Introducion
Yesterday was Fathers Day and I am thankful for my dad, Jerry Mullis, and the relationship we've built. I also thankful for many other men who have been father figures to me throughout my life. One father figure was my Grandpa who fought in WWII in the battle of the bulge. I asked him once if he was ever shot at and he said yes. Grandpa Wingo was an engineer in the army and his job was to build and repair things. He told me a story of building a bridge while German soldiers were shooting at him. He said, you could hear bullets whizzing by and ricocheting around you. I have built things where you apply all you thoughts to taking measurements and making sure everything is level ans square. It takes a lot of thought and concentration. I can't imagine trying to build while also being shot at by people who want you dead! He was a bold, brave man.
So far, we’ve
learned:
Jesus Power Helps Us Do Hard
Things and
Jesus Power Gives Us Hope.
Today, we
learn:
Jesus Power Helps Us Be Bold!
Isaiah 40:29
says, “He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.”
One of the
things about the New Testament Church that always impresses me is their
boldness. There were only a small number
of Christians when the New Testament was written. People thought they were crazy outlaws who
believed a dead man was alive. The
ruling powers wanted Christians silenced.
The world around them was dark and full of sin.
Those early
Christians were not intimidated by an evil world, because Jesus power helped
them be bold. A perfect example is in the
3rd and 4th chapters of Acts. Let me summarize the story.
Peter and John were on the way to the Temple for a prayer service. This is a clue for you if you ever feel feel outnumbered by a world who rejects your values. You need to pray fervently.
On the way to the prayer meeting, Peter and John see a crippled beggar asking for money. Now, Peter and John are Christians so they don't have any money. You see, at the time Christians had no power or influence and most everyone around them though they were crazy. It's not like they were doing "well" in society. They were just getting by. But the crippled beggar thinks they are baout to give him some money when they say, "We don't have any silver or gold, but we will give you what we can offer." And with that, they grabbed the man by the hands and lifted him to his feet and his crippled legs were immediately healed!
On the way to the prayer meeting, Peter and John see a crippled beggar asking for money. Now, Peter and John are Christians so they don't have any money. You see, at the time Christians had no power or influence and most everyone around them though they were crazy. It's not like they were doing "well" in society. They were just getting by. But the crippled beggar thinks they are baout to give him some money when they say, "We don't have any silver or gold, but we will give you what we can offer." And with that, they grabbed the man by the hands and lifted him to his feet and his crippled legs were immediately healed!
Here's another clue for us. The problem you see may not really be the problem. So this guy's problem was he needed money. That's why he was begging. But that wasn't the real problem, right? The real problem was his legs were crippled so he couldn't earn a living. If Peter and John gave him some money, it might solve the problem for today, but tomorrow he'd have the same problem again. So the surface problem wasn't the real problem. And the power of God enabled Peter and John to reach beyond the surface issue and solve the main problem--the disability. When you look at teh problems around you in your life and in the world, always remember, the problem you see may not be the real problem.
Well, this miracle got everyone's attention. The power of God had obviously healed the man. And people starting gathering around in the Temple. Peter see's the opportunity; he has everyone's attention. So, he begins to preach. What did he preach?
Acts 3:17-19
– “Friends, I
realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. 18 But
God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he
must suffer these things. 19 Now
repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.”
Peter preached and called out everyone's sin. He didn’t call for riots or a revolution to overthrow the government. He called for repentance and offered God’s forgiveness to the very people who helped crucify his Lord. This is the Christian message. It’s bold and it has changed the world for 2,000 years. It addressed the core problem in the human heart--the problem that leads to all the other dysfunctions in our life and in society.
Change doesn't happen overnight. Sometimes one human heart can be changed overnight, but it usually takes time for the world’s systems to change. The Temple authorities arrested Peter and John and threw them in jail. The next day, they were taken before the council.
Peter preached and called out everyone's sin. He didn’t call for riots or a revolution to overthrow the government. He called for repentance and offered God’s forgiveness to the very people who helped crucify his Lord. This is the Christian message. It’s bold and it has changed the world for 2,000 years. It addressed the core problem in the human heart--the problem that leads to all the other dysfunctions in our life and in society.
Change doesn't happen overnight. Sometimes one human heart can be changed overnight, but it usually takes time for the world’s systems to change. The Temple authorities arrested Peter and John and threw them in jail. The next day, they were taken before the council.
Acts 4:8-13 - 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit,
said to them, “Rulers and elders of our people, 9 are we
being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do
you want to know how he was healed? 10 Let
me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was
healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene,[a] the man you crucified but whom God raised from the
dead. 11 For Jesus is the
one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says,
‘The stone that you builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.’
has now become the cornerstone.’
12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other
name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
13 The members of the council were amazed when they saw the
boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with
no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had
been with Jesus.
Being Bold Made Us Great
These early Christians were bold and it made them
great. They were persecuted, had their
property seized, were arrested, sometimes tortured, and even killed. However, they would not back down. They continued to preach the Truth—that Jesus
was rejected and murdered by the authorities, but that God raised him from the
dead. They called people to repent of
their sin, turn from rejecting Christ, and worship Jesus as Lord. This is our heritage as Christians. It is full of bold, brave people who spoke the Truth and live for Jesus. It takes
being bold to be great.
I believe America is the greatest nation on earth right now. I'm proud to be an American. America was made great by bold, brave people. Our nation was settled by bold, brave people who left the old world behind to come start a new life in a new and unknown world. Our founding Fathers boldly fought a war to win independence from the most power army in the world at the time. Pioneers boldly traveled west to settle new lands—facing hardships and disease and danger and death. The greatest generation storming the beaches of Normandy against a hail of bullets to help defeat the evil of Nazi Germany. In the 1960s, astronauts risked their lives to take America to the moon—many lost their lives in the quest. At the same time, people were fighting for civil rights for black people and the end to segregation. These were costly, dangerous battles. People lost were beaten, thrown into prison, and others lost life and limb in the fight for equality.
I believe America is the greatest nation on earth right now. I'm proud to be an American. America was made great by bold, brave people. Our nation was settled by bold, brave people who left the old world behind to come start a new life in a new and unknown world. Our founding Fathers boldly fought a war to win independence from the most power army in the world at the time. Pioneers boldly traveled west to settle new lands—facing hardships and disease and danger and death. The greatest generation storming the beaches of Normandy against a hail of bullets to help defeat the evil of Nazi Germany. In the 1960s, astronauts risked their lives to take America to the moon—many lost their lives in the quest. At the same time, people were fighting for civil rights for black people and the end to segregation. These were costly, dangerous battles. People lost were beaten, thrown into prison, and others lost life and limb in the fight for equality.
These struggles required people to be bold and brave. And as they were it changed our world and helped make us great. I'm so grateful because their boldness helped me be a better person today.
Being bold made us great!
Boldness In Our Time
I see signs of boldness today as well. I see it in my wife as she goes to the hospital every day. I have known many people right now who are avoiding going to doctors and hospitals. Even if they have an illness or injury, they say, "I'm not going to the hospital! I might catch the virus!" Meanwhile, my wife puts her scrubs on every day to go to work at the hospital as a nurse. That's bold and brave.I see boldness in in my daughter too when she goes to work at Taco bell. She comes into contact with hundreds (if not thousands) of different people each day. And so many other young people, working mostly for minimum wage, are doing these jobs right now risking exposure at—grocery stores, restaurants, and other retail jobs because it's essential. I'm so proud of them. Aren't you glad our younger generation is being bold and brave? I am.
I see boldness in police officers risking their lives every day to protect and serve. 99% of cops took their job because they care about our community and want to keep everyone safe. They are there to protect and serve. But they also must put themselves in harms way to do it. They never know if they will encounter someone who will do something stupid and they won't be able to go home to their husband or wife and kids. But they care and so the are bold and brave. And this is especially true right now because in our current climate because of what we saw happen to George Floyd, everyone is suspicious of the police. However, these officers still go out and are bold and brave and work to keep our communities safe.
I can think of others too-firefighters, soldiers, and others that would be too many to list. What about you? Are you willing to be bold and brave?
We Need to Keep Being Bold and Brave
Unfortunately, right I also see a lot of fear in our community. This virus has got us all on edge. And the Word for you today is this: Jesus Power Helps You Be Bold. Jesus said in Luke 9:24, “If you try to hang
on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake,
you will save it.” If you hide in your
homes for the rest of your life trying to avoid COVID 19, is that really living
anyway? That’s a kind of living that’s
not really living at all.
Where would we be today if all our ancestors ever did was
play it safe and stay at home?
Fear is a
kind of thing that, if you’re not careful, will grow and grow and grow until it takes
over your whole life. Yes, there is
risk. There is risk in everything in
life. Just waking up and getting out of
bed holds risks. Staying in bed and
hiding from everyone is even more risky. When you worry and fret and let your fear control you, then you see
a demon under every rock and death in every breath. Fear paralyzes you and make you it's prisoner.
We've got to be bold and brave.
If my grandpa could build a bridge on a battlefield in WWII while German soldiers shot at him, then I guess I can manage to leave my house and face whatever dangers are out there today. Peter and John faced the council after being arrested and told them boldly to their face, “You murdered the Son of God and you need to repent.” I guess I can also be bold and tell people about Jesus today and say, “You aren’t living right and you need to repent.” Perhaps we can all be bold enough to say things like:
If you are doing something the Word of God calls sin, you need to stop arguing and pretending it’s OK. You need to repent.
If you are judging someone by the color of their skin, you need to repent. There is no ifs, ands, or buts about this—all people are created equal and deserve to be treated fairly. And if you find anything in your heart that makes you treat someone differently just because they don't look or sound like you, then you need to repent.
If you are a police officer that’s abusing your power, you need to repent and do better. If you are a good cop, but you see something going on in your police department that isn't right, you need to step up and say something and work for change.
If you are angry because you saw George Floyd murdered by and police oficer while people stood by unwilling or unable to help, I get it. But if you also are so angry that you want to pick up a rock and throw it through someone's window, or set a fire, or cause a riot you need to repent. If your anger makes you hate the police or white people or anyone you need to repent. Two wrongs will never ever make this thing right.
If you are a police officer that’s abusing your power, you need to repent and do better. If you are a good cop, but you see something going on in your police department that isn't right, you need to step up and say something and work for change.
If you are angry because you saw George Floyd murdered by and police oficer while people stood by unwilling or unable to help, I get it. But if you also are so angry that you want to pick up a rock and throw it through someone's window, or set a fire, or cause a riot you need to repent. If your anger makes you hate the police or white people or anyone you need to repent. Two wrongs will never ever make this thing right.
The love and grace and forgiveness Jesus is the answer to the real problem in the human heart. And His power is more than enough to change us, heal us, and bring His mighty Kingdom on earth. Is that what you really want? I hope so.
Be bold and brave.
