Acts 4:13
When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus.

Do we want to amaze a world full of powerful people who will do anything to stop the gospel of Jesus Christ from being communicated to a lost world? Do we want them to be forced to admit that what makes us truly amazing is our connection to Jesus Christ? The answer to both questions should be a resounding YES!

The follow-up question should be: “How do we do that?” The answer to that question is given to us in Acts 4:13. 

No one is ever amazed by people who lack the conviction and courage to speak up for their convictions. No one is ever amazed by a group of people who consistently compromise their convictions simply to maintain a fragile sense of peace and security. A lack of courage coupled with a consistent compromising of convictions produces only a lack of respect from a world  that refuses to take our message of salvation through Christ alone seriously and dismisses us as weak.

What “amazed” ALL of the powerful people of Peter and John’s day about them was when they “observed” their “boldness”. In other words, when they saw with their eyes and heard with their ears the courage these men had to speak truth to power, to say to them  concerning Jesus Christ of Nazareth in Acts 4:12, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved”. If we will live out this message both by our words and actions, while they may not like us, they will be amazed by us.