Not Ashamed of the Name

Acts 4:1-22

First, significance comes from commitment to making God the focus.

-       What or who will our ambition serve and draw attention to?

-       The difference between the Sanhedrin and Peter and John was their answers to the question of ambition.

Second, significance comes from courage to make the most of every Gospel-opportunity.

-       Where is our courage? What do we have courage for?

-       Such courage doesn’t come from us alone, but from closeness to Jesus.

Third, significance comes from closeness to Jesus.

-       We become like who we spend our time with.

-       Who are we trying to get close to? (Matthew 16:24-25)

Fourth, significance comes from confidence in Jesus’s promise of the Holy Spirit.

-       Are we making space for the Holy Spirit in our lives?

-       Jesus’s crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension wasn’t only about sin, but also about filling us with the indwelling God.

You should get to thresholds

where you do not know how to proceed.

You do not know how to get from here to there.

It puts you into a proper relationship with reality.

Why? Because you have to ask for help.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

David Whyte & Psalm 121:1-2