Examining the Cast of Characters

In one paragraph

Pastor Mark opened in Acts 25, walking through Paul's trial before the new Roman governor Porcius Festus. The message traced the pressures Paul faced from religious accusers, a people-pleasing judge, and a system that kept declaring him innocent while refusing to set him free. Three application points from pastor and author James Montgomery the preacher closed the sermon: know that God is...

Read together

1. 1 Timothy 1:17 opened the service as a doxology: 'All honor and glory to God forever and ever. He is the eternal king, the unseen one who never dies. He alone is God.'
2. 2 Chronicles 7:14 quoted loosely in the opening prayer: 'if my people who are called by my name would humble themselves and pray, then I'd heal their land'
3. Acts 24 identified as the passage preached two weeks prior, ending the Felix section before chapter 25
4. Acts 25:1-12 the main text of the sermon, Paul's trial before Festus
5. Daniel 3:17-18 quoted directly as the source of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego's courage: 'If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us...'
6. 1 Peter 4 referenced to say do not let accusations be true of you: don't let it be because you are a murderer, thief or meddler
7. Luke 9:23 quoted as Jesus' words: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me'

Talk about it

1. Felix kept putting off a decision about Paul for two years, and Festus struggled with people pleasing even while trying to do the right thing. Where do you see that same pull toward deferring or accommodating others at the expense of doing what you know is right?
2. Paul was charged with heresy, sacrilege, and treason, the same three categories of charges brought against Jesus. What does it mean to you that following Christ closely enough can put you in the same position Paul and Jesus were in?
3. The pastor pointed out that the religious people in this story, the ones who knew the Ten Commandments, were the ones plotting an assassination. How do you guard against your own religious conviction becoming something that hardens rather than humbles you?
4. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said God is able to save us, but even if he does not, we will not bow. When have you faced a situation where you had to act on what you knew was right without any guarantee of how it would turn out?
5. The Solzhenitsyn quote says only the man who has renounced everything can gain the victory, and the pastor tied that directly to Jesus saying take up your cross daily. What is something specific that is hard for you to hold loosely when the world pressures you to compromise your faith?