Boldness in Faith: Embracing the Ekklesia Movement

Summary

In our lives, there are certain things we must get right, like filling up the gas tank before a road trip or checking your zipper before stepping on stage. Similarly, in the church, there are foundational elements we must prioritize. Believing the right things is crucial, but it's the doing that truly makes a difference. This is why we've been exploring the series "Ekklesia," a Greek term used by Jesus to describe His movement—a gathering of people destined to change the world. This movement was launched by Jesus' resurrection, which validated His claims as the Messiah and King.

The term "ekklesia" is often translated as "church," but a more accurate translation is "assembly" or "gathering." This distinction is vital because it shifts our focus from a building to a movement of people committed to living out Jesus' teachings. The early church, as described in Acts, was a dynamic, multicultural, and rapidly growing community. It was a movement that began with Peter's bold preaching at Pentecost, where 3,000 people were added to their number in a single day.

Peter and John exemplified this boldness when they healed a lame beggar in Jesus' name, leading to their arrest by religious leaders threatened by the movement. Despite facing persecution, they continued to preach the resurrection of Jesus, which was the cornerstone of their faith. Their courage was not rooted in what Jesus taught but in what they had witnessed—His resurrection.

The early church's prayers were not for personal safety or prosperity but for boldness to speak God's word. This challenges us to examine our own prayers. Are we praying for boldness to share our faith, or are we focused on our own needs and desires? True boldness is not about being rude or intrusive but about having the courage to speak up when fear tells us to remain silent. It's about sharing our faith, inviting others to church, and living out the love of Jesus in our daily interactions.

As part of Jesus' movement, we are called to be bold in our faith, to pray for courage, and to prioritize the things that matter to God. Let us be a part of the "ekklesia," a movement that continues to change the world in the name of Jesus.

Key Takeaways:

- The Importance of Getting Things Right: Just as we prepare for a road trip by filling the gas tank, we must prioritize foundational elements in our faith. Believing the right things is important, but it's the actions we take that truly make a difference in our lives and the lives of others. [00:00]

- Understanding 'Ekklesia': The term "ekklesia" is better translated as "assembly" or "gathering" rather than "church." This shifts our focus from a physical building to a movement of people committed to living out Jesus' teachings and changing the world. [05:00]

- The Power of the Resurrection: The early church's boldness was rooted in the resurrection of Jesus. Their willingness to face persecution was not based on teachings alone but on the reality of what they had witnessed. This challenges us to anchor our faith in the resurrection. [21:35]

- Praying for Boldness: The early church prayed for boldness to speak God's word, even in the face of persecution. This challenges us to examine our own prayers and consider whether we are praying for boldness to share our faith or focusing solely on our own needs. [25:10]

- Living Out Boldness: True boldness is not about being rude or intrusive but about having the courage to speak up when fear tells us to remain silent. It's about sharing our faith, inviting others to church, and living out the love of Jesus in our daily interactions. [38:28]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:30] - Getting Things Right
- [02:00] - The Concept of Ekklesia
- [05:00] - Jesus' Movement and Resurrection
- [07:30] - Pentecost and the Early Church
- [11:17] - Healing the Lame Beggar
- [16:07] - Peter and John's Boldness
- [21:35] - The Power of the Resurrection
- [25:10] - Praying for Boldness
- [30:00] - Comparing Our Prayers
- [35:00] - Examples of Boldness
- [38:28] - Living Out Boldness
- [43:56] - Closing Prayer

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide: "Ekklesia: A Movement of Boldness"

Bible Reading:
1. Acts 2:41-47
2. Acts 4:8-13
3. Acts 4:29-31

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Observation Questions:

1. What was the significance of Peter's sermon at Pentecost, and how did it impact the early church? [11:17]

2. How did Peter and John demonstrate boldness when they encountered the lame beggar at the temple? [16:07]

3. What was the reaction of the religious leaders to Peter and John's actions and message, and how did it reflect their concerns about the early church movement? [21:35]

4. How did the early church respond in prayer after Peter and John were released from jail, and what does this reveal about their priorities? [25:10]

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Interpretation Questions:

1. Why is the term "ekklesia" significant in understanding the nature of the church as a movement rather than a building? How does this understanding challenge traditional views of church? [05:00]

2. In what ways did the resurrection of Jesus serve as the cornerstone of the early church's boldness and message? How does this foundation influence the church's mission today? [21:35]

3. How does the early church's prayer for boldness contrast with modern prayers for personal safety and prosperity? What does this suggest about the focus of their faith? [25:10]

4. What role does witnessing and personal experience play in the boldness of Peter and John, and how can this be applied to contemporary faith practices? [21:35]

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Application Questions:

1. Reflect on your own prayers. Are they more focused on personal needs or on boldness to share your faith? How can you shift your prayer focus to align more with the early church's example? [25:10]

2. Consider the concept of "ekklesia" as a movement. How can you contribute to this movement in your daily life, beyond attending church services? [05:00]

3. Identify a situation where fear has kept you silent about your faith. What steps can you take to speak up with boldness in similar situations in the future? [38:28]

4. Think about a person in your life who is not part of a church community. How can you invite them to experience the love and teachings of Jesus through your actions or words this week? [38:28]

5. Examine your understanding of the resurrection's power in your life. How does it influence your faith and actions? What changes can you make to ensure it remains central to your belief system? [21:35]

6. Reflect on a time when you witnessed or experienced a bold act of faith. How did it impact you, and how can you emulate that boldness in your own life? [16:07]

7. How can you practice boldness in a way that is respectful and loving, rather than intrusive or rude? What specific actions can you take to ensure your boldness is aligned with the teachings of Jesus? [38:28]

Devotional

Day 1: Prioritizing the Foundations of Faith
In life, certain foundational elements must be prioritized to ensure success and fulfillment. Just as one would fill a gas tank before a road trip, in faith, it is crucial to prioritize the foundational elements that guide our spiritual journey. Believing the right things is important, but it is the actions we take that truly make a difference in our lives and the lives of others. This calls for a commitment to living out our beliefs through tangible actions that reflect our faith. [00:00]

"Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:28-29, ESV)

Reflection: What foundational element of your faith have you been neglecting, and how can you take a tangible step today to prioritize it in your daily life?

Day 2: Ekklesia: A Movement, Not a Building
The term "ekklesia" is often translated as "church," but a more accurate translation is "assembly" or "gathering." This distinction is vital because it shifts our focus from a physical building to a movement of people committed to living out Jesus' teachings. The early church was a dynamic, multicultural, and rapidly growing community that began with Peter's bold preaching at Pentecost. This movement was not confined to a location but was a living, breathing assembly of believers dedicated to changing the world. [05:00]

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." (Hebrews 10:24-25, ESV)

Reflection: How can you contribute to the movement of "ekklesia" in your community, beyond the walls of a church building, this week?

Day 3: Anchoring Faith in the Resurrection
The early church's boldness was rooted in the resurrection of Jesus. Their willingness to face persecution was not based on teachings alone but on the reality of what they had witnessed. The resurrection validated Jesus' claims as the Messiah and King, providing a firm foundation for their faith. This challenges us to anchor our faith in the resurrection, allowing it to be the cornerstone that shapes our beliefs and actions. [21:35]

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (1 Peter 1:3, ESV)

Reflection: In what ways does the resurrection of Jesus influence your daily decisions and interactions with others?

Day 4: Praying for Boldness in Faith
The early church prayed for boldness to speak God's word, even in the face of persecution. This challenges us to examine our own prayers and consider whether we are praying for boldness to share our faith or focusing solely on our own needs. True boldness is not about being rude or intrusive but about having the courage to speak up when fear tells us to remain silent. [25:10]

"And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness." (Acts 4:29, ESV)

Reflection: What specific situation in your life requires you to pray for boldness, and how can you begin to pray for it today?

Day 5: Living Out Boldness in Daily Life
True boldness is about having the courage to speak up when fear tells us to remain silent. It's about sharing our faith, inviting others to church, and living out the love of Jesus in our daily interactions. As part of Jesus' movement, we are called to be bold in our faith, to pray for courage, and to prioritize the things that matter to God. Let us be a part of the "ekklesia," a movement that continues to change the world in the name of Jesus. [38:28]

"For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." (2 Timothy 1:7, ESV)

Reflection: Identify one person you can share your faith with this week. What steps will you take to approach this conversation with love and boldness?

Quotes

so there are some things in our lives that we just need to get right for example uh one of the things that my family has figured out over the years that we need to get right is when we are about to go on a road trip and most of the time we leave early in the morning right most of you know how this works you leave early in the morning when we're about to go on a road trip you got to fill up the gas tank the night before right because nobody wants to get on the road and three minutes later have to stop for gas and my wife who drives our family vehicle has been doing a wonderful job of this for us in recent years every time we go on a road trip the night before she goes and she fills up that gas tank which was the exact same thing that happened for us a week and a half ago we took a few days off for spring break and it was awesome when i got in the car on tuesday morning for us to take off and the gas tank was full it's just it's so wonderful when you get some things right in life right another example if you're ever going to go on stage and be in front of people and i i try to remember to remind our team of this every once in a while it's really important that before you stand in front of people with all these bright lights on you that you check your zipper like that is just one of those things in life that you've got to get right i have learned that lesson the hard way uh in recent years over the last five years i've had two occasions where i've walked off the platform and had multiple text messages on my phone saying thank you very much for that show that was wonderful um and so that's just one of those things you know that you got to get right and when it comes to the church there are some things that we got to get right as well and many of you realize that there are things that we got to get right in the church as well and because of that you jump in and you make things happen and you understand as we talk about around here all the time that believing the right things like that's important we need to believe the right things but actually doing is what makes the difference it's what makes the difference in our lives and in the lives of people that we get to interact with and so this is why we've been going through this series for the last several weeks called ekklesia and we're in part four of ekklesia today and this word is a greek word as we've been discovering and learning it's a word that jesus used to describe his movement his gathering of people that were going to change the entire world and that movement was launched and based off of the fact that jesus is and claimed to be the king the son of god our messiah [00:00:00] (138 seconds)

Like we're going to church today at Current or we're going to go to church online. But an actual better translation of this word is assembly. The word assembly is a better translation into English of ecclesia than church because typically for you and I, when we think of the word church, we think of a building or we think of a place that we go. It's like, I am going to church at 10 a .m. on Sunday mornings at the movie theater or something that we do. But again, Jesus's version of this word originally meant and still should mean to us assembly or gathering or congregation or movement of people that are going to change the world in the name of Jesus and on behalf of Jesus. And so throughout this series, we're just looking back to ensure that we stay on track as his ecclesia, as his church. And the reason this is so important, and I've talked about this every week, I'm just going to keep pushing this. The reason this is so important is because think about this, the unchurched people that you encounter, the unchurched people, the non -Christian people that you engage with every day, whether that's at work, in your family, in your neighborhood, the unchurched people that you encounter, think about this, when they think about the church, when they think about Jesus, when they think about God, they do not open up their Bibles to the New Testament to look at the New Testament first century church. That would be great if they did, but they just don't. That's not what they do. What do they do? They look at you and they look at me. [00:02:36] (91 seconds)

and rapid momentum but think about this they didn't have anywhere to meet they didn't have anywhere for these 3 000 people to gather and meet with one another and so most of the time on most days what they would do is they would hang out around the jewish temple they had this this temple space where they could meet that that was run by the you know for many of them the the faith that they were a part of and now they're following jesus like this temple is where they would meet and so they decided to meet there this is what the temple uh most likely looked like this i think this is just kind of an artist rendering of what they believe the temple would have looked like you have right here in the middle this big part here is the holy of holies this is where only a few very select people could go in and meet with god and then you had the inner courts around the holy of holies where uh only jewish people could go and then you had these outer courts out here where anybody could go and this whole entire structure sat on i think it's 58 acres of land i mean this thing was massive it was huge and so here these new followers of jesus these jewish followers of jesus they began to meet here at the temple because it was already kind of established as a religious gathering place for people but keep in mind they're meeting in this place that is run by i think about this it's run by the very people the same people who just weeks or months earlier had put jesus to death because they were threatened by his movement because they were threatened by what he communicated i mean think about this the religious leaders of the temple and the religious leaders of the jewish faith their status quo was in jeopardy through what jesus was preaching and what jesus was doing i mean they were he communicated and then his followers communicated as well that hey it's no longer about making sacrifices at the temple for the forgiveness of your sins now it's about putting your faith in jesus for the forgiveness of your sins it's not about those old testament rules and laws and we have to do things this exact way it's not about that anymore so their status quo is in jeopardy and think about this the people who want to keep the status quo are the people who most benefit from the status quo so one day uh peter and john they are on their way to the temple to meet with a number of the other followers of jesus [00:09:15] (137 seconds)

invited him to stand and walk he's like we don't have any money but we do have something that we think you can benefit from we have Jesus Christ of Nazareth and in his name we invite you to stand up and walk for whatever reason Peter was convinced in this moment that Jesus could heal and wanted to heal this man and guess what happens the man stands up and the man begins to walk and then guess guess what he does he follows Peter and John right on into the temple of course he did you would too if you had like been unable to walk for your entire life or for decades or years at a time you would follow these guys that just invited you to walk into the temple as well and as he walks into the temple people recognize him in fact some of them probably saw this guy and thought to themselves wait a second didn't I just give this guy money like stand like just as I was coming into the temple I just gave him money some of them may have thought to themselves hold on I just carried him here to the temple gates just this morning or I'm the one that carries him to wherever it is that he sleeps every single night they recognize the man and we're told that this man if you grew up in church if you're like my age or older and you grew up in church you may remember the song he went walking and leaping and praising God you guys know that one some of you do most you probably don't I'm too old for that but anyway we're actually told he went walking and jumping and praising God and again if you had been sitting outside the temple for years and years you would have done the exact same thing plus keep in mind just to come back to this this is so important keep in mind this man had also been told his entire life that he was a sinner that because of what he was going through that he was a sinner that deserved God's judgment that he was excluded from God that he was excluded from faith that he had no chance that God was not interested in his life so you'd be walking and jumping and praising God as well but people begin to gather they're like what's going on here there's something going on and so Peter as usual sees the opportunity to preach a message once again he wanted to tell people about how Jesus is the one that had done this thing and so he begins to preach he tells them think about this standing right there in the temple he says you killed the author of life but God raised him from the dead and we are witnesses of this I mean imagine this picture this for just a moment Jesus [00:11:29] (139 seconds)

Now this word repent, maybe if you grew up in church, it might have like tones of condemnation. It might've been used against you. Really the idea of the word repent just simply means to change your mind, change your mind, come to God, turn to God. And so he's like, repent and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped away. Again, this is so like, you have to put yourself in the shoes of the people that he's saying this to. He's in the temple. He is in the temple, surrounded by crowds and surrounded by religious leaders that like, these people are the ones that are practicing their faith. They're the quote unquote good people doing all the right things. I mean, think about this. What Peter is saying in this moment is blasphemy. It's blasphemy for Peter to be telling them that Jesus has replaced the system that God himself has set up for his people. And then now we're supposed to put our faith and trust in a human being. We're supposed to put our faith and trust in him. But Peter was just replacing or just repeating what Jesus had said when Jesus was like, I'm here to replace that temple system. I'm here to set up God's home in people's hearts, no longer a place that you go or something that you do, but I'm setting up this movement in people's hearts. [00:14:24] (81 seconds)

people if you include women and children at this point think about this we're talking the possibility of 10 000 people that are following jesus and in that culture in that area and that point in time those numbers were absolutely massive but peter and john they find themselves in jail now you and i if we think about you know jail as far as what we're used to thinking of when we think of jail maybe perhaps if you like looked at pictures in your children's picture bible or watch you know tv or movies or whatever we tend to picture like these stone walls with the gates that open and close and lock and uh you know all this stuff but really at that time jail was probably more like just a a pit just a hole in the ground it was just a pit that you would get thrown into and then some sort of like great top would be would be put on top of that pit there was no drainage think about that for just a moment no drainage you're literally living in your own filth and in the filth of the other people that are in that pit with you or the the other people that have been in that pit for years and years and years and keep this in mind too they've just been jailed by the very men that crucified jesus the very men that had convinced rome to crucify their savior not too long ago and had the power to do the exact same thing to them so the next day these two are drug out of this pit so they can be put on public trial and guess who else is at this public trial the lame beggar he shows up at this trial as well now keep in mind the religious leaders who are putting on this trial for peter and john they want to have these two killed for their blasphemy at the very least they want them severely punished and so speaking to the exact same men that had convinced rome to crucify jesus not a handful of weeks ago peter stands up and he begins to preach once again and it's interesting he seemingly has no visible fear whatsoever this is what he says it is by the name of jesus christ of nazareth whom you crucified but whom god raised from the dead that this man he probably pointed at the the beggar [00:16:04] (137 seconds)

This man stands before you healed. Now, quick side note, as part of our faith system, many of you believe, as I do, that it wasn't just the sin of the religious leaders. It wasn't just Rome that had Jesus crucified, that it was my sin and it was your sin that ended up having Jesus crucified as well. But here in this particular moment, Peter is specifically talking to the religious leaders that had him crucified. He's like, you guys killed him, but God raised him from the dead. And this man right here proves that Jesus has the power that we believe that he has. And we're told, and this is so good. This is so good. We're told that when these men saw the courage of Peter and John, when they saw the courage, Peter in this moment should have been on his knees begging for mercy, begging for them to not crucify him. But Peter couldn't do that because it wasn't just something that he believed. It wasn't just something that he had been taught. It was something that he had seen with his own eyes. When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished. And they took note that these men had been with Jesus. [00:18:24] (77 seconds)

These unschooled, ordinary men, these were fishermen, tradesmen. Do you know why they were tradesmen? Because at that time you would start out in the Jewish rabbinic school and you would learn all that stuff. And if you couldn't hack it, then you had to drop out and you had to go learn the trade of your dad or your mom. They were Jewish school dropouts. There's a good chance they couldn't even read. Rejects of their society and their faith. And just a side note for just a moment, maybe perhaps some of you today, maybe you feel like you're an uneducated, ordinary, reject of society that nobody cares about. And if that's you, if you've ever felt that, or maybe you feel that today, you should know that you, just like Peter and John, you've been called to something special as well. But these guys are like, we can't, I don't know what to do about this. When they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. They're like, we can't have these guys put to death. I mean, they just, like the crowds would just turn against us. We can't kill them, but we're just gonna tell them, hey guys, stop talking about Jesus. You're messing up our status quo. The people are turning against us. Don't forget, we have the power to have you crucified as well, so shut up. [00:20:00] (83 seconds)

And in this case, even though he's not great at shutting his mouth anyway, in this case, he had good reason to not shut his mouth. He responds, Peter and John respond, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard. Notice for just a moment, their willingness to give up their lives had absolutely, in this moment, had nothing to do with what Jesus taught them. Although what Jesus taught them was very important. Their willingness to give up their lives was from something that they had seen. They had watched their Jesus die a gruesome death, but then a few days later, they saw him alive with their own eyes. That resurrection of Jesus, that is what launched the Ekklesia, that's what launched his movement, which is what ultimately launched the Bible as we know it today, the New Testament that we get to open, we're looking at it today, it launched the New Testament several years later. But for them, for these guys, every single time things were in question for them, it always, always, always came back to the resurrection of Jesus. [00:21:23] (71 seconds)

It seems like, as far as we know, Peter never seemed to preach messages about the prodigal son. I love the story of the prodigal son. We don't ever hear that message from Peter. Peter never seemed to preach the message of the Sermon on the Mount when he preached. He didn't talk about how Jesus fed 5 ,000 people, so we should believe that he's from God. Because of that, he always, always, always preached the resurrection of Jesus. And in light of that, he's like, you gotta repent, you gotta change your mind, you gotta turn to God. And if I could just speak to you today, for each one of us in this room today, if you have ever struggled with faith, if you've ever struggled with what to believe, what you're believing, if you're just struggling to even believe that God exists, or, you know, where... where am I at with all of this? If that's you, if you've ever struggled, I would encourage you to always go back to the resurrection of Jesus. Why in the world would these men and these women be willing to give up their lives for something that they had seen? Think about that and pray about that. Because if someone predicted their own death and resurrection as Jesus did, and then they actually pull it off, I think we can go with whatever that person said. Everything else is validated as far as what they said. [00:22:09] (74 seconds)

but ask another question who who do you pray for think for just a moment about the things that you pray about think about your prayers and i i'm right there in the same boat with you okay when it comes to our prayers i this is a probably one of my biggest struggles as well if we were to compare our prayers the things that we pray for today to the prayers of the early church it would be embarrassing our prayers compared to the prayers of the early church are embarrassing think about this we're these people that are we're going to look at what they prayed at prayed about for in just a moment but think about this these people are living in a time where they had absolutely no religious freedoms like we have today no religious freedoms they had no rights to fight for they had no social freedoms they had none of those things that we demand and fight for in our country none of those things these people are facing actual legitimate persecution and threats to their very lives so what do they pray for let's take a look at it sovereign lord you made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them in other words they start by just saying god we recognize that you are in control of everything indeed herod and pontius pilate they met together with the gentiles and the people of israel in this city like not too far from here to conspire against your holy servant jesus whom you anointed they go on they did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen in other words they're like god we recognize that when all of that happened with jesus you weren't surprised you weren't worried you were not up in heaven going oh my goodness what am i going to do this is all falling apart this is not going how i thought it was going to go no you knew how you knew all this how all this was going to go down and maybe for you today for us in this room right now maybe for you like your life doesn't feel all that perfect right now maybe there's something going on that you're you're dealing with you're struggling with and your life does not feel perfect you perhaps like them should start from a place of okay i recognize that god you are still in control none of this stuff surprised you none of this stuff worries you you can recognize and start off by by just [00:25:25] (137 seconds)

admitting that there's a God that loves you it doesn't mean that everything in your life is going to work out perfect but you can know that there is a God that has it all worked out they're like God we recognize that you you were not surprised and so in light of all of that we can pray this and this is their prayer are you ready I just want to make sure that we're ready to hear what they prayed about in the midst of legitimate persecution for their lives now Lord consider their threats and enable your servants enable us to speak your word with great boldness I mean think about this Peter and John still smell like jail and they're like God even if it means we have to go back in that pit the thing that we want the thing that we need is boldness notice they did not say in this moment God you know what we need we've been we're being persecuted we're being threatened we need weapons we need swords to protect ourselves from the government and from these religious leaders who are coming after us nope they didn't pray God we pray that you would smite the these people that are coming against us they didn't pray that they didn't pray God we pray that you would protect our rights that you would protect our freedoms I mean again I'll just say it again compare the prayers compare the things that we pray about as Americans in Western culture and I listen I love living in this country I'm so grateful for the things that we have in this country but compare the things that we pray for to what they prayed for in this moment because you know what you and I pray for we pray for things like prosperity and discretion and protection God we pray for prosperity God we pray that you would meet our God I pray that you would meet my needs I pray that you would meet my wants and just so that I don't come across as selfish I also want to pray for other people's needs and other people's wants I'm going to pray this for my kids as well God I want to pray for discretion I pray that you would help me to say the right things God I pray that you would help me to do the right things God I pray that when there's a fork in the road and I'm trying to figure out what's your will for my life and what's the right thing so that I can stay on the right path that you have for me give me discretion give me clarity on that or how about this one you you you [00:27:39] (138 seconds)

and this is like probably most of you in this room this is the one that i struggle with the most this is probably the one that i pray the most got to pray for protection if you're if you're a church kid like i was you know you maybe heard the phrase god we pray for a hedge of protection god we pray for a bush of protection around us you know i'm talking about those hedge of protection prayers you know i'm talking about god i pray for protection of my health i pray for protection of my kids i pray for protection of the stuff that i own and that those nice cars that we have in our homes and god i pray for protection of my freedoms and my rights those things aren't the things that the early church prayed for the things that they prayed for eventually ended up costing nearly all of them their lives and yet they still prayed for boldness they still went into the streets with boldness they still shared what god was doing in their lives with boldness they still lived lives that represented the upside down kingdom of jesus where we put everybody else before ourselves with boldness they still went out and they healed people with boldness and i i won't promise this for you i won't promise that what happened in this moment when they prayed for boldness will happen for you but we're told that after they prayed for this the place where they were meeting was shaken and they were all filled with the holy spirit once again the holy spirit gave them power again after praying this prayer god we pray that you would help us to to be concerned about what you're concerned about and again i like most of you in this room i fail at this too i'm not great at this either but after praying that prayer here's what god did we're told that they spoke the word of god boldly [00:31:39] (102 seconds)

and when i compare my prayers to their prayers i'm embarrassed and i think for maybe all of us in this room if we were to be honest if you were to compare the things that you pray for and you fight for you'd probably be a little embarrassed too and i don't say that because i i i think that god is up in heaven you know condemning us this is not a condemnation message i'm saying that because i believe that god is inviting you and he's inviting me you [00:36:39] (35 seconds)

Chatbot

Transcript

What was the most surprising thing in this sermon?

Were there any personal stories shared?