"Fearless Service"

Less than fearless

John 18:15 ESV

Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest,

John 18:16 ESV

but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in.

John 18:17 ESV

The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.”

John 18:18 ESV

Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

John 18:25 ESV

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”

John 18:26 ESV

One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?”

John 18:27 ESV

Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.

Later that same year

Acts 5:25 ESV

And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.”

Acts 5:26 ESV

Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

Acts 5:27 ESV

And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them,

Acts 5:28 ESV

saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”

Acts 5:29 ESV

But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

Acts 5:30 ESV

The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.

Acts 5:31 ESV

God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

Acts 5:32 ESV

And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

The mechanics of a zero to hero transformation:

You can’t walk on water if you never get out of the boat.

Let’s back up a bit

Acts 4:13 HCSB

When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus.

“…they were amazed and recognized they had been with Jesus.”

Acts 4:14 HCSB

And since they saw the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in response.

Acts 4:15 HCSB

After they had ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin, they conferred among themselves,

Acts 4:16 HCSB

saying, “What should we do with these men? For an obvious sign, evident to all who live in Jerusalem, has been done through them, and we cannot deny it!

Acts 4:17 ESV

But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.”

Acts 4:18 HCSB

So they called for them and ordered them not to preach or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

Acts 4:19 HCSB

But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it’s right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide;

Acts 4:20 HCSB

for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Acts 4:21 ESV

And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened.

Acts 4:23 HCSB

After they were released, they went to their own people and reported everything the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

Acts 4:24 HCSB

When they heard this, they all raised their voices to God and said, “Master, You are the One who made the heaven, the earth, and the sea, and everything in them.

Acts 4:25 HCSB

You said through the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David Your servant: Why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples plot futile things?

Acts 4:26 HCSB

The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers assembled together against the Lord and against His Messiah.

Acts 4:27 HCSB

“For, in fact, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed,

Acts 4:28 HCSB

to do whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place.

Acts 4:29 HCSB

And now, Lord, consider their threats, and grant that Your slaves may speak Your message with complete boldness,

The Holman Christian Standard Bible

The strong Greek word doulos cannot be accurately translated in English as servant or bond servant; the HCSB translates this word as slave, not out of insensitivity to the legitimate concerns of modern English speakers, but out of a commitment to accurately convey the brutal reality of the Roman empire’s inhumane institution as well as the ownership called for by Christ.

Acts 4:30 HCSB

while You stretch out Your hand for healing, signs, and wonders to be performed through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”

Acts 4:31 ESV

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.

- Work out your salvation...

Philippians 2:12–13 HCSB

So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose.

1. What (Who) you have - give

Acts 3:6 HCSB

But Peter said, “I don’t have silver or gold, but what I have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”

2. Share the inspiration

3. Lean in

Praise

Pray

Bow (slave - doulos)

Beseech (ask for boldness)

4. Keep your focus - it never stops being about...

Jesus

5. Be the proof

Jesus every time we meet

Hebrews 12:1 HCSB

Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us,

Hebrews 12:2 HCSB

keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.