Prayer:  Lord, we praise you for your word and Holy Spirit and pray that you lead and guide us this morning.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

So, you’ve thought about your story, your Christian testimony, what you would say if someone was to ask you about your faith or why you go to church, or where your hope is…  Well hopefully you have thought about it if you’ve been listening and putting into action the sermons from the last couple of weeks!

That’s a good step, be ready and prepared.  But I wonder how you feel about the next step, actually sharing it with a friend, family member or stranger?  Does that feel a bit daunting?  Do you need a good dose of courage and boldness?  Just like Ruth needed as she shared with us last Sunday.

In our reading from Acts 4 we have a great example of the disciples’ boldness to share the message of the risen Jesus, in the power of the Spirit.  These men were compelled to speak of the good news.  We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard!  If only we had a small measure of that compulsion…we need to pray for courage and for the Holy Spirit to fill and propel us to action.  As Jesus said in our reading from John 15, As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you…Receive the Holy Spirit.

Let’s look at that reading from Acts 4.  To put into context, we can sing a song together, you might remember this one based on Acts 3 from Sunday School…

Peter and John went to pray,
They met a lame man on the way.
He asked for alms and held out his palms,
And this is what Peter did say:
“Silver and gold have I none,
But such as I have give I thee,
In the name of Jesus Christ
Of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”
He went walking and leaping and praising God,
Walking and leaping and praising God.
“In the name of Jesus Christ
Of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

This healing happened in the days following Pentecost where the disciples had been filled with the Holy Spirit and Peter had been transformed from a bumbling, foot in the mouth, Jesus denying disciple to one filled with courage and eloquence of speech, sharing the message of the gospel to thousands. (Open your bibles to Acts 3 and 4)

The healing of the man was a miracle that caused many to be astonished, running to Peter and John, so as they gathered round, Peter spoke boldly again of the risen Jesus, telling them that, “It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed this man”. (Acts 3:16)

The priests and the Sadducees were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.  They seized Peter and John and put them in jail until the next day. But many who heard the message believed; so, the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.  (Acts 4: 2-4)

What an impact hey…the message of good news was growing this early church incredibly.

The next day Peter and John were brought before the High Priest and others and asked about the healing of the man.  They didn’t celebrate this wonderful miracle, no, they wanted to know… ‘By what power or name did you do this?’  (v7)

These are the people who had Jesus crucified, the religious authorities.  But this new Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit boldness, rather than being afraid, tells them that it was in the name of Jesus, and dares to question the fact that they have been seized and brought before them because of a kindness shown to a lame man.

Now it’s the religious leaders that are astonished!  Not at the healing but at the courage and eloquent speech of these ‘unschooled, ordinary men!’.  Men that they note had been with Jesus… (They thought they had got rid of him)

They didn’t know what to do, the healed man was there, and there was a big crowd following Peter and John.  So, they conferred and commanded the disciples not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.

But again, we see the boldness of Peter and John who speak directly to these Priests who hold power and respond saying they will not listen or obey them for… we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard. 

With the crowds praising God, the Priests had no choice but to let Peter and John go with verbal threats.

What would you do in Peter and John’s situation?

It all began with the healing of the lame man.  Firstly, they responded to a need, and gave him much more than just a bit of money.

Peter and John followed Jesus’ example.  They stopped, they listened, and they had compassion.  They then healed him.

There are perhaps times when that is all that we need to do – show our faith and the love of Jesus in our actions, our compassion and care.  We may give money to someone in need, or we may offer to pray for someone.  And that is a good way to model our faith.

But we also need to look for and ask God to show us opportunities where we can speak about our faith in the risen Jesus.  The hope we have in him.

It’s unlikely you will be called to do this in front of thousands, or to powerful religious leaders, but it might be in just a one to one or small group situation.

We are sent to do this, not in our own strength but in the power of the Holy Spirit who will not just give us courage, but also the words to say.  I wonder if Peter and John remembered Jesus’s words that we can read in Luke 12: 11-12… “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

You may feel that you are not skilled in speaking but again the Holy Spirit will equip you.  We can be very encouraged by this passage, for as the religious leaders commented, Peter and John were unschooled, fishermen and yet here they are impressing the leaders with their boldness and speech.

The leaders also noted that these men had been with Jesus.  Jesus the one who had healed many, and who was an amazing teacher.  These men had been discipled and now with the Holy Spirit had been transformed.  They were modelling Jesus and discipling others.

The more time we spend with Jesus, the more we will imitate him, the more time we spend reading his word, and praying and inviting the Holy Spirit to fill us, the more we will be like Peter and John, who could not help but speak about the good news of what they had seen and heard.

We are now going to hear from a ‘volunteer’ to share their story with us.  Again, a bit of a testimony and examples of how we can look for opportunities in everyday circumstances to share our faith.

(Invite Trevor)

Trevor, shared of how God called him back to faith after hurt in the church and then a time of spiritual searching.  He now knows he is loved by Jesus, and he loves him to ‘bursting’!  He also showed how we can bring our faith into every situations, sharing in the pharmacy responding to a questioning look as to why he was buying feminine hygiene products – he said they were to take to church for Anglicare.  Showing faith in action, caring for others, and not hiding the fact that he is a regular church go-er.

Next week we will wrap up and sum up this series on sharing our faith.

May you continue to encounter Jesus every day and ask the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you and give you boldness to share your faith.

Let’s pray:  Dear Lord Jesus, we praise you as the risen Lord, the healer, the one who has compassion on all and longs for everyone to know of your great love and to come into your family.  Fill us with your Spirit, send us out in your power and with your compassion to act in your name and speak of your love.  In your name we pray.  Amen.