What does courage look like when following Jesus means facing resistance? Pastor Stephen Feith takes us through Acts 3-4, where we discover that spiritual boldness isn't reserved for the naturally confident or specially trained—it's available to every believer who depends on the Holy Spirit.

The journey begins with Peter and John noticing a disabled man whom everyone else had learned to ignore. This simple act of seeing someone reveals how spiritual courage often starts: not with grand proclamations, but with compassionate presence in ordinary moments. When healing occurs and crowds gather, Peter redirects attention away from himself and toward Jesus—demonstrating that true boldness points beyond ourselves to Christ.

Opposition arrives quickly as religious authorities arrest Peter and John for speaking about resurrection. Standing before the same council that condemned Jesus, these "uneducated, ordinary men" speak with astonishing clarity. The authorities recognize they "had been with Jesus"—revealing the true source of their courage wasn't natural confidence but spiritual connection. Most remarkably, after being threatened and released, the early believers don't pray for safety or easier circumstances—they pray for greater boldness to continue speaking truth despite the risks.

This pattern challenges our typical responses to pressure. How often do we pray to escape difficult situations rather than asking for faithfulness within them? Whether it's initiating a hard conversation, standing for what's right when it's unpopular, admitting our struggles, or extending forgiveness, the Spirit offers not timidity but "power, love, and self-discipline."

As C.S. Lewis wrote, "Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." Your courage might actually be the answer to someone else's prayers. Subscribe now to explore how the Spirit activates ordinary people for extraordinary impact in a world that needs the hope only Jesus provides.

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