Receive Power: Be Bold Witnesses for Jesus

Acts 1 puts the disciples right where a lot of religious folks still stand, asking Jesus if now is the time to restore the kingdom to Israel. The disciples bring a political agenda, a longing for Rome to get kicked out and everything to get set right. Jesus redirects them. Jesus does not hand them a calendar, and Jesus does not invite them to manage times and seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.

Jesus gives them something else instead: power from the Holy Spirit and a calling to be witnesses. The kingdom agenda is not about circling the wagons, protecting what already exists, or making the church about the survival of the saints. The kingdom agenda is about winning sinners. Jesus redirects the church away from comfort, control, and complacency and toward highways, byways, risk, embarrassment, messiness, and love that might feel wasted.

The Great Commission attaches the authority of Jesus and the presence of Jesus to the going and making of disciples. The promise is not given so people can sit comfortably and take care of “me and mine.” The promise comes as disciples go. Prayer grows richer, boldness gets deeper, and relationship with Christ becomes more alive when God’s people take up the work of telling dying people about a Savior who loves them and wants to save them.

Culture no longer pushes people toward church the way it once did. Christian culture used to bring casseroles, invite neighbors, and assume people knew what salvation, repentance, mercy, and grace meant. Post-Christian culture often directs people away from Jesus, so evangelism has to become direct and intentional again. A holy boldness is needed at Kroger, at the restaurant, at work, and in ordinary conversations where “Jesus loves you” may not even make sense unless somebody explains it.

The Holy Spirit gives dunamos, power, ability, capacity, bandwidth. God has chosen to work through human witnesses. The witness does not need to be fancy, scholarly, or able to answer every apologetics question. The witness tells firsthand what Jesus has done. The old Indian chief’s caterpillar says enough: “me that caterpillar.” Jesus rescued sinners from the flames, changed lives, kept lives from ruin, and now sends those rescued people to say and show what they know.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Jesus redirects comfortable religion. Jesus does not let the disciples stay in the safety of political questions or religious curiosity. His answer turns attention away from control and toward mission, away from inside concerns and toward lost people outside. The church loses its way whenever survival becomes bigger than sinners being saved. [50:49]
• 2. Power comes for witness. The Holy Spirit gives more than private comfort or personal encouragement. Acts 1 ties the Spirit’s power to the ability, capacity, and bandwidth to tell people about Jesus. God’s power is given for a task that human nerve and natural ability cannot carry by themselves. [65:41]
• 3. Culture demands holy boldness. Post-Christian culture no longer assumes that people know the gospel, understand repentance, or feel drawn toward church. That shift does not excuse silence, it makes direct witness more necessary. Holy boldness learns to speak plainly about forgiveness, mercy, grace, heaven, hell, and the Savior without waiting for culture to do the introducing. [58:44]
• 4. Witness tells firsthand grace. A witness does not repeat hearsay or borrow somebody else’s story. A witness tells what Jesus has actually done in a life, whether rescue from deep sin or preservation from paths that could have destroyed. The simplest testimony can carry deep power when it says, “me that caterpillar.” [72:32]
• 5. Bold prayer changes fearful churches. Peter and John did not ask God to make life safer after trouble came. The early church asked for more boldness and more works that would open doors for the word of God. Fearful religion asks for hiding places, but Spirit-filled witness asks God to do it again. [64:23]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [41:43] - Pillars of Discipleship
• [44:19] - Evangelism and Church Life
• [45:50] - Acts 1 and the Call to Witness
• [47:21] - Jesus Redirects the Conversation
• [50:49] - From Survival to Winning Sinners
• [54:58] - Post-Christian Culture and Evangelism
• [59:49] - Going to Them
• [61:12] - God Works Through Witnesses
• [63:37] - Peter and John Pray for Boldness
• [65:41] - Power from the Holy Spirit
• [70:02] - What a Witness Really Does
• [74:30] - The Caterpillar Testimony
• [78:05] - Practical Challenge to Share Jesus
• [80:36] - Pray for Boldness

Bible Reading

Acts 1:6-8
“So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 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.’” [45:35]

Matthew 28:18-20
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” [53:06]

Acts 4:29-31
“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.” [01:04:23]

Romans 12:2
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” [54:58]

Observation questions

1. In Acts 1:6-8, what question do the disciples ask Jesus, and what mission does Jesus give them instead? [47:27]
2. In Matthew 28:18-20, what two things are attached to the command to go and make disciples? [53:06]
3. In Acts 4:29-31, what exactly do the believers pray for after Peter and John are threatened, and what happens after they pray? [01:04:23]
4. What are some specific places and everyday settings where direct witness was described as necessary? [59:36]

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus does not answer the disciples’ political question the way they expect. What does that reveal about the difference between being focused on control and being focused on witness? [48:41]
2. If Jesus promises his authority and presence as his people go and make disciples, how might that shape the way a believer understands obedience, comfort, and spiritual growth? [53:16]
3. Acts 4 shows believers asking for boldness rather than safety. What does that suggest about how fear should be handled in the life of the church? [01:05:01]
4. If culture no longer explains Christian words and ideas for us, what does that mean for how clearly and directly believers need to speak about Jesus, repentance, mercy, and grace? [58:44]

Application questions

1. Where is there a tendency right now to focus more on “the survival of the saints” than on winning sinners? What would repentance and reorientation look like in that area? [50:49]
2. Who is one specific person by name that God may be placing on the heart to pray for and speak to about Jesus this week? What makes that conversation feel difficult? [01:18:54]
3. What ordinary place in weekly life could become a place of witness—work, a restaurant, a store, a neighborhood, a phone call, a family gathering? What might it look like to speak with simple, holy boldness there? [58:48]
4. When prayer feels thin or the presence of Christ feels distant, could comfort or complacency be part of the reason? How has stepping out in obedience ever deepened prayer or dependence on God? [54:05]
5. What is the simplest version of a personal testimony right now? If someone asked, “What has Jesus done for you?” what would be said in two or three plain sentences? [01:12:32]
6. What kind of messiness or embarrassment tends to be feared when inviting lost people closer—into conversation, into church life, or into friendship? How might love move past that fear? [01:02:23]
7. The early church prayed for boldness. What would it look like this week to pray that same way—not mainly for ease or safety, but for courage to speak the word of God? [01:20:36]