LOOK:

I asked you at the beginning of this lesson to read today’s passage with a spiritual lens to answer two questions:

1. What does strong faith look like?
2. What are the characteristics of disciples whose faith are strong?

I think we can all agree that at the core, disciples with strong faith are filled with the Holy Spirit. It was only through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit that disciples were enabled to:

• Speak boldly in the name of Jesus, even in the midst of great persecution.
• Seize the opportunity to scatter the gospel in new territories
• Sift or discern who was truly a believer and who was not.
• Share the gospel and God’s word effectively.
• Spot where and with whom Satan was at work.

My challenge for each of us is to go before the Lord and asking Him to strengthen our faith. Let’s ask Him to expose the areas in our own walk that need to be shored up. If we’re not in our bibles daily, then let’s ask Him to help us get excited about reading His Word. If you know you have an opportunity to share the gospel with someone, ask for a holy boldness to do so and ask the Spirit to give you the words.

LOOK:

• If you are internalizing this lesson from the vantage point of Stephen:
  • How well do you know the history and how Christ is the fulfillment of all the prophets that God sent to His children?
  • How well grounded are you in Scripture? Are you reading it regularly?
  • You are God’s chosen messenger of His gospel message. Are you sharing it regularly?
• If you are internalizing this lesson from the vantage point of the Sanhedrin:
  • Are you resisting the Holy Spirit? Are you keeping Him at arms length?

LOOK:

The early church placed high value on honoring their widows and making sure they were cared for. As I was preparing this lesson, I became much more aware of the number of widows that sit in our class week after week. I found myself asking “How well are we as the WITW taking care of the widows in our class?”

Q: What do you think are the needs of widows today, and I would especially like to hear from those in our class who are widows to help us understand your needs. [Widows who were left behind in the NT were literally left in poverty, which is why they rec’d daily distributions of food.]

Q: What would be a good action plan to take care of our own?

LOOK:

Q: Do you see yourself in this story? It’s hard to read accounts like this with all of the miracles going on, the boldness in a courtroom, and wonder how this looks for each of us in this culture.

So here is something to reflect on. We don’t get thrown in prison for sharing the gospel in this country. But what concerns me is that we not only have freedom to share the gospel, but we are more silent than vocal with the gospel message. God said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” That means He’s with us right now – just like he was with the apostles when they were obeying God’s Great Commission.

I challenged you last week to pray not only for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit, but the filling of the H.S. in order to enable us to speak boldly in the name of Jesus. Did anyone do that? [Invite testimonies] This week: Ask the Lord to remind us daily that we can’t fail in the Great Commission because we’re empowered by the H.S. who will tell us what we need to say!

LOOK:

Warren Wiersbe astutely points out that “the early church had none of the ‘advantages’ that some ministries boast of and depend on today.” They did not have big budgets provided by wealthy donors. Their pastors lacked credentials from the accepted schools, nor did they have the endorsement of the influential political leaders of that day. Most of their ministers had jail records and would probably have a hard time today joining our churches, let alone leading them.” What they had going for them was their understanding that they had the power of the Holy Spirit and their marching orders to go tell the good news in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth. So they prayed to that end regularly in spite of opposition. Satan has been trying to silence God’s people from the beginning, and we are playing into his hands when we become “silent witnesses” of God’s church.

Challenge Application: I have asked you to pray for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit each day since beginning the study of Acts. I now have an addendum: enable me to speak boldly in the name of Jesus to share the good news. Our prayer closet may not shake like the room did when the apostles prayed, but be assured – God has our transcript, and He has a vested interest in assisting us to effectively share the Good News. So let’s go do it for HIS GLORY.