Boldness When Speaking out for Jesus Acts 3 & Acts 4
Notes
Transcript
What does boldness mean?
What does boldness mean?
Dictionary of Bible Themes 8202 boldness
Courage and confidence in approaching God and also other people.
When have you seen someone be bold?
When have you felt bold?
People who stand for Jesus need to be bold as well.
Following God requires us to be bold, but bold doesn’t come easy.
We need to pray for the courage to stand up for Jesus.
Today’s we will learn about Peter and John, two of Jesus’ disciples.
Peter had just healed a man that was lame, and they were speaking to the people who had see this. Acts 3:13-26
Acts 3:13–26 (ESV)
The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
“And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
The Sadducees came up to Peter and John.
Listen to Acts 4:2 and tell me what the Sadducees were feeling.
A: Annoyed
greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
The apostles are telling people how Jesus was raised from the dead and that they needed to repent from their sins.
The Sadducees were disturbed - probably thought once they put Jesus to death, they would have been rid of him.
After I read Acts 4:3 tell me what they did with Peter and John.
And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.
What did they do with Peter and John?
Put them in Jail
Since it was evening time the religious leaders decided to put Peter and John in jail until the next day. Then they would decide what to do to have these men stop teaching in the Name of Jesus.
Listen to Acts 4:4 and them be ready to say how many people have believed in Jesus after this event.
But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.
5,000
Peter and John were obeying Jesus’ command to tell others the Good News about Jesus and found themselves in jail for a night.
Were they bold? Yes
Peter knew without a doubt that Jesus was the Christ who had died for the sins of the whole world.
The next day Peter and John are brought before the religious leaders. They asked them questions.
What question did they ask in Acts 4:7?
And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”
“By what power or what name did you do this?
Peter was bold and told them in Acts 4:12 by what name he did the healing.
Read Acts 4:12
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Let’s see how the men react.
Read Acts 4:13
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
They talked about what to do with them and decided to let them go telling them to not talk about Jesus.
Do you think Peter and John became cowards and quit talking about Jesus?
No, Peter and John returned to the other believers, they prayed that God would make them all bold.
Read Acts 4:29
And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,
Listen to how God responded and tell me 2 things God did!
Read Acts 4:31
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.
Shaking the room and filing each person with the Holy Spirit
God heard their prayer, and he made them bold.
If you haven’t come across someone who doesn’t believe in Jesus, you will.
Someday, each of you will encounter people who do not believe in Jesus.
Some will simply tell you they don’t believe, or others will make fun of you.
What will you do?
It’s going to take a bold heart to stand up for Jesus.
That’s why you need to pray for boldness.
God wants you to ask for strength, for courage, for fearlessness.
Before Jesus returned to Heaven, he gave a command to all who believe in him.
He told us to go and preach the gospel to everyone.
Will you be that bold?
Will you take the good news of Jesus to your school, to the playground, to your friends, to your basketball practice?
Be strong. Pray that Jesus will send his Spirit to make you bold.
He will not let you down, and he will use you to spread the good news.
Have them think of someone who need Jesus.
*could have them silently pray to themselves to be bold.
Prayer
Dear God,
Make us bold and brave so that we can make a stand for you.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen