Boldness Is All About Jesus: Courage Born From Being With Him

Hey, if you brought your Bibles, this is where we're going right now. Get it out. This is the word of God. It is alive, active. This acts like a sword. It goes into places that no one else can go. God speaks through this book. So, if you brought your Bible, get it out. Hold it in the air like you care. Even if you didn't bring your Bible, please know this. God has a word for you today. So, join with me in shouting word on the count of three. Even if you're watching online, you could even type it in all caps. Come on, somebody. I want you to shout word on the count of three. One, two, three. Word. We're getting into God's word. So God's word gets into us today. Hallelujah. Imagine if you will, you come before some leaders. So some rulers, if you will, and and they tell you, you can be free.

You can go home as long as you do not speak the name of Jesus. Imagine you come before these rulers and you are given the option that as long as you do not speak the name of Jesus, you can have your freedom. This is exactly what took place in Acts 4 with Peter and John. They were arrested. They were threatened. And they were intimidated. and they were told not to speak about Jesus. Today I want to talk to you from the text. This is our title for today's sermon. You ought to write this down. Boldness.

It's all about Jesus. Boldness. It's all about Jesus. Come on. Would you say it with me like a preacher? Boldness is all about Jesus. As we come to this text today, I need us to understand that boldness is not based on your personality. You don't have to be an extrovert to be bold. Boldness is not based on which number of inagram you are. Boldness is not about being louder. Boldness is about being spirit empowered to have a courage to do what God wants to do in your life. And we come today to a text and we see that God according to second Timothy 1:7 has not given us a spirit of fear.

Paul was writing to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:7 and he says, "For God did not give us a spirit of fear." Some translations say timidity. God did not give you the Holy Spirit so that you would shrink back, so that you would stay silent. God did not give you a spirit to stay the same person you were before you believed in Jesus. God gave us a spirit of power. You will do things that you could never do on your own. love. You're going to love like Jesus and self-control. That word self-control in some translations is a sound mind. You're going to think differently with the Holy Spirit than you did before. You're not going to do things with the Holy Spirit that you used to do.

God has given you a spirit of power, love, and self control. As we think about God's kingdom come in our life as it is in heaven, we can look back on the book of Acts and see in the early church what that looked like. And we could see that what God did then, he's still doing now. For we ought to want God's kingdom in our life. We've been looking at kingdom this year that Jesus is the king and we want him to have domain in our lives. We want him to have dominion and it's not something we wait for someday or another day. When Jesus taught us to pray, "Your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." He meant right now you can experience this. You don't have to wait to get to heaven to start experiencing heaven. In the book of Acts, if you have a Bible, you can find

the book of Acts. It's the fifth book of the New Testament, one of 66 that we have in the Bible. The first four books of the New Testament share about the life of Jesus. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And then you find the book of Acts. It's written by the same author Luke who told about the life of Jesus. And in the book of acts we read about the story of the early church. And in the early church in the first chapter we read that after Jesus rose from the grave he gives this final instruction to the church. He gives these final instructions and then he ascends into heaven. And in these final instructions he tells those who believed in him at that time who saw the resurrected Jesus. He said you go to Jerusalem and wait. There are times in our lives we have to wait and we don't know what's going to happen. Come on, somebody.

You heard the word of God. You know God is real, but you have no clue what's coming next. But may I say, your best days are always ahead of you. They're not behind you. You can proclaim the promise. The best is yet to come because God's always going to do more. So here, these early believers, they're in one accord and they come to Jerusalem and they're praying. There is power in prayer. By the time you come to Acts chapter 2, God hears these prayers and he comes like a mighty rushing wind and tongues of fire fall on everyone's heads that believed. This is the birth of the church. God destined and designed a church with his breath, with his fire. And they started to speak in tongues and and there seemed to be some confusion for those who were witnessing what was happening in Acts chapter 2.

But that didn't cause them to shrink back, to stay silent. Instead, Peter stands up boldly and he preaches Jesus Christ crucified. He preaches Jesus Christ risen from the grave. And those who were there in Acts chapter 2 said, "What? How can we be saved?" And he gives a really simple answer. Repent and be baptized. It's that simple. Repent means turn to God. Turn and trust in Jesus. and then start following him every step. Get baptized next. And they continued to devote themselves to the teaching. They were they were passionate about wanting more about Jesus and to each other. And they fanned this flame of God's presence through prayer. They invited God to move. By Acts chapter 3, Peter and John are headed to the temple. And on the way

to the temple to pray, they meet a man who's begging for money. He's asking for alms because he's disabled. He he can't do what everyone else does. He can't go into the temple like everyone else does. So, he's simply asking for a handout. Peter looks at this man who's asking for alms and he says, "Listen, silver and gold I have not, but in the name of Jesus Christ, get up and walk." Well, this did this man did more than just get up and walk. The Bible tells us that he was lame. He was unable to walk, but he went from lame, the Bible says, to leaping. He got up and did a little church dance. if he came to journey, he would be right up here in the front because he knows that something happened in him that he could not do on his own.

And so he gets up and he's leaping and people are seeing this and remember Peter and John are going to the temple and this man now gets to go where he couldn't go before and people see him in the temple and they asking what happened to this man and Peter once again preaches Jesus which brings us to our text today, Acts chapter 4. If you got your Bible, we're going to continue in Acts chapter 4. Peter is pointing people to Jesus. I want to read you quite a bit of text today and I want us to focus in on one particular theme, boldness. If you're able to today, would you stand for the reading of God's word? I would like to read to you Acts chapter 4:es 1-14. And as they Peter and John, as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple, that would be the equivalent of our day to a sheriff or the police chief and the Sadducees.

These are the religious rulers of the day. They came upon them greatly annoyed. Someone say greatly annoyed. Greatly annoyed 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 heard the word believed. Somebody shout believed. Believed. The word went out and they received it and believed. And the number of the men came to about 5,000. On the next day, the rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem. and with Annis the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander and all who were of the high priestly family. These are the same guys that got Jesus crucified.

These were the same guys that arrested Jesus. These are the same guys that accused Jesus. These are the same guys that brought Jesus before Pilate to be crucified. That's who Peter and John is in front of right now. And when they had sat And when they had set them in their midst, they inquired, "By what power or by what name did you do this?" Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed?" Oh, let it be known to all of you and to all of the people of Israel that 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, which has become the the 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. Now when they saw the boldness, everyone shout boldness. 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.

But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. Jesus never intended for the church to stay within four walls. We as the church were never intended to be us four and no more. We were never intended to be a denomination that this is the frozen chosen. This is not a holy huddle that other people can't be a part of. Jesus in Matthew 28 before you ascended into heaven. He said all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Now he sends us on mission and he says go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Something we're still doing today. We're going to do it

at church in the park. We're going to do what Jesus told us to do. It's an identity and association that I am one with Christ. He died, was buried, and rose again. That's what baptism represents. Just as you're covered by the water, so it is when you believe in Jesus, you're covered by the blood. You are forgiven of every sin. Now, Jesus used a word in the Greek in Matthew 28, go. It means on your journey, while you're going on this journey of life, where you go, that's where you make disciples. It was never meant to be go to church to make disciples. It was never meant to be sign up for a Bible study or sign up to serve or sit in a seat and listen to a preacher. No, it's we are the church. If we believe in Jesus, we have been co-mission. In the Greek, it's the word eklesia. We are the church. We gathered

together and we are sent out on this mission. So, we see in Acts this fulfilled in Acts chapter 3. They're going to pray, but while they're going, someone's asking for alms. They did not look at him and say, "Listen, we're heading to church. We can't talk about this right now." They did not walk by. They did not ignore this man. They did not turn a blind eye and say, "We've seen this man many times before." They literally did what Jesus told them to do. Jesus said, "You will do greater things than I." Jesus said, "As I have done, you ought to do." Jesus gave us a new commandment. As I have loved you, so you ought to love one another. What did Jesus do? He went about casting out demons, healing the

sick, and preaching the kingdom of heaven. And that's what we see in Acts chapter 3. But as we see them fulfill what Jesus told them to do, I want to tell you today, not everyone will be excited when someone gets saved. Not everyone will be excited when someone gets healed. Not everyone will be excited when someone gets delivered. In fact, some people might just be greatly annoyed because when the kingdom of God comes, it disrupts the rhythms of life. When you invite your kingdom come, your will be done in my life as it is in heaven. That is such a bold prayer because what you're simply saying is, "If anything's wrong today, you're going to make it right." When you invite God's kingdom to come, it's such a bold prayer that you've got

to be ready that God's going to disrupt everything you thought this day would be and he's going to do what he wants to do on earth as it is in heaven. You see, it's such a bold prayer to pray your kingdom come that you are literally inviting God to disrupt your plans and to do whatever he wants to do. Jesus never called us to be ordinary people to do ordinary things. Nor did he call us to a comfortable life. When the leaders see that they're preaching Jesus, they decide that they're going to arrest Peter and John. And it was the end of the day, 5:00 on Friday. So they say, "We can't deal with this now because we're government.

We're going to go home and deal with this in the morning." So they have to sit in jail all night until they're approached the next day. And they have a question in Acts 4:7. When they had sat them in their midst, they inquired, "By what power or by what name did you do this?" You know what's really curious and interesting? 2,000 years later, when we go have church in the park, one of the things we do right after the preaching of God's word is we give an invitation to believe in Jesus, like you'll hear today. And then we give an opportunity to get baptized in the river just as we will in a few weeks at Church in the Park. And do you know the last few years something curious has happened the last few years while we're doing baptisms people who were not planning to come to church but just walking through Drake Park, walking in the public see the baptisms. And we have been asked this question by what authority do you do this?

It's a really curious question. It's not what's happening here. It's not what church are you from. And it didn't even just happen one time by different people in the last few years. Someone has actually asked the question by what authority do you do? Who gave you the right to do? What in the world is happening? And so it was 2,000 years ago. They want to know by what name are you healing this person? By what authority are you doing these things? It's interesting that they're not celebrating the fact that this man was healed. They're trying to figure it out. But when you really walk by faith, your whole life will be filled with moments that you can't figure out.

When you didn't have money, but you prayed for money, but you got money, and you can't explain how. When you pray for healing, you get healed and the doctors don't know how. When you pray for something and the very thing you prayed for happens and you think that is such a coincidence, how how and it's absolutely wild. The world's still asking that question. What do we have and how do we do these things? And Peter didn't freak out at the question. He didn't think, "Oh no, oh no, what am I going to say? What am I going to say? What Bible verse is that again? What' the preacher say the other day? He didn't freak out. Acts 4:8 says, "Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit."

Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said to them, Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said to them. Jesus said before he ascended into heaven, you will come before people and you will have the tendency to be timid, but don't worry, you don't have to have the right words. God's going to show up, the person of the Holy Spirit, and he's going to give you words. So, you don't need to freak out in advance and say, "I don't want to do this, and I'm not quite sure of this, and I don't know what's going to happen." No. The Holy Spirit's going to do it through you because you believe in him. Peter was once just a fisherman. And if you don't know the story of Peter, he's a man that made many mistakes. And the man that denied Jesus is now proclaiming Jesus because this man who denied Jesus saw the risen Jesus Christ.

This man who was freaking out when Jesus was arrested saw that Jesus did exactly what he said he would do. He defeated death. He defeated the devil. He defeated sin. And he is risen forever more. He believed in Jesus filled with the Holy Spirit. Says, "You want to know by what name I do this? Let me tell you what name I do this. It is Acts 4:10. The name of Jesus." It's the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Lest you be confused with the Jesus Christ of Leine or Clamoth Falls or, you know, the the Jesus Christ of somewhere else. This is Jesus. The word Christ means the anointed one, the Messiah, the chosen one of God. It's this Jesus. Oh, which by the way, the one you guys crucified not too long ago, but he's not dead. You

go look in his tomb, God raised him from the dead, Peter says. And by him, Jesus, this man is standing before you. Well, my friends, this is still true today. You don't need to come up with a clever way of telling people why you believe in Jesus. All you've got to say is this Jesus who died on the cross for my sins is not dead, but he's alive. It's this Jesus that changed my life. It's this Jesus that welcomed me to his family. It's this Jesus that forgave me of my sins. It's this Jesus that adopted me and caused me a child of God. It's this Jesus that gave me a great inheritance when I didn't deserve it. It's this Jesus.

And it doesn't matter who you are. You can be an uneducated fisherman and Jesus can change your life. You could be a doctor with every degree in the world, all the educa education in the world, and you still need this Jesus. You're never too young to believe in this Jesus and you're never too old to believe in this Jesus. You've never sinned so greatly that this Jesus won't forgive you if you just cry out to him today. Here you have Peter. I just need you to recognize who's preaching Jesus. Peter who denied Jesus to a servant girl a few days a servant girl. Men, I just want to tell you for just a moment, all of us want to be manly men, but there will be moments we act like sissies.

You can't you can't plan for those moments you act like a But you walk away from that moment, you're like, "Man, I was a sissy." When you deny Jesus to a little servant girl, you're a Peter was a but now filled with the Holy Spirit. He's before the Sanhedrin. These are the highest rulers of his age. And because he's filled with the Holy Spirit, the Bible says you're no longer a but you are a saint. Come on, somebody. So I say to you today, I don't care what you did yesterday or last week or la last year. What I care is that today you've believed in Jesus and you'd be filled with the Holy Spirit to do what you could never do on your own. Peter is now preaching Jesus. Just think about this.

Just weeks earlier, he was denying Jesus, but now he's saying in Acts 4:12, "There is salvation in no one else." There's no other name by which we can be saved but the name of Jesus. What a testimony. Literally months earlier, he's like, "Jesus, don't know who he is. No clue. Never heard of him. Never been with him. Now he's like, listen, you don't get to heaven without him. There's no greater name than the name of Jesus." And I tell you today, if you want your life changed, if you want your marriage changed, if you want your finances changed, if you want your health changed, if we want to see Central Oregon changed, let me just tell you, it's still the same name. It's all

about Jesus. Say it with me. It's all about Jesus. We got to keep coming back to the fact that God didn't say, I need you to do something that you can't do on your own. It was and it is all about Jesus. And when they saw Peter preaching Jesus, it says in Acts 4:13, "When they saw the boldness," everyone shout boldness. Bold boldness of Peter and John, they were looking at these guys. They're not timid. They're not filled with fear. And they start talking to each other. These guys are uneducated. They didn't go to our schools. We don't even quite know if they have any credentials at all for these are common men. That word common in the Greek, I'm not making this up. The word common is idiot.

It's a Greek word where we get the English word. Do you know? Yes. You know your Greek. We get the word idiot from this word idiot which has been politely translated here as common. Some translations say ignorant. These are uneducated, ignorant. But we we really know what this means. These guys aren't anything special. These are ordinary guys. And it says they were they didn't know what to do with this. They were astonished. That that's what God does. It's not about you. People are going to be astonished what God can do through someone like you. And so they're trying to figure out what's different about these guys. Look at look at the last sentence. And they recognize that they had been with Jesus.

Boldness does not come from knowing enough, being old enough, being smart enough, talented enough, or even trained. That word boldness in the Greek is paracia. Paracia means to speak freely. Now I want to just clarify. We we live in a great nation, don't we? We have the freedom of speech here, which so many of us take for granted. We shouldn't take it for granted. We live in America. People can protest. You can have your view. I can have my view. And what a what a great thing that we could share those views. And you ought to have the freedom of your speech. But paracia is more than that. Paraca means that you're going to be fearless when you otherwise want to be silent. You're going to speak and confront that fear.

So, it's not just being foolish and speaking loudly. It's when someone tells you to be silent, you have the courage to stand up. When you might be the only one, when you might be the one that chooses the narrow road and everyone else chooses the wide road. When your family questions you. When your workplace condemns you, when when the whole world says the evil is good, you have paracia. You're willing to speak up. You're willing to say what God wants you to say. And today, I want us to see that the boldness in Acts 4:13 is something you can have. And it's the same way that they had it because they recognize that

they had been with Jesus. Jesus changes everything. Jesus changes everything. And my friends, I really believe this. I'm about to explode with anticipation that we are entering a new season as a church. God is calling us as a generation to see an opportunity for a new great awakening unlike anything we've ever experienced before or has been experienced on this earth. And it will happen with the boldness that can only come from being with Jesus. So, let me just give you three points with the very limited time I have remaining with you today. Three quick points we see from this text. Here's point number one. Boldness is born from being with Jesus. Write that down. Boldness is born from being with Jesus. I do not need you to understand

this intellectually today. I need you to put this into practice because that's where the transformation of boldness will come in your life. Boldness is born from being with Jesus. If you want your life changed, it's not going to be a class. It won't be a conference. It will happen when you take Jesus seriously. Jesus must be the greatest priority in your life. When you wake up tomorrow, you think about Jesus. When you go to work, you think about Jesus. When you're in your car, you think about Jesus. When you're considering what to watch, you think about Jesus. You spent time with Jesus. It was clear they had been with Jesus. So, I ask you a rhetorical question today. Can anyone tell you've been with Jesus?

Not can they tell you go to church? Not can they tell that you call yourself a Christian? Can they tell you've been with Jesus? Because something's just a little bit different when you've been with Jesus. You start acting like Jesus. You start living like Jesus. I'm afraid that we've made Christianity about this this this this sin discipline that if I do enough, God will be pleased with me. I I've been saved from my sin. And so so we make Christianity sin management. I believe in Jesus. He forgives me of my sins. And now I spend the rest of my life trying not to do the things I used to do. And it's really hard because I've been doing it my whole life.

But now I know I'm forgiven. But I go to church and I hear what Christianity is and I I simply say I can't do those old things anymore. And I make it about me. But it's not about you. It's all about Jesus. And when you spend time with Jesus is Jesus isn't going to come and condemn you and say, "Oh, you did it again." By golly, this is who you really are. But Jesus is just simply going to say, "Spend time with me and you'll become like me. Let me wash your feet and now you're going to go wash feet. Let me love you and you're going to love like me. Let me forgive you and you're going to forgive like me." If you've been with Jesus, it's not about your education. When you've been with Jesus, it's not something money can buy. When you've been with Jesus, it's not something a preacher can teach you. You get a

boldness that you can only receive from his presence. What changed in Peter? It was Jesus. He was filled with the Holy Spirit of Jesus. Peter went from I do not know him to there is salvation and no one else. That's what Jesus does. He gives grace. That's the beauty of Jesus is that when you try to explain it, you can't say it's anything you did. All you could say is all I know is I've been forgiven. I didn't deserve it. So, who I was yesterday is not who I am today because I may have made a mistake yesterday, but his mercies are new every morning. And he loves me enough today not to leave me the same. And I I want to spend time with him because he's always good. He's always faithful. He's always kind. He's always loving. And there's evidence when you spend time with that kind of God. There's evidence that you don't look like everyone else.

You look like Jesus. And the world ought to be able to tell the difference between a believer and a religious person. Because a believer in Jesus is is someone that has peace even when the whole world is panicking. A believer in Jesus has joy even if they suffer. A believer in Jesus is going to forgive someone not because of what was done, but because they've been forgiven. A believer in Jesus recognized that Jesus didn't call us to an easy life. He called us to carry our cross. Jesus said in John 15:5, before he went to the cross, he said, "I am the vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, it is he that bears much fruit. For apart from me, Jesus said, apart from me, if you try to do this on your own, you can do nothing.

Therefore, the boldness we speak of today cannot be manufactured. This boldness comes from abiding. This boldness comes from being with Jesus. This boldness comes from the very Holy Spirit Jesus promised. Acts 18 before Jesus ascends into heaven, he said, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will as a result of this power be my witness." He didn't say, "As long as you're called a pastor." He didn't say if you get enough training, when you receive the Holy Spirit, when you have the power of the Holy Spirit, you're going to be a witness of Jesus wherever you are, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth. Do you guys believe this? We're in Bend, Oregon, and we're preaching about the Jesus in

Acts 18 that says when you receive this power, now that word power is really important in the Greek. It's the Greek word dunamis. Dunamis is where we get our English word dynamite. And I need you to understand this power that the Holy Spirit can give you that no one else can give you but God himself, the Holy Spirit. That word power, it means strength. But it doesn't just mean strength like physical strength. It actually means the ability. So when Jesus said you will receive power, here's what here's what Jesus is really saying. You're going to have the ability to do what you couldn't do on your own without the help of the Holy Spirit. So Jesus said, "It's good that I go because you're going to get the helper, that is the Holy Spirit, and you will do things, dunamis. You will have power. You will have the ability to do things you didn't even know you could do.

You will actually tell someone they could be healed in Jesus' name when you didn't know you could do that. But you can when you're filled with the Holy Spirit because it's not about you. It's all about Jesus. You keep coming back to Jesus." And the one thing the enemy wants to do today, he's been trying to do since he was kicked out of heaven. He's trying to silence us from the power of Jesus. If the enemy can do anything in the church, it would get us to shrink back, to stay silent, not to be bold. And I'm telling you today, if you follow Jesus, you will not have an easier life. You will have a spirit empowered life. The enemy's strategy has not changed. He wants the church to be silent. The devil does not mind spirituality as long as we don't talk about Jesus. The devil does

not mind religion as long as we don't talk about Jesus. The devil doesn't mind if we have inspiration as long as we don't talk about Jesus. But I'll tell you today, it's not some special rock or crystal that heals you. It's not a horoscope that heals you. I'm here to tell you today, it doesn't matter what type of spirituality. It's not Buddha that saves. It's not Muhammad that saves. It is Jesus Christ risen from the grave. And when you take that stand, it changes everything. Someone might say you can have your faith, but just keep it between you. Don't proclaim it. But when you have this gospel, gospel means what?

Good news. When you have this good news, how can you stay silent? Point number two, boldness doesn't stop problems. It invites Jesus into them. This whole dilemma happened. Get this. This whole thing happened because they helped somebody. I need you to realize when you follow Jesus, you're going to help people and they're going to completely greatly get annoyed and actually try to stop you. Actually try to say that what you did was wrong. actually try to get you to shut up the very thing, the very reason you helped that person to begin with. You don't need to explain it all away. All you need to know is it was Jesus and you need to invite him into that problem. Look at verse 17 and 18. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, the leader said, "Let us warn

them to speak no no more to anyone in this name." So they, verse 18, they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. Can we just take a pause really quick? Last Sunday I told you an update that the Ben Parks and Recreation, the governmental entity that oversees all of our parks in the city of Bend, had told us that we could not have baptisms in the same spot that we've had baptisms every year for more than 10 years. So they came to us and said, "Even though you've done it in the same place every single year, this year you can't because last year we made a new rule that you can't do them here." And we came before them and we offered some solutions and they came back and their solution to us verbally was in a face-to-face meeting.

They came back in an email later and they said, "Okay, we'll let you do baptisms in the same spot that you've done baptisms every year for the previous years as long as you don't come back and do anymore. as long as you don't have church in the park here again. Now, they had said that and I thought to myself, well, great. Let's do baptisms and we'll figure it out after the fact. And then came this week when they sent us a contract and said, "We need you to sign that you will do baptisms this year, but you will never do them forever, ever again. You'll never have any event." Someone say any any event. Journey Church from this point forward forever will never do an event at Drake Park. Just sign on this dotted line.

So we received this this week. You cannot have any other events in the future if you choose to do church in the park this year. Peter and John in verse 19 answered them and said, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge." And so I say to every governmental entity in the state of Oregon, you're invited to church in the park. [screaming] You are welcome to come judge if what we're doing is our own or it's of Jesus. Because by what authority are we doing baptisms?

It's the father, the son, Jesus, and the holy spirit. For they say, for we cannot, verse 20, but speak of what we have seen and heard. We're not fabricating this. I have seen lives changed by Jesus. I have seen people saved by Jesus. I've seen people healed in the name of Jesus. I've seen people set free from addiction in the name of Jesus. I can't keep silent that there are too many suicides in Central Oregon. And I know the hope that sets you free from the spirit of suicide and it's Jesus. When you have Jesus, when you've seen Jesus change your family, when you've seen Jesus restore your marriage, when you've seen Jesus deliver people, you

can't stay quiet because the Bible says, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Whom he has redeemed from trouble." If he's redeemed you, say so. If he's forgiven you, say so. How can we let people head straight to hell while we have the living hope of Jesus? We've got to say so. The gospel was never meant to be a private information. When Jesus said, "Go, therefore, and make disciples," he's speaking to you. That's right. The last point today is bold people run to prayer. Bold people run to prayer. These guys have been bold. Acts three, they healed someone. They have been bold. They were before the rulers and they didn't shrink back. They were bold

and pointed to Jesus, but now they're told not to talk about Jesus. And what did they do? They didn't go home and lock their doors like they did it the first time. They went to church. Let me read you the text. Acts 4:23. When they were released, they went to their friends. Come on. Could you just slap a neighbor if you don't know them? Say, "You're my friend. You're my friend." They went to their friends. You are my friends and you're my friend. They went to their friends and they reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. Can I tell you what Ben Parks and Rex said on Friday about 1 p.m.? They said, "If you don't get this sign documented by 5:00 p.m. because the government closes at 5:00 p.m. and we're all leaving today at 5:00 p.m., we are canceling this year's Church in the Park." That's what they said to us. So, keep going. Uh, verse 24. And when they

had heard it, oh, by the way, uh, uh, the staff at Journey, they don't they haven't even heard the story yet cuz it was Friday and most of them take the day off. So, I'm just telling everybody the same time. So, don't tell the 11:00 service because they don't know yet either. But we friends, that's what they said to us. Friends, verse 24, when they heard it, this is what they did. They didn't go cancel Ben Parks and Wreck on social media. They didn't go give one star reviews to Ben Parks and Reg. They didn't go do a protest with signs. When they heard it, they lifted up their voices together to God. And they said, "Here's their prayer." I'm so glad someone recorded it. Sovereign Lord. Sovereign means God's always in control. He doesn't stop. When it looks like God's not in control, he's still in control. When it looks like you

need to freak out, he's still in control. Sovereign means God's completely and always and will forever be in control. That's what sovereign Lord means. He was God. He is God. He will be God. He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He's our God. That God of David, he's our God. They said, "Sovereign Lord who made heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them. If God can do that, what else can he do?" While they're praying, I want you to notice this. They didn't pray for protection. They didn't say, "Oh, protect us from the Ben parks and wreck." They said in verse 29, look at what they prayed. "And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all

boldness." And while they're praying that the word of God would be preached with boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant. Say it with me, Jesus. Listen, there will be people that try to tell you God doesn't do these things anymore. They'll try to tell you that these things ceased long ago. But that's nowhere in the Bible. That's right. Don't you be listening to any lie that somehow Jesus still isn't healing, delivering, doing signs and wonders, but we focus on the word of God. And when God is glorified, something happens. And it's not through man. It's through Jesus. Boldness. They pray for boldness.

So when you choose to spend time with Jesus, you got to keep coming back to Jesus and pray for more boldness. Because boldness is not one time like, "Well, I got the free gift of boldness. From this day forward, I'm bold." Nope. You'll need to ask for more boldness. And you'll need to ask for more boldness. Cuz one day you're bold, but the next day that old will come right back up. And you got to pray and say, "I'm not a anymore. I'm a saint." It might sound funny, but it's true. Philippians 2:9 says, "Therefore, God has highly exalted Jesus, bestowed on him, the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." There is no other name like Jesus. My friends, there's a lot of names in this world. A lot of names.

Cancer has a name. Fear has a name. Addiction has a name. Your trauma has a name. But let me tell you the name that's above all other names. It's Jesus. It was, it is, and will forever be. It's all about Jesus. When you pray, you pray in the name of Jesus. When you heal, you heal in the name of Jesus. Prayer is what changes everything. Bold people keep coming back to prayer. Paul asked for prayer for something similar when he was arrested for preaching Jesus. And he didn't say, "Would you pray for protection that doesn't happen again?" Instead, verse 19 of Ephesians 6, "When you pray for me, pray also that the words may be given to me." Opening my mouth boldly. Someone say boldly.

Boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains. He doesn't find himself a victim. He says, "If I'm going to be in chains, may I declare it boldly as I ought to speak." If Paul prayed it, we ought to pray it as well. We ought to pray boldly. I've called you as a church to fast and pray every Friday between now and church in the park. I'm simply asking you to give up breakfast and lunch every Friday and take that time that you otherwise would have eaten and pray. And when you have hunger pains, may you remind yourself God is never weak. And in your weakness, he is strong. Because something happens with the praying church. Will you believe with me on this? Something happens with the praying church. We can't manifest this. Look what happened with the early church.

We're almost done. When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered, they're praying, the place they gathered was shaken. And they were all filled. They were all, someone shout all, all filled with the Holy Spirit. And continue to speak the word of God with boldness. I want to remind you today, boldness, it's all about Jesus. Say that again. Boldness, it's all about Jesus. So here's the formula, even though I don't believe Christianity's formula. All right? Boldness comes from prayer. When you pray, you don't muster up the strength inside of you. You get filled with the Holy Spirit. We mistakenly sometimes think that Christianity, when you believe in Jesus, you're forgiven of your sins, you're sealed with the Holy Spirit, and it stops there. But again, this is not sin

management. You continually get filled with the Holy Spirit so that at just the right time, you might have the words. And you know what happened? They prayed for boldness. And what did God grant them? Boldness. What a coincidence. They prayed for boldness and they got boldness. Can I just ask you, church, we're not perfect. We make big mistakes. I'm not a perfect pastor. But I say the the one thing that God has given us as a church is just continually come back to Jesus. And I'm just saying our mistakes don't define us. But we do say today, God, would you make us bold again? bold like the early church. We don't battle against flesh and blood. Our enemy is not any person that works for Ben Parks and Wreck. Your enemy is not your coworker. It's not your family member.

So boldness does not mean arguing. It does not mean being angry or arrogant. Boldness means I have a dependence on the Holy Spirit. And today I want to invite someone here. You came here today uncertain of your future. Maybe you're uncertain of salvation, but I want to invite you with the boldest decision you could ever make. Just with every eye closed for just a moment, I want to speak to someone that if if you if you're uncertain if Jesus is your savior, you can be certain right now. The Bible says, "Today is the day of salvation." Meaning, God has been waiting for this moment for you to say yes. Today, if you've been following fear, today if you have uncertainty, today if you're not quite sure what's going to happen in your future, I believe God is calling you into a relationship with him today that you would have boldness.

I've shared briefly with you about Jesus that [music] he died on the cross. He was buried and he rose from the grave. He did not die because he deserved death. He willingly went to the cross for you. He died for every one of your sins. And by believing in him today, you will be forgiven of those sins because you will confess your need for a savior. If that's you, from this day forward, everything changes. You have access to this grace continually. You have access to be filled with the Holy Spirit continually. Be not mistaken. You're sealed with the Holy Spirit forever. You're given the gift of eternal life. But God's going to give you what you need to have the power and the ability and the strength to do it at the right time.

If that's you today, I'm going to ask you to be bold so I can see who it is here today that I'm going to be praying with in just a moment. If you want to receive the Lord Jesus [music] as your savior, would you just raise your hand nice and high, yes, I want this today. Praise be to God. Keep your hand up. We'll give you a next step so you know the boldest decision. Praise be to God. Yes, I see you. Praise God. Just keep your hand up for a moment. This is this is a bold decision, but may I say it's the best decision. Do not be afraid of anyone around you. Do [music] not be afraid of any man. What can man do to you? If God is for us, who could be against us? Is there anyone else here today? Just raise your hand nice and high. So proud of those who have raised their hands. But I don't want to miss that person. Your heart is beating. That's because God's calling you into a new

season, a new season of grace, a new season of love. If you have not raised your hand yet, would you throw your hand high in the air? So proud seeing some men today stand up and say yes. That that's me today raising their hands high. So blessed by you. You could put your hands down for those that are [music] saying yes to Jesus. I want to pray with you. I want to let you know from this day forward, you have access to God in prayer. You don't need a pastor. You don't need anyone else. You don't need the right words. You just need to get real with God often. You could pray out loud. You could pray in your heart. You could pray anywhere at any time. God loves you so much. He hears you and he will do it.

If it's according to his will, he will do it. Just ask in [music] Jesus name. For all those who have believed, would you join with those? Just real simple today. Lord Jesus, I believe in you. Forgive me of my sins. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Make me bold wherever I go. May you go with me in Jesus name. Amen. And [music] amen.