Wednesday 19th, August 2026

The call came in the afternoon. Was the pastor trying to chastise others through the sermon? It was a little surprising, but not. The question was both direct and fair. From their vantage point, the preacher had weaponised the sermon, and the call was an effort to clarify why. It was an interesting lesson for the pastor, as the sermon was adjusted to avoid offending those who listened.

Had the preacher delivered God’s sermon as given, that call would have been different. Compromise is more costly than total obedience. As we consider Today’s Holy Nougat, let’s commit to delivering God’s undiluted word to our dying world.

Acts 5:30-31 CEVDCI

• [30] You killed Jesus by nailing him to a cross. But the God our ancestors worshipped raised him to life

• [31] and made him our Leader and Saviour. Then God gave him a place at his right side, so that the people of Israel would turn back to him and be forgiven.

Undiluted

From where we are, Peter’s initial response sounds harsh. He pulled no punches in accusing the high priest and his team of murder. He didn’t allude to it; Peter stated his undiluted view on behalf of himself and others. Obviously, Peter forgot who was in control of the situation, or did he?

Self-Check

What circumstances, if any, cause us to dilute the message of the Gospel?

Application

Many of us today would think twice about how we answer someone with as much authority as the high priest. 18th-century philosopher Edmund Burke is said to have coined the phrase, ‘evil thrives when good men do nothing’. Compromise gets us caught in that trap. That’s why corruption continues unabated in some places: we fail to call injustice and sin what they are.

Just think, it would have been less of a bother for Peter to delete the stark truth as he did. He’d done that thrice during Y’shua’s trial. And the only person it cost was him and his conscience. But Peter also missed an opportunity to introduce his Jesus to those who questioned him. That’s why we must be careful that we don’t compromise our faith by diluting God’s standards.

Note that Peter didn’t end with an accusation. He offered repentance in the same conversation. Whether they accepted the invitation to repent or not, God offered those religious leaders a second chance. I believe that was the point of the jailbreak. God wanted to get the chief priest’s attention to offer them the chance to repent. Hence Peter asserted, ‘God gave him a place at his right side, so that the people of Israel would turn back to him and be forgiven.’ Peter followed God’s directive and offered the religious leaders scope for redemption.

Siblings, we are not called to dilute or compromise our faith. Especially in this season when the world teeters out of control. We must name sin and injustice for what they are while offering Christ as the solution to transform broken systems. The undiluted Gospel must also include the path to redemption. If we’re at a loss for words, let’s ask God’s Spirit for what to say. Or, we can begin with the fact of John 3:16-17.

Here’s a HNM version for our consideration:

For God loved us so much that God became human in the person of God’s Son. And He became our sacrifice so that we who believe in Him will not perish. Rather, we will live eternally. Because God doesn’t desire our condemnation, therefore in God’s Son, Y’shua, we may be saved unto abundant life.

That’s where the rubber hits the road, siblings. We are called to preach Christ, His crucifixion AND His resurrection so that others might be convicted and redeemed.

Undiluted. In Christ

Point to Ponder

The sermon at preach isn’t always words. Our walk must also be undiluted.

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May all we seek be found in Christ