NEXT (Week 6) - Refuse to Be Silent

Pastor John Blue

NEXT Series - Part 6 - Acts 1:8-9; Matthew 28:18-20

In the final message of the NEXT series, Pastor John brought us back to the last words Jesus gave His disciples before the ascension.

Jesus gave two clear directives:

Receive power from the Holy Spirit.

Go.

Those words were not only for the first disciples. Two thousand years later, the assignment has not changed. The church is still called to be Spirit-empowered witnesses in the circles where God has placed us.

Jesus' Final Word Before the Ascension

Acts 1:8-9 records Jesus telling His disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them, and that they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Matthew 28:18-20 records the same mission from another angle: all authority belongs to Jesus, so His people are sent to make disciples of all nations.

Put together, the message is clear:

When you receive the power of the Holy Spirit, go be My witness.

The Christian life was never meant to stop at private belief. Jesus sends His people into the world as witnesses.

God Has Always Said "Go"

The command to go is not new. It is the heartbeat of God throughout Scripture.

God told Abraham to go from everything familiar to a place he had not yet seen.

God told Moses to go to Pharaoh with nothing but a staff.

God told Joshua to step forward after Moses died.

God told Gideon to go even while he was hiding in fear.

God asked, "Who will go?" and Isaiah answered, "Here am I. Send me."

God told Jeremiah to go even though he felt too young.

God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, and even when Jonah ran, God sent him anyway.

Then Jesus looked at His disciples and said, "Go and make disciples."

The mission of God has always moved outward. His people are blessed, filled, restored, and empowered so they can go.

The Problem With the "Go"

Pastor John named four barriers that often keep the church from obeying Jesus' command:

Paralysis.

Laziness.

Fear.

Ignorance.

The uncomfortable reality is that many people love Jesus privately but never tell anyone about Him publicly.

Teaching can help address fear and ignorance. We can learn where to go, how to go, and why we go. But paralysis and laziness require obedience. At some point, every believer has to decide whether they will take the step Jesus has already commanded.

Where Do I Go?

In Acts 1:8, Jesus names four circles: Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.

For us, those circles are not abstract.

Jerusalem is your immediate family. The mission starts at your own dinner table.

Judea is your neighborhood. It may be the most overlooked mission field in America. We can be willing to fly across the world while ignoring the door twenty feet away.

Samaria is where you work and play. Your office, your gym, your kids' sports teams, the places you eat, and the spaces where people watch whether your faith is real Monday through Saturday.

The ends of the earth include the global mission of the church. For PPC, that includes places like Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua, and wherever else God sends us next.

Pastor John summarized this with one phrase: My Circle.

Your circle is the place where you live, play, work, eat, and go to church. It is where God gives you repeated opportunities to let people see, hear, and respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Every believer already has a circle. Nobody needs permission to start.

How Do I Go?

The answer begins with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus did not simply say, "Try harder." He said His disciples would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them.

This means the first step is daily surrender. Romans 12:1 calls believers to present their bodies as a living sacrifice. Before we walk into work, Starbucks, our homes, our neighborhoods, or our kids' sports teams, we surrender ourselves to the Lord again.

Then we take steps of faith.

We open our mouths and trust that God can give us words we did not plan.

We live in a way that becomes a sermon before we ever say a word.

We show up in someone's worst moment with the presence, care, and truth they need.

The Holy Spirit empowers both our words and our actions. Our lives become a witness when we are willing to step into the moment instead of staying silent.

Why Do I Go?

The reason is the heart of God.

2 Peter 3:9 tells us that the Lord is patient, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

That is the heart behind the mission. God does not want people to perish.

Pastor John pressed the church to remember the reality of eternity. Hebrews 9:27 says every person has an appointment with death and judgment. John 14:6 reminds us that Jesus is not one way among many, but the way to the Father.

That means the people in our circles who do not know Jesus do not have an alternative route.

But they may have a neighbor who does.

They may have a coworker who does.

They may have a parent, friend, teammate, or classmate who does.

They may have you.

This is why silence matters. James 4:14 reminds us that life is brief. We do not know how many conversations we have left with the people in our circle.

God takes our silence seriously because people matter eternally.

Peter Refused to Be Silent

In Acts 2, Peter stood in his own circle of influence and refused to be silent.

This was the same Peter who had denied Jesus. But after being restored by Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit, he stood up and proclaimed that God had made Jesus both Lord and Christ.

About three thousand people responded and were baptized.

No social media.

No marketing budget.

No church building.

No sound system.

No strategy team.

One man.

One circle.

One message.

One moment of refusing to be silent.

And the Christian church was born.

I Refuse to Be Silent

The final call of the message was simple: go be the church.

Every follower of Jesus has a circle. Every circle has people who need to see, hear, and respond to the gospel. Every believer has been given the Holy Spirit's power to witness.

The question is not whether Jesus has sent us.

The question is whether we will go.

As Joshua said, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

May that be our posture too.

I refuse to be silent.

Go be the church.