Marks of a Bold Witness

Well, good morning, would you help me welcome all of our campuses who are worshiping with us today? So great to have all of you. I want to start just by making a couple announcements. One is, if you're part of our church family, you know we just began a three-year capital campaign called Taking Ground. Funds are still rolling in, pledges are still rolling in. Next week, we'll give you where we're at, but we've been so blessed by the generosity of our church and all that you're doing and all that you're giving. Next week, we'll give you an update on all that, but we're excited about where the Lord is leading us. Number two, you received, if you go to our church, you probably received a text yesterday coming from our staff explaining that I had nothing to do with the text that was sent out, and several of you have said, what the heck text was that? Let me tell you what it was. When we did the Charlie Kirk event, we had people register. We didn't have people register. That was done by a political committee that had people register, so we don't give out your names or do anything, but a text was sent to everybody that registered from Victor Marx's campaign. Problem was, it came from me. I was the one who sent it to everybody.

Problem was, it came from me. It was a letter that said, Jeff Swarzentraub, senior pastor, is looking for your funds. I never said that. I never authored it. I never did it, so we immediately called them, talked to them. They issued a retraction. They were extremely apologetic. Got a mix-up down with somebody on their team, so that's what that was. I wanted to let you know what that was because I'm not soliciting your money for those things, and number two, I also wanted to let you know, just because Victor and I are good friends. We're still good friends. Accidents happen, and I can tell you from pastoring this church for 15 years, there's several times we've miscommunicated either too much or not enough, and so there's a lot of grace that's there, but that's what that was all about, just so that you know that, and then third, what I'm really excited to tell you about is I happen to be in Washington, D.C. this week. It was a great trip. Thursday morning, I got to go to Arlington National Cemetery. My grandfather is buried there with my grandmother, and I got to see their resting place,

which was extremely powerful. It was very moving to be there, but more importantly than that, you can take a look at this picture. It was still on pano. That's why everybody looks weird when they took the picture, but in the middle, that's the deputy director for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Deputy Director Smith, and by God's providence, while we were in that meeting, just so quote happened that the regional director for all the federal prisons in Colorado just happened to be there from Kansas City in the building, so he came to our meeting too, and we spoke to them. It was a very matter-of-fact meeting. Okay, tell me what you want. Give me your two-minute elevator speech. What's brave? What do you do? Hey, tell us what you're gonna do in the prisons. It was super fast, and he read through our whole proposal really quick, and bottom line was this. The spirit of God was all over. It was really, really cool. I gotta tell you this. Pastor Howie wouldn't want you to know this necessarily, but Pastor Howie was there.

He spent 20 years in prison. The Deputy Director Smith spent about five-ish years in prison, and those two guys are having talks about how we as a church can change prison reform, and it was beautiful, and when we got done, Deputy Director Smith said, man, can I pray for you, and he prayed in Jesus' name for everything, and so here's what's gonna happen. I believe doors in federal prisons in Colorado are gonna open up for us to get involved in. That's the short of it. And we learned something, because we said, well, we're here to serve. We're not trying to take over a prison. If there's people there that are already serving the Lord, we're gonna partner with them. That's what we do everywhere we go, and he said, well, you need to know this. When the government shuts down, which our government's in a shutdown right now. You may or may not know that. Usually when I hear stuff like that, oh, it's just politics. I don't care much, right? But what you have to realize is when the government shuts down, those that work for the government in federal prisons, they still have to go to work.

They don't stop working. They still have to go to work. They still have to go to work. They don't stop working in the prisons just because everything got shut down. Here's the only difference. They don't get paid. So oftentimes for those that live paycheck to paycheck, they don't have enough food for, they don't have groceries for food. They don't have money for gas. So we at Brave are gonna take the 300 employees at the federal prison here in Inglewood, gift bags this week for all of that, and would encourage you, we have teams to pass them out, but there's cards here as you're leaving the church today on both of our campuses. If you just wanna fill one of these cards out just to let them know how much we as a church appreciate them. For the females that are serving there, we're gonna invite them to the Alibaba Stucky Conference for free so they can be a part of that. What we wanna do is we wanna serve. That's what Jesus did. That's what we wanna do. But continue to pray, because, I mean, praise God.

He's opening up doors for us all over the place to reach more people with the gospel of Jesus, amen? So thank you for your prayers. And with that, let's prepare our heart. Let's get ready to hear His living and active word among us this morning. Would you pray with me? Our Father in heaven, we do give you all of the glory, honor, and praise. We thank you for your favor on our church and on these meetings. Lord, may it open up doors for us to reach more in the prisons, those that are incarcerated, as well as those who are serving in the prisons. Lord, be gracious to us this week as we serve that team here in Inglewood. We just ask your grace over that. And Lord, as we get ready to hear your living and active word, prepare our hearts. Lord, if there's any known sin in our life, we're gonna confess that to you right now because your word says, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, that you are faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and forgive our sins. So Lord.

Forgive us this day so we can hear your word clearly and effectively. And Lord, we're ready to hear your word this morning, Lord, because we as a people believe every time your word is faithfully and accurately proclaimed, that you are directly speaking to us. So our prayer this morning is speak, Lord, for we are ready to hear. And so now for all those who have gathered who desire to hear the Lord Jesus Christ speak directly to you, who will believe what he tells you and who will by faith put into practice what he shows you, will you agree with me very loudly this morning by saying the word, amen. If Christianity were outlawed in our culture tomorrow, would there be enough evidence to convict you? If somebody said you can't be a Christian anymore, is there enough evidence in your life that when people saw how you lived and what you spoke, they would say, they're one of them? It's important that we would be able to answer that question affirmatively. Because being a Christian is not just a knowing of whose I am, it's a living out what God has already put inside of me. It's called boldness. And what boldness is, is the ability through the power of the Holy Spirit on the inside of a believer to live and speak on behalf of God in the face of danger. It's courage to be able to live out the mandates

of the faith that God would require for us. And why is that important? Because the Bible makes clear that anyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. If you're actually going to believe in Jesus and you're born again and the Holy Spirit is resident in your life and you're gonna read this word or sit under preaching of this word or study this word and say, okay, God, I'm listening to you and I'm actually going to take steps of faith to do what you're telling me to do, it will be difficult to do that. There will be challenge to do that. There will be people that say, don't do that. And all throughout the Bible, we love stories of people who have been bold. People who not only stood and said, okay, I'll stand here, but people who opened their mouth and spoke the truth in where they stood. I mean, you think about Moses, the deliverer of the people of Israel, who was called back to Egypt to not only just stand there and perform miracles, but to go to Pharaoh and say, let my people go. When we see David stand before Goliath, it's not just that he picks up five stones and starts running at him. Before he comes, when he's being taunted, he says, I don't come at you a javelin, sword or spear. I come at you in the name of the Lord Almighty.

He's speaking boldness. He's saying what's gonna happen. Elijah, when he calls down fire on Mount Carmel, I mean, it's the boldness of these men that are preaching. John the Baptist spoke with boldness. And yet, when we get through the gospels, at the very end of the gospels, we don't see boldness. We see lip service. We see Peter say, Lord, even if all men deny you, I never will. Lord, even if I have to die with you, I'll die tonight. And yet, Jesus said, tonight, you're gonna betray me three times. And that night, around a fire, being told by, you're one of them. I know you. I recognize your voice. I recognize your, three different times. I don't even know the man. I don't know him. And yet, what we see in the book of Acts is everything begins to change. And we see this boldness and courage begin to take over in the face of where fear used to live. And today, I wanna talk to you about how it is that you can live with boldness as a Christian. Because I want you to know, boldness is not just for a select few. If you've been born again and the Holy Spirit is resonant in your life, you are bold.

It's not a feeling, it's a life to be lived. And this morning, I wanna show you marks of what it looks like for boldness and how you can live boldly in your faith, no matter where you are. Whether you're a student, whether you work at home, whether you work outside the home, whether it's in your neighborhood, wherever it's at in your sphere of influence, how is it that you can live with the God-given boldness that Jesus has given to you? And so to do that today, we're gonna be in Acts chapter four. I'm gonna invite you to turn there today. Acts chapter four, starting in verse one, we'll try to get through verse 31. And in this section, what you're gonna see is the boldness of Peter and John in what's going on. And as you're turning here, let me just remind you what happened in chapter three. You'll remember there was a man standing outside, or sitting, not standing rather, sitting outside the beautiful gate, been there for over 40 years, begging for alms. He looked at Peter and John as they were coming by, thinking he was gonna receive something from them. And they said, silver or gold, we do not have, but what we do have we give you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazarene. Walk. And up he stood with a leap and went into the temple.

And they're all praising God. And as they're praising God, they're saying, it's not us that did it, it's Jesus that did it. And Jesus is doing it because he wants you to turn from your wicked ways. That's what's going on. And this is where a story picks up in Acts chapter four. Notice what it says. As they were speaking to the people, the priests and captain of the guard and the Sadducees came up to them, being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people. and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the message believed and the number of men came to be about 5,000. Let me give you the first point of a mark of boldness and that is this, those who live with boldness proclaim the word of Jesus Christ. Those who live with boldness proclaim the word of Jesus Christ. Notice this, as they're talking about the miracle, as they're talking about all these things, they're telling people at the end of chapter three that God had called them to turn from their wicked ways. You need to turn. You need to turn from your sin and you need to turn towards Christ.

That's what they're proclaiming. And it says this, as they were speaking, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came to them. Here's what you have. You have all the religious leaders of the day, all the muckety mucks, all the big wigs, all the people that are super religious, they're coming. And here's what they have a problem with. What you're gonna see is they do not have a problem with the fact that a guy that was lame walked. As a matter of fact, they're not even gonna discuss that. Matter of fact, they don't even care. That is not the problem they have with disciples. Let me just be clear on it. Nobody has a problem if you come to church and people get healed. And nobody has a problem if you come to church and somebody gets delivered from demons and you tell them that and nobody has a problem if you get saved. Let me tell you why they have a problem. Here's why they have a problem. Verse two tells you, being greatly disturbed because, here's why, they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. That's what bothered them. The healing, no problem. But the fact that you're gonna say, this Jesus that was crucified is still alive

and he's still working, we put him to death. We're done with him. They're saying, no, he's still alive. And you put him to death. God raised him and he's still doing everything he was doing while he's here, but now he's in heaven doing it through us. So deal with that. What were they proclaiming? So they had a problem with the proclamation of Jesus. Do you know culture hasn't changed? Nobody has a problem if you say you're spiritual. Nobody has a problem if you say you believe in God. But there's a lot of people that have a big problem. If you're gonna proclaim Jesus and him only and his resurrection from the dead, they're gonna call you narrow-minded. And especially if you say that the authority of God's word, whether you believe it or not, is still authoritative over you. And that everything that this book teaches from Genesis 1, 1 through Revelation 22, 21 is an authority over your life. And I'm proclaiming it to you. If you're going to be a bold witness for Jesus, you have to proclaim his word. These 66 books are the word of God. This is where we learn the gospel. It's an amazing book. It is unlike any other,

even if you just wanna look at it as a book of literature. You have over 40 authors over 1,400 years on three different continents that never even knew each other that are all writing to the same end. And everything aligns perfectly without error. It's impossible if God's not in it. Moreover, when you read this book, this book will convict you. This book will read you. This book will tell you about you. There's no book in the world like it. And yet here's what people don't want. Don't give me that Bible stuff. Don't give me that gospel stuff. Don't give me that Jesus stuff. Everybody can go their own ways and just let people be who they wanna be. No, that's not what they were doing. And by the way, let me just say from the outset what boldness is and what boldness isn't. Boldness is spirit-filled courage. Boldness is not arrogance. It's not being rude. It's not being obnoxious. It's not being a bully. None of those things. You can be an introvert and be bold. You can whisper and be bold. It is spirit-filled courage to speak truth

on behalf of Jesus in hostility because you love Jesus more than you fear the consequence. That's boldness, amen? And they were bothered at their boldness. They didn't care that the guy was healed. Isn't that amazing? For 40 years, this guy hasn't walked. He's walking. They don't even look at him. Here's what we have a problem with. You're speaking in the name of Jesus. You're proclaiming he rose from the dead. And so what they did was they laid hands on them, took him to jail for the evening because it was already late. And so you would think, what a waste of a day. You know, I was trying to serve the Lord and this guy gets healed and we end up in jail. What a waste. But notice verse four. But many of those who heard the message believed and the number of men came to about 5,000. We had 3,000 on the day of Pentecost, men, women, boy, and girls. Now we have 5,000 men. So you probably have more than that. So it's probably more than 5,000 people that are part of this local church now in just a matter of days. So was it a waste?

No, because anytime you're bold for the things of God, anytime you're bold in his word, there's always a return on investment. There's always a return on investment even if you can't see it. That's why Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. For it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. To the Jew first and also to the Gentile. When you share the truth of Jesus, there's power in it. Can I just encourage you when you share the gospel, nobody's getting saved because of your story. They might be moved by your story, they're gonna get saved because of Jesus's story. So the more words you know, the more clear you can be on sharing the gospel. If you don't know anything, just memorize John 3.16 and have that in your arsenal. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him will not perish. And if you want one in your other holster, put Romans 6.23. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. That way you're kind of double-barreled, you're ready to go, right? And if that's the only two you know, you can start there.

Because as you share your faith, people will ask questions and you'll look in the word and you'll search and say, where does it say that? And you'll find another scripture so that you're ready to go. And the more of the words you know, the more you'll see it. But it's like this, we get to see all the fruit of our seeds. We sow seeds, we water seeds. Sometimes we get to see seeds harvested, other times we don't. But like any good farmer, a farmer doesn't dig up to the seed to see how it's doing, he leaves it in the ground. When we sow seed of the word, we're sowing the seed, we're trusting the Lord and the Holy Spirit to do the work with the word. I love this quote, I don't know who to give credit to, whether it's Charles Spurgeon or Martin Luther online, nobody can tell me. So if you can't figure out, just say, my pastor made this up, that's cool. But I love this quote. The word of God is like a lion. If you let it out of its cage, it can fend for itself. So the Bible says, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season. Just preach Christ. That's why Hebrews 4.12 says, the word of God is living and active,

sharper than any two-edged sword. It penetrates to divide both soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the attitudes and intentions of the heart. Friends, people don't get saved by hearing our opinions, they get saved by hearing God's word. So whoever you are, share the word of God without apology. Share the gospel of Jesus Christ from his word without apology, amen? Number two is this, as you're doing that, rely on the power of Jesus Christ to do it. If you're gonna proclaim his word, then you gotta rely on the power of Jesus to do that. Now think about this, I mean, we read this and we move on, okay, they were in jail and the next day, I mean, they spent the night in jail. Jail wasn't this cool place to go. There weren't meals that were being served there. You didn't have satellite television there. You didn't have a bathroom in your own cell there. They're spending the night in jail all because they proclaimed Jesus. All they had to do was let Jesus do the miracle and keep their mouth shut and be like, we don't know how it happened. Oh, praise the God, that's so good. But no, they couldn't shut up about Jesus and his resurrection. So it says on the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes

were all gathered together in Jerusalem. They're making this a religious party. And Annas, the high priest was there and Caiaphas and John and Alexander and all who were of high priestly descent. So all the muckety mucks, all the hierarchy, all those that are super spiritual in the culture have all gathered there. And when they placed them in the center, they begin to inquire. And here's the question the religious leaders had for Peter and John, by what power or in what name have you done this? Again, they don't care that the guy was healed. They don't care. They don't care about the experiences that they were having. They don't care. They wanna know how did it happen and what are you telling people? What are you talking about? Why are you telling people what you're telling people? That's what they wanted to know. Now, this would be a great time if Peter and John wanna go scot-free saying, I don't know, it was a busy day yesterday. It all happened so fast. It's never happened to us before. It probably won't happen again, I don't know. And they would have walked away scot-free,

but that's not what they did because they had boldness. It says, then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said to them, can I pause there for a second? The Bible tells us that the ministry of the Holy Spirit being filled is ongoing. And some of us picture like we're this empty flesh, like a empty balloon and the Spirit goes, we wanna be filled. Lord, fill me with the Spirit. Like it's a magical thing. That's not what being filled with the Spirit is. Ephesians 5.18 says, do not be drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery or wastefulness or dissipation, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. What's he saying? Don't get drunk. When you get drunk, you're controlled by a substance other than yourself. You speak different, you think different, you act different. Don't be drunk on wine. Don't be drunk on alcohol, but instead be filled or be controlled by, being controlled with the Holy Spirit. Pursue Christ so much that the Holy Spirit takes over. If you wanna be filled with the Holy Spirit, you can pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but it's not a magic prayer where God's like, you're filled. That's not how it works.

If you're praying to be filled with the Holy Spirit and you wanna be filled. filled with the Holy Spirit. Take your next step of faith. Take your next step of obedience. Little step by little step by little step. Now you're controlled by the Spirit. You're controlled with the Spirit. You're filled with the Spirit. This means this, you're no longer in control. The Spirit of God's in control. So when it says Peter filled with the Holy Spirit, it didn't mean at that moment that the Holy Spirit went. It means Peter has been walking in fullness of the Spirit from the time of Jesus Christ's ascension. From the time that he was proclaiming on the southern steps of the temple when 3,000 people got saved. And here's what he says. Rulers and elders of the people, if we're on trial for a benefit done to a sick man as to how this man has been made well, let it be made known to all of you and to all the people of Israel. Like if we're on trial, like if we're really here, I mean, I just sense such sarcasm in their words. Like if this is why we've really been jailed so that we can tell you why this man got healed and that's what you wanna know,

then here's what we wanna tell you. We want it to be known to you and to all the men in Israel and everywhere we go. We want this word to spread and here's what we're gonna tell everybody. That by the name, which means by the reputation of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this name, this man stands here before you in good health. Could they be any clearer? Could they be any more bold? These men have the right to beat them, jail them, do whatever they want. Like, okay, so if we're really here so we can tell you how this man who had been lame for 40 years is now doing okay, then we want you to know, we want all Israel to know, we're not gonna ever shut our mouths about it, but here's why. Jesus Christ, who was on this planet just a few weeks ago that you crucified and killed, that God raised from the dead, he's alive, he did it. He's still alive, he's still doing it and we will not stop talking about him whatsoever. And that's it. They don't have this long debate. They're just saying, if that's what you wanna know, then let me tell you what it is. Friends, when we rely on the power of God, we act differently.

Now, here's what we need to realize. Every single born again believer has the Spirit of God resident in them. Romans chapter eight, verse nine says, he who does not have the Spirit of Christ is not of Christ. If you've been born again, the Spirit of God lives in you. You have all of the Holy Spirit. He doesn't come in in part. He's not a force, he's a person. He's the third person of the Trinity. Here's the question. You have all of him, does he have all of you? Are you allowing him to control your life? Because Christianity is not about me doing good things for Jesus even after becoming a believer. Being a Christian is, am I allowing the Spirit of God to work through my life to accomplish all that he wants? Am I being obedient to the Spirit's promptings when I'm reading the word? Am I doing what he wants me to do? Am I still continuing to walk in obedience? Am I still going God's way? Does the Holy Spirit really take up residence in my life? Am I seeing more of him and less of me? Is he becoming greater and I'm becoming less? Those are the ways that we're filled with the Spirit. Those are the ways that we rely on the power of God. It's very difficult in the moment if you haven't been walking with God to start relying on his power.

What crisis and trial and suffering does reveals how much that you've been walking with God in the moment prior to seeing that. So we rely on the power of God. Why? Because we know that it's true. I mean, John 15, a great illustration about abiding. Jesus said, I am the vine, you're the branches. In other words, you have to stay connected to me. Because why? You say it with me. Because apart from me, you can do nothing. We don't believe that. I mean, we believe it because it's scripture, but our lives don't demonstrate that. Well, I can do a lot. You can do nothing apart from the Spirit of God. Nothing that's lasting or eternal, amen? But you do need to realize that the same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is dwelling in you and has the same power that he's always had. So we're gonna rely on his power. It's kind of like if you look at a group of homes, when there's a power outage and all the lights are off in all the homes, but there's one that's connected to the generator and all the lights are on, like how's that? Well, they're connected to the power source. And when you're connected to the Holy Spirit,

who is the power source in this life, no matter how dark it gets, you still get to remain the light. And it's the Holy Spirit that's working in and through you to accomplish all of his things for his good pleasure. So staying connected to the Holy Spirit is so important. I mean, it's like this, you can push a vacuum cleaner around your house all day, but if it's not plugged in, it doesn't do anything. I mean, you're just doing exercise and futility. You can go through all the motions, but it's not doing anything. The same is true for us if we're not allowing the Holy Spirit to guide and direct our lives. It's praying prayers like this, before I read the word, Lord, I've read this passage before, or this passage is new to me. Lord, show me what you want me to see today. Holy Spirit, reveal to me truth I don't understand. And not just truth about the Bible, but truth about me that I. Search me and try me, oh Lord. See if there's any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Lord, I'm coming before you today because I need you and I need you to change me and I wanna stay more connected to you. Lord, is there anything that I need to stop doing that's hindering my walk with you? Lord, is there some things I need to start doing

that will help my walk with you? Lord, is there anything I need to start doing a little bit differently than how I've been doing it? Because Lord, I wanna do it your way. When you posture yourself before the Lord wanting to hear him, he will speak very, very clearly to you because he's willing to answer all those things. Those that hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied. I mean, the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us. You can rely on his power because he'll be with you wherever you go. He told his disciples, you don't need to worry about what you're gonna have to say. I'll show you in the moment what you need to say. And every time, whether it's these guys preaching in the streets, whether somebody gets healed and they're doing it in the temple or now they're before the religious leaders, they're saying exactly what they need to say because they've been spending time with Jesus. So proclaim his word, rely on his power, and then do this. Number three, stand on the exclusivity of Jesus Christ. Stand on the exclusivity of Jesus Christ. I love the next two verses because what they're gonna do is they're talking to the leaders.

They take them back to the Psalms. They take them back to Psalm 118 verse 22 and they quote it. He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the cornerstone. It was a prophetic word about Jesus being the cornerstone of his church. You've heard it before. The stone the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. You know what the next two verses say in the Psalms? This is the Lord's doing and it's marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. What are they doing? They're telling the religious leaders who know the Old Testament scriptures. Remember what that was prophesying about? That was prophesying about the Messiah that was gonna come and be killed. And guess what? You killed him. They're using the word to convict them of their sin. And then they go on and say this, and I love this. This is as clear as it gets. And there is salvation in no one else for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. What are they talking about? They're talking about the exclusivity of Jesus Christ.

I don't know how many worldwide religions there are, and if you add up all the cults and all that kind of stuff, but there's a lot of people that follow a lot of those things. Pastor Jeff, how do you know they're not true? Because there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Amen, that's it. Hear me clearly on this. I'm not saying people can't be quote unquote kind, or good, or philanthropic, or comparatively speaking better than other people. That's not what I'm talking about. We're talking about salvation. Allah cannot save. Muhammad cannot save. Confucius cannot save. None of the 3,000 plus Hindu gods can save. Joseph Smith can't save, right? The Pope can't save. Mary can't save. I mean, there's no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Jesus made that clear in his ministry. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one, that means no one who's ever existed, no one who's ever been born, no matter what ethnicity they are, no matter what their skin color is, no one comes to the Father except through me.

So in heaven, the only people that will be there have come through Christ. That's called the exclusivity of Jesus. Here's what the world says. That is narrow-minded, so bigoted. I know some Muslims that are great. I know Hindus that are great. So do I. And they're all going to hell because they don't know Jesus. And Jesus is the only way. That's why the gospel must be proclaimed, amen? And that's what they're saying. They're making it crystal clear. There are no other options. First Timothy 2.5 says there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ. You don't pray through saints. You don't pray through Mary. You don't pray through your pastor. You don't pray through your priest. You can go directly to God because Jesus is Lord, amen? That's it. And in Matthew chapter seven, he talks about there's a wide road and a broad gate, but there's a narrow road and a narrow gate, and very few people find that. But you need to find that to have life. And not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.

I mean, we need to understand this because we live in a culture where we see bumper stickers like this on the back of cars all over our city. See if you've seen this bumper sticker on a car. You ever seen that one? The coexist bumper sticker, which is really this plea for why can't we all just get along? I mean, if you look at this, you see the crescent moon of the sea and the. representing the crescent moon of Islam. And then you see the peace symbol there for the O. And then you see, you know, the E, which is, it often includes gender equality and scientific symbols. And, you know, then you have the X, which is represented by the Star of David, that's Judaism. And then you have the I, which is a pagan or Wiccan symbol. Sometimes this is done with a pentagram or a humanist symbol. Then you get the yin and yang symbol for the S, which is Taoism or Eastern spirituality. And then at the end, you get the cross. And we're all the same. If there's one bumper sticker that makes me want to vomit, it's this one. It doesn't mean you can't love people. Jesus called us to love everybody. But is it loving to let people go to hell? I don't think it is.

I mean, the coexist bumper sticker is the earthly way of saying, I don't want to hear the truth. I want to go to hell. Now, think about this. What does it profit a man to gain the entire world and forfeit his soul? Now, the older I get, I'll be 55 in December, the more interested I become in obituaries. Like when people die, I'm like, oh, let me think about it. I've known them for a while. I've seen what they've done. They've been an actor or an actress or they're a singer or they're this, how they lived their whole life. But an obituary only talks to you about what happened on this side. If the obituary was written as to what happened in the next five minutes, they would be terrifying stories. Because here's what happens when a person dies. When you depart and breathe your last, you stand in front of the glorious resurrected Christ. And if you had repented and placed your faith in him, then you get to hear this, well done, good and faithful servant, come home. Been waiting for you. If you haven't repented and trusted Christ, you will hear, depart from me, you worker of iniquity. I never knew you. You'll be cast into outer darkness where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth and you'll wait for the lake of fire until you're thrown in it for all eternity.

Like that's what happens. And a majority of the obituaries that you read in our culture, the latter is what happens to all of them. And so we sit here and tell stories. Oh, they were such a good this. They were so great at that. They were, they threw away 90 years, 80 years, 70 years, 110 years. And now they're living in eternity apart from Christ. What a waste. Right? And we're like, well, you just talk about Jesus. That's so, so narrow minded and so bigoted. Here's what I would say. I mean, the coexist lies kind of like this. I mean, imagine being up in a plane with a pilot that says, I'll land on whatever runway whenever I want. I don't need to talk to anybody. You don't want to be on that plane. Right? Or imagine you were in a burning building with one exit clearly marked. This is the way. That's the only open door and you know, all the other doors are locked and people see fire and they're all going to burn and you're pointing them. That's the way out. That's the way out. Am I being unloving because I'm telling them that's the only way out.

Well, you're just being bigoted. I like all the doors over. I mean, I'm telling you that's the only way out. Like that's why I stand here and plead with you Sunday after Sunday because it's not only tragic to go to hell, but it'd be tragic to attend brave church and go to hell when you're hearing the truth. I'm telling you there's only one way and it's through Jesus. Here's why many of you don't understand that. Here's why the culture doesn't understand that. Because people mistakenly think that Heaven's for good people. Heaven's for bad people. There's nobody good in heaven other than Jesus. You know, the Bible says we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The Bible says there is no one good. No, not one. The Bible says that we are children of wrath. The Bible says that God is angry with the wicked every single day means if you have not repented, you are bad. God doesn't see you as good. Now. He created you in love. He loves you, but he can't accept you because he can only take that which is perfect to come to heaven. That's why Christianity is unique because Christ came to save sinners. He came to save wicked people. He came to save bad people. He came to save those who knew that they weren't perfect and

knew if they stood before the perfect God would be cast out into all outer darkness and we're asking what do I do? Here's what you do. You repent you trust that Jesus Christ died for you on the cross and rose from the dead and all your sin can be forgiven. Amen. Because let me promise you what you won't do when you get to heaven. You won't pull anybody over aside. But I can't believe they're here. I was way better than they were. I mean, you won't do that. You won't brag about what you did to get there. Here's what you'll say. If you're truly born again. Thank you Jesus for dying for my sin because I don't deserve it. That's it. I don't deserve it. You're perfect. I'm not you took all my punishment for me when you were on that cross and God. poured out all his wrath. That was for me and you stood in my way and I place all my faith in you and I'm so thankful for you because I deserve what you got. Thank you. That's the gospel. And many people don't come to Christ

because they don't realize that that's their need. They think I'm good, much like the rich young ruler. Good teacher, what must I do to get into heaven? Well, what are the commandments? Oh, they're this, this and this and I've kept them all since I was a boy. No, you've broken every one since you were a boy. There's not one that you've kept. And you're not good. It's your pride that thinks that you're better than everybody else and while you can find people in this earth and you say I'm better than them, you're not comparing yourself to the perfect almighty God who came and died for you. So I'm pleading with you. I plead with you all the time. Repent and believe that Jesus is the Christ. God loved you so much he sent Jesus. He didn't want you to experience life without him. He didn't want you to experience hell. Hell was not built for you. It wasn't built for any humans. It was built for the devil and his angels but if you don't repent and trust Jesus, that's where you spend eternity. And it breaks my heart because I look around our city and pretty much every city in our culture and pretty much every city you go to around the world and the majority of those are facing a Christless eternity.

And so what the apostles understood here that we need to understand is that we're called to be bold. It doesn't mean if somebody is Muslim, we don't love them. It doesn't mean if somebody is a Buddhist, we don't love them. It doesn't mean if somebody is a Hindu, we don't love them. It doesn't mean if somebody is a spiritualist, we don't love them but we love them enough to say the way you're heading is gonna bring you great destruction. And I'd rather have you hate me and be loving to you to show you that there's a better way and there's a God in heaven that's pleading for you to come home than for me to agree with your sin. And think about it just for a minute. Just pause here real quick in the message. Just think about your family. Think about your friends. Think about your neighborhood. Just think how many of those, if Jesus came back today, would spend a Christless eternity? And how are they ever gonna hear if you don't open your mouth? Just think about that. Well, Thanksgiving will get really, really tough. Good. Hell's worse. It is. Don't be afraid to share the gospel. I'm not telling you to ram it down their throat but what I'm saying is stand firm on the truth

and don't apologize. Because I'm telling you, some of you in here, there's some people in here that have treated, there's some, not people in here, but some of you in your life that are in here have been treated really bad by other people. Really bad. And there can be that lie of the enemy. Oh, wait till they find out. They're gonna go to hell. They'll get, no. Your heart should always be postured in a way you would never desire anybody to experience that. Even God takes no delight in the death of the wicked. No way. He's not up in heaven cheering for people to go to hell. Breaks his heart. But there's only one way and it's through Jesus, amen? So don't be afraid to stand on the exclusivity of Jesus. Just because he's exclusive doesn't mean he's not willing to include because he'll include anybody, anywhere, at any time that will repent and trust in Jesus. Well, he didn't pick me. He wanted you, but you didn't pick him. That's the reality. Romans 1.20 says that men will be without excuse. There's nobody that's gonna be carted to hell saying, well, I didn't have the same, no. You didn't want him.

Because our creation tells you that he is. Your conscience tells you that he is. And you wanted nothing to do with that. And now you're here and you're hearing the truth that Christ died for your sins. He rose from the dead. He ascended to heaven. He's alive as he's ever been. And friends, I got news for you. He's coming soon to a city near you to redeem the world. He is. Are you ready for him? Are you ready for him? Amen? Because we live in a culture that's gonna want you to shift. Like, well, Pastor Jeff, I know you're born again Christian, but what about all these other people? No, they need to be born again Christians too. Or they have no hope. That's just a fact. Amen? Now, if you can do that, then here's what you're gonna have to need to do. You're gonna need to live with spirit-fueled confidence through Jesus Christ. And that's what we see in the rest of this chapter is that they're living with spirit-filled confidence through Jesus Christ.

Notice verse 13, one of the greatest verses in the New Testament. Now, as they're sharing all this about the exclusivity of Jesus, it says, now, as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men. I mean, isn't this awesome? These guys are just talking about Jesus and they're looking at him and they're like, hmm, they're untrained, they're unqualified, they're uneducated, but man, are they confident. They were amazed and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. Can I tell you how you grow your boldness? Spend time with Jesus. Spend time with Jesus. Not all of you are gonna go to Bible school. Most of you won't, most of you won't go to seminary. It's okay, you don't need to. God's given you his word, just spend time with him. If you spend time with Jesus, if you learn his voice, if you learn his ways, if you grow, you'll become more bold. And the more bold you become, the more you'll see the world doesn't agree with anything that I'm believing. The closer you get to Jesus, the more bold you will be. And here's the truth, this doesn't mean if you're a young guy and you wanna pastor a church, it doesn't mean don't go to seminary.

I would strongly encourage you, if you're gonna be a preacher, go to seminary, study the word, show yourself approved in the word. But here's what it is saying, you don't need to go to be an effective witness. Because the enemy lies to you, and here's what he'll say, listen, listen, you don't have the education to be telling people about Jesus. Because if you tell people about Jesus and you don't have all the answers, they're gonna stump you and you're gonna wish you had never been in that debate, right? Or I know your past, like you think now you're gonna stand up and talk about Jesus? Like your whole family watched the whole thing. Who's talking? Peter, biggest failure in the New Testament to date. Denied Jesus three times on the night he was betrayed. Who's standing there boldly? Peter, God can restore all the years the locusts have eaten. If you're born again, you're qualified to be bold. Amen? We just got done saying heaven's for bad people, that means all of us have a testimony that God saved us from our sin and has transferred us and made us a saint and brought us into the kingdom. So we all have a past, right? It's okay to say, yeah, he forgave me for that. Yeah, he forgave me for this. Yeah, he got me out of that.

Yeah, he delivered me from that. I was, but now I am. I was, I'm not that anymore. You can't define me by that name. I have a new identity. I'm in Christ, I live for him. My past is paid for at the cross of Jesus Christ, amen? And that's spirit-filled confidence. That's why in Joshua one, we see three times when Joshua's being called, what? Be strong and courageous. Proverbs 28 one, the righteous are as bold as a lion. I mean, you think about the analogy of the thermostat and the thermometer. You're a thermostat as a Christian. You set the spiritual temperature wherever you go on the exclusivity for Jesus, right? And you have Jesus Christ confidence. It's kind of like this, you know, sometimes at night when a kid's being called home from their neighborhood, they're scared to walk in the dark to get home. But if they're walking with their dad who's holding their hand, they can take the exact same path and they're not scared anymore. Friends, if you're born again, you have the Holy Spirit. Everywhere you go, you're never alone. Even if you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, he is right there with you. You're never alone. So be bold.

Well, I can't, because at school, if I'm bold, I might fail that class and I might not get my degree. Hey, at work, if I share this, I might lose my job. The enemy will lie to you about everything. What's the worst thing that can happen? The worst thing that can happen is you stand before the Lord someday and say, I cowered to the world and I was too embarrassed to stand for you because I trusted that my income came from the world and I trusted that my future came from the world and I needed to honor that teacher rather than you. I needed to honor that boss rather than you. See, that's why we don't get anywhere. Courage begets courage. And when you stand and say, if it costs me everything, what does it matter? God's got my future. God provides for me. God's got my hope. God's got the, I'm standing for Jesus no matter what because the worst thing that can happen is I'm still standing with Jesus, amen? And that's what the disciples did. They lived with spirit-filled courage because of that. Confidence doesn't come from training. It comes from time with Jesus. The more time you spend with him, the bolder you'll be. Here's my question. How you doing spending time with Jesus? Compare it to some of your other activities.

Compare it on scrolling through social media. Compare it to television watching. Compare it to sporting events. Compare it to driving in the car. Compare it to your exercise routine. Compare it to your vacations. How are you doing and what kind of priority is Jesus in your life? If you're not experiencing boldness, perhaps there's some things that you can change so that you can spend more time with him. He has plenty of time for you. Even if you work a late night shift, he can meet you in the morning. He can meet you at five in the morning. Some of you don't even know that that's a time. He can meet you then. Some of you can meet you at midnight. He can meet you whenever you want him. He's always willing to meet with you. Spend time with him. Ask him about you. He knows everything about you. He created you. He knows your desires. He knows your hopes. He knows your future. He's unfolding your plan. The longer you're with him, the more confidence you'll have.

And seeing the man who had been healed standing with him, guess what? So they're saying, like these guys are totally confident and it's clear they're uneducated and untrained. They spent time with Jesus and now they're seeing this man who had been healed standing with them. Guess what? They had nothing to say in reply. They were bold and you thought like the religious. The leaders are gonna be like, yeah, but, but, I'm like, all right. Like, how can we defend that? But when they had ordered them to leave the council, they began to confer with one another, saying, what should we do with these men, for the fact that a noteworthy miracle is taking place through it, is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. So, hey, what are we gonna do to stop the spread? Right, we gotta slow the spread. That's what they were doing. Can you imagine a government doing that? So that's what they were doing. They're gonna slow the spread, and they realize that this man had been healed, and everybody's seen it, so they can't lie to him, but so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer

to any man in this name. In other words, we can't say it wasn't a miracle, because everybody saw the miracle, and everybody believes the miracle, but here's what we'll do. We'll just tell them this. Cool that it happened, let's not let it happen again, and if it does happen again, just stop speaking about Jesus. That's all we're asking. We're the authority. You need to stop talking about Jesus. Do you know why? Because he's not essential. He's not essential, so stop talking about him. Stop talking about Jesus. That's what the world always wants to do. That's what the enemy always wants to do. He wants to shut you up, so that some Christians are like, well, I'm just living it, I'm just not gonna talk about it. If you're silent in the face of evil, you're complicit with evil. If you're silent when you need to speak up, you're complicit with the lie. Open your mouth and speak the truth, not rudely, not arrogantly, not defensively, not in a hurtful manner, but because you love Jesus more than you care about consequences,

and so you're gonna speak the truth. So these guys are being told, okay, we're okay with your healing ministry, okay with you guys gathering in homes and doing, here's all we're asking, just quit talking about Jesus. And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. Do whatever you want, just don't speak or teach in the name of Jesus. Friends, these are religious leaders, these are governmental authorities, what are you gonna say? What you don't read in the next verse is, okay, that's not what they said. But Peter and John answered and said to them, whether it's right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge. Like, we don't know the penalty for these things, and you're gonna have to decide what the law says, so we'll deal with the consequences, for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard. Here's what you can know, you decide what the law says, we'll deal with all that, but here's what you can bank on, we will never shut up about Jesus. We'll speak about him all the more, amen?

And in a culture that wants to cancel culture, it's the reason I get a golf clap, because you want people to stand up, you just don't want it to be you. You wanna follow somebody that's standing up. Here's what God's saying, I need you to stand up. If every Christian church in America in 2020 would have stood up and kept their doors open, the pandemic would have been over in about two months. But the church decided to play the government safety game instead of reading their Bible and trusting what Jesus said, which he said, continue to meet together and all the more as you see the day approaching, and preach my word and make disciples and do what I wanna do, and I love my church and I build it, and you have every right to stand firm and do that, right? Oh, we can't. And that's why I love this term, the evangelifish is kind of what we had, right? Where everybody kind of wilted over. And notice this, when they had threatened them further, which means it wasn't just a, hey, you need to stop, and they said, no, we're not. And it continued threats, because if you're telling people, I'm not gonna stop talking about Jesus, they're gonna threaten you even more.

They might threaten your family. They might threaten to give out your address. They might threaten to bring up your pass and say all sorts of things. They may dox you. They may do any number of things. But when they had threatened them further, they let them go, finding no basis on which to punish them on this account, on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened, for the man was more than 40 years old on whom the miracle of healing had been performed. So like, we can't punish them, because everybody's glorifying God, because they saw this man that had been laying down for more than 40 years, and now he's walking. Now we can't do anything. So they're gonna wait for a more opportune time. But live with spirit-fueled confidence. And then do this. This is the final one. When you're threatened, you don't back down. When you're threatened, you pray for more boldness from Jesus Christ. When you're threatened, you don't back down. Hey, you can't talk. Hey, you can't say that. Hey, you can't share that post.

Hey, you can't. I'm gonna, Lord, give me more boldness so I can share it even more boldly, because that's what they do. When they had been released, verse 23, they went to their own companions, rather, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. We're gonna tell you everything that happened. They threatened us. We told them we're not gonna stop. And you could feel the whole congregation. getting fired up. And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, O Lord, it is you who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, who by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your father, David, your servant said, why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples devise futile things? The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. Let me just pause. What you see is, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, it made the word of God come alive. Because they start quoting Psalm 24. They start quoting Psalm 2.

They're like, this is exactly what our Bible said was gonna happen. If you want this book to come alive in your life, just be obedient to Jesus. This book will come very, very alive to you. They won't just be historical accounts, even though there are historical accounts. They will be present tense accounts that work in your life because you're seeing Jesus at work in you. And when you're doing it his way, that's what happens. Verse 27, 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 all the people of Israel. So what's he saying? Jesus was God's anointed servant. Jesus is God's one and only son. Jesus is the one who died on the cross, rose from the dead. Jesus is God. And yet God used Herod and Pilate, who didn't like each other to come together. He used the Jews and the Gentiles, who didn't like each other to come together. And why? Verse 28, to do whatever your hand, to do whatever your hand and your purpose predestined to occur. Now think about this for a minute. If you're watching this story unfold and you're living in the first century,

you're gonna ask yourself, how are Pilate and Herod working together? They hate each other. How are the Jews and the Gentiles working together? They hate each other. It was crazy to watch all these forces of wickedness come against Jesus. And the worst day in human history was Jesus Christ having to die on a cross for doing absolutely nothing wrong. And what does the Bible say? God used all that according to His predetermined plan and everything that happened was exactly the way He wanted it to go. Now, if that doesn't give you confidence, I don't know what does. Because we live in a world that when we experience good things, we say things like this. Man, God is really blessing me right now. I have the favor of the Lord on my life. And when we go through suffering, trial, and persecution, we're like, what did I do wrong? Nothing. That's part of the plan too. And what I find is sometimes the longer you walk with Jesus, trial, suffering, and persecution is more evident than even seeing the blessings and the favor. But it's all according to His plan. There's nothing that God's wasted in your life.

The seasons you look back on and you're like, why did I have to go through that? Or why did I meet that person? Or why did I have to deal with that? Why did I marry them? Why did I do this? Whatever it was, God's like, because it was all according to my predetermined, I'm using it all. I'm not gonna waste any of it. Not gonna waste any of it. When I came out here to plant this church, I remember I had been asking the question for a number of years, why did God start me off as a life insurance agent? I don't like life insurance. Right? I'm like, I'll be fine. You know what I mean? When I came out to plant a church, Northwestern Mutual taught me more how to get in front of people and share a vision than anything I'd ever done. But instead of getting in front of people talking about life insurance, I was getting people talking about life assurance and how to join a church and all that. And I called some of my friends that still work for the company. I'm like, this is the best church planting training

I ever had. Now I know why God had me do that and make phone calls and call cold because that's what I did when we started the church. He doesn't waste a thing. The disappointments in your life, they're not wasted. The pains in your life are not wasted. It's all part of God's predetermined plan. And if you can get in on that plan and say, God, I didn't like it when that happened. That was horrible when that happened. God be like, yeah, it was, but that was all part of how I'm bringing you to be. And so trust me in that I'm growing you and you can embrace what God's done. He can continue to grow you. Amen? And that's what he's doing here. So pray for more boldness and notice what happens next. And now Lord take note of their threats, verse 29. So as people were threatening them, they weren't fighting them back. They were like, Lord, I'm coming to you. Do you see what they're doing to me? You see what they're doing? They're threatening us. And then they continue to pray. Grant your bond servants that we may speak your word with all confidence or boldness. Lord, you take note of what they're doing,

but give us more boldness so we can do it even better. In other words, we're not gonna back down. We're gonna move forward, right? While you extend your hand to heal and signs and wonders take place through the name of your holy servant, Jesus. Lord, here's what we're asking. You take note of the threats. Just be aware there's people out for blood. There's people that don't want us to do this Christian thing. There's people that want us to shut up in the name of Jesus and we're not gonna do it. So take note of who they are because we don't see them all. But Lord, in the meantime, give us the boldness to talk about Jesus. And we hope that when we do, we see more salvations, we see more healings, we see more deliverance. Jesus, have more of your way through us. That's what we wanna see. That's how they're praying. Now, what happens as a result of that? And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken. and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness. What happened? Well, we see it all the time. When people pray and they're asking God to move, then God fills them with the Spirit,

those that are walking in obedience, then they speak the word of God with boldness and then you see God do amazing things. That's the plan of the church. Human strategies can be okay. Leadership, that can be okay. That doesn't bring the power of the Spirit. Praying to God, walking in obedience to God, allowing the Spirit of God to move is what grows his church and what changes people. That's why First Tuesday will always be a mark in what we do as a church because we wanna gather God's people and pray. That's why we pray before the service. That's why you can pray with elders and pastors after the service because prayer is that important because we're seeking God, asking God to do what he wants. And for many people, when they get threatened, they think, oh, it's time to back off. No, it's like a good soldier. When a good soldier's on the infantry line and he's holding the line and he's under fire, he doesn't see that as a signal to retreat. He calls on the phone and says, send more help. We need more help. That's what prayer is. Lord, we're being threatened. Lord, it's getting really hard. So Lord, we need more of your power to continue to hold the line

and do what you called us to do, amen? And that's what he wants us to do. And this is what was going on there. Paul prayed the same thing in Ephesians 6. I pray that I would share and speak boldly as I ought to speak. Luke 13 says, how much more will your father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? In James 5, we see the prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much. You do not realize how much access to God that you have. If you are born again, you have the same access to God because the same spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead lives in you. You can seek him. You can ask him questions. You can align yourself with him. And the more time you spend with Jesus, the more bold that you will be. And when you're bold, you'll proclaim the word, you'll share it, you'll rely on his power. You'll realize Jesus is the only way. You'll have spirit-fueled confidence and you'll pray for more boldness when that happens. And friends, here's the deal. This is not a story for the select few. This is not a story for a pastor. This is not a story for a leader. This is a story for the entire church to say this. If you're born again, God wants you to be bold.

He wants you to be bold in your sphere of influence. He wants you to be bold with who you're coming into contact with. And I promise you this. If you pray this week and say, Lord, just give me spirit-filled boldness. I wanna spend time with you. Lord, there's just some things you've been showing me. I need to take steps of faith. I'm gonna do those and I'm gonna be prepared when it comes time to be bold. Will you let me not only live it, but will you help me open my mouth and give me the words that I need to say? And as you do, here's what is a guarantee. The word of God will come alive to you. You'll see it. It will be a living document, not just a historical textbook. My encouragement, my prayer for each one of you is that you'd live with more boldness, that we as a church would live with more boldness, and we trust the Lord through our boldness to reach more and more people with the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen, amen. Would you stand with me? Our Father in heaven, Lord, we just pray that we would spend more time with Jesus this week,

that, Lord, if there's any area in our life that you've been talking to us about ways that we can be different or things we need to change, we just do it. And, Lord, you would provide opportunities this week for us to be more bold for you. Lord, we love you and bless you. We thank you for Brave Church. We thank you for the gospel of Jesus Christ. May you bring many sons and daughters unto glory through salvation, by grace, through faith. And, Lord, we give you all the glory, all the honor and the praise in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Can we give God praise for his word? Amen. ♪ You heard your children sing ♪