Please turn with me in your Bibles to Acts Chapter 1.

Pastor John will be preaching from Acts Chapter 1,

verses 1 to 5.

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.

Until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles whom he had chosen.

To them he presented himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking of the kingdom of God.

And while staying with them, he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said,

you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Let's pray together before we move into the text. Father, we acknowledge our utter dependence upon you now and our great need for the Holy Spirit.

Our confession as a Church is that what Tom has read is inspired and infallible and profitable to equip us for every good work, to complete the great

commission to minister in love, to worship with power.

And yet we realize, Lord, that many people read the Bible as a dead book, hear it preached as a dead word.

Would you come now by your spirit and make it alive for us?

By quickening our hearts, guard us from error. And may we abound in truth.

There are such manifold needs in this room right now.

Four hundred people, Lord Jesus, with 400 different needs

and dozens of them each.

relational needs and physical needs, spiritual needs, loneliness, discouragement, depression, anger, disinterest.

So Father, I ask you to pour out your Holy Spirit

upon us so that the miracle of the breaking of the bread would happen.

Five loaves and two fish made to feed 5,000 plus.

Surely you can take one sermon and multiply it into 400 individual needs.

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