1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,440 And fundamentally, what they pray for is for boldness. 2 00:00:03,960 --> 00:00:08,920 Now, there's a spectrum of people, and some people should 3 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:11,520 pray for more boldness, and some people should probably pray for 4 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:13,880 a little bit less. And there's a spouse somewhere 5 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:16,880 elbowing a spouse beside them saying you're the person who 6 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:20,640 needs less boldness. You would think because I'm 7 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,000 standing up here in front of hundreds of people that I'm a 8 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:25,240 bold individual. And I'll tell you that is a 9 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:28,720 faulty assumption. Let me tell you about one of the 10 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:32,759 times that marked my walk with Jesus and my lack of boldness. 11 00:00:32,759 --> 00:00:34,600 I had a family member. I didn't grow up in a Christian 12 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:37,040 home. Most of my family were still 13 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:38,480 working out the whole Jesus thing. 14 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:41,480 And I had a family member who was injured in a workplace 15 00:00:41,480 --> 00:00:44,080 accident. Pretty vehement atheist. 16 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:49,080 And God really, really clearly said, you need to call and you 17 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:51,800 need to pray for healing and you need to share the gospel. 18 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:56,960 And I was like, all right, Lord, I've heard you, but let's tweak 19 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:58,960 the dials on this plan a little bit. 20 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:00,880 We don't have a real deep relationship. 21 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,200 So what if I just started calling every few weeks and we 22 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,800 built a relationship to the spot where I could get to that point. 23 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:12,080 And fundamentally, I lost the opportunity to be obedient to 24 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:15,560 Jesus because I didn't want to step boldly into something that 25 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:17,840 was terrifying. Quite frankly, it was it was an 26 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:20,840 opportunity to preach the gospel to a family member. 27 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:23,320 And some of you are like, I'm having heart palpitations even 28 00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:26,800 thinking about doing that, to pray for healing, physical 29 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,800 healing and spiritual renewal in my family. 30 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:36,840 But the story we're going to walk into today, Peter and John 31 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:39,440 do just this. They pray for physical healing 32 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:43,120 and for spiritual renewal, and they do it with boldly and God 33 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:47,360 moves in power. And so let me give you a little 34 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:49,840 bit of a quick background of the passage we're going to walk into 35 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,680 here. So this is the early stages of 36 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:55,200 the book of Acts. So Jesus has ascended into 37 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:56,800 heaven, said wait for the Holy Spirit. 38 00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:59,760 They wait and then Pentecost happens, Thousands of people 39 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:03,160 come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. 40 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:07,640 And things keep growing. And I start to turn on what's 41 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:10,880 happening here with these followers of Jesus. 42 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:13,960 And so Peter and John are walking to the temple one day 43 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,320 and there's a guy there who seemed to be like a fairly well 44 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:20,920 known beggar who was unable to walk. 45 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:24,760 And he's asking for money. And Peter and John say, hey, 46 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:26,480 he's like, hey, I'm about to get some money. 47 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:28,200 And he looks up and he says, I don't have any silver or gold. 48 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:31,600 But what I do have I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ the 49 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:33,800 risen Lord, stand up and walk. And he does. 50 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:37,360 And because he's this like regular staple in the community, 51 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:41,080 like Kent on the Corner by Franklin and Dundas, like 52 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:43,560 everybody would know if he wasn't there, right? 53 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,960 And so everybody takes notice and they start to see, and this 54 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:51,840 builds and Peter filled with the Holy Spirit, preaches the gospel 55 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,960 and thousands of more people come to know Jesus. 56 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,240 And the religious authorities are like, let's shut this sucker 57 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:00,840 down right now. So they throw him in prison and 58 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,240 then they threaten them and then they threaten him a little bit 59 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:05,280 more. And they're like, don't, don't 60 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:07,000 stop. Stop with the whole Jesus thing. 61 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:09,360 And they're like, well, that's not going to happen. 62 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:13,400 I appreciate your offer there, but we're responsible to share 63 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:14,680 this message. So we're going to do what we 64 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:16,040 need to do. And if you need to punish us, 65 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:18,200 then you do what you need to do. That's the Andrew Nunn like 66 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:22,640 revised translation. And then, and then they're like, 67 00:03:22,640 --> 00:03:24,680 OK, threaten them a little bit more and then send them out. 68 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:27,480 And then this is where we walk into the passage. 69 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,080 They've just been released. They've been likely beaten, 70 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:33,480 definitely threatened, told not to talk about Jesus. 71 00:03:33,640 --> 00:03:36,880 And so here is their next step in the playbook. 72 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:38,720 And so we're going to read this together. 73 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:41,800 Acts 423. And one of the things we do at 74 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:43,320 Brant is we want to recognize man. 75 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:46,760 This is the authoritative, infallible word of the living 76 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:48,760 God. And so as a sign of respect, 77 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:50,920 we're going to stand as we read it. 78 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:53,360 So I'm going to invite you to do that, and then I will read this 79 00:03:53,360 --> 00:04:02,440 aloud for us. Acts 423 After they were 80 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,600 released, they went to their own people and reported everything 81 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:07,560 the chief priests and elders had said to them. 82 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:10,400 When they heard this, they raised their voices together to 83 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:15,800 God and said, Master, you are the one who made the heavens and 84 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:18,440 the earth, the sea, and everything in them. 85 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:21,160 You said through the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our 86 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:24,840 Father David, your servant. Why did the Gentiles rage? 87 00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:27,320 Why do people's plot futile things? 88 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:30,160 The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers 89 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:33,760 assemble together against the Lord and against His Messiah. 90 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:38,600 For in fact, in this city both Herod and Pawnius, pilots with 91 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:41,400 the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together 92 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:46,440 against your holy servant, whom you anointed to do what your 93 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,720 hand and your will had predestined to take place. 94 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:52,760 And now, Lord, consider their threats, and grant Your servants 95 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:57,080 may speak with all boldness while you stretch out your hand. 96 00:04:57,280 --> 00:05:01,040 For healings and signs and wonders are performed throughout 97 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:03,400 the name of your holy servant Jesus. 98 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:07,240 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled 99 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:11,560 was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and 100 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:14,280 began to speak the Word of God boldly. 101 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:17,000 Amen. Amen. 102 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:25,160 You can be seated and what a what a beautiful and powerful 103 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:27,400 prayer. This whole idea of this ancient 104 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,000 prayers present power series is we want to do this. 105 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,680 We want to learn from these stories and from these prayers 106 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:35,720 and learn how to integrate them. So my prayer this week is that 107 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:39,600 the Holy Spirit would shake this place and fill us with boldness 108 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:42,080 to proclaim the gospel with greater clarity and greater 109 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:44,520 boldness than we ever have. So just so you know what you're 110 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:46,880 in for, and then we're going to stop at the end of our time 111 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:48,680 together and we're going to pray that together. 112 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:53,200 So brace yourselves. And so we're going to jump into 113 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:55,560 this conversation. And what I want to look at is 114 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:58,360 not just boldness. I'm using the term biblical 115 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:01,160 boldness because like I said, there's some people who boldness 116 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:04,080 isn't the issue, It's the direction that the boldness is 117 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:05,640 taking you. And so we want to frame this 118 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:08,440 around what the Word of God says and what we've seen happen 119 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:11,120 throughout history and throughout Scripture. 120 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:13,400 And so number one thing we want to see here, the first thing 121 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:18,760 that we see is biblical boldness flows from people and prayer. 122 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:21,120 So this is the first thing, like I said, this is the first act in 123 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:22,920 the playbook. They're released from prison and 124 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:26,560 they go to their people and then they start to pray. 125 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:30,280 So people and prayer, man, we need each other. 126 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:35,280 This is a fundamental reality that God has woven into the 127 00:06:35,280 --> 00:06:38,360 fabric of creation. It doesn't matter if you're a 128 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:40,800 follower of Jesus. This is just how we function. 129 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:43,080 Isolation destroys people's souls. 130 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:48,640 And so we need one another. You cannot YouTube your way 131 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:50,880 through this life. There's a lot of stuff on 132 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:53,760 YouTube, but you can't live life that way. 133 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:56,640 There's no such thing as a DIY Christianity. 134 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:03,120 I struggled with how to say this because there's a lot of people 135 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:05,960 say like, I'm a Christian, but I don't go to church. 136 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:08,680 It's not really my thing or I got hurt in the past. 137 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:11,760 And, and I don't want to say that you, you can't be a 138 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:17,280 Christian if you're not a part of a church because I think the 139 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:20,200 power to save is in Jesus and what he's done, the finished 140 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:21,760 work accomplished for you on the cross. 141 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,640 But I will tell you with absolute authority, it is not 142 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:26,760 the design. It is not what the Scriptures 143 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:31,360 teach and ask us to live into. We are called, you know how we 144 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:35,160 say it at former churches, Love God, love others and serve the 145 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:36,400 world. You can't love others if there's 146 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:43,280 no one else around you. We need one another and so we 147 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:46,120 need a church community. We need people and places where 148 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:49,160 we gather and are are pointed to the word of God and prayed over 149 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:52,680 and and growing with other people in our discipleship to 150 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:55,560 Jesus. And that doesn't only happen 151 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:58,400 here on Sunday mornings. That happens in discipleship 152 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:01,800 groups and serve teams and and your neighborhoods and 153 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:03,840 workplaces. If you're trying to be a 154 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:07,040 missionary to your workplace, are you trying to do that on 155 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,160 your own and just muscle up and, and push through it and, and 156 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:14,720 work hard in Jesus name? Or are you praying for other 157 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:17,680 followers of Jesus to come to light so that you can work 158 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:21,760 together to accomplish so much more than you ever could on your 159 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:23,440 own? To see the Kingdom break into 160 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:27,760 the places that you live and work and serve your kids sports 161 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:31,080 teams, your the stuff that you do on a Tuesday night when 162 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:35,360 you're out with your friends, to see God move in power in those 163 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:40,240 places, not just in this one. And this is a reality that we 164 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:43,720 need people around us and it makes us bolder, right? 165 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:46,320 Sociologists call this a group thing. 166 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:50,400 If you've ever seen those like riots on TV, people are like, I, 167 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:53,160 I don't normally stand on top of cop cars and jump up and down 168 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:55,720 and smash out the windows. But the crowd grew and it got a 169 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:58,560 little crazy, right? There's this reality where when 170 00:08:58,560 --> 00:09:01,160 we get in a group of people moving in a direction, it 171 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:03,920 emboldens us and sometimes in not so helpful ways. 172 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:07,680 If you want to see this on full display, I had the joy and honor 173 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:09,800 of serving students for about 17 years. 174 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:14,120 And if you just put a bunch of high school boys in the same 175 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:17,520 vicinity, the the IQ gets shared. 176 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:20,120 It's not it doesn't get accumulated. 177 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:24,760 It gets split amongst the group and they will do things, 178 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:28,280 especially if there's another group of young ladies within the 179 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:32,760 close proximity, right? And we can see on display that 180 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:35,720 like we get a little bolder when people around us. 181 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:41,400 So the kind of people you surround yourself with matters 182 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:45,440 deeply. Are you surrounding yourself 183 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:49,520 with the kind of people who point you to Jesus, who asked 184 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:51,880 the kind of questions like what's God doing out in your 185 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:54,720 life right now? Do you have the kind of people 186 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:58,160 who when you come to them with a problem, their first instinct, 187 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:00,840 immediately after they hear what's going on, they raise 188 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:03,400 their voice to prayer, in prayer to God Almighty. 189 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:07,000 Is that the first instinct of you and your friends? 190 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:09,040 I can tell you I have some friends in my life and they are 191 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:12,000 a gift to me to go, oh, we heard that. 192 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:14,840 OK, let's pray. That's that's what we do 193 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:19,800 together. And the scripture here says they 194 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:22,880 went to their own people. Who are your people? 195 00:10:23,680 --> 00:10:25,760 Who are the people that you would call your own? 196 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:29,920 Is it a discipleship group? Is it the people you serve with 197 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:32,240 on a serve team? Is it some of the people in your 198 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:34,360 neighborhood? Is it the people who you sit 199 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:38,440 around every Sunday, who know you, who see your life, who can 200 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:41,240 hear your stories and point you to Jesus? 201 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:44,800 Everybody, man, we need this. We are wired this way. 202 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:47,680 And so don't neglect that. And so we need people and we 203 00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:50,600 need prayer. We need people whose instinct is 204 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:52,960 to pray. So as pray your instinct or is 205 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:56,320 it your last resort? Because there's a difference 206 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:58,720 between people who will pray for you if you ask. 207 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:01,240 And there's people who pray, right? 208 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:07,080 There are people who just pray. I again, I didn't come to know 209 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:09,960 Jesus through my family, but I got grafted into a beautiful 210 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:13,080 family. And so my 2 grandma's by 211 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:17,600 marriage have been bastions of prayer in this church for 212 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:20,400 decades. And so if you've been around a 213 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:22,280 while, you may remember the name Betty Connor. 214 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:25,560 Betty was the patron St. of Florida church for a stretch 215 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:28,880 there. And she when she couldn't serve 216 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:32,120 anymore during what was then Vacation Bible school, what is 217 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:36,560 now our camps, she had a list with every name of every kid in 218 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:38,600 that camp. And she would have a chair there 219 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:40,800 were they placed a chair outside of every room. 220 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:44,480 And she would sit and pray by name for every kid. 221 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:46,800 And when Grandma Connor said, hey, you know, you've got this 222 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:49,040 test going on, you got a thing happening, she would break out 223 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:52,400 her day timer and write it in at that time on that day. 224 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:54,520 And you knew that Grandma Connor was praying. 225 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:57,360 And now I have Grandma Kuntz still with me in the back there. 226 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:01,640 Hi Grandma. And she is she prays every day 227 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:02,960 for every sight of Forward Church. 228 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:04,920 And when we were launching, she made sure she prayed two or 229 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:09,360 three times a day for Ford ran like we have faithful people who 230 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:11,880 pray. And the reason God is blessing 231 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:14,760 our ministry, it's not because we're really good or really 232 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:17,120 gifted, really talented or really smart. 233 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:19,760 It's because the Spirit of God is that move and people are 234 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:23,800 praying and interceding and seeking the face of God for the 235 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,800 for his glory, not the glory of forward Church, but for the 236 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:31,520 glory of the King of kings, the Master, the sovereign Lord of 237 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:34,000 the universe. So we need to be people who are 238 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,720 praying. This was the practice of the 239 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:39,800 early church. Acts 114 says that they were 240 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:44,400 constantly united in prayer. And here's my confession. 241 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:49,080 So often my prayers are at the end of my rope. 242 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:51,640 I'm going to go out there and I'm going to work hard and I'm 243 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:54,160 going to do my best. I'm going to use what I have in 244 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:56,000 front of me and I'll call people and I'll do things. 245 00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:59,720 And then when I'm like, God, I don't know what else to do, I'll 246 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:02,440 pray. That's so dumb. 247 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:07,600 We have the sovereign Lord of the universe who created heaven, 248 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:10,400 earth, the sea and everything in them who knows the beginning 249 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:13,600 from the end. And we have access through faith 250 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:16,920 because of what Christ has done to the throne room of God. 251 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:21,680 We can ask him to come and give us his mind and and be directed 252 00:13:21,680 --> 00:13:23,800 by him. But instead I'm going to go and 253 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,920 figure it out on my own and then try to like attach his blessing 254 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:31,280 to my plan. What an idiotic thing I do, and 255 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:38,120 I hope you're smarter than I am. Is prayer our instinct or our 256 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:40,760 last resort? If your discipleship group 257 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:43,360 spends an hour and a half catching up on life and then you 258 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:45,720 throw in a random prayer at the end, that's not a discipleship 259 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:47,200 group. That's a social conversation. 260 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:49,520 Those are good and important things, but don't call it that. 261 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:54,720 Let's be people of prayer who pray first, who our instinct is. 262 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:57,080 Oh, you've got that going on. Let's pray together. 263 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:01,960 We have the sovereign God of the universe who wants to speak, who 264 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:05,320 wants you to know his mind. And so let's turn there first, 265 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:08,640 rather than exhausting ourselves in our own effort, in our own 266 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:11,440 wisdom, and then throwing a Hail Mary out to him at the last 267 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:17,280 minute. And when we start to understand 268 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:22,600 who God is and how much he loves us, prayer becomes a way more 269 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:26,680 natural response. Our boldness is rooted in the 270 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:28,760 people that that we surround ourselves with. 271 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:33,080 It's rooted in prayer, and it's rooted in who God is. 272 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:38,760 Biblical boldness must be rooted in God, His Word, and His work. 273 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:42,800 See what's going on here? These people, when they start 274 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:45,840 praying, they understand who they're talking to. 275 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:51,840 And one of the reasons we struggle to be bold is because 276 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:55,480 we think the results rest on us. We think it's about what we know 277 00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:59,080 and what we say and what we do. And if you actually walk through 278 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:02,440 this story starting in Acts 3, you see that Peter and John 279 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:04,840 constantly take the attention off themselves. 280 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:08,440 Acts 3, everyone's rustling because this guy's been healed. 281 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:09,320 And they're like, what's happened? 282 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:13,440 Who's how've they done this? And he says, why do you look at 283 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:18,040 us as though by our power and our righteousness, this man was 284 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:19,880 healed? But let me tell you, this was 285 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:23,600 done in the powerful name of Jesus Christ. 286 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:31,320 It's not about us, it's about the God that we serve. 287 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:35,760 And then when they get dragged before the religious leaders of 288 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:39,000 the day, it says that they looked at Peter and John and 289 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:43,760 recognize that they were ordinary unschooled men, but 290 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:45,440 noticed that they had been with Jesus. 291 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:53,360 Understanding that our power and authority is not something that 292 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:56,680 we have in and of ourselves that we can sort of summon up from 293 00:15:56,680 --> 00:15:58,760 our own strength. It's the Spirit of God. 294 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:02,320 It's a power of God at work and you and I. 295 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:05,160 And so that's why the first thing out of their prayers, out 296 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:06,680 of their mouth and prayers, master. 297 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:12,640 Other translations would say, sovereign Lord, God, you're 298 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:14,240 actually the one in control and not me. 299 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:17,440 This isn't actually about me and my strength and my wisdom and my 300 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:20,000 ability to execute here. It's actually all about you. 301 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:24,280 And so I'm going to step into what you have called me to, even 302 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:28,000 though it's scary, even though I am under threat right now, 303 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:30,600 because of who you are, your power, your authority, your 304 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:37,720 glory, your mind. And they know this. 305 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:41,560 God reveals himself in a couple of different ways. 306 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:44,920 We want to know who God is. So we go to His Word because 307 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:48,160 we're rooted in and who God is and we know who He is because of 308 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:53,520 His Word. God's word is God's revelation 309 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:56,600 of God's self. Here's here's what they they 310 00:16:56,600 --> 00:17:01,800 pray you said through the Holy Spirit by the mouth of our 311 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:05,599 Father David. The scriptures are not some sort 312 00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:07,960 of like helpful guidebook through life. 313 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:11,640 They're not just strong suggestions and the best way 314 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:15,920 forward. This is the inspired, infallible 315 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:20,599 word of the living God, the same God who created the heavens and 316 00:17:20,599 --> 00:17:23,680 earth and seas and everything. And he has spoken to us. 317 00:17:24,079 --> 00:17:28,040 And so we can know him. He reveals himself to us through 318 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:32,720 this incredible gift, and most of us just have it in our pocket 319 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:38,760 all day long and ignore it. This is how you know the living 320 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:42,080 God. And so it even informs the early 321 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:47,440 church's prayers. They pray scriptures back to 322 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:49,600 God. One of those beautiful that's 323 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:51,960 that's a whole idea of this whole series is we're learning 324 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:55,760 the scriptures and the prayers that rest in them so that we can 325 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:59,240 pray those back to God because that is how we understand and 326 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:01,440 interact with the God of the universe. 327 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:04,800 Have you ever done that? Have you ever just walked 328 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:07,760 through the book of Psalms and and found ones that connect with 329 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:09,520 your heart? Whatever season of life you're 330 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:13,000 in, you'll find it in the Psalms and pray that back to God. 331 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:18,640 Let God's word shape how you speak to him and to watch 332 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:21,200 throughout you see what happens here. 333 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:24,200 They, they start with creation and they see like this is who 334 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:26,400 you are God. This is what I, I have seen your 335 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:31,360 scriptures reveal to me. And so they, they know God and 336 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:34,480 they know God through his word, and they also know God through 337 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:37,240 his work. What's interesting is this, this 338 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:41,880 part of Acts 4, that's scripture and historical in the past to 339 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:43,280 us. But for them, that's happening 340 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:44,960 in real time. That is their life. 341 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:47,400 And so they can look back on some of the Old Testament 342 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:51,120 scriptures and see what God is doing in their day. 343 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:55,920 And they can have a bolder faith as a result because they go, 344 00:18:56,080 --> 00:19:00,360 hey, this, this Scripture in Psalm 2, we're seeing that 345 00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:03,880 fulfilled. This is what the Gentiles plot 346 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:05,280 in vain. And when the kings and rulers 347 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:08,160 come against the Lord's anointed, we just watched that 348 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:10,840 happen. And so we know that all of this 349 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:14,560 is in your sovereign hand. And so we don't need to fear. 350 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:18,440 We're bolder when we know who God is and what he said and what 351 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:22,360 he's doing. And the word of God roots us in 352 00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:25,520 that. And so I want to ask you, are 353 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:28,480 you can you recognize what God's doing around you today? 354 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,520 One of the most powerful experiences for me growing as a 355 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:37,200 young man and as a leader in the church was actually a five year 356 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:39,800 revitalization process. And one of the pieces of 357 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:43,640 homework we had to do, it sort of ramped up, but we had to get 358 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:46,920 to the spot where we told a transformation story. 359 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:52,480 Every day you had to somewhere in your day talk to somebody 360 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:54,760 about what God was doing in and around you. 361 00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:58,080 And then it changes what you see in the world. 362 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:04,240 When you're looking for the doom gloom of a Facebook news feed, 363 00:20:05,120 --> 00:20:07,720 you're going to find it and it's going to feel really dark. 364 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:11,600 But if your eyes are attuned to what the living God is doing 365 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:16,480 around us, and we live with so much more hope, so much more 366 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:20,000 boldness because we see what God is doing. 367 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:25,520 So I just want to tell you a couple of stories I have seen. 368 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:29,600 God, in the last six months, God break the chains of addiction in 369 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:31,320 the lives of some of the people of our church. 370 00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:37,640 A guy who's addicted to alcohol, used it as a crutch. 371 00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:42,640 And then Holy Spirit. Saturday we prayed over him and 372 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:45,840 he said I felt something leave me and something else come in 373 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:47,640 which we know is the Holy Spirit. 374 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:51,880 And he said, and then the next week I had all these situations 375 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:54,240 where there was health scares and these things going on and in 376 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:59,040 my flesh, what I would have done is gone to drinking and I didn't 377 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:01,120 even want to. It's not like I fought it off in 378 00:21:01,120 --> 00:21:03,480 my own strength. It's like the Holy Spirit had 379 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,600 just like changed me. And he said like I'm I can go to 380 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:11,560 parties where there is alcohol and I just don't desire what I 381 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:15,720 used to desire in an instant because the Spirit of God was at 382 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:17,720 work. Yes, you can. 383 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:23,360 You can be excited about that. I had two conversations inside 384 00:21:23,360 --> 00:21:26,440 of three days with two young men who were wrestling with 385 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:29,520 different issues in their lives where there were patterns of sin 386 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:32,240 and behaviors that were being really destructive. 387 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:34,200 One was lying, one was addicted to pornography. 388 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:38,280 And we were praying together. And then the next week they came 389 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:40,400 back two separate conversations, three days apart. 390 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:45,160 And they said, I don't know what happened, but I don't, I don't 391 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:46,440 want it anymore. I don't want to lie. 392 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:49,080 I don't want to hide myself. God has just changed. 393 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:52,920 And, and not only that, both of them said, not only do I not 394 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:55,240 want those things anymore, I'm actually desiring the things 395 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:56,640 I've got. I've never read my Bible every 396 00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,120 day in my entire life. And I can't stop. 397 00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:01,200 I'm just excited about what God's word is doing. 398 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:03,440 And so God is on the move, people. 399 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:08,280 Let's be excited about it. And so let me let me tell you 400 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:12,000 what's going on here in this prayer in Acts 4, as they see 401 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:14,680 what God is doing and they jump on board. 402 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:18,240 And this line is incredibly important. 403 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:25,400 Like, do you want you get to do whatever your hand and your will 404 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:29,520 has predestined to take place, that God's will is unstoppable. 405 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:34,400 So the family member who God very clearly asked me to pray 406 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:41,080 for and I didn't, was walking through Sobeys and somebody 407 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:44,720 walks past them and says, your back was hurt. 408 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:49,040 And he's like, excuse you. He said, Holy Spirit just spoke 409 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:51,280 to me. This is a human atheist who 410 00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:55,160 believes in aliens, not Jesus. And he's like, I'm sorry, what? 411 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:58,400 He said, yeah, The Holy Spirit said, your back, Sir, can I pray 412 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:02,840 for you? He said, oh sure, put his hand 413 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:05,880 on him and prayed over him and he said like I'm not fully 414 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:07,520 healed. But I felt something. 415 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:13,040 I felt like this warmth go through my whole body and God 416 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:17,520 had to use some random guy in Sobeys because I was not bold 417 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:20,000 enough to walk in obedience to what the sovereign God of the 418 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:26,440 universe commanded me to do. What an absolute waste for me to 419 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:30,240 let somebody else be used by God because I wouldn't be obedient 420 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:32,800 because I was scared of how that would affect our next family 421 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:34,800 gathering. What a miss. 422 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:42,120 What a miss by me. God is at work and His work is 423 00:23:42,120 --> 00:23:47,400 unstoppable. And so let's walk with boldness 424 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:52,440 in that. Friends, there's a danger in 425 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:58,600 what I've said so far. You could go, OK, so we get some 426 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:04,200 people and then we pray together and then we read the Bible and 427 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:08,200 then we go, all right, let's go, let's do the things, Lord. 428 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:13,320 And then Jesus follows along with our enthusiasm and energy. 429 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,040 And what I want you to know is things like this, spiritual 430 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:22,080 disciplines, the active community and prayer and getting 431 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:25,560 in God's Word aren't tickets to some sort of like Christian 432 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:28,800 merit bad system where you like level up in your walk with 433 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:33,840 Jesus. These are gifts handed to us by 434 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:37,000 God Almighty so that we can know him more. 435 00:24:38,120 --> 00:24:44,440 The goal here is abiding in Christ, resting in his presence, 436 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:49,560 knowing him deeply so that he can lead all of our steps. 437 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:55,280 There isn't a road map here. The goal is a person, and that 438 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:59,880 person is intimacy with God, with God himself. 439 00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:05,880 And what we see here in the early church and what they do is 440 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:09,000 that biblical boldness is empowered by the Holy Spirit. 441 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:12,880 If you want to walk through the 1st 4 chapters of the book of 442 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:19,000 Acts, the Holy Spirit is laced throughout it just absolutely 443 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:22,160 full of the Spirit descending before Pentecost, empowering the 444 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:24,640 disciples. And Peter's full of the Holy 445 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:27,600 Spirit before he gives these messages that people are being 446 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:29,560 healed and they're confessing like this isn't us. 447 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:32,560 This is the power of the Holy Spirit at work through the name 448 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:36,760 of Jesus. And remember, we talked about 449 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:40,040 people who maybe need to dial it back, not ramp things up in the 450 00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:43,000 boldness department. Man, that was our guy Peter. 451 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:45,400 Peter's problem was not being bold. 452 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:50,040 It was actually the boldness wasn't lacking. 453 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:53,360 The results seemed to lag behind or at least a little scattered 454 00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:55,880 at times. He was the kind of guy who would 455 00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:59,920 run his mouth and jump headlong into situations and then Jesus 456 00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:02,680 would have to call him Satan and rebuke him and stuff like that. 457 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:07,040 You know, the huge. So what changed? 458 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:09,720 How do we go from the guy who can't get his foot out of his 459 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:12,640 mouth to the guy who thousands of people are falling on their 460 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:15,480 knees and repenting and being baptized in the name of Jesus? 461 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:22,120 Acts 1. Jesus says, wait, I'm going to 462 00:26:22,120 --> 00:26:27,320 send you a helper and you will be clothed with power from on 463 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:29,400 high when the Holy Spirit comes on you. 464 00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:35,080 We don't want the fruit of people being drawn to a really 465 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:38,120 great service or a really charismatic teacher or somebody 466 00:26:38,120 --> 00:26:42,240 who's really sharp and smart and can respond to good questions. 467 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:46,480 What we want is the Kingdom of God being the in breaking 468 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:50,160 Kingdom of God moving on, people being transformed more into the 469 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:56,600 likeness of Christ, broken stories made whole people 470 00:26:56,600 --> 00:27:00,880 trapped in addiction set free. We want the Kingdom of God to 471 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:03,360 come. We can't do that with a really 472 00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:06,600 great five year strategy. And we have some really 473 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:08,840 brilliant leaders in this church, but we can't, we can't 474 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:11,360 do it. This is only accomplished by the 475 00:27:11,360 --> 00:27:16,200 Spirit of the living God. I don't want you to go out and 476 00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:18,960 be bold because you've got a better evangelism strategy and 477 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:20,960 you know what to write on the napkin of the guy at the 478 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:24,400 restaurant beside you. It's the power of the living 479 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:32,430 God. The Holy Spirit is at work 480 00:27:32,670 --> 00:27:35,000 today. I told you a few stories and let 481 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:36,720 me tell you what's happening around the world right now. 482 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:41,160 In the UK, they're going through what people are starting to call 483 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:45,440 the quiet revival, that the Spirit is doing something. 484 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:49,720 The UK, if you follow church trends, they're usually 15 years 485 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:52,840 about ahead of Canada in terms of what's happening there and 486 00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:55,520 how dechristianized they were. All the stuff that we're 487 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:58,520 wrestling with right now. They were a decade or two before 488 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:01,520 us. But read this from a report from 489 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:06,520 the UK Bible Society. Church attendance in England and 490 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:09,520 Wales is on the rise. This represents A startling 491 00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:14,040 changes to a decade long trend and presumptions, with the most 492 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:18,000 dramatic increase seen among young people, particularly young 493 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:21,840 men. In 2018, just 4% of 18 to 24 494 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:24,080 year olds said they attended church at least monthly. 495 00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:29,560 Today that's risen to 16%, with young men increasing more from 4 496 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:32,640 to 21% and young women from 3:00 to 12:00. 497 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:36,960 This is now the second most likely group to attend church 498 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:39,240 regularly. Overall, church going Christians 499 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:43,000 now make up 12% of the population, up from 8 in 2018. 500 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:47,600 In numerical terms, that's from 3.7 million to almost 6 rise of 501 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,280 56%. God is on the move. 502 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:53,600 And what if you read the rest of that report? 503 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:55,840 It'll tell you things like they're not just going to 504 00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:59,720 church, but they're also reading the Bible regularly and actually 505 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:03,680 believing that this is authoritative and has something 506 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:05,840 to say about how we live our lives. 507 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:08,760 It's not just people walking into a building it, but God is 508 00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:10,760 on the move and transforming people. 509 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:15,240 His Spirit is doing something. And so we're going to pray 510 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:20,840 because what happens here is in the middle of the situation, 511 00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:25,360 Peter and John get together with their people and those people 512 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:27,960 lift their voice to the sovereign God of the universe 513 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:33,440 and pray Scripture back to him. And then the Holy Spirit comes 514 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:37,880 and shakes the room. And because the Holy Spirit has 515 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:40,200 come, that church was unshakable. 516 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:43,720 They proclaimed the word of God with great boldness and 517 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:45,800 thousands of people came to know Jesus. 518 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:49,800 You and I are sitting here today because those people kept 519 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:52,640 proclaiming that truth. And so I'm going to invite us 520 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:54,280 into a posture of prayer right now. 521 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:57,920 And what I want to ask you to do is we're going to we're going to 522 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:00,640 start. I want you to ask the Holy 523 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:04,440 Spirit what your next step of boldness is, because some of you 524 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:07,680 have ideas that the Holy Spirit needs to hit the brakes on, and 525 00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:10,000 some of you are so scared you can't even let your mind go 526 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:11,360 there. And so I'm going to pray and 527 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:15,160 then I'm going to leave some silence, and then I'm going to 528 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:20,160 pray again that the Holy Spirit would fill us and empower us. 529 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:24,960 And then we're going to worship. So adopt whatever posture of 530 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:25,880 prayer. If you need to get on your 531 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:28,080 knees, if you need to raise your hands, if you need to stand or 532 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:40,150 sit, adopt A posture of prayer. Holy Spirit, help us not to make 533 00:30:40,590 --> 00:30:44,990 prayer and dependence on you our last resort when we've exhausted 534 00:30:44,990 --> 00:30:47,590 ourselves, but our first instinct. 535 00:30:47,590 --> 00:30:49,670 And so God, we want to come to you in this moment. 536 00:30:51,310 --> 00:30:56,070 And we ask, Spirit of the living and sovereign God, would you 537 00:30:56,070 --> 00:31:01,280 minister to our hearts today? Draw clearly to each one's mind 538 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:06,240 the next step of boldness, however great or small. 539 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:10,480 Draw it to mind. We ask this, and we leave you, 540 00:31:10,480 --> 00:32:10,600 space, Lord, to speak. Lord, would you put in our 541 00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:15,880 hearts and minds, faces and names and dates, make it so 542 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:33,380 clear, God And Lord, we want to surrender 543 00:32:33,380 --> 00:32:35,820 ourselves to you. God, I know for some of us, 544 00:32:35,820 --> 00:32:38,060 we're just ready to go out and charge hell. 545 00:32:38,860 --> 00:32:40,980 And for some of us, we're scared to death. 546 00:32:42,700 --> 00:32:45,580 And so we ask, Holy Spirit, that you would come in this place, 547 00:32:46,020 --> 00:32:50,000 that as we lift our voices to the Almighty God, that you would 548 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:54,760 send your Spirit to clothe us with power from on high, that we 549 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:57,440 wouldn't do any of this on our own strength and our own wisdom. 550 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:02,640 But God, we would rely and depend on you and you alone. 551 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:08,920 So, Spirit of God, fill us with boldness, not with arrogance, 552 00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:13,840 not with more information, but with a boldness that's rooted in 553 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:18,760 Your word and your character and empowered by and led by your 554 00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:24,440 Holy Spirit and nothing else. Lord, we pray God, that you 555 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:29,560 would let loose a revival in this place, the Spirit, as we 556 00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:32,960 proclaim the name of Jesus, that you would stretch out your hand, 557 00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:36,480 perform signs and wonders and miracles and work and do the 558 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:40,360 things that only you can do to set people free, to restore 559 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:44,480 broken marriages, to bring lost children back home. 560 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:51,560 God, we can't. And so we want to rest in your 561 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:58,680 presence, Holy Spirit. We don't want to just run good 562 00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:00,920 church services. We don't want to run run great 563 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:03,560 discipleship programs. We want to be formed into the 564 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:06,880 image of Jesus, empowered by your spirit and building your 565 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:17,239 Kingdom together. And so come, Holy Spirit, I 566 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:18,880 invite you to invite the Holy Spirit. 567 00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:24,040 Ask him aloud. Ask, invite Him to come and move 568 00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:47,199 in your life to make you bold. Surrender ourselves to you, 569 00:34:47,199 --> 00:34:51,199 Lord, as we lift our voices in prayer and in worship. 570 00:34:51,679 --> 00:34:53,920 Would you meet us here and shake this place, Lord. 571 00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:56,679 Amen. Amen.