Holy Spirit- He Gives Us Courage
Sermon #4 He Gives Us Courage
Main Verses: Acts 4:1-23
Main Idea: There are moments when we must face the power structures of the day and speak the truth because Jesus has made the truth clear to us.
America is in a post-Christian culture. I believe this text in Acts shows what the pre-Christian world looks like helps us understand how to respond in a post-Christian world and how the Holy Spirit can help us today in the ways it helped the early church.
So today we will dive into this topic by answering these questions:
- What is the role of the Holy Spirit in helping us fulfill our mission to proclaim the Gospel?
- In what ways are Christians challenged in a Post Christian world?
- How do Christians respond to those Challenges?
Key Terms
“Filled with the Spirit”
to fill; fill with the inspiration to speak words of witness, challenge or rebuke.
“Sanhedrin” Senate-type ruling officials. The rulers of Israel in terms of religious practice. Rome allowed religions that were older than the Roman Empire that were in place and in practice, before Rome conquered, that did not present themselves as a direct threat to Rome, to continue to be practiced. The Sanhedrin make decisions concerning religious practice and do not have to go to Rome for those particular issues.
Outline
The Holy Spirit Fills us to embolden us in hard times to preach the Gospel.
Why is it hard?
We live in a post-Christian culture where:
- Neutrality is not an option for either party.
- Christianity cannot be neutral because we are called to be light, not hidden away to avoid conflict or offense.
- The World cannot be neutral because true Christianity will never fully align with political or worldly agendas.
- Christianity is marginalized by labeling it as extreme stereotypes of Christianity.
- Uneducated narrow-minded bigots
- False teachers who undermine the authority of God’s word and commands
- American Evangelicalism is watered down to non-Christian forms of nationalism and moral therapeutic deism.
- Nationalism: The marriage of state and church. idolatry of one’s American culture, b) looking to the state’s political power to enforce Christianity (the European mistake), c) and undermining the Christian witness.
- Moral therapeutic deism: God exists. And what God wants is for people to be good, you learn how to be good in the Bible, or you can learn how to be good in other texts, but they all basically teach you how to be good, how to do the right thing and what is the wrong thing. God is not particularly involved in our lives. It is only called upon when we need something(therapy). And finally, good people go to heaven when they die. And almost everyone is good.
- How does the Holy Spirit Help Us Respond?
- We are to be active in the world as peaceably as we can, but we do not hide or tweak the gospel so that the gospel is no longer the gospel.
- We allow the rulers of the world to make their judgments.
- We submit to the Holy Spirit’s leading in our lives in how to engage.