OUR-TURN22-01 Supernatural

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Supernatural
Bill Giovannetti
Introduction

Our Christian faith is centered on the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, his story is the scarlet thread running through all of Scripture. And through it all, God in Christ by the Spirit is the Great Chief Shepherd who seeks and saves the Lost. That scarlet thread runs from Genesis to revelation.

But it doesn't stop with Revelation.

The mission and work of Jesus keeps going on, even as the Person of Christ has gone to heaven. The mission and work of Jesus continues through you and me today. That's God's plan for us. That's God's plan for his church.

There is a book in the Bible that actually talks about this. It is the Book of Acts. The formal name is the Acts of the Apostles.

The Book of Acts tells the story of that brave and heroic generation of Christians right after the days of Jesus.

But it doesn't just tell the story.

It promotes the truths of that story.
And it doesn't just promote the truths of that story.

It promises that the same God who energized the story of Acts will energize your story today.

So, for this summer, we will open together this amazing, powerful, inspiring book of Acts.

I'm calling this series of messages: OUR TURN....

Because Christianity didn't end when Jesus left earth. Now it's our turn. Now it's our turn to add our own pages to the marvelous story of Christ's Mission and Work.

So Our Turn, that's going to be our series in this Book of Acts.
 
And the title of my talk today is It's Our Turn ...

TO BE SUPERNATURAL

In this first section, Luke shines the spotlight on major events that transcend what nature alone can explain: the resurrection, the ascension, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Right from the beginning, Luke establishes the very basis of church life and Christian life. He is saying that the Christian life is a supernatural life and the Christian mindset is a supernatural mindset and the Christian worldview is a supernatural worldview.

Christian, your calling and your life are based on powers beyond yourself. Your calling and your life are based on forces far beyond this world, this realm, and this space-time continuum.

We are not naturalists, because we believe that nature cannot explain the deepest things of life. We are supernaturalists because we believe in a realm of God and the devil, angels and demons, heaven and hell, truth and deception.

We are not materialists, because we believe in "spirit"— a kind of matter that goes far behind molecules and atoms. The things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal.

We are not deists because we believe that God answers prayer, provides our needs, guards our steps, and blesses our way. He is intimately involved. He is working and he is near. He is with us because he is for us, and he can't be for us and not be with us.

You have God-given provision. Holy Spirit power. The same powers that gave Jesus such a remarkable life. These powers are yours for the taking and yours for the believing.

And here in Acts, Luke records a time in the life of the church when these powers radically overflowed God's people.
The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. (Acts 1:1)
The PREMISE of the book of Acts is that Jesus fulfilled his mission on earth by the supernatural power of God. Now, it's our turn.
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