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- Times of trouble in our lives bring 2 things:

Opportunities to better understand prayer.

Opportunities to better understand God’s sovereignty.

- Humility asks boldly, and it trusts completely.

- If God did everything on the miracle level, you would never mature in the image of God.

- We can miss what is knocking at our door:

Due to preconceptions of what’s needed or what God will do.

Due to past events that shape our expectations.

Due to the false security we find in a problem.

Because at times of a request for person growth, God may bring across our path, a person with needs.

Because at times of a request, we don’t see that some answers come in instalments.

- God is sovereign, but his sovereignty does not make prayer pointless.



· Our agendas as believers must always align with God’s agenda. That requires vigilance because Gods agenda can be hijacked.

· God provoked the church to abandon its misguided agenda and align with his missionary agenda.

- Gods answers to prayer are often disruptive. He often offers alternatives to our agendas while we are seeking echoes of our agenda.

- The story reminds us that hearts that are open to God’s agenda, will experience divine connections, that otherwise may be missed.

- Those who seek the Lord’s agenda are willing to listen and learn.

- God steered the church away from being an exclusive group.

- Our previous experiences with God although they are transforming and true, don’t guarantee that we are currently aligned with his agenda.

- Our agenda must be continually adjusted and aligned by the Lord.

- We all need to See sermons, not just Hear them.

- We need God’s Truth translated into Flesh so we can Understand.

- God transforms us in Relationships with other Disciples.

- To translate God’s love to others, we must Refuse to react to the Past we Recognise, and Choose to respond to the Promises we have Received.

- While others were Afraid of Saul, Barnabas was Not.

When everyone else was Rejecting Saul, Barnabas came Along Side of him.

- Accusers make our steps Heavy. While Encouragers see our Next Step.

- It’s the Nature of God to Encourage, and as a Believer, you are Indwelt with God’s Spirit.

- His nickname, “Son of Encouragement”, reminds us, that Barnabas character, was the Fruit of God’s Spirit.

· Following Jesus isn’t just about abstaining from evil things, rather, it’s about accomplishing good things, while in touch with God.

· Philip had received guidance, and he immediately added obedience.

· Discernment and faith are essential for obedience.

· This passage shows us that guidance is highly relational.

· This passage shows us that guidance is mission-focused.

· Philip accomplished things that would only occur in the lives of people in touch with God.

· And by the leading of the Holy Spirit, you can also be led as well.

- It’s possible to deeply desire God’s power, and yet forfeit it by stubbornly preserving sin.

- People full of themselves promote themselves; those filled with the Spirit promote Jesus.

- We’re saved by grace - not perfect understanding; we all have to grow to recognize and release sin after the new birth.

- Spiritual power is the ability to accomplish God’s purposes, and His primary purpose is to make us righteous servants, not religious celebrities.

- The Holy Spirit is given that we might render effective service to God and others, not to help us accomplish our sinful agendas.

- If we insist on preserving our sin, we will not possess power. The Spirit cannot fill what is already full!

- We don’t need more power; we need more brokenness. The locked doors of our hearts are the very ones through which the Spirit must pass.

· God often moves us towards His intent in ways we barely comprehend – or overlook altogether.

· The Church won’t always know where it’s being led, but it can trust the Lord who is leading.

· God’s work is never dependent upon one person or group of people.

· God raises up leaders, but no leader will lead everything, for God wants to make it clear the work is His doing.

1. When our vision clouds – when we don’t know what God’s up to – God may be reminding us who’s in charge.

· Disciples need some mystery in order to remain dependent.

2. When our vision clouds we need confidence and commitment.

· Persecution - and the uncertainty it brought – didn’t remove confidence in Christ or commitment to Him; it revealed it!

3. When our vision clouds something new is often in the making.

· “Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing yet had been done. “(C.S. Lewis)

4. When our vision clouds - and it will at times - faith confidently keeps on serving.

· We walk by faith, not vision.

- Past answers to prayer don’t determine future answers; we must look for God to do what is best today, not what was best yesterday.

- God always answers the prayers of His people. But some answers appear wrong at first glance, because we don’t comprehend His loving purposes.

- Stephen was willing to die because he understood the supreme reality of the spiritual, and valued it more than temporal considerations.

- The ultimate goal of prayer isn’t self-preservation, but God’s work in others.

- Two loving objectives:

The persecution instigated by Stephen’s death thrust the church out into the world.

Right-answered prayer is often God’s means of moving us out in mission.

Faith isn’t just about us; it’s about lost people!

Stephen’s death fostered the conversion of God’s foremost missionary spokesman.

Saul would become Paul, the great missionary to the gentile world.

- When God answers prayer, it is God's gift, even if he answers differently to what we ask for, it protects us from ourselves and leads us towards our destiny.