You will be my witnesses — starting where you are.
Jesus' last words before he ascended. The mission expands in concentric circles from your own doorstep.
The episode in a glance.
- 01Power first ('you will receive power'), then mission.
- 02The Spirit is the source — not human effort.
- 03Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, ends of the earth — the mission moves outward.
- 04Start where you are; don't skip your own city.
Read along.
Acts 1:8 is one of the last things Jesus said before he ascended. 'You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.'
Power first, then mission. Jesus doesn't send them out and then promise help. He fills them, then sends them. The order matters.
And the assignment isn't 'do amazing things.' It's 'be witnesses.' A witness just tells what they saw and experienced. You don't have to invent material. You just tell the truth.
The geography is concentric circles. Jerusalem — where they were standing. Judea — the surrounding region. Samaria — the place they didn't like. The ends of the earth — everywhere else.
The pattern still works. Start with where you live. Then your wider community. Then the people you'd normally avoid. Then the world. Don't skip step one.