Experience (S2) - Introduction

In our first season of “Experience,” we discussed the experience of the Holy Spirit, poured out upon the followers of Jesus, as well as the experience of the spread of the gospel.

In this second season, we’re going to turn our attention onto the risks we may experience in choosing to believe in this gospel of Jesus Christ, in following Him in a world with a very different set of values than what He taught, and in living out those beliefs come what may.

A risk is defined as situation or opportunity involving danger. Some risks are more obvious to us. I once jumped out of a perfectly good airplane on a dare from about 1800 college students. Thankfully, I had a parachute and a grown adult I was strapped to, but still, I knew the risks in that moment.

Historically, choosing to believe in God is a risky endeavor. However, for too many of us in the Western world, we’ve settled into a comfortable form of Christianity, a Christianity that doesn’t ruffle feathers or cause us to stand out. Some of us even retreat from the rest of the world so we can live out our faith in peace, while followers of Jesus in many parts of the world continue to be persecuted for what they believe.

The followers of Jesus faced danger and took plenty of risks to further the gospel. Over the next five weeks, we’ll explore some of these risks, including the risk of standing up for what you believe in (the stoning of Stephen), the risk of taking a new path (the conversion of Saul), the risk of moving beyond your comfort zone (taking the gospel to the Gentiles), and the risk of investing in others (Barnabas and Saul).

As we explore the risks they took to follow Jesus and spread the gospel, we’ll ask ourselves: what are we willing to risk to help spread His gospel in our world today? It may be difficult at times to follow Jesus, but it’s easier when we travel that narrow road together.