The things we do know.
v 8. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Well here is something we do know! The promised Holy Spirit filled the disciples with power and the courage to become those who would boldly speak out the Good News of Jesus. So right from the beginning, on the Day of Pentecost, we find Peter saying ‘God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this. Now he is exalted to the place of highest honour in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today.’
We may not know the details of the future, but we do know God’s action plan for today! God’s plan is that the good news of Jesus should be taken to the whole world – not just the world several hundred miles from us, but the world around us in Sussex, especially Beeding where he has placed us as a congregation of witnesses.
These opening verses in Acts are our mandate, a call for action on the part of Christians through the ages. This enterprise is not just for special people, highly trained professionals with academic qualifications; it is a call to all believers to share what they know about Jesus. It is not preaching, nor is it some kind of high-pressure salesmanship designed to fill our Church buildings, it is telling what we know and have experienced of God in our lives by the Holy Spirit. It is talking about what we know of God.