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Jesus Ascended to Heaven

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Bible verse : Acts 1:8-9 (NIV)

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.” After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

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Jesus defeated the power of death and was resurrected three days after being buried. The resurrected Jesus stayed on this earth for 40 more days.
During that period, he showed his resurrection to many people.

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The resurrected Jesus spoke many words about the kingdom of God to the people he met. He taught them diligently so that they could remain in the faith even after Jesus left.
Jesus also spoke about the church that would be established in the future.

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He also gave special commands and promises to his disciples.
“Do not leave Jerusalem and wait for the gift my Father has promised! John baptized with words, but you will soon be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

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Jesus' words were a promise that he would send the Holy Spirit as a gift to this earth after he arrived in heaven. But none of the disciples understood what Jesus meant.

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The day has come when Jesus leaves for heaven. Jesus took his disciples up the Mount of Olives. The disciples asked Jesus if today was the day he would finally do something amazing. "Lord! Is now the time for the Lord to restore Israel again?”
The disciples asked if today was the day when Jesus would finally liberate the Jewish land from Rome.

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In response to the questions of the disciples who did not understand the meaning of Jesus’ words, he answered as follows. “God determines when everything will come to pass. “It is none of your business.” After saying these words, Jesus told his disciples something important would happen.

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“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.” Jesus told his disciples. These words of Jesus prophesied that after Jesus went to heaven, the Holy Spirit would come and an amazing thing would happen where the gospel would be spread throughout the world through the disciples.
The disciples did not even understand those words properly at that time.

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After saying these words as his last words, Jesus ascended into heaven in the presence of his beloved disciples. The disciples were looking at Jesus going to heaven right before their eyes. Jesus ascended higher and higher until he was obscured by a cloud. Finally, 40 days after Jesus was resurrected, he returned to heaven.

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The disciples could not believe the amazing sight, so they stared blankly at the sky where Jesus had ascended. At that time, two angels dressed in white suddenly appeared next to them. Now the disciples were completely distraught about what was happening to them.

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The angels spoke to the apostles who were staring blankly at the sky. “Men of Galilee! Why are you standing here looking at the sky? Jesus, who went from you to heaven, will come back in the same way you saw him.” The angels informed us that Jesus, who had gone to heaven, would come back to earth just as he was.

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Only then did the disciples understand a little of what Jesus had been saying.
The disciples who came down from the mountain obeyed and followed Jesus as he said. They did not leave Jerusalem, but gathered in the upper room of a man named John.

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The apostles gathered here were Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon, and Thaddaeus. Except for Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, none of the eleven apostles left Jerusalem and obeyed Jesus' words.

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As time went by, more people began to gather in the attic. They decided to obey Jesus' words and wait for the Holy Spirit. Within a few days, 120 people gathered and prayed together.

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After going to heaven, Jesus made two promises. First, he said that when the Holy Spirit comes, the gospel will be preached throughout the world. Jesus' promise was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit came to earth 10 days after Jesus went to heaven.
And today, the gospel has been preached to us, and we are saved and living as people of faith.

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Now, the one remaining promise of Jesus is that he will come back to this earth just as he did when he went to heaven. Just as the first promise was fulfilled, the promise that Jesus will come again will also be fulfilled. We must keep and follow the commands Jesus gave us until the day he comes back to this earth.
We must do our best to live a life of evangelism so that at least one more person can believe in Jesus.

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)