How to Make an Impact on America...Right Where You Are

Everything started that night. Everything began that night, on that hill.

The crowd stood, jeering. Mary knelt, weeping. John held her close. Peter hid alone. The hope of the world, breathed His last.
  

But everything changed within just 3 short days.

See, while Peter was still engulfed with shame, and the rest of the 11 were immobilized by fear, locked up in some room, Jesus suddenly stood before them! When they last saw him, he was dead on a cross. Here, death had lost its grip!

Though this small group of 11 likely didn’t realize it at that moment, this event completely altered the course of history.

For thousands of years, men had searched for some kind of salvation, some way to please God. For the first time in the history of the world, Salvation himself…stood before them.

For the first time in history, the Good News was finally clear: Jesus Christ is Lord.

Jesus. Yeshua. His very name means: God SAVES.

"The rescue for sinners, the ransom from heaven. Jesus Messiah, Lord of all."

Well, 40 days later, Jesus left. But before He left, He gave 2 instructions: WAIT, and GO.

So they waited. They waited in that same upper room. But now the despair from before had been replaced with….confidence.

Then the day came...when the Spirit fell on them like fire, and the time came to GO!

Now, 600 years earlier, the prophet Jeremiah described the Word of God as a fire in his bones. He couldn't hold it in, he couldn't stay silent! The disciples had read Jeremiah's writings all their lives. But for the first time, these Jews truly knew what that meant.

Nothing could hold them back! Wherever they went, they proclaimed the good news: Jesus Christ is LORD! Jesus Christ is HOPE!

Naturally, those in charge didn’t take too kindly to being told that they were no longer the head honchos.

After one particular incident where Peter and John healed a man who had never walked, their words got them arrested and thrown in jail. These priests of God threatened them with beatings and with death if they wouldn’t stop speaking of Jesus!

How did they respond? Well, Peter and John, with fire burning in their hearts, replied, 

“Whether it’s right in God’s eyes to listen to you rather than to God, you decide. As for us, there’s no question—we can’t keep quiet about what we’ve seen and heard” (NLT).

They were warned to stay silent, and then released. 

But still they spoke.

This led to another believer, a man named Stephen, being stoned to death for this good news.

But still they spoke.

All the Jesus followers were scattered. But things didn’t change when they left Jerusalem. Everywhere they went, every town in which they spoke, there were people who believed and were saved, and there were people who rejected and persecuted. STILL they spoke!

For the next 2,000 years, this continued. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. But still they have spoken!

And here's the thing: things haven't changed today. People still insult and taunt, even threaten with beatings and death. Christians in Iraq flee their homes, children lose their lives because they refuse to worship Allah instead of Jesus.

But still we speak. Indeed, we MUST speak.

For 2,000 years, men and women have spilt their blood that they might speak. Why? Because for each person, Jesus changed their life and gave them hope.

It's no different for each one of us. The Jesus who died on that cross and then conquered death itself, tells me that I cannot waste my life trying to fit in with this world! My hope is not found in fulfilling some American dream, or being liked by everyone on FB! My hope is in knowing Jesus, loving Jesus, dying with Jesus, and living with him forever! 

Jesus gives me the promise of future life, and because of that, I can sacrifice anything in my life today to give hope to the 12 year-old boy whose dad is in prison for life....to the family declaring bankruptcy, that has nowhere else to go. Because of the promise of future life, we can speak hope to the single mom working three jobs with 4 kids. We can speak hope to the parents who lost their 8 year-old daughter to cancer.

This hope we've found DEMANDS that we speak to the hopeless. No matter what we face. And we will face much. 

We will face both apathy and opposition. We will be ignored, and also scorned. Perhaps some of us will even suffer and lose our lives for this good news. But still we must speak.

Who do you know that needs hope right now? What fear has held you back?

Fear not, the threats of men. For Jesus Christ is Lord of all, and HE is the only hope of the world.

Speak boldly.

-----

Evan Smith

is a Pastor currently living in Phoenix, AZ. He majored in New Testament Studies at Ozark Christian College. Born and raised in Texas, he grew up the third-born of 7 kids and loved (almost) every minute of it! He is happily married to his high school sweetheart, Breanna, and has two wonderful kids, Hannah Joy and Peter. More than anything, Evan wants to be a man who is marked by a hunger for God.

“The God who came, still comes. The God who spoke, still speaks.”

Evan's Website