- In the coming weeks, Pastor Joey will be preaching about Christmas
-- So, this message is not specifically on Christmas – rather, it’s one of preparation
-- It is a message of expectation – prayerfully it’s one of faith in action
-- Big Idea (up front): As you sit here today … are you expecting God?
- Let’s be honest: For many, the holidays can be very stressful
-- There are always things to do: getting ready for visitors, cooking, shopping, etc.
-- Drive me crazy: Spend hours in a store wandering around … it’s over
- What often happens is we get so frantic we dread the season
-- We lose our desire to celebrate, and sadly stop even expecting God to show up
-- Prayerfully, today will help you focus a little more intently on the time ahead
Read Acts 3:1-11 / Pray
- Call something out: Disciples, going to church, middle of the afternoon (v1)
-- 9th hour is about 3pm (6am would be the beginning of the day)
-- Some today get impatient when the preacher goes past 12 – don’t we?
-- Re: They’ve just seen Jesus taken away, rcvd Holy Spirit, they’re expecting
Point 1 – We should expect God everywhere we go
- On this day, they encounter a man sitting outside the gate (v2)
-- Keep in mind: heavy crowds, lots of commotion, lots of folks going
-- This would have been the perfect place to beg (very high traffic)
- Sitting there, this man seems to see Peter and John as two who have something
-- Perhaps his flesh thought it was money; but I believe his spirit cried out for more
- As they pass him, Peter sees him and decides to respond to him (v4)
-- I always found this interesting … why does Peter call out to this man?
- Did the man have a sad story? Was he holding a cardboard sign?
-- Was he saying all the right things? Did he say something not recorded here?
-- All of these may be true statements … but more than that, I think it’s simpler
- Critical point for us to remember here: John and Peter were going to worship … they were expecting to meet with God, in His house, on this day!
- Peter saw an opportunity to do what Jesus said, because He expected Him
- Nothing more, nothing less – opp. to “practice what he learned from Jesus”
-- Matthew 25:45 (ESV), “Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’
- Expecting God means that we are ready to spring into action when He leads
-- Re: Peter saw Jesus this do for 3 years; that’s what He knew to do as well
-- As a matter of faith, he did/said the only thing that he could
-- (v6) Silver and gold …
- Expound: Love this statement of faith– one of my fav verses of bible
-- He’s broke, he has nothing to offer, but he gives this man everything he needed
- For Peter, his expecting to have a God moment boiled over at this gate
-- FACT: He was willing, ready, and able to respond when God opened this door
- Are we? CHALLENGE: As we sit here, are we ready to respond to God?
-- Are we expecting an opportunity to share God with someone in need?
- DEEPER: See this: Peter never even blinked at the chance to share Jesus
-- This moment had nothing to do with his own desire, power, or even abilities
-- What Peter saw was the chance to glorify and share Jesus
- “I don’t have money. I don’t have prestige. I don’t have power.”
- “But what I do have – I freely give it to you – because it’s all I have to give”
-- And the reaction to receiving this free gift? Absolute JOY!
-- (v8) says this man “jumped to his feet … walking, jumping, praising”
- Had this been the end of the story, it would be pretty cool, don’t you agree?
-- In the tradition of the commercials we’ll see … “But wait, there’s more!”
Point 2 – (I believe) People still have a lack of expectation
- As the disciples are entering the temple the crowd sees this beggar (v10)
-- Take note of the reaction of the people here: Wonder and Astonishment!
- Isn’t it incredible the reaction these people had seeing the man? Why?
-- They didn’t expect God to do something … even in His own house!
-- However, Jesus teaches us that we should EXPECT great things … right?
-- Matthew 18:19-20 (ESV), “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. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
- Re: This is a Jewish church – didn’t they have miracles to remember?
• The plagues of Egypt
• Moses parted the Red Sea
• Manna was sent while in the wilderness
• Water was delivered from a rock
• A donkey spoke to the people
• Jonah was in the belly of a great fish
• Daniel slept in the lion’s den without being harmed
- Even still … there is no expectation of God showing up … it’s sad
-- They already have a reaction to God (in the 1st century) of complacency
- They are shocked when God does something - we should learn from this
-- Yes, we learn from the things Jesus has done, but also from our past experiences
- APP: What Jesus taught us are STILL learning opportunities
-- The words He has spoken should be revered and taken as promises/fact
-- And when He shows up, we should glorify Him and praise Him b/c of His acts
- God has called these people together for this time of prayer and worship
- Paramount: They are in church, should be expecting God to show up!
- So, why are they shocked when God does something in His church?
- TRANS: Today, I feel like this is where our real challenge is laid before us
-- In 2018, I feel that the church has forgotten who God is - and what He can do
-- So, this is your challenge for today (it is our 3rd point) and going forward
Point 3 – Remember Who He Is!
- Not going to unpack all of this but, I want us to see it: Read Acts 3:12-26
- Peter rebukes, quite strongly, the religious of the day / how they treated Jesus
- We must remember that these same people could have Peter killed (and did)
- And yet, there is no wavering in his testimony or in his message
- In 2018, we are not under persecution of being put to death for our testimony
-- The most we might ever get is friends/family asking us to “tone it down”
- But here we see Peter just letting it all fly; for one purpose - to glorify Him!
-- APP: Our remembrance of all that He has done should be our motivator
-- When we consider all the opportunities we have, can we testify to who He is?
- Think about it – we may not have healed a leper, or raised the dead
-- But most certainly we’ve seen God work in our own lives
-- Re: prayers that you’ve seen answered; even when we didn’t think He did
- Today: Do we expect, do we desire, Jesus to do what He said He’d do?
-- When we go to church, do we anticipate meeting with God and seeing Him?
-- HUGE: Are we anxiously looking ahead at a chance to share Him?
- Consider: We just sung about being “No Longer Slaves”:
You unravel me, with a melody, you surround me with a song;
Of deliverance, from my enemies, ‘till all my fears are gone.
I’m no longer a slave to fear … I am a child of God.
- “Oh, Brother TJ, that was just because that’s what Bro. Ryan said to sing…”
-- Really? Were we not declaring what God has done for us?
-- Were we not praising God for unraveling us? For renewing us in Him?
-- Is that not a desire (or expectation) of what else God can/will do?
- Men and women of Seasons, “Where is your expectation this morning?”
Conclusion (invite team)
- Question: As we enter the holiday season, what do you expect to happen?
-- Are you expecting to meet with God? Shouldn’t we start expecting Him here?
- I want to challenge you to expect God and I challenge you to move in response
-- Time of invitation is not about responding to the preacher
-- That’s 100% wrong by the way … NEVER respond to the preacher
-- We are called by God to share the good news, but we sinners like you
- Respond to God because you expect Him to show up and minister to you
-- Hurting? Stressed? Worried? Sick? Frustrated? Why not turn to Him?
- We saw in Acts 3 people going to church not expecting God to show up
-- I want to dare you to NOT be like them … EXPECT HIM!
- Why not expect God to be God … and you just be His child?
-- Pray
