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An anecdote from Jesus’ life:
John 9:1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.
2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”
Do you notice the difference between Jesus and his disciples here? The disciples saw this guy as a potential for a theological argument….
Jesus saw a chance to glorify God.
This kind of thing happens over and over again in the life of Jesus… after a while, the disciples start getting the hang of it. We jump into the story in Acts 3 after the Resurrection of Jesus:
Acts 3:1 ¶ Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer.
2 And a man who had been lame from his mother's womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple.
3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms.
4 But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, "Look at us!"
This is not the regular word for “look” or “see.” This is a heightened, rare word that only occurs a few times in the NT. It’s like “rivet your eyes on” “look intensely” or “do a double take.”
This is interesting, because Peter and John were devout men. They had been to the temple to pray many times. This man had been sitting here for YEARS… notice it says they set him down “every day” at the gate of the temple. This wasn’t the first time they saw him. But it was the first time Peter did a Holy Spirit inspired “Double-take”…
I think God wants us to do lots of these in our lives… what do you see when you look closer. The problem is, we can walk right past people for a long time, and never notice them.
I’m terrible about not seeing things.
1. See people for their needs, not your inconvenience.
3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms.
4 But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, "Look at us!"
Oh, brother… another panhandler. “Get a job, buddy! I’m in a hurry… look the other way… lock the doors… we’re on the way to church.”
But that’s not the attitude they took.
Do you see broken people as an ______annoyance_________ or an _____opportunity______?
2. See people for their potential, not their problems.
5 And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.
6 But Peter said, "I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene--walk!"
Defining people by their past – defining them by their sin! It’s an attitude thing.
The Pharisees did it:
This man receives SINNERS and eats with them…
If he was a prophet, he would know what sort of woman this was…
Don’t define people by their ____past_____, define them by their _____Savior_________.
Every saint has a ____past___, every sinner has a _____future_____.
The potential for healing.
7 And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.
8 With a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
The potential for influence.
9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God;
10 and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
11 While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so-called portico of Solomon, full of amazement.
“The bigger they are, the harder they fall” – you heard that phrase?
I’d like to propose a different version “The worse they are, the more glory God receives when they are saved.”
The potential for impact.
12 ¶ But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, "Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?
13 "The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus…
And you know the story… Peter preaches, and the crowd of men who were Christians in Jerusalem “came to be about 5,000.” Which means there were probably close to 15,000 Christians total.,,
When you think you’re doing something small, remember the name _____Edward Kimball_____.
He was a Sunday school teacher in Chicago…
Edward Kimball was determined to win his Sunday school class to Christ. A teenager named Dwight Moody tended to fall asleep on Sundays, but Kimball, undeterred, set out to reach him at work. His heart was pounding as he entered the store where the young man worked. “I put my hand on his shoulder, and as I leaned over I placed my foot upon a shoebox. I asked him to come to Christ.” But Kimball left thinking he had botched the job. Moody, however, left the store that day a new person and eventually became the most prominent evangelist in America.
On June 17, 1873, Moody arrived in Liverpool, England, for a series of crusades. Moody visited a Baptist chapel pastored by a scholarly man named F. B. Meyer, who at first disdained the American’s unlettered preaching. But Meyer was soon transfixed and transformed by Moody’s message.
At Moody’s invitation, Meyer toured America. At Northfield Bible Conference, he challenged the crowds saying, “If you are not willing to give up everything for Christ, are you willing to be made willing?” That remark changed the life of a struggling young man named J. Wilber Chapman. Chapman came forward and was counseled by Moody, and received assurance of salvation that night.
Chapman proceeded to become a powerful traveling evangelist in the early 1900s, and he recruited a converted baseball player named Billy Sunday to work with him in campaigns.
Sunday became one of the most spectacular evangelists in American history. His campaign in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1924 produced a group of converts who continued praying for another such visitation of the Spirit.
In 1934 they invited evangelist Mordecai Ham to conduct a citywide crusade. On October 8th Ham, discouraged, wrote a prayer to God on the stationery of his Charlotte hotel: “Lord, give us a Pentecost here. … Pour out thy Spirit tomorrow. … ”
His prayer was answered beyond his dreams when a Central High School student named Billy Graham gave his heart to Jesus.
With details from: http://www2.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/faq/13.htm
Don’t think what you’re doing is little.
An anecdote from Jesus’ life:
John 9:1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.
2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”
Do you notice the difference between Jesus and his disciples here? The disciples saw this guy as a potential for a theological _______________________…. Jesus saw a chance to _________________ _______________.
This kind of thing happens over and over again in the life of Jesus… after a while, the disciples start getting the hang of it. We jump into the story in Acts 3 after the Resurrection of Jesus:
Acts 3:1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer.
2 And a man who had been lame from his mother's womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple.
3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms.
4 But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, "Look at us!"
This is not the regular word for “look” or “see.” This is a heightened, rare word that only occurs a few times in the NT.
It’s like “rivet your eyes on” “look intensely” or “do a __________________ ____________________.”
1. See people for their ___________________, not your _______________________.
3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms.
5 But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, "Look at us!"
Do you see broken people as a ________________________ or an _________________________?
2. See people for their _____________________, not their _____________________.
5 And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.
6 But Peter said, "I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene--walk!"
Don’t define people by their __________________, define them by their _____________________.
Every saint has a ____________, every sinner has a ___________________.
Peter saw:
The potential for _______________________.
7 And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.
8 With a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
The potential for _________________________.
9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God;
10 and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
11 While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so-called portico of Solomon, full of amazement.
The potential for _______________________________.
12 ¶ But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, "Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?
13 "The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus…
When you think you’re just doing something small, remember ___________ ______________________.
