Acts 12:1-17 (NIV) 1…King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. 4 After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. 6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. "Quick, get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists. 8 Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and sandals." And Peter did so. "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me," the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. 11 Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating." 12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!" 15 "You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel." 16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. "Tell James and the brothers about this," he said, and then he left for another place.
The Church is experiencing revival.
The Church is experiencing persecution.
The Church is hurting.
The Church is experiencing uncertainty.
“When trouble comes our way people that pray keep the mission in play”
Stability in the midst of uncertainty
1. Community of Faith
-All that is concealed won’t get healed.
-Me issues are we issues.
Romans 12:4-5 (NLT) 4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
1 Corinthians 12:26 (NLT) If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.
“The more isolated we become to more powerless we will be.”
2. Fervency of Prayer
Worry is an invitation…to fear.
“Reacting in fear is giving glory to the darkness.”
Worry is an invitation…to pray.
Acts 12:5 (NIV) …the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
Acts 12:12 (NIV) ….where many people had gathered and were praying.
James 5:16 (NKJV) …The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
They were uncertain about the outcome.
-Faith is not the absence of uncertainty, but trusting God in the midst of it.”
-Our certainty does not lie in the answer we want but in our God who hears us.
3. Urgency of Mission
“When trouble comes our way people that pray keep the mission in play”
Stability is not mean immobility. The church is most stable when it’s moving.