There is Power in the Name of Jesus

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Acts 1:8

There is a key word in this verse. If you guessed POWER you are correct! Notice what's cool about this context of the word 'power'; that you will receive power to change the world. A strategy for the church to change the world is laid out in Acts 1:1-14, when the church deviates from this strategy the church becomes ineffective. The book of Acts is a continuation of Jesus' ministry with Jesus' power being invested in believers who are possessed by Jesus, indwelt by Holy Spirit, manifest the life and power of God the Father. This is what we call authentic Christianity.
Jesus says in the verse above that "you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere- in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth." Recently, a pastor I listen to preached on this verse while I was preparing for this series on the power of the church, ironic how God works. There are 3 dimensions of people mentioned in this verse: Jerusalem referring to the people who have grown up in church and around all the "religious people" yet, have never come to make a decision for themselves about Jesus; they have been riding the wave of their parents and grandparents. Then there are those who have have been living in Judea or Vegas, as the pastor described it. Buried up to their neck in sin, living the sex, drugs, and rock and roll lifestyle. Finally, there are those living in Samaria; people who feel so far from God, circumstances and hurts have taken them from the Father's side. The pastor gave us a visual using the Grand Canyon, it's like these people are standing on the edge of the cliff and feel miles and miles from the Savior. Jesus wants us to reach these people, and to the ends of the earth can even be in our own churches, right here on this blog. We have to power to reach these people, even those to the end of the earth in other tribes and nations, to those who have never heard.
Those of us who have grown up in church, which would include myself, you'll recall the hymns we sing include lyrics containing message of the power of God. I was just singing "There is a Fountain" this morning in my quiet time and sang about the power in verse 3:
Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood Shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God Be saved, to sin no more:
Be saved, and sin no more, Be saved, and sin no more;
Till all the ransomed church of God Be saved, to sin no more.

His blood saves everyone! What's even more His blood continues to save those of us who already believe, He saves us from ourselves everyday. The Power of His blood is strong enough to save to the ends of the Earth.
How about this hymn, All Hail the Power of Jesus Name! Penned by Edward Perronet, this hymn has earned him an indelible place in the history of church music, and in missionary history. Missionary to India, Rev. E. P. Scott wrote of trying to reach a savage tribe in the Indian subcontinent. While over there he met a large party of warriors who surrounded him, their spears pointed at his heart. Expecting to die at any moment, Scott took out his violin, breathed a prayer, closed his eyes, and began singing, "All Hail the Power of Jesus Name!" When he reached the words, "Let every kindred, every tribe," he opened his eyes. There stood the warriors, some in tears, every spear lowered. Scott spent the next two years evangelizing the tribe. There is power in the name of Jesus, and we have a responsibility as believers to exhibit that power and change the world. Hope you will join me on this mission.

This is the launching of a series about the Power of the Church based on the book of Acts. The series title will be "This is How We Change the World: Authentic Christianity." I will be outlining how the church changes the world, and how the book of Acts is still being written to this very hour.
Activate your power and pray! I will post on this tomorrow.