WEBVTT - Surprise! 0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:04.680 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.920 --> 0:00:07.160 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:10.520 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:12.559 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:17.520 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:20.119 I don't know what it's been like for you in 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:25.680 the last year, as we've all been like renegotiating our lives, 0:00:27.040 --> 0:00:29.639 not negotiating with God, but just trying to figure out 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:32.720 where our life is pointed and just bring it down 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:34.640 just a moment. There may be a lot of you 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:38.440 who are going through something that's very disorienting and that 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:41.239 may be very negative. There may be some of you 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:43.600 that are going through something and it's actually been a 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:46.960 positive change for you. And one thing that I know 0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:50.520 for all of us is that we don't always get 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:54.360 the chance to brace for impact when changes come in 0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:58.120 our life, positive or negative, and that's what makes it 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:01.200 really challenging. So I want everybody in this room to stand, 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:03.920 and if you're able right where you are, I want 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:06.959 you to stand, and I want to read my scripture 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:09.560 for today because I'm so excited what God gave me 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:16.000 for us to study together for our Bible lesson the 0:01:16.040 --> 0:01:21.080 scripture is Acts chapter three, verses one through sixteen. And 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:26.840 I'll give you a moment to find that and just 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:34.720 be open. Just be open and be attentive and be respectful. 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:40.039 God doesn't waste words, so you know, really value what 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:43.560 he gives you today. He might say one thing that 0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:48.960 changes everything. I'm just telling you I've had that experience before, 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:52.600 and sometimes it wasn't even when I was looking for 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:58.880 some dramatic thing from God and just whack thud copal 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:04.600 like the comic book to Say, Acts chapter three, verse one. 0:02:04.840 --> 0:02:06.760 One day, Peter and John were going up to the 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:09.320 temple at the time of prayer three in the afternoon. 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:13.839 Now a man who was lame from birth was being 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:17.000 carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:20.280 put every day to beg from those going into the 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:24.320 temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:28.400 he asked him for money. Peter looked straight at him, 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:31.520 as did John. Then Peter said, look at us. So 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:34.240 the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something 0:02:34.280 --> 0:02:37.720 from them. Then Peter said, silver or gold I do 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:39.799 not have, but what I do have I give you 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:45.040 in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth walk And 0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:47.639 verse seven says that Peter took him by the right hand, 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:50.480 helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:54.919 became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:57.880 Then he went with him into the temple courts, walking 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:01.000 and jumping and praising God. All the people saw him 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:05.560 walking praising God. They recognized him as the same man 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:09.280 who used to sit begging at the temple gate, called beautiful, 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:13.880 and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:17.280 had happened to him. While the man held on to 0:03:17.360 --> 0:03:20.160 Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:24.680 running to the place called Solomon's colonnade. Came running to 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:28.120 them in the place called Solomon's Colonnade. And when Peter 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:33.799 saw this, he said to them, fellow Israelites, why does 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:39.600 this surprise you? Why you stare at us as if 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:41.960 by our own power or godliness we had made this 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:46.640 man walk. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:51.160 God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You 0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:54.720 handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him 0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:57.360 before Pilot, though he had decided to let him go. 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:00.680 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:04.160 a murderer be released to you. You killed the author 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:09.560 of life, but God raised him from the dead. We 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:14.440 are witnesses of this by faith in the name of Jesus. 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:19.279 This man, whom you see and know, was made strong. 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:25.240 It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him. 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:30.719 Thank you Lord that has completely healed him. As you 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:34.599 can all see, I'm going to tell you my title. 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:36.520 It's going to be a controversial one, but I want 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:38.080 you to shout it at the top of your lungs. 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:40.920 It's only a one word title. Look at somebody next 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:50.000 to you and say, surprise, be seated, surprise. I was 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:54.279 watching your reaction to that. I wish I could see you. 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:57.760 You like surprises, Raise your hand in the chat. If 0:04:57.800 --> 0:04:59.480 you like surprises, raise your hand in the room. If 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:05.080 you like surprise. See I like surprises that I like? 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:10.320 Is that fair enough? I like surprises that I like. 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:16.400 If you like surprises, raise your hand in the chat. Yeah, 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:20.560 don't like to be surprised. Just shoot your hand up 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:24.960 real quick, just real quick, y'all. Raised it slow because 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:27.240 you don't like anything surprising. Even the raising of your 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:30.279 own hand is like your brain was managing the speed 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:31.840 of your hand. You're like, we're going to go up now. 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:37.039 In response to the preacher's question, or remember, one of 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:40.159 my best friends is named Craig Grochelle. He pastors a 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:43.200 church in Oklahoma. Of course you know him. He's been 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:48.200 here a million times. I look up to him so much. 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:52.039 But a few years ago I thought he was too 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:54.680 stressed out. So I went to go see him. But 0:05:54.720 --> 0:05:58.479 I want to surprise him. The reason I wanted to 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:01.000 surprise him is because he is such a control freak. 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:03.800 And I asked his permission to share this illustration. I'll 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:09.800 ask forgiveness afterwards, because I knew if I said can 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:12.000 I come, he'd go, ah, I got this, I got that, 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:14.920 I got the other blah blah blah. And I got 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:18.400 to preach for seventy five million people out there in Russia, 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:23.160 things like this that he does. And so I said, uh, 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:24.880 you know, I got to drink a protein shake, I 0:06:24.880 --> 0:06:27.359 got a bench fresh seven hundred pounds. He's just so efficient, 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:33.240 and so I was like, I'll just go. So Jessica 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:37.160 Mitchell on our staff. She reached out to the assistant 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:39.240 that worked in his office and just showed that we 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:41.720 were coming, but don't tell him. So I go on 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:45.120 the airplane. It's something that we used to do for 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:46.880 those of you that are watching this into your twenty 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:52.680 twenty one. And then when I got there, the gentleman 0:06:52.720 --> 0:06:54.080 that picked me up from the airport that was on 0:06:54.120 --> 0:06:57.080 his staff, I said, where are you gonna sneak me in? 0:06:57.360 --> 0:07:01.200 He goes, h, well, he kind of knows you're coming. 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:04.480 I said, well, how does he know I'm coming? They said, well, 0:07:04.480 --> 0:07:17.040 we told him because he didn't like surprises. And this 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:18.440 is what I said in my head, all right, and 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:20.560 this is the transcript that didn't make it voice to 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:23.200 speech thing. It was just a text in my head. 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:29.800 I thought, well, dummy, you're not his friend. I'm his friend. 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:35.800 I didn't come out here because he liked surprises. I 0:07:35.840 --> 0:07:42.080 came out here because he needed one. Dummy didn't say 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:45.080 that much too. I'm a man of God and I 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:47.960 don't say things like this. I have a filter of 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:51.800 things like this. But it was funny to me how 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:58.200 they thought that just because he didn't like surprises meant 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:02.840 he didn't never need surprises, you know. And I knew 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:05.000 if I told him I was coming, it would stress 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:07.280 him out. So I knew that the way to really 0:08:07.280 --> 0:08:10.280 support my friend in a stressful season was to show 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:13.760 up and give him no choice about what what's he 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:15.680 gonna do? Kick me out when I show up at 0:08:15.680 --> 0:08:19.280 the door. So when I saw him, I was angry. 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:23.800 I said, surprise, you know what I'm saying. The next 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:26.560 time I went out, I didn't tell anybody I was coming. 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:28.520 I got on the airplane, send him a picture of 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:29.920 the board and passed and I said, uber, are you 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:32.160 picking me up at the airport? I didn't ask because 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:37.880 I know just because he doesn't like surprises doesn't mean 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:44.680 he never needs surprises. So when we get to Acts 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:48.199 chapter three, and when I say turning your Bible to 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:50.320 Acts three, like I just did a minute ago, our 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:53.800 scripture is Acts chapter three. There are many people who 0:08:53.880 --> 0:08:59.079 listen to me preach who are like, okay, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:03.160 numbers due to run me, Joshua Judges, WHOA I'm not 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:07.120 seeing an axe acts as axe? This is going to 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:09.479 be a good one. Is this about like a battle axe? 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:14.000 Are going to be? You know? They never heard this 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:17.320 story before, so they're probably going to get the most 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:22.320 out of it. The people that will have a hard 0:09:22.440 --> 0:09:26.520 time hearing this with their heart are the people who 0:09:26.600 --> 0:09:34.880 know it in their head. So shot again, surprise. Well, 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:37.439 we have an ongoing argument in my house because my 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:40.840 wife is very jumpy again. She only has two flaws. 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:43.240 This is this only other flaw she has other than 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:46.320 the one I told you about last week. She only 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:50.839 has two flaws. She's so skittish and it angers me 0:09:51.000 --> 0:09:54.719 to no end because I have to walk around my 0:09:54.920 --> 0:09:59.719 house like some sort of secret ninja, you know, like 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.079 have to sneak around my house so as not to 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:06.280 scare her. And I tell her when when I walk 0:10:06.320 --> 0:10:08.520 in a room and she jumps up, I go, I 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:12.800 live here? Am I allowed to live here? It's so uncomfortable, 0:10:13.040 --> 0:10:16.360 like having to sneak around like the burglar in the 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:23.559 house that I bought. Love you, Hollyanna, but it's just weird. 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:29.319 I live here, I live here. I live here, and 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:31.640 I can't just move around and do what I want 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:38.040 to do. So of course, the parallel is that a 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:43.400 lot of times in church, when God actually shows up, 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:49.920 we kind of act like we didn't expect it to 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:52.199 begin with, and I'll show you this in the text 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:54.760 from the Teachers of the Law and the Saddresses and 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:57.760 the Temple Guard, because when Peter did a miracle, they 0:10:57.800 --> 0:11:01.040 threw him in prison. That's what happens in this text. 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:03.839 But before we get to that, let me back all 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:06.080 the way up to the beginning, because there are several 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:11.000 surprises in this passage that may not be apparent to 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:15.040 the naked eye. First of all, you might be surprised 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:18.040 to see Peter and John hanging out together. To begin with. 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:23.880 You might be surprised that they would get along because 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:31.160 they are completely different. They are completely different. And our 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:34.680 expectation is that God is going to bring people into 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:40.400 our life that are similar to us. That's called a mirror. 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:45.199 You can buy that at lows. You don't need people 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:48.480 in your life that always just reflect back at you 0:11:48.880 --> 0:11:54.280 your same exact preferences and prejudices, reinforcing your biases. God 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:57.520 will bring people into your life that He will use, 0:11:58.360 --> 0:12:03.240 and it will sometimes surprise you who he uses. So 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:10.360 Peter and John are somewhat surprising to see together because 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:17.720 Peter is boisterous and John is I have a hard 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:21.400 time with people like John when I was reading the passage, 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:26.520 you might not have noticed he didn't do anything. I 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:28.440 won't take time to read the whole thing again because 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:30.959 I'm gonna I'm gonna clock budget here today with you. 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:33.880 But but I promise you read the whole thing. Well, 0:12:34.040 --> 0:12:36.199 he did one thing. Okay, I don't want to overstate it. 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:39.120 He did one thing. John did one thing. Verse four. 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:47.240 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. This guy, 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:52.600 this guy. The only the only part that he had 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:56.840 in the passage that I can see is to look 0:12:57.000 --> 0:13:01.000 at the man who's asking for the money. He didn't say, oh, Peter, 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:02.719 don't worry about you left your wallet back at the 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:05.040 day I got my wallet here. No, he didn't grab 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:07.400 the left hand while Peter grabbed the right hand. No, 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:10.000 he didn't look at Peter and say you can do it, Peter. 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:12.480 It's just like you said, Jesus do with the blind eyes. 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:15.439 And when we went the issue of blood, no encouragement, no, nothing, 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:18.839 just looked at the man that Peter looked at. But 0:13:19.000 --> 0:13:23.240 I I wonder if it was John's perspective that Peter 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:31.000 needed that was different than his, that enabled him to 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:37.800 be in position to experience God's power. So you might 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.760 be surprised. Somebody say it out loud, you might be 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:50.920 surprised who God uses in your life. God has done 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:53.880 some of the biggest things in my life through people 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:57.640 I didn't like. No, I won't give you a list. 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:01.199 I'm not going to name names. But some of the 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:04.600 biggest things God did in my life he did through 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:08.400 people I didn't even really enjoy hanging out with. And 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:11.079 the problem with us is, you know, God wants to 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:16.160 bring somebody into our life, but if they don't exactly 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:21.360 match the specifications of the friends that we think we 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:24.800 want or of the people that we think usually the 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:26.160 people that we think we need, God to send her 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:27.520 to the people who already think what we think. So 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:29.440 why would God send something that we already have plenty 0:14:29.480 --> 0:14:41.120 of Peter and John. I was surprised they were still 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:45.800 hanging out because they were so competitive. They have a history, 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:48.320 you know, Peter and John, they were partners in a 0:14:48.360 --> 0:14:50.960 fishing business and they became fishers of men and Jesus, 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:54.440 and they had some adventures together. They had history together. 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:57.720 Peter and John not only ran to the tomb together. 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:00.920 And check this out. How different opectives are and how 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:03.000 God can give you a person that has a different 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:06.800 perspective than you in order to help you see something 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:10.560 that you would have been tempted maybe to, just like 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:13.880 you would have completely missed it. When they got to 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:17.840 the tomb and it was empty, they were surprised. Why 0:15:17.880 --> 0:15:23.120 were they surprised? He spent Jesus spent. Well, I guess 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:25.600 a dead man rising from the grave is surprising, but 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:27.520 after all they've seen him do I know is kind 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:30.200 of obvious, but this is exactly what he said he 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:33.960 would do. So when the stone was rolled away when 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:36.400 they got there on Sunday, they were shocked by it. 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:38.720 When the women came back, because the women had the 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:41.600 ability to believe something that the men couldn't believe. And 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:44.000 I don't know if that says anything about how God 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:47.240 uses sometimes, you know, people or whatever whatever whatever. The 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:49.560 men were like the official disciples, but the women were 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:56.520 the ones who went to the tomb. All right, now, 0:15:56.640 --> 0:16:03.200 y'all are a little too loud on this point. When 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:05.960 John got there, he got there first, but he didn't 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:09.000 go in. When Peter got there, Peter went in, but 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:15.200 he didn't believe. So God used John, who stood outside 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:21.400 the tomb at a distance, to believe Peter was wired 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:25.000 to believe it when he sees it. John stood out, John, 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:27.120 I got to give you an idea of the differences. 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:30.280 Why is so surprising? John at the Last Supper, when 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:32.280 Jesus was saying, one of you is going to betray me, 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:36.520 leaned back on Jesus's chest and said nothing. Peter said, 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:39.760 not me. Even if you die, I'm gonna be right here. 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:41.920 If the wheels fall off, all right with you. It 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:44.560 doesn't matter, Jesus. I'll cut off an ear, I'll cut 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:46.600 off a head, I'll do anything but let the cock 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:49.000 crow three times, and Peter's denying him like he never 0:16:49.080 --> 0:16:55.920 knew him. Is surprising that God would use two people 0:16:55.960 --> 0:17:01.200 who were so different and use them to do something 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:06.560 so amazing as perform the first miracle since the birth 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:10.520 of the Church that we witness in the Book of Acts, 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:21.400 Peter and John together. If you are more like John 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:27.040 than Peter, that's okay. It will shock you some of 0:17:27.119 --> 0:17:30.680 the things that God will use about your personality that 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:32.399 you think mean that he can't use you. And I 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:33.639 don't want to stay there long because it really not 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:37.960 my message. But that surprised me that it was Peter 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:43.840 and John together because they seem like polar opposite. So question, 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:47.080 are you open to who God wants to use in 0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:51.280 your life or do you have a wish list that 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:53.560 looks more like something that you should handt a Santa 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:57.959 than something that you should pray to Jesus. And if 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:00.440 they don't match the exact specifications of who you thought 0:18:00.440 --> 0:18:03.920 God would use, can you be open to a surprise? 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:09.119 A surprise? Some of the best work I ever did 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:13.120 in my life was with people that I didn't see 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:15.400 it on the surface, but see, here's what they're doing. 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:19.040 They're going up to the temple at the time of 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:23.280 prayer three in the afternoon. You got your nine am prayer, 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:26.920 you got your twelve noon prayer, you got your three 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:31.400 pm prayer, and they're going to the temple. That surprised 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:40.200 me because the temple was the old system. So now 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:44.159 they're preaching the gospel Jesus has ascended to heaven. The 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:46.840 context of this is that the day of Pentecost has 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:51.919 already come. Peter preaches this amazing confrontational sermon. It wouldn't 0:18:51.920 --> 0:18:54.680 have been like a YouTube popular sermon. It wouldn't have 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:57.040 got a lot of clicks or views or comments or anything. 0:18:57.119 --> 0:18:59.879 Like that. But it was very effective because when he 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:04.680 preached that, the Holy Spirit demonstrated with power. Everybody say power. 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:09.160 Don't say it real timid, say power. That's better. That's better. 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:11.679 When you say power, say it from your diaphragm, say power. 0:19:12.680 --> 0:19:14.879 And now, all of a sudden, the Spirit's power was 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:18.800 a demonstration of what Peter preached, and God did an 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:23.600 amazing work. Three thousand came into their number that day. 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:28.560 Now in Acts chapter three, as the church is growing, 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:31.879 this this sect that was considered like almost like a 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:36.720 cult of Judaism. These two leaders, two of the appointed 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:41.800 designated leaders from the twelve Disciples. They're going up to 0:19:41.920 --> 0:19:46.440 the temple, which is where they used to worship. But 0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:51.920 they have a new understanding that Jesus, God's Messiah, who 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:55.200 wasn't a new religion. It was the fulfillment of what 0:19:55.359 --> 0:19:58.639 God already started. Stay with me, there's going to be 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:02.359 a payoff to all this back I'm giving you. When 0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:04.840 they go up to the temple at the time of prayer, 0:20:05.160 --> 0:20:09.879 they are doing what they always did. And at this 0:20:10.040 --> 0:20:12.760 point in the text we get a picture of sometimes 0:20:12.800 --> 0:20:15.480 how we are in between two things in our life. 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:19.879 We are in between two things in our life. There 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:22.399 is the old thing that we used to do. There 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:25.959 is the old thing, the familiar thing, the nostalgic thing, 0:20:26.320 --> 0:20:29.360 the comforting thing, and then there is the new thing, 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:34.760 which is true. But in between the two sometimes you 0:20:34.920 --> 0:20:38.280 have to have a new belief in the same temple, 0:20:39.760 --> 0:20:43.960 a new belief in the same system. So they're going 0:20:44.040 --> 0:20:47.400 to temple like they always did. They're going not only 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:50.320 to temple like they did once a week. They did 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:53.960 this every day. In the Jewish culture. It would not 0:20:54.040 --> 0:20:57.560 be unusual to hit all three prayer services. You might 0:20:57.600 --> 0:21:01.000 have been there at nine, and twelve and three. So 0:21:01.160 --> 0:21:04.120 they are doing something that is very familiar to them. 0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:08.200 When God, when God gives them what we would call 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:12.560 an interruption in their schedule. Now, let's watch this verse two. 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:16.760 A man who was laying from birth was being carried 0:21:17.320 --> 0:21:20.720 to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put 0:21:21.200 --> 0:21:25.000 every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 0:21:25.640 --> 0:21:29.120 Now let's kind of get in the middle of this situation. 0:21:29.760 --> 0:21:34.120 He's moving toward his spot by the gate. They're moving 0:21:34.200 --> 0:21:40.760 toward their spot in the temple. And what's amazing about 0:21:40.760 --> 0:21:44.920 what happens next is that in order for the miracle 0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:50.520 to happen, both parties had to be open to a 0:21:51.840 --> 0:22:02.399 divine surprise. Are you open to divine surprises? Some of 0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:06.400 us aren't. In fact, I was imagining this modern day. 0:22:06.440 --> 0:22:08.280 You know, I've preached this text a few times, so 0:22:08.960 --> 0:22:10.960 I was imagining, like, how would it look in twenty 0:22:11.000 --> 0:22:13.880 twenty one? And as I played it out, nobody got 0:22:13.920 --> 0:22:16.080 healed in the passage because everybody was looking at their 0:22:16.080 --> 0:22:20.600 phones on the way into church. The whole miracle had 0:22:20.680 --> 0:22:23.280 just stopped right at verse three. It was Peter and 0:22:23.359 --> 0:22:25.960 John going in and the man was going to a spot, 0:22:26.200 --> 0:22:29.159 and nobody got anything because nobody was looking for anything 0:22:29.240 --> 0:22:31.560 except something that was inside, something that wasn't even real. 0:22:34.640 --> 0:22:36.480 And what we like about this, while I can do 0:22:36.560 --> 0:22:39.840 my weekly rent against the phones that I'm addicted to 0:22:39.920 --> 0:22:44.440 as well, while we do this, what we like about 0:22:44.440 --> 0:22:50.760 it is it's predictable. It's predictably miserable, but it gives 0:22:50.840 --> 0:22:53.440 us something to go to where we can know exactly 0:22:53.840 --> 0:22:56.280 this is available to me. So now now, if I 0:22:56.359 --> 0:22:59.280 live my real life, I might be surprised. I don't 0:22:59.359 --> 0:23:02.280 like to be some unless I like the surprise. Ordered 0:23:02.320 --> 0:23:05.320 the prize, Customize the surprise so this is the God. 0:23:05.400 --> 0:23:07.680 We want this to Jesus. We want God, let me 0:23:07.880 --> 0:23:10.600 customize the surprises that I want you to send into 0:23:10.680 --> 0:23:15.560 my life today. And when I realized about the Temple 0:23:15.560 --> 0:23:17.960 of Us, all of the people who were leading in 0:23:18.040 --> 0:23:22.119 the temple were surprised when God actually did something. But 0:23:22.240 --> 0:23:28.000 it was his house. Now walk around into Holly, this 0:23:28.160 --> 0:23:30.920 is my house too. Can I move from room to room? 0:23:30.960 --> 0:23:34.960 And you're not freak out when something actually happened in 0:23:35.000 --> 0:23:37.879 the name of Jesus. They were surprised that God had 0:23:37.960 --> 0:23:42.120 the audacity to move in his own house. Can God 0:23:42.400 --> 0:23:47.240 move in his own house? Can the pother tell the 0:23:47.359 --> 0:23:51.040 clay what to be? Can God switch things around a 0:23:51.119 --> 0:23:54.520 little bit? Can God give you a blue wind instead 0:23:54.520 --> 0:23:56.240 of a red wind? I mean, can we start small? 0:23:56.480 --> 0:23:59.119 Some of us just don't like any surprises, so we 0:23:59.280 --> 0:24:09.119 structure God right out of our prayer life. Peter probably, 0:24:10.160 --> 0:24:14.600 Peter probably wouldn't have stopped to see the man if 0:24:14.640 --> 0:24:22.960 it hadn't been for quiet John, and the man probably 0:24:23.040 --> 0:24:26.320 would not have received this healing. Now, he definitely wouldn't 0:24:26.320 --> 0:24:29.560 have received it if he insisted on getting what he 0:24:29.640 --> 0:24:32.760 asked for in the first place. Now here's why This 0:24:32.880 --> 0:24:38.040 matters to you because right now you are in the 0:24:38.119 --> 0:24:41.639 process of, if I can put it this way, you 0:24:41.800 --> 0:24:45.479 are trying to decide whether to embrace what life has 0:24:45.520 --> 0:24:54.480 surprised you with or fight it. Just like this man. 0:24:55.680 --> 0:24:59.040 He was paralyzed from birth. Side note, you are not 0:24:59.280 --> 0:25:09.159 stuck with what you are born ass right, right, Jesus 0:25:09.280 --> 0:25:15.000 is bigger than your genetics. Side note, the man in 0:25:15.119 --> 0:25:20.520 this passage was forty years old. So now what we're 0:25:20.600 --> 0:25:23.680 about to see happen is God is going to give 0:25:23.920 --> 0:25:26.480 this man something that he gave up on a long 0:25:26.520 --> 0:25:30.800 time ago. And I know what that feels like, because 0:25:32.040 --> 0:25:38.000 the longer that you live, the less surprisable you become. Right, 0:25:39.200 --> 0:25:41.119 you start out when you're like, I don't know. I 0:25:41.280 --> 0:25:43.280 was twenty five years old as a pastor, and I 0:25:43.320 --> 0:25:48.440 would see something, I'd be like, they would never betray me. 0:25:50.280 --> 0:25:54.320 I hadn't said that in a while, right, Or I say, 0:25:54.600 --> 0:25:56.120 I don't want to make it all negative. I would 0:25:56.160 --> 0:25:59.800 say something like, well, I could never change this habit, 0:26:01.280 --> 0:26:07.200 and then I did. I did. You won't believe this. 0:26:07.880 --> 0:26:12.680 I do two leg days a week now in the gym. 0:26:13.400 --> 0:26:18.159 Y'all give it up. That's a big deal, now, I 0:26:18.440 --> 0:26:23.520 like this man. I am forty one years old and 0:26:23.680 --> 0:26:26.920 I have lived to see some things that I never 0:26:27.080 --> 0:26:31.679 thought would happen, good and bad. I told Buck when 0:26:31.720 --> 0:26:35.760 he started training me when I was twenty eight. I said, 0:26:36.000 --> 0:26:39.520