So like I said, I was out of town this week,
and I was blessed to spend the last couple days
in California at Pepperdine University for their
Bible lectures. And while I was there, I spent
a lot of time in classes, listening to some amazing
lessons and worshiping with, like I said, hundreds,
there's probably over a thousand Christians,
and it was this awesome time. But in this time
there, There was this like overall theme that
I felt from these teachers, from the worship
leaders and from the leaders of this event. And
it was the idea that we have to depend on God.
that we need God in order to fulfill the mission.
In fact, we sang this song, and it's called Same
God, and it says, I'm calling on the God of Jacob,
and I'm calling on the God of Moses. I'm calling
on the God of Mary. I'm calling on the God of
the Bible, of the Old Testament, the New Testament,
throughout history, who has been with people,
who has been faithful so that his mission could
be fulfilled in this world over and over and
over again. And I'm calling on that same God.
And it was this idea that we can't do what God
has called us to do without his power. And on
the last night of the lectures, I'm sitting in
my dorm and I had my window open and I'm just
listening to the waves and I'm looking out over,
it's dark, but I can see the lights in the mountain
and kind of see the beach a little bit. And I
just started praying. And I'm praying and I'm
praying and I'm praying. And I didn't do this
on purpose, but thankfully, I'm really glad it
worked out this way. After I finished praying,
I felt like I needed to rewrite my sermon. The
sermon had been written, but Thursday night,
for some reason at midnight, I just decided I
need to say something else. And I'm going to
call it a spirit moment. Eliza might call it
my ADHD. I don't know. But either way, you're
getting a different sermon than what was planned.
But I think it's something that we need a little
bit more than what I had planned on saying. See,
we're in the beginning of this sermon series
called The Jesus Church, where we're looking
to find the way that the church of Jesus in the
book of Acts. And if you're not familiar with
the book of Acts, it's this powerful book, this
recorded history of the chronicles of the first
century church, of what the church of Jesus Christ
looked like in the first century. The people
that were closest to Jesus, what they did, how
they lived, how they operated in the world. And
I've been saying how excited I am for this series.
And I'm really excited because I think it reminds
us of our heritage. See, while I was at the lectures,
they showed this video of the last 50 years of
the Bible lectures there because they had been
in this one location at the Firestone Fieldhouse
on their campus. And for 50 years, the lectures
have been in that building. And they had people
that used to like take their RVs from across
the country and they'd camp out there. And those
same people, when they were like little kids,
are still going to these lectures today and now
they're old. And it was this really cool thing
of their heritage. And it reminds me that we
have a heritage, that our church, this church
here that sits here today has a heritage. Now,
this church was built maybe in the 70s or I can't
remember the history, but the Church of Christ,
it goes way back. And the church in this world
goes way back to that first century church. And
so I want us to remember our heritage as a community
of people that were empowered by the Holy Spirit
to do something remarkable, something that could
not be explained by earthly measures. Our heritage
as a community of people who lived life on a
mission for Jesus. Our heritage as a community
that lived to bring the kingdom of God to earth.
That's our heritage. That's where we come from.
It's not a part of this just like fading moment.
It's not this thing that's just drifting through.
We have a long standing heritage and it's a heritage
of boldness. It's a heritage of boldness that
looked death and looked harm in the face and
said, do what you need to do and we will do our
best as well. It was a boldness that said, we're
going to keep speaking Jesus. We're going to
keep proclaiming the gospel regardless of what
it costs us, regardless of what we have to sacrifice,
regardless of where we have to go, what we have
to do, who we have to be, and what we have to
say. We are going to boldly proclaim the name
of Jesus. And I believe that to be true because
that's what I find in the book of Acts. specifically
in Acts chapters three and four. In chapter three,
we see these two disciples, Peter and John, they're
going to the temple. They're on their way to
pray. This was a daily rhythm in the scripture.
It says it was the hour of prayer. And so they're
going to the temple to pray. But this time they
happen upon a paralyzed man and he's sitting
at this gate, but they don't have money. He's
begging and they don't have anything to give
him. What they do have though, is the ability
to offer this man healing. He's been paralyzed
since birth, but they are willing, they're able
to give him healing. They're able to help him
walk again or walk for the first time. And so
they heal the man. He gets up and he doesn't
just walk. He jumps up, he celebrates and he's
shouting these praises and he's standing for
the first time in his life. And all these people
around, they notice and they see this because
how could you not? And what happens then is this
doesn't just catch the attention of the crowd.
This catches the attention of the religious leaders.
And they have now caught the disciples of Jesus
healing someone. And they don't like this. Remember,
these are the same people that just killed Jesus
a few months ago. And so they don't want to know.
They don't want to see. And they don't want other
people to see that Jesus' followers are doing
the same things that Jesus was doing. And so
they arrest Peter and John. They take them to
this trial. before these religious elites known
as the Sanhedrin. And this is what we see happen
in Acts chapter 4, verses 7 through 12. If it's
underlined, I'd love for you to read with us.
And when they had set them in the midst, they
inquired, by what power... or by what name did
you do this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy
Spirit, said to them, rulers of the people and
elders, if we are being examined today concerning
a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means
this man has been healed, let it be known to
all of you and to all the people of Israel that
by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom
you crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
by him this man is standing before you well.
This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by
you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.
And there is salvation in no one else, for there
is no other name under heaven given among men
by which we must be saved. Do you see what just
happened there? I want you to remember that these
aren't just random guys questioning Peter and
John. Peter says it himself that these are the
men that killed Jesus. These are the men that
killed their rabbi. These are the men that they
had a motive to make sure that nobody believed
in the power of this Jesus, that nobody believed
in the divinity of this Jesus, and that nobody
believed the message that Jesus' followers were
preaching. But Peter and John, they don't care.
They don't shy away from the message that they
have come to proclaim. Why? Because the Holy
Spirit filled them. The Holy Spirit gave them,
I want you to say this with me, boldness. Okay,
that wasn't very bold. So we're going to say
that again. The Holy Spirit filled them with?
Boldness. And I think that's so key to the message
today and so key to the church because we need
a boldness, not just a boldness that sings praises
loudly in here, but a boldness that is noticeable
to the world, a boldness that is noticeable to
our enemies. I love the song, Raise a Hallelujah.
I'm going to sing in the middle of the storm,
louder and louder, I'm going to let my praises
roar. I don't care what enemy hears me proclaim
the good news. I don't care where I'm at. I don't
care what you think. I don't care what it may
bring. I'm going to proclaim the gospel with
boldness. Because boldness is noticeable. It
catches attention. In fact, in my sermon notes,
I have in bold print the things I really need
to see. Because if I'm just like glancing at
my computer, I can see some of the notes, but
when I see them in bold, I know that's something
that needs to be paid attention to. And when
the gospel of Christ is proclaimed with boldness,
when it's lived out in a bold way, the world
has no choice but to pay attention to it. And
what we see in this instance here is something
so noticeable. In fact, the story goes on to
say that the religious leaders, they saw the
boldness of Peter and John. And not only did
they see it, but I want you to look at what happens
in verse 13. It says, when they saw the boldness
of Peter and John and perceived that they were
uneducated common men, basically they just called
them stupid, right? When they saw that they were
uneducated common men, they were astonished and
they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
They spoke. They acted in a way that when the
religious leaders who wanted to deny the divinity
of Jesus, when they saw them, when they heard
them, they had no choice but to say, these men,
they've got a glow. They've got an aura about
them that says they have been with the divine.
Last week, I read a quote to you from the spy
that reported back to Nero. And that spy... said,
surely there is something divine among these
people. What I mean by that and what the spy
meant and what the scripture means is that when
people saw the first century church, they saw
people that had a glow like they had just been
in the presence of God. And I asked the question
last week, I ask it again today, and I'm going
to keep asking it. When the world outside sees
us, when they see you, do they see someone? Do
they see a people that have a glow like they
have been in the presence of Jesus? These religious
leaders were astonished. They recognized that
these men had been with Jesus. I want you to
imagine facing persecution. Having your life
on the line and you behave in such a way that
the persecutor is amazed by your actions. That
you live so radically different than the average
person would in this moment that they look at
you and they say, this person has been with God.
That's a compliment. And the story goes on to
tell us that the council decided to let Peter
and John go. But it seems that they're doing
this in a way that... It's more for Peter and
John to go back and to tell their little friends
to be quiet about this Jesus thing. They're being
let go kind of as a, hey, go send the message
that we mean business. You know, like in the
mob movies where the enforcer might break a guy's
knees to make sure he goes and tells his little
friends, hey, the mob is not to be messed with.
That's what happens here. These leaders, they
let Peter and John go so that they can go warn
their friends. But I want you to see that Peter
and John, they're not concerned with these threats.
They don't care about these threats. In fact,
the way they respond is exactly how we said earlier.
It was with... It was with boldness. They respond
with boldness, which is why they're able to say
this in verses 19 and 20. Whether it is right
in the sight of God to listen to you rather than
to God, you must judge. For we cannot but speak
of what we have seen and heard. In other words,
we can't help but tell people about the miracles.
We can't help but tell people about his teachings.
We can't help but tell people about this radical
love that he showed, not just in the way that
he walked and encountered people, not just in
the way that he talked with people, not just
in the way that he taught people, but in the
way he died. on a cross for sinful men. And the
way Peter says it, it's for sinful men like you
that killed him. We can't help but speak of Jesus.
We can't help but show people the joy, the peace
that we feel because of the goodness of God.
We can't help but proclaim the resurrected Savior.
So threaten us all you want, but we will not
be quiet. We are going to sing. We are going
to shout. We are going to proclaim it from the
rooftops. We are going to keep healing. We're
going to keep changing communities because we
have sinned. seen. We have been with God. And
so they leave after being threatened some more
and saying, we're going to keep speaking Jesus.
And when they leave, they do exactly what I want
us to do this morning. They go to their church
family and they immediately pray for more what?
Notice they don't pray for safety. They don't
pray for Somebody within the church should be
put in a political position so that they can
keep proclaiming the gospel with freedom. They
don't pray that God would do harm to their enemies.
They don't pray that God would make it easy for
them. They don't pray for those things. What
they pray for is... Read Acts 4, 23 through 30
with me. When they were released, they went to
their friends and reported what the chief priests
and elders had said to them. And when they heard
it, they lifted their voices together to God
and said, Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven
and the earth and the sea and everything in them,
who through the mouth of our father David, your
servant, said by the Holy Spirit, why did the
Gentiles rage in the people's plot in vain? The
kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers
were gathered together against the Lord and against
his anointed. For truly in this city there were
gathered together against your holy servant Jesus,
whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined
to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their
threats and grant to your servants to continue
to speak your word with all boldness. while you
stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and
wonders are performed through the name of your
holy servant, Jesus. They had just had their
lives threatened. They had probably been told
all of these unspeakable things that would be
done to them if they didn't stop talking about
Jesus. And it wasn't hollow threats. Again, just
a few months ago, they saw their rabbi murdered.
They saw the rabbi not just murdered, but tortured,
spit on, beat, put a crown of thorns put on his
head, a spear driven into his side, nails driven
through his hands. They saw this happen. They
knew exactly what these men would do and could
do if they didn't stop speaking Jesus with boldness,
but they don't care. They just pray, God, would
you help us to look death in the face? and speak
Jesus? Would you help us to look our enemies
in the face and speak Jesus? And this wasn't
just about death. And it wasn't just about torture.
I mean, this was social outcast. They were losing
friends. They were losing family. They would
lose work. I mean, these people still had jobs,
but their jobs could be threatened. Their homes
could be threatened. Their lives, their livelihoods.
Their friendships, their families, everything
that they had, everything that they knew, and
everything that they loved could be taken away
from them. In fact, this is exactly what the
Hebrew writer is writing about in the book of
Hebrews. He's saying you've had your life damaged.
You've had your life destroyed. You've had everything
pillaged from you and taken from you, and you're
having your life threatened, but please don't
give up because there was a temptation to give
up. which is why they're praying, God, would
you make us bold so that we don't shrink back,
so that we don't cower down. They prayed for,
say it again, boldness. And it's not some solemn,
simple prayer. In verse 24, it says, they lifted
their voices together to God. Another way to
say that is they cried out together. They didn't
just say, God, would you give us boldness? Would
you help us to proclaim that? That wasn't it.
It was God. Would you help us to be unashamed?
Would you help us to be unafraid? Would you help
us to not care about this life? Would you help
us to not care about this world, but to care
only about you and speaking your goodness and
bringing people with us to your home? Would you
help us to give up ourselves? It was crying out.
It's like a baby crying out in the middle of
the night for their mama. Notice they're not
crying out for dad. They're crying out for mama.
And if you have multiple kids, this is why when
Easton and Peyton were little, we didn't have
them in rooms close together because if baby
starts crying out in the middle of the night,
guess who else is crying out in the middle of
the night? Older brother. And now you've got
these two voices crying out until somebody answers
their cry. And that's what I see in Acts. I see
a church, a community of people that were crying
out to God until he answered. And I love the
way God shows up and answers. I love what happens
here. I want you to read verse 31 with me. When
they had prayed, the place in which they were
gathered together was shaken, and they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to
speak the word of God with... Imagine, we're
praying, and we're pleading with God. God, my
wife's in danger. God, I've been struggling with
this diagnosis of cancer and I got to focus on
that. I don't have time. I don't have the mental
capacity to focus on bringing the gospel to others.
God, I'm struggling with finances and I've got
to work some extra shifts. I don't have time
to disciple this brother. God, I've been struggling
with my family. We're really dealing with some
things and so I don't have time. I don't have
the mental capacity. I don't have the energy.
My spirits are weak. I don't have the ability
to continue going to church right now. I just
need a break. But in all of this, God, would
you give me boldness so that I could set aside
the fear of the diagnosis? so that I can set
aside the anxiety of the financial stresses,
so that I can set aside the worries, so that
I can set aside all of the things that are trying
to distract me from the mission, that are trying
to distract me from the community, that are trying
to distract me from preaching, Jesus, God, would
you give me boldness so that I can keep going
in spite of all of that? And God shows up and
he shakes the very foundation of the ground you
stand on. He rocks your... You see, this lesson
was supposed to be about being a prayerful church.
The lesson title I had in my series outline was
the prayerful church. And in a sense, it still
is. But man, I just feel like our issue isn't
as much that we don't pray enough. When things
go bad, we're really quick to just, God, would
you help me? When things aren't going right,
we're really quick to throw up the prayer, and
that's great. I think our first resort should
always be prayer. But I think sometimes we pray
for the wrong things. We spend so much time,
and I'm not saying these are bad things, but
we spend so much time. God, pray for our nation.
Or we spend so much time saying, God, we pray
for our leaders. God, we pray for the poor and
needy. God, we pray for the widows and orphans.
God, we pray for the lost. God, we pray for the
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And that's good.
We absolutely should pray for those things. But
more than that, I believe what we need to be
praying for is exactly what's on the screen,
exactly what we've been saying, exactly what
the church in Acts prayed for. It's boldness.
To live like Jesus, to speak like Jesus, to proclaim
the goodness of God. And do you know why I think
that? Because if God's church was bolder, this
nation could be great. If God's church was bolder,
this world could be great. If God's church was
bolder, the poor, the needy would never go without.
If God's church was bolder, the widows, the orphans,
the lost would have people to call family. If
God's church was bolder, all of the pain. All
of the sorrow, all of the sickness, all of the
hurt in this world could be mitigated. If God's
church was bolder, imagine what this world could
be. You see, I love the book of Acts. And I love
early church history because what it tells us
is that these people, these first Christians,
these people that had something divine among
them, Those people lived in such a way, they
spoke in such a way that changed the world. It
made people realize that the way that they were
living, the sinful, sick, twisted way they were
living wasn't good enough. It made people realize
that we need to give to the poor and needy. It
made people realize that we need to bring in
the outcasts. It made people realize that there
is no stranger in the church of Christ. It made
people realize that the kingdom of God is available
to everybody, even the least of these. And it
changed the world. And I'm not just like cliche
saying it changed, like it changed the world,
our hospitals. come from the church. Our orphanages
come from the church. Foster care came from the
church. Widow care came from the church. Welfare,
all of those things came from the church. The
best governments in the world came from the church.
Why? Because the way of God is so much better
than the way of the world. But the way of God
cannot take over if we act like we're afraid
of things, if we act like we're timid, for God
has not given us a spirit of fear. Sadly though,
I believe we, for far too long, individually
and collectively, have been too self -centered
to fulfill the mission. I've shared the illustration
before of the small boat rescue station that
started out with a mission of saving wrecked
ships out on the sea. And they'd go out and they'd
save the ships and they'd bring them back. the
crew members, not the ships. They'd bring the
crew members back and they'd bring them to their
rescue station. They'd heal them up. They'd feed
them and they'd clothe them. And then what would
happen is because these people, they're from
wherever and they're stranded here, they would
join the small boat rescue station. And then
the next time there's a distress signal out on
the water, they would go out and they would save
those people and they bring them back in this
cycle repeated. And they had like this fleet,
like a Coast Guard of people that could go out
and save wrecked ships anytime, any day, in any
weather. But over time, they started to fix up
the rescue station because it had some nasty
carpet and had some raggedy chairs and it needed
some fixing up. And so they did that. They made
it look real nice and it was real pretty and
it grew and it grew and it grew. And over time,
the distress signals would go up. But man, it's
really bad weather out there. If we go out there,
we might die. And if we die, then who's going
to take care of this and who's going to do the
saving? But they'd go and they'd save people.
But, you know, they were like, maybe we'll bring
like a small boat. We can put them on the small
boat and launch them off so they can go back
on their way. And then they'd go back and they'd
do their thing. And then the next, you know,
next time the distress signals would go up and
it's, ah, man, the weather's bad and the food
here, like we just, somebody just cooked up this
really good food. We got to stay. Oh, and we've
got a seminar. We've got to train, right? Because
if something were to happen and we needed to
go save these people, we need to know how. We
need to be equipped. And so they would do this.
And all of this training and taking care of each
other, and they had a really good community going
on, but the stress signals were going up in the
water, and nobody was going to save anybody because
of fear of what might happen. Fear that I might
have to give up something in my own life. Fear
that I would be uncomfortable. Fear that I would
have to go and do. And fear that if we bring
them back, maybe they'll, you know, we really
don't want those kind of people in our rescue
crew. When I say self -centered, what I mean
is we're too afraid of what might happen to us.
We're too afraid. of what we might have to give
up. And I mean this honestly. Fear is a symptom.
It's just a symptom of believing that my physical
life is more important than a lost soul. God,
if I do that, I got to give up my friends. And
I like my friends. They make me happy. God, if
I do that, I've got to give up where I live.
And I like where I live. It's not too hot. It's
not too cold. God, if I do that, I've got to
give up some of the things that I like to have.
God, if I do that, I've got to take time away
from... God, if I do that, and it's just all
of these things about what I might have to give
up, not considering the fact that this life is
temporary, but that person perishing in hell
is eternal. Are my 100 years in this life...
If I get that, I got like 50. If my few years
of life on this earth, are they more important
than that person's soul in eternity? I just,
I think that's what we need. We need a boldness
that says, I'm not going to be self -centered.
I'm not going to be fearful. I'm not going to
walk in a way that says, what if? I'm just going
to say, God, even if. I'm going to proclaim the
goodness. So today I want us to pray for boldness.
I want us to be in constant prayer that the Holy
Spirit would fill us with a confidence in Christ
that would allow us to fulfill the mission. And
I want us to pray this with expectation that
God will show up because I do believe that the
same God that showed up For Moses, the same God
that showed up for Jesus, the same God that showed
up for the disciples, the same God that we read
of shaking the ground and acts for that same
God can move in power right now. I believe that.
So today I don't want us to just pray more. I
want us to pray more for the right things and
I want us to pray it boldly. So I want us to
pray. like people who actually believe that God
will show up and pray like people who know what's
at stake. I'm not saying we pretend that the
fears of this world aren't real. I'm just saying
we live in a way that says, I don't care. And
I want us to pray like a people who have been
with Jesus. So let's pray. Father God. The same
God that defeated nations and armies. The same
God that flooded an entire earth. The same God
that created the entire universe. That same God
that has been with his people, that has been
fighting for his people. God, we are praying
to you. And we are praying to you that your church
would wake up. that your spirit would fill us
with a boldness, that your spirit would fill
us with a need to live and speak in a way that
cannot be denied that we have been with Jesus.
God, we are praying for your spirit to come and
shake this room. And although we know that it
may not be a physical shaking, although God,
I believe you can do it. Although we know that
we may not just get up and start shouting in
exclamations and God, we know that it may not
look like it did in Acts. God, I do believe that
you still are the same God that moved in power
then. And so God, we are praying that you would
wake your children up to speak boldly. to live
boldly, to stop worrying about ourselves, to
stop worrying about this life. And God, we're
not discounting the dangers. We're not discounting
the troubles. We're not discounting the suffering.
We're not discounting any of that. But God, what
we're saying is even if whatever comes, whatever
we have to give up, God, we want to speak your
good news boldly. We want to live good news boldly.
because, God, there is a world of people out
there suffering. There are people out there that
are struggling, that are hurting, that are in
need of hope. There are people out there, God,
that are in need of family. There are people
out there that are in need of your cleansing
power. There are people struggling with addictions,
that are struggling with loss, that are struggling
with grief, that are struggling with abuse, that
are struggling with being in need of all kinds
of things. And God, I don't want us to be a people
that just sit on our hands. So God, we pray that
you would move in your church. that you would
fill us, that you would stir us. God, would you
help us to raise our sails? And would your spirit
push us to the least of these? Would your spirit
push us to the lost, to the hurt? And may we
rescue them with your good news and bring them
in. so that they too can be a part of this good
news, life -saving, God -given mission. God,
we know you are the same God that you have always
been, and that God is a promise keeper, that
God is a way maker. And so, God, would you move
in power in your people today? We pray this in
the name of Jesus, and we believe with expectation
because of the power of the Spirit. that you
will do a mighty work in and through your people.
It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Now maybe
you're here today and you realize that you've
been living in fear. And I want to make sure
that you understand the reason Christians, the
reason the church has been able to look fear
in the face. The reason Christians have been
able to look diagnosis in the face, the reason
Christians have been able to look death in the
face, the reason Christians have been able to
look loss in the face for all of these centuries
is because the church has been founded on the
truth that God is greater than all of it. And
the church has been formed with the truth that
this is just supposed to be a glimpse. of our
eternal destination. And so whatever comes in
this life, we know our God is greater and what
he has in store for us is greater. And so if
you need to be reassured or if you need people
to walk alongside you and prop you up because
you can't feel that right now and you don't really
believe that right now, but you believe that
there are people that can help you along the
way. We want to pray for you. We want to lay
hands on you and pray over you and be in prayer
with you and walk with you. If you're struggling
with life and where you're at, we want to walk
with you. And if you're ready to give your life
to Jesus, if you're ready to make the boldest
statement of all by burying your life in the
watery grave of baptism and rising again to new
life to say, I am giving everything I am to Jesus.
If you're ready to make that proclamation. We
want to be there with you. We want to help you
with that, wherever you are today. I know we've
been sitting here for a long time. We're about
to stand, and we're going to proclaim the goodness
of God. We're going to sing a song of invitation,
and I don't want you to let this moment pass
by. I don't want you to listen to this invitation
and just go. Wherever you are, whatever you need,
let us pray boldly over you, with you today,
whatever it is you need.