Default Mode in Crisis
Acts Sermon Series 11
Acts 4:1-31
9/6/2026
When we encounter difficult situations in our lives, our default response is often to complain, grow discouraged, or try to avoid the situation altogether. However, when we look at the early church under Peter and John in Acts 4, we see that their default response to crises was very different.
Acts 4:1-4 describes how Peter and John preached the word of God, and as a result, the early church continued to grow to roughly 5,000 believers. However, this greatly annoyed the Sadducees, and they threw Peter and John in jail. Then, the next day, the elders and high priests threatened Peter and John, telling them to stop preaching the name of Jesus Christ, but the apostles refused to give in to their demands. Unable to decide how to punish them, the authorities eventually released Peter and John, who returned to the church and reported what had happened.
Then, Acts 4:23-24 tells us that the believers, hearing what the authorities had said to Peter and John, prayed together. But this is not a one-time occurrence – rather, throughout the Book of Acts, whenever the early church encountered different crises, they gathered together and prayed. This was their default mode in crisis. And when we examine how the early church prayed, we find 3 interesting things.
1. They prayed together.
Oftentimes, we pray alone because we are hesitant to share our difficulties with others. Or, we like to pray alone because we are introverted and find it uncomfortable to ask others to pray with us. However, in moments of crisis, the early church in Acts did not pray alone; instead, they sought one another and prayed together. Likewise, when we encounter difficult situations, we should invite our brothers and sisters in Christ to pray together.
2. They turned their eyes to God’s sovereignty.
Despite the opposition of the elders and high priests, the early church lifted their voices together and proclaimed God’s sovereignty. In doing so, they professed that their difficult circumstances and opposition from the authorities were still under God’s control. Rather than denying their present reality, the early church fixed their eyes on God and confessed that God was greater than the crises they faced.
3. They prayed for boldness rather than the removal of their difficult circumstances.
In Acts 4:29-31, the early church acknowledged the threats of the authorities and prayed for boldness. Then, when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered shook, and the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit. God did not make the crises and opposition disappear from the church; rather, He equipped them with the boldness to overcome the difficult situations and continue to share the name of Jesus.
Discussion Questions:
What is your default mode in crisis? What do you usually do first when you face a difficult situation?
How does knowing God’s sovereignty over your crises change the way you view difficult situations?
Is there a difficult situation you are facing where you need to ask God for boldness
