Mission Statement – Acts Project in conjunction with Westgate Chapel exists to glorify God by being a community of faith responding to the power of the Holy Spirit in acts of kindness, witness and declaration.
Purpose - Acts Project has been established to support those who want to obey Christ by boldly witnessing in a powerful way promised by Jesus. This includes reaching family, friends, co-workers and acquaintances with the Gospel. We provide support by establishing a means by which they will receive regular prayer, encouragement and training. We meet weekly in groups where members can debrief about their experiences, receive prayer, invite the Holy Spirit to arrange “divine appointments” for the next week, and receive training so that they may do their mission well.
Intimacy with God – Christ came so that we could have an intimate relationship with the Father. We are created to be worshippers, so we will worship. If not God, then it’ll be something else. There are so many things that seem to capture our attention and distract us from this intimacy; it could even be “our ministry”. We are told in Matthew 6 to seek first His kingdom and righteousness. We must surrender to His authority and covering and let Him discipline us and bring us to maturity. We take time with the ones we love and are motivated to get to know them well. It should be the same with our Father. All our ministry activity is pointless without God being at the center of our worship.
Christ’s Mission - One day Jesus went to a synagogue to worship. He stood to read the lesson and was handed the book of Isaiah. Jesus opened the book and found where it read, “The Spirit of the Lord is with me. He has anointed me to tell the Good News to the poor. He has sent me to announce forgiveness to the prisoners of sin and the restoring of sight to the blind, to forgive those who have been shattered by sin, to announce the year of the Lord’s favor.” This was at the heart of why Christ came and the foundation of our purpose as well.
Sent by Christ - Jesus’ mission was clearly defined, and we know by scripture that he successfully completed his mission. He then challenged his followers in Mark 16, “wherever you go in the world, tell everyone the good news,” and “miraculous signs will accompany the believer”. (Notice that Christ said “believer” and not “apostle”. We are included in this promise.)
Holy Spirit Given - In Acts 1:8 the Bible says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes to you. Then you will be my witnesses to testify about me…” We then read throughout the book of Acts how the Holy Spirit worked through the Apostles and ordinary believers to carry out this commission. The gift of the Holy Spirit was given for the sake of the Great Commission. Luke 11 tells us that our Father is more than happy to give us the Holy Spirit and we’re encouraged in 1 Corinthians 14 to pursue the greater gifts. If we take action based on the prompting of the Holy Spirit, we can expect His power and help.
Bold Response to the Holy Spirit – It is not uncommon for one to launch into an activity and ask God to bless what they’re doing. The idea behind Acts Project is to respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit based on our intimate relationship with the Father. In other words; rather than ask God to bless what we’re doing, we encourage members to embrace what the Holy Spirit is doing.
Divine Appointments - We believe that God is actively setting up divine appointments for us. When we are intimate with Him, we have eyes to notice these divine appointments. When we boldly accept these appointments we can expect the Holy Spirit to guide and empower us in the situation. We expect that these divine appointments will take place outside of the walls of the church. The marketplace, workplace, school, family and beyond is the mission field. These divine appointments can include an act of kindness, prayer for healing, a morsel of truth. There is no limit to what God can do in any given situation. Be open to what He wants to do. Most of the time His action will be a “link” in the “chain” of events that eventually leads a person to Christ.
Debrief about God’s Goodness to Glorify Him – Testimonies are important. They keep the missionaries (responders) encouraged and the local Church intrigued and curious. They help to build faith and confidence. All of this is about giving God Glory. Our testimonies should always point to God and His goodness.