So this morning we are continuing in our impact series
as we make our way, pretty slowly to be honest with you,
through the book of Acts. And as we do, I want to share a
glimpse of what is happening right now because there is a
unique momentum building in our nation.
A beautiful, undeniable quickening of the Spirit is
taking place in our land. It's like there is a weight of
expectation, a long, slow awakening.
It's like when Aslan breathed over the frozen statues in
Narnia and people came back to life because the breath of God
is blowing upon this land, fanning a flame that centuries
of fire quenching buckets failed to put out.
Not persecution. Not wars, not cynical voices,
not the media. Nothing has been able to
extinguish the flame of the gospel and it's igniting friends
like never before. Just last month, I don't know if
you saw it on the news, but there were wildfires that
erupted across Saddleworth and Marsden Moor in West Yorkshire
where parched conditions, where the ground was all very parched
and there were strong winds. It created this perfect
conditions, I guess for a rapid spread of wildfire.
Friends, we have known parched dry ground for a very long time.
But right now, the Spirit of God is breathing a fresh life into
our nation, and the evidence is popping up wherever you look.
Here's what's happening. Let me give you a snapshot.
So Alpha research tells us that church attendance in the UK rose
by 25% in 2025. The Catholic Church has seen a
44% increase in adults receiving communion for the first time.
And the Church of England has reported an 11 1/2% rise in
adult baptisms, the largest that they have seen in decades.
The Bible sales are booming. Retail purchases of the Bible
has increased. Get this by 134%.
People are hungry for the truth. Use the praying 42.
Sorry, 41% of 11 to 18 year olds now say that they pray.
And everywhere you look there is a cultural conversation that is
happening. From the Bible Brothers at
Arsenal Football Club to podcasts such as Stephen
Bartlett's CEO podcast where he recently interviewed Wesley
Huff, who is a leading Christian apologist, to come to Church
With Me reels and also worship reels that are going viral all
over Instagram and TikTok. And here in the Vineyard across
the UK and Ireland, we've seen a 14% rise in baptisms and an
8018% rise in people coming to faith.
Christianity is becoming more and more visible in the public
square. And Al Gordon, who's a vicar of
Saint Church in Hackney, he recently said this.
This is definitely not business as usual.
I have never known a time like this where there are signs and
wonders, people having dreams in the middle of the night and
turning up to church. And hey, you could be here this
morning. And that's exactly what's
happened to you. You know, it's an acceleration
of the normal Christian life. And we see the blueprint of this
kind of impact in Acts chapter 4.
And we're about to see how a small flame in the hearts of two
ordinary people, Peter and John, turned into a wildfire that
spread throughout Jerusalem. Now, to be clear, it did not
happen because these people were spectacular people.
You know, they were some kind of superstars.
It happened because of two things.
The Holy Spirit filled them with courage and with boldness.
And I think you'll agree that we could all do with a bit more
courage and boldness. Holy Spirit, breathe courage and
boldness that sets us ablaze for the gospel of Jesus,
transforming us into wildfire people, people who carry a hope
that is contagious for everyone we meet.
Just like with a flick of a match spark, it leaps and it
starts to burn. Just small at first, just around
the edges, but then the flame, it starts to build and it starts
to grow and it's fuelled by its environment so that the heat
builds and and soon the kindling is being licked up by tongues of
red and orange flame. Higher and higher and wider and
wider it spreads, consuming everything around it until this
flame has become an unstoppable fire.
That is my prayer for us all. I'm talking about unstoppable
wildfires that sweep this nation with blessing and healing and
transformation. Fires that bring life and
wholeness and freedom and liberty.
Fires that bring light into the darkest places of society and
into the blackest of hearts. A fire that sweeps through every
street, every commuter town, every village, in our historic
marketplaces and in our local courtrooms and the busy streets
of our city. It's a fire on the parts of our
parks and in our homes, in our nurseries, our primaries, our
secondary schools and universities, in the early
morning CrossFit sessions before work and the pubs and the clubs
and the restaurants after work. This fire is moving through our
commuter trains into St. Pancras and along the A414 and
M25. It travels down the quiet lanes
of the Chiltons and through the busyness of Watford and Hemel
and Hatfield. What if the flame within you,
the spark you carry onto that Thameslink or into your local
coffee shop tomorrow morning, turned into an unstoppable fire
fuelled flame by the Spirit of God?
What if, just like in Acts, the future of the Church here in
Saint Albans and Hatfield and Hemel and Watford and all across
this region was changed forever? Because there is nothing the
Lord doesn't want to do in US today that He hasn't already
done in the book of Acts. And it's what I'm desperate for
in my own life, and it's what I'm bursting for, for all of us
for as a church. It's in this chapter where we're
going to see how from a flame to a fire, wildfire spread.
And last week, Chuck shared with us, I bought a brilliant word in
Acts 3 and he shared about how the power of God and how it
broke in and healed this lame man at the temple gate.
And what happened was the crowd, they were absolutely full of
awe. But as we open up Acts 4 today,
we're going to see the miracle didn't just bring about wonder,
but it also bought a confrontation.
And so going to, we're going to make our way through the book of
Acts in chapter 4 today, and we're going to make our way up
to verse 21. But we're going to do it in
chunks. So if you've got your Bibles
with you, we're going to read Acts 4 verses one to four first.
It's going to come up on the screen and I'm going to read it
to us. And it's titled Peter and John
before the Sanhedrin. So the priests and the captain
of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and
John. While they were speaking to the
people, they were greatly disturbed because the apostles
were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the
resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John.
And because it was evening, they 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 5000. Amen.
So today we're looking at how do wildfires spread?
How do we go from flame to fire? What is needed to fuel a flame
into a fire? Number one, our voice.
Our voice can turn a flame into a fire.
Verse 1, The Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they
were speaking to the people. Verse 2, they were greatly
disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people,
proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.
It's hard to believe, isn't it, that this is the same Peter, you
know who. Only a short time ago there he
was standing by a fire in a courtyard not far away from
where Jesus was being questioned by the high priest.
Peter loved Jesus. He'd spent nearly three years
with him. Jesus was not only Peter's Lord,
but he was also his friend. And in the moment when Jesus was
being condemned to death, Peter, he disowned Jesus, denying that
he ever knew him again and again and again.
And now here he is, speaking, teaching and proclaiming the
gospel of Jesus, not in whispered hushed tones, but
boldly and confidently. What's happened to him?
He's unrecognisable. And I guess in so many ways we
know what's happened to him. He's lived through the most
dramatic plot reversal in the whole of history.
Right before his eyes. Death became new life, and what
looked like defeat was transformed into victory.
But also, there's something in Peter's past that has caused his
voice to be strengthened and emboldened.
Peter experienced such terrible heartbreak when he denied Jesus.
He was devastated that he had disowned him.
He knew what it meant to carry the shame of silence.
And I can't help wondering if that cold, dark night of
rejection and denial was actually a catalyst for Peter,
because it was a moment that he never wanted to repeat again.
And so, fuelled by the grace and forgiveness of Jesus, early one
morning on the beach shore over a charcoal fire, having
breakfast together, Jesus made space for Peter to speak out his
love for him and also to receive Jesus forgiveness.
What changed for Peter? What moved him from fearful
denial to this bold proclamation?
It has to be something to do with this moment, doesn't it?
And so here we are. The Sadducees thought they they
had eliminated the Jesus movement where a few weeks
before they crucified Jesus. But instead, here's Peter and
John. They are publicly preaching in
the temple of all places, that God has raised Jesus to life.
And so, of course, the Sadducees, they don't like that.
And they seize Peter and John and they throw them into jail.
And we see the effect of their flame.
Their voice ignites whoosh into a fire where 5000 people turn to
Jesus, 5000 men. So actually, if we include women
and children, which we do, it's 15 to 20,000 people.
That is some fire, friends. That is a wildfire.
From the flame of just a couple of voices.
A mighty fire is spread, friends.
However we feel about this, however awkward, however
embarrassing, however scary it might feel, we cannot get away
from the fact that when Peter and John spoke about Jesus, they
saw thousands of people come to faith.
If there was a time in our land when England needed to hear our
voice, it's now. If there was a time when our
communities needed to hear us speak, it's now.
If there was a time when our friends and our families and our
colleagues are open more than ever to the gospel, it's now.
If there was a time when our our workmates, the people maybe that
we go to the gym with need to hear our voice, bringing a
different perspective, talking about a different way, a better
way, a higher way, it's now. We are living in a season right
now where the old answers are failing and where hearts are
wide open, ready to receive the truth of Christianity.
People, people aren't just curious.
They are searching. They're searching for a hope
that holds a weight. And it feels like there is a
unique ripeness in the air right now because when the world
shakes and it feels shaky, which it currently does very much so,
people start looking for foundations that don't move.
Friends, there has never been a greater openness or more
significant opportunity for the gospel than the one that is
standing before us today. The hunger is real and the doors
are wide open and yet to meet this moment.
I sense first that there is a call for us to take breakfast
with Jesus. Just like Peter.
I sense for so many of us there is an invitation to a breakfast
on the beach time with Jesus. It's an invitation to bring
before him all the times where we've stayed silent, all the
times when we never said a word, when we should have spoken up,
when we should have spoken out, or we simply should have just
spoken about Jesus. For all the times our work
colleagues never knew that we were a Christian.
For all the times our friends didn't know that we go to
church. For all the silences, for all
the missed opportunities, for there is a reinstating and a
recommissioning that Jesus by his Spirit is longing to bring
us. Just as Jesus sat with Peter
over the fire, He wants to come and he wants to speak into our
hearts today. Not to condemn us for the
silence, but to forgive us and to fill us afresh with His love
until that love outweighs our fear.
He wants to come and lift the shame and say, do you love me,
do you love me, do you love me? Then go again, go again.
He's ready to reinstate you and He is ready to reinstate me.
He's ready to recommission you and fill you with His courage
and His boldness. So Peter and John, there they
are. They are bought before the
rulers and the elders and the teachers of the law after
spending a night in prison. And they asked them, so we're in
verse 7 to 12. Now, by what power or what name
did you do this? Then Peter filled with the Holy
Spirit said to them, rulers and elders of the people.
If we're being called to account today for an act of kindness
shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was
healed, then know this you and all the people of Israel, it is
by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified,
but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands
before you healed. Jesus is the stone you builders
rejected, which has become the cornerstone.
Salvation is found in no one else.
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name
under heaven, given to mankind, by which we must be saved.
I love how Peter suddenly turns the tables on their heads.
Instead of him being put on trial, he's put them on trial.
Peter stands there with this unshakable confidence in the
Gospels. He knows he isn't leaning on
some static, established tradition or a set of dry rules.
He knows that the one and only power that can overcome and
transform lives and communities and nations is the living,
breathing power of the gospel. See the shift in verse 8 as the
Holy Spirit ignites a supernatural courage within
Peter, giving him the exact words he needs to face his
accusers. And I absolutely love this
contrast of Peter's journey because I think it offers us so
much hope. At least it does for me, as we
see how the fire, how it's moved from the external to the
internal. From a charcoal fire in a
courtyard where Peter stood shivering in silence, gripped by
the fear of man, to this second fire, an internal fire, the fire
of courage, the fire of the Holy Spirit, an indwelling flame that
empowers him to stand at the very seat of power and boldly
proclaim the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, The name
that changes everything. See the power equation here.
Spirit and word, Gospel and Spirit equals power.
You see, when we speak the gospel of Jesus, when we tell of
what He has done in our lives, when we talk about what we
believe, friends, we're not just imparting information.
We aren't just sharing a story or a theory or a set of cold
facts. God's Spirit, he takes our words
and He makes them hit home in ways that we can never have
dreamt of achieving on our own. This is the supernatural
catalyst of the Book of Acts. And it's the most liberating
news for any of us who feel nervous or scared about sharing
our faith. Why?
Because it takes the pressure off of our shoulders and puts
the focus squarely on the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit who stands ready to fill us with a courage that
is not our own. Because we are called to share
the gospel, the gospel that is the unbeatable, uncompromising
power of God. It seeks no one's approval.
It bribes no authority, and it makes absolutely no apology for
its coming. It doesn't need to fit in.
It doesn't need to be liked. It is simply the truth.
And it's hit the Sandrine and San can't say it.
Sanhedrin, Sanhedrin. Thank you.
Counsel straight between their eyes and they don't know what to
do because they are trying to manage a tradition, yet Peter is
releasing, unleashing even a revolution.
Verse 15 to 16. So they ordered them to withdraw
from the Sanhedrin and then confer together.
What are we going to do with these men?
They asked. Everyone living in Jerusalem
knows they have performed A notable sign and we cannot deny
it. How do we stop a wildfire from
spreading well across Saddleworth and Marsden Moor in
West Yorkshire? They deployed the fire services
and the emergency services here. The priests and the Sadducees
know that there is only one thing that could be poured over
this wildfire from to stop it from spreading any further.
Only one thing, that is silence. Verse 17 and 18.
But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the
people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in
this name. Then they called in Peter and
John again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in
the name of Jesus. The only thing that will stop a
flame from growing and building and spreading like wildfires all
over this region is silence, is our silence.
You see, Peter and John, they were commanded, they were
ordered, they were harassed, they were threatened by these
incredibly powerful people not to speak about Jesus anymore.
They'd be in silence. They'd already been thrown into
jail. They knew what persecution was
and they could see it coming towards them at a rate of knots.
And yet this is their response, verse 19 to 21.
But Peter and John replied, which is right in God's eyes to
listen to you or to him. You'd be the judges.
As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen
and heard. After further threats, they let
them go. They could not decide how to
punish them because all the people were praising God for
what had happened. What is compelling Peter and
John not to be silent? What has captivated them to such
an extent that they are prepared to stand in direct opposition of
what has been commanded over them by the most highest people?
What has put fire in their bones and resolution in their hearts?
The answer and the key, I believe, to this question is
found in verse 13. When they saw the courage of
Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled ordinary
men, they were astonished and they took note that these men
had been with Jesus. What is needed to grow a flame
into a fire #2 intimacy with Jesus.
Intimacy turns a flame into a fire.
The religious rulers, they were stunned.
Why? Because they could see the
unmistakable evidence that Peter and John, they had been with
Jesus. Peter hadn't just studied Jesus,
he'd live with him. Jesus had called him by name.
He'd shared meals with him. He'd taught him the secrets of
the Kingdom of God. He'd loved him all the way
through his failures. He'd challenged his pride and
he'd encouraged his heart. And he'd commissioned his
future. Jesus said, look Peter in the
eyes at his lowest point, and he had restored him.
Peter had been transformed because of the life, the
presence and the very heart of Jesus had rubbed off on him.
There's an old Persian proverb that says a lump of clay emitted
a beautiful odour and when asked for explanation, replied, I have
been near a rose. Friends, we are the clay.
Jesus is the Rose. Our fragrance, our courage, our
peace, our boldness is not something that we manufacture.
It is the result of proximity. Intimacy is the antidote to any
fading flame. It's a solution for every dry
season and every weary moment in our lives.
And when the enemy comes to crush, when the enemy comes to
squeeze the life out of us, which he so often tries to do,
when the world tries to blow out the fire, the flame within you,
the cure is not to try harder. The cure is to be with Jesus, be
with Jesus again, to sit with him, to linger in his Word, to
linger in worship, to pray, and to be filled by his Spirit
afresh. If we want the fire to grow, we
don't focus on the flame, we focus on the one who lit it.
And from that intimacy comes courage.
Courage turns a flame into a fire that spreads to wildfires.
In the early 1500s, it was a capital crime to translate the
Bible into English. The religious Sanhedrin at the
time, they believed that the common people could not cope
with the fire of the Word of God, and so they wanted to keep
it contained in Latin. But there was a man named
William Tindall who had been with Jesus and through the study
of the Hebrew and Greek scriptures and through the Holy
Spirit, igniting something with him, within him.
He famously said to a high-ranking clergyman, if God
keeps me alive, before many years pass, I'll make sure that
a teenage farmhand knows more about the Bible than you do.
And for years, Tyndall he lived as a fugitive.
He moved from city to city all across Europe, often cold and
lonely and hiding in the shadows.
Yet he worked tirelessly, smuggling thousands of English
New Testaments into England in sacks of flour and crates of
cloth. Because he knew that if the
English people could read the Bible in their mother tongue,
read the name of Jesus, then it would be a game changer for
them. It would change everything.
And in 1536, Tyndall, he was betrayed.
He was captured, he was strangled and he was burned at
the stake. And as the fire was lit, he
cried out, Lord, open the eyes of the king of England.
And God answered that prayer. Within two years, King Henry the
Eighth ordered that an English Bible be placed in every single
church in the country. This man's single flame became a
wildfire that gave us the basis for the King James Bible and put
the gospel in front of every man, woman and child in England.
Friends, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, our life
becomes a contagion of courage. You see the authorities, they
thought they were putting out a fire by burning a man, but they
didn't realise that Tyndall wasn't just a man with a book.
He was a man who was filled by the spirit of God and his death
was the spark that turned a flickering flame into a global
wildfire. And the English language,
English language was forever set ablaze with the word of God.
Friends of fire that stays contained in a fireplace is just
for our own comfort. It keeps us cosy, it keeps us
warm, it keeps us snuggled up and it keeps us safe.
But a spirit fuelled fire, it's meant to break out, it's meant
to become a wildfire. And this is what the Sanhedrin
feared the most. They weren't just dealing with a
healed man or a clever argument, they were dealing with a
contagion of courage. Peter's boldness was infectious
because it wasn't from him, it was from the Holy Spirit, and it
moved from him to the other disciples and eventually it
swept across the world. It was a wildfire that no power
could quench and no prison could contain.
Let us not be people who choose to stay warm and cosy by the
fireplace. Let's be people who were set
ablaze for the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Amen. Amen.