Thank you all so much for praying for me during my recent IMB Trustee trip. Believe me, I felt your prayers and experienced God answering them. Without question, this was the most impactful mission trip of my life, in two ways:

First, I was able to see needs that, by God’s grace, I can help the IMB meet for the glory of Christ. This is why the IMB sends Trustees overseas – so that we can talk to workers and believers in our areas of responsibility, and gain a clearer understanding of what it is going to take to advance the gospel in those places and among those peoples. On this trip in particular, I’m returning with information that will help the IMB to help others. Of course, this is of crucial interest to our church, which is a huge supporter of the IMB. A significant portion of our budget and our missions giving goes to the IMB, and we want to do all we can to strengthen it in its task. It is a blessing to be a part of something so strategic, and a blessing to pastor a church with a heart for reaching the world for Christ!

Second, it was a trip that was personally life changing for me. I’ll explain how in the weeks to come, but God’s Spirit did a precious work in my life on this trip. I return to you spiritually refreshed in so many ways.

This week we begin a new journey in Scripture, as we walk through some key texts in the book of Acts. This new series is called “Empowered: A Study of Acts.” In this first message in this series, we will dig into Acts 1:1-11. The title of the message is “Jesus Continued.”

In these opening verses, Luke tells us that his gospel was about “all that Jesus began to do.” Do you know what that means? It means He continues to be at work, through His empowered followers. That’s you and me. What does it look like when believers are empowered by the Holy Spirit to continue the work of the King? We’ll talk about it this Sunday. See you then.

By His Grace, For His Glory, To The Nations,

Dr. Thurman Hayes, Jr.