Building Gospel Bridges Talk 7

0:01 · Speaker 1 I'm just going to invite Alan up, and just before he speaks, I'm just going to introduce him briefly and then pray for him as well. Alan, you were here last year, actually, weren't you? I was here. Whenever John McKinnon was here. And then you did some training in the evening. So a lot of people will know you. But for those who don't, just briefly, a couple of sentences, introduce yourself to us.

0:19 · Speaker 2 Yes. So I'm Alan. I'm married to Jane. We've got three girls, I'm Ila, Ruby, and Marty. I'm from Ballymena originally, but now I live in Dundonald. I always like to make sure people know I'm not from Dundonald, but I'm from Ballymena. And I work for the Word 1 to 1 along with Simon Lennox, who's very well known here.

0:37 · Speaker 1 Brilliant. Brilliant. Thank you. I'm going to pray for you and then I'll let you get stuck into what you're doing this morning. Father, thank you for Alan. Thank you for just the support and the encouragement he has been in this church over the years, both in his role in Christians and Sport and now in Word 1 to 1. Thank you for what you've put in his heart for this morning from Acts 4. And we pray that by your spirit, you would use what he has prepared to encourage us and enthuse us and challenge us.

1:11 · Speaker 1 So be with him now. By your spirit, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

1:16 · Speaker 2 Amen. Thanks so much, Chris. Well, it's lovely to be here. Can I invite you to open your Bible at Acts chapter 4? That's where we're going to be this morning. And we're going to read this entire story from verse 1 to 31 together as we get going. It's a long reading. Stopwatches don't start until I'm finished, just in case anybody thinks that I routinely speak as long as a colleague of mine.

1:40 · Speaker 2 The word one-to-one, I don't. But it'll be worth reading this whole passage, let me assure you of that, because it's an incredible story, and I really want us to immerse ourselves in it. So Acts chapter 4, hopefully you've got it in front of you there. I'm going to start reading from verse one. and the number of the men came to about 5,000. On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander and all who were of the high priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, by what power or by what name did you do this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers of the people and elders.

2:55 · Speaker 2 If we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

4:09 · Speaker 2 But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name. so they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus but Peter and John answered them whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God you must judge for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard and when they had further threatened them they let them go finding no way to punish them because of the people for all were praising God for what happened for the man on whom this of healing was performed was more than 40 years old. 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 people's plot in vain, the kings of earth set themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. For truly in this city they 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, 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 was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

6:11 · Speaker 2 Amen. Now I want to start this morning with a confession. The elders of the church always get a bit nervy when the guest speaker starts with a statement like that, but I want to confess to you that I'm not naturally very bold and confident in sharing my faith in Jesus with others. I'm just not. You might assume that because I'm up here and I'm talking about evangelism this morning, or because I work for an organization that's all about helping people to have confidence in sharing Jesus with others, that I've got this all worked out, that this comes easy to me. But the truth is, I'm not naturally a very bold evangelist. Now, don't get me wrong. I do want to share my faith in Jesus with others.

7:04 · Speaker 2 I care about the people in my life who don't yet know him. And I pray for opportunities to speak about him. But when those moments do come, with a friend over coffee or sitting on a plane beside someone else, I often feel that fear, that knot in my stomach, the rising heart rate, the temptation to stay quiet and let the moment pass. Maybe you know that feeling too. For many of us as Christians, I think the problem isn't a lack of love for people or a lack of desire to share our faith. I think the problem in evangelism is we lack boldness, the courage to actually open our mouths and say something of Jesus. And if that's how most of us feel, The question is, how does that change? How do ordinary believers become bolder and more courageous in sharing Jesus Christ with others?

8:13 · Speaker 2 Well, I think this incredible passage, which we just read in Acts chapter 4, gives us a lot of help in answering that question. The theme of boldness is really prominent in the story. Did you notice that? It came up in verse 13. Then again in verse 29, and right at the end, the very last thing that's talked about in verse 31 is speaking boldly. And what's encouraging is that the boldness we see these believers display here isn't unique to them. It's a boldness that's available to every single one of us as believers in this room this morning. Because the boldness that we need in sharing Jesus, The boldness that maybe you lack right now is a boldness that God loves to give to those who ask him in faith.

9:08 · Speaker 2 So we're going to look at this story under four headings. And as we look at our first point, we're going to get a bit of the context to help us understand what's really going on here. So firstly, let's look at the need for boldness. Now you maybe sense this as we read Acts chapter four, but we're in the middle of a story within the bigger story of the book of Acts. So what's happened in Acts to bring us to this point? Well, in Acts chapter one, the risen Lord Jesus appears to his disciples and he gives them their mission. Just before he ascends to heaven, he says these famous words in Acts chapter one, eight, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. That's the mission, bearing witness to Jesus, testifying to who he is, what he has done.

10:05 · Speaker 2 And in Acts chapter two, that mission begins. The Holy Spirit comes upon the disciples at Pentecost. Peter stands and boldly preaches about Jesus to the gathered crowd and thousands believe as the church is born. It's incredible. Then in Acts chapter three, Peter and John heal a man who's been lame from birth at the temple gates. A crowd gathers and Peter again proclaims the gospel and many more people believe. But then the first signs of trouble come in the book of Acts. And this is where we see the need for boldness.

10:46 · Speaker 2 Because in Acts chapter four, the Jewish authorities, they arrive on the scene and we're told that they are greatly annoyed by what Peter and John are teaching about the risen Lord Jesus. Namely that he is the one who's responsible for this miracle. And so they throw the disciples in prison overnight and the next morning the Sanhedrin gathers around 70 of the most powerful religious leaders in the country. The very men who put Jesus on trial, now staring down these two disciples. You can maybe imagine how Peter and John must have felt. Think of standing before the panel in your job interview. Or presenting in front of the whole class at school or university. The nerves, the fear, all eyes on you.

11:39 · Speaker 2 And the council's demand is simple. Stop speaking about Jesus. What the disciples face here is real spiritual opposition. Because behind all this and underneath all this, the devil is at work. Stirring up resistance. Turning people against God's people. Pressurizing them to stay silent about Jesus. And this is why boldness is needed here.

12:11 · Speaker 2 but it's also why we as believers need boldness today. Because the reality is we, like the disciples, face this same kind of spiritual opposition. When we live for Jesus, when we speak of Jesus, there will be hostility, resistance. Maybe you've experienced some of that at work, at school or university, among friends, or just out there in wider society. and we may not face the threat of prison, though many Christians around the world still do, but we might face ridicule, awkwardness, a strained relationship, being sidelined socially. And when the pressure comes on like that, when the heat starts to rise, the temptation for us is the same as it was for these disciples in this moment, to bow to the pressure and to keep our mouths shut. Boldness is needed, but look secondly at the source of boldness. In the face of this opposition, where does the boldness of these believers come from?

13:28 · Speaker 2 Is it just down to personality type? You know, they've got the gift of the God, they know what to say? Or is it down to gifting and ability? Or does their confidence come from their training? Just good resourcing, perhaps? Well, let's have a look. Because Peter and John are asked to explain themselves in verse 7. By what power or by what name did you do this?

13:54 · Speaker 2 Did you heal this man? And verse 8, a really key verse tells us, then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, begins to speak boldly, calmly, unashamedly naming Jesus, even quoting Old Testament scripture to these Old Testament scholars. And we'll look more closely at what he says in a moment, But after he finishes speaking, verse 13 tells us that the council are astonished by the boldness of these men. Now just think about Peter for a moment. The last time he was challenged about whether he knew the name Jesus or not was by a servant girl in a courtyard. And remember what he did then. He denied even knowing Jesus three times. But yet here is Peter, the same Peter, showing astonishing boldness as he proclaims the name of Jesus before the Sanhedrin.

14:59 · Speaker 2 Where does his astonishing boldness come from? Well, verse 8 gives us the answer. Peter speaks filled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of the living God is within him. That's the source of his boldness. you know in Matthew chapter 10 Jesus is speaking to his disciples and he actually warned them that opposition like this would come and in the midst of that opposition he said I'm going to give you a promise to hold on to he said when they deliver you over to stand before councils like this do not worry about what to say for it will be given to you in that hour for it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your father speaking through you. Here in Acts chapter 4, that promise is being fulfilled.

15:56 · Speaker 2 The spirit of the father is speaking through Peter, giving him the boldness he needs, even the very words to say. And I wonder if sometimes I, we, struggle to be bolder in sharing Jesus with others because we're trying to conjure up that boldness on our own. rather than just receiving the boldness we need from God. We're trying to engineer the courage we need within ourselves, find the perfect strategy in sharing Jesus, the perfect resource in telling others about him. And we think that that will make me bold. That will give me the confidence I need. And listen, resources are great, so helpful. Training and practicing how we share our faith is such a good thing to do.

16:46 · Speaker 2 The Be Prepared night, come along to that tonight. It's wonderful to have behind the curtain what we need in knowing how to talk to people about Jesus, about our faith in him. But the truth is, underneath all that, there is something deeper needed. Boldness that comes only from one place, and that's the spirit of the living God. boldness is something we receive from God through the presence and the power of his Holy Spirit see the same spirit who filled Peter in verse 8 is the same spirit who fills you this morning dear brother or sister when you put your trust in Jesus you receive the Holy Spirit which means that the power that is at work here transforming a fearful fisherman into a fearless witness is the same power that is available and at work in you right now, every day this week, in every conversation and in every encounter that God leads you into. You have been filled with the spirit of boldness. But there's also another part in all this where you are to go on receiving that spirit of boldness

18:09 · Speaker 2 because in these verses in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18 the apostle Paul is speaking to Christians and he uses the present tense when he says be filled with the spirit because that filling is not just a one-time download and done no it's a continual updating a continual receiving filling of the Spirit each and every day of our lives on earth as believers. And this is why we see the Christians at the very end of our passage in verse 31, praying to God again, praying for more boldness because through prayer, we go on being filled by God's Spirit, receiving the boldness we need. So do you want to be bolder and more courageous in sharing Jesus Christ with others? then receive that boldness from God. Ask him every day this week to fill you afresh with his spirit, to give you courage, confidence, even the very words to say as you point others to Jesus. And before we move on, I want to focus for a moment on verse 13, because it's an incredible verse. Look again how it says the council perceived these disciples to be uneducated, common men. They're just ordinary believers to them.

19:39 · Speaker 2 Not theologically trained, not the seminary scholars, not the evangelism elite, just everyday Christians. But really interesting, the other thing that the council do pick up on is that these ordinary men have clearly been with Jesus. Do you see that? That, in fact, is the only explanation they give for the boldness that they see. These boys have been with Jesus. They know the one they're talking about. They've spent time in his presence. They've listened to him teach.

20:17 · Speaker 2 They've watched as he's opened the scriptures to them. They speak with such conviction about Jesus. And I want us to linger on that for a moment because maybe we're here and we'd consider ourselves just to be an ordinary Christian, untrained in evangelism, unqualified maybe for the task in making Jesus known. If we're honest, we feel much happier to leave that job to someone else, to the pastor, to the professionals, to the more gifted in that area. But these men show that the only qualification that really matters in sharing Jesus with others is knowing Jesus ourselves. Having a personal living relationship with him through his spirit. And do you know what? That is something that every single one of us can have.

21:14 · Speaker 2 And I think the more we know Jesus, not just know about Jesus, but actually know Jesus in a deep, intimate way, the more we enjoy Jesus and the relationship that we have been brought into with him, the more we will naturally start to share Jesus with others. When you talk about a close friend that you love, you admire, you enjoy spending time with, you don't need a script or notes, do you, to talk about them? You don't need to practice the right things to say. it just flows naturally because you know them so well you enjoy them so much and you just want others to come to know them too that's I think what happens as we spend time with Jesus in his word in prayer among his people our love for Jesus deepens our joy in Jesus grows and speaking about him just becomes natural. The overflow of our heart, it spills out from us like water overflowing from a full cup. One of the most joyful Christians I know is a guy called Mike. He's from a council estate in Belfast. He'd say this himself, but he's from very humble beginnings, not highly educated.

22:40 · Speaker 2 He's not got an easy life at all. But boy, does Mike love Jesus. He's someone, when you're around him, you just know he spent time with Jesus because he talks about Jesus like he's a friend. His love for Jesus, his enjoyment of Jesus, it just spills out, naturally flows into his conversation. And he recently put up an Instagram post with the Word 1 to 1 books as his picture, and he said below it, meeting Jesus has changed my life. would you like to see if he could change yours too? And then he put an invitation to read through John's gospel with him afterwards. Friends, I think one of the greatest antidotes to fear in evangelism is joy in Jesus.

23:32 · Speaker 2 So what might it look like for you to just enjoy Jesus this week? to spend quality time with Jesus in his word, in prayer, and see what starts to happen, what naturally flows from you into the lives of others. We've seen the need for boldness. We've seen the source of boldness. And now let's look thirdly at the name being proclaimed with boldness. Because Peter's message in verse 8 to 12 all centers around a name, a name that he wants everyone to know. Now, you probably won't know this about me. Some of you will.

24:14 · Speaker 2 I'm looking around the room and I know some people will, but I've got a nickname. I've had it since I was 15. I got it during my rugby days at school when I was a lot bulkier and much slower. Honestly, I think the 36-year-old Alan would easily outrun the 15-year-old Alan. And a few of my friends started calling me Slug. That's terrible. It's awful when I say it aloud from the stage, Slug. And somehow this nickname has stuck 20 years.

24:45 · Speaker 2 And I remember when I was 17, I'd had enough of this nickname, and I decided it was time to reclaim my true identity as Alan. And so for a period of time in my life, I made it my mission to make sure everyone knew my real name and everyone used my real name. I even went into school one day with my name stuck on a name badge, but that only stirred up the resistance even more, the hostility. And inevitably it didn't work. The nickname slug was here to stay. And you know, eventually I just got to the point where I just stopped caring what name people used. And here's where I'm going with all this. It's that there is a name that these believers and that we as believers should care even more deeply than I did as a 17-year-old about people knowing.

25:35 · Speaker 2 There is a name that we should persist in proclaiming every day to the very last day that we are on this earth. And it's the name of Jesus Christ. Earlier in verse 7, the council had asked, by what power or by what name did you do this miracle? Because they know that there's real authority at work here. They can't deny it. The hidden man is standing before them as evidence. And they want to know the name of that power. And Peter basically says, verse 10, you want to know the name?

26:11 · Speaker 2 Let it be known to all of you, but to all the people of Israel as well, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him, this man is standing before you well. Jesus is the name that Peter proclaims with boldness. And in doing so, he's confronting these leaders with truth. Calling them builders in verse 11 is intentional. He's quoting Psalm 118, an old messianic psalm, and he's showing how they are the leaders that God actually chose to build up the nation of Israel. But yet they are the very people who rejected Jesus, the cornerstone of the building. They're the ones who put him to death. And they thought that was the end of this Jesus, but no.

27:05 · Speaker 2 God raised him from the dead and vindicated his son, proving that he really is all that he said he was, the Messiah, the Lord of life, the savior of the world. And then Peter delivers the killer line in verse 12. This is why he wants everyone to know the name of Jesus, because there is salvation in no one else. There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Salvation, forgiveness, the hope of eternal life with God, it's found only in Jesus. Nowhere else. No one else. There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

28:01 · Speaker 2 And this is why when Peter and John are told by the council in verse 18 to stop speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus, they respond by saying, but we can't. We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. They are absolutely sold on Jesus. They are totally committed to him and to the spreading of his gospel. Because they know without a shadow of a doubt that he is the one everyone in this world needs to meet and put their trust in. He is the only hope for humanity. And this is why we proclaim his name with boldness, with urgency, even when it costs us, even when the world tries to silence us because there is salvation in no one else. and the question for all of us in the room is do we believe that do you believe that

29:07 · Speaker 2 if you're here this morning and right now you're not sure if you do can I encourage you to consider Jesus today consider who he is what he has done because the truth is he did it for you to save you. He lived the perfect life none of us ever could. He died the death we all deserve for our rejection of God. But on the third day, this Jesus, he rose from the grave victorious over sin and death, proving that he and he alone has the power and the authority to give eternal life to anyone who believes in him. Romans chapter 10 says that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. That's it. That's all it takes. So will you call out to Jesus today for help, for rescue?

30:12 · Speaker 2 Because there is salvation in no one else. and if you do believe that this morning then I want to ask you to consider who in your life needs to hear about Jesus what opportunities do you have right now to share him with them maybe it's an invitation to come along to one of the Easter services coming up in the next few weeks what a wonderful opportunity for people to experience the hope of life in Christ. Or maybe it's bringing someone along with you to the 321 course that's starting on the 22nd of April. What a brilliant entry point that is for someone who's curious and just exploring the claims of Jesus for themselves. Or perhaps another step that you might take is actually inviting someone in your life who you've got a relationship with to read God's word with you. Do you know there's a lot of chath at the moment about a growing curiosity in the Bible. I don't know if you've heard about this. Belfast Live, they recently posted an article on their website saying, and I quote, Bible sales hit record high in 2025, up 134% since 2019.

31:30 · Speaker 2 The highest since records began in 2008. There seems to be this shift. Something is happening. People are showing more of an interest in just knowing what the Bible really says. And maybe there's someone in your life who's one of those interested people. Often we won't know until we ask. And that ask could be as simple as this. Have you ever looked at what the Bible says for yourself?

32:01 · Speaker 2 Would you ever be interested in doing that? Do you know there's this resource on the screen? It's called the Word One-to-One. I don't know if you've heard of it. It's designed for people who've never read the Bible before to help them understand a bit more of who Jesus is and why Jesus came. Do you know we could read the first episode of that together? It's just 18 sentences. 18 sentences that introduce you to Jesus.

32:25 · Speaker 2 No pressure. Nothing more than that. Would you be up for it? Listen, we cannot save anyone. Only God has the power to do that. But every single one of us in this room as Christians can prayerfully invite people in our lives to come and meet Jesus for themselves. The one in whom salvation is found. And if that still feels daunting and you still feel, oh, it's a step too far for me right now, then why not just start this week by asking God to give you the boldness you need to take that next step.

33:09 · Speaker 2 Because that's exactly what the believers do here in Acts chapter 4. As our story finishes, let's see fourthly and finally the prayer, asking for more boldness. I wish I had more time to think about this last section with you. Chris says you're going to be preaching actually in the summer on these verses, this prayer. So we'll leave it to the end to really dig into it. But from verse 23 to the end, we see Peter and John released. They return to their friends. They talk about what's happened.

33:39 · Speaker 2 And then they gather together and they pray. They lift their voices to God. And why do they do this? Why is it the first thing they do? Well, it's because they know that for all that's ahead, for all that they are likely to face in living for Jesus and sharing Jesus with others, they need God. They desperately need his help, his strength, the empowering of his spirit. They cannot do any of this on their own. They feel it.

34:11 · Speaker 2 The fears are too real. They know it. The temptation to stay quiet is too strong. They need God. They're completely dependent on him, and so this is why they pray. And just look at the richness of their prayer in verse 24 to 28. Before they ask God for anything, they remind themselves of who God is. They acknowledge that he is the sovereign Lord, the maker of heaven and earth and everything in it.

34:41 · Speaker 2 He's the one who's truly in control. He's the one who's written the script in history. Everything happens according to his sovereign plans purposes. The Sanhedrin, they might look powerful, but they are no match for our God. They are proclaiming the truth to their own hearts and to each other in prayer. And that matters because you cannot pray boldly to a God that you're not sure is in control. The boldness of their request that comes in verse 29 only makes sense in light of the sovereignty of the one they're praying to. These believers, they really do fear the Lord.

35:26 · Speaker 2 They fear the Lord more than they fear any man. And then look at what they actually ask God for in verse 29. This is astonishing. Not protection, not comfort, not Lord take this opposition away. No. They pray, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. What a humble, bold, God-glorifying prayer that is. It reveals so much about this community, doesn't it?

36:01 · Speaker 2 About their priorities. Their greatest concern is not their own well-being or their own comfort or the protection of their reputations, their greatest concern is the name of Jesus, that his name would be proclaimed. And so they pray, Lord, help us to keep sharing your word, to keep pointing people to Jesus, come what may. And I don't know about you, but I find that both inspiring and challenging. I found myself this week saying, Lord, make me a person who prays like this. Make Glen Abbey a church that prays like this. Because look verse 31 at how the sovereign Lord responds to prayers like this. 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.

37:06 · Speaker 2 They pray in faith and God answers their prayers. Unmistakably, undeniably, he shakes the building, he fills them with his spirit and then he sends them out into the world again to continue speaking his word with boldness. In other words, God gives them exactly what they asked for. More boldness was requested and more boldness is received. As we finish, I want to tell you about this lady, Maureen. She prayed a similar prayer to this not that long ago, asking God for what she needed for more boldness. Maureen's just an ordinary believer. She's 82 years old.

37:58 · Speaker 2 She lives in a care home in Norfolk in England and goes to a little Baptist church in her town. she's untrained in evangelism she's no theological degree but after her minister introduced the church to the word one-to-one resource she prayed and asked God to reveal if there was anyone in her life who she might be able to introduce to Jesus and she realized that there were people who sat around her all day in the care home who didn't know Jesus and so she prayed again and asked God give her the boldness she needed and the opportunity to ask if they'd be interested in looking at the Bible with her. Three women said yes. One of them was a lady called Barbara, 93 years old, never having read the Bible before or properly looking into the person of Jesus for herself. And in this little care home in Norfolk, these four women went on this journey, reading John's gospel together. And after a few months, wonderfully, Barbara committed her life to Jesus Christ at the age of 93 and found salvation in his name. And then just six months later, she died and went to be with Jesus Christ, her savior and Lord in glory forever.

39:23 · Speaker 2 Friends, isn't it amazing that the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth could make himself known in a million and one different ways and yet in his infinite wisdom and in his boundless grace and kindness he chooses to do that work through us. Through people like us, ordinary people like Maureen, servants of the Lord who go in the power of his spirit simply asking the Lord to give them what they need and holding out the truth of his word to others they have relationships with. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, God chooses to place the treasure of the gospel in jars of clay. That's us, just jars of clay. And why does he do that? Well, it's to show that the surpassing power belongs to him and not to any of us. And that is good news, wonderfully liberating news, because it's not about you. it's all about him.

40:30 · Speaker 2 So fix your eyes on him. Place your confidence in him. Ask him for what you need as you make Jesus Christ known. The opportunities to share, the boldness to step forward, the words to make that invite and see what the Lord might do. And when he does it, remember to give him all the praise and the glory that he deserves. Let's pray. Sovereign Lord, the maker of heaven and earth, we come before you now humbly but boldly into your presence, asking for what we need. we thank you that you are in control and that the name of Jesus Christ is powerful to save we confess our fears and our weaknesses and our apprehensions to you Lord and we ask you now to fill us with your Holy Spirit give us the boldness we need Lord to speak your word the courage to take the opportunities that you present.

41:48 · Speaker 2 Help us to make the most of every opportunity, Lord, and give us hearts that love Jesus so deeply that we cannot help but speak of him. Help us, Lord, to trust you, to trust you as we step out in faith and make your son Jesus known. And Lord, may we give you all the praise and the glory for what you're doing in us and through us. And we pray this all in your son's name. Amen.