Prayer Unlocks Unity | Acts 4:23-31

Welcome to Sermons from the Way Church KC, the community of the citizens and saints in Kansas City, following the way of Jesus and pushing back and darkness together.

Well, good morning, everybody.

How we all feeling?

How we all doin'?

It's Chiefs Game Sunday, so I'm pretty sure we're all excited, ready for the game tonight, hopefully.

Um I am gonna be reading Acts 4, 23 through 31.

Does that sound right?

Where did Zach go?

Zach Vinish.

Okay, I'm pretty sure that's right.

So if y'all will stand with me for the reading of the word, we're gonna read this real quick.

When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, Sovereign Lord who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, Why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed.

For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

And now the and now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

This is the word of the Lord.

You may be seated.

Amen, amen.

Well, welcome everyone to the Way Church KC.

My name is Zach.

I'm one of the pastors here.

Um we're glad you're here.

It's a wonderful day.

It's Sunday, it's my favorite day of the week.

Um, if this is your first time here, if you're um new here, um we are a new church plant who exists to follow the way of Jesus and push back darkness together.

Say this every week, but like that's the mission we've been on for the past year and a half, and it's a joy to plant a church with your best friends, with your family.

I haven't even said good morning to you, Jeremy.

Good morning.

Um but yeah, that's what we're doing.

Um, if it is your first time here, we have a gift for you, so don't leave after service without getting that gift.

Um, we've been in a series through the book of Acts, walking verse by verse through the book of Acts, and our series is entitled Living by the Spirit and Following the Way.

This morning we'll be in Acts chapter 4, verse 23 through 31.

Acts 4:23–31

So if you've got a Bible, you can open it to Acts chapter 4, verses 23 through 31.

Acts 4:23–31

And if you don't have a Bible, we would love to give one to you just outside of our sanctuary doors.

We have a Bible that you can have, you can keep, you can mark up, take notes in, all that fun stuff.

And um also, if you want to take notes today and you don't have anything to write on, we have some like online fillable sermon notes.

Um you can tap your phone to that little sticker on the chair in front of you, and you can access our fillable sermon notes, or you can go to thewaykc.church slash sermon notes.

That's just something we do to hopefully be a tool to you, a tool for you.

Um before we dig in today, I want to give us kind of a brief recap of where we've been in the book of Acts thus far.

So Acts chapter one, um, Jesus had just died, he just um resurrected three days later, and we see in Acts 1, he um it shows up in the upper room and he promises the coming of the Holy Spirit.

And then he ascends to the right hand of the Father.

Um then the the Holy Spirit descends and falls at Pentecost, and and tongues of fire are spoken.

Everybody is in one accord, speaking in one language, praying in one language, praying together.

And then after that, Peter he hops up and he preaches and he explains these tongues and the tongues of fire being spoken.

And then directly after that, we see um a lame beggar being healed.

And then once again, Peter preaches and he explains what just had happened.

He explains that miraculous situation.

Then Peter and John are arrested.

The Sanhedrin's like, hey, I don't want you doing these things, I don't want you uh doing these healings, I don't want you speaking the name of Jesus.

And so Peter and John, what we talked about last week, they they stood before the Sanhedrin.

That's the most powerful religious body in Israel, and as they're released from prison, they are forbidden to speak the name of Jesus.

The very court that condemned Jesus Christ was now threatening Peter, John, and the apostles.

And yet, what we see is that these disciples, instead of retreating, their first instinct was to gather together and pray.

That's what we see today in today's text.

Here's our big idea.

Here's our big idea where we're going.

When the church unites in prayer, God fills his people with spirit-empowered boldness to proclaim Jesus Christ no matter the cost.

No matter the cost.

With that, I think that there's three things that we'll see the early church doing that we too should embody if we are to be a people who live by the Spirit and follow the way.

First, united in prayer.

Second, understand God's sovereignty.

And third, unleash holy boldness.

I'll pray and then let's dig in.

Heavenly Father, thank you for this day.

Thank you for bringing us here.

Lord, I just pray that whatever we're carrying into this place, whether it's grief, whether it's sadness, whether it's heartache, whether it's joy, whatever it is, that we lay that at the feet of your son Jesus, Lord.

Holy Spirit, you are welcome in this place.

I ask that you move through this room, Lord.

I ask that you move me out of the way and that you speak through me, Lord.

I don't want my words to be heard.

I want your words to be heard, Lord.

Guide our actions, guard our hearts, and direct our thoughts, Lord.

We love you.

We praise you.

It's in the mighty name of Jesus we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

So point number one this morning is united in prayer.

United in prayer.

Verses 23 and 24 of Acts chapter 4 say this.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them.

So the early church was undoubtedly united in prayer when they faced challenges.

So Peter and John, like I said, they were arrested and they were charged not to even speak the name of Jesus.

And so what do we see after their release?

Well, after their release, their first response is prayer.

To put it another way for us, their reflex was prayer.

Think about your reflexes.

Has anybody ever touched a hot stove?

A few of us.

So you touch the hot stove and you immediately like pull your hand away without even thinking.

That's instinct.

That's reflex.

For the early church, prayer was their instinct.

The moment that they felt the heat of persecution, their reflex was to lift their voices to God.

And what's so interesting is that the church at this point they had no buildings, they had no budgets, they had no lights, they had no fog machines, they had no real like influence in their culture, but what they did have was prayer.

Prayer, it was simply their power base.

It was their power source.

It was their entire strategy, it was their lifeline.

Vance Pittman, a pastor, he says this prayer is not the preparation for the work.

Prayer is the work.

Prayer is not the preparation for the work, prayer is the work.

And what we say here at the Way Church is that prayer is the work and it works.

Prayer is the work and it works.

We believe in the power of prayer in this house.

So what we should see in this text is that being united in prayer, being in one accord in prayer, as we saw earlier on in the book of Acts, it was the early church's first step in addressing fear and opposition.

So too should it be for us.

I don't know about you guys, but I long.

I long for us at the Way KC to be a church that is united in prayer.

A church whose reflex is to pray, a church whose first instinct is to pray, a church whose first response to the lows of life and the highs of life is prayer.

Not just like prayer that bookends our day, right?

How many of us like start our morning in prayer and end the night in prayer, but then go throughout the day like God don't even exist?

Like, let's be real here, right?

How many of us bookend our lives, our days with prayer?

Or maybe it's just prayer before a meal?

Not just prayer when we need something, not just prayer when times are tough and then when things are good, we're walking around like we got all this under control in our own power.

No, I don't want us to be a people who pray like that.

No, my hope is that we are a people who live prayer-saturated lives, who are united in lives that are saturated by prayer.

A praying church, a praying people, a people who go to God on the mountaintop moments, those celebratory moments, and a people who go to God in the valley, in the lows.

A people whose whole lives are marked by prayer.

One of the great missionaries, Adaniram Judson, he says this as the church endures hardness and humiliation as united to him who was on the cross, so she, she being the church, should exhibit something of supernatural energy as united with him who is on the throne.

So as we are united to him who was on the cross, we should exhibit some sort of supernatural energy, Holy Spirit-infused energy, as united to him who is on the throne.

Prayer is how we access that power, guys.

Verse 24, it goes on, and when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God.

So this word together, I want us to hone in on that.

In the Greek, it doesn't just mean being in the same room, right?

It doesn't just mean being in the same space, the same proximity.

No, it means being of one heart, of one mind, one accord, moving in unison like an orchestra playing the same song, right?

I I got sent a video from a wedding that Ashton was singing at last night, and she had like a little orchestra behind her, right?

And they were playing in unison.

That's the idea.

We're in unison.

We're unified.

We are one.

That's how the early church prayed.

Because here's the thing collective, corporate, unified prayer, it invites God's holy presence and his mighty power.

Thus setting the stage for supernatural divine intervention.

Back ten years ago, back when I was early on in my walk with Christ, I read this quote, and I think it's good, but I'd change a few things about it.

I'll read it to you and then I'll tell you what I'd change it to you.

It says, if your dreams aren't so big that they require divine intervention, then they're not big enough.

I think that's a good word.

Here's what I'd kind of change it to.

If our prayers are not so big that they require the supernatural, then they're not big enough.

If our prayers are not so big that they require the supernatural power of God, then they're not big enough.

Like, think about those moments in your life.

Who has who in this place has had somebody who has interceded for them, who has prayed for them, who has gone to the Lord in power for you?

I think about for me, I'm like my mom.

When I was walking in the darkness, my mom interceded on my behalf, prayed for me when she didn't know what to pray.

Like, really, really prayed, you know.

And I didn't feel it at the time, but what I know today is that God heard those prayers.

That God hears our prayers.

But think about that moment.

Think about that person who took your name, who took you to the Lord.

Do you remember the comfort?

The sense of God's presence, the strength that it gave you.

That's what unified prayer does.

It lifts the weight together, right?

When we are all praying in one accord, it lifts the weight together.

But what do we think made their prayers so powerful?

It wasn't like a vague sort of hope.

No, it was anchored in a deep trust in God's absolute rule over all things, in God's sovereignty.

Sovereignty is the fancy theological word.

So point number two is understanding God's sovereignty.

That's like God's rule, his reign, his control over his creation.

And that's exactly what this prayer begins to show us.

Verse 24 goes on.

And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, Here's their prayer, Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our Father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed.

For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

So if I can just like if this is your first time here, I apologize, but we are a church that keeps it real, right?

Like we share and bear one another's burdens.

So if I can be real with you guys, I've been, this is something I've been forced to reckon with over the past few days.

Like God's sovereignty, God's control, his rule, his reign over all of his creation.

I I have a dear friend, one of my best friends.

He he doesn't live here, none of y'all probably know him.

Um but on Thursday night, they they lost their baby in delivery, as I said, as they were delivering their baby over the weekend.

And it's it's the most gut-wrenching story I've ever heard.

It's tragic.

And if I can just be honest with you guys, like it's broken me, it's broken my heart, I've been angry with God, I've asked all those why questions that we often ask.

I have not known what to say to him.

I've not had all the answers.

Friday night I spent some time praying with him on the phone, and after hanging up, I just like yelled at God, asking him why.

You know, and as I process that as I sit with it, like how, maybe these are questions you've asked, these are questions that, like, if I'm being real, as your pastor, I've asked just in the past three days, how can we say that God is good when something so bad just happened?

How can we say that God is sovereign in the mints in the midst of immense tragedy and heartbreak?

How do we acknowledge God's sovereignty in the face of significant opposition, significant heartbreak, and just complete and utter darkness?

And God in his providence and his sovereignty, I think he answers that for us in this text.

I think that's exactly what the believers of the early church set out to do in this section as they pray.

Immediately, in the opening of their prayer, they declare God's sovereignty, saying, Sovereign Lord.

When they begin with this phrase, sovereign Lord, uh, the word it signifies a ruler with absolute control.

And these believers, the early church, they weren't like just trying to flatter God here.

No, they were reminding themselves that even in the midst of Peter and John's arrest and the persecution that they were facing and would soon continue to face, even in that, they were reminding themselves that God rules over every ruler, even Herod and Pilate.

They were reminding themselves that our God rules over every inch of this world, that our God rules over every circumstance, including Peter and John's imprisonment, that our God rules over every celebration that we may have in life, that God rules over every heartache that we may walk through.

Now that doesn't mean that God like authors this evil, but it does mean that God is all powerful and in control over those things.

And as Ashton's saying, he is acquainted with our grief.

So in this prayer, they then point to God as creator.

And notice how this prayer begins after they declare God's sovereignty.

The prayer says, Who, the sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them.

Why do you think they start there?

I think that it's because in the face of human opposition, they're reminding themselves who truly holds all authority.

The one, the God who spoke everything into existence.

The God who created everything out of nothing.

Think about that.

Like, really, in your heart of hearts, think about that.

The God who created the heavens and the earth, the God who created the galaxies, created you.

Numbered the hairs on your head.

The God who sculpted mountains.

Anybody ever been to like the Rocky Mountains or something?

It's beautiful, it's vast, it's amazing.

The God who sculpted those mountains, the God who filled the oceans, is the same God who hears the cries of his people.

This is like a common pattern that we see in scripture.

When God's people are afraid, they often steady their hearts by remembering God as creator.

Psalm 121 says, I lift my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.

Jeremiah 32, 17.

Ah, Lord God, Lord God, it is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power.

Nothing is too hard for you.

So the early church, they were doing just that.

They were reminding themselves that if God made everything, then nothing in creation, including rulers, councils, armies, circumstances, nothing can stand against them.

And here's why that matters to us.

It matters to us because when life feels out of control, when the opposition seems overwhelming, the first, the very first thing that we must remember is that God is creator.

He's not reacting to the story.

No, he knows how the story ends.

He wrote it, he holds it, he sustains it.

And what that means is that we can trust in him.

Then as this prayer continues, after declaring God as sovereign, after declaring God as creator, we see the believer's acknowledgement of God's sovereignty throughout Scripture.

This prayer then quotes David from Psalm 2.

The word says, Who threw the mouth of our Father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, why did the Gentiles rage, and the people's plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed.

So notice just off the rip how they frame it.

Who threw the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, Spirit.

They understood that the scriptures, they're not merely human words, but divine words.

The word of God.

David wrote it, yes, David wrote this psalm, but the Spirit breathed it out.

That deep, like heart-level conviction, it gave them confidence.

If the Spirit authored it, then it is true, then it is relevant, then it is authoritative in their present moment.

And the same is true for us today, church.

Psalm 2, it was written centuries earlier.

It was written centuries before this time, describing pagan kings rising up against God's anointed king, God's Messiah.

Originally, this psalm applied to David, the Lord's chosen king, who was in this moment of Psalm 2 surrounded by hostile nations.

But here in Acts chapter 4, the church, the early church, sees that the Psalm finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

Psalm 2 points us to Jesus.

And what we see throughout the New Testament is the New Testament consistently applies Psalm 2 to Jesus.

In Acts 13, 33, we'll see that in, I don't know, a couple months or something.

Paul quotes it to show that Christ's resurrection fulfills the promises of God's Son.

In Hebrews chapter 1, verse 5, Psalm 2 affirms that Jesus is the eternal Son greater than the angels.

Hebrews 1:5

Revelation chapter 2, verse 26 and 27, Jesus supplies Psalm 2 to himself, declaring that he is the one who rules the nations with a rod of iron.

Revelation 2:26

From beginning to end, the scriptures testify that Jesus is the true and ultimate anointed one.

What King David experienced in part, opposition from earthly rulers being surrounded by nations, Jesus experienced in full.

Herod, Pilate, the Gentiles, and even Israel itself stood against Jesus Christ.

Yet here's the stunning truth.

Even the rebellion was not outside of God's plan.

Verse 28 says, They did whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

In other words, what this text is saying is that the cross was not an accident.

The cross was God's design.

The darkest moment in human history was under the sovereign control of God, accomplishing his plan of salvation.

Now, just as kind of an aside to be clear, when the early church says these things were predestined to take place, what I believe, and as I read this text, is that they're talking specifically about the events of the crucifixion.

God's sovereign plan to save sinners through the death of Jesus.

There's other other verses that we can get into about our salvation.

But when it says predestined here, it's talking about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

And here's why that matters for us.

If God can take the raging of nations and turn it into redemption, if he can take the crucifixion of his son and make it the means of our salvation, then he can be trusted with whatever opposition or hardship that you face today.

Recognizing God's control over situations, it doesn't make our trials easy.

But it does give us comfort and courage.

Comfort, because nothing can touch us apart from his sovereign will.

Courage, because if God can overrule kings and empires, then surely he can strengthen his people to endure, to witness, and to hope.

We see it if you turn on the news, if you scroll on Facebook or Instagram or TikTok or whatever the kids are using these days.

We see it in wars across the globe.

We see it in hostility toward biblical truth.

But let's be real, it's not only out there.

We feel it personally too.

Maybe the rage that you face isn't from kings or rulers, but from a boss who mocks your faith.

Maybe it's from a family member who bristles every time you mention Jesus.

Maybe it's from your own heart.

Battling doubts, battling fear, battling sin that you refuse to let go.

Ultimately, what Psalm 2 reminds us is that all this raging is ultimately in vain.

Nations may rage, rulers may plot, hearts may resist, but none of it, none of it can overturn the plan of God.

The cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, they prove it.

The darkest schemes of man were folded into the sovereign plan of God for our salvation.

So when you feel that pressure, when you feel the pressure, whether it's cultural, relational, internal pressure, remember this.

The Lord laughs at the raging of nations.

Why?

Because Christ is already enthroned.

Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father.

The anointed one reigns, and his kingdom cannot be shaken.

We talk about this at times, and I've said this before, but like as Christians, as those who've called on the name of Jesus, we fight from victory.

We don't fight for victory because we know how the story ends.

We know that ultimately Christ will return and make all things new.

That he will defeat sin, death, pain, heartache, all of those things.

We fight from victory.

We don't fight for victory.

His kingdom cannot be shaken.

Therefore, we should trust in God's plan and his ability in all circumstances.

Even when you face opposition, even when you face heartbreak, even when you face darkness.

And let's just be real, maybe you're sitting here today and you're thinking, that's a lot easier said than done, Zach.

Well, if I can just be real with you, like I agree.

I agree, that's easier said than done.

That's what I felt as I prepared this message this week.

Wrestling with God's sovereignty and the face of grieving with heartbroken friends.

Maybe you're sitting here thinking, I'm angry with God.

I'm angry with this world.

I'm angry with people, I'm hurt, I'm broken, I'm sad.

If that's you, as it was me just two days ago, or shoot, like as it is me right now, if that's you, here's what I got for you.

We must look to the cross.

Like to boil it down, make it plain and simple, look to the cross.

The sovereignty of God shines most clearly at the cross.

It is there.

It's at the foot of the cross that the worst evil was turned into the greatest good.

Jesus bore the wrath of God for our sin.

He rose from the dead, and he now reigns as the anointed one.

Friend, if you've never trusted in him, today can be the day to bow the knee to Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the King who died and rose for you.

And just as a little aside, I want you to hear this.

Trusting God's sovereignty, it doesn't mean that you have to pretend that it doesn't hurt, that you're not angry, that you're not sad, that you're not hurting.

It doesn't mean that.

Because what we see in this text is like the church didn't minimize their threats.

The church didn't minimize their opposition.

They acknowledged them.

But they put it in the hands of the sovereign Lord.

So whatever it is that you're carrying in here this morning, give it to the Lord.

Lay it at the foot of the cross.

Let his word, let his spirit be a healing balm for your soul.

Give it to the sovereign Lord this morning.

That is what trusting him in the midst of trials looks like.

That's what the early church did.

So too it is what we should do.

And I think that it was that deep trust in God's sovereign control that fueled their boldness in the face of danger.

Point number three, unleashing holy boldness.

Unleashing holy boldness.

Acts chapter four, verses twenty-nine through thirty-one.

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant, Jesus.

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

So this is a continuation of the prayer that they're praying.

This is where they make their petition to the Lord.

And I think that like as you read this, maybe this jumps out to you.

What's so interesting to me is what they do not pray for.

They don't pray for safety, they don't pray for comfort.

They don't pray that the persecution that they are facing would stop.

No, they they pray for boldness to continue proclaiming the name of Jesus.

For the early church, for the early Christians, persecution, it was not a surprise.

It was expected.

It was assumed.

It wasn't an if question for them, it was a when.

Paul, the apostle Paul later wrote in Acts chapter 14, through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

Acts 14 · chapter mention

So what they really grasped is that suffering, it wasn't an interruption of the mission, it was part of it.

So they're not praying for a perfect life.

They're praying for boldness in the midst of their circumstances.

And yet, alongside this persecution, they also assumed the miraculous.

Healing, signs, wonders.

They're also assumed in this text.

They expected God to heal.

They expected God to perform signs and wonders in order to make the risen Christ visible through his spirit.

I think that what we see in the early church in the book of Acts is that opposition and miracles went hand in hand.

The kingdom advances, the kingdom advanced then, and it advances now through hardship and through God's undeniable displays of power.

So they are assuming, they are walking as if it's as good as happened, that there would be persecution, but that there would also be miracles.

And I think that's a posture that we can take as well.

Let's not let our let our posture be God if you move, but let it be God when you move.

And notice what happens when they pray.

The room is shaken.

The room is shaken, just like it was at the beginning of Acts.

And this isn't just theatrics, this isn't like some machine that they have under the stage, this isn't like fog machine lights, like it's not for show.

No, it's the presence of the living God.

It's the same kind of shaking that happened at Mount Sinai when God descended in fire.

It's the same presence that came at Pentecost when the Spirit filled the upper room.

What's happening here is that God is marking his presence among his praying people.

The shaking of the room, it was an outward sign of an inward reality that the spirit was filling his people with courage.

I don't know about you guys, but as I read that, I'm like, that's pretty cool.

That's pretty dang cool.

So, how does this section of text end?

Verse 31 ends, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking the word of God with boldness.

It's like they Peter and John had just stood in front of the Sanhedrin and testified in bold faith of the name of Jesus.

And here they are, like they've been bold, but here they are praying for more boldness.

That's powerful.

The early church, filled with the Holy Spirit, continued to speak the very same name that they had been forbidden to speak.

The mighty name of Jesus.

That's boldness.

That's I think what unleashing holy boldness looks like.

So here's the truth for us.

Here's what I wanted to pull out of this text.

If you hear nothing else today, hear this.

Prayer doesn't always change our circumstances, but it always changes us.

Prayer doesn't always change our circumstances, but it always changes us.

That's what boldness is.

Boldness is not the absence of fear, I don't think.

No, I think that boldness is spirit-driven courage to speak the truth of Christ in the face of fear.

The filling of the Holy Spirit and the subsequent bold proclamation of the gospel shows that through prayer, believers are empowered to fulfill their mission regardless of the adversity that they face.

Like, think about it in our own context, in your own personal context.

Some of you have friends or family who don't yet know Jesus Christ.

And if we're honest, oftentimes fear keeps us quiet.

Fear of rejection, maybe it's fear of awkwardness, maybe it's fear of losing a relationship.

But what if, what if, what if the Spirit filled you with such love for them, for that person, for those persons, that you love them more than you feared them.

I think that that's what this prayer is all about, that God make me bold enough to love people with the truth.

I had a conversation with a friend, and we were talking recently, last week, talking about speaking the truth in love.

May we be a people who speak the truth in love to our brothers and sisters.

I think that's what the early church did.

The early Christians in Rome, they didn't stop meeting under persecution.

No, they prayed for courage.

And within 300 years, the empire that wanted to kill them was confessing Jesus Christ as Lord.

Or maybe to make it like more pertinent to us, like just thinking about our own journey as a church plant.

There have been moments where resources felt scarce, when opposition seemed strong, when heartbreak after heartbreak were occurring, when the way forward was not clear.

And I think we've modeled this well.

I think we've had prayer as our reflexes, our first response.

And as we prayed, God gave us boldness to keep preaching Christ, serving the city, bold witnesses in this place.

So just like here, for us, just like for the early church, God is faithful to empower us.

I'll go ahead and invite Ashton up and we'll begin to close.

But I don't think that the church moves forward by playing it safe.

I think that the church moves forward on its knees in prayer, asking God for boldness, and then standing up in the Spirit's power to proclaim Christ without fear.

I'll reiterate, prayer doesn't change our circumstances.

Oftentimes, it changes us.

And that's a good thing.

Because prayer, it aligns our hearts with God's sovereign will, it unites us as his people, and it fills us with spirit and power boldness.

And isn't that exactly what we need?

If we want to be a people who live by the Spirit and follow the way, isn't that what we need?

We don't just need easier lives.

We need stronger faith.

We don't just need smoother paths, we need deeper courage.

We don't just need better strategies or bigger programs.

We need to be a people filled with the Spirit through prayer.

Like the same is true for us personally as it is for us as a church.

The greatest need for us as a church is not better strategies, bigger programs, more resources.

Our greatest need as a church, hear this family, is to be a people filled with the Spirit through prayer.

So I think that the appropriate way to end this morning is to model this.

Just the way that the early church did, by lifting our voices together.

Think about it.

Like the early church, they didn't have buildings, they didn't have budgets, they didn't have significant influence, they were outnumbered, they were outresourced, and they were opposed at every turn.

And yet, they turned the world upside down.

Why?

Well, I think it's simply because they were a people of prayer.

A people of prayer who were filled by the Holy Spirit, speaking the word of God with boldness.

In the same way, we as the Way KC, we don't have a lot of things, but we have the exact same things that the early church had: prayer and the Spirit of God.

And for me, as I as I hope it is for you, that's more than enough.

So here's how we're gonna end today.

Just like the early church, we're gonna lift our voices together, not polite, safe prayers, but bold prayers.

Let's pray for our city, that Kansas City will be shaken by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Let's pray for the nations, that Christ would be exalted where he is not yet named.

Let's pray for one another, that God will give us courage to proclaim Jesus in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces.

So as we walk through the book of Acts, we don't want to just study it.

We want to live it out.

So let's ask him this morning to shake this place, not just the walls, but our hearts with his Holy Spirit so that we may speak his word with boldness.

Brothers and sisters, what if the defining mark of the Way KC wasn't our preaching?

Although we're gonna faithfully preach the word of God?

What if it wasn't our worship, although Ashton is an anointed worship leader?

But what if the defining mark of us at the Way KC was that we were a people of prayer?

What if people looked at this church and said, that is a people who know their God because that is a people who pray?

Let's not wait for another day.

Let's do what the early church did.

Let's pray now and let's pray boldly.

Ashon's gonna place some keys behind us, and I'm gonna give us a few prayer prompts as we look at Acts chapter 4, as we look at this prayer.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

So verse 24, Acts 24 says, Sovereign Lord who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them.

Let's go ahead and bow our heads.

Let's begin by lifting our voices in praise to God, acknowledging his complete sovereignty and power over all creation.

Here's the prompt.

Sovereign Lord, thank you that you reign over blank.

Go ahead, lift your voice, whatever the Lord is putting on your heart.

Sovereign Lord, thank you for ruling and reigning over blank.

Amen.

Rosedale.

Sovereign Lord, you made the stars, and yet you know me by name.

Next, wherever you're sitting, maybe in a whisper under your breath or quietly to yourself, here's what we're going to pray for.

Ask for boldness to speak the gospel.

Verse 29 of Acts 4.

Grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.

So now in this time, let's ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with boldness.

Not just to be loud, but to be lovingly courageous in speaking the name of Jesus.

Here's a prompt.

God, give me boldness to share Christ with Blank.

Who's that person for you?

God, fill our church with spirit-empowered courage, not to shrink back, but to press in.

God, make us bold in love, bold in truth, and bold in hope.

And then Ashall closes in song.

Verse 31, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continue to speak the word of God with boldness.

So let's end by asking the Holy Spirit to fill us afresh, to shake our hearts, not just to shake the room, to send us out in power and unity.

Holy Spirit, fill us, empower us, send us.

Fill us, empower us, send us.

Sovereign Lord, we come to you this morning.

We recognize you as creator, as Lord over all things, creator of the universe, and creator of us.

Lord, we declare that you are good, that you are holy, that you are just, that you are guiding us, that you are guarding us, that you are directing us.

And God, we just come to you together in praise and praise you that you sent your son Jesus to this world.

That he lived, performed miracles, healings, mighty works, lived a perfectly sinless life, and then willingly went to the cross and died a death on the cross so that we don't have to.

This Jesus was buried in a tomb, and three days later he rose from that tomb.

This Jesus then appeared to his people, to your people, God, to the disciples, showing them his wounds, and then ascended to the right hand of the Father, where he now intercedes on our behalf.

Thank you that at Pentecost we were given the gift of the Holy Spirit, where we can now be spirit-empowered witnesses to your gospel, God.

I pray that we walk out of here, living into this truth, walking as followers of the way and living by the Holy Spirit.

God, we love you.

We praise you.

It's in the mighty name of Jesus we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Thanks for listening.

Join us Sundays at 10 30 a.m.

in the Rosedale neighborhood of Kansas City.

Or find us anytime at the WakeKC.church.