Before and After

Devotional

Day 1: Waiting in the Upper Room

The disciples gathered in Jerusalem, obeying Jesus’ final command before ascending. They’d witnessed His resurrection, heard His teachings for 40 days, and now faced an unclear assignment: “Wait for the Father’s promise.” No Pentecost fireworks yet—just 120 believers praying in a room while 280 others drifted away. Peter’s denials, Thomas’ doubts, and their collective trauma lingered like uninvited guests. Jesus knew they couldn’t witness effectively without supernatural power, but all they saw was silence. [59:04]

God often calls us to wait precisely where our weaknesses glare brightest. The upper room wasn’t about perfect faith but persistent obedience. Just as fire requires kindling, the Holy Spirit needed hearts willing to stay put when reason said leave. Those who remained became the spark of the Church’s birth.

You’ve prayed. You’ve obeyed. Yet heaven’s answer still feels delayed. What if this waiting isn’t punishment but preparation? What if God is stripping away self-reliance to make room for His power? When did you last sit quietly for 10 minutes, resisting the urge to “fix” things yourself?

“While staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father.”
(Acts 1:4, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God to reveal one area where He’s calling you to wait instead of striving.
Challenge: Set a timer for 10 minutes today. Sit in silence without distractions, phones, or tasks.

Day 2: Lamp for the Next Step

David hid in caves for years after Samuel anointed him king. Joseph languished in prison after his prophetic dreams. Both held promises that seemed to mock their dark realities. The psalmist wrote of God’s Word as “a lamp” illuminating only the next step—not the full path. First-century oil lamps cast three feet of light, forcing total dependence on the Guide. [01:05:34]

God’s direction often comes in increments to train our trust muscles. Like a father teaching his child to walk by holding just one finger, He gives enough light for today’s obedience. The disciples didn’t need a Pentecost timeline—they needed daily surrender.

You check weather apps, calendars, and bank statements, craving control. But what if today’s uncertainty is God’s classroom? What practical step can you take today—even small—that aligns with His last clear instruction? Where are you demanding a floodlight instead of using the lamp He’s provided?

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
(Psalm 119:105, ESV)

Prayer: Thank God for one specific way He’s guided you this past week, no matter how minor.
Challenge: Write down a current worry. Beside it, write one Bible promise about God’s faithfulness.

Day 3: From Prison to Promise

Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery at 17. By 30, he ruled Egypt. For 13 years, prison walls and Potiphar’s lies tested his faith. Yet Genesis notes “the Lord was with Joseph” in the pit, the prison, and the palace. His story shouts: God’s promises often detour through deserts. [01:12:27]

Waiting refines motives. Had Joseph grasped power at 20, pride might’ve consumed him. Those prison years burned away self-sufficiency, making him fit to save nations. Delays aren’t denials—they’re divine appointments to shape Christlike character.

What “prison” have you resented—a stalled career, chronic pain, or unanswered prayer? How might God be using this season to soften your heart, deepen your patience, or redirect your ambitions? What if your current confinement is the birthplace of your purpose?

“The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age.”
(Genesis 21:1-3, ESV)

Prayer: Confess one area where impatience has hardened your heart. Ask for grace to trust God’s calendar.
Challenge: Text or call someone facing a long wait. Encourage them with Joseph’s story.

Day 4: Tongues of Fire, Hearts Prepared

Flames danced over the 120 in the upper room—not to warm them, but to ignite them. The Holy Spirit transformed fishermen into bold witnesses, turning their trauma into testimony. This wasn’t a reward for perfect obedience but a gift to imperfect people who stayed put. [01:18:34]

Pentecost power follows persistent preparation. The disciples didn’t strategize outreach campaigns—they prayed in unity. God’s fire falls where hearts hunger. Like kindling soaked in oil, their waiting made them combustible for revival.

You crave spiritual power but avoid the prayer closet. What distractions (even good ones) keep you from lingering in God’s presence? When will you schedule 15 minutes this week to simply ask, “Holy Spirit, prepare me for what’s next”?

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind… And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.”
(Acts 2:1-3, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God to ignite fresh hunger for His presence, even if it disrupts your comfort.
Challenge: Fast from one meal or 30 minutes of screen time. Use that time to pray for revival.

Day 5: Century-Old Promises Kept

Abraham was 75 when God promised him descendants. At 100, he held baby Isaac—the child of laughter. Twenty-five years of waiting included Hagar’s mistake, kings’ battles, and covenant rituals. Each delay deepened Abraham’s trust in the Promise-Maker over the promise. [01:13:14]

God’s faithfulness outlives our failures. Abraham’s impatience with Hagar didn’t cancel Isaac’s birth. Likewise, your detours can’t derail God’s destiny. His plans account for your humanity, using even your stumbles to showcase His grace.

What long-unanswered prayer makes you question God’s timing? How might He be working in the “hidden years” to fulfill His word? Will you choose today to praise Him for promises kept—even if you’re still counting stars like Abraham?

“But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
(Isaiah 40:31, ESV)

Prayer: Thank God for one promise He’s already fulfilled, even if smaller than you hoped.
Challenge: Write “God’s timing > my timeline” on a sticky note. Place it where you’ll see it daily.

Sermon Summary

Acts 1 puts the disciples in a waiting room between resurrection and Pentecost. Jesus orders them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for “the promise of the Father,” and he makes the aim of the baptism in the Spirit plain: “you will receive power… and you will be my witnesses.” The text gives instruction without explanation. Jesus does not supply a timeline, a diagram of cloven tongues, or crowd projections. He simply says, go and wait. Ready, set, wait.

Psalm 119’s lamp image answers the itch for certainty. God’s word lights feet and a path, not the interstate. Faith lives on “just enough light for the step you’re standing in.” If it can be seen, it is not faith. That is why the waiting room is so revealing. The quiet exposes impatience, fear, and the illusion of control. God is not a vending machine. The kingdom never runs on human urgency. Obedience without explanation is the school where dependence gets learned.

God’s pattern runs through David, Joseph, and Abraham. Promise arrives long before fulfillment so character can be formed. David is anointed but serves and hides before he reigns. Joseph dreams but is betrayed, forgotten, and then lifted. Abraham is promised and waits through decades and missteps. Those who wait on the Lord renew strength; those who rush ahead burn out.

Jesus knows the mission cannot be carried in human strength. “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” is the only way Acts 1:8 becomes life in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Pentecost is not just a Sunday; it is a lifestyle where God’s presence goes before his people so others know they belong to him. The purpose of the baptism is not display but witness.

The upper room shows how God works. Before fire is poured, hearts are prepared. The disciples gather in one accord, devoting themselves to prayer. Hunger grows. Self-sufficiency gets stripped. Dependence deepens. Then fire falls. They walk in one way and walk out changed, because obedience met power. Acts has no ending for a reason. God still prepares people before he pours. The call is simple and costly: stop trying to sustain spiritual battles with natural strength, stop escaping the season meant to shape the inside, and go and wait until he fills. When he does, the church does not just speak in another tongue; the church speaks to another world.

Key Takeaways

1. Waiting is God’s training ground. Waiting is not neglect; it is preparation. Scripture’s long gaps between promise and fulfillment are not dead space but formation, where self-sufficiency dies and dependence grows. Before God pours fire in a room, he prepares the hearts in the room. That is how people walk in one way and walk out different. [84:35]
2. The Spirit empowers witness, not display. Acts 1:8 sets the aim: power to be Jesus’s witnesses. Tongues may come, but the target is bold, credible testimony to Christ in real places with real people. Pentecost as a lifestyle means the presence goes before God’s people so others know they belong to him. [60:30]
3. Faith walks by lamplight, not floodlights. God often gives light for the next step, not the full map. If the whole thing can be seen, it does not require faith. Obedience one step at a time builds trust one step at a time, and that is where real faith grows strong. [65:34]
4. God’s kingdom ignores human urgency. The kingdom does not move at anyone’s speed. God is not a vending machine to be bartered with, and manipulation only exposes control issues. Obedience without explanation is the path, and in that path, strength is renewed and battles are won by the Spirit, not by might. [70:32]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[48:25] - Warm Sunday and prophecy joke
[48:48] - Thanking Roger’s behind-the-scenes service
[50:03] - Pentecost preview and guest Matt Eckert
[51:08] - Before and After Pentecost series
[52:29] - Acts continues: gifts for today
[53:26] - Testimony and Pentecost as lifestyle
[54:37] - When promise and reality collide
[56:49] - Learning the waiting room
[58:13] - Acts 1:1-8 read and framed
[60:30] - Power to be witnesses
[64:53] - Lamp for the next step
[71:50] - God prepares before he pours
[80:59] - Hunger and one accord prayer
[90:24] - Altar call: wait on God

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Acts 1:1-8 (ESV)
“In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’ So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But 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.’”

Observation Questions

What specific instruction did Jesus give the disciples in Acts 1:4, and what was the purpose of this waiting period?
How does Psalm 119:105 (“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”) contrast with the desire for full clarity about the future?
What examples of waiting (David, Joseph, Abraham) were highlighted in the sermon, and what common thread connects their stories?
According to Acts 1:8, what is the ultimate purpose of receiving the Holy Spirit’s power?

Interpretation Questions

Why do you think Jesus emphasized waiting (Acts 1:4) instead of immediately sending the disciples out after His resurrection? What does this reveal about God’s priorities?
The sermon states, “If it can be seen, it is not faith.” How does the “lamp for the next step” imagery in Psalm 119:105 challenge our expectations of how God guides us?
The disciples asked Jesus about restoring Israel’s kingdom (Acts 1:6), but He redirected them to focus on being witnesses. Why might human urgency for visible outcomes clash with God’s timing and methods?
The sermon mentions that waiting “strips away the illusion of control.” How did David’s, Joseph’s, and Abraham’s seasons of waiting prepare them for their eventual roles?

Application Questions

What area of your life feels like a “waiting room” right now? How might impatience or fear be surfacing in that season, and what practical step could you take to lean into dependence on God?
The sermon says, “Obedience without explanation is the school where dependence gets learned.” Where are you tempted to demand clarity from God before obeying? How could you act on what He has already revealed?
Reflect on a time when you tried to “sustain a spiritual battle with natural strength” (e.g., relying on your own effort, charisma, or plans). What would it look like to invite the Holy Spirit’s power into that area now?
The disciples gathered in “one accord” to pray while waiting (Acts 1:14). How could intentional prayer with others deepen your trust during uncertain seasons?
The sermon states, “Pentecost is a lifestyle, not just a Sunday.” What daily habits or choices could help you live as a “witness” empowered by the Spirit rather than seeking displays of spiritual gifts?
David’s waiting involved serving and hiding before reigning. Is there a “small” or hidden act of faithfulness God is calling you to embrace today, even if it feels unrelated to His promises?
How might you adjust your perspective when facing delays or closed doors, seeing them as opportunities for God to shape your character rather than obstacles to overcome?

Sermon Clips

49s

“``Many of us are are comfortable trusting God as long as he moves at our speed. God's timing stinks, doesn't it? Yes. Because it's not our timing. I want it now. God says, no. They were like, how about now? God says, no. When? He says, don't worry about it. Just trust me. How many of us really like the answer? Hey. Don't worry about it. Just trust me. No. I wanna know. Because it's it's the it's it's the control side that's really built into us. But the the kingdom of God has never operated according to your urgency. God's not like a vending machine. We pop our prayer in and out comes our answer.”

43s

“Because if you can see it, you don't need faith to believe it. Think about that for a moment. If you could see the whole thing, you wouldn't need faith to believe that God can do it. Real faith is developed when all you have is enough light for today. When all you have is enough light for this moment, this is when your faith is really developed because you really have to trust god for what is next in life, what the next day is gonna be like, what the next week's gonna be like. You have to trust god in the midst of that.”

39s

“But god gives us just enough light for the step that you're standing in right now. For me, I want God to show me the whole picture. I don't want a partial picture. I want the whole picture. But all I hear from God is, will you just trust me with the next step in life? And that's what makes the this waiting season so difficult. Faith would be pretty easy if we could see everything in front of us. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.”

44s

“Because our calling, if we don't have the power within us to do it, it'll become very exhausting, and you'll wear down because you're doing it on your own. And some of you are trying to sustain these spiritual battles with natural strength. You're trying harder. You're pushing harder. You're fighting harder, but your life was never meant to be lived apart from the power of the holy spirit. That's why Zachariah said, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the lord. That we need the spirit within us. It's a gift that the father has for us, that he wants to give. If a if a father can give good gifts, how much better can the gift of the father be? It's what his word says.”

Ask a question about this sermon

Hope Church of Fort Wayne This sermon · AI assistant

What is the purpose of Holy Spirit baptism?

How should Christians handle prolonged waiting seasons?

Why does God prepare hearts before an outpouring?

Before and After

Devotional

Day 1: Waiting in the Upper Room

Day 2: Lamp for the Next Step

Day 3: From Prison to Promise

Day 4: Tongues of Fire, Hearts Prepared

Day 5: Century-Old Promises Kept

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Before and After

Share