Day 14 (Thursday): Acts 4:23-33
Today’s Passage
Read the passage – Acts 4:23-33
Witnessing about Jesus is not always easy and sometimes the opposition can be quite fierce. Some people who come to Jesus from other faiths face rejection and even the risk of physical violence, and that is not just in other countries but even in our own country.
Questions to Consider
- Did the believers ask that God would remove the persecution? What did they ask for?
- What happened after they prayed? What kind of community was formed?
Prayer
- Pray God would provide strength and endurance to all leaders and volunteers involved in Mission 15.
- Pray for missionaries working in countries such as the Middle East and North Africa for their boldness when ministering. Pray for those who come to faith in Jesus in our community for their strengthening to be bold in their witness to families, especially if they come from Muslim or Hindu backgrounds.
Go Deeper
William H. Willimon, Acts, Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Atlanta, GA: John Knox Press, 1988), 50.
If I, like Peter and John, had had a close and potentially disastrous brush with the authorities, my prayer would be for divine protection rather than boldness! Yet, the only thing the community asked of God is the power “to speak thy word with all boldness” (4:29). It is God’s business to heal and to work signs and wonders in the name of Jesus (4:30). It is the community’s business to speak the word with boldness in the midst of the mighty acts of God. The trembling and shaking of the place signify that the apostles’ prayer has been answered, and once again they are given a bold tongue to utter the word of God. Boldness is a highly favored Lukan virtue (2:29; 4:13, 29, 31; 9:27, 28). Was Theophilus facing trials and tribulations that required boldness? We suspect this was the case; for there are too many instances in Luke-Acts where disciples are called upon not to shrink in the face of persecution.
What do Christians do when persecution threatens to undo the community? They turn to God, the same God who created the world and all of its inhabitants, the God who holds all things within his power. Even persecution, even persecution by powerful people, does not take us out of God’s hand. The same power which brought the world into being, which enables the community to worship will also be with the community in its times of persecution.
Songs for Worship and Reflection
