Jesus instructed His disciples to preach about Him, and they strove to fulfill that call—no matter what.
SCRIPTURE: ACTS 5:25-42
CENTRAL TRUTH
Most of us would rather avoid confrontation. We would rather not even encounter someone who disagrees with us. But the disciples faced constant physical and verbal opposition. They boldly and unapologetically professed Jesus as the Son of God, crucified and resurrected for the forgiveness of sins. They claimed He was the only way, and this led to beatings, imprisonment, and even death.
KEY QUESTION
DOES YOUR LIFE REFLECT THAT YOU “MUST OBEY GOD RATHER THAN PEOPLE” (V. 29)? WHY OR WHY NOT?
KEEP IN MIND
Our students may be conditioned to avoid conflict at all costs. In our culture, we are often encouraged to keep quiet when our opinions are contrary to what’s popular. It could be foreign for our students to consider opposition as a possibility when they live out their faith. We do want to be mindful of encouraging them to always seek peace, but we must also encourage them to never forfeit truth for the sake of comfort. We can encourage students to share the truth always, and we can model how they can do this in love instead of with a spirit of condescension or intimidation.
APPLICATION
WHEN HAVE YOU STRUGGLED WITH CARING MORE ABOUT BEING WELL LIKED THAN BEING OBEDIENT TO JESUS?
THE WIN
FOR THE STUDENT: God doesn’t want students to go around intentionally causing disagreements or asking for opposition. He wants them to live at peace with others as much as possible (Rom. 12:18). But He does ask for their undivided hearts. And they can’t love Him with their whole hearts when they also love the world and care more about people’s opinions (1 John 2:15).
FOR THE LEADER: When we trust Jesus during times of opposition, we could be a living testimony of what it looks like to trust the Lord. We could encourage our students to be faithful in a difficult situation because they witnessed God’s faithfulness to us in ours.
