Acts 7:1-19 | You Are Part of a Bigger StorySample

Whether it’s acting, music, teaching, or preaching, there’s always a bit of improvisation.

Here we find Stephen, arguing with some Jews over whether Jesus is part of God’s salvation story, and now before the Sanhedrin having to do the same. The stakes were high. His life was on the line. No script. No notes. Just there before them giving witness to Jesus and trying to show how he’s the key to God’s greater story. “Are the charges true?” The charges, of course, being that Stephen and the early Christian movement were speaking against God’s bigger story. There he is, having to explain on the spot.

It’s not uncommon. Maybe the stakes are higher here than for most, but not what’s happening. Christians find themselves in moments they don’t expect and can’t predict, having to give witness to Jesus and why they serve him, right there on the spot. But the stakes are also high. What if I say the wrong thing? What if I lead a person farther away? What if I look like a fool and make Christianity look foolish in the process? It’s the questions that plague people and scare them off their witness.

Jesus has a solution. Here’s what he has to say: “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say” (Luke 12:11-12).

The Holy Spirit. Stephen was filled with him. If you are in Christ, you are too. Dare to trust God in the moments where you’re called to give witness. Tell the story. The story of what God has done, what God is doing, and the story of how you came to believe it. God will guide you in the process.