Acts 1:8 declares,
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Besides this being specific guidance by Jesus Christ to His 1st century followers, we also see it as a metaphor of guidance for followers today.
Jerusalem represents our closest relationships. This would include family, friends, and coworkers. Those that are nearest to us in our sphere of influence.
Judea represents those that are similar to us, but would be described as acquaintances or strangers. This would be those that live in our neighborhood, that work in the same company, or that have kids participating in activities with our children.
Samaria represents people that live in our community, but are different than us. They may be of a different culture, social economic status, language, belief system, or values.
We are directed by Jesus to reach out to all these people. The way we accomplish this personally at Life Spring is through being a:
- Verbal witness of the truth of the gospel (Ac. 4:31).
- Service witness of the truth of the gospel (Ac. 4:32-37).
- Character witness of the truth of the gospel (Gal. 5:16,22,23).
- Relational witness of the truth of the gospel (Eph. 4:1-6, Jn. 17:20-23).
