Acts 4:1-21 | Signs of Life: Boldness Part 1

Acts 4 shows the first wave of persecution against the early church, but it also shows the unmistakable life of the Spirit in God’s people: boldness. Peter and John had just witnessed a lame man healed in the name of Jesus, and when religious and political leaders demanded an explanation, Peter did not shrink back. Filled with the Holy Spirit, he proclaimed that the man was made whole by Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, and that salvation is found in no other name. This sermon reminds us that faithful Christianity cannot remain silent, comfortable, or compromised when the gospel is opposed. The world may tolerate a harmless church, but a church that proclaims Christ, calls sin what God calls sin, and points sinners to salvation will face pressure. Yet persecution does not create conviction; it reveals it. Like Peter and John, we are called to obey God over man, speak what we have seen and heard, and trust the Spirit to give courage when fear rises.