Children follow parents, who envision their adulthood. Carpenters follow an architect, who envisions the new home. Employees follow the entrepreneur, who envisions the product line or service model.
An Acts 2 community follows church leaders, who envision what Jesus directed in Acts 1:
In face-to-face meetings, [Jesus] talked to them about things concerning the kingdom of God. As they met and ate meals together, he told them that they were on no account to leave Jerusalem but "must wait for what the Father promised: the promise you heard from me. John baptized in water; you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And soon."Wait for the Holy Spirit.
What does a local church look like when their leader and followers are waiting on Holy Spirit Power?
Lots of face time with Jesus.
Lots of prayer to learn what God envisions for His kingdom in the here and now, in the serving, not in being served.
Asking God whom He wants as new leadership is added, just as the disciples did in choosing one to replace Judas.
Agreement that they are in "this" for good.Church as usual, in our Western culture, has not been waiting on the Holy Spirit. It has been more like a business venture serving its clients.
A church waiting on the Holy Spirit and giving up everything in this single-minded pursuit will often find itself in the impact zone of God's agenda. Surfers know the impact zone as the place where they get the worst beating when paddling out to catch a wave--where the falling lip of the set wave meets the water.
Those in pursuit of the wave of the Holy Spirit, paddling toward God's agenda with heart and soul, will take ferocious beatings from the falling lip of the enemy of God. They (the enemies of God) want no such endeavor in the community over which they have charge.
But such churches are in "this" for good. So wait they will.
The roots are healthy and mature. They await the Wave. Something only God can envision is about to happen.
Tomorrow: what might God envision as an Acts 2 community ushers in His kingdom?
