As a church, we've spent the best part of the last year working through the book of Ephesians. It's been a fantastic book to study. It has allowed us to tackle some critical themes, including the gospel, the church, ethnic reconciliation, the Holy Spirit, and more latterly, sexuality and marriage. You can find the whole series here. Andrew has done a fantastic job unpacking some fundamental doctrines and challenging us in all sorts of ways.

Now, we're going to change our focus. We're going to be studying Acts over the next few months. I'm really excited about exploring this book for a few key reasons:

1. It's faith-building. The book of Acts is the miraculous story of the explosion of the early church against the odds. Despite encountering significant opposition from the Jewish and secular authorities, the early church boldly proclaimed the gospel in towns and cities all around the Mediterranean. They saw thousands come to faith in Christ, numerous churches planted and the kingdom of God grow across the region. In some ways, our context is similar to the early church. We are also operating in a semi-hostile environment. We might be tempted to shrink back from our public witness because we're in the minority. We'll gain a lot from being reminded of how God worked through a small band of ordinary people to spread his kingdom, despite such opposition.

2. We have much to learn from the early church. Amidst the evangelistic activity, the book of Acts also gives us an insight into the activity and culture of the early church. We’ll examine Luke’s depiction of the early church and consider what we can learn from their example in structuring our life together as a church. The early church had to grapple with many questions which are relevant to us. How would they survive together as a community? What kind of appeal should they make to the surrounding culture? How should they care for the poor in the church? How would they safeguard the gospel? We'll gain much from considering how the early church sought to answer some of these questions and by reflecting on how God established and shaped this distinctive community.

3. Pursuing the work of the Holy Spirit. There is a strong theme of the empowering work of the Holy Spirit running through the book, both in equipping the early church for mission and in signs and wonders which authenticate the reality of Christ’s present rule. My hope is that we’ll see our need for the Spirit’s work in us and come away hungry for more of his work in our community.