Bold Faith | Acts 3-4, Week 4 | Zohary Ross | New North Church

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With that, let's go right to this week's message.

Well, good morning, church.

It is a joy to be with y'all this morning.

Um, if we haven't met yet, my name is Zohari or Zoe, and I'm one of the pastors here.

And um, yeah, I'm excited to dig into the word this morning.

Uh, question for you guys.

I'm curious.

Do you think that people can change?

You think that people can change?

Yes.

I would say most of you probably think yes.

I'm sure some of you are like, yes, except for that one cousin, brother, friend, that is just never gonna change, right?

Like everybody can maybe think of one that you're like, I don't know about that guy.

Um, well, recently I read a story about two friends, right?

Two friends, um, and one of the friends was going through probably the hardest time in his life.

A time where um his life was actually in danger.

And it's the time where you really expect and want and hope that your friends are gonna be there for you, that are gonna be there to support you and like uh defend you and stand up for you.

And one of his best friends was with him up until this moment, but he realized that when things got hard, he just couldn't hang.

And so he kind of ditched his best friend.

And it was awful and super hurtful, but amazingly enough, the friend forgave him, and uh it ended up transforming this man's life.

Now, I don't know if any of you have ever had a friend like that.

Maybe somebody who sees something in you that you haven't fully been able to see for yourself, or someone who calls something out in you and raises you up to what they the potential that they see in you.

Or maybe even somebody who has seen you at your absolute worst moment and loves you anyway.

Anyone ever had a friend like that?

Well, I think you guys know the story that I'm talking about.

Because the scared friend in the story was the Apostle Peter, and the forgiving friend in the story is Jesus.

And today, as we pick up, uh we continue on our series of Acts, the book of Acts, we're gonna pick up in chapter three, and the Peter that we meet in chapter three is very different from the Peter that denied Jesus three times, actually.

The Peter that we're gonna see is courageous, he's confident, he's willing to speak, he's willing to face consequences, and he's bold.

And I think like most of us, like Peter, would say that we trust Jesus, we want to trust Jesus, we want to follow him faithfully.

But what happens when following him gets hard?

What happens when following Jesus actually costs us something?

I think that's why Peter's transformation and his story is so compelling, and there's a lot that we can learn from it.

Today we're gonna look at this passage of scripture, and we're gonna look at a question, which is what changed Peter and what made him bold?

Because I think that there are things in his story that we can learn from about what it looks like to be people of bold faith.

Not just regular faith, but actually bold faith.

And so we're gonna pick up on chapter three, but before we read the word, I would love for us to just take a few seconds to pray that the Lord would speak to you personally, that he would speak to your brothers and sisters gathered in this room, and that he would speak through me as well this morning.

Let's take a moment.

Lord, we thank you for your word.

Your word is truth.

God, I pray that you would illuminate our hearts and our minds today as we read your word.

Lord, would you, God, just give a word to every single one of my brothers and sisters gathered in this room.

Would you encourage our hearts?

Help us to be bold.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Okay, so we're picking up on chapter three, which says, one day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer, three in the afternoon.

Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.

When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.

Peter looked straight at him, as did John, and then Peter said, Look at us.

So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

Then Peter said, Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you.

In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.

And taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's ankles, feet, and ankles became strong.

He jumped to his feet and began to walk.

Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping and praising God.

And when all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called beautiful, and they were amazed with wonder and amazement.

They were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Okay, so what's going on?

What is this?

The scene we are entering is that Peter and John, two of the original twelve apostles, are going to the temple as they regularly do when they encounter a man who was unable to walk since birth.

And so the man asks them for what he thinks they can offer, a coin.

But Peter has spent three years watching Jesus do what seemed impossible.

And so Peter doesn't just pray for him, he reaches down, he takes him by the hand, and he helps him up.

And Dr.

Luke, who wrote Acts, even gives us a little bit of a medical report.

He says the man's ankles became strong.

Now imagine that.

Think that is an example of bold faith that we see from Peter.

Because think about that moment between walk and actually reaching for the man's hand.

Right?

What if he doesn't stand up?

What if he's not healed?

What if he just crumbles back and falls back to the floor?

Then what?

Awkward, right?

That would be not good.

Peter doesn't have certainty about the outcome, but what he has confidence in is the name of Jesus, and it's that confidence that moves him to act.

And so the first thing that we notice in the story about bold faith is that bold faith means acting on what we believe about God before we know the outcome.

Now that doesn't mean that we presume that God will always do exactly what we want, right?

He won't, because God is God and He will do what He wants.

But it means that we refuse to limit our understanding or our obedience to what we think we can accomplish ourselves.

Right?

We think about beyond what we, what our own limitations are, and we think about what God is actually capable of.

Now I'm a bit of a social scientist at heart.

I love research, and um, so when I'm digging into a topic like boldness or courage, I like to read about different perspectives.

What does the science or the data say about these topics?

What actually makes people bold or courageous?

And so as I was preparing for this message, I came across the work of a Harvard professor named Ranj Gulati.

He's actually wrote a book called How to Be Bold.

So, you know, that'll tell you everything you need about how to be bold.

Um and he has spent years studying courage, and he describes what he calls the fear equation.

This is a fun little math equation, where fear equals uncertainty plus loss of control.

Uncertainty, uh fear equals uncertainty plus loss of control.

Who likes uncertainty?

Nobody.

Nobody's gonna raise their hand.

Who likes loss of control?

Even better.

No, right?

Nobody likes to feel loss of control.

And that's what makes faith and bold faith really difficult, right?

Because we don't know what's gonna happen when we trust God.

We cannot control the outcome.

But when we act in faith, we're saying, I may not know what is going to happen, but I know the one that I'm trusting.

And I might not be able to control the outcome, but I know and I trust the one who does.

And so let's think about what are some of the ways that fear of the unknown might keep us from acting in faith.

Maybe it's praying for someone when you're not sure exactly what God's gonna do.

And so you hesitate because you don't want to overpromise and then have God underdeliver, right?

Maybe it's taking a step of reconciliation in a relationship, even though you can't control the other person's response.

Or maybe it's even saying yes to something that God has been nudging you toward, even though you don't feel completely ready.

I don't know about you, but I think that God is real good at nudging us.

Yes?

Anybody ever been nudged by the Holy Spirit?

Anybody ever not want to respond to what the Holy Spirit is nudging you about?

And just me?

No, you guys, I know I know, I know, I can tell.

Um the truth is, you guys, we live in a place here in the Bay Area that is desperate for healing.

Desperate.

You just need to walk around and see people suffering, right?

But sometimes we settle for offering coins when Jesus may be inviting us to believe him for something more.

There is an old story that F.F.

Bruce recounts in his commentary on the book of Acts, where reportedly Thomas Aquinas was visiting the Pope while he was counting a large sum of money.

And the Pope said to him, You see, Thomas, the church can no longer say, Silver and gold have I none.

So he's feeling pretty good.

The church had a lot of money.

And then Thomas Aquinas replied, True, holy father, neither can she now say, Rise and walk.

I know, right?

Ugh, that just kind of hurts right in the gut.

Man, man, we may we not be a church that could no longer say, now rise and walk.

The truth is that here in the Bay Area, you guys know we don't have a shortage of silver or gold, so to speak.

We have incredible resources, education, technology, medicine, right, expertise.

People come here to learn how to do all of the things that are going on in the world, right?

There's so much influence here.

But have we unfortunately become so confident in what we can provide in the resources that we have that we have actually stopped making room for what only God can do?

That's the challenge of having too much silver and gold, is that we rely on that rather than on putting our faith in God, the God who says, rise and walk.

Thank you.

Yes.

Amen.

Now that's not a call to presume that God will always do what we want, of course, but it is a call to maybe reorient our expectations, right?

Have we made God too small?

Have we limited him to what we can do, to what we can see, to the resources and things that we are actually able to witness?

Because stepping out in faith beyond that, like Peter did, that is what bold faith looks like.

Okay, so a crowd gathers after the miracle is performed, but Peter makes something clear immediately.

This wasn't us.

He tells them that the Jesus that they had rejected and handed over to be killed is the very one God that raised from the dead.

And so he says in Acts 3:16, by faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong.

Acts 3:16

It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you all can see.

So he's not taking any credit for it.

He's giving credit to the name of Jesus, which is what and faith in the name of Jesus, which is essentially what healed this man.

And then he tells them further what they need to do.

In verse 19, he says, Repent then and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out.

Right?

He calls the crowd to repent and turn to God.

But unfortunately, not everybody is happy about this.

Actually, 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.

And so 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 five thousand.

So there's this miracle.

Peter and John were teaching the gospel, it gets them arrested.

Now Peter is standing before the Sanhedrin, which was the same ruling body that had condemned Jesus and handed him over to be crucified just a few weeks earlier.

And so Peter knows exactly what these men are capable of.

Right?

He has seen exactly what they can do.

But unlike the night that Jesus was arrested, this time he does not hold back.

They begin to question him, and he responds, they say, By what power or what name do you do this?

And then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers and elders of the people, if I were 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 that the builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.

And when they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished, and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

Peter and John were not impressive people with theology degrees.

Luke tells us that they were ordinary men, and from reading the Gospels, we know that they were ordinary fishermen.

There wasn't anything about them, just themselves, that made them particularly impressive or that would point to an extraordinary amount of courage.

But there was something that the religious leaders noticed, which was they had been with Jesus.

It's one of my probably one of my favorite lines in the book of Acts, is that they were had been with Jesus.

Their boldness didn't come from their personality, education, or position, but it came from the time that they had experienced and been with Jesus.

And so when we asked the question, what made Peter bold?

I think the first part of that answer is that he had been with Jesus.

Peter had left his net when Jesus said, Follow me.

He had spent three years watching Jesus teach and perform miracles and remain faithful even when obedience cost him everything.

And Peter hadn't gotten it always right.

After his greatest failure, after he denied Jesus three times, Jesus resurrected, he came back and he met him on the shore.

We read this account in John chapter 21.

John 21 · chapter mention

And Jesus forgave him, he restored him, he gave him the opportunity three times when he asked him, Peter, do you love me?

And he said, Yes, Lord, I love you.

He commanded him to feed his lambs and care for his sheep.

Peter hadn't just watched Jesus do extraordinary things, he had personally experienced the grace of Jesus.

And so being with Jesus changed Peter.

The religious leaders they couldn't deny the miracle.

The healed man was standing right there in front of them.

So instead, they order Peter and John to stop speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus.

So they're like, let's just keep this under wraps.

Nobody else needs to know.

Let's keep it from getting out of control.

Just don't say any, stop talking about Jesus.

Just don't say anything more about that, right?

And the last time, um, sorry, but Peter and John, they refuse, right?

Instead, they reply, which is right in God's eyes?

To listen to you or to him?

You be the judges.

As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.

Can you imagine?

The last time Jesus was on trial, Peter denied even knowing him.

And now Peter is on trial and he cannot stop talking about him.

He just will not shut up about Jesus.

He's just like, nope, I can't do it.

You can't make me.

I'm just gonna talk about Jesus because that is what I need to be faithful to.

And so we see in this picture that bold faith chooses obedience over the approval of people.

Now, it's interesting because according to Professor Galotti's research, courageous people are willing to take bold action, quote, to serve a purpose that they perceive to be worthy, usually while fear is still present.

What does that mean?

It means that courage isn't actually necessarily about being less afraid.

Courage ends up happening when something simply becomes more important or bigger than our fear.

And that's exactly what happened to Peter, right?

The danger hadn't disappeared.

He knew exactly what these men were capable of.

But his commitment to Jesus, his faith in Jesus, his obedience to Jesus became bigger and greater than his fear of people.

And that's what a relationship with Jesus does for us, too, right?

It gives us the courage to trust and obey him no matter what the outcome.

But what about us, right?

We don't have to fear being dragged before religious leaders.

We don't have to even be fear being arrested for our faith or for talking about Jesus.

But maybe our fears are still being misunderstood or looking foolish or being judged or having people think that we are judgy Christians.

We don't ever want people to think that we're judgy Christians or like, you know, think.

Badly of us, fear.

I think you guys know and would agree, can be a powerful force.

Fear of people in particular can be a powerful force.

I know it has played a significant role in my own life.

I grew up in a little bit of a chaotic home.

And so I was a very anxious child.

And that anxiety stayed with me for a long time.

Actually, it was when I was in high school.

I was 16 when I had my very first panic attack.

I thought I was gonna die.

I was a teenager and my chest hurt so bad, I felt like I couldn't breathe.

And I ended up going to the hospital.

And it was the first of many panic attacks that I had over nearly two decades.

And it was during that time also that I fell in love with God's word, that I just soaked it in, I meditated in, I would read it when my kids were little and they were napping.

That would be my special Bible time when I would just like marinate on God's word.

And one of the verses that I just clung to during this season was from Isaiah 26, 3, which says, You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you.

Now, gradually the panic attacks stopped.

And I won't say that it was like some dramatic moment where, you know, I heard from heaven, you are healed, and all of a sudden it was, you know, I had I didn't experience that anymore.

No, what happened was I would marinate on God's word, I would pray, and all of a sudden I noticed that the months turned into longer stretches of time when I just hadn't struggled with anxiety.

And then the months turned into years.

And now I would say it has been many, many years since I have experienced that kind of anxiety.

Praise God.

And yeah.

And what happened wasn't, you know, I didn't will myself to stop being anxious, but the more that I learned to trust God and the more that I learned to depend on his word, all of a sudden his power and his just presence became so much greater than the things that I was afraid of.

And so that actually speaks to, you know, the research too.

When something simply becomes more important and greater than your fears, then there's an opportunity for courage.

Thank you.

Amen.

That is true.

Um so I realize though that being with Jesus changes people, right?

Being with Jesus changed Peter.

Being with Jesus changed me.

But here's what I've learned too is that God can transform one area of our lives and still reveal deeper places that need surrendering.

Because for me, even after the panic attacks, the fear of disappointing people did not completely go away, you guys.

It's not like I never worry about ever disappointing people.

In fact, the more responsibility, especially in ministry, can I say it especially as a woman in ministry?

I care about not letting people down.

I care about what will people think.

I don't want to disappoint anybody.

And so the more responsibility that I've taken on, the there is an element of fear that has resurfaced.

That's still a place where God is changing me and challenging me and stretching me.

And so when I ask this question, I'm asking myself too: where is fear of what other people might think keeping me from obedience or acting boldly?

Peter's boldness isn't just something that we see when he's standing before the Sanhedrin.

What happens next actually shows us where that boldness comes from.

Because Peter and John are released, they go back to where the believers are gathering and they tell them everything that has happened.

And then imagine what you would pray if you were in that situation.

You just get released, you go back to your home church, you're like, guys, this just happened to me.

Let's pray.

What do you pray for?

I don't know.

If you're anything like me, you might be inclined to pray, God protect us.

That seems like a reasonable prayer, yeah?

God, make these people leave us alone.

God, don't let Peter and John get arrested again, please.

Right?

Those seem like normal, reasonable prayers that one would pray, but that's not their prayer, you guys.

This is what they pray.

They say, Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

And after they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

And that gives us the third picture of bold faith, which is that bold faith asks for more courage, not comfort.

They don't ask God to make their circumstances safer, they ask God to make them bolder.

Now, this doesn't mean that it's wrong to ask for protection, you guys.

We see lots of times in the Bible where people pray for protection.

But protection in this case isn't their highest priority.

Faithfulness is.

So they aren't asking, how do we make sure that nothing bad happens to us?

They're asking, Lord, how do we remain faithful when it does?

Because they know it will likely happen again.

And then notice what happens after they pray.

They ask for boldness and God gives them his presence and his power.

God does not call us to manufacture boldness.

He fills us with his Holy Spirit so that we can live more boldly.

Let me ask you today, friends, where in your life do you need God's presence and power?

Where do you need bold faith today?

A few years ago, I read a prayer that convicted me, that actually changed my prayer life.

Um in his autobiography, the 20th century Greek novelist and philosopher Nikos Kozensakis writes about three kinds of souls.

Three kinds of prayers.

The first prayer says, I am a bow in your hands, Lord, draw me lest I rot.

The second says, Do not overdraw me, Lord, I shall break.

And the third prayer says, Overdraw me, Lord.

And who cares if I break?

That is powerful.

I wonder which prayer most resembles where we are today.

The first says, God use me.

I know that's a prayer.

People come to Jesus.

People are young, our young adults are like, God use me, I don't want to waste my life.

Use me, I want to have purpose.

That is a beautiful prayer.

If I'm honest, though, the prayer I've prayed most often is the second one.

God use me, but not too much.

Use me as long as it doesn't cost me too much, or as long as it doesn't make me too uncomfortable.

But as I've gotten older, and the longer that I have followed and trusted Jesus, I've felt myself drawn to that third prayer.

God, my life is yours.

This is the prayer of surrender, right?

Use me, no matter how you want to.

Use me beyond what I think I'm capable of.

Use me beyond my limits because I'm not even sure I know what they are, but you do.

Use me beyond what's comfortable and safe, God, because I trust you.

And if I'm honest, you guys, God doesn't stretch us to the point of breaking us.

He is kind and he is gentle.

And more often than not, he stretches us.

I like to think like a rubber band.

He stretches us and he stretches us to give us more capacity and show us what he's capable of rather than to break us.

And that's the prayer that we see in Acts 4.

They know the cost, they know that they have been in danger, they don't pretend like it doesn't exist, but they still pray, God make us bold.

And so I wonder which prayer most honestly reflects where you are today.

Because bold faith isn't about believing more in ourselves, it's about entrusting more of ourselves to God.

And maybe that's where Peter's story becomes our story.

Because if you're here today, chances are that you have encountered Jesus for yourself.

Maybe he has transformed your life and you know that you're changed, just like Peter.

You were one way and now you're different.

Maybe you've watched him transform the life of somebody that you love firsthand, and you're like, wow, if God could change that person, God can change anybody.

Or maybe you're here because there's a part of you that believes that he can change you still.

And that's your prayer.

Because if we really believe that Jesus is alive and we believe that he forgives, he restores, he heals, he sets people free, then isn't he worth talking about?

Like Peter?

Isn't he worth us like never shutting up about Jesus because he is just better than anything?

And so when we think about what made Peter bold, he had been with Jesus, he had encountered the risen Jesus, and he had been filled with the Holy Spirit.

He was an ordinary man whose life had been transformed by an extraordinary Jesus.

And that same Jesus who transformed Peter is still transforming people like us today.

So maybe the invitation today isn't simply be bolder, church.

Maybe the invitation is be with Jesus.

And so maybe the question that I want to leave us with is what would it take for you today to say, I cannot help speaking about what I have seen and heard?

What would it look like to fully place your hands, fully place your life in Jesus' hands and say, Lord, I am the bow.

You are the one holding it.

Draw me.

Because bold faith trusts Jesus enough to act, obey, and choose courage over comfort.

And so as we close in worship today, we're gonna sing a song together.

But I want to invite you to respond today.

I want to invite you to whatever the Holy Spirit is prompting you today to respond, whatever way that looks like.

I feel like there are people here today that are also carrying a lot of fear and a lot of anxiety that God wants you to, He wants to unburden you of.

And so we're gonna have our prayer team up here, off to the sides.

We would love to pray with you.

If there's something that you feel like God is challenging you to, but you're afraid and you want to share that with somebody, maybe you've never shared that with anybody, we wanna pray with you.

If you want to just come up and just say, God, I surrender.

I want to put myself in your hands, draw me, come to the altar.

That is between you and Jesus.

But however the Holy Spirit is nudging you today, don't ignore it.

Let's be people of faith and let's respond to Jesus today with boldness and courage.

Amen.

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Thanks again for joining us.

God bless you, and we'll see you right here next time.