Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” – Acts 1:6-11

One of my favourite things to do is go and support my local sporting club. In Queensland, the most commonly supported sport is Rugby League, and at the games when my team, the Brisbane Broncos play – we have cheerleaders.

And the cheerleaders help remind all of the other supporters who are there – to cheer, to support their own team. Sometimes our team is down, and they need a boost, and so one of the cheers they might like to use is “We’ve got spirit, yes we do, we’ve got spirit, how about you?”

And back and forth this chant might go between the cheerleaders and the crowd, getting louder and louder, and in the spirit of the moment, the team would pick up on the crowds energy, play with more intensity, and hopefully, go on to victory. The spirit that was created changed things.

In the Bible text I am talking about today, Jesus talks about a different kind of Spirit. It’s not a spirit we create, but rather a Spirit given to us by God.

To read the full sermon, click on the following link: Reanimated for Spirit-Powered Witness

This sermon was shared by Pastor Ben Hentschke of the LCA on Ascension Sunday in Myanmar.