One of the main themes of Acts is witness.  Jesus called the disciples to be his witnesses, and we trace that witness throughout the book.  In the first five chapters, we see five characteristics of an effective witness which we should apply to our lives and churches today:

• Proclaim the message.  This may go without saying, but we see again and again in these first few chapters the proclamation of the gospel.  Clearly we need to be looking for opportunities to proclaim the gospel today.
• Pray for the gospel to go forth.  In Acts 4, after being threatened for proclaiming the gospel, the early church prays.  They pray for boldness to continue to proclaim the gospel.  Their prayer is centered on a desire to see the gospel spread.  We too ought to be crying out to God for the gospel to be spread.
• Be filled with the Holy Spirit.  After praying, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.  We are reminded that we cannot save anyone, only God can.  And so for an effective witness, we need the Holy Spirit to be active in our lives, and indeed in the lives of those who are hearing the good news.
• Be generous with one another.  The early church was known for its generosity (Acts 4:32-37).  This made their message attractive and real – they were showing generosity toward each other even as God had shown great generosity toward them.  Jesus said people would know we are his disciples by our love and good deeds (John 13:35, Matthew 5:16).  Our love for one another will help to draw people to the gospel.
• Live in the fear of God.  An important part of the gospel is that we have died to sin and been raised to righteousness.  We are to live a new life turning from wickedness to follow Jesus.  When we fail to live out this new life, we deny the power of the gospel.  We begin to look like the rest of the world.  And why should the world care what we say if our lives don’t match our words? This was part of the problem with Ananaias and Sapphira’s sin (5:1-11).  But God dealt very decisively with them, so that the church might fear God and live a new life according to the gospel.

The witness of the early church showed these five characteristics, and multitudes were saved (5:14).  May our witness look like this, and may God grant to us this year many who will be saved!