise is you will be my Witnesses because the way the Holy Spirit empowers you you will then impact the world around you you will receive power you will be my Witnesses when I brought Missy home from Haiti we had this ritual for about the first six weeks every single night when I would put her to sleep I would position myself in her little twin bed so that we were facing each other and then I would say this to my precious at the time four-year-old daughter I would say Missy Tre Bell you're very beautiful then I would say utree bra you're very brave utre intellig you're very intelligent then I would say Missy I love you very very very much and Jesus loves you more I said that every single night for about 40 days every single night and most of those nights she would look away from me while I was making those de declarations those basically Declarations of affection to my baby she would kind of Look Away she'd get uncomfortable sometimes she actually giggled a little a little bit and a couple of times she said no Mama but after about 40 days one night I had made those declarations yet again ell UT brav Miss utre int tellan I love you very very very much and Jesus loves you more and she looked at me I mean just dead in the eye she looked at me and then she rolled over so she could get even closer and she crawled her little brown feet up my belly and she stuck all 10 toes in what I call the valley of motherhood and I've I've built this Valley at Chick-fil-A just for her this is just Mercy for my toddler she loves to stick all 10 toes in this this little Valley in my belly she stuck all 10 toes there there and then in a quiet little voice she asked me this question Mama love Missy and I said oh baby I love you very very very very very very very very very much and of course that made her laugh and then she turned that question into a declaration the first time she said it she went mama love Missy y'all if we could just get that and that's really what the study of Acts should do for us if we could really rest in the reality that Jesus loves us that we have been given power from the holy spirit that we can be his witnesses to the lost and dying world around us y'all it'll change everything it might actually even spark Revival in your heart and in the hearts of people that you love let's pray God would do it Lord Jesus thank you thank you thank you for this book that we're about to journey in Lord we pray that through your Holy Spirit you would give us eyes to see ears to hear and hearts to understand this this love letter that you wrote to your people Lord help us to rest in your affection and Lord help us to risk in light of it we ask this in your prayer perfect name King Jesus and all of God's girls said [Music] amen

Channel: HarperChristian Resources

Views: 29,639

Keywords: bible study, small group, biblical teaching, christian living, spiritual life, church ministry

Id: sdYUonicWgs

Length: 21min 17sec (1277 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 12 2024