Lesson 2 Preparing His People

Acts 1:12-14 (New International Version)

12Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk from the city. 13When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Christ expands his reign by preparing his people to reflect his glory and reproduce his life in others. Making that statement a little more personal. May we be transformed more and more into Christ's likeness so that we reflect His glory and by that we would reproduce the life of Christ in others. The early church understood and lived this.

How else could a small group of disciples multiply into the large global movement we see later in Acts and are a part of today. Think about how impractical this was or even would be today. How many businesses are know globally? Yes, there are some, but think about them how long did it take them to be recongnized worldwide. The only thing I know that even compares would be this technology that we are using right now. That being the internet. Back to our little group who started this. They were uneducated men and women who faced external opposition, internal conflict and obstacles of every kind. Yet in a few decades this movement (don't like that word) was global in nature.

Prayer and interdependence on each other were key in this.