𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠 𝗨𝗣

• Who are the people you draw confidence from? Share an instance showing this.

• Do you have friendships that have lasted for years? How do you think that happened?

• What would you want to be doing until the day you die? Why?

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥.” 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 . . . 𝗟𝗨𝗞𝗘 𝟮𝟰:𝟰𝟰-𝟰𝟱

At around this time, the disciples had been walking with Jesus for three years. They had seen miracle after miracle and many people getting saved. Then Jesus was arrested, died, and had been resurrected. What a crazy journey indeed. Jesus had come as was prophesied in Scripture and fulfilled all that the Father had planned in order to save humanity. But since Jesus would now be ascending into heaven, the question was, would the disciples continue His ministry? Today, let’s look at what we can learn from Jesus’ last words to Peter and the other disciples about how they would continue their discipleship journey and stay on mission together.

𝟭. 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱’𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, “𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 . . .” 𝗟𝗨𝗞𝗘 𝟮𝟰:𝟰𝟱-𝟰𝟲

As followers of Jesus, the disciples were one of the very first recipients of Jesus’ ministry—His teachings, His forgiveness, His miracles. After having been with Him for three years, now their minds were opened by Him so they could finally see and realize all Jesus said to them had come to pass. The salvation of humanity is here, and they are firsthand witnesses of this saving grace. Today, believers too have received and witnessed this grace in our lives and in those we journey with. How has receiving Jesus’ saving grace changed your life?

𝟮. 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱’𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲.

“. . . 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘑𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘮. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.” 𝗟𝗨𝗞𝗘 𝟮𝟰:𝟰𝟳-𝟰𝟴

More than receiving His grace, the disciples were called to proclaim who Jesus is and what He has done for, in, and through them. The same goes for us. We who have been forgiven, reconciled to Him, and restored have been given this special privilege to extend this grace to others. And we do this not merely out of obligation, but because the love of Christ compels us to share who He is to those we love and care about and even to the rest of the world (2 Corinthians 5:14). Who shared the message of God’s grace to you? How did he or she do it?

𝟯. 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝘆 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁.

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩.” 𝗟𝗨𝗞𝗘 𝟮𝟰:𝟰𝟵

These are Jesus’ last words to the disciples before He ascended into heaven. Because He was no longer going to be with them physically, He was sending the Holy Spirit—the promise of the Father—to be with His disciples as they continue His ministry. The Holy Spirit dwells in the people God set apart for Himself as our assurance and empowerment in doing the mission He called us to do together. Through the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives, we are able to be His messengers and witnesses to the world. How does the Holy Spirit help us live out our identity and calling in Christ? (John 14:15–17, 26)

𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

• Jesus calls us to proclaim who He is and what He has done to the world. What might be some obstacles you encounter in doing so? What practical steps can you take to overcome these?

• In what ways have you lived without being reliant on the Spirit? How may you express your reliance on the Holy Spirit this week?

• With whom is God calling you to preach the gospel this week? Commit to pray for and set a schedule to meet up with this person.

𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥

• Thank God for showing you grace through Jesus Christ, for being with you, and for empowering you through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

• Ask God for open doors and opportunities to make Him known to your family and friends. Pray that their hearts would be ready to receive Him.

• Pray for the ways God can use you to help others, even those you do not like, to know Him. Ask Him for compassion, patience, love, and joy as you relate with others.