Acts 1:8 "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.”

We introduced our last set of values, local and global, last week by looking at our call to grow where we are planted. And this week, we're going to unpack the other side of the value of being globally minded.

As Christ ascended into heaven, He told the disciples to wait until they received the Holy Spirit before doing anything. And many of us know the story where the disciples prayed in the Upper Room and were filled with tongues of fire speaking many different languages.

The story of the church, or better yet the story of God's people, has always been about "blessed to be a blessing." God chose Abram out of his people, set him apart, blessed him, and his descendants blessed those around them. This continues all the way throughout the Old Testament: the people of God are to not just live set apart from their communities but are called to witness to the world around them. And Jesus carries this mandate with His disciples, a la the Great Commission, as He sent them out to carry the Kingdom of God to the world around them.

In Acts, they go everywhere because God's Spirit and presence is sending them to go out. It was never meant to be a holy huddle or to be kept to themselves, but it was all about making the Table of Fellowship longer. At the Vineyard, we will carry this value out by partnering with global missions, working with organizations that are reaching unreached people groups with the Love of Jesus, spreading the Good News of the Kingdom to the ends of the earth.