Questions from the Congregation - Part 4

Note: The time signatures [00:00] below indicate the start of a question if you'd like to skip to a particular one of interest in the audio file.

1. [01:33] - Q: Can you explain the meaning/symbolism of the new Harvest Vertical Church logo? Is there any military/militia inspiration or hidden meaning to its design?
    

2. [04:27] - Q: In Mark 3:17, Jesus calls James and John, sons of Zebedee, "Sons of Thunder". (BLB says Greek "Boanereges" comes from 2 Aramaic root words meaning "son, child | rage".) Was it     their zeal and passion for the Lord that earned them this nickname, a reference to fiery personalities given to hot-headedness, or both?
   A: Luke 9:51
    

3. [07:24] - Q: Some people feel it is important for all of us to use a supernatural language today. Please help us to understand this. Thank you.
   A: 1 Corinthians 12, 13, 14
    

4. [08:58] - Q: What exactly is happening at the Lord’s supper? Real presence? Just remembrance?
   A: Hebrews 9:25-26, 1 Corinthians 11:25
    

5. [13:44] - Q: What are some Bible references for people who have made wrong decisions     but God continued to love and provide for them? I am looking for     some hope that all is not lost because of my wrong decisions. The Psalms seem to address when people are being persecuted for their faith. thank you.
   A: (David) - 2 Samuel 11, (Peter) - John 21, (Paul) - 1 Timothy 1:15-16
    

6. [22:33] - Q: What do you think about the “new perspective on Paul”?
   A: 2 Corinthians 5:21, Philippians 3:8-9
    

7. [27:10] - Q: What do you think about the documentary hypothesis? Like is it ok to believe or no?
   A: (Jesus) - Mark 12:28, (Peter) - Acts 3:22, (Paul) - Romans 10:5
    

8. [29:05] - Q: What is the lesson & significance of Jacob’s ladder?
   A: Genesis 28:10-22
    

9. [30:43] - Q: What is Satanism? How does it tie into the Bible?

11. Q: Does David seem to show signs of arrogance in some of the things he writes in the Psalms? For example, Ps. 18: 20-24, “The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness;, according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not turned away from his decrees. I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.” NIV I know David is known as the man after God’s own heart, but every time I read this passage, I feel like David is saying he DESERVED God’s blessing. Am I wrong?
    A: [Check Pastor Jeff's Blog soon for an answer]
     

12. [34:12] - Q: Did God know Adam and Eve would sin? Did God create hell before or after the first sin?
    A: Isaiah 46:9-10, Revelation 13:8, 1 Peter 1:18-20, Matthew 25:41-46

Note: Read Jeff's blog for the answer to this questions that he was unable to get to during this Q&A service.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK

• Audio Transcript

  00:28-00:32

  You know, this is pretty exciting because my family loves Q&A day.

  00:32-00:33

  I love Q&A day.

  00:33-00:34

  Yeah, Q&A day is great.

  00:41-00:42

  Oh, I know, exactly, yep.

  00:52-00:53

  They are not afraid to ask questions.

  01:15-01:18

  We have some really, really good questions.

  01:18-01:20

  I mean, you guys wrote some really good questions.

  01:20-01:22

  So we're excited to go through these.

  01:22-01:24

  And what do you think?

  01:24-01:25

  You ready, Jeff?

  01:25-01:25

  I'm ready.

  01:25-01:26

  All right.

  01:26-01:26

  I'm ready.

  01:27-01:28

  Okay, good questions here.

  01:28-01:34

  First one, can you explain the meaning and the symbolism of the New Harvest vertical church logo?

  01:35-01:40

  Is there any military or militia inspiration or hidden meaning to its design?

  01:41-01:42

  And that's from Mr. Curious.

  03:18-03:21

  Yeah, logos to me are intriguing.

  03:21-03:24

  And you know, when I first saw the logo, I loved it.

  03:24-03:28

  I hadn't even thought of the military aspect of it, to be honest with you.

  03:29-03:35

  When I first saw the logo, I saw the church steeple, it looked like a steeple, and obviously pointing upward.

  03:36-04:01

  And that was one of the things that attracted me actually to Harvest Bible Chapel was the fact that, you know, it's not a necessarily a "meet needs" kind of a church, although that's important, it's a "meet God" church, and that logo to me is focused upward. And when I read through "Vertical Church," the book that James wrote, I see that in the logo. I mean, it comes through.

  04:05-04:05

  Right.

  04:27-04:29

  Alright, number two.

  04:30-04:36

  In Mark 3 17, Jesus calls James and John sons of Zebedee, sons of thunder.

  04:37-04:40

  BLB, and is that Blue Letter Bible?

  04:42-04:45

  Yeah, Blue Letter Bible says Greek Boanerges.

  04:46-04:47

  Yeah, that's a tough one.

  04:48-04:53

  Comes from two Aramaic root words meaning son or child and rage.

  04:54-05:04

  Was it their zeal and passion for the Lord that earned them this nickname, a reference to fiery personalities given to hot-headedness or both. And that's from Sherry.

  07:19-07:21

  That's what Jesus does to us.

  07:25-07:26

  Okay, third question.

  07:26-07:31

  Some people feel it is important for all of us to use a supernatural language today.

  07:31-07:33

  Please help us to understand this.

  07:33-07:33

  Thank you.

  09:00-09:00

  Okay, number four.

  09:01-09:04

  What exactly is happening at the Lord's Supper?

  09:04-09:07

  Real presence or just remembrance?

  09:27-09:28

  Transubstantiation.

  12:49-12:50

  I agree with that.

  12:50-12:57

  And even in the passage you referenced, he says in 1 Corinthians, he says, "This is my body, which is for you.

  12:57-13:11

  Do this in remembrance of me." been an odd thing if he would have like ripped a piece of his body off or took some of his blood out and he didn't do that. This was clearly a reference to something else.

  13:44-13:49

  Number five. This was one of my favorite questions on the list here.

  13:49-13:57

  It says, "What are some Bible references for people who have made wrong decisions, but God continued to love them and provide for them?

  13:57-14:02

  I am looking for some hope that all is not lost because of my wrong decisions.

  14:02-14:07

  The Psalms seem to address when people are being persecuted for their faith.

  14:08-18:44

  Thank you." Yeah, didn't Peter - doesn't he have a couple books in the Bible too?

  18:45-18:45

  Yeah.

  18:59-19:05

  He blew it, he blew it, but yet he still has something that he wrote in Holy Scripture.

  20:09-20:12

  Even Paul, I had written down Paul on my notes here.

  20:12-20:17

  He called himself the chief of sinners in the book of 1 Timothy.

  20:17-20:18

  And let me just, can I read this real quick?

  20:20-20:52

  In 1 Timothy 1.15, he says, "It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all." He said he was the chief of sinners, and in verse 16 he says, "And yet, for this reason, I found mercy in order that me as the foremost, Jesus Christ, might demonstrate his perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in him for eternal life." That's pretty encouraging.

  20:53-21:03

  I mean, Paul blew it, called himself the chief of sinners, and yet he was being used as an example of somebody who you believe in him for you get eternal life.

  21:36-21:36

  >> Say what?

  22:33-22:39

  Okay, number six. Actually, the next two questions I learned some things on because I hadn't heard of these before.

  22:41-22:46

  It's good for us, especially in leadership, to make sure that we're up on things like these.

  22:47-22:49

  When we get questions like these, we need to have answers.

  22:49-22:53

  What do you think about the new perspective on Paul?

  27:11-27:18

  Number seven. What do you think about the documentary hypothesis? Like, is it okay to believe or no?

  28:47-28:51

  Right, are you saying these scholars are undermining the authority of God's work?

  28:56-28:56

  Yeah.

  29:03-29:04

  Okay.

  29:05-29:05

  Excellent.

  29:06-29:06

  Number 8.

  29:07-29:10

  What is the lesson and significance of Jacob's ladder?

  30:30-30:30

  Great.

  30:31-30:34

  Can we spend like one more minute on the next question?

  30:42-30:43

  That's great.

  30:44-30:45

  Okay, number nine.

  30:45-30:47

  What is Satanism and how does it tie into the Bible?

  32:34-32:35

  I've seen it and it's ludicrous.

  33:51-33:52

  I gotcha. Good one.

  34:13-34:20

  11. Did God know Adam and Eve would sin? Did God create hell before or after the first cent.

  35:57-35:58

  >> That's amazing.

  38:33-38:34

  That's awesome.

  38:34-38:35

  That's awesome.

  38:36-38:40

  On behalf of the congregation, we want to thank you for answering our questions.

  38:40-38:41

  It was really good.

  38:41-38:41

  Thank you, Jeff.

Small Group Questions (Whole Group):

1. Discuss any of the questions (and answers) from Sunday outlined above. Reflect on the answers given. How would you answer these?

Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another.

How to Have the Best Christmas Ever, the Shepherd Way

1. LISTEN Up! Be ready to respond to God's Word. (Luke 2:8-16)

Three Levels of Belief:
• Knowing the information
• Agreeing with the information
• Acting on the information

How to Act Upon Your Faith:
• REPENT
• RECEIVE
• REACT


2. SPEAK Up! People need to hear what you know about Jesus. (Luke 2:17-18)


3. LOOK Up! Seeing God at work changes you! (Luke 2:19-20)

North Street Christian Church - Christmas Eve Service

Sermon Notes (PDF): (no notes)
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  00:00-00:05

  So the story was told of this man in the Wild West who ran this saloon.

  00:07-00:28

  And this cowboy comes in and he says, "I'll have a root beer, but I'm gonna need it really fast." And the saloon manager says, "Okay." And he pours him a root beer and the cowboy takes it and he chugs it and he says, "Okay, good to go. Here's the money." And the saloon manager says, "What, what, what, what, what, what's the hurry?

  00:29-00:31

  "Why are you in such a hurry?" And the cowboy says, "Didn't you hear?

  00:32-00:38

  "Big Zeke is coming!" And the saloon owner says, "Haven't heard.

  00:38-00:42

  "Who's Big Zeke?" He says, "You've never heard of Big Zeke.

  00:43-00:50

  "He is only the biggest, nastiest outlaw "anyone has ever met.

  00:51-00:57

  "They say if he doesn't like the way that you look at him, "he'll bust your jaw right off.

  00:58-00:59

  won't even think twice about.

  01:01-01:04

  He says, "But you know what, I don't have time to sit here and tell you stories about Big Zeke.

  01:04-01:06

  I'm out of here." And the cowboy left.

  01:07-01:15

  And the saloon owner just went back to his business and, sure enough, about 15 or 20 minutes later, those swinging doors kick in.

  01:17-01:19

  And in walks...

  01:19-01:21

  in walks this mountain.

  01:23-01:27

  This man was 6'7" and weighed at least 400 pounds.

  01:29-01:33

  And he was wearing a buffalo, and I don't mean wearing a buffalo skin coat.

  01:33-01:37

  He had an actual buffalo on his back wearing it.

  01:39-01:48

  He had a rattlesnake around his waist as a belt, and it wasn't even a dead rattlesnake. It was a living rattlesnake that was too scared to move.

  01:50-01:52

  He had a beard halfway down his chest.

  01:53-01:56

  He had spurs on his boots the size of dinner plates.

  01:58-02:17

  And he walks up to the saloon owner, and he says, "Give me a root beer." The saloon owner, "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, sir." And he pours, and he puts it down there, and the man grabs it.

  02:19-02:25

  One swig, and it shatters the glass with his hand, and it just explodes and he throws the pieces down.

  02:26-02:36

  And the saloon keeper says, "Can I get you another one, sir?" The man says, "I don't know what you're talking about.

  02:36-02:37

  "I gotta get going.

  02:37-02:46

  "Big Zeke's coming, haven't you heard?" You know, at Christmas, there's all this expectation.

  02:48-02:59

  But the Christmas story, there's something that's sort of lost to us because you have the nation of Israel that was expecting this Messiah to come for generations and generations and generations.

  03:00-03:06

  And unlike the big Zeke story, when we look at the Christmas story, the Messiah was there.

  03:08-03:11

  The one that they've been expecting for generations, He was there.

  03:14-03:16

  And hardly anybody knew He was there.

  03:19-03:21

  Now how in the world did that happen?

  03:24-03:26

  Didn't the Lord have a PR person?

  03:26-03:30

  Didn't the Lord have somebody that could have handled that better?

  03:31-03:33

  That God was going to become a man.

  03:34-03:39

  The most significant act in the history of the planet, true or false?

  03:40-03:40

  True.

  03:41-03:55

  God was going to become a man and live among us, And the only people that show up on the night that God shows up on the earth is a handful of shepherds.

  03:56-03:58

  How in the world did that happen?

  04:00-04:18

  We live in a day when if some celebrity sneezes, there's 20 photographers in their face, and it's all over the news, and TMZ and the E! Television Network, and, you know, is this a fatal cold this celebrity has?

  04:18-04:28

  And everybody knows about it! But how is it that God himself comes to the earth, and the only people that he bothers to tell are...

  04:30-04:39

  shepherds. No parade, no fanfare, no spectacle, no paparazzi, no red carpet.

  04:39-04:44

  but just complete humility.

  04:46-04:48

  Maybe God's just a fan of shepherds.

  04:49-05:05

  Moses was a shepherd, and Abraham was a shepherd, and David was a shepherd, and the Lord Himself, when He identifies Himself in the Old Testament, Psalm 23, verse 1, says, "The Lord is my shepherd." So maybe God's just a big fan of shepherds.

  05:07-05:21

  Maybe it's hard for us to understand in a day when Christmas comes, we're anticipating getting the new thing, and what's the bigger and better and newest technology?

  05:24-05:28

  Maybe this idea of humility has lost on us.

  05:29-05:39

  Maybe the Lord was just teaching that the child born wasn't just for the elite, It wasn't just for kings and governors and the higher-ups and the religious organization.

  05:39-05:45

  Maybe this was God's way of saying that this child born is for everyone, even common people like me.

  05:48-05:54

  So the story of the shepherds is really your story and it's my story, and it's the story of everyone who's encountered God.

  05:54-05:57

  And I want us to look at it again for just a few minutes.

  05:57-05:59

  Turn in your Bibles if you have them.

  05:59-06:01

  I hope you do, to Luke chapter 2.

  06:02-06:23

  picking up in verse 8 and the title of this message is how to have the best Christmas ever the Shepherd way I just want to give you three things that I want you to meditate upon tonight and tomorrow and through this Christmas This is the season.

  06:25-06:26

  The first one is this.

  06:27-06:28

  Listen up.

  06:29-06:32

  Be ready to respond to God's Word.

  06:33-06:34

  Let's look at this.

  06:34-06:44

  This is a familiar passage to most of us, but I want us to try to look at it as if it's the first time that we're reading it.

  06:47-06:49

  God's Word writes for us.

  06:50-06:54

  And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field watch over their flock by night.

  06:56-07:02

  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.

  07:02-07:10

  And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

  07:12-07:18

  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

  07:19-07:21

  And this will be a sign for you.

  07:22-07:59

  "You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among those with whom He is pleased." When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, "The Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.

  08:01-08:02

  First of all, listen up.

  08:03-08:06

  Be ready to respond to God's Word.

  08:08-08:15

  Back in verse 7, the verse right before this passage we looked at, it says that there was no room for Jesus in the inn.

  08:16-08:18

  And that's something else that always bothered me about this story.

  08:19-08:26

  Imagine you ran an inn and this pregnant woman shows up and she's about to give birth any minute.

  08:27-08:28

  Would you turn her away?

  08:30-08:31

  I did some studying on this.

  08:33-08:40

  You know the Greek word for inn is the word kataluma, and it's used one other time in the New Testament.

  08:40-08:44

  And the only other time it's used is actually in Mark 14.

  08:44-08:55

  in verse 14, when Jesus was talking about the disciples going ahead to prepare for the Passover in this kataluma, the guest room.

  08:56-08:57

  That's where they had the Last Supper.

  08:57-08:59

  We sometimes call that the upper room.

  09:00-09:11

  And that's my understanding, this is just my understanding from the text, that when it says there was no room for them in the inn, I don't see them showing up at this hotel when this innkeeper slams the door in their face.

  09:11-09:21

  What I see is because of this census and because of the crowds coming in, that the place that they were supposed to stay, the guest room was full.

  09:21-09:24

  The catalooma, the upper guest room was full.

  09:25-09:31

  And the Bible doesn't say that they were in a barn or in a cave.

  09:32-09:40

  It simply says that Jesus was laid in a manger, So we know that he was laid in a place where they kept the animals.

  09:41-09:43

  And I studied this.

  09:44-09:52

  Many houses that had these upper rooms actually in the lower rooms or the ground floor is where they kept their animals for the night when they brought them in.

  09:52-09:54

  In other words, we would call that the garage.

  09:55-10:05

  So when I see the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, Jesus being born in the garage with the animals.

  10:08-10:10

  But a lot of funny things in this story.

  10:11-10:20

  Verse 16, "When the shepherds heard the message, it says they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger." And I don't know about you, but doesn't that strike you as funny?

  10:22-10:24

  Like, just get this scene.

  10:25-10:35

  Okay, pregnant woman about to give birth and they just traveled and there was no room where they were supposed to stay, and they end up having the baby.

  10:36-10:37

  Anybody here ever have a baby?

  10:38-10:42

  I'm not gonna go into all the details, but there's a lot of stuff that goes with having a baby.

  10:42-10:57

  So they have this baby, and they lay this baby in the feeding trough, and here's Mary and here's Joseph, and all of a sudden, this big group of strangers shows up.

  10:58-11:05

  "Well, many of you were there when my children were born, because you're my friends and I know you and I love you and it was great to see you.

  11:05-11:15

  But I would have thought it was a little weird if right after my wife gave birth, like this whole group of like custodians from the middle school show up that I've never met before.

  11:15-11:27

  Like, who are you people?" And they're like, "God told us to come because you were having a baby." I'm like, "Get out!" But the shepherds just show up.

  11:30-11:32

  because... and here's the point I want to make.

  11:34-11:35

  Simply because God told them to show up.

  11:37-11:39

  This wasn't a typical baby announcement.

  11:40-11:46

  Typically when people give the announcement that they're having a baby, a lot of the focus is on the couple, right? A lot of the focus is on mom, right?

  11:46-12:11

  Interestingly, look at what it says in this passage, verse 11, When this baby announcement was made and these angels were proclaiming to the shepherds that Jesus was to be born, verse 11 says, "For unto you is born this day." The shepherds are standing there, "Somebody's having a baby for me?" That's what the angel said.

  12:12-12:15

  "This baby is going to have significance for you.

  12:17-12:32

  A Savior, the Christ, the Messiah, the Lord, He's here." But what I want you to see first of all, very simply this, the shepherds believed the message that the Lord gave them.

  12:33-12:35

  How do we know that they believed?

  12:35-12:37

  Have you ever wondered that for yourself?

  12:37-12:46

  I know when I was a very young Christian, right when I came to Christ, I remember I just started reading the Bible and I had this little crisis of faith as a young Christian.

  12:46-12:49

  I remember reading the Bible saying, "Do I really believe this?

  12:50-12:52

  Do I really believe this?

  12:52-12:54

  Has anybody else ever asked yourself that?

  12:54-12:55

  Do I really believe?

  12:58-13:06

  Well, we know that the shepherds believed the Word of God given to them because they acted upon what God told them.

  13:07-13:11

  There are actually three levels of belief.

  13:13-13:15

  The first level is just simply knowing the information.

  13:16-13:18

  You know the information.

  13:18-13:20

  The second level is you agree with the information.

  13:23-13:27

  And the third level is you act upon the information that you know and agree with.

  13:28-14:02

  You see, Christmas time, as churches are being packed, I would say it's probably in the high 90% of people who know the message, and it's probably a pretty high percentage of people who would even agree with the message, who would walk out of the church, and they wouldn't say, "Well, I don't believe any of that stuff." They'd walk out of church and say, "Yeah, yeah, I think maybe that stuff might have probably happened." But biblically, true belief, true faith is taking it to the level that these shepherds took it, acting upon what I know and agree with.

  14:04-14:05

  Biblical faith getting to level three.

  14:06-14:08

  You say, "Well, wait, what does level three look like?

  14:08-14:14

  How do I act upon faith?" I'm going to give you three R words.

  14:14-14:18

  These are the things that you do to act upon your faith, and the first one is repent.

  14:20-14:21

  Andy had mentioned this earlier.

  14:23-14:27

  Sin had come into the world and destroyed man's relationship with God.

  14:28-14:33

  And the first step in coming to the Lord is acknowledging that you're a sinner.

  14:33-14:35

  I can't do anything to save myself.

  14:35-14:35

  I can't.

  14:35-14:37

  I can't do enough good works.

  14:37-14:38

  I can't go to church enough.

  14:38-14:40

  I can't be nice enough to people.

  14:40-14:46

  those things won't cancel out this problem that I have, that I'm guilty of sin.

  14:47-14:50

  And biblically, repentance is changing your mind.

  14:50-14:57

  By nature, sometimes we think we're good people, and surely God's going to see the good stuff that I've done and He's going to let me into heaven.

  14:57-14:59

  Repentance means you change your mind and say, "You know what?

  14:59-15:03

  I realize I'm guilty of sin." Secondly, receive.

  15:04-15:04

  Repent of your sin.

  15:04-15:06

  Receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

  15:08-15:10

  Receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

  15:10-15:11

  This is where it becomes very personal.

  15:12-15:47

  You see, it has to turn from "The Christmas story is a history lesson" to "The Christmas story has impact on my life." It has to go from "Jesus was born in Bethlehem" to "God came to the world for me." It has to go from 33 years later Jesus died on the cross, to Jesus died on the cross for me.

  15:47-15:53

  It has to get from a historical fact to a personal appropriation of the truth.

  15:54-15:56

  Repent, receive, and then react.

  15:57-15:58

  You need to grow as a disciple.

  15:59-16:07

  You need to find a church like this one that preaches the Word of God and encourages your walk with the Lord.

  16:08-16:10

  We believe that a disciple does three things.

  16:10-16:14

  A disciple worships Christ, walks with Christ, and works for Christ.

  16:15-16:17

  Those things are the fruit of somebody being a disciple.

  16:17-16:21

  That's reacting to what God's doing in you through Jesus Christ.

  16:23-16:29

  You'll know that you're growing as a disciple when the Word of God and the Holy Spirit are making decisions for you.

  16:32-16:50

  Like the shepherds, you hear the message from God about His Son, and you don't debate it, you don't consider it, "I'll think about it." You get moving on it, act upon it, listen up, be ready to respond to God's Word.

  16:51-16:52

  That's what I love about the shepherds.

  16:52-16:53

  They heard it and they were gone.

  16:53-16:56

  With haste, let's go.

  16:56-16:57

  Moving on the Word of God.

  16:58-17:03

  Secondly, speak up. Speak up.

  17:04-17:10

  People need to hear what you know about Jesus Christ.

  17:10-17:12

  Look at verses 17 and 18.

  17:14-17:20

  It says, "And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.

  17:21-17:35

  And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them." These shepherds left this manger scene fired up and ready to tell people what they saw.

  17:36-17:48

  Imagine tonight, across this city, across this state, across this country, as people are packing into churches to celebrate the birth of Christ.

  17:48-17:55

  Imagine tonight if everybody that left these churches was fired up about the message of Jesus Christ as these shepherds were.

  17:56-17:59

  Imagine what that would do to your community.

  17:59-18:01

  Imagine what that would do to this city.

  18:02-18:12

  If everybody left here like these shepherds, just fired up that God became a man and He gave us this incredible message of salvation through Jesus Christ.

  18:14-18:17

  Why aren't more people fired up about evangelism?

  18:18-18:26

  You know, some people say, "Well, people are afraid they're going to be asked a question they don't know, Maybe I don't know enough to share.

  18:26-18:28

  Maybe I'm afraid of rejection.

  18:29-18:32

  And maybe that's why people aren't more fired up about evangelism.

  18:32-18:39

  But I really believe the main reason that people aren't fired up about evangelism is because they're not captured and gripped by the message themselves.

  18:41-18:45

  Because every great evangelist I know has that common denominator.

  18:45-18:51

  They are so gripped by the message of Jesus Christ that they can't stop talking about it.

  18:52-18:54

  because it is awesome to them.

  18:56-19:01

  20 years ago, I worked at Walmart.

  19:02-19:03

  And I don't know how it happened.

  19:05-19:09

  When I started working at Walmart, I was like taking out garbage and cleaning bathrooms and things like that.

  19:09-19:14

  But somehow, I got transferred to the automotive department in Walmart.

  19:17-19:21

  And I remember when I worked in the automotive department, I was a bus driver for quite a while.

  19:22-19:32

  Every shift, every day I went into work, I dreaded people wanting to come to me and ask me about cars.

  19:33-19:35

  Because I know nothing about cars.

  19:37-19:37

  Nothing.

  19:39-19:46

  And my wife Erin, bless her heart, if there's something wrong with the car, she's like, "Pop the hood and take a look at it." I do.

  19:47-19:51

  I do, I pop the hood and I look at it and Aaron's like, well, what do you think?

  19:51-19:54

  And I'm like, well, the engine's still there, so that's not the problem.

  19:56-19:58

  She has more faith in me than I do, honestly.

  19:59-20:09

  I dreaded people coming to the automotive department of Walmart and wanting to talk to me about cars, but it would happen almost every day.

  20:09-20:10

  And it was so uncomfortable for me.

  20:11-20:21

  I'd get some guy come in and he'd be like, yeah, I just dropped the chassis on my catalytic fuel and discovered the vascometer intake was corroded.

  20:21-20:22

  Can you believe that?

  20:24-20:32

  And I would say, you know, this air freshener will make your car smell like puppy breath.

  20:32-20:33

  Here, why don't you check this out?

  20:36-20:37

  But the truth is, you're never afraid.

  20:39-20:51

  You're never afraid to talk about something that you're excited about, whether it's football or scrapbooking or your cat or whatever, you're never afraid to talk about something that you're excited about.

  20:51-20:58

  And when you immerse yourself in the gospel, in God's Word, you will get excited about it.

  20:59-21:04

  I have a good friend that, I love it, he calls me up, he's like, "Man, you're not going to believe what I read in the Bible.

  21:04-21:15

  Do you know what I studied this week? And did you know this?" And he's always so excited about the Bible because he's in it, And he's reading it, and he's studying it.

  21:15-21:19

  And when you go after that, you're going to be excited about it.

  21:20-21:26

  So speak up, pray for, and look for, and take the opportunities to share what you know.

  21:28-21:35

  You're like, "Well, I don't know very much." Well, if you know enough to be saved, you start there.

  21:36-21:38

  You know your testimony, don't you?

  21:38-21:41

  Can you tell somebody the effect that Jesus Christ has had on your life?

  21:42-21:44

  Can you tell somebody how He's changed you?

  21:44-21:54

  And yes, I'm not perfect, and yes, I'm not yet the person that I want to be, but He's changed me from being the person that I was, and I'm heading to heaven, and I'm born again, and there's going to be some bumps along the way.

  21:56-21:58

  What a difference Jesus Christ makes in your life.

  21:59-22:01

  You see, in God's Word, that's what the shepherds did.

  22:03-22:04

  They just shared what they knew.

  22:06-22:15

  They just went out and said, God came and told us this message about this baby and who the baby was going to be, and can you believe we saw the baby?

  22:17-22:19

  How effective were they as preachers?

  22:19-22:21

  Well, verse 18 says the people wandered.

  22:22-22:24

  Whoa, whoa, whoa, tell us more about that!

  22:25-22:27

  Wow! Wow, what can this mean?

  22:28-22:28

  They wandered.

  22:30-22:30

  Speak up.

  22:31-22:33

  People need to hear what you know about Jesus.

  22:33-22:35

  And then finally, look up.

  22:37-22:42

  Look up, seeing God at work changes you.

  22:43-22:45

  Look at these last couple of verses.

  22:46-22:55

  It says, "But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart." Mary, very introspective here, as you can imagine.

  22:58-23:00

  It says the same thing in verse 51, I believe.

  23:01-23:13

  Verse 20 says, "And the shepherds returned," look at this, "glorifying and praising God all they had heard and seen as it had been told them." Glorifying and praising.

  23:14-23:19

  The shepherds had to go back to work, but they were never the same, were they?

  23:20-23:29

  I imagine those shepherds, I don't know, the Bible doesn't really tell us, but I imagine those shepherds for the rest of their lives probably never talked about anything else.

  23:29-23:31

  Could you imagine hanging out with them?

  23:32-23:34

  Like, "Hey, how are the sheep? Sheep are good.

  23:35-23:39

  Did I ever tell you about that time that the angel showed up with the baby and the swaddling cloths in the manger?

  23:39-23:42

  Like, "Yeah, you told us that yesterday." Well, hang on, I've got to tell you again.

  23:43-23:51

  "Hey, how's your family doing?" "Oh, my family's good." Did I ever tell you about the time that we walked in right after the woman gave birth and we saw God in the flesh?

  23:51-23:52

  Can I tell you that story?

  23:54-23:59

  And when God grips your heart with the message of Jesus, you're never the same.

  24:00-24:03

  Your life is now about praise.

  24:05-24:12

  And there might be some here tonight, many Christmases away from the original birth of Jesus Christ, saying, "You know what?

  24:13-24:15

  You know what, Jeff? I hear what you're saying, and I'm going to tell you something.

  24:15-24:19

  If I was one of those shepherds, I'd probably just as fired up.

  24:19-24:32

  In fact, if I was one of those shepherds, I might even be more fired up." Well, you and I have even more reason to live a life of praise and worship because we know the rest of the story.

  24:34-24:49

  That baby grew up, and just as he was laid on a manger this night, he was laid on a wooden cross to die for our sins.

  24:51-24:55

  Three days later, He rose from the dead to give us eternal life.

  24:57-25:08

  The shepherds, yeah, they heard and believed the message and they saw God in the flesh, but church, we have heard and believed the message and we have God personally indwelling us.

  25:10-25:14

  They were changed from the experience.

  25:14-25:18

  We are changed from the inside out by God's holy presence.

  25:19-25:20

  We have reason to celebrate.

  25:22-25:27

  If you're like me sometimes, it gets to be close to Christmas, and you can be a bit of a scrooge.

  25:27-25:29

  Not you, when I say you, I mean me.

  25:29-25:36

  I can be a bit of a scrooge sometimes because of all the other stuff that goes with it.

  25:36-25:41

  I love the story, I love the story of the Incarnation, it never gets old, it gets better every time I hear it.

  25:42-25:49

  I'm just talking about all that extra stuff It's easy to get sort of grumpy about it.

  25:50-25:57

  I'd just like to encourage you, when you're tempted to get distracted, worship God for who He is.

  25:59-26:04

  When you're tempted to get annoyed, praise God for what He's done.

  26:05-26:13

  And when you're tempted to be worn out by all the festivities, remember who it's really about.

  26:15-26:27

  If you make it your aim to listen up and speak up and look up, like the shepherds maybe every year, you're going to hear yourself saying, "This was the best Christmas ever.

  26:28-26:37

  You pray with me." Father in heaven, I thank you for the very simple message that we see from the shepherds.

  26:37-26:41

  They were just simple people who just heard your word and acted on it.

  26:42-26:47

  they were people who weren't shy about telling other people what they saw.

  26:48-26:54

  And they were people whose very lives were characterized by praise and worship after they left their encounter with Jesus Christ.

  26:55-27:00

  Father, I pray for the churches represented here tonight.

  27:02-27:10

  I thank you Father for the way that the message of Jesus Christ, the message of the Incarnation, the message of the Gospel, and the cross, and the empty tomb.

  27:10-27:15

  I thank you for the way, God, in 2015, you are still changing lives.

  27:16-27:19

  You are still saving people from themselves.

  27:20-27:25

  You're still saving people from the condemnation of God that we so rightly deserve.

  27:25-27:30

  And you're doing it all through this glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.

  27:31-27:39

  The Father, in the midst of everything else going on, The Word tells us that the Word itself is like a seed.

  27:40-27:47

  And I pray God that this seed is taking deep roots, bearing much roots.

  27:48-27:50

  We pray these things in Jesus' name.

  27:51-27:51

  Amen.

Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Luke 2:8-20

Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another.

God Was One of Us

God Was With Us...

Isaiah 9:6 - For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Micah 5:2 - But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

Matthew 1:18-23 - Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

1. ...to be my SUBSTITUTE . (Hebrews 2:9-10)



2. ...to be my SANCTIFIER . (Hebrews 2:11-13)



3. ...to be my SYMPATHIZER . (Hebrews 2:17-18)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  00:00-00:04

  It was March of 1995.

  00:04-00:07

  It was right around the time that I came to Christ.

  00:07-00:14

  And I think that's why this particular song caught my attention.

  00:14-00:22

  How many people remember this one-hit wonder from Joan Osborne called "One of Us"?

  00:22-00:24

  How many people remember that song?

  00:25-00:28

  "What if God was one of us?" Do you know that song?

  00:29-00:35

  I was going to sing it for you, and my wife has been begging me not to.

  00:37-00:40

  But Joan Osborne didn't write this song, she just performed it.

  00:40-00:42

  It was written by a guy named Eric Bazilian.

  00:44-00:45

  The lyrics go like this.

  00:47-00:49

  Now this isn't, by the way, this isn't a Christian song, okay?

  00:49-00:50

  This didn't come out of a hymnal.

  00:52-00:55

  If you know the song, this reminds you of the lyrics.

  00:56-00:57

  What if God was one of us?

  00:58-01:01

  The song goes, "If God had a name, what would it be?

  01:04-01:05

  And would you call to His face?

  01:07-01:16

  If you were faced with Him in all His glory, what would you ask if you had just one question?" Then there's a refrain that says, "Yeah, God is great.

  01:16-01:17

  Yeah, yeah, God is good.

  01:18-01:18

  Yeah.

  01:20-01:21

  What if God was one of us?

  01:22-01:25

  Just a slob like one of us.

  01:27-01:29

  Just a stranger on the bus trying to make his way home.

  01:32-01:37

  Then the next verse says, "If God had a face, what would it look like?

  01:39-02:25

  And would you want to see if seeing meant that you had to believe in things like heaven and Jesus and the saints and all the prophets?" And when that song came out, it was met with a reception of, man that's that is really deep you know like like could you imagine like what what would it be like if God was like actually if I God was like a man like what would that be like could you imagine like what would it what would it mean to us if like God was actually a person and and he like lived here and that's really an interesting food for thought if it didn't actually happen.

  02:26-02:38

  Because the Bible answers all of these questions with the most simple and profound and amazing thing that's ever happened in the history of planet Earth.

  02:41-02:42

  This simple truth.

  02:43-02:44

  God was one of us.

  02:46-02:52

  And this idea of God coming to be a part of His creation.

  02:54-02:55

  Coming to the earth as a man.

  02:56-02:57

  Understand that it wasn't an afterthought.

  02:58-03:03

  It wasn't like God was in heaven looking down and pacing, thinking what am I going to do?

  03:03-03:09

  How am I going to teach these people about me and what I'm like and the grace and the truth?

  03:09-03:11

  How am I going to - oh, I've got an idea.

  03:12-03:13

  I'll just become a man.

  03:13-03:15

  It wasn't an afterthought.

  03:16-03:18

  It was the plan from the very beginning.

  03:19-03:40

  Testament is filled with prophecies. Here's a couple. Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6. A familiar passage. "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor." Look at this next phrase. "His name shall be called" what?

  03:43-03:53

  "Mighty God." So this Messiah is going to be called Mighty God. He's also going to to be called Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

  03:53-03:57

  So very clearly, the prophecy says the Messiah is going to be God.

  03:58-04:04

  Micah 5:2 Another popular passage that's read at Christmas.

  04:05-04:16

  "But you, Bethlehem, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel." But look at these last two phrases.

  04:17-04:22

  Coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

  04:22-04:25

  See, that's not something that can be fulfilled by just some guy.

  04:26-04:30

  Talking about a Messiah who is from ancient times.

  04:31-04:32

  From of old.

  04:33-04:36

  That can only describe God Himself.

  04:38-04:40

  This was perfectly fulfilled in the New Testament.

  04:41-04:42

  Matthew 1.

  04:42-04:43

  Can we get that up there?

  04:46-04:48

  The birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.

  04:49-04:55

  When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

  04:57-05:02

  And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

  05:04-05:21

  But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, "Do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

  05:23-05:26

  She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus.

  05:29-05:37

  For He will save His people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet.

  05:38-05:51

  "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel," God with us. That's a prophecy that comes from Isaiah chapter 7 and verse 14.

  05:53-06:15

  But we're going to look today, I want you to turn in your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 2. We're going to look at just a few verses. It's going to sort of answer the question that was posed in this song. What if God was one of us? The Bible is very clear about who He is and the reason that He came.

  06:16-06:20

  And I want to give you Words of encouragement.

  06:22-06:24

  On your outline, God was one of us.

  06:26-06:28

  And God was with us.

  06:28-06:28

  Emmanuel.

  06:30-06:32

  We're going to look at three reasons that He came.

  06:32-06:35

  Three reasons that God became a man.

  06:35-06:37

  And the first one is this - write this down.

  06:37-06:39

  God was with us to be my substitute.

  06:41-06:43

  God was with us to be my substitute.

  06:46-07:11

  The Hebrew writer in commenting the ministry of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, says, "But we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God, He might taste death for everyone.

  07:12-07:49

  For it was fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist bringing many sons to glory should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. So God was with us first of all to be my substitute. Notice in this passage here at the end of verse 9 it says that he might taste death for everyone. You see God cannot die. So the only way that God God could taste death was to take on human flesh.

  07:52-07:55

  Well, why would He want to taste death?

  07:57-08:01

  Well, the Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death.

  08:02-08:05

  Death is the penalty for sin.

  08:05-08:08

  And somebody might say, well, wait a minute, we're all going to die.

  08:09-08:13

  Does that mean that we all are under the penalty of sin no matter what?

  08:13-08:23

  I understand when you go back to the Garden of Eden, God told Adam that if you eat off the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will surely die.

  08:24-08:28

  But if you understand the original Hebrew, the phrase is literally this.

  08:28-08:43

  He says, "Dying, you will die." Meaning, if you eat off of this tree, if you rebel, if you sin, it's going to start a process that's going to end with something.

  08:46-08:51

  Dying you will die. That's why church, that's why we are getting old and wearing out.

  08:53-09:00

  You know when I was in high school, I played soccer. I remember watching videos. I used to be able to run. I was fast.

  09:00-09:02

  That was a long time ago.

  09:03-09:07

  I try to run now and it's embarrassing. It is really embarrassing.

  09:08-09:29

  You know if somebody was chasing me my best bet is to find a hill and roll down the hill What happened to me I was I was young and good-looking and in shape And I look in the mirror now and I'm like what happened. I'll tell you what happened. I'm getting old. I'm wearing out and Spoiler alert, so are you?

  09:31-09:31

  Why is that?

  09:38-09:40

  because wearing out, dying, we will die.

  09:41-09:45

  And see, when we think of death, we immediately think of casket death.

  09:45-09:47

  We think of the funeral home.

  09:48-09:49

  But death literally means separation.

  09:50-09:57

  It's the spirit being separated from the body, and with sin, we are separated from God.

  10:00-10:01

  Death is the penalty for sin.

  10:04-10:20

  And it was a man, Adam, the first man, that the Bible says, Romans chapter 5, "He brought sin and death and separation into the world." But you see, it was the second Adam, Jesus Christ.

  10:20-10:22

  The Bible calls him the second Adam.

  10:24-10:28

  He brought forgiveness and life and reconciliation with God.

  10:31-10:40

  In other words, man brought sin into the world, so man needed to pay the penalty for sin.

  10:41-10:46

  The problem is none of us are qualified to do that.

  10:47-11:28

  Even if I said, even if I had this moment of nobility and eye of the tiger and martyr mentality, even if I had this thought, "You know what God? I will die for the sins of the world. You can kill me." I'm not qualified to do that. Because by nature, I'm guilty of sin myself. So if I were to die, I'd just be paying the penalty for my own sin. You You see, it would have to be a sinless man.

  11:30-11:32

  But the only one who is sinless is God.

  11:34-11:42

  And that's why we see unfolding God's perfect plan from long ago, from the very beginning, God's plan was to become a man.

  11:42-11:45

  Jesus Christ, God in the flesh.

  11:46-11:49

  Jesus wasn't half man and half God.

  11:50-11:57

  Jesus, 100% man and 100% God at the same time.

  11:58-12:03

  God's perfect man and man's perfect God.

  12:05-12:12

  That's why this time of year, sometimes these magazines and newspaper articles will-- revisit the virgin birth.

  12:12-12:22

  And by the way, there's this whole movement-- the statistics are sickening-- of churches and pastors that are denying the virgin birth.

  12:22-12:27

  That say, "Yeah, the virgin birth isn't that important." I have no problem with the virgin birth.

  12:27-12:28

  You know why?

  12:28-12:35

  Because if Jesus Christ wasn't fully God and fully human in the manger, He wasn't fully God and fully human on the cross.

  12:37-12:40

  He has to be both, as the Bible says He is.

  12:43-12:46

  So God was with us, first of all, to be my substitute.

  12:47-12:49

  Is He your substitute?

  12:50-12:52

  Is Jesus Christ your substitute?

  12:53-12:56

  You have two options when it comes to dealing with your sin.

  12:57-13:01

  Your one option is you can face God yourself and deal with the consequences.

  13:02-13:04

  Face God's wrath for your own sin.

  13:04-13:05

  You have that option.

  13:05-13:06

  I wouldn't recommend it.

  13:07-13:15

  But you see, the other option is that you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, believing that He tasted death for you.

  13:16-13:17

  That's really where it has to go.

  13:18-13:26

  Is taking it from this story of yes, Jesus Christ - God in the flesh was born and He came to die.

  13:27-13:35

  It's making it personal to say God took on flesh, He was born, and He came to die for me.

  13:36-13:44

  You have to make that bridge where it goes from a count in history something God did for you personally.

  13:46-13:49

  First of all, God was with us to be my substitute.

  13:50-13:54

  Secondly, God was with us to be my sanctifier.

  13:55-13:56

  To be my sanctifier.

  13:56-13:58

  Look at verses 11-13.

  13:59-14:06

  It says, "For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.

  14:06-14:16

  That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, 'I will tell of your name Brothers, in the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise.

  14:17-14:19

  And again, I will put my trust in Him.

  14:19-14:24

  And again, behold, I and the children God has given me.

  14:25-14:32

  So not only did God become a man to be my substitute, but God became a man to be my sanctifier.

  14:33-14:40

  This is the glorious truth of the Gospel, that Jesus Christ didn't just come to erase your sin.

  14:42-14:44

  That's only half the Gospel.

  14:45-14:50

  This idea that Jesus died so that my sins are forgiven, that's half the Gospel.

  14:51-14:57

  The other half of the Gospel is Jesus rose from the dead to give me eternal life.

  14:58-15:00

  But not just eternal life.

  15:01-15:06

  To me, this is the most profound doctrine in the entire Bible.

  15:07-15:23

  And that is this, the Bible says that because of the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, when I receive Him by faith and you receive Him by faith, God sees you as righteous as Jesus Christ Himself.

  15:24-15:27

  That's the most profound thing in the whole Bible to me.

  15:28-15:33

  You know, we can talk about creation and virgin birth and Trinity, and we can talk about all of those things.

  15:35-15:36

  I get that.

  15:38-15:52

  But the thing that blows my mind more than anything else that Scripture teaches is that Jesus Christ not only forgives me of my sin, but He pronounces me as being as holy as Himself.

  15:54-15:55

  And it's not because of what I've done.

  15:56-15:58

  It's because of what He's done for me.

  15:58-16:00

  That's called imputed righteousness.

  16:00-16:04

  He puts His righteousness on my spiritual accounts.

  16:06-16:16

  2 Corinthians 5:21 - it's my favorite verse in the Bible - that God took Jesus who knew no sin to become sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God.

  16:17-16:22

  That verse says that in Christ, we become the righteousness of God.

  16:24-16:32

  And that's what the Hebrew writer is talking about here when he says, "For he who sanctifies..." sanctifies means He makes holy.

  16:33-16:35

  God demands that we are holy.

  16:35-16:36

  Did you know that?

  16:36-16:37

  He demands it.

  16:38-16:40

  God doesn't have a loose policy on holiness.

  16:41-16:42

  He demands that we're holy.

  16:42-16:45

  We don't have it, so the good news is God gives it to us, right?

  16:46-16:47

  That's grace.

  16:47-16:50

  God giving to us what He requires from us.

  16:52-16:53

  He gives us His holiness.

  16:56-16:58

  I'm going to tell you, I've read this a billion times.

  17:00-17:06

  And this truth just really gripped me in a special way this week.

  17:06-17:07

  The truth in verse 11.

  17:10-17:14

  It says He sanctifies - look at the last phrase in verse 11.

  17:14-17:31

  It says, "That is why He is not ashamed to call them brothers." God, when you receive Christ as your Lord and Savior, when you're born again, He is not ashamed of us.

  17:33-17:34

  I want you to think about that.

  17:36-17:47

  You know, one of the things I love to do when we have people visit our church, I like to call them and I say, "Tell me about your experience." I like to get to know them a little bit with a brief phone chat.

  17:49-17:54

  One of the questions I get asked often, "That worship leader, is he your brother?

  17:55-18:11

  Because you guys really look alike." Well, when worship goes really well that Sunday, I say, "Yeah, he's my brother." Let's say we have a Sunday where worship doesn't really go so well.

  18:13-18:18

  They're like, "Is that your brother, the worship leader?" You know what, I just met him last week.

  18:20-18:21

  Barely know the guy.

  18:22-18:29

  And if you've been here more than a couple weeks, you realize that problems with worship aren't typical.

  18:31-18:33

  But I imagine the conversation might go the other way.

  18:34-18:43

  When the sermon goes well, Darren's like, "Yeah, that's my brother." And when the sermon tanks, you see the point, right?

  18:45-18:47

  Here's the truth that really gripped me.

  18:49-18:50

  I want you to listen to this very closely.

  18:51-18:52

  Somebody here needs to hear this.

  18:53-18:58

  Jesus Christ calls us His brothers and sisters.

  19:00-19:02

  Brethren, you get that, right?

  19:02-19:07

  Jesus Christ calls us His brothers and is not ashamed of it.

  19:08-19:14

  Sometimes, honestly, sometimes I think Sometimes I think maybe He should be ashamed of me.

  19:16-19:18

  Sometimes I think maybe He should be.

  19:20-19:23

  But your Bible tells you that He never is.

  19:25-19:26

  He never is.

  19:27-19:28

  I was thinking about that this week.

  19:28-19:34

  You know, sometimes we're ashamed to call Jesus ours.

  19:36-19:37

  Can somebody explain that to me?

  19:38-19:41

  Can somebody explain to me what it is about Jesus you might be ashamed of?

  19:43-19:46

  Has Jesus done something that might embarrass you?

  19:47-19:54

  When I study his life and his ministry, why would we be ashamed of being associated with Jesus?

  19:54-19:55

  But so often we are.

  19:56-19:58

  We don't want to be looked at as the religious person.

  20:00-20:02

  Sometimes we're ashamed to call Jesus ours, but church.

  20:03-20:07

  Jesus is never ashamed of us.

  20:08-20:09

  Think about that.

  20:10-20:17

  Imagine this conversation where the devil's like, "Mark Ward, huh?

  20:18-20:19

  Mark Ward, Jesus.

  20:20-20:28

  He's one of yours, huh?" Jesus says, "Yes, He is." The devil's like, "Did you see what He did this week?

  20:29-20:31

  Did you hear the way He talked to that person this week?

  20:31-20:37

  Did you see what He did?" Jesus says, "I see everything." You're not ashamed of him?

  20:39-20:40

  Jesus says, "Not for a second.

  20:42-20:47

  I'm not ashamed because I pronounced him holy and he's my brother.

  20:48-20:59

  I am not ashamed of him." And that tells me I don't have to walk around with guilt and with shame with my head down.

  21:01-21:01

  I'm such a loser.

  21:03-21:20

  must be so ashamed of me because I knew I shouldn't have done this and I did it anyways and I just can't seem to get it right and God should be so embarrassed of me and God should be so ashamed of me and your Bible says something completely different.

  21:21-21:23

  Your Bible says He is not ashamed.

  21:25-21:35

  I can walk in humble confidence because Jesus has pronounced me holy and He is not ashamed of me.

  21:37-21:44

  If you're sitting here today and you've received Christ as your Lord and Savior, He's not ashamed of you no matter how bad you blow it.

  21:45-21:46

  No matter how bad you mess up.

  21:48-21:49

  He's not ashamed.

  21:50-22:03

  And finally for today, God was with us, not just to be my substitute, not just to be my sanctifier, but God was with us to be my sympathizer.

  22:04-22:05

  Jump down to verse 16.

  22:06-22:11

  The Hebrew writer says, "For surely it is not angels that He helps, but He helps the offspring of Abraham.

  22:13-22:31

  Therefore, He had to be made like His brothers in every respect, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

  22:33-22:35

  I want to stop here for a second.

  22:35-22:38

  This word "propitiation," it's a big word.

  22:38-22:41

  It's used a couple times in the Bible, but it's a very important word.

  22:41-22:48

  What that word means-- write this down-- the word "propitiation" means God is satisfied with the work of Christ.

  22:49-22:50

  That's so important.

  22:51-22:53

  It means that God is satisfied.

  22:54-23:00

  When Jesus died on the cross, remember He cried out, "It is finished." Meaning paid in full.

  23:01-23:03

  Your sin has been covered completely.

  23:03-23:06

  Taken away. Forgiven. Forever.

  23:07-23:09

  The word "propitiation" goes along with that.

  23:10-23:11

  God is satisfied.

  23:12-23:17

  When Jesus gave His life as a substitute for you, God's not still mad at you.

  23:17-23:18

  That's why he's not ashamed.

  23:19-23:20

  He's not still mad.

  23:20-23:32

  God's not up in heaven like, "Oh, I know He received my son as His Savior." "Oh, I'm going to punish Him for the things that He's done." Not at all.

  23:33-23:34

  God says, "I'm satisfied.

  23:34-23:45

  My wrath was poured out on My Son, and because He received My Son, I have no wrath to pour out on this person." That's what propitiation means.

  23:47-23:50

  God is satisfied with the work of Jesus.

  23:51-23:52

  So God's not mad at you.

  23:53-23:55

  Look at this last phrase.

  23:55-24:07

  It says in verse 18, "For because He Himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted." God was one of us.

  24:09-24:10

  He was literally human.

  24:12-24:25

  and every respect, and what it means to be human, it's very clear the Hebrew writer is teaching us that Jesus came to feel everything that we feel.

  24:27-24:33

  Yes, Jesus performed miracles and walked on water and healed.

  24:35-24:45

  But when you read your Gospels, you see that Jesus - God in the flesh - Jesus experienced thirst.

  24:46-24:47

  Jesus got tired.

  24:48-24:53

  The Bible says that Jesus even wept on multiple occasions.

  24:55-25:06

  So this gives God - understand how I mean this - this gives God a sort of special dimension of understanding through experience.

  25:06-25:19

  Now, I am not saying that God lacked knowledge in something, and God was like, well, I guess the only way I'm going to find out this information about being human is to become a human.

  25:19-25:21

  I'm not saying that God lacked the knowledge.

  25:21-25:22

  Here's what I am saying.

  25:23-25:33

  Church, we can't ever say to God, you have no idea what it's like to live in a body like this and to be surrounded by people like this.

  25:33-25:36

  You have no idea what it's like, God.

  25:38-25:44

  Because of the incarnation, Because God became a man, He knows.

  25:45-25:46

  Have you ever been betrayed by someone?

  25:47-25:48

  Have you ever been betrayed?

  25:50-25:51

  Jesus knows what that's like.

  25:52-25:56

  One of His best friends betrayed Him for a handful of coins.

  25:58-25:59

  Have you ever been rejected?

  26:00-26:02

  Jesus knows what that's like.

  26:02-26:06

  Even His own family rejected Him during His earthly ministry.

  26:08-26:09

  Have you ever been misunderstood?

  26:10-26:12

  Jesus understands what that's like.

  26:14-26:24

  Have you ever been just so exhausted and your body is just so tired, but there's so much to do ahead of you?

  26:26-26:27

  He understands.

  26:28-26:29

  He knows.

  26:30-26:31

  Have you ever been tempted?

  26:33-26:34

  Every one of us have.

  26:35-27:38

  is actually if you turn the page, Hebrews 4.15 says that Jesus was tempted in every respect. Tempted as we are, yet was without sin. Jesus was tempted in every respect. Like, well what does that mean? I'm not the world's greatest Bible scholar, but my understanding of that verse is that Jesus was tempted in every single way that a human being can be tempted and you can fill in a lot of blanks there and say really do you think he was tempted like this do you think he was tempted like that the Bible says he was tempted in every way yet was without sin he never gave into the temptation but you have to know that he knows and this is important for us to know that he He knows because, remember that Isaiah 9, 6 passage, it says, "He will be called" - do you remember the first phrase, pop quiz, what was the first phrase?

  27:38-27:54

  "He will be called wonderful counselor." You know the best counsel, the best counsel that you can get comes from someone who's experienced the things that you're going through.

  28:02-28:06

  For example, take a victim of domestic violence.

  28:07-28:24

  If a victim of domestic violence comes to me for counseling, I can offer some counsel, I can offer some comfort, and I can offer some encouragement, but I can't do it in the same way as someone who has lived through it.

  28:26-28:28

  The Bible tells us that God became a man.

  28:30-28:33

  And forever answers the question, does God really understand?

  28:34-28:36

  Does God really understand?

  28:38-28:42

  God was with us to be my sympathizer in every way.

  28:43-28:55

  If I were Jesus, just imagine the Father saying, okay, now's the time that God's going to become a man live on the earth and offer as a sacrifice.

  28:56-29:09

  If I were the son, I could imagine asking the father, hey, you know what, instead of just going through all of this stuff, how about I just show up as an adult, die on the cross, raise from the dead, and just go back to heaven?

  29:10-29:12

  We can get this salvation thing done in three days.

  29:14-29:16

  But he didn't do that, did he?

  29:17-29:24

  He decided to live a total human experience.

  29:25-29:29

  When God became a man, He didn't just step down from Heaven.

  29:30-29:42

  He came through the womb of a woman in the manner that every other human being after Adam and Eve came into the world.

  29:44-29:45

  Church, this is worth celebrating.

  29:47-29:56

  At Christmas, we marvel again that God was with us as one of us.

  29:58-30:00

  In just a moment, we're going to invite you to come down and pray.

  30:02-30:11

  Maybe there's somebody here this morning that says, you know, I've never received Jesus Christ as my substitute.

  30:13-30:15

  believing that He took my place on the cross.

  30:17-30:22

  I can't think of a better time to come down and pray with somebody from our prayer team.

  30:25-30:34

  Maybe there's somebody here that says, you know, Pastor Jeff, I've been in this depression for a long time.

  30:34-30:36

  And to be honest with you, I've felt like a Christian loser.

  30:37-30:41

  And I've felt like God must be You're so embarrassed by Me.

  30:42-30:44

  I'd like to remind you today that He's your sanctifier.

  30:45-30:46

  And He's not ashamed of you.

  30:47-30:53

  Maybe you need to come down and pray and be reminded of that.

  30:55-31:08

  Maybe there's somebody here that says, you know what, I've been really struggling with something, and so often in my prayers, I just feel like my prayers are only making it to the ceiling and God's not really hearing my prayers.

  31:08-31:18

  And I wonder sometimes if God even understands or cares what I'm going through, when the truth of the matter is He was here.

  31:19-31:28

  And He experienced everything that we go through so that He can be a merciful and sympathetic High Priest.

  31:29-31:30

  Will you bow your heads and pray with me?

  31:31-31:36

  And as our worship team leads us in a closing song, we're going to invite you to come up front and pray.

  31:37-31:48

  Father in Heaven, we thank You that Your Word is so clear on the significance of the incarnation.

  31:49-31:55

  Because, Father, we realize that if You didn't literally become a man, You couldn't literally be our substitute.

  31:56-32:01

  If You didn't literally become a man, Jesus couldn't call us brothers.

  32:01-32:05

  There's nowhere in Your Word, Father, that You call us brothers.

  32:07-32:09

  This Word tells us that You are our Heavenly Father.

  32:10-32:17

  But somehow Jesus through His death and His resurrection now calls us His brothers.

  32:18-32:28

  Father, if You didn't become a man, we would be wondering if You really understood what the human experience was like.

  32:28-32:30

  What it was like to be tempted.

  32:30-32:58

  And what it was like to experience the things that these human bodies experience The Incarnation forever answers the question, "Yes, you do. You understand." Father, we thank you for as simple and profound as it is, for as marvelous and mysterious as it is, we thank you for what we truly have to celebrate this Christmas season.

  33:00-33:02

  We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Hebrews 2:9-18

1. Why is it necessary that Jesus be fully God AND fully human? Would he be able to be a substitute/sanctifier/sympathizer if He wasn't fully God AND fully human? Why or why not?
    

2. What have you done with this good news? Have you offered this gift to anyone else?

Breakout Questions:

Who do you know that needs to know the life of Christ? Pray for that person by name.

The Power to Heal

God Can Still Heal. And Here's What I Can Do:

1. I can STOP and show COMPASSION. (Acts 3:1-5)



2. I can MINISTER in the name of Jesus to people. (Acts 3:6-7)



3. I can BRING people to worship. (Acts 3:8-10)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above with your cursor for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  00:00-00:00

  Amen.

  00:02-00:15

  Acts 3:1-10 And before we look at the passage, I want to say it's been about four or five years ago Cade got his first pet.

  00:17-00:21

  A betta fish named Marvin.

  00:22-00:25

  And no, he didn't come with that name in case you were wondering.

  00:25-00:28

  That was all Cade - wasn't that like four or five years ago?

  00:29-00:30

  We've had this fish forever.

  00:31-00:40

  I thought betta fish lived like a couple of months and then you, you know, you give them the nice little funeral and flush them and everything else and we've had this fish forever.

  00:42-00:52

  What was about two or three years ago, one morning, Kate was very concerned because Marvin, you know betta fish, right?

  00:52-00:54

  You know what a betta fish looks like?

  00:54-00:57

  They have those long fin things, you know what I'm talking about, right?

  00:57-01:00

  and usually they're all in a line and flowing.

  01:01-01:11

  Well, Kate was very concerned because Marvin was in his aquarium and he was kind of swimming sideways, and those fin things were just all over the place.

  01:13-01:13

  Disheveled.

  01:14-01:17

  I didn't know a fish could get disheveled, but a fish can get disheveled.

  01:17-01:19

  Did you know that? I did not know that.

  01:20-01:26

  But Marvin was as close as you can get to floating without actually floating.

  01:29-01:30

  And Cade was pretty concerned.

  01:31-01:41

  So, I said, "You know what, let's just sit down right now and we're going to pray for Marvin." And we sat down and we held hands.

  01:43-01:45

  We lifted Marvin the betta fish up to the Lord.

  01:48-01:56

  And do you know, that fish was immediately, and dare I say miraculously healed.

  01:57-01:59

  Marvin made an immediate rebound.

  01:59-02:00

  He's still alive today.

  02:01-02:03

  You can come to our house and meet him if you like.

  02:05-02:12

  And I share that story because, you know, I don't want to sound like a whiner or a complainer.

  02:14-02:21

  I certainly don't want to sound like I'm questioning the Lord, but I've been praying for my kids for ten years.

  02:21-02:25

  My kids have got some health issues, I've been praying for them for 10 years.

  02:29-02:30

  Seemingly unanswered.

  02:32-02:37

  I prayed for a stupid fish one time, and I'm not even really sure how much I meant the prayer.

  02:39-02:42

  And we prayed for a fish one time and he's immediately healed.

  02:44-02:45

  How much sense does that make?

  02:47-02:54

  I would like to offer to you though if you have any fish in your house that are looking a little under the weather, I make house calls.

  02:55-03:02

  And I'll grab one of our elders - Darren Keller - and I will come to your house and we'll lay hands on your fish, and we will pray for your fish.

  03:03-03:05

  But today we're going to be talking about healing.

  03:07-03:19

  And we mentioned this before, but just to review, we saw in the life of Jesus that the reason He did the miracles that He performed - these miracles were to authenticate that the Father sent Him.

  03:20-03:29

  The Bible tells us - this is so important, listen to this - the Lord also granted the apostles to be accredited by miracles.

  03:30-03:31

  Write this reference down.

  03:31-03:54

  2 Corinthians 12:12 says, "The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works." Hebrews 2:3-4 talk about the same thing.

  03:55-04:02

  The Lord granted the apostles to have these abilities to perform signs and wonders.

  04:02-04:06

  Now obviously, it was the Lord performing these miracles through the apostles.

  04:08-04:12

  But the apostles had a unique opportunity with their position.

  04:13-04:18

  that they could perform these miracles.

  04:20-04:35

  And again, this is review, but after the Bible was completed, after God was done writing His Word, the Holy Spirit was done writing His Word through these people, the miracles were no longer needed to authenticate the message.

  04:36-04:43

  You see, you have these apostles running around saying, "I got this message from God." And people are like, We know this is from God.

  04:44-04:46

  God backed it up with these miracles.

  04:46-04:57

  And today when I stand before you and I say, "I have a message for you from God," your question might be, "Well, how can I authenticate that?" You can authenticate it by looking at what God's already revealed in His Word.

  04:58-05:02

  The things that I'm sharing with you, do they line up with what God has written down?

  05:03-05:07

  I don't need to perform miracles to authenticate my message.

  05:09-05:10

  I have something better than miracles.

  05:12-05:19

  I have the Word of God that you can take home and read for yourself to see if these things that I'm sharing with you are true.

  05:21-05:28

  As my teaching and preaching, our elders, this church, what we teach doesn't line up with the Bible.

  05:30-05:40

  Well, one of the gifts that was given to the apostles, and apparently to me when it comes to fish, the miracle, the gift of healing.

  05:41-05:45

  In fact, Matthew 10, verse 1, Jesus granted them that ability.

  05:47-05:49

  And I wanna talk about healing this morning.

  05:49-05:58

  It's going to be in our passage, but I need to share some things with you about healing because there is so much confusion on this subject.

  06:00-06:01

  So much misinformation.

  06:03-06:23

  You can turn on your TV and see these religious figures performing these signs, if you're like me, you can start to wonder, how legit is this?

  06:23-06:25

  Are they really healing people?

  06:26-06:28

  Is there something else going on?

  06:30-06:33

  What about these so-called healings today?

  06:35-06:36

  Please don't miss this.

  06:37-06:39

  God can heal.

  06:41-06:43

  But you have to watch out for the phonies.

  06:46-06:52

  God can heal, and God still heals.

  06:54-06:56

  Somebody is going to leave church today.

  06:57-07:29

  I promise you, somebody's going to leave church today and say, "Pastor Jeff doesn't believe that God can heal people." absolutely do. And I've seen it. I absolutely 100% with every cell in my body I believe that God can and does heal people. But we have to watch out for these phonies that are putting on these shows and performing these things.

  07:30-07:32

  Like, "Well, what's up with these people on TV?

  07:33-07:35

  You know, what's up with, you know, like Benny Hinn?

  07:35-07:53

  Have you ever seen Benny Hinn?" Some of you are going to totally think this is hilarious and some of you are going to have no idea what I'm talking about, but when I was little, I knew that there were two sort of programs that were oriented for adults and one was Benny Hinn and one was Benny Hill.

  07:55-07:57

  And I always got them confused.

  07:58-08:01

  Mark, you're laughing because that's pretty funny, isn't it?

  08:01-08:03

  Young people, you're going to have to go home and YouTube this.

  08:03-08:07

  But I always thought Benny Hill and Benny Hinton were kind of the same thing.

  08:09-08:17

  I just had this idea of like, yackety sax playing and this guy running around slapping people on the forehead and healing them.

  08:18-08:20

  What's going on with that?

  08:22-08:23

  And we're not just picking on that.

  08:23-08:24

  There are others.

  08:25-08:33

  But when we see these programs with these so-called preachers that have this power to heal, what's really going on there?

  08:35-08:36

  What's really going on?

  08:37-08:44

  Well, some of the people that are being healed, some of them are plants.

  08:44-08:47

  They're plants, meaning they're part of the show.

  08:49-08:54

  You know, we could boost somebody's faith by letting them see this on TV.

  08:54-08:56

  So it's a show. It's a plant.

  08:56-08:56

  They're actors.

  08:58-09:05

  Some of these so-called healings that you see are psychological in the moment.

  09:06-09:11

  I believe that some of these people that come, they really believe that they are healed in the moment.

  09:12-09:26

  You know, they're with the crowd and there's the big production going on and there's the television cameras It's this guy that we're looking up to that supposedly has the power to heal, and he puts his hands on me or he slaps me with his jacket or whatever he does.

  09:28-09:29

  It's psychological in the moment.

  09:30-09:31

  You know what I mean by that?

  09:32-09:34

  How can it be psychological in the moment?

  09:34-09:38

  How can you feel healed or think that you're healed?

  09:39-09:40

  Think about it this way.

  09:40-09:41

  How many people have seen Rocky?

  09:43-09:43

  Ok?

  09:43-09:45

  How many people have seen the Karate Kid?

  09:46-09:47

  Okay?

  09:49-09:51

  You know how it is with those kinds of movies.

  09:52-09:53

  We'll pick on Rocky.

  09:53-09:56

  After you watch Rocky, don't you feel like you could just go out and whoop anybody?

  09:57-09:57

  Don't you?

  09:58-10:05

  You watch Rocky, and you get, you know, you're playing Eye of the Tiger, and you feel like, yeah, yeah, I could whoop somebody.

  10:05-10:06

  You can't whoop anybody.

  10:08-10:11

  You think that you can, because you're kind of caught up in the thing.

  10:11-10:15

  And that's what happens with some of these So-called healings. You're caught up in the thing.

  10:17-10:19

  And the thing is oftentimes a show.

  10:21-10:22

  Aaron and I laugh.

  10:22-10:34

  We were watching one time just out of I guess entertainment value, but there was this woman came up to be healed, and she had this like 3 foot tall African headdress on.

  10:36-10:39

  And the healer guy on TV was like POW!

  10:39-10:43

  And he nails her with the healing zap or whatever that thing is.

  10:43-10:52

  And as she's slain in the spirit and falling down, she grabs her headdress and makes sure that it doesn't like crumple as she goes to the ground.

  10:52-10:57

  Like if you're really slain in the spirit and God's doing some miracle, are you concerned about your little headdress?

  10:57-10:59

  Like, is that really what's going on there?

  10:59-11:01

  We've, I don't know.

  11:03-11:05

  But some are plants, it's for shows.

  11:05-11:07

  Some are psychological in the moment.

  11:07-11:08

  It's a mind over matter thing.

  11:10-11:12

  Maybe some of those people aren't really sick.

  11:13-11:14

  I don't know.

  11:16-11:17

  I don't know.

  11:18-11:21

  But I want you to write down - here's three truths about the miracle of healing.

  11:21-11:23

  Now, these aren't the three points on your outline.

  11:24-11:27

  These are part of the introduction.

  11:28-11:31

  Three truths about the miracle of healing.

  11:32-11:34

  Number one, God still heals.

  11:36-11:40

  But there's nothing happening today happened in the first century.

  11:42-11:49

  Meaning there's no person today healing in the way that Jesus and the apostles did.

  11:50-11:51

  I must say that again.

  11:51-12:01

  There are there's nobody today running around healing people in the way that Jesus and the apostles did.

  12:02-12:02

  Does God still heal?

  12:03-12:04

  Yes, he does.

  12:04-12:07

  But there's not a guy walking around that has the gift of healing.

  12:07-12:09

  I shared this with you last week.

  12:10-12:13

  If there was, why isn't that guy at Children's Hospital?

  12:13-12:14

  Right?

  12:15-12:20

  There's nobody healing people in the way that Jesus and the apostles healed people.

  12:21-12:34

  And understand that first century - Jesus and the apostles and the miracles, the signs, the healings - there was never anything like that before in history.

  12:35-12:43

  And there hasn't ever been anything like that That first century was such a key transition time in history.

  12:44-12:50

  God sent His Son, and Jesus died on the cross for my sins, and He rose from the dead to give me eternal life.

  12:50-13:01

  And this big transition from the Old Testament law to New Testament living by belief, by faith in Jesus Christ and what He accomplished.

  13:01-13:07

  And these apostles were completing God's Word going out and spreading this message.

  13:09-13:14

  There's never been a period of history like that - not before, not since.

  13:16-13:26

  But, even in the book of Acts, even in the book of Acts, miracles are actually more rare than you think.

  13:27-13:47

  I think sometimes we read the Bible and we get this idea that the apostles set the alarm, and they woke up, and time to make the donuts, and they went on this 18-hour healing spree, and go home, take a nap, get back up, do it all over again, and that they were just doing, you know, like thousands of healings a day.

  13:47-13:53

  And actually, when you go through the book of Acts, understand, it takes place over a period of about 30 years.

  13:55-13:59

  Luke is just giving us the highlights of some of the things that happened.

  14:00-14:02

  They're actually more rare than you think.

  14:05-14:16

  Also, when you see healings, whether it's from Jesus or in the book of Acts, you're seeing people that are healed from things that are radical in nature.

  14:17-14:17

  Right?

  14:18-14:20

  We're talking about people that have never walked.

  14:20-14:21

  We're going to talk about somebody like that today.

  14:21-14:23

  People that are blind.

  14:23-14:25

  People that are deaf.

  14:27-14:32

  We don't read these stories of people Go up to Jesus and the apostles.

  14:32-14:38

  They're like, "Yeah, I need healed. What's the matter?" "I was gardening and I fell and I kind of banged my knee up a little bit.

  14:38-14:41

  Could you heal that for me?" We don't see those kinds of things.

  14:41-14:45

  The miracles that are recorded in Scripture are radical in nature.

  14:46-14:47

  Radical in nature.

  14:49-14:57

  That's why when you see some of these guys on TV going up, "What's the problem?" "Well, I'm having a hard time hearing." And then they snap in their ears and stuff like that.

  14:59-15:02

  not making light of hearing problems, I have them myself.

  15:04-15:09

  But that's not the kind of thing that you see when God performed these healing miracles in the first century.

  15:10-15:14

  So God still heals, but nothing happens today like happened in the first century.

  15:15-15:16

  Number two, God still heals.

  15:19-15:21

  This is where it gets really personal, ok?

  15:22-15:23

  God still heals.

  15:26-15:32

  If and when He does, it's according to His sovereign purposes.

  15:34-15:39

  And sometimes He chooses not to for the same reason.

  15:40-15:41

  I want to say that again.

  15:42-15:44

  This could be the hardest truth to swallow.

  15:45-15:45

  It is for me.

  15:48-15:49

  I want us to be very clear.

  15:51-15:52

  God still heals.

  15:53-15:57

  If and when He does, it's according to His sovereign purposes.

  16:00-16:02

  And sometimes He chooses not to.

  16:04-16:05

  For the same reason.

  16:06-16:08

  God's not a vending machine, okay?

  16:09-16:11

  Like, well, okay, God, I need this.

  16:11-16:13

  I'm going to put my order in and you better deliver. Okay?

  16:14-16:15

  God's not FedEx.

  16:16-16:17

  God is a person.

  16:18-16:21

  And as a person, he's a perfect person.

  16:21-16:23

  And he's a sovereign person.

  16:24-16:25

  What does John Piper says?

  16:25-16:28

  At any one moment, God's doing 10,000 things.

  16:29-16:30

  And we know like one or two of them.

  16:32-16:43

  And as a sovereign person with a perfect plan, God makes decisions on what he's going to do and what he's not going to do.

  16:45-16:49

  If and when he does, if and when God heals, it's according to his purposes.

  16:49-16:51

  and sometimes he chooses not to heal for the same reason.

  16:53-16:54

  See, this is where it gets very personal.

  16:57-17:02

  A friend of mine had a family member that got kicked by a horse and killed him.

  17:03-17:04

  Killed the family member.

  17:06-17:10

  My son, four years old at the time, was kicked in the face by a horse.

  17:11-17:12

  Aaron prayed over him.

  17:14-17:15

  Not one broken bone.

  17:17-17:18

  Why did this guy die?

  17:20-17:24

  And how did my son walk away from that with a cracked tooth?

  17:24-17:24

  That was all that he had.

  17:24-17:25

  He had a cracked tooth.

  17:26-17:28

  How do you reconcile those things?

  17:30-17:31

  I have another friend, his name's Roger.

  17:32-17:34

  Hit a deer on his motorcycle.

  17:35-17:36

  Pow! Went flying.

  17:37-17:39

  He skidded like a mile.

  17:40-17:40

  Just...

  17:41-17:42

  He's fine.

  17:43-17:43

  He's fine.

  17:45-17:48

  in God's prayer, he's fine.

  17:49-17:55

  I had another friend named Mike, driving home from work on his scooter.

  17:56-17:57

  Hit a deer.

  17:57-17:58

  Head injury.

  17:59-18:00

  Died in a week.

  18:01-18:10

  Why is it when we prayed for Roger, Roger's fine, and we prayed for Mike, and he's no longer with us?

  18:12-18:21

  I could tell you stories of people have cancer that we prayed over, complete remission.

  18:22-18:35

  The doctor says, "Not a trace of cancer in my body." And I can tell you about Erin's grandmother who had cancer, who we prayed for and prayed for and prayed for, and it took her life.

  18:37-19:19

  So why does this person, why do we pray for this person and they get healed and we pray for this person and they don't. I don't know the reason. But I do know that God has a reason. God has reasons for doing or not doing something, whether it's healing or or otherwise, and you just have to get to that place where you say, "He is God and I am not." For example, this isn't about healing, but it's the same principle.

  19:20-19:23

  We're going to get to Acts chapter 12, Lord willing, eventually.

  19:24-19:29

  In Acts chapter 12, Herod arrests James and Peter.

  19:31-19:32

  Two of the apostles.

  19:32-19:33

  Herod arrests them.

  19:34-19:35

  You know this story?

  19:35-19:37

  James is executed.

  19:39-19:40

  What happened to Peter?

  19:41-19:45

  The Lord miraculously opened the prison and had him walk out.

  19:47-19:53

  The Lord miraculously freed Peter and James was executed.

  19:55-19:55

  Why?

  19:57-20:04

  And this is where it gets really hard to swallow when we talk about the truth, that sometimes God chooses to not heal someone.

  20:06-20:09

  And we say to ourselves, "Look, I've been there, church.

  20:09-20:10

  I'm not like preaching down to you.

  20:11-20:20

  This is one of those sermons where I'm kind of like sitting there with you, and I'm like, I have to wrestle with these things too." Why would God choose to not heal someone?

  20:22-20:28

  1 Timothy 5.23, Paul tells Timothy to drink some wine for your stomach.

  20:28-20:31

  He talked about Timothy had these frequent ailments.

  20:31-20:31

  Frequent.

  20:32-20:34

  Timothy was this sickly guy.

  20:34-20:38

  Now, Timothy was Paul's right-hand man, right?

  20:39-20:42

  Timothy, that's my boy, this is my ministry partner.

  20:44-20:49

  You would think if anybody would be in line for a miracle of healing, it'd be Timothy, right?

  20:50-21:55

  This is a young church and he's doing big things and he pals around with them with the big dogs right with the Apostles and Paul didn't say Timothy come and get healed He said Timothy you're gonna have to do some medicinal type things because you're you're a sickly little fellow Why would God Choose to not heal Timothy. I don't know But just because I don't know it doesn't mean that God doesn't have a reason You see this is where it gets even more personal as I shared with you earlier. I've been praying for Owen for 10 years And I don't just mean I don't just mean saying a prayer for Owen I mean fasting And crying out God I just want to have a conversation with my 10 year old God I just like to know one time what he's what he's thinking or or what he's feeling And I'm not the only one that's been praying for this kid.

  21:55-22:01

  And why would God choose to not heal him?

  22:02-22:03

  I don't know.

  22:05-22:15

  But faith, faith says, "God, I trust you." Not "God, I trust you when you do what I want you to do.

  22:16-22:17

  God, I trust you when you perform for me.

  22:18-22:20

  God, I trust you when you give me what I want.

  22:20-22:21

  That's not faith.

  22:24-22:25

  Faith says, I.

  22:27-22:28

  I don't know the reason.

  22:31-22:32

  But God must have one.

  22:34-22:36

  So God still heals, nothing happened like the first century, right?

  22:37-22:38

  That's apostle era.

  22:40-22:46

  God still heals, if and when he does, it's according to his sovereign purposes, and sometimes he chooses not to for the same reason.

  22:46-22:48

  Thirdly, this is also part of the introduction.

  22:50-22:51

  God still heals.

  22:52-22:57

  Thirdly, listen, God still heals, and it's not wrong to pray for healing.

  22:59-23:02

  James 4.2 says you do not have because you do not ask.

  23:02-23:06

  How many blessings have we forfeited from God just simply because we haven't asked them?

  23:07-23:07

  We haven't asked them.

  23:09-23:15

  James 4.2, is it possible that God's up in heaven saying, I'm ready to do a miracle in your life.

  23:16-23:17

  All you need to do is ask me.

  23:18-23:20

  That's how I understand James 4.2.

  23:20-23:21

  Anybody else?

  23:21-23:21

  Is that how you're reading that?

  23:21-23:23

  You do not have because you do not ask?

  23:25-23:32

  God wants to do this awesome thing in your life, but you just simply haven't asked Him for it?

  23:34-23:38

  So that tells me, listen, it's not wrong to pray for healing.

  23:39-23:40

  I'm not done praying for Owen.

  23:42-23:45

  He might not get healed this week or this year.

  23:45-23:49

  He might not ever be neurotypical or whatever that is, right?

  23:49-23:51

  Normals is setting in the dryer, right, Deb?

  23:52-23:53

  He might not ever be.

  23:55-23:57

  That doesn't mean I'm going to stop praying for him.

  23:59-24:10

  Because maybe the issue isn't God saying, "I'm not going to do it." Maybe the issue is God saying, "I'm on a timetable here, and this is when it's going to happen.

  24:10-24:11

  I don't know.

  24:12-24:14

  But I'm going to keep seeking the Lord for it.

  24:17-24:21

  And I would encourage you, church, it's not wrong to pray for healing.

  24:21-24:22

  I'm sharing my story.

  24:22-24:33

  You've got a story of maybe somebody in your life that's dealing with a chronic physical problem and you've been praying for that person and praying for that.

  24:33-24:35

  Don't give up praying for that person.

  24:38-24:38

  God still heals.

  24:40-24:41

  It's not wrong to pray for healing.

  24:41-24:44

  It's not wrong to pray persistently for healing.

  24:46-24:47

  Okay?

  24:48-24:52

  So let's look at Acts chapter 3 verses 1 through 10.

  24:53-25:00

  It says, "Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour." That's 3 p.m.

  25:00-25:02

  They started counting their hours from 6 a.m.

  25:03-25:03

  That makes sense to me.

  25:04-25:05

  Does that make sense to anybody else?

  25:05-25:06

  Like the day starts in the morning, right?

  25:08-25:10

  So the ninth hour was 3 p.m.

  25:11-25:21

  It says, "And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the beautiful gate." I bet it was pretty.

  25:22-25:31

  To ask alms of those entering the temple and seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked, this beggar asked to receive alms.

  25:31-25:33

  Alms are just donations.

  25:33-25:34

  He was panhandling.

  25:36-25:49

  And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, "Look at us." That's kind of an intense moment, isn't it?

  25:50-25:55

  Here comes like two of the apostles walking into the temple, and they just stop and they stare at the guy.

  25:57-25:59

  And it's not even like stopping and staring.

  25:59-26:16

  "Look at us!" And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them, Peter said, "I have no silver or gold, but what I do have I give to you." And in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.

  26:16-26:18

  And he took Him by the right hand and raised Him up.

  26:19-26:22

  And immediately, His feet and ankles were made strong.

  26:23-26:28

  And leaping up, He stood and began to walk and entered the temple with them.

  26:28-26:30

  Walking and leaping and praising God.

  26:31-26:43

  And all the people saw Him walking and praising God and recognized Him as the One who sat at the beautiful gate of the temple asking for alms.

  26:44-26:48

  And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what happened to Him.

  26:50-26:54

  So, with our introduction, we've acknowledged that God still heals, right?

  26:55-27:00

  So we get to a passage like this, and we say, well, I'm not an apostle.

  27:02-27:24

  How can I take this portion of the Word of God I want us to look at some of the things that Peter and John did in this passage that we can all do.

  27:25-27:25

  All right?

  27:25-27:28

  Number one, I can stop and show compassion.

  27:31-27:32

  God can still heal.

  27:32-27:33

  Here's what I can do.

  27:33-27:34

  I can stop and show compassion.

  27:34-27:34

  I can stop and show compassion.

  27:34-27:38

  I can stop and show compassion Did you see that, Peter and John?

  27:39-27:40

  They actually go way back.

  27:40-27:41

  Did you know that?

  27:41-27:48

  In Luke chapter 5 and verse 10, you know that they were fishermen, but did you know that they were actually partners in the fishing business?

  27:49-27:51

  So these guys go way back.

  27:53-28:05

  Now 3 p.m., the reason that's indicated in here, it's not just an FYI, the reason that the time is indicated, is because this is when the crowds were at their biggest at the temple.

  28:06-28:11

  Do you see, he also calls it in v. 1, "at the hour of prayer." The ninth hour.

  28:12-28:16

  He's highlighting that because that was when the temple was the most crowded.

  28:18-28:20

  So this man was there.

  28:21-28:23

  Your Bible tells you he was lame from birth.

  28:25-28:27

  Let's not skim by this too quickly.

  28:29-28:33

  And I say, this was his life.

  28:35-28:45

  And understand in this day, there were no equal opportunity employers saying, look, if this guy applies for a job, you've got to hire him.

  28:45-28:46

  I don't care if he can't walk.

  28:46-28:48

  Equal opportunity employers.

  28:49-28:50

  They didn't have that going on.

  28:52-28:54

  They didn't have motorized wheelchairs.

  28:56-28:59

  This man probably didn't have a wife or kids.

  28:59-29:01

  I don't know, but my guess is he probably didn't.

  29:02-29:04

  If he was lame from birth, how would he support them?

  29:05-29:06

  He obviously couldn't work.

  29:08-29:12

  This is the sad thing about this guy's life to this point.

  29:14-29:27

  But did you notice it says this man was being carried, and it says, "whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple." What was this guy's life?

  29:28-29:29

  Every day.

  29:30-29:31

  Like, hey, what are you doing today?

  29:31-29:37

  You might decide I'm going to take a trip, I'm going to go see a movie, I'm going to go play ball, I'm going to go hang out with some friends, whatever.

  29:38-29:39

  Every day of this guy's life, what was it?

  29:41-29:46

  Some people showed up, and they scooped him up, and they put him in his place.

  29:47-29:47

  Here you go.

  29:48-29:50

  We'll be back to pick you up tonight.

  29:52-29:53

  Guess what was on his schedule tomorrow?

  29:56-29:57

  Here you go.

  29:57-29:58

  We'll pick you up tonight.

  29:58-30:00

  This was this guy's life.

  30:01-30:02

  Isn't that hard?

  30:03-30:04

  Every day.

  30:05-30:05

  Every day.

  30:07-30:11

  He didn't even have the dignity to get to the place to beg by himself.

  30:11-30:13

  He had to have people drop him off there every day.

  30:15-30:18

  We saw in verses 4 and 5 that contact was made.

  30:20-30:22

  is that Peter directed his gaze.

  30:23-30:24

  It's actually the same language.

  30:25-30:31

  Remember in Acts 1:10, when Jesus ascended into heaven, it says that the disciples were gazing.

  30:32-30:33

  It's the same word here.

  30:34-30:36

  This wasn't like a casual look.

  30:36-30:37

  This was zeroing in.

  30:38-30:40

  This was zeroed in on them.

  30:40-30:52

  So Peter and John were directing themselves at this man, directing their gazes at this man, and then verse 5 says, and he, the beggar, fixed his attention on them.

  30:52-30:54

  This is really significant. Why?

  30:56-31:09

  If you don't know why this is significant, next time you go by someone in the Pittsburgh area that's begging, just stop for a second and watch people.

  31:11-31:17

  First of all, watch the people walking by, Because most people walking by aren't even going to look at the beggar.

  31:19-31:20

  Why? You know why.

  31:22-31:23

  I'll just kind of pretend he's not there.

  31:24-31:25

  Right?

  31:25-31:30

  I've got stuff going on, and if I don't look at him, in my mind, I can kind of pretend he's not there.

  31:30-31:33

  Or if I do look at him and he looks at me, oh, you're stuck now.

  31:33-31:41

  He's looking at you, and all of a sudden, there's a possibility that you might be moved with pity this guy's looking you in the eye.

  31:43-32:14

  thinking about, you know, going to a Penn's game, usually once or twice a year make it to a Penguins game, and I think of the people that are begging as you're walking by. So many people just don't look, just don't look, just don't look, just don't look. Here's something else I've noticed, however. Typically the beggars don't really zone in on people either. Did you ever notice that? I've watched, I'm kind of a Kind of nebby that way, but I've watched beggars that way.

  32:14-32:16

  They'll stand there and shake their cup that has coins in it.

  32:16-32:21

  And they're not looking at people as they go by, like, "Can I get your attention?" Do you see these beggars?

  32:21-32:27

  They're just kind of staring down at the ground, shaking their cup, shaking the cup, shaking the cup, shaking the cup.

  32:28-32:30

  They're not zoned in on people either.

  32:32-32:40

  become sort of this impersonal way of getting a handout. I'm not going to tell my story.

  32:42-33:06

  I'm not going to make human contact. I'm just going to shake the cup. And if people are going to give, they're going to give. And if they're not, they're not. And most people are going to walk by and pretend I'm not even here anyways. So why get emotionally invested in the first place. But you see in this passage, Peter and John, they stopped and zoomed in.

  33:07-33:30

  This guy, he zoomed in on them. We get so busy that a lot of times when we're in this situation we don't take time for human contact. Our face is buried in our cell phones. We're We honestly just don't have the time.

  33:32-33:35

  I'm not cheering you out, I'm saying it's a reality.

  33:35-33:37

  We just don't have the time.

  33:37-33:39

  Usually you're on your way somewhere.

  33:39-33:42

  I don't have time to stop and invest myself in this person.

  33:43-33:45

  I don't have the 10 or 15 extra minutes.

  33:46-33:51

  The game's going to start, or I'm going to be late to work, or my wife's waiting for me, or whatever.

  33:53-33:55

  We just don't take the time.

  33:56-33:57

  Peter, he stopped.

  33:57-34:09

  John stopped and they didn't think they were too important for this lowly beggar nor did they judge the man for begging. Peter simply cared enough to stop.

  34:11-34:20

  I can't heal people. You know something I can do? I can stop and show compassion. I can do that.

  34:22-34:23

  How about you?

  34:24-34:26

  Do you know someone who needs compassion?

  34:29-34:32

  It doesn't just have to be the beggar on the way to the Penguins game.

  34:33-34:36

  It can be that person in your workplace or in your neighborhood.

  34:36-34:43

  It can be that single mom that has been struggling and struggling and struggling and just can't seem to get ahead.

  34:43-34:45

  Maybe that's the person that needs your compassion.

  34:45-34:46

  Maybe it's that widower.

  34:49-35:20

  time you see him he's on the verge of tears. He hasn't been able to get over his loss. Maybe it is someone struggling with illness. I have a medical condition that I can't just take a pill or go get a shot. I hospitalized in constant struggle and I have bad days and I have horrible days. Maybe you know someone who's gone through a recent divorce and yeah I never thought my marriage would I didn't know how to end like this, and now I don't know what to do.

  35:22-35:23

  I'm lost.

  35:24-35:26

  Do you know somebody who just needs some compassion?

  35:28-35:37

  You see, in all these scenarios, you might not be able to fix the problem, but you can stop and show some compassion.

  35:39-35:42

  Secondly, I can minister in the name of Jesus to people.

  35:43-35:45

  I can minister in the name of Jesus to people.

  35:46-37:35

  that verses 6 & 7 Peter's like up front here like I have no silver and gold I don't think he was lying okay I don't think Peter said that the way that I've said that to be honest I don't have any money to give you which is an honest statement I had money just none to give the person I don't think Peter was saying it like that I just think Peter literally just didn't have any money we saw last week the church was you know selling and giving and trying to take care of the less fortunate and Peter didn't have the money he said but what I do have I give to you this is underlined in my Bible should be underlined in yours in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth Rise up and walk. Pop quiz. Which is easier? Giving money or stopping and getting invested in a person's life? Which is easier? Giving money is easier, right? Giving money might be costlier. Let's be honest, it's far easier to throw dollar at someone than to open yourself up to someone and get involved in their life. Peter here stops and in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, he performed this miracle in the name of Jesus. What do we say? What's that little phrase that we say when we pray? How do we end our prayers? Like amen, I get that. But what do Before we say before, "Amen," we pray these things in Jesus' name, right?

  37:37-37:40

  It's according to Jesus' power and authority.

  37:41-37:42

  That's what that means.

  37:43-37:47

  Peter had the power to heal in Jesus' name.

  37:47-37:54

  You and I might not have that gift, but we do have something very important in common with Peter here.

  37:54-38:30

  And that's this, Peter knew that the answer to this man's problem Jesus. And this is true for every single person that you know that needs compassion. The answer to every problem of every person that you meet, the answer always comes back to Jesus. Do you know someone who's depressed? You know the Bible says Jesus himself is joy. Do you know somebody that's stressed? The Bible says Jesus himself is peace.

  38:31-38:33

  Do you know somebody that's addicted to something?

  38:34-38:36

  The Bible says Jesus himself is freedom.

  38:37-38:39

  Do you know someone that's anxious?

  38:40-38:42

  The Bible says Jesus himself is hope.

  38:43-38:44

  Do you know someone who's lonely?

  38:45-38:47

  The Bible says that Jesus himself is love.

  38:50-38:57

  And when we talk about receiving the power of the Holy Spirit so that we might be witnesses for Jesus Christ.

  38:58-39:00

  We're not trying to sell someone on a religion.

  39:03-39:08

  Our goal is to introduce them to Jesus, who loves them and wants to care for them.

  39:11-39:13

  Someone sitting here today saying, I do know someone.

  39:15-39:18

  Who desperately needs Christ, but I don't know where to start.

  39:21-39:23

  Start here, number three, I can bring people to worship.

  39:25-39:26

  Did you notice that?

  39:27-39:29

  Those last three verses.

  39:31-39:32

  Look at verse 8 again.

  39:32-39:46

  It says, "And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping, and praising God." First of all, do you notice twice in verse 8, what did it say the man was doing?

  39:47-39:48

  He was leaping.

  39:49-40:17

  Honestly, I was trying to imagine what that looked like because the temple would have been crowded, okay? This was peak time, crowds there, and this guy didn't just get up like, "Oh, I'll be darned, they work!" It says twice here, "He was leaping!" Can you imagine that picture? He was leaping! He's running around, jumping all over the place! Imagine what that must have looked like in church. I know it was the temple.

  40:17-40:22

  I get that, my theology's alright with that. He's leaping in church, he's and jumping around.

  40:23-40:25

  These things never worked before.

  40:26-40:29

  I spent my whole life sitting down and now these things work.

  40:29-40:30

  You better believe He was leaping.

  40:32-40:33

  It must have been a spectacle.

  40:34-40:36

  Peter and John - what do they do?

  40:37-40:38

  We'll look again at verse 8.

  40:39-40:43

  It says, "This man entered the temple with them." Did you see that?

  40:43-40:48

  "Entered the temple with them." Peter and John just took Him along to worship.

  40:49-40:54

  This man on this day learned that the temple was more than a great begging spot.

  40:55-40:57

  Because he saw the power of God.

  40:59-41:01

  Do you know someone who needs to know the Lord?

  41:02-41:04

  Who needs to know the power of the Lord?

  41:04-41:14

  You know, I was thinking, if only there was a place - like, I have this person that needs to know about the Lord and know the love of the Lord.

  41:15-41:21

  If only there was a place where they could be surrounded by people who would love them in the Lord.

  41:21-41:26

  And if only there was a place where people were passionately worshiping the Lord.

  41:27-41:30

  And if only there was a place where we could love their children.

  41:31-41:36

  And if only there was a place where we could have people that would invite them into their homes.

  41:37-41:42

  And if only there was a place where people were available to pray with these people.

  41:43-41:45

  Oh, we have a place like that.

  41:46-41:47

  It's called church.

  41:48-41:50

  Think about that person in your life that needs compassion.

  41:51-41:53

  Try to look at it from their perspective.

  41:53-41:58

  Imagine you bring them to church, and they walk in the door, and Paul and Carrie love on them.

  41:59-42:03

  And then they come in here, and Big D leads them in worship.

  42:05-42:06

  Lifting high the name of Jesus.

  42:07-42:12

  And then Mandy and her crew are back at Harvest Kids caring for their children.

  42:12-42:14

  And Murph is inviting the small group.

  42:14-42:27

  Hey, we've got a great small group you should come." And Elisha's up here saying, "Hey, I'd be happy to pray with you." Think of the impact that that's going to have on that person.

  42:29-42:32

  Simply because you brought them to church.

  42:34-42:36

  And I would say to you, bring them.

  42:36-42:37

  Bring them in.

  42:37-42:42

  Let us all as a team love on them and encourage them in the Lord.

  42:47-42:49

  Unchurched don't typically just wander in.

  42:50-42:52

  There's a very low percentage of chance.

  42:52-42:53

  I didn't research this.

  42:53-42:54

  I'm just going to shoot from the hip here.

  42:54-42:58

  But imagine there's a pretty low percentage of chance that somebody's going to accidentally stumble into this room.

  43:01-43:15

  However, that person in your life that just needs some compassion, that person in your life that needs compassion, and they see the hope in the Lord that you have, and they've They've watched the difference that Jesus Christ has made in your life.

  43:16-43:17

  They see the joy of the Lord in you.

  43:18-43:22

  They see the stability and the patience and the peace that you have.

  43:23-43:25

  They're just waiting for you to invite them.

  43:26-43:29

  "Hey, why don't you come to church with me?" They're just waiting.

  43:31-43:35

  As I've said before, if the Lord is not at work in this church, you need to tell me.

  43:37-43:40

  But if the Lord is at work in this church, then you need to tell others.

  43:41-43:43

  This passage talks about an incredible healing.

  43:46-43:49

  Healing - that's God's business.

  43:51-44:01

  Compassion, sharing Christ, inviting people to come into this amazing church family - that's your business.

  44:03-44:08

  Father in Heaven, we thank You that You are still at work.

  44:11-44:17

  We see, we've already seen in this church, Your healing hand on people.

  44:19-44:26

  Yet at the same time, Father, we have lifted people before You that for some reason You've chosen not to heal.

  44:26-44:36

  And God, I ask for myself and for my brothers and sisters here that when that happens, that You would increase our faith in a special way.

  44:38-44:52

  But Father, please don't let it hinder us asking. Don't let it hinder us from trusting and knowing that you are sovereign. You have reasons for things even if we don't understand the reasons for things.

  44:55-45:14

  Father, I pray specifically for the people in our circles, the people that we interact with on a regular basis. I'm sure everyone in this room has someone that just so desperately needs compassion, so desperately needs somebody to just and stop and say, "How can I help you?

  45:16-45:17

  How can I pray for you?

  45:20-45:25

  Why don't you join me at church?" Father, we lift those people up.

  45:26-45:36

  It's so easy to focus on myself and to think about my needs and my job and my preferences.

  45:36-45:46

  It's so easy for me to focus on myself just not take the time to give to someone who desperately needs it.

  45:48-46:03

  Father, this is such a compassionate group of people. I pray that you would continue to stir that in our hearts for your glory and honor. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.

Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Acts 3:1-10

1. Why doesn’t God heal people today in the manner He did in the 1st Century?
    

2. What are some reasons God may choose to NOT heal someone?
    

3. What would you say to someone who is discouraged, “I have been praying for this for a long time, and God doesn’t seem to be answering my prayers…”

Breakout Questions:

Pray for one another.

The Power of Fellowship

5 Things Said of a Church with a Godly Reputation:

1. "That church is UNIFIED !" (Acts 2:42)


2. "GOD is doing things in that church!"(Acts 2:43)


3. "That church is GENEROUS !" (Acts 2:44-45)


4. "That church is JOYFUL !" (Acts 2:46)


5. "I can't say anything BAD about that church!" (Acts 2:47)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above with your cursor for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  00:00-00:04

  We continue our series through the book of Acts.

  00:05-00:06

  Acts chapter 2.

  00:08-00:10

  While you're turning, I've got to tell you this story.

  00:12-00:18

  Several months ago, my wife and I were grocery shopping, and we're standing in the grocery store.

  00:18-00:26

  I'm standing by the cart, and Aaron went off to get something, so I'm just kind of standing there, and I hear this lady speaking.

  00:26-01:29

  just this real little voice, "Help! Can you please help me? Can you please help me?" And I look over and this lady is actually speaking to an employee of the grocery store who has her back turned to the lady and is working on something and is completely ignoring this lady. Just completely ignored. "Can you please help me can you help me can you help me so I walked over and I said can I help you with something ma'am and she said yes I she was real short little lady she said I can't reach that would you get that for me and I reached and I got it for and handed it to her and she goes thank you so much and I stood there and I I I looked at her for a minute and I said, "Is your name Cheryl?" And she said, "Yes." I said, "You were my bus driver when I was in junior high, when I was 13.

  01:29-02:19

  You were my bus driver." She looked at me for a minute and she goes, "Mueller? Mueller? Myers?" I said, "No, Miller." She goes, "Oh, Miller! She said, 'You married that mackerel ravi girl, right?'" I said, "Yeah, that's me." She goes, "And you became a minister, right?" I said, "Yeah, that's me! That's me!" And she looked at me, no joke, she looked at me and she goes, "Boy, you put on a lot of weight." I'm like, "Since I was 13?" You know, I'm pretty embarrassed that I let myself go these past 27 years, growing into adulthood.

  02:20-02:52

  You know, the shame I feel when I stand in front of my mirror and I no longer have my pre-adolescent body. It's embarrassing. And apparently, apparently the problem is hereditary because my son Cade put on like 77 pounds in the past nine years. Boy, you put on a lot of weight. So of course, first thing I did was tell big brother. I'm like, "Hey Darren, guess what? I ran into Cheryl Brown at the store.

  02:52-02:53

  And do you know what she said to me?

  02:53-03:10

  She said, "Boy, you put on a lot of weight." And Darren says, "Oh, that's so funny because I ran into the lady that delivered me, you know, when I was born, and she was surprised at how many words I learned since the last time she saw me." So I wasn't offended at all.

  03:11-03:13

  And why was I not offended?

  03:14-03:25

  Because I've known this woman, and she had a reputation for being sort of the speak your mind kind of person, you know?

  03:25-03:27

  And I actually kind of prefer that.

  03:28-03:30

  I'd rather not wonder what people are thinking.

  03:30-03:32

  I'd rather people just tell me what they're thinking.

  03:32-03:37

  But she had that reputation for being that kind of person.

  03:37-03:40

  So when she says something like that, you can't be offended.

  03:40-03:45

  You knew she was going to say something that would end up as a sermon illustration.

  03:46-03:49

  So you can't be offended because she had the reputation.

  03:49-03:57

  And this morning, we're going to talk about reputation because reputation is everything.

  03:59-04:06

  Reputation is everything because for good or for the bad, you have a reputation.

  04:08-04:10

  And think of the weight that your reputation carries.

  04:10-04:13

  You know, Pittsburgh sports, Pittsburgh sports fans.

  04:15-04:17

  Think of when Michael Vick was signed by the Steelers.

  04:17-04:19

  You remember the controversy around that?

  04:19-04:26

  And there were people lined up to get their Steeler tattoos removed, and I'm not here to make a comment on that either way.

  04:26-04:28

  I'm just saying, do you remember the controversy?

  04:29-04:32

  Here's a man who did some horrible things, and I'm a dog lover.

  04:33-04:34

  I am a dog lover.

  04:35-04:37

  He did some horrible things, right?

  04:38-04:55

  And he's apologized, and he's tried to make restitution through some charity work, and he says he's kind of done with that, and he paid his debt to society and all of that, but there are still people that say, "Somebody like that should not be a professional athlete.

  04:56-05:05

  Somebody like that should not be wearing the black and gold." His reputation, no matter what he tried to do to undo this reputation that he had, he still carried with him, what?

  05:06-05:07

  The reputation.

  05:09-05:13

  And today I want to talk specifically about the reputation of the church.

  05:14-05:25

  You know, with this portion of Acts, we have already seen that Jesus Christ promised that the church would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes.

  05:26-05:29

  Why would God want us to have His power?

  05:29-05:37

  Well Jesus said, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes, and you will be my witnesses." That sounds like a reputation thing, doesn't it?

  05:38-06:12

  giving us his power because he wants us to be not witnesses for ourselves, not witnesses for the kind of person that you are, the kind of person that I am, or the kind of people that Pittsburgh people are. It's witnesses for the reputation of the Lord. Well we've seen in Acts already that the Holy Spirit has come and Peter preached, we talked about that, and 3,000 people got saved. And in In the passage we're going to look at today, we see the reputation that the early church earned.

  06:13-06:20

  And as a pastor, and as church members, we should care about the reputation of this church.

  06:23-06:25

  Are we known for the right things, for the right reasons?

  06:26-06:30

  So what we're going to look at today, going through this text, simply this.

  06:30-06:34

  What is said about a church that has a godly reputation?

  06:35-06:36

  So do you have your outline?

  06:36-06:39

  Five things said of a church with a godly reputation.

  06:40-06:45

  In other words, these are the kind of things I would like said about our church.

  06:46-06:52

  And if we're going to have this kind of reputation, this shows us the kind of church that we need to be.

  06:52-06:55

  But number one, five things said of a church with a godly reputation.

  06:55-06:57

  Number one, that church is unified.

  06:58-06:59

  That church is unified.

  07:01-07:01

  Look at verse 42.

  07:03-07:15

  It says, "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." They devoted themselves.

  07:16-07:16

  Did you see that?

  07:18-07:19

  They weren't church attenders.

  07:21-07:23

  They weren't CEO Christians.

  07:23-07:25

  You know what a CEO Christian is?

  07:26-07:27

  Christmas and Easter only.

  07:29-07:30

  What kind of Christians were they?

  07:32-07:34

  It says they devoted themselves.

  07:36-07:41

  The church is made up of committed people, and we live in a day of non-commitment.

  07:42-07:44

  Marriage, your marriage isn't working out, just bail.

  07:45-07:50

  Work, you don't love your job 100% every day, just quit.

  07:53-07:57

  Friendships, you know your bus driver tells you you're fat, you don't go to talk to her.

  07:59-10:12

  it's also true with the church. It's easy. I don't like what somebody said to me, or I didn't agree with how I understood one thing said in the church, and there's lots of great churches in the area. And I think that's one advantage that the early church had. They devoted themselves. They were committed people. What were they committed to? Well, we don't have to wonder what they were committed to. Did you see the list in the text? Did you see it? Quickly, what were they committed to? Apostles teaching. For us that is the Bible. Understand that the New Testament was being written with these events, okay? They didn't have the luxury at this time of saying open up your New Testaments. They were writing the New Testaments because they were apostles with apostolic authority but for us you see we have the Bible that's unity and beliefs unity and beliefs that church is unified unified how unity and beliefs you see we have this we have this objective standard that listen it doesn't really matter what I think or what I believe it doesn't matter what I I think or what I believe and it doesn't matter what you think What matters is what God thinks and if we're going to be unified we better get on the same page With what God thinks and we don't have to wonder what God thinks because he wrote it all down for us And that's why church our unity has to be in God's Word Our unity can't be in Style of worship or style of fellowship or any of these external things our unity has to be found in the objective Source, it's God's Word. This is the thing that we rally around to say it doesn't matter what we think it matters What God thinks that's why you know, whether it's me or one of the elders or we bring in another preacher Every time it better be somebody the first thing out of their mouth better be open your Bibles Okay unity in beliefs secondly do you see the fellowship?

  10:14-10:57

  That's unity to what I call the team You see fellowship is not just potluck dinners And I know every time we have a picnic or something everybody's like Jeff hates potlucks And I do but I I want to I want to clarify something Please understand. Please hear my heart on this If I know where the food came from I'm okay Right like small group at Murphy's house, right? I eat there Because I know where the food came from. I can't eat if I don't know where it came from Okay, so I don't hate potlucks. I just need to know where the food came from So maybe a sign or a label, you know Would it really kill you to write your name on the pan?

  10:59-12:17

  Sorry, that wasn't in my notes But fellowship is more than the potluck fellowship is more than rally around the donut box Fellowship has this idea of we're on the same team. We're wearing the same jersey Okay, that's what fellowship is. It's not doing events together. It's doing life together, you know Hebrews 1024 actually Tells us don't don't forsake assembling together It's just real easy to say, you know what? I work hard all week. I want to sleep in on Sunday and I get that I Get that but you know the Bible says this this time a fellowship is so important where we're encouraging each other and loving each other and lifting each other up and They were they were unified they were unified to the team because they were unified through the fellowship Thirdly, it's right there in the text. You see it the breaking of bread Now the context here is spiritual life in the church everything in this verse is spiritual life in the church So what he's talking about here when he talks about breaking of bread, he's talking about the Lord's Supper in other words unity in Christ So if unity and beliefs unity to the team unity in Christ and that's common ground That's common ground, right?

  12:19-12:29

  see, that's But puts us all in the same playing field doesn't it Levi you were you were saved by the grace of God in Jesus Christ, right?

  12:29-12:32

  Ben you were saved by the grace of God in Jesus Christ, right?

  12:33-13:29

  And Ken you were saved by the grace of God in Jesus Christ. You see the common ground here There's none of us that walk in here that you know have more stripes on our uniform Have more have more kudos and accolades over anyone else because we're all just a bunch of broken people that have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ and You see when we take the Lord's Supper together. That's our reminder look We're all just broken people desperately in need of God's grace and eternally thankful for what he's done in Jesus Christ It's unity in Christ The fourth thing it says unity I'm sorry, they were devoted to the prayers and Here obviously the context is corporate prayer prayer corporate prayer That's why this early church saw so much power Whether it's praying here praying in our small groups having our prayer meetings or prayer services With prayer you could say it's unity and purpose.

  13:30-13:34

  Unity and purpose. That's what happens in the church when we pray together.

  13:34-13:36

  It's saying that we have a common purpose.

  13:38-13:41

  And we're together seeking God for that purpose.

  13:43-13:46

  I try not to do a lot of cross-referencing, but you've got to write this verse down.

  13:47-13:48

  Matthew 18, 19.

  13:49-14:02

  Jesus said, "Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, It will be done for them by my Father in heaven." And I can't even begin to understand everything that verse means.

  14:02-14:07

  But I can tell you this, there's some kind of power in corporate prayer.

  14:08-14:16

  When God's people come together in unity and cry out to the Lord for the same thing, there's some kind of power there.

  14:17-14:21

  And it's an incredible invitation and opportunity to pray.

  14:22-14:25

  So the early church, first of all, was unified.

  14:26-14:30

  They were unified because they were devoted.

  14:32-14:33

  They were devoted.

  14:34-14:37

  They were people that were committed to each other and to the mission.

  14:37-14:39

  And Harvest Bible Chapel, can you say that?

  14:40-14:47

  Can you say that you are committed to the mission of this church and to the people of this church?

  14:47-14:48

  Can you say that?

  14:49-14:52

  You know what? Where two or more are gathered, you're going to have conflict.

  14:53-15:02

  But being devoted to one another also means, "Look, rough times are going to come, but we're going to work through it, okay?" The Bible gives clear guidelines on how to work through some things.

  15:02-15:04

  And we're going to have issues come up.

  15:04-15:07

  We have had and we're going to continue to, so long as we meet.

  15:08-15:09

  But we are devoted to one another.

  15:11-15:14

  The mission and the people are more important than the conflict.

  15:15-15:15

  Okay?

  15:16-15:21

  So, "Five things said of a church with a godly reputation." Here's something I would like people to say about Harvest Bible Chapel.

  15:21-15:22

  That church is unified.

  15:24-15:26

  You know, those people all seem to be on the same page.

  15:27-15:29

  Secondly, God is doing things in that church.

  15:31-15:33

  God is doing things in that church.

  15:33-15:34

  Look at verse 43.

  15:34-15:53

  It says, "And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles." We've already talked about this, but just to review, God performed signs and wonders through the apostles to authenticate the message.

  15:54-16:03

  And the miracles stopped after the Bible was completed, because we don't have need for confirming signs, we have the Bible.

  16:03-16:07

  Now please hear me, because somebody is going to mishear this.

  16:09-16:14

  I do believe that God is still at work, and I do believe that God still performs miracles.

  16:14-16:17

  I have seen them. I have seen so many.

  16:17-16:22

  I could tell you stories that would keep you here till the Super Bowl about miracles that I've witnessed the Lord perform.

  16:24-16:30

  With that said, I do not believe that there are apostles walking the earth today that have healing powers.

  16:31-16:42

  Despite what you see these guys on TV looking like they're doing, there aren't people that walk around that have healing power that just touch people and heal them.

  16:43-16:46

  If there are, my question would be, why don't they go to children's hospital?

  16:47-16:51

  Huh? Why don't you walk up and down the ward at children's hospital and touch those kids?

  16:51-16:52

  If you have that power.

  16:54-17:08

  God does do miracles and God does heal and God is still at work, but I don't believe God's at work through people, through the apostles, the way that he was when he was using these apostles to confirm the message that he was speaking through them.

  17:08-17:12

  This was a huge transition period in history.

  17:12-17:18

  So the Lord had to perform these miracles through the apostles to authenticate the message.

  17:18-17:19

  Does that make sense?

  17:20-17:21

  Is everybody with me on that?

  17:23-17:33

  What you have to see is today, God is still at work in every decision to repent.

  17:35-17:38

  Every decision to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

  17:38-17:43

  every baptism, every miraculous provision, every mission opportunity.

  17:43-17:45

  God is still at work in this church.

  17:47-17:53

  And if this were a place where everything is easily explained by our resources, then we're in big trouble.

  17:54-18:16

  We are in big trouble if somebody can step back and say, "I can see how they get stuff done at that church." If there's not some supernatural component to this church, If there's not some disproportionate fruit and work that's happening that can only be explained by God showing up and being at work in our midst, then we have a real problem.

  18:17-18:20

  We have a real problem if we can do church without God.

  18:20-18:29

  You see, the people in this day, they weren't awed by the church, even though that was kind of an awe-inspiring thing.

  18:29-18:31

  Three thousand people made a decision in one day.

  18:31-18:36

  That's pretty awe-inspiring, but that wasn't the thing that awed them.

  18:37-18:39

  They were awed by the presence of God.

  18:40-18:45

  At Harvest Bible Chapel, this should be a place where unexplainable things happen.

  18:47-18:53

  We have seen it, and we have to continue to seek the Lord for big things.

  18:54-18:55

  Are you willing to pray for big things?

  18:56-18:58

  Are you willing to trust God for big things?

  18:59-19:01

  See, I believe that God has the power.

  19:02-19:10

  I believe that God can and God will and God wants to do big things in your life and do big things through this church.

  19:10-19:11

  Do you believe that?

  19:12-19:16

  If you believe that, are you willing to pray like you believe that?

  19:17-19:22

  Are you willing to say, "God, I know you have the power.

  19:23-19:27

  God, I know what you want done." Are you willing to pray for that?

  19:28-19:31

  That's the sort of reputation I want for this church.

  19:31-19:36

  The same reputation that this first church had, where people are saying God is doing things in that church.

  19:37-19:41

  Thirdly, five things said of a church with a godly reputation.

  19:42-19:44

  Thirdly, that church is generous.

  19:45-19:46

  That church is generous.

  19:46-19:47

  Look at verse 44.

  19:47-20:24

  It says, "And all who believed were together," there it is again, were together and had all things in common when it says that they had all things in common that didn't mean like interests and hobbies right that's not what that meant they had all things in common like here at harvest Bible Chapel you have to be a Steelers fan to attend is there anybody here that is not a Steelers fan anyone dismissed you see that's not the point that does that's That's not what it means they had all things in common.

  20:26-20:30

  What it meant was there's this sense of, there's a sense of what's mine is yours.

  20:31-20:32

  That's what it is.

  20:33-20:36

  In other words, these people were fridge friends.

  20:37-20:38

  You know what a fridge friend is?

  20:39-20:40

  You know what a fridge friend is?

  20:42-20:44

  How many people know what a fridge friend is?

  20:44-20:45

  Some of you do.

  20:46-20:47

  I'm going to tell you what a fridge friend is.

  20:48-20:55

  A fridge friend is somebody that's over at your house and your relationship is so comfortable They help themselves to whatever's in your refrigerator.

  20:56-20:58

  How many people here have a fridge friend?

  21:00-21:02

  How many people here think that they are a fridge friend?

  21:04-21:07

  I'll be honest with you, I know there's some people in this room that can testify.

  21:08-21:12

  You know, Murphys, Mowers, I mean, I've done it at your house.

  21:13-21:15

  I just help myself to whatever's in your fridge.

  21:15-21:15

  Why?

  21:15-21:16

  Because we're fridge friends.

  21:16-21:19

  Because we have all things in common, that's what that means.

  21:19-21:20

  What's yours is mine.

  21:21-21:27

  And guess what? If you're at my house, you're welcome to whatever's in the fridge or any of the cupboards.

  21:28-21:30

  Because we have all things in common. You see?

  21:31-21:32

  That's what that means.

  21:34-21:38

  And you're like, "Well, what if somebody has a need and I can't meet the need?" Well, look at verse 45.

  21:39-21:49

  It says, "And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need." Well, what if I can't meet the need? Well, we'll find a way to meet the need.

  21:50-21:53

  You see what the early church did? That's how generous they were.

  21:53-22:05

  Like, look, there's some people here that have needs, and you know what? I don't need all this extra stuff to live, so I'm going to sell it, and I'm going to be generous, and I'm going to take care of the people that have need.

  22:07-22:12

  Let's be honest, when we talk about money in the church, let's be honest.

  22:13-23:13

  When we talk about money in the church, does the church typically have a reputation to the world of being greedy, being generous which one greedy right typically to the world the church is greedy do you know many times I've heard people say all the church wants is money all the church wants the church has that reputation but instead the church should have a reputation not of being greedy but of being generous the church should have a rep for being generous and I want you to notice this this generosity should start with each other. Catch this. When we talk about generosity we can think about raising money to repair the pastor's house in Moldova. That was fantastic. You remember that? That was fantastic. You know, generosity to buy materials for the Romanian training center, generosity to send a team of people from our church over to help with the construction project, generosity.

  23:14-24:12

  Those things are all great, but you have to see in this passage the church wasn't for being generous outside their walls they were first known for being generous with one another did you see that they were first known for being generous with one another and I'm not saying we shouldn't be doing the mission thing we should be seeking the Lord to increase our capacity to do more of those mission things but there's a problem with the church if we're so concerned about being generous to the people outside that we're neglecting the needs of the people inside the church. The early church got that. You see that in the text? Everybody see that? They were taking care of each other and that's where it has to start. Taking care of each other, being a generous church. That's what I'd like people to say about Harvest Bible Chapel. That church is generous.

  24:13-24:16

  Fourthly, that church is joyful.

  24:17-24:18

  Look at verse 46.

  24:18-24:19

  That church is joyful.

  24:20-24:30

  Says in day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.

  24:31-24:32

  Glad and generous hearts.

  24:32-24:33

  We already talked about generous.

  24:34-24:35

  Let's talk about glad.

  24:36-24:38

  Says they went to the temple together.

  24:39-24:40

  That's corporate worship.

  24:40-25:41

  was church before church buildings and they met in homes that's like our small groups that's why we do what we do at harvest Bible Chapel we meet together this is like temple time and then in each other's homes that's our small group time but notice it says their hearts were glad so let me ask you is this church a joy for you is it a joy for you to come to church Do you love the people at this church? You're like, "Man, I can't wait to get to church. I can't wait to be with the people and to worship together." Is church a joy for you? Like, "Well, I'm not sure." Well, here's how you can find out real quick. I want you to make two lists. You don't have to do it right now, but make two lists. I want you to write down five things you love about Harvest Bible Chapel. I want you to write down five things you don't like about Harvest Bible Chapel. Which of those lists is easier for you to make?

  25:42-26:07

  Which of those lists do you complete faster, things that you love about the church or things that you don't like about the church? That'll kind of show you what your attitude in general is towards the church. Notice in the first part of verse 47, it says they were praising God. You see, that's how this joy thing works. It comes from God and it goes back to God.

  26:09-26:10

  It shows up in worship.

  26:11-26:23

  That's how I see joy in the church when we're worshiping and I turn around and I see people lifting up their voices, worshiping God in spirit and truth with hands raised and adoring Jesus Christ.

  26:24-26:26

  That's how I see joy in this church.

  26:27-26:36

  I see joy in this church when, you know, the custodians are kicking us out because people want to stay and talk and hang out and catch up with each other.

  26:36-26:51

  I see joy in the church when it's like, "Hey, let's go to lunch together after church because they kicked us out of the school." Okay? Signs of a joyful church culminating in worship. A church is joyful. I'll tell you, that's something I'd like said about Harvest Bible Chapel.

  26:52-27:00

  Is that true? Then finally, finally, I can't say anything bad about that church.

  27:01-27:04

  Look at verse 47 again. It says they were praising God.

  27:04-27:12

  Look at this next phrase, "And having favor with all the people." Having favor with all the people.

  27:13-27:19

  There is offense in the gospel, true or false.

  27:20-27:21

  There's offense in the gospel.

  27:22-27:28

  Because to preach the gospel you have to say, listen, you're a fallen sinner and you're heading for God's judgment.

  27:30-27:33

  You're wicked to the core and you need a savior.

  27:33-27:33

  That's offensive.

  27:34-27:37

  It's true, but it's an offensive message.

  27:37-27:43

  And even though sharing the gospel message brings an offense, understand the distinction.

  27:43-27:46

  We should not be offensive people.

  27:47-27:48

  You see the difference?

  27:50-27:52

  We should not be offensive people.

  27:53-28:01

  We can share the gospel message and let the offense rest in the gospel, but we should not be offensive people.

  28:01-28:05

  That's why it says here that they had favor with all the people.

  28:06-28:09

  Another New Testament term for having favor with people.

  28:11-28:14

  This will help us all to understand this a little better.

  28:14-28:16

  The New Testament talks about being blameless.

  28:17-28:25

  It talks about being blameless, meaning if somebody wants to say something bad about you, what would they come up with?

  28:27-28:31

  A blameless person, somebody who tries to live, here's another term, above reproach.

  28:32-28:37

  Somebody that tries to live a blameless life, lives in such a way that nobody has anything bad to say about.

  28:38-28:39

  Meaning what? Meaning your conduct.

  28:41-28:43

  You're honest at work. You put in a full work day.

  28:46-28:52

  You have integrity in your home. You're the same person at home that you are in church, that you are in the workplace, that you are with your buddies.

  28:53-28:55

  That's integrity. Blameless.

  28:56-28:58

  Blameless in your speech.

  28:59-29:05

  You don't speak one way in church and another way in social media, or another way with your buddies.

  29:07-29:08

  Blameless in speech.

  29:09-29:10

  Blameless in your attitudes.

  29:13-29:14

  That you're not a complainer.

  29:15-29:17

  Blameless in compassion.

  29:19-29:31

  See, this morning as we talk about the reputation of the church, The reputation of the church is really about the reputation of the people, right?

  29:32-29:35

  We don't even have a church building, we rent this space.

  29:35-29:42

  So the reputation of this church isn't about the reputation of the building, it's about the reputation of the people.

  29:42-29:45

  But let's zoom in a little closer.

  29:45-29:52

  The reputation of the church really zeroes in to the reputation of you, right?

  29:54-30:08

  Look at this last phrase. It says, "And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." Just to remind you that none of these things are things that we manufacture.

  30:08-30:11

  Here you see God's sovereignty at work.

  30:12-30:15

  Who was doing the adding? Who was bringing people to the church?

  30:16-30:18

  Who was growing the church? The Bible is crystal clear.

  30:19-30:22

  The Lord added to the number.

  30:23-30:26

  Day by day, those who were being saved.

  30:27-30:29

  So God's sovereignty at work through all this.

  30:30-30:35

  A healthy church has natural evangelism.

  30:37-30:42

  So when we talk about the church growing, do I want this church to grow?

  30:42-30:43

  I absolutely do.

  30:44-30:45

  Why?

  30:46-30:48

  Why do I want this church to grow?

  30:50-30:53

  There's really three reasons that I'd like to share with you.

  30:53-30:55

  Here's why I want this church to grow.

  30:55-30:58

  Number one, is growth is a sign of health.

  30:59-31:00

  Growth is a sign of health.

  31:02-31:10

  Number two, as we grow, so will our capacity to serve Christ and our influence in this community.

  31:12-31:19

  But the main reason, the number one reason I want this church to grow, is because the more this church grows, the more glory God gets.

  31:20-31:31

  The more people come in here to lift up their voices and raise their hands and sing unashamed adoration of Jesus Christ, the more glory God gets.

  31:31-31:32

  That's why I want this church to grow.

  31:34-31:45

  As I was preparing this message, I was thinking, what would be a great way that we can immediately apply some of these things that are in this passage?

  31:45-31:49

  And I thought, you know, why don't we pray about this right now?

  31:50-31:51

  Can you do that with me?

  31:51-31:58

  Can we pray as a church and our reputation, can we pray that this is a church that is unified?

  32:00-32:04

  Can we pray that this is a church where God is at work?

  32:05-32:09

  Can we pray that this is a church where the people are generous with one another?

  32:10-32:14

  Can we pray that this it a church that is joyful?

  32:16-32:21

  Can we pray that this is a church that is blameless?

  32:23-32:26

  And can we pray that this is a church that the Lord will grow?

  32:28-32:30

  You bow your heads with me as our worship team makes their way forward.

  32:32-32:35

  You want to join hands to the person next to you as a sign of unity?

  32:36-32:37

  I think that's a beautiful thing.

  32:38-32:48

  If you want to just reach across and hold hands as a sign of saying, "We are unified in this prayer because we aren't committed at Harvest Bible Chapel to putting on a show.

  32:50-32:56

  We are committed at Harvest Bible Chapel to the glory of God and Jesus Christ.

  32:58-33:04

  Father, as we come before you in prayer, I thank you for this church.

  33:06-33:07

  I thank you, Father.

  33:08-33:14

  For the miracles that you have been performing through this church, I thank you, Father, that this is a church where you are at work.

  33:15-33:19

  And I pray, Father, as we move forward, we would be a church that's unified.

  33:21-33:35

  And the things that you've called us to be unified about, your word and our fellowship and the Lord's table coming together in Christ and praying with one another, let us be unified.

  33:37-33:41

  Father, we have seen a disproportionate amount of generosity in this church.

  33:42-33:46

  people taking care of one another with material needs.

  33:46-33:52

  We've seen generosity, certainly outside this church, with mission work as well.

  33:53-33:58

  Father, I pray that you would always stir in our hearts a spirit of generosity.

  34:00-34:02

  Father, I pray that this would be a joyful church.

  34:03-34:07

  Just like these first century Christians, your word says that their hearts were glad.

  34:08-34:11

  The church wasn't a pain.

  34:12-34:14

  And I can't stand those people.

  34:15-34:18

  They were people who loved one another.

  34:19-34:23

  And enjoyed coming into your presence with one another.

  34:23-34:25

  Let us be a joyful church.

  34:26-34:29

  And Father, I pray that we would be a blameless church.

  34:29-34:31

  Yes, there is offense in the gospel.

  34:31-34:32

  It's a stumbling block.

  34:33-34:40

  And there are people that hate us for no other reason than the fact that we love Jesus Christ.

  34:41-34:52

  But Father, concerning our conduct towards the outside world, the kind of people that we are in our homes and in our workplaces, and the way we speak, let us be blameless people.

  34:53-34:57

  Father, we pray for growth.

  34:58-35:01

  We have certainly seen growth already.

  35:03-35:04

  Father, we pray for more.

  35:05-35:09

  We pray for more spiritual growth, more maturity in Christ.

  35:09-35:11

  And Father, I pray for more numerical growth.

  35:13-35:15

  Not to draw attention to ourselves.

  35:17-35:24

  Your word says with this early church that you were adding to their number day by day, those who were being saved.

  35:24-35:25

  That's what I pray for, for this church.

  35:26-35:41

  that more people would come and experience your presence and marvel in your glory and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and that you would add to this church people who are being saved.

  35:44-35:52

  Father, grow this church so that our capacity to serve you would increase and our influence in this community would increase.

  35:53-36:04

  Grow this church so that your name is glorified more and more and more and more as so many more people come to adore you.

  36:06-36:10

  Father, we thank you for everything that you have done.

  36:11-36:17

  And by faith, we're seeking you for more, for your glory.

  36:18-36:19

  For your glory.

  36:20-36:21

  For your glory, Father.

  36:22-36:25

  We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Sermon Discussion with your Children:
What does it mean to be generous?
How can you and your family be generous in and with the church?

Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Acts 2:42-47

1. Why is unity so important to the reputation of the church? What does church membership say about unity?
    

2. Without Apostles, how does awe come upon souls today (Acts 2:43)?

3. How does God add to a church (Acts 2:47) that strives for excellence in these areas?

Breakout Questions:

Of these 5 areas, what is most lacking at HBCPN? How can we seek the Lord for better in that/those area(s)?