Easter is behind us, the celebration was real, and now the question is sitting right in front of us. That was the setup for Pastor Jay’s message this week as we launched into our new series, What Now?
Anchored in Acts 1:8-11, the word pushed us past the excitement of the resurrection and into the responsibility that follows it. Because according to Pastor Jay, there has to be a response to what God has done. Believing that Jesus was raised is the starting point, not the destination.
The Disciples Who Stood Still
After Jesus spent 40 days with his followers, teaching them, discipling them, and proving he was really alive, he ascended to heaven on a cloud while they watched him go. And then they just kept standing there, staring into the sky, waiting to see what would happen next.
It took two angels showing up to snap them out of it. And the angels didn’t come to comfort them or tell them to take their time. They came with a challenge: why are you still standing here?
Pastor Jay made the point that this wasn’t a scene about confused people who didn’t know what they had witnessed. They knew exactly what had happened. The real issue was passivity. And that same passivity is exactly what a lot of us are walking in right now.
Blocking the Line
He told a story that hit closer than most of us wanted to admit. He described pulling into the McDonald’s drive-through, ordering fries with no salt so they’d have to make them fresh, and then sitting at the window eating them while a line of cars stacked up behind him. Funny until you realize it’s a picture of what many of us are doing spiritually.
God gives us a fresh word. Fresh grace. Fresh revelation. Fresh power. And instead of taking it and moving, we just sit in it. We consume it. We hold up the line. The problem isn’t that we aren’t receiving anything from God. The problem is that we’re receiving without releasing, getting without going, filling up without ever activating what we’ve been given.
Stop Standing. Passive Faith Is Still Stuck Faith.
Pastor Jay defined it plainly: standing still can become a disguise for stagnation. It can look like you’re holding your ground when really you’re just stuck. Passive faith means you’re present but not progressing. Believing but not becoming. Around it, but not moving in it.
And the danger is that it feels right. It feels like enough to show up, read your Bible, pray, and come back next week. But if reading and praying isn’t activating you to actually do something, then something is off. When we encounter the word, when we worship, when we pray, it should be mobilizing us to move.
The angels in Acts 1 weren’t there to affirm what the disciples saw. Heaven showed up to ask a question: what are you going to do with what you got? Jesus told them before he left that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them and that they would be his witnesses everywhere. That wasn’t a suggestion. It was an assignment. And the only thing that should stop us from walking it out, according to Pastor Jay, is Jesus coming back.
Start Where You Are
A lot of us are waiting for a stage. God is asking us to take a step. Jesus told the disciples they would be witnesses starting in Jerusalem, right where they were. Movement doesn’t start far away. It starts where your feet already are.
That means home. Your job. Your classroom. Your team. The people you’re already in connection with every single day. Pastor Jay made the point that you might have 17 followers online, but you have five people at home, 32 at your job, and four in your class. God is asking about those people before he asks about the millions.
He also spoke directly to the shame that keeps a lot of people quiet about their past. Where you came from is not something to hide. It’s your starting point. Whatever you’ve been through, you understand the struggle and the pull of it in a way someone without that experience never could. The very thing that once held you can become the platform God uses to reach someone who’s still in it.
Move With What You’ve Already Got
Most people aren’t waiting on power. They’re waiting on permission. But Pastor Jay went back to the text: the moment anyone gives their life to Jesus, they are filled with the Holy Spirit. The power is already inside. What’s missing isn’t some additional anointing that hasn’t arrived yet. What’s missing is the decision to move with what’s already been given.
He described what it looks like when people are free but still act locked up, using his dog Oreo as the picture. Oreo runs to the open gate and stops every time. Not because the gate is closed. Because he’s so used to being confined that he doesn’t realize he could just go. That’s a lot of us. We come to church, we feel freedom in the room, we worship, and then we leave just as stuck as we came because the freedom never made it from the experience to the mind.
The Holy Spirit wasn’t given for comfort or status or feelings. It was given for purpose. And that purpose is the assignment God has placed on every believer’s life, not just the people on the platform.
There’s a Next Step for You
If this week’s message is still sitting with you, don’t let it stay there. Share it with someone who needs it. If you’ve been in a season where nothing seems to be moving, this word was for you too. Watch the full sermon above and join us next week as we continue through the What Now? series.
We’d love to have you in the room. If this is your first time or you’ve been thinking about making this your church home, plan your visit here. We’ll make sure you know what to expect before you ever walk through the door. And if you’re ready to get connected, find a group, or just let someone know you’re here, connect with us. You don’t have to navigate this season alone.