Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
Speaker 2: I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope
Speaker 2: this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it
Speaker 2: gives your perspective to see God as moving in your life.
Speaker 3: Enjoy the message slipped our hands together for a moment.
Speaker 3: Let's have a prayer of consecration as we head into
Speaker 3: a new year together as a church family. Jesus, it's
Speaker 3: your name we exalt today. We exalt you in our lives.
Speaker 3: As we head into a new year. We just re
Speaker 3: establish in our own hearts today that Jesus, you are
Speaker 3: our priority, You are our desire, You.
Speaker 1: Are our one ambition.
Speaker 3: I don't know what this year holds, whether it's hills,
Speaker 3: whether it's valleys, but I know that you go with me,
Speaker 3: and that you go before me. So we head into
Speaker 3: this new year, we thank you God that, oh the
Speaker 3: weapons might be formed against us, they will not prosper
Speaker 3: or prevail. I thank you that surely goodness and mercy
Speaker 3: will follow me all the days of my life, and
Speaker 3: I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.
Speaker 3: Thank you for your abiding presence. Thank you for your
Speaker 3: strength this year.
Speaker 1: Thank you for a spirit of perseverance falling on your people.
Speaker 3: God.
Speaker 1: Thank you Lord that is we orient our hearts towards you.
Speaker 3: We will see your kingdom come. Your will be done
Speaker 3: here on earth as it is in heaven. We honor you, Lord.
Speaker 3: We give you our hearts, we give you our lives.
Speaker 3: It's in your name we pray.
Speaker 1: Amen. Amen. Well, Happy New Year, everybody.
Speaker 3: It feels good to start out the year in worship,
Speaker 3: doesn't it. If I haven't got a chance to meet you.
Speaker 3: My name is Jonathan. I know we have so many
Speaker 3: new people here today.
Speaker 1: My name is Jonathan. I'm one of the pastors here.
Speaker 1: And let me show you a picture of my family
Speaker 1: real quick, they'll throw it up there.
Speaker 3: It's my wife, Anna and our three kids. And we've
Speaker 3: been a part of this church for thirteen years now.
Speaker 1: And for us it's such a joy to be able
Speaker 1: to be a.
Speaker 3: Part of this church family, this church community, and to
Speaker 3: be under the incredible leadership of our pastor. Can we
Speaker 3: thank the Lord for our pastor? And you know, not
Speaker 3: too long ago after I preached recently, someone came up
Speaker 3: to me and they said, man, I really enjoyed the
Speaker 3: sermon you preach.
Speaker 1: I said, thank you so much.
Speaker 3: And then what they said next, They said it like
Speaker 3: it was the big accomplishment. They said, you know, I
Speaker 3: used to get so upset when Pastor Stephen wasn't preaching,
Speaker 3: And they said, but now I've decided when he's not preaching,
Speaker 3: I'm just gonna thank God that he's getting to rest
Speaker 3: his voice. And I didn't really know how to take that,
Speaker 3: but let's get in on it together, and let's thank
Speaker 3: God that our pastor is getting to rest his voice.
Speaker 1: Listen weekend of Hoory Kidding.
Speaker 3: He's probably writing a brand new song for us to
Speaker 3: say right now. But I'm really excited about what the
Speaker 3: Lord has given me to share with you today on
Speaker 3: the cusp of this new year. And we're gonna look
Speaker 3: at a scripture from Acts three that I think has
Speaker 3: several implications for us today, but we'll also set the
Speaker 3: tone for us. We're gonna read our scripture. You can
Speaker 3: stay standing for just a moment and then we'll get
Speaker 3: to sit down after that. It's optional, but Acts Chapter three,
Speaker 3: One day, everybody say one day. I won't have you
Speaker 3: repeat every two words, but just to fuel along the way,
Speaker 3: everyone say. One day, Peter and John were going up
Speaker 3: to the temple at the time of prayer at three
Speaker 3: in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from
Speaker 3: birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful,
Speaker 3: where he was put every day to beg from those
Speaker 3: going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and
Speaker 3: John about the enter, he asked them for money. Peter
Speaker 3: looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said,
Speaker 3: look at us. So the man gave him. Gave them
Speaker 3: his attention, expecting to get something from them. Everyone say, expecting.
Speaker 3: Then Peter said, silver or gold.
Speaker 1: I do not have.
Speaker 3: But what I do have, I give you in the
Speaker 3: name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth walk Taking him by
Speaker 3: the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the
Speaker 3: man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his
Speaker 3: feet and he began to walk. Then he went with
Speaker 3: them into the temple courts, walking and jumping and praising God.
Speaker 3: Did anyone walking to church like that today? Walking and
Speaker 3: jumping and praising God. When all the people saw him
Speaker 3: walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same
Speaker 3: man who used to sit begging at the temple Gate
Speaker 3: called beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement
Speaker 3: what had happened to him. My title for today is
Speaker 3: Expecting change. Expecting change, go ahead and grab a seat.
Speaker 3: I thought that would be a good title for your
Speaker 3: first Sunday of a new year. Anyone expecting change going
Speaker 3: into this year? Now, I know that there's probably sixty
Speaker 3: percent of you that when it comes to a new
Speaker 3: year you roll your eyes at the thought of new
Speaker 3: year's resolutions. You're like, it's January fourth, and already most
Speaker 3: people have already failed at the things that they set
Speaker 3: out to do this year, and so this is not
Speaker 3: a new Year's resolution message. Don't worry even though there's
Speaker 3: others of you who who I mean? This is like
Speaker 3: your favorite time of the year. You've already had an
Speaker 3: off site with your spouse, You've reflected on the prior year,
Speaker 3: You've set your budget, all your vacations planned, every date night,
Speaker 3: all your workouts.
Speaker 1: You've got all locked in.
Speaker 3: Anybody like that, You're just so excited for a new
Speaker 3: year and the possibility of change. No one, Okay, cool,
Speaker 3: we're talking to a cynical church today.
Speaker 1: That's amazing, Oh good.
Speaker 3: But there is even though I know there's a part
Speaker 3: of us that goes, what's so different about December thirty
Speaker 3: first to January first?
Speaker 1: It's just a change on the calendar.
Speaker 3: And yet there's something about transitions in our life that
Speaker 3: create a sense of expectation or even anticipation for change
Speaker 3: to happen in our life. Often God will use external
Speaker 3: transition to bring about internal change in our lives. So
Speaker 3: even though you're heading into a new year and some
Speaker 3: of your I don't know what's going to be different
Speaker 3: from this year to next, there is a sense of optimism,
Speaker 3: let's say, in the atmosphere even today, that maybe something
Speaker 3: could be different as we head into a new year. Now,
Speaker 3: new year's resolutions, that's that's one thing. If you're trying
Speaker 3: to lose weight this year or set up an emergency fund,
Speaker 3: that's amazing. You can come up with your plan and
Speaker 3: set your goals. But what I want to talk to
Speaker 3: you about today is less about those those type of
Speaker 3: changes that you need to see happen in your life
Speaker 3: and that you want to work towards this year. I
Speaker 3: want to talk to you more so about the God
Speaker 3: changes that you need to see happen in your life.
Speaker 1: As we ended last year.
Speaker 3: Many people in our church participated in our year on offering.
Speaker 3: Once again, thank you to everyone who is a part
Speaker 3: of our trust in God offering this year, and as
Speaker 3: part of that process, we ask everyone in our church
Speaker 3: to write down a word that represents what they're believing
Speaker 3: God for as we head into a new year, and
Speaker 3: as our staff was praying over those words, there wasn't
Speaker 3: a single word that I saw that looked like a
Speaker 3: new year's resolution.
Speaker 1: I didn't see go to the gym eat more vegetables.
Speaker 3: I saw words like restoration. I saw words like healing.
Speaker 3: I saw words like forgiveness. These aren't ordinary changes. These
Speaker 3: are God changes. These are things that can only happen
Speaker 3: in our life when God begins.
Speaker 1: To create change in us.
Speaker 3: So I love the story of this man in Acts,
Speaker 3: and I was drawn to it because on this ordinary day,
Speaker 3: an ordinary day. Remember, Luke starts out, Luke, who wrote
Speaker 3: the who wrote the Book of Acts, and the Gospel
Speaker 3: of Luke starts off by.
Speaker 1: Painting this as just a day like any other day.
Speaker 3: This is not December thirty first, This is not January first.
Speaker 3: This is not Peter's birthday, This is not the man's birthday.
Speaker 3: It's not Christmas, it's not Easter. It's an ordinary day,
Speaker 3: and yet something extraordinary happens in the middle of an
Speaker 3: ordinary day. How many believe that God can do something
Speaker 3: extraordinary on an ordinary day. Everything about his language is
Speaker 3: indicating that there's nothing special about today. One day, Peter
Speaker 3: and John are going to the temple. They're going at
Speaker 3: the time of prayer. This would have been part of
Speaker 3: their custom. This is just what they do. And then
Speaker 3: it tells us that there is a man who every day,
Speaker 3: every day was put out by the temple gates to
Speaker 3: beg for money. It's an ordinary day, and yet something
Speaker 3: so profound happens to this man on this day, This
Speaker 3: man who was lame. Luke later tells us that who's
Speaker 3: about forty years old. But all his life, this was
Speaker 3: his routine wake up in the morning. And I don't
Speaker 3: know who took him to the gates, whether it is
Speaker 3: his parents or whether it's for his friends, but someone
Speaker 3: took him and set him outside that gate, and day
Speaker 3: after day.
Speaker 1: He would sit there and beg for money.
Speaker 3: And yet something happens on this day that changed this
Speaker 3: man's life forever. Now, when you come to church, it's
Speaker 3: so important that you come in with a level of
Speaker 3: expectation that God could do.
Speaker 1: Something in your life today.
Speaker 3: Sometimes we get in the habit of treating it like, Oh,
Speaker 3: it's just another Sunday, I'm going to hear some worship songs,
Speaker 3: I'm gonna hear a message. But what if you came
Speaker 3: in with the expectation and belief that today God could
Speaker 3: do something in your life that would change you for
Speaker 3: the rest of your life. Anybody believed that anything is
Speaker 3: possible with God today. Now, as I read about this
Speaker 3: man's miracle, the question and the tension for me of
Speaker 3: why I kept going back to this passage is I
Speaker 3: think it's so amazing that as he meets Peter and
Speaker 3: he meets John, and that his legs are strengthened, and
Speaker 3: he jumps and he leaps and he praises God. I
Speaker 3: want to celebrate the miracle that happened and in his life.
Speaker 3: But the question that brings up in me is why now,
Speaker 3: after forty years of waking up day after day, why now,
Speaker 3: why did God choose to heal them this day? Even pastorally,
Speaker 3: I wonder that a lot. It's amazing what I get
Speaker 3: to see God do in the lives of the people
Speaker 3: of this church. And when someone lets me know that
Speaker 3: God set them free from PTSD or God set them
Speaker 3: free from a pornography addiction, I'm the first one to
Speaker 3: celebrate and praise God for what he's done. When someone
Speaker 3: tells me how God completely restored their marriage after all
Speaker 3: kinds of betrayal. I want to praise God, jump, leap,
Speaker 3: praise God with them for what He's done. But in
Speaker 3: the back of my mind sometimes I'm asking the question
Speaker 3: why now? And maybe you found yourself in that place too,
Speaker 3: where you're like God, I'm so thankful after all these
Speaker 3: years of being single, you finally brought a man into
Speaker 3: my life. But God, why now? Why now? What was
Speaker 3: it about today? What was it about this one that
Speaker 3: led to this man being changed? And so look at
Speaker 3: the story with me, says day after day, every day
Speaker 3: he was put at the temple to beg from those
Speaker 3: going into the temple courts, and he sees Peter and
Speaker 3: John and he asked them for money. Peter looks at him,
Speaker 3: as did John, and look at this in verse five.
Speaker 3: So the man gave him, gave them his attention, expecting
Speaker 3: to get something from them. But he's not expecting a
Speaker 3: healing that day. He's just expecting some money, he's just
Speaker 3: expecting change, and yet what he got was so much
Speaker 3: greater than even what he was expecting. Now, I wonder
Speaker 3: if there was ever a point in this man's life
Speaker 3: where he was expecting a miracle.
Speaker 1: It wasn't this day.
Speaker 3: But I wonder maybe if in his teenage years he
Speaker 3: had days where he would just wake up in the
Speaker 3: morning and try to wiggle his toes, wondering, maybe things
Speaker 3: will be different from me today. Maybe today I won't
Speaker 3: have to call my friends and ask them to.
Speaker 1: Take me to the gate.
Speaker 3: But some of us get stuck in a condition for
Speaker 3: so long that it becomes our reality in such a
Speaker 3: way that when it comes to our relationship with God,
Speaker 3: we've even given up on expecting anything to change. And
Speaker 3: yet I'm so thankful that God is a God who
Speaker 3: exceeds our expectations. There's this phrase I picked up somewhere
Speaker 3: that I used to say that God will often meet
Speaker 3: you at the level of your expectation. And I would
Speaker 3: love to say that coming into church because and on
Speaker 3: one hand, it means that that if I come into
Speaker 3: church just expecting it to be an ordinary day or
Speaker 3: the message was okay, then I'll often.
Speaker 1: That's what I'll experience.
Speaker 3: And so it say God will often meet you at
Speaker 3: the level of your expectation. If you come into church
Speaker 3: with an open heart and an open mind, if you
Speaker 3: come in expecting that through the Holy Spirit, God will
Speaker 3: speak to you, often that's the very thing you receive.
Speaker 3: And Yet when I think about that statement, I couldn't
Speaker 3: be more wrong, because when I look back over my life,
Speaker 3: I'm so grateful that God did not meet me at
Speaker 3: the level of my expectation. I'm so grateful that time
Speaker 3: and time again God has done exceedingly more than I
Speaker 3: could ever ask or imagine.
Speaker 1: Is that anyone's testimony?
Speaker 3: Like you didn't expect to even be alive today. You
Speaker 3: didn't expect to be where you are. You didn't expect
Speaker 3: to be blessed with this family, blessed with this purpose.
Speaker 3: You certainly didn't expect that you would be in church
Speaker 3: in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1: But how many you want to praise God that he
Speaker 1: did more than you could ever expect or imagine.
Speaker 3: So He's expecting to get some change from them, and
Speaker 3: instead Peter speaks to him, and it's so swaggy the
Speaker 3: way Peter does it in the name of Jesus, get
Speaker 3: up and walk and look at this. Taking him by
Speaker 3: the right hand, he jumped up and instantly the man's
Speaker 3: feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet
Speaker 3: and he began to walk. And this is key. It
Speaker 3: says that he went with them into the temple courts.
Speaker 3: That's a key detail because all this all his life,
Speaker 3: he was not allowed to go into the temple. Every
Speaker 3: single day of his forty years, he was sat down
Speaker 3: outside of the temple gates. His condition prohibited from prohibited
Speaker 3: him from going into the temple.
Speaker 1: And yet when God heals.
Speaker 3: His condition that day, not only does he jump and
Speaker 3: walk and praise God, but it says that he went
Speaker 3: into the temple. I want you to know that when
Speaker 3: God brings about a change in your life, it's not
Speaker 3: just to fix you.
Speaker 1: It's to restore you.
Speaker 3: Because him going into the temple is significant because it
Speaker 3: represents him being restored to worship with God and restored
Speaker 3: into community with others. The things that God wants to
Speaker 3: bring in your bring about in your life, the changes
Speaker 3: that God wants to do on a deep level, they're
Speaker 3: not just meant to fix your condition. To make you
Speaker 3: feel better or to alleviate your pain temporarily. They're meant
Speaker 3: to restore you in worship and restore you in community.
Speaker 3: That's this most significant change that happens to this man.
Speaker 3: He goes into the temple, and as he's in there,
Speaker 3: everybody reckon as the man who look at this used to.
Speaker 1: Sit at the gate called beautiful.
Speaker 3: I love that language, because y'all this just happened to him.
Speaker 3: This just happened to him. And yet they're already calling
Speaker 3: him the man who used to sit. That's like you
Speaker 3: introducing your husband to someone in the lobby after church
Speaker 3: and say, oh, this is Frank who used to have
Speaker 3: road rage, and.
Speaker 1: They're like, what are you talking about? I just saw
Speaker 1: him getting angry in the parking lot on the way in.
Speaker 3: It wasn't all that long ago. No, No, he used
Speaker 3: to have road rage. He's a changed man because he
Speaker 3: was a church and God touched him and he changed
Speaker 3: the man who used to sit. And they're filled with
Speaker 3: wonder and amazement because they recognize them. This guy for
Speaker 3: forty years has been sitting at this gate, and isn't
Speaker 3: that the same guy? Now he's walking, he's leaping, he's jumping,
Speaker 3: he's praising God, and they're filled with wonder and amazement.
Speaker 3: Look what God does in their life because of what
Speaker 3: He's done in this man's life. God heals him, but
Speaker 3: he fills them with wonder and amazement. When when a
Speaker 3: God change happens in your life, it creates wonder.
Speaker 1: And other people, if it's possible for.
Speaker 3: Him, I wonder what God could do for me, And
Speaker 3: they're filled with wonder and amazement because look at that
Speaker 3: this man who had just been sitting there instantly his
Speaker 3: feet and ankles became strong instantly. And as I thought
Speaker 3: about that word, I thought, man, it must have been
Speaker 3: so amazing for everyone to see this man who had
Speaker 3: just been sitting there lame suddenly walking. And yet for
Speaker 3: this man, this miracle is anything but sudden. It's been
Speaker 3: forty years, and often the God changes that happened in
Speaker 3: your life will look sudden to other people. But for you,
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, all the labor and all the
Speaker 3: prayer and all the tears you cried to get to
Speaker 3: this place, and so other people are filled with wonder
Speaker 3: and amazement. Look what God has done in your life,
Speaker 3: and it looks so easy to them. And yet you know,
Speaker 3: all the petitions, is when you went before God's saying, God,
Speaker 3: can you do something about my situation?
Speaker 1: God, can you help me right now?
Speaker 3: And so it was sudden to them, but it was
Speaker 3: slow to him, And it brought back up that question
Speaker 3: in my mind.
Speaker 1: So why now, forty years, day.
Speaker 3: After day this man is put by the temple gates
Speaker 3: to beg for money. It was just his way of surviving.
Speaker 3: Day after day he was placed there begging. And yet
Speaker 3: on this ordinary day something happens in his life that
Speaker 3: changes him forever. Why today? And I sat there with
Speaker 3: this question looking for some deep answer, you know, something
Speaker 3: beyond just oh, well in God's timing, because how many
Speaker 3: you know when you're really wrestling with something, When you've
Speaker 3: been chained up and bound by something for so long,
Speaker 3: the last thing you want to hear as you're working
Speaker 3: to get free is just, oh, in God's timing. I
Speaker 3: want to be able to trust.
Speaker 1: God's timing, but that's not the thing I want to
Speaker 1: hear all the time.
Speaker 3: And so I'm looking at this passage going what was
Speaker 3: different about today? One day, every day time of prayer?
Speaker 3: One day, every day time of prayer? What was different
Speaker 3: about today? That led to this God change in this
Speaker 3: man's life. And the answer is right on the surface.
Speaker 3: What was different about today he met Peter. That's what
Speaker 3: was different about today he met Peter.
Speaker 1: And y'all, the man's not the only one changing. Peter's
Speaker 1: changing too.
Speaker 3: And I realized that as Luke writes this story, the
Speaker 3: man who was healed, that was lame from birth, he's
Speaker 3: not even the main character.
Speaker 1: Peter is.
Speaker 3: And Luke is trying to get us to see that
Speaker 3: Peter is changing, as there's a whole bunch of transition happening.
Speaker 1: Let me give you some context.
Speaker 3: Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke, where he recorded the
Speaker 3: words and deeds that Jesus did on the earth, and
Speaker 3: then he continues his Gospel of Luke with the Book
Speaker 3: of Acts. Acts Chapter one starts out with Jesus, who
Speaker 3: is resurrected from the dead ascending into heaven. So Luke's
Speaker 3: trying to get you to see there's a God change happening. Jesus,
Speaker 3: who had been doing ministry on earth for three years
Speaker 3: has now resurrected and ascended to the Father.
Speaker 1: That's Acts Chapter one. Acts Chapter two.
Speaker 3: There's another God change that happened as the apostles. The
Speaker 3: people who had been with Jesus during his earthly ministry
Speaker 3: are in an upper room in Jerusalem praying. God sends
Speaker 3: the spirit, the Holy Spirit, and it falls on them
Speaker 3: like tongues of fire, and the church begins that day.
Speaker 3: In Acts chapter two, y'all, that's a god change. God
Speaker 3: is saying, although Jesus in his physical body has ascended
Speaker 3: into heaven, Luke wants us to know that the ministry
Speaker 3: of Jesus is now continuing, but it continues through his church.
Speaker 3: And then in Acts chapter three, where we are, Luke
Speaker 3: is trying to get you to see that not only
Speaker 3: is there so much change happening, but as the way
Speaker 3: God is working in the.
Speaker 1: Earth is changing, he's changing.
Speaker 3: Peter two, the Peter we read about in Acts chapter three, y'all,
Speaker 3: if you read about him and the.
Speaker 1: Gospels, this is not the same Peter. This Peter in
Speaker 1: the name.
Speaker 3: Of Jesus Christ of Nazareth walk. But y'all, it wasn't
Speaker 3: too long ago. Right now he's healing people, but not
Speaker 3: too long ago he was cutting off someone's.
Speaker 1: Ear with a sword. How many you know this is
Speaker 1: not the same Peter.
Speaker 3: This Peter here who's boldly declaring who Jesus is and
Speaker 3: what he's done.
Speaker 1: Not too long ago, just weeks earlier.
Speaker 3: Was keeping his distance as Jesus went to the cross,
Speaker 3: and even denying that he knew him. This is not
Speaker 3: the same Peter. He's somewhere between fishermen Peter and Saint Peter.
Speaker 3: He's not there yet, but he's certainly not who he
Speaker 3: used to be.
Speaker 1: And a miracle takes place.
Speaker 3: In this man's life because God is changing. Peter is
Speaker 3: going through a God change right now. I want to
Speaker 3: show you a few things that are changing in peter life.
Speaker 1: The first one is this.
Speaker 3: It says that Peter looked straight at him, as did John.
Speaker 3: Then Peter said, look at us. So the man gave
Speaker 3: him his attention, expecting to get something from him. It's
Speaker 3: amazing to me that before the man gave Peter his attention,
Speaker 3: Peter gave him his.
Speaker 1: Peter's changing because Peter had a.
Speaker 3: Tendency, if you read about his life, to always be
Speaker 3: caught up in what he was doing, always be caught
Speaker 3: up in his agenda, always be focused on what's in
Speaker 3: it for Peter. Right now, and it's amazing that is
Speaker 3: Peter is doing his thing, going up to the temple
Speaker 3: to pray. It was the right thing to do. It
Speaker 3: was on his calendar for the day. I'm going to
Speaker 3: the temple to pray. It's amazing that Peter, as God
Speaker 3: is changing him, stops to see someone in their condition
Speaker 3: who needed help. The fact that Peter saw him is incredible.
Speaker 3: It lets me know that Peter is changing, because that's
Speaker 3: not like Peter.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 3: When the scripture says that he saw him, it's an
Speaker 3: echo to when the scripture uses the word saw, it's
Speaker 3: an indication of It means he was filled with compassion
Speaker 3: and a sense of responsibility.
Speaker 1: Y'all.
Speaker 3: This is Peter who would say, Hey, tell the little
Speaker 3: children to get away from Jesus.
Speaker 1: I'm spending time with them.
Speaker 3: He's now filled with compassion and a sense of responsibility.
Speaker 3: Like when Jesus was about to heal, about to raise
Speaker 3: a little boy from the dead, it says that he
Speaker 3: saw his mother and his heart went out for him.
Speaker 3: Jesus saw people and had compassion, And after three years
Speaker 3: of being of Jesus and not always getting it, now
Speaker 3: Peter is changing, and as he's going to the temple, he.
Speaker 1: Sees this man.
Speaker 3: Now every day thousands of people would have walked past
Speaker 3: this man, and many of them would have given him
Speaker 3: money as they went to the temple the worship. Part
Speaker 3: of their worship was giving alms to the poor, so
Speaker 3: there would have been beggars all around the temple and
Speaker 3: people as they would walk to the temple, they would
Speaker 3: walk past them and maybe throw them some money. They
Speaker 3: would look past them, but they wouldn't look at them.
Speaker 3: What's different about this is that Peter stops and he
Speaker 3: sees the man. He gives him his attention instead of
Speaker 3: just giving him money. This isn't transactional, it's relational. And
Speaker 3: one of the ways that I know God is changing
Speaker 3: me in my life is when I begin.
Speaker 1: To see people, see people. Not get so caught.
Speaker 3: Up in my world and what I have to do
Speaker 3: and what I think should happen. But I want God
Speaker 3: to give me eyes to see people for where they are,
Speaker 3: and that he would fill me with compassion. I'm so
Speaker 3: glad Tad's sitting in church today. You're always in church,
Speaker 3: but I was glad you're here today. One of the
Speaker 3: things I love about Tad is this is one of
Speaker 3: the things I admire about Tad because Katie, when we
Speaker 3: do baptisms as a church, and there's sometimes hundreds of
Speaker 3: people lining outside the tank waiting to get baptized. You
Speaker 3: can see them kind of shaky, tears in their eyes
Speaker 3: at such a big and special moment for them. I
Speaker 3: love watching your husband because he has a way of
Speaker 3: seeing people. And Tad will walk through the line and
Speaker 3: stop and talk to each person and pray for every
Speaker 3: single person being baptized.
Speaker 1: That day because he's a changed man. God saw him
Speaker 1: and now he sees others. I wonder what.
Speaker 3: I wonder what God might do through you if you
Speaker 3: become a person who has eyes to see people who
Speaker 3: are in need. That was a prayer I had for
Speaker 3: a year. I'd wake up every day it was simply
Speaker 3: went like this, God help me see Christ in others
Speaker 3: that they might see Christ in me. God help me
Speaker 3: see Christ in others that they might see Christ in me.
Speaker 3: See Peter, he's not seeing like he used to see.
Speaker 3: He's seeing like Jesus. He's noticing people in their need,
Speaker 3: in their condition, and he senses not only compassion, not
Speaker 3: just I feel for them, but I have a sense
Speaker 3: of responsibility to do something about it. And look what
Speaker 3: happens next. Not only does Peter see him. But Peter
Speaker 3: then says, silver or gold I do not have. If
Speaker 3: anyone had an excuse just to walk by this man
Speaker 3: that day, it was Peter because he did not have
Speaker 3: what the man was asking for.
Speaker 1: He didn't have silver or gold.
Speaker 3: And as this man is asking for money, Peter could
Speaker 3: have just been nope, gone on his way.
Speaker 1: But he stops and.
Speaker 3: He says, silver or gold I do not have, but
Speaker 3: look at this, But what I do have I give
Speaker 3: to you. I know Peter is changing because most of
Speaker 3: his life Peter operated from a place of scarcity. Like
Speaker 3: when crowds of people were waiting around to hear Jesus,
Speaker 3: Peter's the one saying send the crowds away so they
Speaker 3: can get something to eat, because he himself was hungry.
Speaker 3: Peter had a way of just thinking about being protective.
Speaker 1: And yet here he is in this scenario.
Speaker 3: I know God is changing him because he says, I
Speaker 3: don't have what you're asking for, but what I do have,
Speaker 3: I want to give it to you. I know God
Speaker 3: is changing me when I begin to give more than
Speaker 3: what people ask for. If you can get this idea
Speaker 3: in your heart, I really believe it will unlock your
Speaker 3: ministry this year and the things that God wants to
Speaker 3: do through your life. So many of us live our
Speaker 3: lives going well, if someone asked for it.
Speaker 1: I'll give it to them.
Speaker 3: But something fundamentally shifts in the way that God can
Speaker 3: use you when you stop limiting your ministry by what
Speaker 3: people are asking for and you begin to look at God,
Speaker 3: what have you already given me in my life that
Speaker 3: I can give to be a blessing and make a
Speaker 3: difference in someone's life. Because you have to realize people
Speaker 3: will rarely ask you for what they actually need. They
Speaker 3: just ask you for what they want. This man, he
Speaker 3: wasn't asking for healing, he was asking for money.
Speaker 1: An example in my life, my friend Levi's here today.
Speaker 1: I didn't tell him I was going to use him
Speaker 1: as an example. But when we were getting to know
Speaker 1: each other, we'd.
Speaker 3: Hung out a couple times through a mutual friend, and
Speaker 3: one day that friend of ours, he pulls me aside privately,
Speaker 3: I've never told you this, and he said, he said, leave,
Speaker 3: I wants to go to church with you so bad.
Speaker 3: I said what, And two things came through my mind.
Speaker 3: I said, all the times we've hung out, he's never
Speaker 3: asked me about going to church.
Speaker 1: What's up with that? And second of all, it's a church.
Speaker 3: He doesn't need a special invite to come.
Speaker 1: If he wants to come, you can just come.
Speaker 3: You don't need an invite from the campus pastor to
Speaker 3: show up here. But I thought about it. I said,
Speaker 3: he said, no, he really wants to go with you.
Speaker 3: I bet if you ask him, he'll come. And so
Speaker 3: on his encouragement, I invited Levi to church and guess
Speaker 3: what he came.
Speaker 1: Now, this isn't a dramatic story.
Speaker 3: He already had a relationship with Christ, but he was
Speaker 3: outside of Christian community and he didn't have a place
Speaker 3: of regular worship. And I knew that, and I knew that,
Speaker 3: and I knew I had what he needed, but I
Speaker 3: never offered it because he never asked. And I wonder
Speaker 3: if there are people in your life who need what
Speaker 3: you have but you are withholding it because you're waiting
Speaker 3: for them.
Speaker 1: To ask you.
Speaker 3: And I wonder, well, you're assuming, well, if they wanted
Speaker 3: to come to church with me, if they wanted me
Speaker 3: to pray with them, they would ask.
Speaker 1: And they're going I don't get it. I know they
Speaker 1: love their church, they talk about.
Speaker 3: It all the time they post the messages, they're always
Speaker 3: playing the worship song. I wonder how they love their
Speaker 3: church so much, and yet they've never asked me to come.
Speaker 3: My dad's here today, so I want to use him
Speaker 3: as an example, and it's it's a good one.
Speaker 1: Too, okay.
Speaker 3: But so often when I call my dad to talk
Speaker 3: to him, talk to him, he'll tell me how he
Speaker 3: got the minister to someone, how he.
Speaker 1: Got to pray with someone, whether that's.
Speaker 3: Praying for someone in an employee at his office who
Speaker 3: got a cancer diagnosis, or someone at the gym who's
Speaker 3: going through a divorce.
Speaker 1: And he always call me with these stories, I got
Speaker 1: to pray for so and so. They're going through this,
Speaker 1: they're going through that.
Speaker 3: And I was always wondering, why are so many people
Speaker 3: asking my dad.
Speaker 1: To pray for him pray pray for them.
Speaker 3: Because, y'all, I'm a pastor, and people don't even ask
Speaker 3: me to pray for them as.
Speaker 1: Often as they ask him.
Speaker 3: Time after time he tells me these stories, and then
Speaker 3: I realize, no one's asking him to pray with them.
Speaker 1: No one's asked asking him to pray with them. But
Speaker 1: somewhere along.
Speaker 3: The way, he decided to be intentional with what God
Speaker 3: has given him, and instead of waiting for someone to ask,
Speaker 3: he decided to give.
Speaker 1: So when someone said I just.
Speaker 3: Got a diagnosis, he knows he can't heal their cancer,
Speaker 3: but he gave what he had. Can I pray for
Speaker 3: you When someone's going through a divorce. He knows I
Speaker 3: don't know how to fix your marriage right now.
Speaker 1: But can I pray for you? He gave what he had.
Speaker 3: And I want to let you know, brothers and sisters,
Speaker 3: that God has given you so much. And what God
Speaker 3: has done in your life is not just meant for you,
Speaker 3: It's meant for other people around you. There are people
Speaker 3: in your world who need the peace you have, who
Speaker 3: need the joy you have, who need the hope you have,
Speaker 3: who need the strength you have, and God has given
Speaker 3: it to you. God has changed you so that you
Speaker 3: can give it to them. Peter says, silver or gold,
Speaker 3: I don't have. What I do have, I give to you.
Speaker 3: He gave the man something so much greater than what
Speaker 3: he asked for.
Speaker 1: And that's my heart for.
Speaker 3: This year, not only for myself, but for all of us.
Speaker 3: As a truth, what would this city look like if
Speaker 3: we became a people who did not wait to be asked,
Speaker 3: but decided that we're gonna freely give what God has
Speaker 3: given us.
Speaker 1: He gave what he had.
Speaker 3: Look at this last thing that's changing in Peter's life,
Speaker 3: and it shows up in this powerful statement he says next,
Speaker 3: in the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
Speaker 1: Walk, y'all. This is a change for Peter too.
Speaker 3: Now, sometimes when we read these stories, it's easy for
Speaker 3: us to kind of strip.
Speaker 1: The humanity out of it.
Speaker 3: Sometimes Peter sounds so bold, in the name of Jesus
Speaker 3: Christ of Nazareth, Walk, But I wonder do you think
Speaker 3: maybe underneath the surface Peter's heart was racing a little bit.
Speaker 3: Do you think maybe, as he said in the Name
Speaker 3: of Jesus Christ, walk, that his voice go a little
Speaker 3: bit shaky, wondering, Man, I've seen Jesus do miracles before.
Speaker 1: But what if this doesn't work. There's all these people around.
Speaker 3: What if I say, get up in the name of
Speaker 3: Jesus and this man can't. What if it doesn't work,
Speaker 3: What if he can't walk? Worse, what if I set
Speaker 3: him up to hope again and it doesn't work. I
Speaker 3: wonder if Peter was feeling a little bit anxious as
Speaker 3: he walked past this man and decided that day I'm.
Speaker 1: Going to pray for his healing.
Speaker 3: Maybe he was a little bit anxious, or the old
Speaker 3: Peter certainly would have been arrogant.
Speaker 1: You know, Peter had a way of just doing things
Speaker 1: his way. I know what's best.
Speaker 3: But whether it's insecurity or conceitedness, it's all self consciousness.
Speaker 3: And one of the changes that God wants to bring
Speaker 3: about in our life is taking us from being self
Speaker 3: conscious to Christ conscious. When he says in the name
Speaker 3: of Jesus, this is not just like a formality like
Speaker 3: what you pray at the end of giving a blessing
Speaker 3: over your food, thank you for these carrots, thank you
Speaker 3: for this chicken.
Speaker 1: Bless it to our bodies. In the name of Jesus.
Speaker 1: Me no, no, no.
Speaker 3: When he says in the name of Jesus, it means
Speaker 3: that it's in reference. It means that he is walking
Speaker 3: in the identity of Jesus, the power of Jesus, and
Speaker 3: the authority of Jesus.
Speaker 1: So as Peter.
Speaker 3: Stands before this man, this is a change for Peter
Speaker 3: because for once in his life, he's not trying to
Speaker 3: do it in his own strength. He's doing it in
Speaker 3: the strength and in the name, and in the authority
Speaker 3: and in the power of Jesus.
Speaker 1: Some of us talk.
Speaker 3: Ourselves out of being used by God because we're going,
Speaker 3: how can I give someone advice on how to fix
Speaker 3: a relationship when there's people I'm afraid to pick up
Speaker 3: the phone and call.
Speaker 1: How am I going to talk to someone.
Speaker 3: About their addiction when I've got this plank in my
Speaker 3: own eye?
Speaker 1: And so we.
Speaker 3: Disqualify ourselves from being used by God because we think,
Speaker 3: how can God use someone like me? But the reality
Speaker 3: is that if you are in Christ, it has nothing
Speaker 3: to do with your worst days or your best days.
Speaker 1: When you stand up in front of someone.
Speaker 3: To minister or to be used, you're not doing it
Speaker 3: in your name.
Speaker 1: You're doing it.
Speaker 3: In the name of Jesus. Do you have his power,
Speaker 3: you have his authority, You're doing it in his name, y'all.
Speaker 3: Yesterday Anna said to me, she said, do you try to.
Speaker 1: Be nicer to me before you preach?
Speaker 3: I think she said to you being so nice lately,
Speaker 3: it's like I need to come up here with a
Speaker 3: clear conscience. And uh, I said, in my head, I thought, well,
Speaker 3: it's better than the alternative, right, because not too long ago.
Speaker 1: I used to be so mean before I preached. Wouldn't
Speaker 1: that be mean?
Speaker 3: I can't believe I'm telling them this right now. And honestly,
Speaker 3: for a long time, it was the pressure and the
Speaker 3: anxiety I would feel around preaching, because I would I
Speaker 3: would think, what do I have to say? What do
Speaker 3: I have authority to speak on? Who am I to
Speaker 3: stand up there and talk to people? And through the
Speaker 3: work of God in my life, something that began to
Speaker 3: shift where all that anxiety started to go away, because
Speaker 3: I realize it's not me standing here that when God
Speaker 3: gives me an opportunity to minister, I'm not doing it,
Speaker 3: as Jonathan josephs, I'm here to minister in the name
Speaker 3: of Jesus. So it's not about what I have to say.
Speaker 1: It's about what he has to say.
Speaker 3: And it's not about my worthiness whether I was mean
Speaker 3: or whether I was nice. But I'm glad I'm being
Speaker 3: nice now. It's not about that. It's about what he's done.
Speaker 3: It's about what he did. Peter looks at the man
Speaker 3: and says, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
Speaker 3: walk and instantly the man's healed and he gets to
Speaker 3: his feet and he's jumping, and he's leaping, and he's
Speaker 3: praising God because on this ordinary day something changed.
Speaker 1: He met Peter, and Peter's a changed man.
Speaker 3: There are things that God will do in your life
Speaker 3: that aren't just meant for you, They're meant for other people.
Speaker 3: To God changes you so that he can change others.
Speaker 1: And look at this.
Speaker 3: As people are standing looking at this man in wonder
Speaker 3: and amazement, it says that a bunch of people start
Speaker 3: to come together, the words getting out about what has happened.
Speaker 1: And in verse twelve, look what Peter says.
Speaker 3: When Peter saw this, he said to the crowd, he
Speaker 3: uses every miracle as an opportunity to declare the gospel.
Speaker 3: When Peter saw this, he said to them, fellow Israelites,
Speaker 3: why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at
Speaker 3: us as if it's by our own power or godliness?
Speaker 1: We had made this man walk.
Speaker 3: Look at verse sixteen by faith in the name of Jesus,
Speaker 3: this man whom you see and know, was made strong.
Speaker 3: It is in Jesus's name and the faith that comes
Speaker 3: through him that has completely healed him. As you all
Speaker 3: can see, it is in Jesus's name and the faith
Speaker 3: that comes through him. Peter said, what are you looking
Speaker 3: at us for? It's not by our power, it's not
Speaker 3: by might. It's by the power of Jesus that this
Speaker 3: man can walk not only Jesus's name, but he says
Speaker 3: by faith in the name of Jesus. Now the question
Speaker 3: is whose faith? Whose faith in Jesus healed this man?
Speaker 3: This man never asked to be healed, was in his faith.
Speaker 3: There's no indication this man even knew who Jesus was.
Speaker 3: It was in his faith. So whose faith in Jesus? Peters? Peters,
Speaker 3: your faith isn't just meant to change you. Your faith
Speaker 3: is meant to change others. And some of us are
Speaker 3: in the habit of just, you know, come to church
Speaker 3: when we need something from God.
Speaker 1: I got to get to church today. I need encouragement,
Speaker 1: I need strength.
Speaker 3: And as long as you look at your faith that way,
Speaker 3: as if it's just for you to help you get
Speaker 3: through and to help you get by, you always limit
Speaker 3: what God can do through your life. But what if
Speaker 3: you decided that, hey, I'm coming to church anyway, because
Speaker 3: even though I might not have a need today, maybe
Speaker 3: there's someone else coming to church that needs a touch
Speaker 3: from God, and maybe God has given me what they need.
Speaker 3: Your faith isn't just meant to change you, It's meant
Speaker 3: to change the people around you. And Luke goes on
Speaker 3: to say that there were many many people who place their.
Speaker 1: Faith in Jesus that day.
Speaker 3: People's lives were changed because God changed that man.
Speaker 1: But God changed that man because he changed Peter.
Speaker 3: And I see this year being different for you because
Speaker 3: I know all of us have things in our life
Speaker 3: that we're saying, God, just help me believe. I want
Speaker 3: to expect you. I want to have expectation, and I
Speaker 3: want to have faith. I want to have hope, I
Speaker 3: want to have trust. There are things in my life
Speaker 3: that I want to see God change. But I have
Speaker 3: to remember too that some of the things that God
Speaker 3: wants to change in my life aren't just meant for me.
Speaker 3: It's because God has blessed me to be a blessing.
Speaker 3: God changes me so that he can change others. I
Speaker 3: need eyes to see, I need open hands to give
Speaker 3: what He's given me.
Speaker 1: And I don't do it in my own strength. I
Speaker 1: do it in the name of Jesus.
Speaker 3: I see this year being a year where you go
Speaker 3: from just coming to God like Peter used to do.
Speaker 3: So much of Peter's life was following Jesus because of
Speaker 3: what was in it for him.
Speaker 1: And now Peter's changing.
Speaker 3: Peter's changing and he sees his purpose in life not
Speaker 3: just knowing Jesus for his own sake, but for the
Speaker 3: sake of others. I see this changing in your life
Speaker 3: this year. I see you coming to church not just
Speaker 3: to receive but to give. I see you praying for
Speaker 3: people out in the lobby after church because you saw
Speaker 3: an orange Bible in their hands and you said, I
Speaker 3: can pray for them, I can give I'm a word
Speaker 3: of encouragement. I see you looking at someone in worship
Speaker 3: and God giving a scripture on your heart, and you
Speaker 3: going up to them and being a blessing to them.
Speaker 3: Because your faith is not just for you. God changes
Speaker 3: you so that he can change others. So I want
Speaker 3: to close by just praying over you a prayer of
Speaker 3: activation today as we head into this new year, that
Speaker 3: this would be a year that not only do you
Speaker 3: see God changes in your own life, but that God
Speaker 3: would change people through you as well.
Speaker 1: Can you stand to your feet hm? Hm, and let's
Speaker 1: do it like this.
Speaker 3: Let's put our hand on the shoulder of someone around
Speaker 3: us right now, and in the spirit of this message.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna pray and you're gonna repeat after me.
Speaker 3: And I haven't planned this out, so there's not like
Speaker 3: a nice cadence to it.
Speaker 1: Just you just gotta go with me.
Speaker 3: But you're going to pray for the person on your
Speaker 3: right and on your left because you have been given
Speaker 3: the spirit of God and you are in Christ. The
Speaker 3: Bible says that the prayers of the righteous are powerful
Speaker 3: and effective, and God is getting ready to do incredible
Speaker 3: things in our church this year. God is getting ready
Speaker 3: to do amazing things in your life, things that will
Speaker 3: exceed your wildness imagination. But it's not just what He
Speaker 3: wants to do in you, it's what He wants to
Speaker 3: do through you. So with your hand on the shoulders
Speaker 3: of the people next to you, do your best to
Speaker 3: flow with me as we say this prayer together.
Speaker 1: Okay, say Father, I.
Speaker 3: Thank you for the person on my right and on
Speaker 3: my left.
Speaker 1: Thank you for what you've done in.
Speaker 3: Them, thank you for what you're going to do in them.
Speaker 3: And I thank you for what you want to do
Speaker 3: through them. I pray that you would give them boldness
Speaker 3: this year, I pray that you would open up their
Speaker 3: eyes to say, see the opportunities that you're giving them to
Speaker 3: make a difference for your glory, Strengthen them, increase their expectation,
Speaker 3: stir up their faith, that we would see you move
Speaker 3: like never before.
Speaker 1: We pray these things in the name of Jesus. Let's
Speaker 1: give God a praise. Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
Speaker 2: this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
Speaker 2: You can click the link in the description to give
Speaker 2: now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more
Speaker 2: information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
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Speaker 2: your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks
Speaker 2: again for listening.
Speaker 1: God bless you.