So I think it is appropriate, but before we get
into the scriptures and before we get into the
sermon, it was said if you're skilled in landscaping
or yard work that you can sign up. You don't
have to be skilled in either to sign up. You
can be an unskilled person in that and you can
still come and help pick weeds and clean up because
intermission, their campus really, really needs
that. But we have already seen the Holy Spirit
at work in an amazing way, both in the table
of our Lord and the commissioning of a missionary.
see it in the sermon today. I once was lost,
but now I'm found, was blind, and now I see.
It is an amazing testament in that song, Amazing
Grace. And really, friends, why we sang that
is because it's the heartbeat of the gospel.
That yes, the gospel is belief. Confess and believe.
That's what we heard from Josh this morning.
But then it's the Holy Spirit in action. And
it's a reminder that we could never ever earn
or fix grace for ourselves, but that God gives
it to us freely in the person of Jesus Christ.
Now, we see the work of the Holy Spirit. We see
the ascension of Christ in Acts 1. We see the
Holy Spirit coming. Remember, they had to wait.
But now we see that truth lived out. We see a
story of a man crippled from birth outside of
the temple begging for coins. For a simple lunch.
He doesn't even know what he's asking for in
the day. Much like we heard in Josh's testimony,
that simple prayer can be a dangerous prayer.
Thy will be done is probably the most dangerous
prayer we can pray as believers. Not dangerous
as in scary, even though that could be. It's
dangerous as in you're asking the creator of
the universe, the creator of you, to do his will
in your life. When we pray that prayer, we better
be ready for an answer. This guy was not. But
in the name of Jesus, Peter and John give him
something infinitely greater than a couple of
coins. They give him healing, restoration, and
new life. That miracle becomes a sermon in motion
and a picture of grace. And as we commissioned
a missionary from now this church, though he
grew up in a church right down the street and
has, it's kind of a mosaic of all the different
parts of Josh's life that has been put together
for this moment, we are reminded of a very similar
calling. Though it may not be to West Africa,
it may be to the cubicle next to you, to the
neighbor that doesn't mow his lawn. To the person
that you're driving behind in traffic going 20
miles under the speed limit. That we are called
to carry the grace of Christ beyond this brick
and mortar. Beyond 214 Ridge Road. To others
who may be lost to be found. Those who are broken
to be made whole. So let's dive in. We've got
a lot of work to do. The irony of the beautiful
gate. So let's start. We're going to be in Acts
chapter 3, the first two verses. Now Peter and
John were going up to the temple at the hour
of prayer, the ninth hour, 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, to ask alms, or money, of those
entering the temple, the man. Did you just catch
that? He is laid there daily. When I was doing
some of my sermon prep, I thought about the relationship
that this guy had. We don't know the relationship
this guy had with the guys that were laying him
down every day. I think we see the first miss.
That if it was, let's just say it's the same
people or it's on a rotation schedule, right?
Like our prayer team is or whatever of all those
that are going to start coming more and more
to our Tuesday night prayer meeting because everything
starts with prayer here at Munster Church. I
think they miss it. What if it were you or I
that our job was to carry this guy and lay him
at a gate and go on about our day? We already
have more than he does. We are not lame. We are
not crippled. We have the ability to walk. This
guy doesn't. And I look at just what was missed
there. But this man is laid daily at the gate
called beautiful, yet his life, anything but.
Luke may be underscoring the contrast here between
the outer beauty and the inward brokenness. That
true beauty does not come from the architecture
of our lives or our buildings or what we create,
but from God's grace that transforms us. And
here's there's expectation, right? The posture
of expectation here is very different than the
posture of expectation we may have in life. I
don't know what your life is like as far as expectations.
My hope is you verbalize your expectations because
we cannot be a church that has assumed expectations
or that we can read each other's minds because
we cannot. Not even all those that have been
married 20, 30, 40, 50 years. You talk to those
who have been married that long, decades of marriage,
the best thing they can do one to another is
communicate. To those couples that are looking
to get married, verbal expectations are always
more positive than assumed or just try to guess.
But think about this man's expectation. His normal
life was to be carried, plopped at the entrance
to this gate to get a couple shekels, a couple
alms, that people would just maybe walk by and
just flick him a denarii or two to help him out.
Verses 3 through 5. Seeing Peter and John about
to go in the temple, he asked to receive alms.
And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John,
and said, look at us. And he fixed his attention
on them, expecting to receive something from
them. Right? I'm not going to put a cup of coffee
or lunch on this because it's too easy. What
is he expecting now from Peter and John who kind
of did the look at me? What is he expecting?
Money. Thank you. That's been his mode of life.
Have you ever been stuck in a mode of life wanting
to receive something different day in and day
out? Congratulations. You must be insane. Because
that is the exact definition of insanity. Expecting
the same thing, or doing the same thing, and
expecting a different result. But what he doesn't
realize is that God is going to be doing something
massive in his life. He fixed his attention on
them, expecting to receive something from them.
The Greek here has a sense of someone clinging
to hope. He's expecting coins. But what he receives
is infinitely beyond his imagination. This underscores
Ephesians 3 .20. God does immeasurably more than
we could ask or imagine. And now we're going
to walk into the miracle, right? We're going
to see the immediacy of the healing. He's expecting
coins. He's going to be made whole in verses
6 through 8. But Peter said, I have no silver
or gold. But what I have to give you, but what
I do have, I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took him
by the right hand and raised him up. And immediately
his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping
up, he stood and began to walk. and entered the
temple with them, walking and leaping and praising
God. Remember, this Acts is written by kind of
Luke's writer, right? And so Luke, a physician,
uses the medical detail. And I love this. His
feet, ankles were made strong. The healing was
instantaneous and complete. This is going to
make some of you mad. He didn't have to go to
rehab. He didn't have to go to rehabilitation.
He didn't have to work it out. He didn't have
the pains and the groans and is this going to
heal? Is this not going to heal? There was no
delay. Because he wanted coins, but what Jesus
gave him was complete restoration physically
and spiritually. Whoa, pastor, where did you
get spiritually? Look at what he did. He's been
plopped at the temple every day to look for some
coins. He is instantly healed. He doesn't praise
the guys. He praised Jesus of Nazareth. How do
we know? He went walking and leaping and praising
God. There was no time to doubt it. There was
no time to wonder what actually happened. He
went from brokenness to restored healing to praise.
When's the last time we had our prayers answered?
And we actually took time to praise. Because
friends, we all need that transformation. It
might not be a physical healing that we need,
but I know for many of you today, it is. You've
been waiting to be healed, and it has not come.
The thing that I try to say to those in that
situation is, God's trying to give you perspective.
Lean in. What is God trying to teach you in that
time? Or maybe it's the brokenness of the world.
Week in and week out, we just see brokenness.
We need God's healing. And some of us may agree
with Dwight Schrute from The Office. We just
need a new plague, and we need to thin some of
us out. I know I'm not the only one that thought
that. I know other people do. If you didn't get
The Office reference, that's okay. Don't worry
about it. The same holds true. God, it would
be much better if you intervened. What are you
doing? Friends, who are we to question the creator?
That the Lord may be bringing community, society,
church, family healing through you. I always
think it's hilarious and actually it's terrifying
to see two of his disciples being so bold to
heal in Jesus' name. Now some of you may have
tried to do that before to know a veil the way
this is. And so we're like, we're just not going
to do it. But what courageous faith of the disciples
to be a part of bringing transformation. Because
transformation is powerful, right? The three
verbs of transformation that we're going to see
in verse 8. Luke's writer says this, and leaping
up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered
the temple with them, walking and leaping and
praising God. He leapt up, he stood up, he began
to walk. The order highlights a progression.
When the Holy Spirit gave this to me this week,
I needed it more than anybody. From dependence
to stability to active participation in worship.
And you might be like, oh, this is great. Here
comes the conviction curveball. This mirrors
our salvation. From helplessness to standing
in grace to walking in newness of life. Okay,
friends, this is going to be tough. For some
of us in our faith, we go from that dependence
to stability. We have an issue. We got a problem.
God solves it. I cannot believe I just quoted
Vanilla Ice in a sermon. But it's true. We have
a problem. We give it to God. He solves it. And
we go right on about our day. I think that's
the wrong response. And I'm not saying this to
guilt anyone to get involved in things at the
church or to become more active in worship or
what the mission of the church is doing. But
I'm going to challenge you. I'm going to ask
you to think about that engagement that you ask
God for help. He helps you. And you just go on
about your day like nothing's different. Think
about the witness this guy has. Every day, plop
there to ask for money. This guy's now praising
in the temple. I think it would have sent shockwaves
through the community. We all know that this
community gossips. We all know our churches gossip,
whether we're a part of that or not. But the
witness of healing, of stability, to active participation
in worship. Maybe you're struggling to go there.
And maybe, just maybe, and here it comes, three,
two, one. Well, we're just not doing things the
way I want them done at the church. So I'm not
going to get involved. I hope and pray that that
mentality dies in you at some point because you're
going to be able to bring that to heaven. Does
heaven need to be exactly the way you want it
to be? I know we joke about that, right? I hope
the menus are in English. I hope all these things
when it comes to heaven, sure. But friends, we're
talking about heaven. We're talking about the
kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven that
you and I are a part of. Well, I just don't like
the way they're doing it or I don't like this
or I don't like the new logo. That's stopping
you from participating into the worship of God.
Friend, that's not a Munster Church issue. That's
a you issue. That's not the heart of Munster
Church issue or Faith Church or whatever the
true churches are in our areas. That is, insert
your name, heart issue. Because one of the things
we're going to see is the validation of the work
of God through the public, the people, as I was
alluding to, verses 9 and 10. And all the people
saw him walking and praising and recognizing
him as the one who sat at the beautiful gate
of the temple asking for alms. And they were
filled with wonder and amazement as to what happened
to them. Friends, here's the conviction continued.
People know that you're struggling. People know
that God's answered your question or answered
your issue or your problem. Yet they look and
go, but nothing's different. Nothing's the same.
They're just going on like nothing's happened.
I think we can get that way about our salvation.
How many of you have ever thought about the fact
that the wages of sin are? All of us were promised
that because of sin. But us in Christ, that is
no longer the promise. The promise is new life
in Christ. Yet we don't want to flee the old
flesh. We don't want to flee the flesh that's
going to be going, that should be going to hell
in a handbasket. We are living a new life in
Christ. Yet when people see your life, you're
still complaining. You're still gossiping. You're
still causing drama. Nothing's ever good enough.
Right? The marriage is still on the rocks. Because
nothing has changed. Everything changed for this
guy, and so did his perspective. So I don't need
to bring you the correction today, because Peter
does. A Christ -centered correction, verses 11
and 12. While he clung to Peter and John, all
the people, utterly astonished, ran together
to them. And the portico called Solomon's. And
when Peter saw... He addressed the people. Why
do you stare at us? Men of Israel, why do you
wander at this? Why do you stare at us as though
by your own power or our own power or piety we
made him walk? They're looking for magicians.
They're looking for something that they can explain.
Peter instantly deflects the attention from himself
to Christ. True spirit -filled ministry refuses
glory for self and gives all the glory to Jesus.
This mirrors John the Baptist, one of the last
prophets. He must increase and I must decrease.
You guys are a part of a church that is growing.
We can't deny that. We're seeing growth in many
different ways. Praise the Lord. The minute we
think we're the cause of that, the Lord that
gives is also dug. The Lord that takes away.
Wow, we have a lot of dugs. That's why we need
to stay humble. We need to stay excited and a
little bit terrified because God's the one doing
the work. It's not me. It's not our counsel.
It's not all you. He is calling us to something
bigger than ourselves. Why? Because he's the
author, has been, will continue to be, the author
of Munster Church's life. Jesus is the author
of life. Verses 13 through 15. The God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of
fathers glorifies his servant Jesus whom you
delivered over and denied in the presence of
Pilate when he had decided to release him. But
you denied the holy and righteous one and asked
for a murderer to be granted to you and you killed
the author of life whom God raised from the dead.
To this we are witnesses. Unique title, right?
They killed the Argeos in the Greek. They killed
the pioneer, the founder, the originator of life.
Yet God raised him up. The paradox, what doesn't
make sense in our mind, the giver of life was
killed. But death could not hold him. This is
the gospel paradox and the triumph that you and
I can't explain. We had no pardon, yet we point
to or should point to in our lives. Let's go
back to the first sermon of this series. What
was the church? The people that walked with Jesus
or were close to the people that walked with
Jesus that saw him alive, saw him on the cross,
saw him dead in the tomb, saw him rise again.
That was the church. Friends, we've made it so
much more. We have made it so much more complicated.
And we do that because of two things. Our ignorance
and our need of grace. Verses 16 and 17. And
his name, by faith in his name, has made this
man strong with whom you see and know. And the
faith that is through. Jesus has given the man
this perfect health in the presence of you all.
Peter acknowledges something great. You acted
in ignorance. This doesn't excuse their sin,
but it opens a door for grace. The only way to
receive grace is to confess our sins. When someone
comes to me and wants to make profession of faith,
the first question I ask is, tell me about the
bad news of your sin before you tell me the good
news of Jesus. Because we can know the good news
all day, right? You can come in and you can recite
the Apostles' Creed, Lord's Day 1, Belgian Confession,
Article 2, whatever it is. But do you understand
the bad news of your sin? Because if you don't
understand the bad news, then the good news isn't
all that good. Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do. Don't we hear that echoed
in this? It's what Jesus did on the cross for
us. So as we go through this life, as the church
continues to work within the world, we're going
to need those times, right? The promised times
that God meets with us. It's today. I know we're
going long, but we can get over it. Guess what?
The bears are on a bye. The promise of times
of refreshing is something we all need. Because
really what that is, friend, And I say this first
and foremost looking here, it's the time where
I'm not the center of it. I'm not doing the things.
It's not my will be done. Because if we were
honest, if life was lived as my will be done,
my guess is not all of us would be in this church.
We would all be doing something else. Or some
of us. Or most of us. Or whatever. But what we
see in the life of the church is that when God
is moving, when God is at work, we need to pause.
We need to reflect. We need to praise. We need
to fill up. I heard it said once that churches
are a gas station for the people of faith. That
they run empty to Sunday, fill up to go yet another
week. Yeah, that may put in perspective those
of you that choose to not come on a Sunday for
whatever reason. Hopefully you're filling up.
believe that, because I think we can fill up
in many different ways, but that's one of the
reasons the church exists. To refresh and fill
the people of God. Verses 18 and 19 help this
point. But what God foretold by the mouth of
all the prophets, that is, his Christ would suffer,
he thus fulfilled. Repent, therefore, and turn
back that your sins may be blotted out. The Greek
word ananapsis meaning cooling relief, renewal,
revival. Repentance is not a burden, but it's
a blessing. Think about your life right now.
What if you were not able to repent? I just described
the agnostic. I've just described the atheist.
Well, who do you repent to? Right? Do you just
repent to your spouse? That ain't fun, and it's
not going to get you to heaven. We repent to
someone who receives that confession, takes our
sins upon himself, and as the Psalms reminds
us, remembers your sins no more to the one who
confesses. Because what is repentance? I'm going
down whatever road I'm at, bad, bad, bad, something
bad. I stop, I pause, I confess, I repent, and
I go back to the cross. What a teaching these
people are getting in mere minutes. This anticipates
both personal renewal and the ultimate restoration
when Christ comes. What are you doing to prepare
yourself for when Jesus comes back? Has anything
changed in your life? Have you received forgiveness
for the sins? Yet nothing seems to change? Or
a friend of mine and I were talking about cheap
grace this week. And the understanding of how
we just throw it out there on a Monday. Hey God,
I'm going to sin on Friday and Saturday, so I'll
ask for forgiveness Sunday. See you there. Guys,
he already knows. He's already there. He's already
disappointed, but he is ready to forgive you.
But just like a kid. That just continues over
and over to fall, to argue back, to disrespect,
or to whatever. They just don't have that understanding
yet. If you are in Christ and you have professed
Christ as Lord and Savior, guess what? You have
that understanding. And you understand what cheap
grace is. Because God already knows. God already
sees you in your brokenness. He already sees
you. When you feel worthless. And here's the
thing. He never puts that on you. That's you
putting it on you. That's Satan putting it on
you. That's an unhealthy relationship putting
it on you. That's whatever it is. Negative putting
it on you. God doesn't see that. Because prophets
call it out. But then they see the good. They
call you to something greater. And Jesus, as
the greater prophet, has always been the case.
He is the greater prophet, priest, and king.
Peter's going to connect with them as he lands
the plane, and so will I. That times of refreshing
may come from the presence of the Lord, and that
he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,
whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring
all things about which God spoke by the mouth
of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, the
Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like
me from your brothers. You shall listen to him
in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that
every soul who does not listen to that prophet
shall be destroyed from the people. Peter connects
something very important. Peter connects to Moses'
promise in Deuteronomy 18. Jesus is the prophet
like Moses, but greater. Because he doesn't just
reveal God's word, he is God's word made flesh.
And here's the thing. We had a profession of
faith today. We had a baptism last week, or a
couple weeks ago. We had a profession last week.
We have a profession at the end of the month.
We're seeing these sacramental ties all come
together from the covenant of God that he made
with his people then and he makes with us today.
Not only I will be with you always to the very
end of the age. And I guarantee you that Josh's
family is leaning into that as they say goodbye
to him this upcoming week. That the same God
that is with them is the same God that's going
to be with you. Is going to be with you when
you're doing your mission. When he's with all
of us, when we do our mission, starting the minute
we walk outside the door today. That covenantal
blessing we see in verse 24. And all the prophets
who have spoken from Samuel and those who came
after him also proclaim these days, you are the
sons of the prophets and of the covenant that
God made with your father, saying to Abraham,
and in your offspring shall be all the families
of the earth be blessed. God, having raised up
his servant, sent him to you first to bless you
by turning every one of you from your wickedness.
The gospel is never tribal or local, it is global.
That makes this passage perfect for today. Because
one of the things we need to understand is that
the same God that is calling Josh to go to the
other end of the earth is the same God calling
you to go to the other side of the office complex
and reconcile with that individual. To that family
member, that spouse, that child, that aunt, that
uncle, that person that hurt you, the person
that you hurt. He is calling you to bring that
amazing grace. That amazing grace that he brings
to us in our salvation. He calls you to bring
to a world that desperately needs it. Friends,
I could go on forever. But we're not going to.
Because I think... What the Holy Spirit has done
for all of us today is enough. So Cheryl, we're
going to go to the very last prayer. I'm going
to ask that you stand if you are able. And let
us close our time. We're going to close with
a worship song too. Let us close our time as
we've done every sermon of this series together
with this closing prayer. We'll all say together,
Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for your amazing
grace. You have healed our brokenness. forgiven
our sin, and raised us to new life in your name.
Fill us with your spirit, send us with your boldness,
and use us to proclaim your grace in every place.
Bless the missionary we commission today, and
through them others may come to know your saving
love. Amen. And as we go out into our days, into
our mission fields,