Today you should read: Acts 4:23-37
In the ESV translation of our passage today, verses 23-31 has the heading “The Believers Pray for Boldness.” As I was reading the passage, I noticed that verse 31 is what puts this boldness in its proper context: “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.”
This is an amazing summary verse of the early church: their prayers literally shook the physical location that they were in, they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and then it says they were boldly sharing the gospel. Boldness in sharing the gospel isn’t just something that is manufactured; it comes from a group of believers who are passionate about seeking God in prayer and who are filled with the Spirit.
God has been gracious to Center Point over the years, as we have seen many people come to know Jesus and be discipled and growing in their faith. I would say we are certainly ahead of many other churches when we think about this, but what if God wants to do even more through our church? What if God wants us to seek Him even stronger in prayer and personally and corporately seek to be filled with the Spirit so that we can more effectively be a bold witness to the gospel to a dark world?
This unity around the mission led to the needs of everyone in the church being met (32-37). They were so focused on the mission, so filled with the Spirit, that they understood that they were a family that needed to care for each other. What a contrasting light in a world of self-centered darkness!
Over and over in the book of Acts it says that God multiplied the church and added to their number every day. What if God wants to do the same thing through His churches today? What if God wants to do the same thing through us?
By: Graham Withers — Pastoral Ministry Apprentice
JumpstartCPC.com 
Good word today Graham! What if CPC got serious about evangelism and God added 3,000 to our East & West Campuses? Our beautiful new facility at East and our school gym at West couldn’t hold all the people. Our church has never made buildings a priority but wouldn’t it be wonderful if we were forced to find new facilities because of the mighty work of the Holy Spirit?
On a completely different note, it was awesome to watch Dabo Swinney give credit to our Lord for allowing him to prosper as a college football coach. Coach Swinney has built a culture at Clemson that glorifies Christ and is raising up young men to be future leaders in their churches and communities. Glory to God!
Thanks Graham! Between Sunday’s Reset message and today’s reading, we should all be ready to grow closer to Christ and each other in 2019. Doing that will be an example that unbelievers won’t be able to resist and God will draw more people to his church … and CPC…. and Mike Pepper’s vision will become reality!