Read: Acts 28:23-31

Today, we come to the end of Acts. But you can't tell by reading Acts.

Acts ends as if Paul runs out of ink. He is sitting in his rented house - for two years, we are told, receiving anyone who wants to hear and debate about Jesus' message. Some believe, some don't - just as the Old Testament prophets have predicted. The end.

In the Roman empire, Rome is the gateway to the universe. In his letter to the Romans, which he might have written prior to arriving here as a "letter of introduction", he mentions he was getting the idea of going to Spain with the Gospel. There is no record of whether he got there. There is some report that Paul was beheaded under Nero's persecution of Christians.

Acts is the story, continuing from Luke, or the spread of the Chrsitian Gospel, against all odds, guided by Jesus' Spirit. Considering how 2000 years later, people are still reading Paul and following Jesus, we can say Paul's story, or more accurately the Kingdom story, hasn't ended at all. Acts continued since Paul with many more stories of people saying yes to Jesus' offer.

Acts story includes our stories, and continues to "spread" and change lives through us.

Write
Think about your faith story: how Acts-like is your story - of God showing up, making his presence felt in miraculous ways, breathing new life, persevering through hardship?

What Acts-like story lines are you currently enacting?

Who are the people,. what circumstances are in your story presently?

Pray
What is God saying to you today?

Talk to God about your life with his Spirit. How are you experiencing him, learning from him, following him, obeying him, challenged by him, sharing him with others?

Talk to God about the challenges, the mission, the people, the circumstmances you are currently facing. Ask God how he can use these things to bless others with the Gospel.

Pray for the people in your story. Pray for your community and co-labourers. Pray for the people needing to experience God in a life-changing way.

Pray for a fresh experience of God's love, grace and mercy as you carry the baton of God's Spirit forward in the relay towards the Kingdom, and as you see God do amazing things around you, in you, with you and through you.