 Good morning, Radiant Church. Good to be with you, good to see you. My name's John, the Campus Pastor here. They're rich in location and I want to say hello to Portage, who's joining us and people online. Good to see you, well, not see you, but know that you're there. And triple bonus points for everyone in the room because it's a holiday weekend. So give yourselves a round of applause. There you go, come on, love it. And the holiday pastor is speaking, so I mean, all things are righted in the universe, so it's good. And I'm honored to be here and to be sharing. And as Sarah said, next week we kick off our series on Heroes and it's gonna be so good. And Pastor Lee will be back to kick that off. And he is actually with Jane and in Bay Harbor, Michigan, they're ministering at a church up there. They kind of make it a vacation too, so good. He needs some downtime. If you've not been here the last three weeks, he has done a just incredibly masterful job of fielding red hot questions where people asked about theology and sexuality and things in culture. And people always say to me, does he really not know the questions? And I'm telling you, he doesn't know them ahead of time. He answers them on the spot and it's just a testament not only to his incredible knowledge, but his heart to pastor and minister to people. So I just wanna give it up for Pastor Lee Cummings, who did such a fantastic job during red hot. And if you were expecting more red hot this week, I apologize, that's not happening, but I am gonna start with a lukewarm question. It's a theological question in some ways. It's also going to help a Facebook debate feud even that I've been in. So I am gonna answer one question. I think it's gonna be on there. It's Betty from Richland. She says, isn't it true that even the Lord thinks black licorice is disgusting? And that some scholars believe it was almost used as one of the plagues on Egypt so that they would let God's people go. Yes, Betty, that is true. The Lord does not like black licorice. So there you go. I'm sorry if you are in here and love it. I'm Dutch. I know I should like black licorice, but I was redeemed from that curse. Raise your hand seriously. And here, and at Portage, if you think black licorice should not be considered candy, it's gross. Thank you. Yes, that's a massive majority. And if you think it should, don't even raise your hand. We're just gonna pray for you. I envision the person who came up with black licorice having this idea. What would happen if I just poured kerosene on all these rubber bands and told people it's candy? That's what I think. So there you go. I hope that blessed you. Tune in for more lukewarm next week. I'm just kidding. We should pray or something, right? Bring the Lord back into this. Yeah, let's pray. If you brought your Bibles, you can turn to two places. Proverbs chapter 28 in your Old Testament and Acts chapter four in your New Testament. And as you do that, I'm just gonna pray. Father, we are so honored to be in your presence. God, we're shipping the king of kings and the Lord of lords. Father, lifting high the name of Jesus. And now God, as your word is proclaimed, I ask that you would illuminate your word into our hearts, into our lives. You said that the grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of the Lord endures forever. So God, let your word come alive in our hearts. Minister to us, speak to us, admonish us, encourage us in every way that we need by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name, everyone said, amen. So this message is called boldness. It's what we call a one-off or a standalone because we're starting a series next week. And I just want to talk to us today about the idea of spiritual boldness in our lives. What does that look like for us as Christians to be bold in our faith? Proverbs chapter 28, if you turn there, I'm just gonna say one verse, but it says this, that the wicked they flee, even when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are as bold as a lion. And what the writer of Proverbs is saying is that there is a distinct or a market difference between how a non-believer views boldness and how a believer does. That this idea that we are called as Christians to be bold. That we're not supposed to live in fear. We're not supposed to live in apathy. We're not supposed to put our kind of head in the sand like an ostrich and just hope everything's gonna be okay. We're called to live bold Christian lives for Jesus. And I wanna talk about what that looks like today. I'm gonna give you a definition of boldness. I'm not sure this is like straight from Webster's, but this is what I want you to know from a spiritual standpoint. Boldness is the courage to act or speak fearlessly despite real or even imagined dangers. It's the courage to act and to speak fearlessly or boldly even in the midst of fear or danger or some sort of repercussion. So when we talk about boldness, it's not the absence of fear. It's not this idea that I don't have any trepidation or I'm never afraid. No, it's supernatural empowerment by the Holy Spirit to be bold, speak bold and live bold even in spite of our fears. That's what supernatural boldness is. And I'm here to tell you that today in 2019, it's as needed as it's ever been in the history of the world is for Christians to be bold. You are not here to sit on the sidelines. You are not created to just hunker down and sort of hope for the best and wait for Jesus to come to rescue us. That's not the mandate for Christians. It's to rise up, it's to be bold. It's Isaiah 60 that says the glory of the Lord is upon us. So what do we do? We arise and we shine into the dark and broken places of our world. And so you look at our society, you look at political unrest, you look at the division in our nation, racially, socially, economically. You look at the, I mean, you look at things like abortion. We're trying to determine when a baby is gonna be a baby. We're looking at things like sexuality and marriage and what are going to be the directions that we move as a country. And I'm telling you that this very much is like the frog in the boiling pot of water where you just kind of turn it up a few degrees at a time and he doesn't even really know what's happening. And I feel like there's a spiritual slumber that's coming upon our nation, even the churches that's causing us to go into a sleeping state of mind as Christians and we don't even really realize the battle that's going on around us. We're not even really aware of how incredibly important the times that we live in are for us as Christians to be bold in our witness, bold in our obedience and bold in our prayers because the world needs us. The world literally needs us to be bold. And so I wanna talk about that today. What does that mean? And so the book of Acts, if you're there in chapter four, if you've not read it, is a book that is absolutely incredible. I read it, I try to read it a couple of times a year, but I read it through before this message and it's why I wanted to preach this message. Because I am just inspired and I am just convicted and I just have this spiritual hunger. Every time I read the book of Acts, because of all that is happening in the midst of believers, even in the face of persecution. And so Acts comes right after the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, you hear about Jesus and his time on earth and then Acts starts off with Jesus ascending into heaven, like in front of his disciples. So it's like by Jesus, like up into the clouds and then the Holy Spirit descends, Acts one, verse eight. He says, wait for the power of the Holy Spirit. And then in chapter two, there's the upper room, the day of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit falls on the 120 that are there. And then in Acts chapter three, there's miraculous healings and breakthroughs of God's power that happen in the lives of people. And then all throughout it, you see unbelievable acts of miracles, healings, demon possessed people being set free. You see supernatural unity in the church, supernatural generosity within the church. You see in Acts chapter five, two people die for lying about their offering. We won't preach on that today, they just dropped dead. That's crazy. And then you move on and you see the power of God just at work in people and you see dramatic conversions. Saul becomes Paul in Acts nine when he has the road to Damascus experience. And then dreams and visions that Cornelius and other people have about Paul and God connects all the dots with that. And then Paul on his missionary journeys, bringing the gospel to the Gentiles. And then you see riots, imprisonment. Stephen is the first martyr. He gets stoned and killed for his faith. And then you see shipwrecks. You see snake bites, book burnings, riots. I mean, there's all of this that's happening in the book of Acts, but at the end of the day, boldness is the constant theme throughout the entire book. People of God operating in supernatural boldness. And because of that, miraculous signs and wonders are following the people of God. And so that's what I wanna talk about today. What does that mean for us? Is that something that's only available 2,000 years ago? And now we just kind of check a box and go to church and live our lives, but let's not get too crazy and let's not get too bold or too excited. I'm here to hopefully convince you and convict you and myself as well that we are called to live out our faith with supernatural boldness, just as the apostles did 2,000 years ago. So in Acts chapter four, we're gonna look at three ways that boldness was identified in the lives of Peter and John, just in one chapter. Bold in their witness, bold in their obedience and bold in their prayer. So let me just set this up for you before we read in chapter four. In chapter three, Peter and John are going to the temple to pray as they often did. And there's a man who has been lame or crippled from birth, so he's never walked. His feet are all crooked, he can't walk on his own and literally people pick him up and place him at the gate called beautiful, which leads to the temple so that he can beg for alms and for money. And that's been his entire existence as an adult is just begging for people to give him something. And so he's there, Peter and John are walking to the temple and Peter makes eye contact with this man and he says, look at me. And so the man draws his attention, assuming he's gonna give him something, some money. And Peter looks at this man in chapter three and he says, silver and gold, do I not have? But what I have, I give to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, get up and walk and instantly this man's healed. Instantly his feet that have been crooked their entire lives go straight. His ankles are strengthened and he gets up for the first time in 40 years on his own power, on his own legs, under his own admission. And of course he wasn't like, hey, thanks a lot. See you guys later. No, he's freaking out. He's screaming, he's jumping, he's exclaiming the goodness of God. He's following Peter and John everywhere. He won't let them out of his sight. Maybe he's thinking, I gotta make sure this really lasts. So keep these guys around. And it causes a huge commotion. And so people are looking at this man and they recognize him as the beggar who's been doing this for so long. And yet he's walking and he's jumping and he's praising God. And so Peter takes that moment to draw them all together, a huge massive crowd. And he says, men and women of Jerusalem, listen, maybe you think this happened because of our power or our goodness. No, I'm here to tell you that this man walks and this man is before you healed because of the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified but God raised from the dead. He starts preaching the gospel to these people. They get saved. There's miraculous breakthrough. There's rendering of hearts. There's repentance all in this moment in the first three chapters. And then we wanna pick it up in chapter four. So if you brought your Bibles, let's read together. That's what just happened and now we start in chapter four. And it says, and as they were speaking to the people, so this is Peter preaching, the priests and the captains of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them greatly annoyed. How many of you know? Church leaders should be greatly annoyed when people are healed, saved and delivered, right? I mean, how annoying that a guy who couldn't walk for 40 years can now, right? And it's because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead and they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed and the number of the men came out about 5,000. So that's the revival we're seeing in the book of Acts. And the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem with Annas, the high priests and Caiaphas and John and Alexander and all who are of the high priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired by what power or by what name do you do this? So I want you to know, he's preaching, God's moving in the hearts of people, they get arrested for it. The next day, they're before Caiaphas, the before Annas and the high priests, Alexander and John. So they're being interrogated basically and they're asking Peter by what power, by whose name are you doing these things? And remember, this is the same Peter who denied Jesus three times, who was asked by a teenage girl around a campfire if he knew Jesus and he said, no, he denied him. I don't know what you're talking about. All the other disciples left Jesus and look what he says, verse eight. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers of the people and elders, if we're being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, then by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that it's by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, but has become the chief cornerstone 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. Is that a bold witness or what? It's insane. He says, okay, you wanna know what happened? I'm gonna tell you, filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter had supernatural boldness in this moment. Verse 13 says, now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and they perceived that they were uneducated, common and they were astonished and they recognized that they had been with Jesus. Bold witness. Peter stood up in the face of persecution and it says, the Holy Spirit filled him and he said, listen to me elders and rulers, I'm gonna tell you exactly why this man was healed. If we're under trial for somebody getting set free and walking, if that annoys you, I'm sorry, but it's by the power of Jesus Christ and this insane boldness overcame Peter in the moment and the question becomes, how does that translate to us today? How did he go from this cowering, scared disciple to this fire-breathing, devil-stomping person to just a few chapters later in the Bible? And we're gonna talk about what that is but what I wanna say first is, what does it look like for us to be bold witnesses for who God is and what he's done? I feel like many times as Christians, we wanna come to church, we want to sort of be a part of what God's doing but then we compartmentalize and sort of leave it there and we don't, we're not bold, let's be honest in our witness. When it comes to people we work with, people we go to school with, maybe people in our family and why is that? I understand why it is. Many times it's because we think, well, I don't know enough. I might share my faith more readily but what if they ask a question I can't answer? I'm not the red-hot guy, I don't have all the answers or I don't wanna be seen as pushy or confrontational or I don't wanna look bad, I don't wanna be rejected, I don't wanna, it's uncomfortable and I get it. I feel the same way I'm telling you just because I'm a pastor doesn't mean I wake up with the Bible hovering over me in the morning and I'm filled with supernatural boldness. I get it but at the end of the day, all of those, the root of all of those is fear. It's fear, fear of man, fear of rejection, fear of not being able to articulate or be used by God the way that he wants us to and I'm telling you, there is a supernatural boldness that can come upon you as a witness if you'll ask God for it. The Bible says that they were ordinary men, they were uneducated, they were not super Christians, they were not somehow, you know, these missionaries or the navy seals of Christianity but they'd been with Jesus and the Holy Spirit had come upon them and it enabled them to be witnesses in the moment and I want us today to ask God, what does it look like for me to be a witness at my school, to be a witness at my church, to be a witness where I work in my family and not worry about perception and not worry about comfort. As Americans, we are slaves to comfort. If it makes us uncomfortable, we don't do it and most times we don't have to do it and that's how we are in our witness many times. It's just, you know, I don't want to be uncomfortable. How many of you know when we get home after a long, hard day's work, we don't sit down on like a wooden pole and watch TV, right? No, we have a chair, a comfortable chair that just envelops us and now they make them where, like they literally crack open your pop for you and they turn the channel on and you never have to get out of the thing, right? Why? Because I want to be comfortable. In the comfort is the assassin of God's plan for your life. It's the assassin of witness, of seeing people change by the power of God and he wants to use you for it, but we have to be willing to be uncomfortable. We have to be willing to be witnesses, even when it's not easy, even when it takes us beyond where we think we can go and that's what happened to Peter in this moment. So they're being bold witnesses, that's number one, number two, is there's a bold obedience that takes place. So let me just read on in verse 14. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. This is the chief priests and the leaders. They can't deny what happened. They can't say, everybody go home, this is a joke and it's a, no, this guy's really there and so they don't know what to do. So when they commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another and they said, what shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them as evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. We can't deny it, 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. So they called them, the disciples, Peter and John, and charged them and that word charge means they threaten them, maybe with prison, maybe with beatings, with floggings, maybe even with death. And they charge them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. So here it is again. They've already been in jail for a night. They pull them out, they surround them and they say, if you don't be quiet, if you don't stop teaching and preaching in the name of Jesus, you're gonna be arrested, you're gonna be beaten, you're gonna be dragged from your family, maybe you're even gonna be killed. And listen to Peter's response, verse 19, but Peter and John answered, whether it's right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you be the judge. But we cannot but speak of what we have seen and what we have heard. 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 just happened, for the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than 40 years old. Bold obedience. The pressure got put up. The pressure was rising for them to be quiet, to stay still, to not move in the plans and the purposes of God. And rather than cave to culture, rather than cave to popular opinion, rather than stay safe, they said, no, it's up to you to decide if you think this really happened or who's responsible for this healing. But for us, we can't but speak of what we've seen and what we've heard, which is the power of God through his son, Jesus Christ, moving in our midst. And they decided to take a stand with their obedience. And every single time you make an act of obedience, you say, God, what you're asking me to do, I'll do. If you're asking me to take another step, I will. If you're saying, get out of the boat and walk on water, I'll try. Every time that you do that and you put yourself in an uncomfortable position, you create an avenue for the miraculous to take place in your life. Two things happen when we follow Jesus with bold obedience. One, you're gonna face persecution. You're going to. They were following Jesus. They were preaching Jesus. They saw a man get healed. And what happened? They got thrown in jail for it. We cannot think as Christians in 2019 that if you come to Jesus, your life is gonna somehow be easy and be rosy and be all fun and games. Jesus never promised that. He said, in this world, you will have tribulation. There will be trouble. You're not always gonna be popular. It's not always gonna be comfortable. Following Jesus isn't just checking a box and coming to church. It's a bold witness. It's a bold obedience to the things that God's asking you to do. And it is going to come with a level of persecution. It's quiet in here now. It's all right. It is. If you truly want to follow Jesus, it's going to lead to some people who don't see why you're living the way that you are. It's gonna lead to maybe pressure at your job. It's gonna maybe make some friendships come into question. I don't know. There's going to be persecution in your life. It happened to them 2,000 years ago. They were facing prison. Most of us aren't gonna face prison or beatings or floggings for our obedience to Jesus, thank God. But it can happen. So what does that look like for us today? I don't know. What is God asking you to do? What is the step of obedience that God wants you to take? Maybe he's asking you to share your faith with a coworker, to invite them to church, to talk to them about Jesus. Maybe he's asking you to forgive someone in your family or someone who's wronged you. Maybe it's been a very long time and you don't want to and you don't feel like it, but God's asking you to take a step of obedience. You're gonna face some persecution. Maybe it's a simple thing, like I'm gonna take control of my body. I'm gonna be in better shape. I'm gonna eat better. How many of you know? Once you say you're gonna eat better, someone's gonna bring sweet water donuts and drop them off in the cafeteria or in the lobby, right? And you can go, ha, ha, that's not persecution. It really is. It's a formal persecution. You're making a decision. I'm gonna obey God in this area and the enemy's gonna do anything he can to bring persecution into your life. Maybe God's asking you to be a giver and you're like, I can't, I don't know, it's hard. And people are gonna say, why would you do that? You can't afford that. It's never gonna work. Why would you even make that a priority in your life? There's gonna be persecution. Maybe you're making a decision for your family. Hey, we're gonna make church a priority. I'm gonna take my kids to youth group on Wednesday. We're gonna make our schedule around being in the presence of God and setting the standard that church is important. You're gonna face persecution because there's a ton going on. There's sports leagues and there's, you know, things like that. And there's nothing wrong with sports, but sometimes it's like, you're gonna face persecution. Your friends are gonna be like, well, how is Johnny gonna make the Olympic water polo team? If he's not on a travel league by the time he's four. And I'm like, I don't know. Maybe he won't, but I'm gonna be obedient to God and we're gonna get plugged in and we're gonna take another step. Maybe you're here and you're a young person and you haven't met your soulmate. La Fonda has not stepped into your world quite yet. And so you're like, I'm following God. How come it's not easy? How come it's not happening? How come my friends are not even following God and they're getting married and I'm still single? Lord, send me a hot, handsome man who loves Jesus. Come on, somebody. Something like that, right? But maybe you need to take a step of obedience. So you know what? I'm not gonna do it the traditional way. I'm gonna get off Tinder and Bumblebee Tuna or whatever these things are now. And I'm gonna trust the Lord. The Bible says in Genesis three that God brought Eve to Adam. He wasn't searching all over. He wasn't online. I'm just kidding, I'm not opposed to online dating. It's fine. But maybe that's you. And you're gonna take a step of obedience and you're gonna say, you know what? I'm not gonna go out on Friday nights. I'm gonna pray. I'm gonna really take this as an opportunity to seek the Lord in my life. And I'm telling you, you're gonna have friends. What do you mean? What are you talking about? What do you mean you're not coming out with us? We're partying, you know? You make a stand for God and there's going to be persecution. But the other side of bold obedience is once you do it, you open the door to the miraculous in your life. The reason, and I'm gonna say this, we don't see miracles the way they did in the book of Acts is because we don't take risks. We don't say yes when it's difficult many times. We don't believe God for the impossible and the supernatural in our lives the way they did. And so you have people who say, we need to get back to the book of Acts. I'm all for that. But you know what that entailed? Praying, fasting, reverent fear for the Lord, unity among the believers, a dependence on the Holy Spirit that are not things that the church is known for today. And so to see the miracles and the breakthroughs, we have to take the step of obedience. The reason people at work aren't getting saved, the reason revival's not happening in our city is, are we really believing God for that? Are we willing to take a step even if it's not popular, even if there's persecution and say, God, I'm gonna follow what you've asked me to do. I'm going to take up my cross, I'm gonna deny myself and I'm gonna follow Jesus. I'm not gonna just say I'm a Christian. There's going to be persecution but that's what leads to the miraculous. So you look at this story, they get thrown in prison for preaching the gospel. You can read about it later on and do you know what they start doing? Peter and John, they start worshiping with hymns and songs at midnight. So they're doing what God asked them to do and they're in prison and they start worshiping. That's a whole other message. And the Bible says as they're worshiping, the other prisoners hear it. So when you worship, even when you don't understand, even when you're in a situation you don't understand why you're in it. You feel like you've done the right things and you're in a difficult situation. When you choose to worship God in the midst of that, it doesn't only affect you, it affects the people around you. The other prisoners heard them worshiping. So they weren't saying, God, why'd you let this happen? God, we were doing your will. God, you said it'd be easy when I became a Christian. They weren't doing that. They were praying and seeking and worshiping God in their darkest moment. And then you know what happened? An angel came into the prison, walked through the walls, the whole place started shaking and trembling and everybody's chains fell off. And they walked out of the prison. Now the miraculous happened only because they said yes to what God asked them to do. It led to persecution, which isn't always fun, but they worship God in the midst of it. And after that, the miraculous took place. The reason we don't see miracles many times is because we're not willing to take the persecution that happens first. It's incredible. They took these steps of faith and God miraculously showed up. Every single time. And it wasn't just them who had their chains broken, everybody in the prison. And the jailer wakes up and he's about ready to fall on his sword because he thinks it's his fault. And Paul's like, no, no, no, don't do that. Don't do that. We're all here. How many of you know it would have been easy for Paul to just be like, whatever dude, that's your problem. I shouldn't even be in jail. I'm out of here. He didn't, he ministered. That's what bold witness looks like. That's what bold obedience looks like. He said, no, don't fall on your sword. Listen, listen, we're all here. It's okay. And they led that man to the Lord and he said to them, what must I do to be saved? And him and his entire household were saved and baptized. Why? Because of one step of obedience. They said, don't worship God. Don't speak in the name of Jesus. Peter said, we have to. It's all we know to do. Oh, we're in prison. This is awful. No, let's worship in the midst of our persecution and miraculous breakthroughs happen. So if no one's been saved at your work before, if you're not using your witness and people aren't coming to the Lord, put yourself out there. Be uncomfortable in the midst of it. And that is what opens the door for the miraculous to happen. Does that make sense? Bold obedience. It's gonna lead to persecution, but it's also going to lead to the miraculous in your life. Third thing we see is bold prayers. Acts chapter four, we're still in there. So we have bold witness, bold obedience. And then in verse 23, it says, when they were released from jail, they went to their friends and they reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God. I love that. So they're telling their friends, hey, the Sanhedrin and Caiaphas and all of the religious leaders, they said that we're possibly gonna be killed and imprisoned or beaten if we keep doing this. They tell their friends that. And their response is they lift their voices together to God in prayer. And I'll listen to this prayer. I was only gonna read some of it, but I just love this prayer so much. So just picture this in your mind again. They've been persecuted. They've been confronted. They've been told if you keep doing this, you're gonna be possibly killed, imprisoned and beaten. And this is what they pray. Sovereign Lord who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them who through the mouth of our father, David, said by the Holy Spirit, why did the Gentiles rage and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. That's a reference to Psalm two. So what are they doing here? They're praying the scriptures, something I do every single day. If you're saying, I don't really know how to pray, pray the scriptures out loud. And then it says, for truly in this city they were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. Verse 29, this is their prayer. And now Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness while you stretch out your hand to heal and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus. 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 in boldness. Is that a bold prayer or is that a bold prayer? Come on somebody, I love that prayer. Just look at this, they're being threatened with possible death and their prayer isn't God, keep us safe, God, you promise nothing bad would happen. No, their prayer is look upon their threats but then grant your servants boldness to speak your word and let your hand do the miraculous signs and wonders that need to happen throughout the earth and they're praying bold prayers that lead to God doing the miraculous in their situation. It's absolutely beautiful. They're not even primarily praying for themselves. Like, God, we're really scared. God, what are we gonna do? God, this is persecution. We're not prepared for this. They said, no, God, look upon their threats but then start healing people, start delivering people. Let your hand do the miraculous and we just want to be a part of what you're doing right now in the earth and in our city and I'm telling you, God wants us to pray bold prayers, bold. Not just go through the motions prayers and listen, I'm not here to critique anyone's prayer life but it is easy to just kind of go through the motions and just be like, dear Lord, thank you for this day. Again, nothing wrong with that but I feel like sometimes God's like, hey, you thanked me for that yesterday and I get it. I'm the day provider. It's good and Lord, keep us safe. All right. I mean, how safe do you want to be? Like, we never leave the room. We bring in rubber walls. Like, how safe do you really want to be? And we just kind of say things and we're not bold. And so we don't ask God for miracles. We don't ask God to use us mightily. We don't ask for boldness and we have not because we ask not. And so your prayers that the depth and the boldness of your prayers, and I'm just gonna say this, it's not a knock on anyone but is a reflection of your relationship with God, with Jesus. It is, if you don't pray at all, it's a reflection that you don't either believe in God or you don't believe that prayer matters. If you only pray teeny little prayers and you never ask God to do anything dramatic or equip you to be bold, it is a reflection that you don't believe prayers really that important. I know it's hard to hear but that's the truth. And so you look at this prayer and they're saying, God, do something in someone else's life. Stretch out your hand. We can't be so consumed. God, help me, save me, bless me, favor me. There's nothing wrong with that but there comes a point where you start praying boldly. God, move in my city. God, move in my family. God, help me be bold at work so that people come to Jesus Christ. People are dying and going to hell, Lord. I'm asking for spiritual boldness. My prayers are bold. I'm asking the God of the heavens, the Lord of the universe to move. Rend the heavens and come down, Lord, but I am not content with weak, shallow prayers that don't do anything. That's what they were saying. That's what Peter and John decided is we're gonna be bold and we're gonna start asking God to move in our city, move in Kalamazoo, move in Portage, move in our family, God. Let your Holy Spirit move across our high school and college campuses. Young person, if you're not praying for revival in your school, who is? If you're not praying for people you go to work with who may very well go to hell, well, I'm a good person. I think they just see that and they know that I'm a good person and that's my witness and I'm not against that but listen to what it says. He says that, and all were filled with the Holy Spirit and continue to speak the word of God with boldness. I mean, you know, sometimes it's great to live your life as a Christian. Other times there are things you need to say. There are things you need to speak. You need to be bold in your words to someone else and let God do a miracle. Put yourself out there in some of those situations and say, God, give me boldness. I don't wanna just go through my Christian life and not have impact. I'm convinced that that's why many Christians in America are bored. They don't, we don't see anything. We don't see the miraculous and the power of God on display because we're satisfied with prayers and witness and obedience that isn't bold. I'm just gonna say this, my fears sometimes especially in a church like this, which is a great church, it's in my top five for sure. Top 10, no I'm just kidding. It's a great church. We have amazing worship. We have an incredibly anointed pastor who knows the word and is, but the temptation can be for all of us sometimes. Well then why do I need to pursue God? Why do I need to develop a relationship? I mean I come to church, I feel God in the worship and I feel God when Pastor Lee's speaking sometimes and do you wanna know how the disciples went from scared, cowering, running from Jesus in his hour of need to bold, fire, breathing apostles for Christ, you wanna know what the difference was? It was infilling of the Holy Spirit and being with Jesus. That's what it says. It says that the Pharisees looked at them and they were astonished. These are ordinary, simple people. They're not educated, they're not the cream of the crop. They're not the ones Jesus would pick first in his kickball game. He's just, they're normal, but what is it? They've been with Jesus, changed everything. Holy Spirit boldness came upon them because they knew Jesus personally. And sometimes we want to live our Christian lives vicariously through other people. And listen, church is great, podcasts are great. Reading Christian books and Christian television, they're fine, but I'm gonna tell you something. I'm gonna say it boldly. You'll never be bold in your witness and your obedience and your prayers through someone else's relationship with Jesus. It will never happen. It's impossible. I'm not saying you can't be saved. I'm not saying you're not gonna go to heaven. I'm telling you, you're not gonna have the impact God has designed you to have. And you can read about it in Exodus chapter 20. God came down and his desire was to speak to all of his people, Israel. And so he comes down, presence of God comes down on the mountain and there's lightning and flashes of thunder and there's loud noises and trumpets. And the Bible says that the people are afraid of the presence of God. We don't want this, it's too much. So they say to Moses, here's what we'll do. Moses, you go talk to God. And then whatever he tells you, you just tell us and we'll do it. That's the new plan. And the Bible says in Exodus 20 that the people stood at a distance, but Moses drew near to the presence of God. The greatest promise you have in scripture is James 4 verse 8, draw near to the Lord and he will draw near to you. Do you wanna have supernatural boldness? Do you wanna have boldness in your witness and your prayers and in your obedience? It only happens through a relationship with Jesus. Knowing God, that's how you get bold. You spend time in the secret place. You spend time in the Bible. You spend time praying. And I don't know where you are on that journey. Maybe you don't do that at all. Maybe you already have a great personal devotion life, but what I'm saying is what does it look like for you to take one step further in your relationship with Jesus? Not through, you know, not some obligatory thing or I have to, but God, just the cry of my heart is I wanna know you. I wanna be bold and I can't be bold if I don't know you, if I'm not confident in who you are and what you've promised. That's all you have to pray and God will honor that prayer. Pray a couple Psalms a day, carve out time in the secret place and get to know God. Listen to me, you'll never be confident in something that, you'll never be bold in something you're not confident in. So you can't be bold for God unless you really know God. You're not gonna be bold for something you're not confident in. If they put me on Jeopardy right now, I would not be bold. Why, because I don't know Jack, okay? So I would never ring the buzzer. I'd be like, I don't know. I wouldn't be bold, I wouldn't be confident. At the end of the show, they'd be like, John, you have negative $4,000. You can't even be involved in Final Jeopardy, right? Because I don't know, but with Jesus, you don't have to stay there. You can begin to truly know God and as you develop that in the secret place, boldness comes into your life. You look at David, he was overlooked by his father. All he did was tend to sheep. He was a shepherd, he took care of sheep and if he wanted to, he could have spent all his time on Sudoku or playing Nintendo or something, he didn't. He wrote the Psalms that you have in the Bible. He was a worshipper of God in those obscure moments and what happened? When he faced Goliath and all the rest of Israel was afraid, what did David say? No, no, no, you don't understand. When I would tend my father's sheep and a lion would come or a bear would come, God would deliver me from the lion and the bear and this uncircumcised Philistine will be no different. The giants in his life were relegated to smaller and capable of God's power. Why? Because of the secret place. It wasn't because David was stronger, it wasn't because David was braver, it was because he knew God and he developed that on his own and when the giants came, he wasn't afraid and when it was time to be bold, he wasn't afraid. Why? Because of his extroverted personality? No, because the Holy Spirit of God had filled him. He'd spent time in the secret place and I'm telling you in 2019, we need boldness, boldness in our walk with God. The world needs it. God doesn't have us here by accident. I want you to stand up with me, I just wanna pray and I want you to just ask yourself, what's my next step? It's all I'm asking you, is what does it look like for me to go one step deeper in my relationship with God? Not to check a box, but to truly know God, to have the Holy Spirit fill me with boldness. You have to pray for that church. It is an osmosis and it's not our default setting. Our default setting is to bury our head in the sand, stay comfortable, hunker down and not put ourselves out there. So every day you have to wake up and say, God, give me supernatural boldness today. Give me eyes to see like you see, the hurting, the loss, the people I work with, go to school with, open my eyes to see beyond where I am to the world around me. Make that your prayer and God will use you and not everybody might not like it, everybody might not high five you and say, oh man, love your boldness, love your faith. There may be some persecution, but that's what leads to the miraculous in our lives. And then you're gonna see people start getting saved, see people start God using you in powerful ways and faith is gonna rise up inside of you and you're gonna know God and his power and when all of us do that together as the church, not just in these four walls, but out there in the world, that's where we see the power of God make a difference in people's lives and our cities and our societies and in our culture. Boldness with love and humility is the key. That's what God calls us to do to be radiant, to be light to the world around us. So I'm gonna ask this, just everybody in this room and I only want you to do it if you mean it. I'm gonna pray for you, but I wanna pray boldness for us. And this isn't a magic prayer. I feel like God wants to initiate this, but this is gonna be between you saying, I want to ask God to give me boldness. I'm not satisfied with where I am. I'm not gonna bury my head in the sand and just be a victim to the fear of man or operate out of my flesh. I need the Holy Spirit to fill me with supernatural boldness to live my life the way that God has called me to. That's what I'm gonna pray for us right now and if you want that, I want you to, in a minute, to just raise your hands and we're gonna pray, but then you make a decision to say, God, I'm coming after you in the secret place. I wanna know you. I wanna know your heart for me and for the world around me. But if that's you, and if it's not, it's fine. But we're not gonna bow our heads or anything. We're just gonna say, I want supernatural boldness in my life. I want you to raise your hands like this and we're gonna pray. Father, you see every hand, every hand in this room and poor it is online where we're saying, where we're crying out, God, we need you. We need your power. We need the Holy Spirit. God, this isn't our personalities. This isn't oh, I'm an extrovert. Oh, I can't, I'm an introvert. This is the power of God rising up inside of us and saying, God, give us eyes to see the hurting and broken in our world. Remind us that we're not wrestling against flesh and blood. People are not the enemy. Give us a heart that breaks for the things that breaks your heart, God. Give us boldness in our witness. Boldness in our obedience. Help us pray bold prayers, God. And let us see the miraculous. I feel like the Lord's word to the church right now is the same thing Jesus said to Peter. He toiled all night. He hadn't caught any fish. He was frustrated and Jesus said, launch your boat into the deep because that's where the miracle is gonna take place and God, right now we say, we're not satisfied with shallow Christianity where we're comfortable, where we understand everything. We're asking, launch us into the deep where we can't touch, where we can't feel the ground beneath us, where we're completely dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit. And God, as we do that, let the miraculous power of God be on display in our lives. Let people come to the Lord in droves. Let relationships be healed in Jesus' name. Lost family members coming to the reality of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. As we're in the deep, God, you have to be our source. You have to be our strength, God. It's only by your power. Be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. That's our prayer, God. Fill us today with supernatural boldness. We pray in Jesus' name and everyone said amen. Come on, let's give the Lord a huge hand clap.