WEBVTT - Expecting Change (Jonathan Josephs) 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:08.280 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.560 gives your perspective to see God as moving in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:19.440 Enjoy the message slipped our hands together for a moment. 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:22.479 Let's have a prayer of consecration as we head into 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:30.000 a new year together as a church family. Jesus, it's 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:32.920 your name we exalt today. We exalt you in our lives. 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:37.320 As we head into a new year. We just re 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:40.800 establish in our own hearts today that Jesus, you are 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:45.360 our priority, You are our desire, You. 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:46.800 Are our one ambition. 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:50.520 I don't know what this year holds, whether it's hills, 0:00:50.560 --> 0:00:53.440 whether it's valleys, but I know that you go with me, 0:00:54.160 --> 0:00:57.280 and that you go before me. So we head into 0:00:57.280 --> 0:00:59.279 this new year, we thank you God that, oh the 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:02.480 weapons might be formed against us, they will not prosper 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:07.280 or prevail. I thank you that surely goodness and mercy 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:10.920 will follow me all the days of my life, and 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:14.680 I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever. 0:01:14.880 --> 0:01:17.920 Thank you for your abiding presence. Thank you for your 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:18.880 strength this year. 0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:22.360 Thank you for a spirit of perseverance falling on your people. 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:22.640 God. 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:25.760 Thank you Lord that is we orient our hearts towards you. 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:29.000 We will see your kingdom come. Your will be done 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:33.479 here on earth as it is in heaven. We honor you, Lord. 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:36.600 We give you our hearts, we give you our lives. 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:38.760 It's in your name we pray. 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:47.440 Amen. Amen. Well, Happy New Year, everybody. 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:50.040 It feels good to start out the year in worship, 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:53.240 doesn't it. If I haven't got a chance to meet you. 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:54.920 My name is Jonathan. I know we have so many 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:56.400 new people here today. 0:01:56.440 --> 0:01:58.320 My name is Jonathan. I'm one of the pastors here. 0:01:58.360 --> 0:02:00.720 And let me show you a picture of my family 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:02.040 real quick, they'll throw it up there. 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:07.880 It's my wife, Anna and our three kids. And we've 0:02:07.920 --> 0:02:10.600 been a part of this church for thirteen years now. 0:02:11.080 --> 0:02:13.079 And for us it's such a joy to be able 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:13.360 to be a. 0:02:13.360 --> 0:02:16.200 Part of this church family, this church community, and to 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:18.960 be under the incredible leadership of our pastor. Can we 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:25.480 thank the Lord for our pastor? And you know, not 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:29.200 too long ago after I preached recently, someone came up 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:31.200 to me and they said, man, I really enjoyed the 0:02:31.240 --> 0:02:31.960 sermon you preach. 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:33.120 I said, thank you so much. 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:36.160 And then what they said next, They said it like 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:39.040 it was the big accomplishment. They said, you know, I 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:41.800 used to get so upset when Pastor Stephen wasn't preaching, 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:45.120 And they said, but now I've decided when he's not preaching, 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:47.320 I'm just gonna thank God that he's getting to rest 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:50.480 his voice. And I didn't really know how to take that, 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:52.720 but let's get in on it together, and let's thank 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:54.799 God that our pastor is getting to rest his voice. 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:57.680 Listen weekend of Hoory Kidding. 0:02:57.680 --> 0:02:59.760 He's probably writing a brand new song for us to 0:02:59.800 --> 0:03:03.200 say right now. But I'm really excited about what the 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:06.280 Lord has given me to share with you today on 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:08.520 the cusp of this new year. And we're gonna look 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:12.200 at a scripture from Acts three that I think has 0:03:12.240 --> 0:03:14.800 several implications for us today, but we'll also set the 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:16.520 tone for us. We're gonna read our scripture. You can 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:19.280 stay standing for just a moment and then we'll get 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:25.760 to sit down after that. It's optional, but Acts Chapter three, 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:29.120 One day, everybody say one day. I won't have you 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:31.880 repeat every two words, but just to fuel along the way, 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:35.440 everyone say. One day, Peter and John were going up 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:37.720 to the temple at the time of prayer at three 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:41.040 in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from 0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:45.200 birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:48.200 where he was put every day to beg from those 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:52.240 going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:55.920 John about the enter, he asked them for money. Peter 0:03:56.440 --> 0:04:00.320 looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:04.480 look at us. So the man gave him. Gave them 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:09.760 his attention, expecting to get something from them. Everyone say, expecting. 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:13.920 Then Peter said, silver or gold. 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:14.320 I do not have. 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:17.320 But what I do have, I give you in the 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:22.720 name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth walk Taking him by 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:26.240 the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:30.479 man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his 0:04:30.560 --> 0:04:33.600 feet and he began to walk. Then he went with 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:38.200 them into the temple courts, walking and jumping and praising God. 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:41.280 Did anyone walking to church like that today? Walking and 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:47.400 jumping and praising God. When all the people saw him 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:51.039 walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:54.680 man who used to sit begging at the temple Gate 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:59.360 called beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:03.760 what had happened to him. My title for today is 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:11.599 Expecting change. Expecting change, go ahead and grab a seat. 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:15.040 I thought that would be a good title for your 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:19.119 first Sunday of a new year. Anyone expecting change going 0:05:19.120 --> 0:05:22.480 into this year? Now, I know that there's probably sixty 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:24.240 percent of you that when it comes to a new 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:26.160 year you roll your eyes at the thought of new 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:30.480 year's resolutions. You're like, it's January fourth, and already most 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:32.440 people have already failed at the things that they set 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:35.039 out to do this year, and so this is not 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:37.599 a new Year's resolution message. Don't worry even though there's 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:40.279 others of you who who I mean? This is like 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:42.080 your favorite time of the year. You've already had an 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:45.279 off site with your spouse, You've reflected on the prior year, 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:48.720 You've set your budget, all your vacations planned, every date night, 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:50.200 all your workouts. 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:50.839 You've got all locked in. 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:53.120 Anybody like that, You're just so excited for a new 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:56.479 year and the possibility of change. No one, Okay, cool, 0:05:56.480 --> 0:05:58.119 we're talking to a cynical church today. 0:05:58.120 --> 0:05:59.760 That's amazing, Oh good. 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:03.160 But there is even though I know there's a part 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:07.159 of us that goes, what's so different about December thirty 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:08.440 first to January first? 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:09.920 It's just a change on the calendar. 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:14.000 And yet there's something about transitions in our life that 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:19.559 create a sense of expectation or even anticipation for change 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:22.160 to happen in our life. Often God will use external 0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:26.160 transition to bring about internal change in our lives. So 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:28.080 even though you're heading into a new year and some 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:29.640 of your I don't know what's going to be different 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:33.080 from this year to next, there is a sense of optimism, 0:06:33.400 --> 0:06:36.840 let's say, in the atmosphere even today, that maybe something 0:06:36.880 --> 0:06:40.599 could be different as we head into a new year. Now, 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:43.400 new year's resolutions, that's that's one thing. If you're trying 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:45.680 to lose weight this year or set up an emergency fund, 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:47.760 that's amazing. You can come up with your plan and 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:49.880 set your goals. But what I want to talk to 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:55.400 you about today is less about those those type of 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:57.960 changes that you need to see happen in your life 0:06:58.000 --> 0:07:00.200 and that you want to work towards this year. I 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:02.320 want to talk to you more so about the God 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:07.240 changes that you need to see happen in your life. 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:07.760 As we ended last year. 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:11.200 Many people in our church participated in our year on offering. 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:13.040 Once again, thank you to everyone who is a part 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:17.560 of our trust in God offering this year, and as 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:19.760 part of that process, we ask everyone in our church 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:22.440 to write down a word that represents what they're believing 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:25.400 God for as we head into a new year, and 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:27.760 as our staff was praying over those words, there wasn't 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:29.480 a single word that I saw that looked like a 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:30.520 new year's resolution. 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:33.880 I didn't see go to the gym eat more vegetables. 0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:39.040 I saw words like restoration. I saw words like healing. 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:43.680 I saw words like forgiveness. These aren't ordinary changes. These 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:46.560 are God changes. These are things that can only happen 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:48.640 in our life when God begins. 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:50.440 To create change in us. 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:53.040 So I love the story of this man in Acts, 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:55.880 and I was drawn to it because on this ordinary day, 0:07:56.400 --> 0:07:59.000 an ordinary day. Remember, Luke starts out, Luke, who wrote 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:01.280 the who wrote the Book of Acts, and the Gospel 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:03.360 of Luke starts off by. 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:06.160 Painting this as just a day like any other day. 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:09.320 This is not December thirty first, This is not January first. 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:11.600 This is not Peter's birthday, This is not the man's birthday. 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:14.760 It's not Christmas, it's not Easter. It's an ordinary day, 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:18.760 and yet something extraordinary happens in the middle of an 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:21.360 ordinary day. How many believe that God can do something 0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:28.160 extraordinary on an ordinary day. Everything about his language is 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:31.600 indicating that there's nothing special about today. One day, Peter 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:33.719 and John are going to the temple. They're going at 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:35.280 the time of prayer. This would have been part of 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:37.720 their custom. This is just what they do. And then 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:40.120 it tells us that there is a man who every day, 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.520 every day was put out by the temple gates to 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:46.360 beg for money. It's an ordinary day, and yet something 0:08:46.600 --> 0:08:49.840 so profound happens to this man on this day, This 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:52.560 man who was lame. Luke later tells us that who's 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:55.600 about forty years old. But all his life, this was 0:08:55.640 --> 0:08:58.320 his routine wake up in the morning. And I don't 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:00.319 know who took him to the gates, whether it is 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:03.160 his parents or whether it's for his friends, but someone 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:06.200 took him and set him outside that gate, and day 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:06.920 after day. 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:08.439 He would sit there and beg for money. 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:12.000 And yet something happens on this day that changed this 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:15.800 man's life forever. Now, when you come to church, it's 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:18.160 so important that you come in with a level of 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:20.040 expectation that God could do. 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:21.760 Something in your life today. 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:24.760 Sometimes we get in the habit of treating it like, Oh, 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:27.200 it's just another Sunday, I'm going to hear some worship songs, 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:29.200 I'm gonna hear a message. But what if you came 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:33.160 in with the expectation and belief that today God could 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:35.400 do something in your life that would change you for 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:38.480 the rest of your life. Anybody believed that anything is 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:45.720 possible with God today. Now, as I read about this 0:09:45.800 --> 0:09:48.280 man's miracle, the question and the tension for me of 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:50.240 why I kept going back to this passage is I 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:52.760 think it's so amazing that as he meets Peter and 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:55.600 he meets John, and that his legs are strengthened, and 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:57.640 he jumps and he leaps and he praises God. I 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:00.720 want to celebrate the miracle that happened and in his life. 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:03.679 But the question that brings up in me is why now, 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:11.080 after forty years of waking up day after day, why now, 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:15.440 why did God choose to heal them this day? Even pastorally, 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:18.120 I wonder that a lot. It's amazing what I get 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:19.880 to see God do in the lives of the people 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:21.800 of this church. And when someone lets me know that 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:25.560 God set them free from PTSD or God set them 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:28.360 free from a pornography addiction, I'm the first one to 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:30.880 celebrate and praise God for what he's done. When someone 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:34.559 tells me how God completely restored their marriage after all 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:37.440 kinds of betrayal. I want to praise God, jump, leap, 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:39.640 praise God with them for what He's done. But in 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:42.559 the back of my mind sometimes I'm asking the question 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:46.640 why now? And maybe you found yourself in that place too, 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:49.160 where you're like God, I'm so thankful after all these 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:51.560 years of being single, you finally brought a man into 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:56.880 my life. But God, why now? Why now? What was 0:10:56.920 --> 0:11:00.839 it about today? What was it about this one that 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:03.360 led to this man being changed? And so look at 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:06.520 the story with me, says day after day, every day 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:08.440 he was put at the temple to beg from those 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:10.520 going into the temple courts, and he sees Peter and 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:13.880 John and he asked them for money. Peter looks at him, 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:16.240 as did John, and look at this in verse five. 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:20.319 So the man gave him, gave them his attention, expecting 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:24.240 to get something from them. But he's not expecting a 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:27.560 healing that day. He's just expecting some money, he's just 0:11:27.640 --> 0:11:31.840 expecting change, and yet what he got was so much 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:35.000 greater than even what he was expecting. Now, I wonder 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:37.280 if there was ever a point in this man's life 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:39.520 where he was expecting a miracle. 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:40.960 It wasn't this day. 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:44.000 But I wonder maybe if in his teenage years he 0:11:44.040 --> 0:11:45.600 had days where he would just wake up in the 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:48.200 morning and try to wiggle his toes, wondering, maybe things 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:51.400 will be different from me today. Maybe today I won't 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:53.000 have to call my friends and ask them to. 0:11:52.960 --> 0:11:53.920 Take me to the gate. 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:56.480 But some of us get stuck in a condition for 0:11:56.600 --> 0:11:59.480 so long that it becomes our reality in such a 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:02.280 way that when it comes to our relationship with God, 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:07.120 we've even given up on expecting anything to change. And 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:10.280 yet I'm so thankful that God is a God who 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:15.480 exceeds our expectations. There's this phrase I picked up somewhere 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:17.520 that I used to say that God will often meet 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:20.320 you at the level of your expectation. And I would 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:22.319 love to say that coming into church because and on 0:12:22.440 --> 0:12:24.720 one hand, it means that that if I come into 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:27.559 church just expecting it to be an ordinary day or 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:30.760 the message was okay, then I'll often. 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:31.840 That's what I'll experience. 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:34.120 And so it say God will often meet you at 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:36.400 the level of your expectation. If you come into church 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:38.640 with an open heart and an open mind, if you 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:41.439 come in expecting that through the Holy Spirit, God will 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:44.000 speak to you, often that's the very thing you receive. 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:46.960 And Yet when I think about that statement, I couldn't 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:50.000 be more wrong, because when I look back over my life, 0:12:50.080 --> 0:12:52.280 I'm so grateful that God did not meet me at 0:12:52.320 --> 0:12:55.679 the level of my expectation. I'm so grateful that time 0:12:55.840 --> 0:12:59.600 and time again God has done exceedingly more than I 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:01.679 could ever ask or imagine. 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:03.240 Is that anyone's testimony? 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:06.960 Like you didn't expect to even be alive today. You 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:09.720 didn't expect to be where you are. You didn't expect 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:12.559 to be blessed with this family, blessed with this purpose. 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:15.000 You certainly didn't expect that you would be in church 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:16.080 in twenty twenty six. 0:13:16.280 --> 0:13:18.440 But how many you want to praise God that he 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:21.479 did more than you could ever expect or imagine. 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:27.840 So He's expecting to get some change from them, and 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:30.960 instead Peter speaks to him, and it's so swaggy the 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:33.680 way Peter does it in the name of Jesus, get 0:13:33.760 --> 0:13:36.559 up and walk and look at this. Taking him by 0:13:36.559 --> 0:13:39.480 the right hand, he jumped up and instantly the man's 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:42.800 feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:45.000 and he began to walk. And this is key. It 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:48.800 says that he went with them into the temple courts. 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:53.440 That's a key detail because all this all his life, 0:13:53.520 --> 0:13:57.880 he was not allowed to go into the temple. Every 0:13:58.000 --> 0:14:01.280 single day of his forty years, he was sat down 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:06.920 outside of the temple gates. His condition prohibited from prohibited 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:09.079 him from going into the temple. 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:11.520 And yet when God heals. 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:14.720 His condition that day, not only does he jump and 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:17.640 walk and praise God, but it says that he went 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:20.920 into the temple. I want you to know that when 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:23.120 God brings about a change in your life, it's not 0:14:23.240 --> 0:14:23.960 just to fix you. 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:25.320 It's to restore you. 0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:30.320 Because him going into the temple is significant because it 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:34.880 represents him being restored to worship with God and restored 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:37.880 into community with others. The things that God wants to 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:40.400 bring in your bring about in your life, the changes 0:14:40.440 --> 0:14:43.080 that God wants to do on a deep level, they're 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:45.360 not just meant to fix your condition. To make you 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:49.160 feel better or to alleviate your pain temporarily. They're meant 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:52.920 to restore you in worship and restore you in community. 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:55.800 That's this most significant change that happens to this man. 0:14:55.840 --> 0:14:58.760 He goes into the temple, and as he's in there, 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:02.520 everybody reckon as the man who look at this used to. 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:04.680 Sit at the gate called beautiful. 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:08.960 I love that language, because y'all this just happened to him. 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:12.400 This just happened to him. And yet they're already calling 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:14.360 him the man who used to sit. That's like you 0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:17.480 introducing your husband to someone in the lobby after church 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:19.600 and say, oh, this is Frank who used to have 0:15:19.720 --> 0:15:20.320 road rage, and. 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:22.480 They're like, what are you talking about? I just saw 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:24.920 him getting angry in the parking lot on the way in. 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:27.160 It wasn't all that long ago. No, No, he used 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:29.360 to have road rage. He's a changed man because he 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:32.040 was a church and God touched him and he changed 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:35.520 the man who used to sit. And they're filled with 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:40.000 wonder and amazement because they recognize them. This guy for 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:42.480 forty years has been sitting at this gate, and isn't 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:46.280 that the same guy? Now he's walking, he's leaping, he's jumping, 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:50.120 he's praising God, and they're filled with wonder and amazement. 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:52.520 Look what God does in their life because of what 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:56.360 He's done in this man's life. God heals him, but 0:15:56.440 --> 0:16:00.800 he fills them with wonder and amazement. When when a 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:04.160 God change happens in your life, it creates wonder. 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:05.760 And other people, if it's possible for. 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:10.800 Him, I wonder what God could do for me, And 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:13.760 they're filled with wonder and amazement because look at that 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:17.280 this man who had just been sitting there instantly his 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:22.400 feet and ankles became strong instantly. And as I thought 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:24.120 about that word, I thought, man, it must have been 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:26.440 so amazing for everyone to see this man who had 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:31.120 just been sitting there lame suddenly walking. And yet for 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:37.200 this man, this miracle is anything but sudden. It's been 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:41.520 forty years, and often the God changes that happened in 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:45.000 your life will look sudden to other people. But for you, 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:47.880 I mean, you know, all the labor and all the 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:50.520 prayer and all the tears you cried to get to 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:53.520 this place, and so other people are filled with wonder 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:56.320 and amazement. Look what God has done in your life, 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:59.120 and it looks so easy to them. And yet you know, 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:01.840 all the petitions, is when you went before God's saying, God, 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:04.080 can you do something about my situation? 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:05.960 God, can you help me right now? 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:08.679 And so it was sudden to them, but it was 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:12.240 slow to him, And it brought back up that question 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:13.480 in my mind. 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:18.760 So why now, forty years, day. 0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:21.320 After day this man is put by the temple gates 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:24.719 to beg for money. It was just his way of surviving. 0:17:25.760 --> 0:17:29.320 Day after day he was placed there begging. And yet 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:33.000 on this ordinary day something happens in his life that 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:37.800 changes him forever. Why today? And I sat there with 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:41.320 this question looking for some deep answer, you know, something 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:43.600 beyond just oh, well in God's timing, because how many 0:17:43.680 --> 0:17:46.200 you know when you're really wrestling with something, When you've 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:48.560 been chained up and bound by something for so long, 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:50.879 the last thing you want to hear as you're working 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:53.600 to get free is just, oh, in God's timing. I 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:54.960 want to be able to trust. 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:56.359 God's timing, but that's not the thing I want to 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:57.080 hear all the time. 0:17:57.680 --> 0:17:59.919 And so I'm looking at this passage going what was 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:03.919 different about today? One day, every day time of prayer? 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:07.560 One day, every day time of prayer? What was different 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:10.920 about today? That led to this God change in this 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:14.600 man's life. And the answer is right on the surface. 0:18:15.920 --> 0:18:21.600 What was different about today he met Peter. That's what 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:25.280 was different about today he met Peter. 0:18:26.400 --> 0:18:30.240 And y'all, the man's not the only one changing. Peter's 0:18:30.320 --> 0:18:30.880 changing too. 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:36.600 And I realized that as Luke writes this story, the 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:39.480 man who was healed, that was lame from birth, he's 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:40.680 not even the main character. 0:18:41.720 --> 0:18:42.280 Peter is. 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:45.760 And Luke is trying to get us to see that 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:50.080 Peter is changing, as there's a whole bunch of transition happening. 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:51.520 Let me give you some context. 0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:54.399 Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke, where he recorded the 0:18:54.400 --> 0:18:57.359 words and deeds that Jesus did on the earth, and 0:18:57.400 --> 0:18:59.919 then he continues his Gospel of Luke with the Book 0:19:00.320 --> 0:19:03.719 of Acts. Acts Chapter one starts out with Jesus, who 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:07.320 is resurrected from the dead ascending into heaven. So Luke's 0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:10.920 trying to get you to see there's a God change happening. Jesus, 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:13.520 who had been doing ministry on earth for three years 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:17.119 has now resurrected and ascended to the Father. 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:20.280 That's Acts Chapter one. Acts Chapter two. 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:24.119 There's another God change that happened as the apostles. The 0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:27.040 people who had been with Jesus during his earthly ministry 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:30.280 are in an upper room in Jerusalem praying. God sends 0:19:30.320 --> 0:19:33.320 the spirit, the Holy Spirit, and it falls on them 0:19:33.359 --> 0:19:36.720 like tongues of fire, and the church begins that day. 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:41.119 In Acts chapter two, y'all, that's a god change. God 0:19:41.160 --> 0:19:44.280 is saying, although Jesus in his physical body has ascended 0:19:44.280 --> 0:19:47.119 into heaven, Luke wants us to know that the ministry 0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:51.119 of Jesus is now continuing, but it continues through his church. 0:19:52.200 --> 0:19:55.120 And then in Acts chapter three, where we are, Luke 0:19:55.200 --> 0:19:57.200 is trying to get you to see that not only 0:19:57.320 --> 0:19:59.880 is there so much change happening, but as the way 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:01.160 God is working in the. 0:20:01.040 --> 0:20:03.040 Earth is changing, he's changing. 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:07.960 Peter two, the Peter we read about in Acts chapter three, y'all, 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:09.160 if you read about him and the. 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:14.199 Gospels, this is not the same Peter. This Peter in 0:20:14.240 --> 0:20:14.760 the name. 0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:17.280 Of Jesus Christ of Nazareth walk. But y'all, it wasn't 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:19.639