Student Ministry, October 22, 2026; How to Be Bold

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Now let's get started.

What's up, CBC students?

It's kind of sad in the podcast studio today because our fearless leader, Jesus, is actually not with us today.

He is in Argentina.

He's serving the Lord, doing like important things, I guess, or whatever, but we're feeling a little sad without him.

There's a tear rolling down her face.

Anyways, we miss PJ and we're looking forward to having him back with us for sure.

Today it's just me and Mila.

Yay.

So, um, anyways, to get us started, we're gonna open up with a fall question because we're all about some fall around here.

Yes.

So um, favorite fall activity.

Do you have a favorite fall activity?

I feel like the pumpkin patch might sound basic, but I actually yeah, I I really want to go this year.

Like past years, I have been the person where I'm like, ain't nobody dressing up to go smile with a pumpkin.

Let's be real, that's just me.

But this year, I don't know.

My friends were like, Do you want to go?

And I'm like, yeah, I actually let's let's take pictures.

Like, why not?

Yeah.

So this year, the pumpkin patch.

I'm looking forward to going in the evening, getting a pumpkin, I guess, and then maybe going to dinner.

So I guess.

Really just there for the photo op.

But if I come in with a pumpkin, then great.

I'll get like the little mini pumpkin.

That's uh the littlest one they have.

Because they're expensive.

It's crazy.

Like what?

Guys to put on my porch.

No.

No, not paying$20.

Yeah, literally.

What about you?

Um, yeah, that's a great question.

I feel like I've done more fall things since moving to Florida, which I've fall is not even really a thing in Florida.

Um, yeah, so I've been more invested in fall since I've moved to Florida uh than I was when I was living in Memphis.

I don't know what that has to do with.

It just, I don't know.

I guess my friends here are just more interested in care a little more here.

I don't know.

But anyways, I would say that my favorite fall activity is uh watching movies.

Like we classic.

We create a list starting probably in like August of things that we want to watch that are spooky or just silly fall stuff.

Yeah, I love that.

Like hocus pocus and stuff like that.

And uh we work our way through our list, and we usually have Trader Joe's uh apple cider and or some kind of like fall coffee something or another, some kind of treat.

I don't know.

Anyways, we make it a thing, and uh, and I say we, it's usually me and the Dosters.

So if you know Mike and Spencer, shout out to them.

They're usually who I do my fall activities with, but yeah, that's definitely probably my sta that's become a staple like fall activity for the Caseon household.

So anyways, well, uh last night we were led by Jonah Hendricks, he did an amazing job.

Um, and he led us in Acts four verses five through 31, which is basically where um Jesus' story left off.

It's still just like a continuation of the same story.

Peter had healed somebody at the gate.

The Sadducees were not super happy about it.

And so uh, like verse five starts with on the next day.

So it's just a continuation of the same story, and he continue Peter continues just to say, like, I don't know what else you want from me, basically.

He's just like, Jesus healed this man, and it wasn't me.

Like, I can't take credit for something that I just simply did not do.

I was being used as a vessel, but like at the end of the day, it was Jesus' power that healed this man, and then people were praising God, and the leaders were like, Okay, what are we even supposed to do?

Like, this is not causing harm to somebody, so we can't like arrest them, but we don't really love that you're giving credit to Jesus Christ, and it was just a whole thing.

And then it kind of closes with this prayer of um the believers asking for further boldness.

So uh super, super encouraging story.

Um, but because we didn't have Jesus here today, and because uh Jonah is a teacher at CCS, um, so it's just me and Mila on the podcast today, we opened it up to some of our students um on social media and in some of our group chats to be like, okay, what do you want to know in terms of what is what is your question from last night's sermon?

And the question that was kind of, I mean, it's very, it's a very obvious question according to the story, um, but a very relevant story, I feel like, for all middle and high school students is how can we share the gospel with boldness?

How can we enter into spiritual conversations with boldness?

So me and Mila were kind of talking about this a little bit um before we got started.

And she mentioned that she had a good conversation surrounding this conversation um last night in her small group.

So, what would your answer to that question be in terms of how can our middle and high school students be bold in having spiritual conversations?

Yeah, for me, um, who the person who asked the the question, I just started off with like, if you have not accepted the gospel, if you have not accepted Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior, then we need to be a put a pause on the whole being bold thing, how do I share the gospel?

Because you yourself need to understand.

You yourself need to uh be in light of the fact that Jesus has given you this gift.

It's not just for you to share with others, you have to have this understanding for yourself.

So how this conversation started for me was just presenting the gospel.

I was like, girl, let's go right now.

And so I just explained the gospel to our small group, and I was just like, this is a really touchy subject because sometimes it can seem like too much, and sometimes you can get really fearful.

But I'm gonna tell you right now that my life has been so beautiful, and I've been able to give glory to God and all the things that I do because I started off with understanding for myself who is Jesus, who is God, what is this, what is this Bible that everyone is holding, right?

Like, what is this and understanding that for for herself?

Um and so that's kind of where the conversation started off with me and this student.

But as we continued on, I just I asked the other girls in the class, I was like, what do you guys do?

Uh one of the things was one of our girls, she's so sweet, she just said, I just practice.

I just practice and I was really bad.

And I was like, Oh, nice, me too.

And then she just was like, I I practiced in my head, I practiced in my mirror, and I and I just practiced until I understood what I was saying and I could explain it to somebody else.

And I was like, that's literally learning, is when you can understand it for yourself and share it to other people.

And she continued on with just saying, Now I share it with people, and it's like easy.

Like I'm not worried about it because I've I put I've given that word to Christ.

I've given that word to Christ and I've I've practice, and each person is different, each person is going to understand it differently, is gonna accept it a bit differently, you just never know.

But I as a as a person can practice and share.

And so that was one of the things that a student said.

Another student said, like, I've just never been able to be bold because no one has been bold to me.

And so then we talk through that, like, okay, if you felt that way, why do we want other people to like do you want other people to feel that way?

Like, no one has ever taken the time to share the gospel with me.

And she was like, No, and I was like, Yeah, that's that's yeah, you don't, you don't because we're sharing it right now, and when you hear the gospel for the first time, you feel so many feelings, and yet it's a weird piece.

At least that's my experience.

And so as I was sharing the gospel to that student, I was like, girl, I'm gonna share it right now.

Like, I will literally share the gospel.

And so I shared the gospel with her as well after we had a small group and had a good conversation with her, and understanding, like, yeah, no one has explained it.

Let me change that right now because someone explained it to me, and it kind of goes back to the first student we were talking about that boldness and understanding that that takes time and you can't rush it, and yet you can't do nothing about it.

Like you sometimes it is practicing in front of your mirror, sometimes it is thinking about it in your head, sometimes it's hearing someone else say it over and over and over again again to where you start to grow in understanding.

I think for me, uh being bold was hard because I'm more of a quiet person, I'm more of a shy person, and so if someone says something I I don't agree with or I don't really understand naturally, I'm just kind of like I'll figure it out one day.

Like that's just where I come from.

But in understanding about Jesus' life and the fact that he came down on earth, like he left perfection, he left heaven to come and live on this world that gave him torture and hurt and despised him so much, and yet I was worth all that.

And understanding that I was like, huh, staying silent is wrong.

Like, I just and I don't want to be wrong.

Like, if you know me, you're like, I don't want to be wrong.

So I was like, I don't want to, I don't want to disobey.

Like, I just that's that's mean.

And so I mean, I can literally Nola had to explain the gospel so many times in small group for me to even understand.

And I had been a believer, right?

And yet I didn't understand how to explain it to somebody else.

I didn't even fully understand it for myself.

Yeah.

And that's okay, right?

That's okay.

But I had to hear it over and over and over again multiple times a week.

And then finally I was like, you know what?

I I'm doing nothing, and that's hurting me.

And that's not what God has asked.

And so growing an understanding for me was practicing.

I just practiced it in my head, and I was like, I just I know that God has so much for me, that He's given me so much, and there's no way that I'm too scared.

And so I like that student said, I practice in my head over and over and over and over again.

And eventually it was the first time I shared the gospel with a student, and I was so nervous.

I was also a student, and I was super indirect with how I shared it, and I was like, okay, God's gonna use it, but I need to practice, and I continued doing that.

So it was not my first time, I continued practicing, and uh how I became bold was asking Christ for boldness.

That's literally how it happened.

And there's nothing that I could do, there's not a amount of times I can practice that I feel confident.

I was like, God, you know I tried, you know I kind of failed.

But you know what?

I want to continue trying.

I want to continue trying because you're worth it.

You've asked that of me.

And as hard as it might be at times in my life, I want to be obedient to you.

And so in practicing, I became more bold.

I also at some moment was just like, Camila, get out of your head.

Like there are so many things happening in this world, serious and non-serious, but especially serious.

There's just no way that you're just gonna see somebody and probably not see them again and be too scared, or you don't want to have a biblical conversation in public because there's a person and you kind of think they're eavesdropping, and you just don't want them to think bad about you.

Like I'm so sorry now.

Like, I just know, like, I want to be a light for Christ, and in being bold for me, that has helped me to share the gospel, to want to grow an understanding, to get out of my comfort zone.

And so, what I would honestly say to answer that question is get out of your own head.

Like, stop being so worried on everybody else.

Everyone is so worried about different things, yeah, themselves and their appearance and how they look and how they feel genuinely is just like get out of your head, guys.

Like, yeah, I get it, you're human and that's okay.

But at some point, you just put on your big girl pants and you're like, you know what?

That's a soul right there, that's a life right there, and I I gotta do it.

And so sometimes it's as simple as being like, God, I'm scared, I give that to you, and sucking it up and doing your very best and understanding that what you give, God will use, and also practicing because I needed a lot of practice.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think you started it in such an important way, um, being that you have to be a believer first.

I think that a lot of I don't know.

I I mean I work with girls, so I can only speak on the girl side of things.

Guys might be the same way sometimes too, but I feel like a lot of girls are like, let me be the best of the best before I give my life to Christ, and then like I'll be ready to surrender.

Like, let me prove my worth to the Lord first, and then I'll and so I'm glad that you mentioned like you there's no boldness, you don't possess boldness because you don't possess the spirit.

Yeah, so you can't start being bold about the gospel until you have accepted it for yourself.

Um, so that's good.

And then the other two points that I was kind of gathering from what you were saying is practice in prayer, basically.

Yeah, literally.

Practice it, meditate on the things that you're reading in God's word.

Don't just like read it, move on with life, and never revisit it in your mind again, but actually like meditating on it and then prayer.

Like that's how we saw the believers close this story was that they they weren't like, oh my gosh, I'm so thankful that the like Sadducees let us go.

You know, I mean, I'm sure they were signing in relief a little bit, but ultimately they were like, Sovereign Lord, give us boldness, right?

They weren't asking for their circumstances to be changed, they were asking for further boldness.

So that's good.

Um my uh advice will come as no surprise to anybody if you have been coming to celebration for any amount of time.

Uh and two of my points kind of go hand in hand together.

Um and then my third is kind of its own standalone thing.

But my first thing is based on well, the word of God, but also Elizabeth Elliott.

Yes.

So I'm just gonna read this.

It comes from Matthew 1624.

One second.

If you know this megaverse, sing it in your head as I read it to you.

But uh, Matthew 1624 says this.

Then Jesus told his disciples, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

And there's a bunch more there where it says, like, whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Point being, number one, the sooner you start eliminating your feelings from your decisions in life, the better you're gonna, the better off you're gonna be.

And it's not even just in terms of like sharing the gospel, it's in terms of like just everything about your life.

The Lord is not like, hey, consult your feelings first, and then if it like suits you to be obedient, then be obedient, you know.

Uh in fact, I feel like the more you consult your feelings, the more disobedient you'll be.

I mean, I'm just looking at my own life, and I'm I was having a big feeling day on Tuesday.

Okay.

Oh my gosh.

Real, yeah.

Cool.

Monday, Tuesday.

Yeah, struggle buzz.

Literally.

And so if I was just a slave to my feelings, I would be in disobedience like all the time.

But thankfully, God has set me free.

Okay, and also hear me say this.

I'm not saying that your feelings are not valid.

I'm not saying that your feelings are not God given.

They absolutely are.

We know that from the Psalms.

My degree is literally in biblical counseling.

Like I know, and I'm I'm saying, like, I struggle with big big feelings too.

Um, but I I don't have to be a slave to that.

I can choose to be obedient to Christ.

Thank you, Lord, who the sun sets free is free indeed.

Um and so, anyways, the more that you stop listening to your feelings and consulting your soul, going back to Psalms, like Psalm 42 says, Why are you downcast, oh my soul?

And then he doesn't continue to listen to his soul.

He's like, My hope is in God, right?

So, anyways, stop consulting your feelings on every single thing that you do.

Kind of like what you were mentioning, as far as get out of your head.

People are not that concerned about you, they're concerned about themselves.

Yeah.

So, anyways, stop consulting your feelings.

Uh, my second point being do it scared, which kind of goes hand in hand with not consulting your feelings.

I I'm just saying, like for Mila, she mentioned that she's more on the shy side of things, right?

And the more introverted side of things.

I find myself on the opposite end of the spectrum, but yeah, I still have issues with boldness because I love people, super enjoy people.

Um, but that can almost become like an idol in my life where I'm just like, I don't want to step on anybody's toes.

Like I don't wanna, you know, I don't want to offend this person.

I would rather just like be their favorite person than say, hey, you have sin that separates you from a holy God, right?

So uh, you know, everybody has some kind of barrier to I don't really want to be bold.

I don't really want to have a gospel conversation with my neighbor or with my parent or with my sibling or my friend at school, whoever it is.

Um, everybody has barriers.

You've got at some point you just have to do it, right?

Um, so in the words of Elizabeth Elliott, do it scared.

Um, and then my last like kind of encouragement that I have found to be beneficial in my own life, um, but I have also A watched it be beneficial um in other people's lives, but also B, I see this in scripture is getting accountability.

So, like everybody should have somebody in their life that they're like, okay, I I need to have a gospel conversation with this person, whatever that looks like.

And going to a Christian school is not an excuse.

Literally, it's not so not.

Um, anyways, so you don't nobody has an excuse for saying, Oh, I don't have any lost people in my life.

Okay, if that's the case, then you need to go find some lost people.

Anyways, uh, side note.

But um, anyways, I have conversations with girls all the time, and it's like they'll acknowledge, yes, I have this lost person in my life, and then it's like once they get the accountability from some kind like either discipleship or they speak it out loud in small groups, that's why it's important to be involved in like not shallow conversations at church where it's just like, hey, how's it going?

Good, good, I'm doing good too, you know.

Like, um, but being involved in small groups and really truly known so that people can follow up with you and be like, hey, you mentioned this like this situation in your life.

Did you ever follow up and have a conversation with that person?

Um so definitely one of the uh important things about like seeking out discipleship if you haven't already, is that you will receive accountability when it's like, okay, or who did you have spiritual conversations with this week?

Um, and it's almost like this built-in checker.

And and once you have been checked so many times, it's like, okay, I gotta lock in and actually have this conversation.

So um, anyway, so that would be that would be my three-part sermon on like how to be more bold, maybe like how to overcome being nervous and just having good gospel conversations.

And then I would also just add, like, it is kind of incredible what happens when we just pray, like when we just do what the scripture tells us to do.

Um, so pray about it.

If you're somebody who is just like, I know that I need to be having this conversation with somebody, but I just don't want to pray about it.

Yeah, the believers in Acts were not like, hey, help us to never have opposition again.

They were taking Jesus at his word and we're like, Jesus told us we were gonna face opposition.

So let's pray for boldness to face the opposition, right?

He they also acknowledge that he's sovereign, like he is over everything, he's in complete control.

They started the prayer off with sovereign lord, meaning he is king, he is over the Sadducees and the people who appear to be in authority, right?

So he's over the kid in your math class, you know, like he is sovereign over that.

So, um, and then the last thing that I'll just kind of say is once Peter started, well, like we've been in this same story for three weeks, and each time you see boldness, boldness, boldness.

He starts by preaching a sermon.

This was not long after he had denied Jesus, right?

So we're not saying that you need to start from perfection.

We just need, we're just saying you need to start.

Um, he had denied Jesus, then he went from the end of Matthew to the beginning of Acts, uh, preaching a sermon.

Um, people are coming to faith, then they heal this guy at the gate, and he literally takes another bold step of faith and says, get up and walk in Jesus' name.

The guy gets up and walks.

Then all the Sadducees and Pharisees are getting all upset and like what's going on.

And then the next bold step of faith comes.

And so, like, my point being, once you get in the habit of being obedient, it starts to happen more frequently, right?

You get that taste of look what the Lord did when I did what I was supposed to do, right?

Look what the how the Lord used this step of obedience, and then it spurs you on to want to do more.

Um, so I feel like there are a ton of people that would give testimony to that.

So if you have friends that are listening to this podcast and you're like, oh my gosh, yes, I've experienced this before.

Talk about it.

Yeah, talk about it with each other, encourage each other.

So, anyways, that's all I got.

Anything else you want to add, Mimi?

I mean, uh, yeah, I totally agree with what you just said.

I was thinking about that as you were speaking, but there are great people around you that want to see you succeed, that want to see the glory be given to God, that want you to hold this understanding um and run with it and share it to everyone.

So we always say this at like the beginning or the end of Bible study, but find that person that knows more than you, find that person who is a leader or a volunteer.

Um, they care for you enough for you to understand and for you to grow in your boldness.

So if you have any questions, don't keep them to yourself and ask them because that's how I grew, is a lot of questions, and it might have seemed silly, and I might have seemed like, oh my gosh, I'm so behind, everyone else knows stuff, but at the end of the day, I'm being obedient to God, and I really just don't have to worry about others' opinions because if I did that, I would be doing literally nothing in life.

Like there's always someone's gonna contradict something, and that's okay, but I'm not serving man, I'm serving God.

So that's how I would end.

That's good.

Yeah, I love it.

Love it, love it.

Well, that's all we got.

So uh we really hope that you uh find yourself almost to Friday and ready to have a great weekend, and we will see you next time.

Yes, we will.

Signing out.

Love you guys.

See you next week.

Thanks for joining us on the Celebration Baptist Church podcast.

We hope today's conversation helps you take another step in your faith journey.

For more resources, upcoming events, and to join us live, visit iCelebration.org.

Until next time, keep connecting with God, connecting with others, and living on mission.