The Bold Proclamation of the Word
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Tell us about a time when you had to talk to someone who held a position of authority, and you felt shy or intimidated. How did you handle it?
โข When was the last time you found yourself in a situation where you felt compelled to speak up? What happened?
โข Think of a time when you were hoping for something important, but circumstances seemed to work against you. How did you respond?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ช๐จ๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ . . . ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฐ:๐ฎ๐ฏโ๐ฎ๐ฐ
(Read also ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ฎ๐ฑโ๐ฏ๐ฏ.)
Even in the face of strong opposition and despite being seen as unqualified by the world, the disciples proclaimed the gospel with remarkable boldness. Their courage wasnโt rooted in their confidence or skill; it was the result of prayer and the empowering work of the Holy Spirit. Though threatened and pressured to remain silent, they lifted their voices together to God, not asking for safety but for boldness to continue speaking His word. And God answered. The gospel advanced despite opposition, reminding us that bold proclamation does not begin with us. It begins with the Spirit who strengthens our hearts and empowers us to make Christ known. Today, let us look at how they prayed.ย
๐ญ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ฑโ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ.
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ช๐จ๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ . . . ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ.โย ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฐ:๐ฎ๐ฐ, ๐ฎ๐ด
When the disciples faced opposition, they first focused on Godโs sovereignty and power instead of being intimidated by earthly authorities. They reminded themselves that God rules over all and faithfully accomplishes His redemptive purposesโeven through opposition. Focusing on who God is gave them the boldness to keep preaching the gospel, and they saw His power at work through them. How can this truth help us preach the word despite challenges and opposition?
๐ฎ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ฑโ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ.
โ. . . ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฅ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต, โ๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ณ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ท๐ข๐ช๐ฏ? ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ . . .โโย ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฐ:๐ฎ๐ฑโ๐ฎ๐ฒ
The disciples recalled Godโs promises and His sovereignty in the face of opposition. Though they had not yet seen the fulfillment of His promises, they trusted Godโs character and the truth of His word. By going back to His word, they reminded themselves that opposition is ultimately small compared to Godโs greatness, and that His purposes will prevail. This reliance on Godโs word strengthened their faith and gave them confidence to proclaim the gospel boldly. What does 1 Peter 1:23โ25 say about Godโs word?
๐ฏ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ.ย
โ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ, ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด.โ ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฐ:๐ฎ๐ตโ๐ฏ๐ฌ
When they prayed, the disciples were ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต and they spoke Godโs word ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด (Acts 4:31). Their faith was shown in their actionsโliving in fellowship, sharing what they had, and seeing miracles happen through Jesusโ name (Acts 4:32โ33). Prayer, trust in God, and the Spiritโs power transformed their lives, showing that God can work through us to boldly proclaim His kingdom and love.
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข How have you seen Godโs sovereignty in your life recently? How can you walk with greater trust in Him and boldness to preach His word?
โข How can you remind yourself of Godโs truth and power whenever you are in unfavorable situations?ย
โข What are the steps you can take this week to start proclaiming the gospel to two or three of your friends? Ask God for open doors and for sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for making His word come alive as you read it. Ask God to help you remember what His word saysโespecially in moments of doubt or fear.
โข Pray that you will preach the word with boldness and be ready to be Godโs instrument even in challenging or uncomfortable situations.ย
โข Ask God to help you reach out to at least two people this week. Ask Him to help you take practical steps to demonstrate the truth of the gospel to them.