The Boldness of the Church ("The Advancing Kingdom" Series) by Cody Thornbury

Acts begins with Jesus sending His disciples to tell everybody that He is alive, and Acts 2 shows a church full of glad and generous hearts, favor with the people, shared lives, and people being saved day by day. Acts then turns, because Stephen is killed, persecution breaks out, and the believers are scattered from Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria. The scattering looks like everything is falling apart, but Acts 8 shows that it is seed being thrown out of the bag. Philip goes into Samaria preaching Christ, unclean spirits come out, bodies are healed, and much joy comes to that city.

The dispersion fulfills Jesus’ promise that the gospel would go from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Deuteronomy’s scattering had been judgment and exile, but this scattering becomes persecution that carries life to people still living in exile. Christ ends the deeper exile by coming in the flesh, revealing the Father, taking sin to the cross, going down into death, and rising again. The church then carries that news outward, even when it is running for its life.

Disruption does not automatically mean God is punishing somebody. Christ has taken condemnation on the cross, and God does not punish His sons and daughters as though Jesus had not already dealt with sin. God disciplines, refines, and builds muscles in His people, while the world keeps selling comfort, ease, safety, and leisure as the good life. The desire for a comfortable life can make disruption feel like failure, yet greatness usually looks more like being driven somewhere difficult than buying a Ferrari and staying comfy.

Acts 4 gives the church a different prayer for hard circumstances. The apostles do not mainly ask God to stop the threats; they ask Him to let them keep speaking His word with boldness. Boldness may mean speaking, enduring temptation, being silent under accusation like Jesus before Pilate, or having courage to change what can be changed. The fear of God gives that kind of boldness, not as terror that God will hurt His children, but as awe before the Creator, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords.

Stephen shows what that fear looks like when it costs everything. Stephen stands before the council full of grace and power, speaks the truth without backing down, sees the heavens opened, and sees Jesus standing to receive him. Stephen then asks Jesus to receive his spirit and asks mercy for the men killing him. Communion calls the church to that same reverence: not condemnation, but searching the heart before the refining fire of God, so that confession may lead to healing, grace, and life.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Disruption can scatter gospel seed The scattering in Acts 8 does not stop the kingdom; it spreads it. Persecution drives believers out of Jerusalem, but they take Christ with them wherever they go. Hard disruption can become the ground where gospel seed lands and produces much joy. [05:06]
• 2. Boldness is a better prayer Acts 4 shows believers facing real threats without making escape their only request. The church asks God for boldness to keep speaking His word in the middle of pressure. Some circumstances need deliverance, but some circumstances call for courage that refuses to stop following Christ. [16:47]
• 3. Comfort is not the highest good The world keeps promising that an easy, safe, comfortable life is the goal. Christ uses hardship to make people into something, to bring something through them, and to drive them closer to Himself. Disruption can make a heart bitter, or it can drive that heart further into Christ. [21:03]
• 4. The fear of God produces courage The fear of God is not the fear that God will hurt His children. The fear of God is awe before the God who cannot be fully contained, yet has made Himself known in Jesus. That awe makes the threats of this world smaller than the horror of being without Him. [27:38]
• 5. Christ receives faithful witnesses Stephen sees Jesus standing at the right hand of God as he faces death. Stephen’s final words echo Jesus, because a life that follows Christ closely begins to look like Christ under pressure. Christ does not abandon His witnesses when the cost becomes severe.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:17] - The Advancing Kingdom in Acts
• [01:57] - Pentecost and the First Persecution
• [02:57] - The Church Is Scattered
• [04:25] - Scattering Seed Into Samaria
• [05:33] - Real Disruption and Persecution
• [12:28] - Dispersion Fulfills Acts 1:8
• [15:45] - Pray for Boldness Under Threat
• [18:39] - The Facade of Comfort and Ease
• [24:37] - Boldness and the Fear of God
• [29:45] - Stephen’s Witness Before the Council
• [33:21] - Reverence, Communion, and Heart Searching

Bible Reading

Acts 8:4-8
Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city. [04:30]

Acts 4:27-31
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. And 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 boldness. [15:58]

Acts 7:54-60
Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. [31:49]

Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. [12:17]

Observation questions

1. In Acts 8:4-8, what did the scattered believers do wherever they went, and what specific results came from Philip’s ministry in Samaria? [04:30]
2. According to Acts 4:27-31, what did the believers acknowledge about God’s plan, and what did they ask God to do in response to the threats?
3. What details in Acts 7:54-60 show both the violence of Stephen’s enemies and the peace and boldness Stephen had in the middle of it? [31:49]
4. How does the movement from Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria in Acts 8 connect with Jesus’ words in Acts 1:8? [12:17]

Interpretation questions

1. The scattering of the church came through real persecution, not a convenient mission plan. How does Acts 8 show that God can bring gospel fruit out of circumstances that seem destructive? [05:06]
2. In Acts 4, the church does not only ask for the threats to disappear; it asks for boldness to keep speaking. What does this reveal about the kind of help God’s people sometimes need in hardship? [17:03]
3. If there is no condemnation for those in Christ, how should believers understand the difference between God punishing them and God disciplining or refining them? [19:38]
4. Stephen’s final words echo Jesus’ words of trust and mercy. What does Stephen’s response toward the people killing him show about what it means to follow Christ closely? [32:41]

Application questions

1. What disruption, resistance, or disappointment is most present in your life right now? How might you honestly bring that pain to God while also asking Him to use it for His purposes rather than allowing it to make you bitter? [22:05]
2. Is there a situation where your main prayer has been, “Lord, make this go away”? Would it be helpful to also pray, “Lord, make me bold and faithful in this”? What might boldness look like in that particular situation? [23:00]
3. Boldness does not always mean speaking louder. It may mean resisting temptation, telling the truth, remaining quiet under unfair accusation, or taking courage to change what can be changed. Which kind of boldness do you most need this week? [23:17]
4. Where has the desire for comfort, safety, or ease begun to shape your decisions more than faithfulness to Christ? What is one small, realistic step of obedience that may feel inconvenient but would help you follow Him? [20:30]
5. The fear of God is not the fear that He will harm His children; it is awe before the Creator, King of kings, and Lord of lords. What circumstances or voices tend to become too big in your mind? How could remembering who God is make those things smaller? [27:30]
6. Stephen entrusted himself to Jesus and asked mercy for the people who were hurting him. Is there someone whose wrong against you still has a grip on your heart? What would it look like to begin placing that person and that situation before Jesus? [32:09]
7. Heart-searching before God is not meant to lead to condemnation, but to confession, healing, grace, and life. Is there anything you need to bring honestly before the Lord and, if appropriate, before a trusted believer? [34:47]