Experience: S2 - Introduction

We are excited to welcome you back to Season 2 of our focus on the story of the early church in the book of Acts.

In our first season, we discussed the experience of the Holy Spirit poured out upon the followers of Jesus, as well as the experience of the spread of the gospel.

In this second season, we will examine the risks involved in choosing to believe in this gospel of Jesus Christ, following Him in a world with very different values than what He taught, and living out those beliefs come what may.

A risk is defined as a situation or opportunity involving danger.  Some risks are more obvious to us.  I once jumped out of a perfectly good airplane on a dare from about 1800 college students.  Thankfully, I had a parachute and a grown adult I was strapped to, but still, I knew the risks at that moment.

But you and I take daily risks that we probably don’t even consider.  You may think those risks begin as soon as your feet hit the floor in the morning (driving being one of the most dangerous forms of transportation), but 1 in 8 people with heart disease die in their sleep, and 25% of strokes happen during sleep, and every year, one in two million people die falling out of bed.  So, no one is safe.

Here are a few more interesting risk facts.  A 2018 online article on MentalFloss.com stated that “…you’re far more likely to die while canoeing (the risk factor is 1 in 10,000) than while bungee jumping (1 in 500,000).” That came as a surprise to me.  According to an online 2016 Men’s Health magazine article, running a marathon is almost as dangerous as riding a motorcycle (one of the many reasons I don’t run).

But there are risks we actively choose to partake in each day.  Historically, choosing to believe in God is a risky endeavor.  However, for too many of us in the Western world, we’ve settled into a comfortable form of Christianity, a Christianity that doesn’t ruffle feathers or cause us to stand out.  Some of us even retreat from the rest of the world so we can live out our faith in peace, while followers of Jesus in many parts of the world continue to be persecuted for what they believe.

OpenDoors.org, a site dedicated to educating about the persecution of Christians in the world, states that 1 in 7 Christians worldwide, with 365 million suffering high levels of persecution and discrimination (to learn more, go to opendoors.org).

This persecution dates back to the beginning of the Christian movement.   As we continue our study in the book of Acts, the followers of Jesus faced danger and took plenty of risks to further the gospel.  Over the next five weeks, we’ll explore some of these risks, including the risk of standing up for what you believe in (the stoning of Stephen), the risk of taking a new path (the conversion of Saul), the risk of moving beyond your comfort zone (taking the gospel to the Gentiles), and the risk of investing in others (Barnabas and Saul).

As we explore the risks they took to follow Jesus and spread the gospel, we’ll ask ourselves: what are we willing to risk to help spread His gospel in our world today?

Jesus never promised us easy.  He said, “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow, and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” Matthew 7:13-14 NLT. But He did promise that He will always be with us, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).

It may be difficult sometimes to follow Jesus, but it’s easier when we travel that narrow road together.

Thanks so much for joining us.

Paddy McCoy
Lead Pastor, Crosswalk Portland
Member of the Crosswalk Global Network Teaching Team