Bellevue started this past season by looking at God’s great restoration work through Ezra, Nehemiah and Haggai. “Build Your Kingdom Here” is our song, and we came to realise our own need for a renewed heart and a renewed covenant commitment to Him. God’s call for us is to live as God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule. Such restoration then was still temporary compared to the restoration Jesus brought. We made a start at listening to the Gospel writer Luke. His purpose in writing was to convince his readers of the identity, mission and call of Jesus. Our living as God’s people actually means to live for Jesus every day, convinced of His Lordship.

In the book of Acts, the story continues. It’s the story of the Church. It’s the story of Jesus’ ongoing acts through His Spirit through His Church. Acts shows us utterly convinced, Spirit-filled, Spirit-led and Spirit-empowered disciples of Jesus. Believing in Jesus changes everything. Living for Jesus Today means we’re Gospel people, Gospel proclaimers.

Acts is astonishingly beautiful in seeing the unstoppable Gospel spread through available disciples constantly learning to “decrease themselves so Christ can increase.” Yet it makes us also frightfully aware that God chooses to spread the good news and build His Church through us. Mission isn’t an option. Mission isn’t far away. Local Gospel Mission is what the Church must be all about! Witnessing to the very people around us, being the fishers of men Christ has called us to. The book of Acts can help us regain the right vision and priority. Acts can teach us the why, when and how of personal evangelism. Meeting Jesus, hope for a broken world through the Gospel of Luke, now means having a passion to share what we’ve received and multiply!