The Mission of God in the Hands of Ordinary People: Day 8
Intention
To realise that God’s mission is in our hands, and time in Jesus’ presence can release the courage needed to fulfil it.
Scripture
“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and took note that these men had been with Jesus.”
– Acts 4:13
Reflection
The mission of God has always been in the hands of ‘ordinary’ people, rather than in the hands of the professionals.
When Peter and John were brought before the religious rulers, there were several things that were noted about them.
Firstly, they took note of their courage. This is worthy of our extra attention. After all, it was only several weeks since Peter, out of fear, had denied even knowing Jesus (Luke 23:54–60), and since all the disciples hid in the upper room behind locked doors “because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders” (John 20:19).
Secondly, they noted that they were unschooled and ordinary men. These were not professional priests, nor were they formally educated. These men had been fishermen.
Finally, they could tell that they had been with Jesus. Their fear and unschooled ordinariness had been transformed by their being with Jesus.
It appears to me that the average Australian Christian has an internal narrative that is defeatist when it comes to being able to help another person put their faith in Jesus. For many, they associate trying to share their faith with failure and even trauma. Hence, they aspire to simply being willing to invite a friend to an environment where someone else can do it.
It was not so with the first disciples. Their courage came from time in Jesus’ presence, which resulted in them “teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead” (Acts 4:2). May it also be so for us today.
The issue is not whether we are trained or somehow ‘special’. The mission of God is in the hands of ordinary people just like us.
Video
Prayer
Father, help me to realise that my courage comes from being with Jesus. Thank you that I don’t have to be a specially trained person or a professional to help another person discover Jesus.
I offer my life to you today so that you can use me to speak the name of Jesus to someone that I meet. I pray that you will touch another person through me this day as I trust in you. Amen.
Author Bio
Dale Stephenson has led Crossway Baptist Church since 2008. Over this period, Crossway has grown significantly and now has nine campuses, pioneering initiatives such as Building a Discipling Culture, COACH Network, and Empowered Faith Communities.
Crossway has 75 workers ministering in 45 countries around the world, and by the grace of God has planted over 20,000 churches.
Prayer Points for October 2025
- God to pour out his blessing and Spirit on every church in Australia and its leaders. Hebrews 13:7
- All churches in Australia to grow in Christlikeness and win people to Christ. Acts 6:7
- Widespread adoption of Reaching Australia 2033 and its plan to activate every believer in personal evangelism. Acts 1:8
- Revival for Australia and for millions to come to Christ. Isaiah 64:1–2
We invite you to support this prayer campaign to multiply prayer in Australia for revival and see millions come to faith in Christ. Every donation to the Canberra Declaration helps us promote prayer and make a stand for family, faith, freedom, life, and the good news of God’s love through Jesus Christ.
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Great devotion indeed!!!!!!!!!!!!
you need to read the whole story .The Jewish leaders were Roman appointees and done in a manner that overturned all Jewish traditional leadership protocols It was in fact a passive aggressive infiltration of Judaism by Rome’s King .
They were set up to destroy Judaic fundamentalism by turning the synagogue into a barley stall filled with money lenders and stall owners To make it “a den of thieves ,a synagogue of Satan ”
The Romans did that .
With intentions to be as if Madonna singing ” we are living in a material world ,and I am a material girl ‘
People’s obligation to God is to his Word which they manifest through reading His book as its written ,as its intended to be read .imo allegedly.
I didn’t tripe into a barley stall btw I’m not sure where auto correct came up with that creative AI .
type .That’s Ai for you Aren’t we lucky to be so blessed with technology replacing our thinking ?Fulfilling Hitler’s statement that isn’t it fortunate for leaders that people just don’t think .
They aren’t taught how to think They’re trained from preschool to be obedient to the authority figure xtk accept what they’re told and to be compliant without any back chat question or argument That’s the point of education .