The First Christian Martyr: What Stephen's Death Teaches Us | Pastor Aaron Crull

Welcome to Northview. Hey, whether you are joining us live at a campus, maybe you're watching online sometime later or in the moment, or you're behind bars. We see you, we love you. Even more importantly, God sees you and God loves you. And I wish I want you to know we're off the bat. For me, my prayer for you in this moment is that you experience a whole lot more than just a church service. I hope that you experience the living God, because he is the one who's able to transform and change your life. My name is Aaron. I get to serve here at Northview as the family ministry pastor. And I'm just thrilled genuinely this morning to continue to move us through the series that we've been in all year. But before I go there, I want to ask a question. I want you to actually think about this. Think back to a time recently. When was the last time that you were inspired? Can you think of a time? Can you think of a, let me clarify. I don't just mean a time where you're like, you had saw something and you're like, oh, that was really cool. Or man, that was powerful. I'm talking about inspiration as in, you felt that. And then you actually went and did something about it. It actually changed something, right?

Like maybe you were inspired to the point where it changed your daily routine. Maybe you were inspired to the point where it actually changed the way you think about something or something you believe, right? Maybe you can think about that. Back in August, I got to witness inspiration firsthand with my older brother. I have an older brother named David. David and I have our whole life, so we've shared a common hobby of long distance running. We are like the weirdos running down the street. People are like, what are you running from? We're like, we're just doing it, we're just running. We like it, we're having fun, right? I don't know if anyone out there's with us. So we love training together, we run often. We love doing long distance races, crazy challenges, all that kind of stuff. So anyway, back in August, into the summer, my brother David catches wind of this challenge that is happening up in Noblesville where he lives. And so a local running store had actually put out there this challenge saying, hey, we're gonna do what's called a segment challenge. So here's a little insight to the world of recreational running. Segment challenge, basically, so the running store set up a, think of it like a short course, a segment's like a stretch of road.

And they basically said, here's the challenge. Over the next 22 days, whoever runs this segment the most amount of times, whoever completes the most segments, wins the competition. The segment itself was just about a half mile long and it was there and back. So it's like about a quarter mile out, turn around, quarter mile back. And they're like, whoever does that, the most wins. And here's what they put on the line. $100 gift card to our running shop and then they partnered with like a local ice cream shop. $100 to a local ice cream shop, they called it the ice cream challenge. I don't know if it was the money to the running store or the money to the ice cream. Either way, my brother like went berserk. I don't know, he started talking to me about it. I'm like, why do you care so much about this? But it became like his focus for those 22 days. And so whenever he had time, he was getting up at like 4 a.m. to go out on the segment and just run back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and completes many segments. He has four kids, he was going out there like after all four kids are in bed, back and forth and back and forth. No joke after 22 days, he won the competition

completing 502 segments total, which is nuts. If you do the quick math, that's about 241 miles that he ran back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, 22 days, all different times. But he won and I'm like good for him. I still don't totally get it. I don't understand where that inspiration came from, but I'm like, I gotta think to myself. You know, we all know inspiration, motivation, it kind of ebbs and flows. So my thought is next time he's like at a low, it's hard to get out the door. They're like, David, happy to get you an ice cream cone. If that's what's gonna get me to dangle it in front of you, if that's what's gonna get you to get out the door and get back on the run. So we don't know, you know, sometimes you don't know what exactly inspires you, but we all know what inspiration feels like. We all know what it does for us. And I share all that, honestly, just to kind of put my cards on the table and let you guys know where I'm at this morning. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to teach on the person that we're diving into today. Diving into his story, studying his story to prepare has been so meaningful for me. And I'm coming into this, honestly just feeling really inspired. And I know we have a pretty limited time together

on the weekends, but my prayer is even in this limited time, you walk away inspired by his story as well. We're diving into the story of Stephen today. Stephen is well known in the church because he is the first Christian martyr. Now let me define terms here, make sure we're all on the same page. The word martyr actually comes from the original Greek word Martis, which translates to witness. And so a martyr by definition is one who bears witness by his or her own, or her death. So a good clarifier here is a martyr is not simply a Christian who is killed. A martyr is a Christian who is killed for being a Christian. It's an important kind of distinction to make here. So that's what Stephen experienced. He was killed for his faith. And martyrdom exists kind of under this broader umbrella of persecution. Persecution, by definition, to persecute can literally translate to put to flight, drive away, or to pursue. You can think of it kind of like as intentional and aggressive opposition. So Christian persecution is when there is someone or something or a group who is intentionally and aggressively opposing the Christian worldview and the Christian faith

and basically trying to put it to flight to drive it away, you can all say maybe to stamp it out. That's what persecution is. And so persecution is kind of the broader umbrella. The most extreme version of that is martyrdom, eventually dying, potentially for your faith, dying for following Jesus. So let me pause real quick and acknowledge something. We're like five minutes in, and I'm talking about martyrdom, and I'm talking about persecution. And I think it's good to just pause for a second and acknowledge that today's message, it's going to have some weight to it. There's going to just be a heaviness to it. And I encourage you, first of all, to just be OK with that and embrace it. Because even as I was preparing, I was thinking to myself, I actually think it would be pretty inappropriate to talk about Stephen in a real light-hearted, goofy way. Because that's just not his story. And here's my encouragement to you. If you lean into just the weight of this and the heaviness of his story and this message, and this really this reality that exists even in the church today, I have also found, and I think you'll find too, there's also profound beauty in this. So that's my encouragement to you. Here, let me tell you the plan real quick. Here's where we're going today, and then I'd love to pray, and then we'll just go straight there.

The plan's this. We're going to talk about Stephen. We're going to talk about his story. We're actually going to be in Acts, chapter 6 and chapter 7. That's where you find Stephen's story and scripture. So we'll go through his story, grab what we can learn from it out of the text. Then I do want to talk a little more broadly about the phenomenon of martyrdom and persecution in the church historically, but then also that it exists today. It's not just a back-then problem. It is a today problem as well. And then that's going to be, I know, admittedly, a lot of information. It'll be some storytelling. So I hope it's really informative. I'm hoping to keep you guys locked in and engaged because this story is an incredible one. But then I do want to get really practical. It's like, I know at some point it'll be like, OK, that's a lot of information. What do I actually do about that? And so I want to get really practical, too, and go, OK, so what do we do with this? What do we do about this? And then I want to close with a question. And it's a question that came to mind for me as I was preparing, and I thought to myself, man, I bet across all the campuses north to you, and anyone watching this, there'll

be some people that have this question pop into their minds, and then they might go, oh, wait, I don't think I'm supposed to ask that. I don't think-- maybe I shouldn't. Am I supposed to think that? And so I'll end by asking it for you to let you know, hey, you can't ask it. This is a safe place to ask that question. So we're going to go there. Would you pray with me? And then we'll dive right in. Father, you are so good. Thank you for who you are, Father. Thank you for your goodness and your graciousness, God. Thank you for Stephen. Thank you for his testimony and his witness of who you are. God, thank you for this incredible reality that 2,000 years later, we are looking to his story. And God, I pray, it would inspire us. It would inspire Northview Church the way that his story and testimony has inspired the church for hundreds and hundreds of years. God, would you speak through me? Would you, Holy Spirit, empower me to preach your word faithfully? It's all in the name of Jesus that I pray. Amen. So a good place to start as we're diving into the story of Stephen is some context. It's good to understand, okay, when we meet Stephen in scripture, what's happening within the story of scripture?

So like I said, you find Stephen, you're introduced to him the first time in Acts, chapter six and seven. The book of Acts comes after the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and then Acts. Now, fun fact about Acts, Acts was written by Luke who also wrote Luke. Pretty cool, you guessed it. And so you can almost see like the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts as like part one and part two of Luke's series, one covering the life of Jesus, the book of Luke, and then the book of Acts covering, hey, here's what happened in the early church. Here's how the early church was actually formed after Jesus died, resurrected, and ascended back to the Father. And so that's where we find Stephen. In Acts chapter one, we hear from Jesus. Jesus is still in the scene, he's about to ascend and he gives them a mission. He gives the church a mission and he tells them the how and he tells them the what, the how is, hey, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you saying, hey, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and all the ends of the earth. He's saying go witness, go tell people about this reality of Jesus, my death, resurrection, and ascension. And then in Acts two, we see the fulfillment of Jesus' promise, the Holy Spirit actually comes. In Acts two, that's the moment of Pentecost,

it's how it's known. And Pentecost happens, the believers are now in power by the Holy Spirit, and then they just start going. They start witnessing, and you're reading, and the church is growing, and it's actually becoming this community of believers. And then something starts to happen, which is very predictable and happens today in our church as well. You know, the church has a great amount of unity because we are united under the lordship of Jesus, but we're also a whole bunch of people coming together. So what's gonna happen? Some conflict, like things are gonna come up. So Acts chapter six, a conflict happens in the church, and the 12 apostles, the 12 disciples of Jesus, have to decide they are the leaders of the early church, and they have to decide how are we gonna handle this? So here's Acts chapter six, verse one, go there with me. Now in these days, when the disciples were increasing a number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. Let me give you just a bit of context here to understand what's going on, two groups of people are just introduced, the Hellenists and the Hebrews. So these are two subgroups of Judaism. Hellenists are native Greek-speaking Jews. Hebrews are native Aramaic or Hebrew-speaking Jews. These are people who grew up in different areas, grew up with different customs,

grew up with a different language, but now they are united under the lordship of Christ within the church, but they're bringing very different things into it. And so historically, there's actually a number of different conflicts. This specific one is there's the Hellenists are going, hey, the people that are in need from the Hellenists group, they're being mistreated. They're not being provided for the same way you're providing for the Hebrews. Someone's got to do something about this. And so the apostles have to decide how are we going to handle this. So here's what they do. And the 12-some and the full number of the disciples and said, it is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men, listen to these qualifications, of good repute, full of the spirit, and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word, and what they said, please the whole gathering. And they chose Stephen. There he is. Now we've met Stephen. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith in the Holy Spirit. We'll pause there 'cause they talk about the six other guys,

but we're not talking about them this morning, we're talking about Stephen. So we just found out about Stephen. Here's the interesting thing about Stephen. We don't hear or know a whole lot about his life, but we do know about his reputation, right? When the people are asked, hey, choose from among you who you think should lead this out, they go, Stephen, that guy, he should be one of them. Because like that he's a good man of good repute, he's full of the spirit, he's full of wisdom. And so Stephen is now a leader within the local church, helping solve problems, but he's doing a whole lot more than just the daily distribution to those who are in need. He's also actively witnessing. And we see that in Acts chapter six, just a couple versus later in verse eight, and his witness, his powerful witness actually begins to stir up some trouble. So verse eight, and Stephen full of grace and power was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belong to the synagogue of the freedmen as it was called, and of the Cyreneans and the Alexandrians and those from Solicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. So what's happening? He's witnessing, he's telling people about Jesus, and there's people rising up going, no, no, no, no, no. You're wrong, we don't agree with you.

They're disputing him, but then catch this next verse. I think this is super cool, listen to these words. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking. What a cool statement, right? Like they're trying to push against him and dispute him about who Jesus is, but they just couldn't withstand it. They couldn't withstand the spirit, they couldn't withstand the wisdom. And in that situation, you got one or two choices. One, you go, there must be something to what this guy's saying, I should probably listen, or you do what they end up doing. Check it out in verse 11. Then they secretly instigated men who said, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God, and they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes and came upon him and seized him, it brought him in before the council, and get this, they sent up false witnesses who said, this man never ceases to speak words against this holy place in the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us. So they don't take the route of going, there must be something to what he's saying, they decide we got to do what they do. So they make up lies, they go resort to intimidation,

they actually even bring him before the Jewish leaders to account for what he's doing. They're saying, hey, what do you have to say for yourself? Right? And then what does Stephen do? Well, chapter seven of Acts, I'm not gonna be able to read the whole thing. So I would encourage you if you're taking notes, just write down, Acts chapter seven must read. Because Acts chapter seven, the whole chapter is Stephen's speech. He's being put in this position, surrounded by people who disagree with him, surrounded by people who are actively lying about him, and they're going, give an account for yourself. What do you have to say for yourself? And he goes into this beautiful speech where he begins to trace the history of Israel and the temple. He's talking about guys like Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and Moses and Joshua and David and Solomon, all of them, he references all of them in this speech. And what he's doing is he's helping to understand, no, no, no, you're saying that I'm speaking against what we believe. You're saying I'm speaking against our traditions. No, no, no, no, I know our Jewish traditions. I know our Jewish history. But he ends by going, and guys, Jesus is the fulfillment of all of that.

Jesus is the promise that we've been waiting for for generation after generation after generation. What he's saying is, hey, this thing that you're calling blasphemy, it's just the truth. Jesus is the real deal. You know what I love about what Stephen does there? He knows who he is surrounded by. He knows that these people have a whole lot more power than him, and like that, he could be hurt, he could even be killed. He's very aware of that. And when they say, what do you have to say for yourself, you know what he doesn't do? He doesn't defend himself. He doesn't go, okay, okay, okay. Let me just give you three reasons not to hurt me. No, no, no, he knows that in that moment, his job is not to defend himself. His job is to defend the faith, to defend the truth and stand strong on the truth of who Jesus is. And so he does. And he also uses some pretty harsh words at the end of his message, at the end of his speech, Acts chapter seven, verse 51 to 53, listen to this. He says, you stiff-necked people, uncircumcised and heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand

the coming of the righteous one, being Jesus, whom you have now betrayed and murdered. You who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it. Again, what he's saying is, guys, I know our history, the problem, you missed it, you are missing who Jesus is. And as you can imagine, they don't like that very much. They're not a fan of what Stephen just said. And so then in Acts chapter seven, just a couple of verses later in 54, it says, now when they heard these things, listen to some of this language. Like picture the scene in your mind. Now when they heard these things, they were enraged and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God. I'm gonna hit time out for a second because there's something there that is so profound, but it's super easy to miss. So first of all, again, imagine the scene. He is surrounded by enemies, people who hate him, who have lied about him. There is now like literal physical signs that they're angry. It says they ground their,

like he can see the anger in their eyes. But what does he do? He doesn't look around. He looks up. He looks up at heaven, what does he see? But Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And here's a fun fact. You can fact check me on this. That's the only time in the New Testament ever that you see Jesus depicted as standing at the right hand of God. Now what you will find in the New Testament is plenty of times where it talks about Jesus seated. Jesus himself says, "The Son of man will be seated at the right hand of God." You see him positioned at the right hand of God. What that is, that's a position of authority. That's a position of lordship, of Jesus over the whole world. But what's happening here? Why does it say standing? So I read into it a little bit, and here's what's just beautiful. Most commentators, most experts, theologians, would say there's a few different opinions, most would say probably what's happening here. This is a moment where Jesus is standing to honor Stephen. Standing as a way to honor him. In other words, Now, I am standing for you in the presence of my Father."

And when I think about the scenario that Steven's in, I'll be honest, probably you're with me in this. It's hard to even totally fathom being in that situation, surrounded by enemies because of your faith, knowing your life is on the line. And I just imagine the comfort that must have came. When he gazed in the heaven and he saw his Lord standing for him saying, "Well done." Like, "Well done." We'll pick up in 57, it says, "But they cried out with a loud voice and they stopped their ears and they rushed together at him and then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. Bookmarked that name, we're going to be there in a couple weeks." And as they were stoning Steven, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, "Don't miss this part. Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep. In other words, passed away. Steven's story is an incredible one, but what's really interesting about it is, like I said, we don't hear a whole lot about Steven's life. Actually, what we see Steven in scripture, we see his death. That's really what we see is we see the example of how he died. And there's something incredible. Maybe some of you, as I was telling the story and we were reading it, there was light bulbs going off where you're like, "Well, that looks familiar. Wait a second. I feel like I've seen that before." And if you're having that feeling, you're right. One of the coolest, just most mind-blowing things about Steven's story is the parallels of Jesus' death and Steven's death. Check this out. This is a ton of information. So take a picture if you'd like. This could be like a whole Bible study because there's tons of verses here. Take a picture so you can look into this later and you can, again, go fact check me, go read your Bible about this stuff. But Jesus was falsely accused, so was Steven. Jesus was tried before the high priest, so was Steven. Jesus was accused of saying that he would destroy the temple. Steven was accused of saying Jesus would destroy the temple. Jesus was charged with blasphemy, so was Steven. Jesus declared himself as the Messiah. Go read seriously. Mark 14, when the high priest says, "Hey, are you the Christ?" Jesus says, "I am," and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of God. Sound familiar? Steven, gazes into heaven, says, "I see Jesus," the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.

Again, it's a declaration of Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus committed his spirit to God before his death. Go again, read Luke 23, "When into your hands I commit my spirit." Steven said, "Jesus received my spirit," and then finally, and I think just the most striking parallel, which is still, I think, two of the most mind-boggling moments in Scripture for me. So when Jesus is on the cross, straining against the nails, suffocating to death, and he decides to use some of that last breath to say, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." And Steven, and I get this guy, like, I have to imagine in this, this isn't a coincidence, this does not, someone does not drift into dying like Jesus died. Someone does not drift into forgiving their enemies as their enemies are actively killing them. This is a, this is purposeful, this is Steven going, "I know my Savior, my Savior is the one who forgave his killers as they were killing them." And so in that moment, when he dropped to his knees, surrounded by people who hated him and lied about him, people who literally were holding stones in their hands, throwing them at him until he died of blunt force trauma, like a terrible, brutal death, he dropped to his knees and said, "God, do not hold this sin against them." Like how in the world is that level of forgiveness possible, except through Jesus? Here's the answer, it's not. Steven is a man so committed to living like his Savior that he died like his Savior. Unbelievable. It draws to mind for me, John 15, when Jesus says, "If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you." And in that moment, and through other, other moments as well, Jesus makes it clear, "Hey, listen, part of following me is persecution." There's going to be people that are not happy about this. And Steven's martyrdom, Steven's death, was really just a spark that lit a fire of persecution in the early church. I mean, you could simply look no further than the 12 disciples, the 12 apostles. It's well known in the Christian faith that the 12 disciples, the original followers of Jesus, that 11 of the 12 were martyred for their faith. without ever denying it. James was beheaded, Philip was crucified, Matthew was killed with an axe like weapon, Matthias was stoned, Andrew, Peter, and Jude were all crucified, Peter upside down, Bartholomew was beaten and crucified, Thomas was impaled by a spear, Simon was crucified, Barnabas was stoned, and then finally, the only one who made it out without true martyrdom was John, who he was exiled to an island called Patmos, which was an island used by the Roman government to where they banished many of their criminals.

So it's like, if you're one of the original followers of Jesus, the best that you're going to get is being banished to an island with criminals. It's just a part of it. It's a part of following Jesus. And then the persecution continued. You saw what Stephen, a lot of the persecution came from Jewish leaders eventually, within just a few decades, the persecution rose to the governmental level, meaning that the Roman government began brutal persecution and hate against Christians. In fact, in the first 250 years of the church, there were 10 distinct waves of persecution that happened. All of them marked by the different leader who was in power at that time. Famously, the emperor who kind of started the Christian persecution is Emperor Nero. You can go and read more about it, the guy is a total psycho, but it became very normal under his rule and the rule of emperor is to come for Christians to experience public executions for their faith, from stoning to being boiled in oil, to being crushed to death, to being beheaded. Oftentimes, it's very common for Christians to have to fight wild animals in the Colosseum for just sport and entertainment of the Roman citizens. Sister Emperor Demetian who led out the second wave of persecution, he had an edict get this that said, "No Christian once brought before the tribunal should be exempt from punishment without renouncing his religion." It's very clear what's going on here, right? Like they're trying, again, that's persecution, they're trying to stamp it out, they're saying, "Hey, they don't even get the possibility of being excused from punishment unless they're willing to deny what they say they believe about Jesus." The goal, again, is to stamp it out, to drive it away, and yet the gospel just kept spreading. And yet the church just kept growing. In fact, Tertullian, who was an early Christian writer and theologian, he lived within these waves of persecution, he very famously said, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church."

It makes you think of that Genesis 50 moment where Joseph's like, "Hey, what you meant for evil? God meant for good." Like this evil, terrible thing, God can actually use it for good. And so the testimony of the martyrs became a seed for growth, and the gospel just kept spreading all throughout the world, but you know what went with it? It's persecution. And guys, like for North you church, I just think it is so important for us to understand persecution. Christian persecution is still a very real part of following Jesus for many, many brothers and sisters in Christ around the world. This is not a back then problem. This is a right now problem. I know it's hard because for us, it's like it's just not right in front of us, is it? It's easy to think that our experience of what it means to be a Christian on a day-to-day basis is just what it means, and yet there are so many people around the world, it means something totally different. Here's a few numbers. There are an estimated right now 388 million Christians around the world that are facing persecution every single day. There's one in seven Christians around the world actively live in a place where they are persecuted for having that faith and for following Jesus. Next, 224,129 Christians were displaced from their homes just in the past year. That's like their homes being burnt down, then being chased out of their homes, their homes being destroyed. 224,000 Christians losing their homes because of their faith, and then 4,849 just in the past year paid the ultimate price, and were killed for their faith. I know statistics are powerful, but I think stories are powerful too, and I want to just read one quick one, a real story of a real person, a real brother in Christ on the other side of the world, and as I'm reading this, here's what I want you to do.

As I'm reading it, I want you to think about your experience, what it means to be a Christian and please hear me. Theologically, what it means for him, and what it means for us, same thing theologically, but when it comes to your day to day, what does it mean to live out your faith? Jokes deposit to this story and what it means for Baskar. When Baskar placed his trust in Christ, he immediately started witnessing in the villages He was attacked seven times for the sake of his faith, including once when he was brutally attacked by Hindu radicals before being sent to jail for six months. In October of 2025, the police came to Baskar's home and found several copies of the New Testament. They beat him until he was unconscious before taking him into custody and jailing him for two days. Additionally, because of new anti-conversion laws in the state, Baskar recently had to split his church of more than 300 believers into smaller house churches. And I'll catch this last sentence. Don't miss this last sentence. He, his wife, and their three children continue to share their faith and plant churches, even though the police still harass and extort money from them. Are you picking up on a theme here? That persecution is real. And those story after story, when we see someone persecuted, what do they do? They keep preaching the gospel. They stay on mission and they keep being a witness just like Jesus called them to.

So that's a lot of information. Like I said, there's a lot of story. It's a lot of information. And whenever you hear about something, especially when we're talking about like a problem going on around the world, maybe you're like me and you kind of go like, okay, so like, what do we do? Anyone like that? Like, okay, what do we actually do about this? And so I want to give you just three practical applications. What do we do? So, martyrdom in the persecuted church, I think should, number one, move us to prayer and beyond prayer. So let me start with prayer, 'cause this is important. Sometimes when, again, you hear about something going on around the world, maybe you even just hear about something going on in your friend's life. And you're like, hey, what can I do? You're like, I want to help. What can I do? No, can you pray? And maybe you've experienced this before, you've heard this before, and you go, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll pray, but what can I actually do? Let's be clear on something here. Prayer is actually doing something. The real question is, are you actually praying? I mean, can we just be honest and say, it is so easy, I'm praying for you.

Don't worry, yeah, I'll pray for that. No, we're not. Like, honestly, so often it's like, we're just so busy doing so many different things. So are you actually committing time to pray for this thing? And that's what we're saying is with this, like, what would it look like to really start praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world who are facing persecution? And here's another good question. What do we pray for? Because I think the instinct is to go like, we gotta pray, God, we'll just end all persecution everywhere. And in preparing for this, my sister actually sent me a section of a book. She told me, hey, you should read this. It was really insightful for me. And it's a book called The Insanity of God, a very thought-provoking title. But by an author named Nick Ripken, and here's what Nick did, he went and he interviewed 600 Christians who lived in areas where it is illegal or difficult, or there's heavy persecution. And he, in 60 different countries, and he asked basically this question of like, what does it look like? Why is faith thriving in places where it is so opposed? And here's a quote from that section. It says, "I have seldom encountered a mature believer

living in persecution who asked us to pray that their persecution would cease." We have never heard that request. Rather, the believers in persecution ask us to pray that they would be faithful and obedient through their persecution and suffering. If our goal is reducing persecution, that task is easily achieved. First, just leave Jesus alone. Second, if you do happen to find him, just keep him to yourself. Persecution stops immediately where there is no faith and where there is no witness. The reason for persecution then is that people keep finding Jesus, and then they refuse to keep him to themselves. And it goes back to what Jesus said, "Hey, don't be surprised when the world hates you because it hated me first. It comes with the territory." And so the reality is we can't, and even maybe even shouldn't pray, that all persecution is everywhere because Jesus himself said, "Hey, that's not gonna happen, but we can pray for some very real things. We can pray for courage. We can pray for boldness. We can pray for protection over enemies of those who are being persecuted. We can pray for miraculous provision and intervention

from God when brothers and sisters in Christ are endangered for somehow, for their faith. A great resource because I know that sometimes like this idea of like, "I wanna pray for the persecuted church." And so you're like, "God, I pray for the persecuted church." Amen, like you don't really know where to go from there. So if you wanna get really practical, one of the best ministries I'm aware of is one called The Voice of the Martyrs. You can look it up. You can write down The Voice of the Martyrs. They do a free magazine. They send out every month with all kinds of specific stories that you can be praying for. They have prayer requests based on countries. be praying for for that country so again voice of the martyrs and then like I said we need to go beyond prayer as well there's going to be opportunities where you can partner with you can support here's the reality most of us will not be people who are boots on the ground in a country where it is where it is illegal to share your faith but we at Northview it's one of the reasons I love being a part of a church like Northview we get to partner with ministries that are doing just that the two that come to mind for me are venture ministries with Paul Herkmann we've heard from him a couple different times here on at North viewand serve life ministry these are two ministries that target and specifically go into areas where it is difficult to be a Christian where there is persecution it reminds me of why I'm so thankful and love our first responders right because in life there's situations where most people probably should be running but the first responders the ones are like no no I'm going there like I'm going to help there and that's what these ministries do and

so praise God that as being a part of the church and as we give our money goes towards supporting ministries like that so it's your move us to prayer and beyond prayer here's number two this is really important for us it should infuse us with perspective like I really believe that martyrdom of the persecuted church it should infuse us with perspective because here's the reality we live in a country where historically it has been very socially acceptable to be a Christian not only social acceptable it's actually very encouraged for most of our history and that let me go on record just be really clear praise God for that like I am so thankful to live in a country where we can worship Jesus freely I know there are so many men and women who've given their lives for that freedom I'm so thankful I'm also aware that the enemy would love to use that just to coddle us to sleep as Christians and just be like just hey just how about you focus on just stay uncomfortable and here's just the reality is that when something hasn't cost you very much eventually you start thinking is this even worth all that much and the people who understand how valuable Jesus is are the people who it has actually cost them something to follow him it's really costing maybe even everything to follow them these testimonies should help us ascribe the proper weight to the gospel because here's just some some truths that are that are difficult but it's just true is that we have brothers and sisters around the world right now who have decided it is worth giving their lives in a literal sense giving up their lives for Jesus and we're trying to figure out over here if he's worth getting out of bed for like we have brothers and sisters in Christ who are gathering to study God's word together knowing that if they were caught they could be thrown in jail and we're trying to figure out I'm pretty busy do I have five minutes to open up God's word today I don't know I don't know maybe it's not worth it again we've got brothers and sisters who know who are actually going out and sharing the gospel the good news knowing that if they were caught doing so they could be jailed they could be killed they could be beaten and yet they're still doing it

and we're over here thinking oh god maybe I should invite that co-worker to church but we back out because oh I want to avoid like the bad feeling of if they were to say no it's like what are we what are we doing and I am please hear me I'm not saying all that to try to make you feel real bad about yourself if you know what I'm trying to do is it's like this reality of martyrdom and the persecuted church it should help us like remove the blinders where you go oh wait there's a whole lot more going on here and the gospel is a whole lot more valuable than I'm giving it credit for so it should move us to prayer should move us beyond prayer it should infuse us with perspective and then finally it should inspire us to boldness it should inspire us to be bold as we share our faith here's another quote from Nick Rifkin the book I mentioned earlier says one of the most important lessons that we learned from believers in persecution they and you and I are just as free to share Jesus today in Islamic Hindu Buddhist communist countries as you are in America it isn't a matter of political freedom it is simply a matter of obedience the price of obedience might be different in different places but the it is always possible to obey Christ's call to make disciples every believer in every place is always free to make that choice here's a conversation happening in the church in America today we know like I mentioned earlier historically we've been blessed to be in a country where it is it is popular it's even cheered on to be a Christian we know we're talking about it we see it that is on the decline it seems like with each decade and now maybe even every year it is becoming less and less popular to hold fast to Christian convictions to declare Jesus as the way the truth and the life to to have him as the Lord and Savior of your life

it's becoming less and less social where people are gonna be like, like what's it gonna be like in 10 years? What's it gonna be like in 20 years? What err, like what's, what do we do if persecution, real persecution starts here in America? And let me just, I'll just be honest and say, for one thing, I worry about the same things, but then I've got to look at this story and look at the history of the church and remind myself, okay, if that happens, you know what we're gonna do? We're gonna do the same thing that the church has done for thousands of years. We're gonna do the same thing the church is doing around the world right now. We're gonna stand firm that Jesus is the Lord in the way of the truth in life. We're gonna stand firm on the Bible as the inspired word of God. We're gonna keep loving our neighbor as ourself as Jesus commanded us to. We're gonna keep making disciples of all nations like Jesus commanded us to. We're gonna keep praying for those who persecute us, like Jesus commanded us to. We're gonna stay on mission regardless of what comes our way. And guys, the church of Jesus has been through a whole lot, but God is really good at being God

and he has sustained his church faithfully regardless of what came their way. So let's end with that question that I mentioned. If you remember back in the beginning, I mentioned that as I was preparing and I was thinking about this message, I thought maybe a question would pop into the mind of a couple of people. And again, maybe a reaction if you thought this question was like, oh, I don't know if I'm allowed to ask that, but you can't. I'll ask it for you. Here's the question. Why in the world are people dying for this? Like maybe if you're being totally honest, that's you and you're going like, man, like I don't get me wrong. Like I love when someone believes something and thinks really strongly about something and has strong convictions and all that, but man dying, that seems pretty extreme to be willing to die for this. And it's a fair question, but let me just say, I think it's a question that comes from ultimately a misunderstanding of who Jesus is and a misunderstanding of what the gospel is all about. You see a common view in our society is that Christianity, man, that's a great thing to add to your life. Man, make sure you get the good job,

make sure you got a nice car, make sure you get a comfortable house, make sure your kids are in a good school, make sure you get yourself to church every once in a while. It's good for you. And the thing is, yeah, if that's how you view following Jesus, then of course it seems kind of crazy to be willing to die for that. But when you ask the question, why are the martyrs, the first Jesus, why are they willing to follow Jesus? Why are they willing to give their life for this? To put it really simply, guys, it's 'cause they get it. Like I believe no one understands Jesus and Christianity more than those who follow him right in the middle of hardship and right in the middle of persecution. See, they understand what this is actually about. They understand that all the way back in Genesis 3, there is a very real problem that we're introduced to. That in Genesis 3, we find out that Adam and Eve had made this decision, that they would rather see a world where they're in charge than when God is in charge. And we love the point fingers of them, but here's the truth, you and I would make the exact same decision because we as human beings, we are broken and we are fallen, we are selfish, we are sinful and we choose our way over God's way. And that sin separates us from God because God is holy and righteous and he's just. And though we were created for relationship with God,

our sin separates us from him and there is absolutely nothing we can do on our own to earn our way back to God. But here's the cool thing. In Genesis 3, we're introduced to a very real problem. We're also introduced to a very real promise. And just a couple of verses later, God is speaking to the serpent, the devil himself, who whispered the lies in the ears of Adam and Eve. And he said, "Hey, down the road, "one of these descendants is going to be your enemy "and you're gonna strike at his heel." And in that same moment where you strike at his heel and strike at his heel, he is going to crush your head. That's God's way of saying, "A solution is coming. "I am making a way." And just about a few chapters later in Genesis 12, we see that promise again when God comes to Abraham and he says, "I'm gonna make you into a great nation "and the whole world is gonna be blessed through you "and through your family and through your nation." Hey, again, God's saying, "A solution is coming. "I am making a way." And then all throughout the Old Testament, we see God raising up leaders in the nation of Israel from priests to prophets to judges to kings and even the very best of these leaders are just a hint. They are just a shadow of the great leader who was to come, the perfect priest, the perfect prophet, the perfect judge, the perfect king. And then in Isaiah 53, we find out that this leader

who's coming was not just a leader. No, no, no, he's going to be a servant and not just a servant, he's going to be a suffering servant Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." And then Jesus lives this perfect life, and he begins his ministry, and he starts healing people. And he's making blindsies, making lame walk. He starts saying things like, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." And no one comes to the Father except through me. He's saying things like, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near." He's saying things like, "God so loved the world." He gave his only son, and whoever believes in him shall not perish, but will have eternal life. He's saying things even as audacious as, "I'm going to die, but I'm not going to stay dead. I'm going to raise to life again." And then he goes, and he actually does it. He willingly goes to the cross, hangs on a tree for you and for me. In so doing, he takes on the penalty, death, the penalty of sin on his own shoulders, and in this moment, God becomes both just and the justifier, meaning he punishes sin because he is just, but he takes on the punishment himself as the justifier. And then God doesn't stay in that grave. Jesus is not staying that grave. No, no, no. He raises to life again to take over the power of sin from us. Take over the power of sin and death, and then he ascends again to the right hand of the Father. But before he does, he says to his followers, "I've got a mission for you. The Holy Spirit's going to empower you and go be my witnesses." Because this is it. This is what it is all about. This is the point. And so, guys, Jesus, he is not simply a solution to a problem. Jesus is the solution to the problem. And so there is nothing more worth giving your life for. And those who have literally done it know that and they know it deeply because they realize this is it. Like this is what we were created for. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And so today, what I want to do, I think it would just be a total miss if I didn't give you an opportunity to trust in Jesus. Maybe you're someone you've been on the fence, and to be honest, you just have not been describing the proper weight to Jesus. Church is something you just show up to. It's been nice. It's something mom or dad does. It's something my brother, whatever. But you're realizing, no, no, I need an actual relationship with Jesus. I need to know him as my Savior and my Lord. And so I want to give you an opportunity to make that decision now. And for everyone at our campuses, I want you to be able to be led through this moment at a leader, by a leader at your campus. So at this time, I'm going to pass back to our campuses.

And for here in the room, here's how this is going to go. It's very simple. I'm just going to pray a prayer. I'm going to tell you ahead of time what the prayer is. It's very simple. The prayer is, God, I'm a sinner. I make mistakes and I need help. Number two is saying, God, I believe you actually died and you actually resurrected. And that was enough to cover over all my sins. And the third part is going, Jesus, I give my life to you as my Lord. Meaning you're in charge. You've got the keys to my life now, not me. And so if that's you and you want to pray that prayer for the first time, if you want to make that commitment to God for the first time, I'd love to lead you through that. Could we all just close our eyes? Mostly because I don't want anyone thinking about what does my neighbor think or what? I want you to be in the moment. This is between you and God. And if you're someone that you want to pray that prayer, I'd love to know that you're praying it with me. And so I'm just going to count it through real quick. And if that's you, you know, you're going to pray that prayer with me for the first time. You can just put your hand up in one, two, three. Just show me. Just let me know. Hand up and look at me. Yep. I see anyone else. Yes. Anyone else praying that prayer for the first time, committing your life to Jesus. Yep. I see you. Yes. Anyone else. Praise God. So whether I saw your hand or not, pray this prayer along with me. Heavenly Father, I'm a sinner. I'm broken. I can't do this on my own. I need your help. And I believe that Jesus really died and he really resurrected. And that was enough to cover over everything I've done and everything I will do. Jesus, you are now the Lord of my life. You are in charge. I commit the rest of my life to loving you and serving you. It's all in them, Jesus, that I pray. Amen. Hey, can we give it up for those who prayed that prayer for the first time? Best decision that you'll ever make. And please hear on this. You are not meant to do I know that because it's a powerful moment if you just prayed that prayer, but I do want you to text. All right? Just send a quick text saying yes to 85379. That's letting us know that you said yes to Jesus today. And here's why we do that, is because we want to actually follow up with you. We want to come alongside you. Please don't try to do this journey on your own. So text word, uh, yes to 85379. And then like Joe mentioned, we are closing today in Miracle Prayer. So we're gonna have our prayer partners up there ready to pray with you. Pray for you. And here's my encouragement before you go on Miracle Prayer. Whether this is the first time you're asking for

prayer or the one thousandth time you're asking for prayer on something, come forward. Let us pray with you. Love you north you. We'll see you next week.