On A Mission From God — Acts 1:12–26 | Video Devotion With Dave Miers | Good News Unlimited

On a Mission from God — Acts 1:12–26 | Video Devotion with Dave Miers

Sep 14, 2026 25841

What do you do while you wait? In Acts 1, Jesus’ disciples are on a mission from God, but he has told them to wait before they go.

[Watch this week’s video devotion with Dave Miers]

One of my favourite movies growing up was The Blues Brothers. Jake and Elwood are putting their band back together to save the orphanage where they grew up. Everywhere they go, they keep saying: “We’re on a mission from God.”

The second half of Acts 1 has a getting-the-band-back-together moment. The scattered disciples are together again. Jesus has risen, appeared to them, but now he has ascended to his Father. He has given them a promise and a mission. They will receive the Holy Spirit and take his message to the ends of the earth.

What do they do while they wait? Two things: they are united in prayer and confident in God.

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[Watch this week’s video devotion with Dave Miers]

United in Prayer

The disciples return from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem, just as Jesus commanded. They gather in the upper room, where Luke names the eleven remaining apostles.

Think about this group. A tax collector. A zealot. Fishermen. Men who had argued about who would be greatest. Peter, who had denied Jesus. Alongside them are the women, and also members of Jesus’ family, who now believe in him.

Look how Luke describes their unity:

Acts 1:14

[14] All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. (ESV)

Different stories, different hardships, different sins, one Saviour.

Jesus has brought them together – they are of “one accord”, and their prayer is not casual or flippant; they are devoted to this critical work.

Prayer is at the centre of their community life as they wait expectantly for Jesus to keep his promise and the Holy Spirit to come.

We are in a different moment. We are not waiting for the Holy Spirit to come at Pentecost; he’s already come. If you trust in Jesus, his Spirit lives in you upon believing in the gospel. And so we’re not waiting for the Spirit, but we are waiting for Christ to return.

United prayer continues to be central to the life believers share together. We cannot carry out Jesus’ mission in our own strength. We pray because we need him.

What do the believers do in Acts 1 while they wait for the promised Holy Spirit?

First, they are United in Prayer.

Second, they are

Confident in God

Peter then stands among about 120 believers and explains that Scripture had to be fulfilled. Judas’ betrayal was tragic and evil, but it did not catch God off guard.

Peter quotes two Psalms. One speaks of desolation and judgment; the other calls for someone else to take the vacant office. Even through this painful part of the story, God’s word is being fulfilled.

Look at what they do next,

Acts 1:21–22

[21] So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, [22] beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” (ESV)

The new apostle needs to have been present throughout the earthly ministry, and at the heart of the task is finding someone who witnessed Jesus alive again after death so they can share their testimony that Jesus is alive!

Christianity is grounded in events that happened in time and space. Jesus lived. Jesus died. Jesus rose again. These apostles had seen him alive, and their mission was to make him known.

Two men met the qualifications: Joseph, called Barsabbas (also known as Justus), and Matthias. The believers pray for the Lord to show whom he has chosen. They cast lots, and Matthias is numbered with the eleven.

They trust God to lead them. This use of lots belongs to their setting before Pentecost; it is not necessarily a pattern we need to copy today. Their dependence on the Lord, however, belongs at the heart of our lives too.

The band is back together. The Twelve are restored. They are ready for the Spirit to come and the mission to begin.

The Good News is…

Jesus is alive, and he continues to send us out to join in his mission. His promised Spirit has come. His promised return is still ahead. The same Jesus who has kept his word will keep it again. So while we wait, we pray, we trust, and we keep making him known, confident that he will keep his promises.

[Watch this week’s video devotion with Dave Miers]

Further reading: Acts 1:12-26

Reflection

Who could you join in prayer this week, asking God to empower you by his Spirit to offer someone hope in Jesus?

Rev. Dave Miers
President, Good News Unlimited