28th May 2017 - Sharing Our Faith When It Costs (Andy Jackson)

Sharing Our Faith When It Costs (Andy Jackson)

This is part of the series from the book of Acts, looking at our mission statement “Helping people find their way back to God through communities growing in their love for God and their love for people”.

Helen Berhane’s Story

Andy showed a video of Helen Berhane’s sharing some of her story (watch  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSRqIUOL-Eg).  She was persecuted in Eritrea East Africa for her Christian faith.  She was held captive in a shipping container, beaten and treated terribly for 2 years.

Helping people find their way back to God is not always easy.  For many, right now, it comes at a high cost that requires sacrifice, and results in persecution, opposition from others, discrimination, loss of freedom, physical violence and even death.

The cost for the first church leaders

When Peter first preaches things go really well and in one day 3,000 people respond and join the church (Acts 2).  But very soon opposition arises.

Peter heals a lame man, and as a result he preaches to the crowd of onlookers.  Peter and John are seized by the authorities, who eventually threaten them and command them not to preach about Jesus, and let them go (Acts 3,4). 

Peter and the other leaders ignore this command and many people believe, and there are numerous healings and miracles.  All the leaders are then arrested and jailed, but an angel supernaturally releases them and tells them to keep speaking about Jesus.  The authorities are amazed to find them still in the temple teaching people, and so re-arrest them and want to put them to death.  Eventually they are flogged, ordered not to speak about Jesus, and released, but they continue daily to preach about Jesus (Acts 5 v 12-42).

Then one of leaders, Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power who performed great wonders and signs, is arrested and immediately following his trial is stoned to death (Acts 6,7).  A great persecution of the whole church begins, which causes them to scatter to other places, preaching the message wherever they go (Acts 8 v 1-3).

The offense of Jesus

Telling people about Jesus bore a great personal cost for the first church.  Persecution has been part of the history of the church ever since, and today is on the increase.  Jesus told us “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9 v 23).

The message that we are all separated from God and need to repent of sin, and put Jesus in charge of our lives is an affront to people’s independence and their own beliefs.  It is a message that challenges authority, and causes a reaction.  The devil also violently opposes this message.

Our freedom to speak about Jesus

We live in a country in which we have freedom to change religion and express our beliefs (article 9 of the Human Rights Act).  Helen Berhane says to us in the free world, “You must not take your freedom for granted.  If I can sing in prison, imagine what you can do for God’s glory in your freedom”.   We must make the most of that freedom, even if it means ridicule and rejection.  Pauls tells us to “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity” (Col 4 v 5).

Andy Jackson has found that of the hundreds of people the CAP centre has offered to pray for, only a very few have refused this offer.  We must not say people’s “No” for them. 

We also need a sense of urgency in sharing about Jesus; we don’t know how long we will have this freedom for, or how many opportunities people have left to hear the message.

Our individual response

Earlier in this series we were encouraged to write down the names of a few people to pray for to find their way back to God.   Let’s use our freedom to pray for them, speak to them, and invite them to church events (e.g. Alpha).

When we do face opposition we must, like the first church, continue to speak about Jesus.  When first arrested, Peter said “…we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard”.   This should be our experience, that our knowledge of God and our relationship with Him compels us to keep speaking of Him to others.

The first church’s response to persecution and opposition was to ask for boldness to speak God’s word, and for God to act with healings, signs and wonders that would draw others to know Him (Acts 4 v 29).  So powerful was this prayer, that the room shook and they were filled afresh with the Holy Spirit!  Let’s make this our daily prayer.

Questions

1   1.  Watch Helen Berhane’s 6 minute story again (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSRqIUOL-Eg).  What stands out to you?

2   2.  Why were the early Christians so compelled to speak about Jesus? (Acts 2 v 42-47, 4 v 31).

3   3.  What did the early Christians pray for? (Acts 4 v 29, 30).

     4.  What are keys to growing in boldness and signs/miracles? (Acts 1 v 8, John 14 v 12-14, Matthew 17 v 19-20)

     5.  Spend some time praying:

a.       To be filled with the Holy Spirit.

b.       For boldness to speak to others.

c.       For us to grow in faith and for God to perform signs and wonders.

d.       For individuals you know to find their way back to God (particularly those you previously wrote on a card, or represented via a knot in a string bracelet on Sunday).