Today we will discuss how the obedience of Stephen ACTivated the expansion of the church and the radical conversion of Paul, the man who wrote almost half of the New Testament. We will also explore the ACTivation of Paul into ministry through the obedience of Ananias. Our main objective is to discover how the ACTivation of the Holy Spirit helps us obey our call and bring people to the knowledge of Christ.

Acts 6-7 give the account of the first Christian martyr named Stephen after he spoke before the Council (Jewish religious authorities) and other non-believing Jews. Our objective is to observe how the ACTivation of the Holy Spirit empowered Stephen’s testimony and to understand how it relates to our individual callings and ACTivation today.

As the church is moving and flourishing one of the great

outcomes of the outpouring is the heart of generosity and care shown by many in the church toward one another (Acts 4:32-35, Jn. 13:35). It’s possible that those who gave were celebrated and admired. But as we’ll see, the ACTions of believers should always be directed toward the glory and adoration of God.

This world is in desperate need of YOUR Spirit-filled testimony. Things need to be shaken up for the good. And as we see in Acts 4:31, God is committed to do the shaking, if we’ll be committed to do the witnessing.

The church throughout the world has many conflicting views on the Pentecost, being “charismatic” and the in-filling of the Holy Spirit. Today we’ll seek to gain understanding and ACTivation through examining the witness of scripture.

In this series we will take the view that the key figure in Acts is the person of the Holy Spirit. Who is HE? And how did He empower the early church with such effectiveness that over 2,000 years later, the church of Christ still remains and flourishes today? Throughout our study we will rayerfully

1. Action Speaks Louder than Words

2. How to Become and Remain a Relevant Church

3. The Church’s Outreach vs. Community Based Outreach

A Never-Will-Be is someone who gets to know Jesus while still young and walks with Him his entire life. We will identify ways to raise Never-Will-Be's.

Learning Objectives:

1. Review our understanding of why we should work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

2. Gain a deeper understanding of “God at work…” in the life of a Used-to-Be.

3. Learn of the power of alignment.

4. FactorPoints

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Briefly review another Biblical Used-to-Be[s].

2. Gain further insight into the personal [in]vestment of gratitude.

3. Learn of another key to daily New-Self living.