Change Your World…with Courage
Change Your World
Change Your World…with Courage
1. Courage is rooted in Character
5 “This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit…”
Acts 6:5 NIV
2. Courage is revealed by Conviction
Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)-Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.
Acts 6:8-10 NIV
To this he replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me!”
Acts 7:2 NIV
3. Courage reflects Christ
57 Then they put their hands over their ears, and drowning out his voice with their shouts, they rushed at him. 58 They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. The official witnesses took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they stoned him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60 And he fell to his knees, shouting, "Lord, don't charge them with this sin!" And with that, he died.
Acts 7:57-60 NLT
Changing Your World
It takes courage to change your world.
Intro:
Welcome: comments about marathon…
Good news: I finished…bad news: I couldn’t walk for a couple of days!!
The youth group was there to encourage me around mile 17 or 18…what a great encouragement…
Sponsors…Thanks…we raised over 1,700 dollars for the Stow Baptist Center…for youth Christmas gifts!!
I’ve been going through a Series of messages this month called Change Your World…
We’ve discovered so far You can Change Your World…
…Through prayer: 30 day prayer challenge…
…Through encouragement…
Last week Pastor Brian…through the gospel…
Today…
You can change your world…with courage
What is courage?
What does it look like?
Wizard of Oz…cowardly lion
I want to show you a picture from Scripture what courage looks like and how it can change the world.
Acts 6 & 7 we are introduced to a man named Stephen.
Stephen’s life is easily outlined:
1. Stephen selected
2. Stephen seized
3. Stephen’s speech
4. Stephen stoned
He was chosen as one of the first deacons in the early church….and he ends up changing his world because of courage.
As we look at his story in Acts 6 and 7 we discover what courage looks like…and the results of courage…
Change Your World…with Courage
1. Courage is rooted in character
In Acts 6 the apostles told the congregation to select seven men who were known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom who could deal with a problem in the church (Grecian widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.)
The problem was so serious it could have divided the church.
The future and testimony of the gospel was at stake.
Therefore, key men were to be selected to take care of the problem…men of character.
Stephen was one of those chosen.
Notice how he is described in Acts 6:5…
“This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit…”
Acts 6:5 NIV
Stephen was full of faith…
Full of faith means he believed God completely…willing to empty himself so that Christ could have compete reign.
To be Full of the Spirit means to be live under the Spirit’s control and be empowered with God’s power for God’s purposes.
He had opened his interior life to God and as a result he had developed into a man of character.
There is a children’s song that we sing to our kids…
Deep and wide, Deep and wide there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide
Deep and wide, Deep and wide there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide
One more time with the motions…
Deep and wide, Deep and wide there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide
Deep and wide, Deep and wide there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide
There is a profound truth in that simple song…
God will only take you as wide as you are willing to go deep.
If you will go deep with God…He will take care of the width of your life…the opportunities, influence and impact of your life
We don’t want to end up a mile wide and an inch deep…
Stephen was deep in terms of character…and God was able to use him widely…
A man took his young daughter to a carnival, and she immediately ran over to a booth and asked for cotton candy.
As the attendant handed her a huge ball of it, the father asked, “Sweetheart, are you sure you can eat all that?”
“Don’t worry, Dad,” she answered, “I’m a lot bigger on the inside than on the outside.”
That’s what real character is—being bigger on the on inside.
Work on the inside…
Character is what you are when no one is watching.
Character is developed by two small words—yes and no.
We have no control over a lot of thing sin life.
We don’t get to choose our parents.
We don’t select the location or circumstances of our birth and upbringing.
We don’t get to pick our talents or IQ.
But we do choose our character.
In fact we create it every time we make choices…
Stephen…
[Other Character quotes…Zingers p15.ff]
Change Your World…with Courage
2. Courage is revealed in conviction
As we continue to look at Stephen’s life we see that he is a man of conviction.
In Acts 6:8-10 we read…
Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)-Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.
Acts 6:8-10 NIV
Stephen’s ministry for God goes beyond serving the needs of the widows…he begins to step up for God in other ways
As God fills him…he does great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.
The religious people begin to argue with him…but they can’t stand up to Stephen….
Stephen was on trial for his life. The charges had been made: he was accused of insurrection, of preaching that the sacred institutions of the nation were to be destroyed, that is, the land, the temple, the law, and the customs (Acts 7:11-15).
The Jews treated Stephen the way they treated Christ: they hired false witnesses, made dubious accusations, and did not give him the benefit of a fair trial.
At this point Stephen had choice: he could back down or he could stand up and share his godly convictions.
It was the moment of truth…
Acts 6:15 says his face was the like the face of an angel…as he prepared to respond…
Let’s Read Acts 7:1-2…
Then the high priest asked him, "Are these charges true?" To this he replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me!
Acts 7:1-2 NIV
Stephen defended himself by reviewing Israel's history and making the following points in v. 2 – v. 53...
1. The nation and its sacred institutions (the land, the law, and the temple) were being destroyed, but not by Christ.
They were being destroyed by the people themselves.
From the beginning they had always misunderstood and rejected God's plan.
2. God loved Israel—He loved Israel so much that in every instance of misunderstanding and rejection, He had worked out a deliverance.
3. God's final plan of deliverance was Jesus Christ, His own Son.
But as in the past, the present generation had misunderstood and rejected Him.
Stephen’s Conviction: pointed them to Jesus…You need to turn to Jesus ….he wouldn’t back down…
A 19th century circuit-riding preacher named Peter Cartwright was preparing to deliver a sermon one Sunday when he was warned that President Andrew Jackson was in attendance, and he was asked to keep his remarks inoffensive.
During that message, he included these statements: “I have that Andrew Jackson is in this congregation. And I have been asked to guard my remarks.
What I must say is that Andrew Jackson will go to hell if he doesn’t repent of his sin.”
After the sermon, Jackson strode up to Cartwright.
“Sir,” the president said, “if I had a regiment of men like you, I could whip the world.”
Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. declared, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
Michelangelo’s conviction…God will see
Maxwell p.17 ff
Change Your World…with Courage
3. Courage reflects Christ
As a result of Stephen’s sermon notice what happened…
Acts 7:57-60 describes it this way…
57 Then they put their hands over their ears, and drowning out his voice with their shouts, they rushed at him. 58 They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. The official witnesses took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they stoned him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60 And he fell to his knees, shouting, "Lord, don't charge them with this sin!" And with that, he died.
Acts 7:57-60 NLT
As they were in the process of stoning Stephen, he made two fascinating statements, both reminiscent of Christ’s words on the cross.
The first, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” is similar to Christ’s final words in Luke 23:46 (in some manuscripts).
The second is a word of forgiveness: “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!”
Stephen had obviously learned from his Master some important lessons about how to live and how to die.
You see, it is easy to sing about Jesus and talk about Jesus and love Jesus when everything in our lives is going great…
What is your response when you feel the heat…and life gets tough!!
Many times we get bitter instead of better…
We get negative instead of positive…
We discourage instead of encourage…
We hold onto resentment instead of reconciling…
Someone has said our lives are like a tube of toothpaste…when squeezed, whatever is on the inside is going to come out!!
When you are squeezed do you resemble Jesus?
We look at Stephen’s life on the surface and maybe we admire his courage…but we come away thinking…Yeah, but in the end he died!
In the words of Braveheart, William Wallace, “Every man dies, but not every man lives.”
Billy Graham said “Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened.”
CHART: THE EFFECTS OF STEPHEN’S DEATH
Stephen’s death was not in vain.
Some of the events that were by-products (either directly or indirectly) of the persecution that began with Stephen’s martyrdom:
1. Philip’s evangelistic tour (Acts 8:4-40)
2. Paul’s (Saul’s) conversion (Acts 9:1-30)
3. Peter’s missionary tour (Acts 9:32-11:18)
4. The church in Antioch in Syria founded (Acts 11:19-26)
You can change your world with courage…
The movie Amazing Grace was released this year to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in Great Britain.
It is a film depicting the life of the man who championed the cause even when supporters were few: William Wilberforce.
Despite fierce opposition from members of Parliament who were in league with plantation owners and slavers, Wilberforce persevered.
He was aided in his quest by longtime friends William Pitt the Younger and John Newton, former slave-ship captain turned evangelical preacher.
A moving film, Amazing Grace illustrates that God can and will change our world through courageous followers of Christ.
Watch this…
[Amazing Grace trailer]
How does God want to Change your world?
Your marriage?
Your job?
Your family?
Your relationship to Christ?
Your church?
It will take courage…
British Theologian John Henry Newman said, “Fear not that your life will come to an end but that it will never have a beginning.”