Prayers of Acts (Acts 9:10-18)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, Oh on Sunday, April 19, 2026

Two Irishmen, Pat and Mike, had narrowly escaped death on a sinking ship. They were floundering around in icy ocean waters on a couple of planks. Pat was addicted to the grossest profanity and he thought he ought to repent of it and then the Lord would come to his rescue. Mike thought his theology was sound. Pat began to pray, but just before arriving at the main thesis of his repentant prayer, Mike spotted a ship coming toward them. As delighted as Columbus when he first spotted the North American shore, Mike hollered, “Hold it, Pat. Don’t commit yourself. Here’s a ship.” Pat immediately stopped praying! Isn’t that the way many of us are? The only time we pray is when we are “in a jam.” As soon as things improve we forget God.

—John Haggai, How to Win over Worry^[1]

We are in a sermon series on prayer.

Today, my theme is:

The Lord answers a dangerous man’s prayer through Ananias.

1. Let’s talk about the context.
   1. In Acts 9:1-9, the Lord Jesus confronts Saul. Saul, whom we know as the Apostle Paul, had been persecuting the church.
   2. Saul was on his way to arrest more Christians, but Jesus confronted him.
   3. Jesus made him blind and asked him why is he (Saul) persecuting Me. When Saul persecuted the church, he was persecuting Jesus.
   4. In Acts 9:6, Saul is given instructions to get up and go to the city, and you will learn what to do.
   5. The others with him lead him into the city (Acts 9:9).
   6. He had no sight, food, or drink for three days.
   7. Now, we are in Acts 9:10.
2. Meet Ananias (Acts 9:10).
   1. In Acts 9:10, we meet Ananias.
   2. Acts 9:10 (ESV)
   3. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”
   4. Notice, there is a scene change. We went from Saul to Ananias.
   5. Ananias is a disciple of Jesus.
   6. He responds to the Lord- “Here I am, Lord.”
3. Jesus shares about Saul’s prayer (Acts 9:11-12).
   1. Now, we see that Saul was praying.
   2. Acts 9:11–12 (ESV)
   3. ¹¹ And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, ¹² and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”
   4. If anyone became a Christian kicking and screaming, it was Saul.
   5. Now, Saul is praying.
   6. He must’ve been desperate. He was persecuting Jesus by persecuting Christians, and now he wants to ask Jesus to restore his sight.
   7. Well, the Lord tells Ananias who to look for.
   8. In this case, Saul is praying, and we see Jesus answering the prayer.
   9. Isn’t that awesome!
   10. Have you ever thought that while you are praying, the Lord is answering your prayer with someone else?
   11. The Lord is speaking to Ananias, but also showing Saul in a vision that Ananias will lay hands on him so he can regain his sight.
4. Ananias’s objection (Acts 9:13-14).
   1. Acts 9:13–14 (ESV)
   2. ¹³ But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.”
   3. We see that Ananias is referring to what we can read in Acts 9:1, etc.
   4. I wonder about Ananias. Maybe he is one of the disciples who fled when Stephen was stoned (Acts 8:1). Maybe he was saved through that group.
5. The Lord’s response (Acts 9:15-16).
   1. Acts 9:15–16 (ESV)
   2. ¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. ¹⁶ For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
   3. Paul was commissioned by the chief priest (Acts 9:2) to persecute Christians, but now the Lord commissions him.
   4. The Lord redirected him.
   5. He will suffer.
   6. He will take the gospel to the Gentiles.
6. The answer to Saul’s prayer (Acts 9:17-18).
   1. Acts 9:17–18 (ESV)
   2. ¹⁷ So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized…
   3. We see Ananias obeyed.
   4. He fulfills the mission Jesus called him to do.
   5. Saul is baptized.
7. Applications
   1. How are we doing with prayer?
   2. How are we doing at being the answer to someone else’s prayer?
   3. Are we sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading?
   4. Ananias was sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
   5. Are we praying desperately? I bet Saul was.
   6. Do we notice Jesus’s sovereignty? Remember, the Lord can, and does, redirect people for His causes.

Thank You for Saying No

Lord, day after day I’ve thanked You

For saying yes.

But when have I genuinely thanked You

For saying no?

Yet I shudder to think

Of the possible smears

The cumulative blots on my life

Had You not been sufficiently wise

To say an unalterable no.

So thank You for saying no

When my want list for things

Far exceeded my longing for You.

When I asked for a stone

Foolishly certain I asked for bread

Thank You for saying no

To my petulant “Just this time, Lord?”

Thank You for saying no

To senseless excuses

Selfish motives

Dangerous diversions.

Thank You for saying no

When the temptation that enticed me

Would have bound me beyond escape.

Thank You for saying no

When I asked You to leave me alone.

Above all

Thank You for saying no

When in anguish I asked

“If I give You all else

May I keep this?”

Lord, my awe increases

When I see the wisdom

Of Your divine no.

—Ruth Harms Calkin, Tell Me Again Lord, I Forget^[2]

^[1] Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 456.

^[2] Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 451–452.

Prayers of Acts (Acts 4:23-31)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, April 12, 2026

Tim Keller shares:

In the 1720s, the church was in such a dismal state that Cotton Mather, a great New England Congregational minister, in the last year and a half of his life organized prayer cells to pray for a mighty visitation of God. He himself got up every day and spent all day for the last 400-and-some days of his life praying for a visitation, for a descent of the presence of God. So there’s the crisis and there’s the extraordinary coming out.

Cotton Mather died in 1727, and in 1727 a revival broke out. It broke out in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Here’s what’s interesting: At the same time in 1727, a group of Moravians led by a guy named Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf started a 100-year prayer meeting. That means they set aside a room and a place in which they were going to pray for a mighty visitation of God in the world, and they decided at least one person would always be in that room praying for that so the prayer meeting would never stop. It went on from 1727 into the 1820s. It’s called the 100-Year Prayer Meeting. It started in 1727.

What happened on both sides of the Atlantic was an extraordinary outpouring of the Spirit of God, a tremendous movement that historians still can’t figure out. What happened was just literally crowds, thousands upon thousands of people who showed no interest in Christianity, began to flock into the church, began to pack the churches out to listen to the Word of God preached, and were converted in droves.^[1]

We are focusing on prayer. Today, I want to focus on the disciples’ prayer for boldness.

That is my theme: The disciples pray for boldness. 

1. Context:
   1. Now, allow me to review what is happening in this passage:
   2. At the beginning of Acts chapter 3, Peter and John go to the Temple at the time of prayer. A lame beggar was there, asking for money. Peter said, “Silver or gold I don’t have, but what I have, I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” The man is healed. This attracted a lot of attention, and Peter preached a sermon. Peter’s message reached about 5000 people with the Gospel, but this aggravated the Jewish authorities, and Peter and John were thrown in prison for the night. The next day, Peter and John spoke before the Jewish leadership, and Peter again preached the Gospel (Acts 4:8 says that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit). Eventually, they were released.
   3. After their release from prison, they return to meet with their own people.
   4. They immediately went back to share with the other disciples what God had done.
   5. Their prayer includes allusions to Old Testament prayers.
2. Let’s look at this Spirit-Filled Prayer:
   1. Acts 4:23–24 (ESV): When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴ And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them…
   2. They start their prayer by acknowledging who God is in relation to who they are. We should do the same. God created everything that we see and feel, including the stars in the sky.
   3. Verse 24 starts their prayer as “Sovereign Lord…” This means that God is in control. This means “absolute ruler.” The Greek word translated here is the source of the English word “despot.”[2] God is the absolute ruler, and they acknowledged that as they began their prayer.
   4. Tim Keller: Now quickly, one of the reasons people get very confused is they say, “I thought God’s presence is everywhere. How can we talk about God’s presence coming down into the church, or coming down here or there?” The answer is, the Christian understanding of God is very different than the New Age understanding of God and the Eastern understanding of God, from which the New Age gets its understanding of God.
   5. In fact, if you want to think about theologies, there are really only three. You have a Western theology, you have an Eastern theology, and you have a Christian theology. The Western theologies, the old Western religions … the Norse religions and the Greek religions and the Roman religions … had personal gods but who were not infinite. They were personal but not infinite. They were personal. Zeus, Apollo, all those guys, they were personal but they weren’t infinite. They made mistakes. They did dumb things. They could get too angry and afterwards regret it. Personal but not infinite.
   6. On the other hand, the Eastern understanding of God, from which the New Age gets its understanding of God, is God is infinite but not personal. God is a force. God is everywhere. God is the authentic ground of being. But you don’t talk to God, and he certainly doesn’t talk back to you. He doesn’t say things to you. He can’t speak to you. You can become conscious of him. You can tap into him and his power, but even using the word him is just an anthropomorphism. It’s not the right way to talk. Because he’s infinite but he’s not personal.
   7. The Christian God is both personal and infinite. He’s a person, he can talk to you, he can know you, he can speak to you, but he’s also infinite. That means, therefore, there are two aspects to his presence….the Christian understanding of God is he’s personal and infinite. So that means in one sense he’s everywhere, but there’s another sense of his presence, which means his relational presence.^[3]
   8. They were praying in unity. The Scripture says that they “raised their voices together in prayer…” This doesn’t mean they all prayed simultaneously, but they were praying in unity.
   9. Too often, our churches and prayers are hindered because of our divisions. Hence, I am going to say that our divisions hinder the Spirit’s work in our prayer life. In a few verses, we will see that this group of Christians experienced the Holy Spirit. I think we are missing the Holy Spirit because of our division.[4]
   10. What we need to see here is that their prayer was in unity, and God blessed them with a special baptism of the Holy Spirit.
   11. Now, allow me to return to their prayer and acknowledgment of God as sovereign. Do we acknowledge that God is sovereign?
   12. Acknowledging God as sovereign includes the idea that we must surrender to His will.
   13. Then, their prayer includes Scripture.
   14. Acts 4:25–26 (ESV) ²⁵ who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? ²⁶  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— ²⁷ for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, ²⁸ to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
   15. They quote Psalm 2:1-2 in reference to Jesus.
   16. Lastly, about God’s sovereignty, their prayer acknowledged that God’s plan included threats against Christians. Verse 27 references the crucifixion of Christ. Verse 28 references that in God’s sovereignty, this was planned beforehand.
   17. But they never complained, and that is my transition to their one request.
3. They prayed for boldness and an expansion of the Gospel.
   1. Acts 4:29–31 (ESV)
   2. ²⁹ And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, ³⁰ while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” ³¹ And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
   3. They never complained. We would expect them to pray that their threats would stop, but they don’t. They pray that God takes their threats seriously. They had just been thrown in prison, and they prayed for nothing about that.
   4. They ask that God grant them boldness to preach God’s Word.
   5. Verse 30 is a prayer for miracles.
   6. Do we pray for miracles? I must ask if I am praying for miracles. That is a challenge. We serve a God who brings about miracles.
   7. Verse 31 is a confirmation of their Spirit-filled prayer.
   8. The place is shaken.
   9. Did this really happen? It may be metaphorical, but I favor it is literal. God is so great that when He is truly present, there are consequences that defy natural laws.
   10. They also speak the Word of God boldly. That is the answer to their prayer.
   11. How, many times (you’ll see in the Bible), when God’s presence comes down, there’s an earthquake. Exodus 19, what does it say? God came down on Mount Sinai and it says, “… the whole mountain trembled violently …” God came down in Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, and the whole place shook with a sound of a mighty rushing wind.
   12. When Deborah and Barak led the great battle, they led Israel against the Syrians, she sings about this in Judges 5. She says, “When you went out with our army, O LORD, when you marched out with us, the earth shook.”^[5]
   13. Christians, let’s do the same. Whether or not you are a preacher, preach God’s Word, including the Gospel. Do this with boldness. Pray in groups of Christians; pray in this manner; experience the Holy Spirit; and get ready. Lastly, set aside diversity and instead embrace unity for the cause of the Gospel. Then, you ought to be ready for the Holy Spirit’s work.
   14. We need the type of prayer illustrated in this passage. I certainly do. We need, I need, Spirit-filled prayer meetings in our churches.

Jonathan Edwards… was a man of great spiritual insight. His diaries are filled with fascinating little statements. Here’s one. He says, “One day I was walking into my father’s pasture for contemplation, and I began to pray, and there came into my mind so sweet a sense of the glorious grace of God, as I cannot express it. I suddenly seemed to see them both in sweet conjunction; his majesty and his meekness joined together. It was an awful sweetness, a gentle majesty, a holy gentleness.”^[6]

Let’s keep praying for the salvation of our family and friends.

Let’s keep looking for opportunities to share Jesus with others.

C.S. Lewis put it this way. There’s Deep Magic from before the dawn of time. Jesus Christ, by dying in our place, by paying, by taking the earthquake of justice on himself … Because Jesus was shaken utterly, he has broken death. He broke it. He shook death. Do you see the death of death in the death of Christ? Do you see the shaking of shaking in the shaking of Christ? Do you see it?^[7]

^[1] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

[2] Witherington III 201

^[3] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

[4] We may be able to take 1 Peter 3:7 which references our relationship with our spouse as hindering our prayer life to also mean if we are divided as a church, it hinders our prayer life. Psalm 66:18 talks about cherished sin hindering our prayers.

^[5] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

^[6] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

^[7] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Resurrection Sunday

April 5, 2026

Over a century ago, young Francis Griffiths and her cousin took pictures of fairies dancing in the forest. What began as the imagination of little girls turned into an international sensation known as the Cottingley Fairies incident of 1920. Dr. Merrick Burrow, the curator of an exhibit that commemorated the strange incident told the BBC article, “I do not think anybody really believed it . . . But they couldn’t explain how it had been done either.”

The fairy pictures looked so real that they even convinced none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the famously logical Sherlock Holmes stories. Initially skeptical, Conan Doyle became a believer and worked to promote the images as evidence of the supernatural. It wasn’t until decades later that one of the girls confessed that they had used paper cut-outs from a 1915 children’s book. “I never even thought of it being a fraud,” Frances Griffiths told the BBC in 1983, “It was just Elsie and I having a bit of fun.” Even so, their “bit of fun” was enough to convince some very smart people that these girls had discovered a window between our world and the world of spirits and fairies.

How do otherwise intelligent people fall for such things? Conan Doyle wasn’t a fool, but he also wasn’t disinterested. He was someone who was very curious about spiritualism, and he’d lost a son during the First World War. The prank gave him hope that there was something beyond this world, and that if so, it may mean he would see his boy again.

We want to believe that there’s more to this world. We want to know that reality is not limited to only what we can see. But we are also fallen. Our senses are not clear. Without the clarifying light of God’s truth, we stumble in the darkness. And yet, even as we stumble, the longing persists and points to a higher reality. As C.S.Lewis put it in Mere Christianity, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”[1]

Are we made for another world? Are we longing for something more?

I believe we are longing for more.

My theme today: Jesus’s death and resurrection corrects our greatest problem.

1. The problem- The answer is in Genesis.
   1. The ultimate problem is sin.
   2. I would argue that everyone understands the problem as people being mean, sick, and dying.
   3. We can look at Genesis 3:15-24 to read about the origins of sickness, hardship, and death.
   4. Things aren’t as they should be.
   5. BLAISE PASCAL shared:
   6. Certainly nothing offends us more rudely than this doctrine [of original sin], and yet without this mystery, the most incomprehensible of all, we are incomprehensible to ourselves.[2]
   7. The first and most fundamental element of any worldview is the way it answers the questions of origins—where the universe came from and how human life began. The second element is the way it explains the human Why is there war and suffering, disease and death?[3]
   8. Someone once quipped that the doctrine of original sin is the only philosophy empirically validated by thirty-five centuries of recorded human history.[4]
   9. In Genesis 4, we see the first murder. Then, in Genesis 4 and 5, we see genealogies that repeat: “and he died, and he died, and he died…” Death is a consequence of sin.
   10. Every time we experience the death of a loved one, we know something isn’t right.
   11. Jesus died so ultimately, we don’t experience eternal death.
2. Let’s walk through John 20:1-10.
   1. John 20:1: Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
   2. Jesus has been crucified; the disciples are in mourning. But they do not realize that Jesus cannot be kept down.
   3. Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb to see Jesus.
   4. She was the first to the tomb, and she saw the stone rolled away.
   5. John 20:2: So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”
   6. Mary did the logical thing; she went to Peter and John. This is likely John. Usually, when we read, “The disciple whom Jesus loved,” we believe it is John. She runs to Peter and John. She was in a hurry.
   7. John 20:3-4: So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
   8. Peter and John run to the tomb, but John runs faster.
   9. John 20:5–10 (ESV)
   10. ⁵ And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, ⁷ and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹ for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples went back to their homes.
   11. They arrive at the tomb and find it empty.
   12. John saw and believed.
   13. Verse 9: They had not understood the Scripture that He must rise from the dead.
3. Jesus rose, and so will we.
   1. Because of Jesus and the resurrection, we have life (Romans 6:23 and 1 Corinthians 15:55-57).
   2. Look at two passages:
   3. Look at Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
   4. Look at 1 Cor. 15:55-57: ⁵⁵ “O death, where is your victory?
      O death, where is your sting?”
   5. ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
   6. We do not have to fear death anymore. We were created to live forever, and under sin, we would have to fear death because death brought judgment. But now, under Christ, we no longer must fear death. Jesus took our punishment. We were created to live forever, either in heaven or in hell. Because Jesus lives, we will live eternally in paradise.
   7. The resurrection separates Christianity from other religions. Our Savior lives; we will live again. Death no longer has a sting.
   8. This is the case with you; you can have eternal life in Jesus. You can have a relationship with Jesus.
   9. Where are you in your life right now?
   10. Have you trusted in Jesus as Lord and Savior?
   11. Do you know that since He lives, you will live eternally? Do you believe that?
   12. Do you know that your sins are washed away by Jesus?
   13. Do you know that you do not face life’s challenges alone?
   14. Is it the case for you that because Jesus lives, you can face tomorrow?
   15. Think about this question: Does the resurrection give you hope?
   16. Some of you may remember this, but I think it is a powerful way to close:
4. So, the disciples were changed by Jesus.
   1. The disciples learned the same thing we learn– Our Savior Lives
   2. What is the significance of the resurrection? As I make each of these statements, I would like you to respond with Our Savior Lives!
   3. We can have a relationship with Jesus because He lives. If He were not resurrected, we would not have a relationship with Him. Our Savior Lives!
   4. Christ is our Savior who cannot die again. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again (Romans 6:9).[5] Our Savior Lives!
   5. Because of the resurrection, we have new birth: According to his great mercy, [God the Father] has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3).[6] Our Savior Lives!
   6. We have forgiveness of sins because of the resurrection. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins (1 Corinthians 15:17).[7] Our Savior Lives!
   7. Because Jesus is raised, we have no condemnation. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us (Romans 8:34).[8] Our Savior Lives!
   8. Because of the resurrection, we have the Lord’s personal fellowship and protection.[9] “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) Our Savior Lives!
   9. Because of the resurrection of Jesus, we know that we will also be raised from the dead: [We know] that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. (2 Corinthians 4:14; also Romans 6:4; 8:11; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:20)[10] Our Savior Lives!
   10. If Jesus had not been resurrected, there would never be Christianity.Our Savior Lives!
   11. The Romans would have shown the grave, and it would be over. Our Savior Lives!
   12. Jesus’ resurrection shows the grave could not contain Him. Our Savior Lives!
   13. Jesus’ resurrection shows that He is the victor. Our Savior Lives!
   14. Jesus’ resurrection shows again that the miracles are true. Jesus has the power and authority over all nature. It’s not hard to figure out: He can break out because he wasn’t forced in. He letshimself be harassed and black-balled and scorned and shoved around and killed.[11] Our Savior Lives!
   15. No one can keep him down because no one ever knocked him down. He lay down when he was ready.[12] Our Savior Lives!
   16. And all God’s people responded with Amen—AMEN!
   17. Prayer

[1] Adapted from Breakpoint; We Want to Believe; Timothy D. Padgett and John Stonestreet; 02.27.2026; accessed 03.01.2026

https://breakpoint.org/we-want-to-believe/?utm_campaign=Product%20-%20Breakpoint%20Daily%20BPD&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_eVZ_CncYcjbpbcy0INtNy-zK9D6BCZYYWx40VurAynHqJlJdKdxgyNcYld0D5juc0PjzQ1CJMpHXtLp9F0KxsaDJH8w&_hsmi=405985705&utm_content=405985705&utm_source=hs_email

[2] Colson, Charles. How Now Shall We Live? (p. 147). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

[3] Ibid, 147

[4] Ibid, 150

[5] http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/can-t-keep-jesus-down

[6] ibid.

[7] ibid.

[8] ibid.

[9] ibid.

[10] ibid.

[11] ibid.

[12] ibid.