Courage Under Fire, Following Jesus When It Gets Costly | March 1, 2026

Sermon number twenty-five picked up right where Saul's dramatic conversion left off, and Pastor Justin reminded us that the gospel does not just adjust a life, it overturns it. The previous week had shown how the gospel confronted Saul's self-righteousness, redefined his identity and purpose, and placed him in a new community of grace through Ananias and the church at Damascus. This week the question became simple and pointed: what happens after the dust settles and the daily grind of following Jesus actually begins.

The Setup: Boldness Has a Cost

Acts 9:19-22 shows Saul, freshly strengthened, immediately proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God in the very synagogues where he once hunted Christians. Pastor Justin built his first point here, that real conversion shows itself in confession and proclamation, never in a private, tucked-away experience. He illustrated this with a picture of a plane leaving the runway just a few degrees off course, looking perfectly fine for the first few minutes while the tiny error in heading quietly compounds into a completely different destination. A Christian who never checks his instruments through prayer, Scripture, and honest accountability will drift the same way, and Pastor Justin walked the congregation through a simple thirty second testimony structure, before Jesus, meeting Jesus, and after Jesus, as one practical way to keep proclaiming Christ in ordinary conversations.

But boldness brought real cost. Plots formed to kill Saul in Damascus, forcing believers to lower him over the city wall in a basket under cover of night, and when he reached Jerusalem the disciples were understandably afraid of him until Barnabas stepped in, vouched for his changed life, and welcomed him as a brother. Pastor Justin was direct that faithfulness invites pressure, not applause, and that if a believer cannot remember the last time they faced any friction for their faith, something is likely off in their witness. He pushed back hard against the instinct to soften the gospel to keep the world comfortable, insisting that watering down the truth to avoid offense is not love, it is a quiet form of hatred toward people who desperately need the cure.

That combination, real opposition met by real community, gave the sermon its picture of a healthy, brave church. Pastor Justin pointed to his own testimony of being welcomed at Park Hill Baptist Church despite looking rough and scary as a new believer, a modern echo of what Barnabas did for Saul. A gospel church takes risks on people because Jesus took the ultimate risk on all of us, and Luke's summary line at the end of the passage, that the church had peace, was being built up, and multiplied, ties bold witness, deep reverence, and Spirit-given comfort directly to genuine growth.

Luke 14:25-35 rounded out the message as the scripture reading, Jesus' own warning to count the cost before building a tower or going to war, because following him was never meant to be cheap or half-hearted. Pastor Justin tied that directly to Saul's basket escape and Jerusalem's initial fear of him, courage in following Jesus is costly, and God rarely asks anyone to carry that cost completely alone.

This Week's Application

So this week, are you regularly course-correcting your life back toward Christ, checking your instruments through prayer and the Word, or are you drifting a few degrees off course while everything still looks fine from the cabin? We would love for you to join us this Sunday as we continue walking through Acts together.