Dig Deeper - Sunday 28th June
Sermon Reflection Questions - Courage for the Journey: Courage to Speak about Jesus
Acts 4
Link to service
Dig Deeper notes from Sunday 28th June service:
This passage, what’s happening takes place not long after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
In Acts 3 Peter and John were in the temple where they pass a man who had been lame since birth. In response to a request for money Peter heals the man in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. This contravenes some of the Saduccees rules so they put them in jail overnight. No doubt they thought that a night in jail would curb their enthusiasm for speaking about Jesus.
Hauled in front of the rulers in the Sanhedrin (council), when faced with this show of strength, they thought that they would meekly submit to the wishes of the officials. Not so however as Peter explains that the lame man has been healed by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. They don’t stop there, because he points out that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the very same man that they had crucified but God had raised from the dead.
Read verse 13 onwards and you get the sense that the council are stunned. They can’t understand how fishermen can speak in this way until they remembered that they had been with Jesus. If you look at v14 you’ll see that, as well as Peter and John in front of the officials, there is also the man who has been healed and can now walk again standing there. The evidence is staring them in the face! With the evidence of the healed man in front of them and the 5000 plus new believers outside, Peter and John speak about Jesus to them.
Not knowing what to do they usher them out of the room so that they can confer. (v15,16). They decide to command Peter and John not to speak in Jesus’ name any more. (v18)
It doesn’t stop there as Peter and John know that Jesus Christ is God’s only Son and they know he has commanded them to speak in his name, so they ask the Sanhedrin to judge on whether it is right to obey what God has commanded them or rather to obey them and keep quiet. In the end the Sanhedrin are stumped and unable to come up with a suitable punishment. So, they try some bully boy tactics and threaten them again before letting them go.
So in this passage we see that courage to speak about Jesus is based on three things. First of all it’s because the disciples were Filled with the Holy Spirit (v8). Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise as Jesus had promised his disciples when they were still in training with him. This is Luke chapter 11 verses 11,12.
11 “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”
We also see that courage to speak about Jesus is Fuelled by Prayer. (vv 24- 30). After Peter and John had briefed their fellow Christians about what happened, they naturally turn to praise God in prayer. It probably follows on from their prayers for them while they were in prison overnight. Notice in verse 29 they don’t pray for safety, but ask to be equipped to speak about Jesus with great boldness.
Then thirdly we see courage to speak about Jesus comes from being Fed by Scripture. In the middle of this prayer, they look back to Genesis and the account of creation and the sovereignty of God. Then they also look back to Psalms, which foretells that ‘Rulers band together against the Lord’. They knew what scripture said; they were guided by what it said and that gave them courage.
Questions for reflection and discussion.
1. Have you heard of Christians in the UK being told not to speak about Jesus? What were the circumstances that gave rise to them?
2. What kind of pressures do we face that hold us back from speaking about Jesus?
3. Reflect on a time when you had the opportunity to speak about Jesus but did not do so. What might you do differently in similar circumstances again? How can you spot a situation where keeping quiet is the right thing to do?
4. In this passage we see that the Christians were filled by the Holy Spirit, fuelled by prayer and fed by scripture. How do we see these things helping to us speak about Jesus?
5. Consider taking practical steps to prepare yourself with answers to questions about why we are Christians. The following statements are suggestions.
‘I find Christianity gives a real sense of meaning to life’.
I find Christianity gives me hope when the world around me has no hope.
I find Christianity makes sense of the world we live in.
Christianity gives me a relationship with God that you can’t get in any other way.
6. You could also consider adapting something like this as a more comprehensive response. ‘I look at the complex design of the universe and life on our planet and can’t accept it happened by accident. I believe that there must be a God behind it and then I find that the bible explains that there is a creator God and how we can have a relationship with him.’
Prayer.
Father God, you have called us to be your ambassadors here on earth and speak about you to those around us. Fill us with your Holy Spirit so that we may know the right time to speak or keep quiet and help us with the best words to use in your name. Support us through prayer and may our foundation be based on your word in scripture Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
