Day 27 — Stuck in a Room

Acts 1:6-9

6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”

7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. 8 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.”

9 After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. 

The early church knew what it was like to be stuck in a room. They are instructed not to leave Jerusalem until they receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4). So there they are stuck in a room, unsure of what happens next. All they know is that they are about to receive power and they must stay put until this happens. 

I feel their pain. There’s only so much Netflix-and-Zoom a man can take. At times I feel stuck in my room thinking, ‘Jesus, is now the time when you bring revival to the UK?’

But whilst we are stuck in our rooms he calls us to wait. And while we are waiting, to pray. And as we are praying we will receive power and we will GO! 

This is exactly what happens to the believers. We read in Acts 2 that as they are praying, tongues of fire settle on each of them and they are filled with the Holy Spirit. They are worshipping and speaking in tongues so loudly that this commotion causes their neighbours to gather around wondering what on earth is going on. Note the subtlety here. They are filled with power and where do they ‘go’? Presumably just to their front door! To their very own street where their neighbours have gathered. 

Right now we can’t go to the ends of the earth, we can't even go to the ends of Birmingham.  But Jesus says that's ok because it starts at home. We start at home on our street (Jerusalem) before going further (Judea etc). 

We have an opportunity like never before to literally #LoveYourNeighbour. Most UK houses share walls. My neighbours have heard my Netflix, but how much have they heard my worship? (I did get a complaint at 2am once... oops). The Holy Spirit chose the reasonable hour of 9am to pour out his power. It starts at home. 

Action: This Sunday when you tune into the live stream, get on your feet and sing! Wouldn’t it be incredible if every Gas Street home was filled so powerfully with the Holy Spirit that our neighbours came over amazed asking, ‘What can this mean?’ (Acts 2:12)

Tim Muller
Leadership Team