We Can't Help It: Bold Witnesses of Jesus' Resurrection

``It's the same event that your faith hinges on. It's the same event that your faith depends on. Our faith doesn't depend on what we've read in a book or what we've been taught by someone else or our experiences in church and whether church has been a good experience for us or a bad experience for us or if I went one time and someone was nice to me or someone was rude to me. None of that is what our faith is built on. Our faith is built on an event that two thousand years ago, there was a man who was crucified, who predicted that he would die, who predicted that three days later he would rise from the dead, and he did it. And so today we can place our hope, faith in Jesus because not what we've been taught, what we've read, or what we've heard, but because what we've seen, what we've seen. Jesus Christ risen. [00:51:33] (50 seconds)  #FaithOnResurrection

What would your prayer be in that moment? How would you pray? Dear God, thank you so much for keeping us safe because safe matters most. No. No. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. They gave praise to God. They surrendered to God. And then they said this, they prayed this, now Lord, consider their threats, the threats of the people who lead, the threats of the people that can harm us, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. [00:55:46] (63 seconds)  #PrayForBoldness

And you know what they said in response? I love Peter. I love Peter's responses. He says, we cannot help. We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and what we have heard. Our hope and your hope whether you realize it or not is not in the teachings of Jesus, it's not in the lessons of Jesus, it's not in Jesus as a good teacher, it is in Jesus as God. And we believe that he's God because of what we have seen and what we have heard. [00:50:47] (37 seconds)  #EyewitnessFaith

I mean, lock us up right now because the message that has changed me is so powerful. I can't stay quiet. I can't stay quiet. I have to tell people about it. It's not something I'm ashamed about. It's not something I'm embarrassed about. It's something that gives me hope. It's something that gives you hope. And as we said last week, you know, this can sound like church stuff can sound like it's theological, it sounds it sounds like it's part of just an intellectual exercise until you say goodbye to someone that you love who's now gone on to either be with God for all eternity or not. [00:53:56] (33 seconds)  #CantStaySilent

And in those moments, as we've grieved our own the last couple of weeks here at Access Church, the hope that comes with knowing that the person that I love is now with Jesus, there's nothing better and there's nothing more important and there's nothing more relevant for everyday life. So you know what? I can't help it. I can't help it. I have to talk about this. I have to tell people that I love, that there is a God who loves them and they don't have to earn his favor. In fact, they don't have to work for his favor. They can rest in what God has done for them. It is good news. [00:54:29] (42 seconds)  #RestInGodsGrace

It's saying you don't have to wonder anymore what's the right way to God. You don't have to wonder because God has come to us. We haven't had to build our way up to him through our good works. Instead, God has come down to us and he said salvation is available to everyone regardless of how good you are or how bad you've been. Salvation is available to you. That as we say here all the time, the ground is level at the foot of the cross. Your background doesn't matter. Your story doesn't matter. God cares intensely about your story, but it does not keep you away from him. He has come to you. [00:47:45] (37 seconds)  #LevelAtTheCross

the threats of the people who lead, the threats of the people that can harm us, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. They didn't pray for diplomacy. They didn't pray for discretion. They didn't pray for wisdom. God, just help us to know what the right time is. God, we don't want to start to talk about you if the person's not ready and it's not the right time. They didn't pray any of that. They didn't pray for protection and safety. They prayed for boldness. If you and I were there to advise them, to counsel them that day, we would probably say, hey. You need to understand the most important thing is, you know, just that you're safe, that you're protected, that you're not ostracized from your community. [00:56:36] (58 seconds)  #BoldnessNotSafety

Sin just means you fell short of the mark. You've got a mark in your life. You have a standard for performance in your life, and you have fallen short of your own mark. You've fallen short of your own standard. I don't have to tell you that you fall short. You know that you fall short. You can't even keep your own standards, much less the standards of God. And so while we were moving away from God, while we had our back turned to God, while we were rebels, while we were ignorant, Christ died for us. And when you realize that, you will say, as Peter said, we can't help it. [00:53:11] (36 seconds)  #GraceForTheFallen