9/9/2026

Wednesday Night Service

1. A hard heart rejects the truth it cannot answer

2. A Spirit-filled life looks like Jesus under pressure

3. God turns scattered believers into gospel seed

What part of Stephen’s story is hardest for you to understand or accept?

Why do you think the religious leaders became so angry that they literally refused to listen to Stephen? Where do you see people doing that today?

Stephen was faithful to God, and things still went terribly for him. How does that challenge the way we sometimes think about God’s blessing?

If you had been standing there watching Stephen being stoned, what questions would you have had for God?

Stephen asks Jesus to forgive the people killing him. Be practical: what makes forgiving someone who has genuinely hurt you so difficult?

Which is harder for you personally: trusting that God is good when life hurts, or trusting that God is in control when life does not make sense? Why?

The church mourned Stephen deeply. Why do Christians sometimes feel like they have to hurry people through grief instead of simply letting them grieve?

PRAYER SERVICE

Acts 7:54–8:4

Tonight, we are going to pray through the passage we heard Sunday in Acts 7:54 through Acts 8:4.

This is not an easy passage. Stephen is faithful. Stephen is filled with the Holy Spirit. Stephen tells the truth. And Stephen is killed for it.

Then persecution breaks out against the church.

But that is not the end of the story.

What looks like defeat becomes the means God uses to move the gospel beyond Jerusalem. The believers are scattered, and everywhere they go, they preach the Word.

So tonight, we are going to allow this passage to direct our praying.

We will pray upward, downward, inward, outward, and then finish with thanksgiving.

UPWARD

LOOKING TO GOD

Acts 7:55 says:

“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.”

Before Stephen looks at the people around him, he looks toward heaven.

Think about everything happening around him.

People are furious with him.

They are grinding their teeth.

They are about to drag him outside the city and kill him.

And yet Luke directs our attention away from the angry crowd and toward heaven.

Stephen sees the glory of God.

He sees Jesus.

That is where I want us to begin tonight.

Before we pray about our problems, our needs, our church, our families, or anything else, let's simply look upward.

Let's worship God for who He is.

Pray aloud tonight and praise God because:

He is sovereign.

He is holy.

He is faithful.

He is present with His people.

Jesus is alive and reigning.

Jesus sees His people when they suffer.

Nothing happening on earth removes Christ from His throne.

Don't ask Him for anything yet.

Just worship Him.

Let's pray upward.

Let us pray.

[Allow several minutes of congregational prayer.]

DOWNWARD

SUBMITTING TO WHAT GOD HAS SAID

Acts 7:59–60 says:

“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.’”

Stephen does not get to choose his circumstances.

But he does choose how he will respond to Christ in those circumstances.

He places himself completely into the hands of Jesus.

“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

That is surrender.

Sometimes we are willing to follow Jesus as long as following Jesus takes us where we already wanted to go.

But following Christ means surrendering our plans, our expectations, our comfort, and even our understanding of how things should turn out.

So now let's pray downward.

Let's bring ourselves under the authority and will of God.

Ask Him:

“Lord, where am I resisting You?”

“Where am I demanding my way instead of trusting Yours?”

“What have You already told me to do that I have delayed doing?”

“Where have I allowed my circumstances to determine whether I believe You are good?”

Maybe there is something tonight you simply need to place back into His hands.

Your family.

Your future.

Your health.

Your plans.

Your finances.

A relationship.

Something happening in our church.

Something you cannot fix.

Whatever it is, pray:

“Lord, I trust You with this.”

Take a few moments and surrender yourself again to the will of God.

Let us pray.

[Allow time for quiet prayer followed by congregational prayer.]

INWARD

ASKING GOD TO CHANGE US

There is something remarkable about Stephen's final prayer.

The rocks are coming from their hands.

Grace is coming from his mouth.

Stephen prays:

“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

That sounds familiar because Stephen has become so much like Jesus that when pressure crushes him, Jesus comes out.

When Jesus was crucified, He prayed for the people crucifying Him.

Now Stephen does the same thing.

That raises a difficult question for us:

What comes out of me when life hurts?

When I am criticized?

When somebody treats me unfairly?

When I do not get my way?

When somebody wounds me?

When I am disappointed?

Pressure has a way of revealing what is already in our hearts.

So now we pray inward.

Ask the Holy Spirit to search you.

Maybe there is bitterness that needs to be surrendered.

Maybe there is someone you have refused to forgive.

Maybe fear has begun controlling you.

Maybe anger has taken root.

Maybe disappointment has slowly become distrust of God.

Maybe your faith has become comfortable and safe.

Pray:

“Holy Spirit, make me more like Jesus.”

“Change what needs to change in me.”

“Teach me to forgive as I have been forgiven.”

“Give me faith when I cannot understand what You are doing.”

“Let Jesus come out of me when life puts pressure on me.”

Take a moment personally before the Lord.

Let us pray.

[Pause for personal prayer. Then invite several people to pray aloud.]

OUTWARD

PRAYING BEYOND OURSELVES

Acts 8:1 says that persecution scattered the believers throughout Judea and Samaria.

Then Acts 8:4 says:

“Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.”

The enemy intended to silence the church.

Instead, the gospel spread.

The believers were scattered, but wherever they went, they carried Jesus with them.

And notice who did it.

These were not simply the apostles.

These were ordinary believers.

God took ordinary Christians and placed them in new places, and they carried the gospel with them.

Now our praying turns outward.

First, let's pray for the people represented in this room.

There are burdens here tonight that many of us know nothing about.

Families are carrying things.

People are waiting on answers.

People are grieving.

People are dealing with sickness.

People are worried about children and grandchildren.

People need wisdom.

Let's pray for one another.

[Use the church prayer list here. Invite specific prayers for needs represented.]

Let us pray.

[Prayer.]

Now let's pray for Cedar Bay Baptist Church.

Ask God to make us a church that refuses to exist only for ourselves.

Pray that:

We would remain faithful to Scripture.

We would be united around the gospel.

God would raise up disciples who make disciples.

Every member would recognize that God can use them.

Our ministries would reach people rather than simply maintain programs.

We would have courage to follow God wherever He leads.

Our children and students would grow into men and women who live boldly for Christ.

God would continue bringing people to salvation and baptism.

We would never become comfortable simply gathering when Jesus has commanded us to go.

Let us pray for our church.

[Prayer.]

Finally, let's pray for the people God has scattered us among.

Tomorrow morning, most of us will scatter.

We will go to work.

We will go to school.

We will go into neighborhoods.

We will sit with family members.

We will walk into stores.

We will talk with people who may never walk through the doors of this church.

That is not an interruption to the mission.

That is the mission.

Ask God to put one person on your heart tonight.

Someone who needs Jesus.

Someone who is far from God.

Someone you can encourage.

Someone you can invite.

Someone with whom you need to have a gospel conversation.

And pray:

“Lord, make me aware of the people You have placed around me.”

“Give me courage when the opportunity comes.”

“Open doors for the gospel.”

“Use ordinary people like us to make Jesus known.”

Let us pray.

[Allow congregational prayer.]

THANKSGIVING

REMEMBERING WHAT GOD HAS DONE

We finish tonight with thanksgiving.

Because Acts 7 looks like a tragedy.

Stephen dies.

Acts 8 begins with persecution.

Homes are being entered.

Christians are being arrested.

The church is scattered.

And yet God is still working.

The gospel moves into Judea.

The gospel moves into Samaria.

And standing there watching Stephen die is a young man named Saul.

At this moment he is approving Stephen's death.

Soon he will be ravaging the church.

And before long, Jesus is going to save him.

The man trying to destroy the gospel will become one of the greatest missionaries the world has ever known.

So there is plenty for us to thank God for tonight.

Thank Him that:

Jesus is alive.

Jesus reigns.

Our salvation is secure.

Our sins are forgiven.

God hears His people.

God is present in suffering.

God can redeem what we cannot understand.

God can save people we think are too far gone.

God uses ordinary believers.

The gospel cannot be stopped.

The church belongs to Jesus.

And one day every believer will see the same Christ Stephen saw.

Let's fill this room with thanksgiving.

Don't ask God for anything in these final moments.

Simply thank Him.

Let us pray.

[Allow the congregation to pray prayers of thanksgiving aloud.]

CLOSING PRAYER

Father, we thank You that You are faithful when life makes sense and when it does not.

Thank You that Jesus is alive, reigning, and standing with His people.

Thank You for the example of Stephen, a man so filled with Your Spirit that even in suffering he looked like Jesus.

Give us that kind of faith.

Teach us to trust You when we cannot see what You are doing.

Remove bitterness from us.

Teach us to forgive.

Make us sensitive to Your Spirit.

And when You scatter us from this place tonight, remind us that we are being sent into homes, neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and relationships where You have already placed people who need the gospel.

Use Cedar Bay Baptist Church.

Use every member.

Use our joys.

Use our suffering.

Use our successes.

Use our disappointments.

Use whatever You choose for the glory of Jesus and the advancement of the gospel.

And give us confidence that what You have begun, no opposition in this world can stop.

We pray all of this in the name of Jesus.

Amen.