God can give us the power to go

Acts 1:8–Teacher Appreciation

Central Theme:  God wants us to tell people about Jesus not matter where we are.

Introduction–I can tell where I have been last week by the receipts in my pocketbook.  Pull out a couple of receipts and tell about where you were.  Even if I did not have these receipts to remind me and as a record, God knows what I was doing.  He has a record.  Every place I go I need to realize that God was with me and there were people there who are hurting.

                  Have a member read Acts 1:8.

I.     Tell the story of Paul and Barnabus

A. They were missionaries who went from place to place starting churches and telling people about Jesus.

B.  There are several books written by Henry Nowen, a Catholic priest who went to live with mentally challenged people.

1.  Everyone loves these books.

2.  But there are not many people who are like our teachers, Sam, Danielle, and Dan.

3.  They have gone to live and work with people who are mentally challenged.  Then they come each Sunday to teach you about the Lord.  All of our teachers are people who take your well-being seriously.  Doing what our teachers do will change people‘s lives.

4.  It will change the people they serve and their own lives.

II.     God wants us to reach to others and help them.

A. We can reach out to our family.

B.  We can reach out to our friends and people we know on the bus or the van.

C. We can reach out to the professionals who work with us.

A. They have lives and they hurt sometimes too.

B.  Pray for them.

III.     We may not be able to go to foreign countries; but we can pray for the people who are working with us.

A.  Sometimes they are giving up much to help us.

Conclusion:     We should be willing to go and willing to pray for those who are ministering to us.