Message 8 - The Church - Low Expectations

Acts 3:1-10

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Oh, works better that way. Thank you. If you if you need uh communion elements, you can stick your hand up, or they are back in the back and over on the side here. But uh just wanted you to know before we dig into the word, we're gonna go into Acts 3 this morning. So if you want to go ahead and get there, that'd be fine. But uh just wanted to talk a little bit about our uh the benevolent fund. We put the box back there uh on the Sundays we celebrate communion, and uh just uh uh it's it's one of those funds that uh uh God is you're really using to touch lives and and probably lives, uh honestly, at the at the moment uh where uh uh they're really needing to hear from God. Uh and then I don't want to share something else as well, but uh so in the last just the last couple of weeks, uh uh we had a probably two weeks ago, maybe, uh got a phone call, nine answered it, and uh as a man he's talking, he said that he's just moved back to the area and uh he uh had gotten a job, but uh he it was a couple weeks off before he's gonna get his first paycheck, and but he needed to gas getting back and forth to to work and and uh could we help him out with that? And so uh uh nine minutes said, sure, come come on in. And if I can, if I'm here, if I'm able to, I'd like to sit down with when people come in for that and and talk to him. So he uh he came and uh his name is Shane, and I and Shane he says, Hey Shane, come in for a minute, we visit a little bit. I asked him a little bit about his background, and uh that got that got interesting. He says, Well, uh I I was born in Grand Island, uh, but I've been away for uh 25 years. So I've just recently come back, and uh and I said, Well, tell me a little bit about you know uh your life. And he says, Well, I've been shot four times, and they showed me one was on his arm, and he said, and I've been in and out of prison the last 25 years 13 times. And he said, I'm just uh trying to get my life back on track. Uh and uh I said, okay, uh so you're back in town. He says, uh, I said, where are you living? He says, Well, I've got an apartment, but I can't get into it uh for a couple of weeks as well. He says, right now I'm I'm running uh pizzas to make some money until my job uh checks in, and and uh and so he's sharing it. I said, Well, and this was the two a couple weeks ago when it was so hot. I said, Well, where have you been staying in the meantime? He said, Well, I'm I've been living in a tent tent down at the campground. And I looked at it and I said, Well, you got you're gonna be in an apartment a couple weeks. Do you need a place to stay? Uh and he says, Oh, yeah, that would be wonderful. And so I said, Well, let us put you in a hotel for for a week. I said, We'll we'll do a week, and uh, and that we were able to do that because of the benevolence fund. Uh, then uh we we in the past week we were able to uh help a young mother who uh needed groceries. Uh and uh so those are the kind of things that that happened. We had uh this week. Uh family they're traveling through. They broke down out on the highway and uh got towed in and uh uh cost uh 600 bucks for the towing and to get there. And he says, we're out of money. He said, I need to get to Idaho because my my son's living in a campground in Idaho, uh, but it's one but you're only allowed to stay so long and then you have to move. And he says, they told my son he has 18 hours to move his his camper off and move to a new spot. And he my son doesn't have a truck. We use my truck, and can he help me with gas? So we helped them with gas to to get uh the rest of the way home. So that's that's the kind of stuff that uh you're you're giving does, and I just want you to know that. Then on top of that, so this is this is the big one. So uh uh a couple weeks ago, uh Nina comes into my office and she says, uh, we just had 10, somebody gave $10,000 to the church. And it's wow, like, wow, that is so exciting. And then the next day, the RCC unit broke down upstairs. Now we've been babying that unit for a couple of years. Last year, they came and it about this early summer, it ran out of uh uh Freon, and they came and they said there's a leak somewhere. We know it's on the coil, we can't find it, and it's a slow leak, so we're we're gonna try to recharge it. And and that's the second year in a row we'd had to recharge it. And uh I said, okay, recharge it. Uh and then and then they called us, they said we checked, and there's only one coil available. This unit's too too old to, so we're just letting you know that. We said, All right, well, we're just gonna pray that it keeps lasting. Well, it lasted until a couple of weeks ago, and uh uh it ran out of free. And again, they came up, they said, well, the leak's a lot larger, we still can't find it. And uh so uh look they're gonna said look for a part, and they came back and says, There are no, we can't we can't find there are no parts, it can't be fixed. Guess how much the AC is gonna cost? $10,000. So that's what God does. And yeah, that's it's so I just I just wanted you to know those are the kind of little those little things that uh so uh when uh when you give, it's uh it's a big deal. In in the school year, you know, Kyle was mentioning uh one of the things I love about this church and this the the way that is there's probably not a day of the week, uh especially during the school year. It's a little quieter in summer, that something isn't going on here. There isn't a ministry, the you know, the homeschool, the homeschool band, the you know uh the the uh uh things we have in the evening. Just so that's cool. I I just think that's really cool that uh God's done so much out of this little church on the corner. Uh so I just I thought you should know that. Uh let's pray together. Thank you, Father, for uh this church family and just uh the uh the giving hearts. It's not just about money, it's about just uh the the desire to minister and to touch lives to make a difference, and and and we want to make that difference uh for you, to point people to you. Thank you for those opportunities I get to sit in my office with people and remind them at a moment and just a few moments before that uh often they were desperate and and stepped into this building not knowing what you were going to do, and that I'm able to, as we help them meet a need, remind them that uh that they need to realize that that's uh just evidence that you care for them, that you love them, and that you want to be a part of their lives. So thank you for the privilege of being able to do that. Thank you for your word, as Josh prayed a few moments ago, and just uh the the to have the the wonderful privilege of holding this special gift in our hands and to study it and to learn about you as our God. So, with that in mind, we just pray for you to guide our hearts uh and uh give us understanding and and then how to know how to apply what we learned this morning to our lives. We pray those things in your son's name. Amen. Acts chapter 3. I want to start off just by reading the uh first uh ten verses. Uh, we're gonna look at that this morning, and uh so just follow along as I read. One day, Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer at three in the afternoon. Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Then Peter said, Look at us. So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said, Silver or gold, I do not have. But what I have I give you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Walk. Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple court, walking and jumping and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called beautiful. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what happened to him. Over my years of ministry, uh, and and I and this is a pretty common occurrence, uh, a pretty common conversation. Uh I I have uh talked with a number of Christians frequently that have a mindset, a perspective of themselves that's just kind of like this. Uh, you know, I the reason I'm not actively serving, doing this or that is uh whether it be in the church body or in the community uh or or actively promoting talking a lot about God to people is uh because of my history. Uh in the past, I I did some things, some I was involved in some things, uh, and I I felt there's a period in my life where I was really far from God, and I'm pretty ashamed of that particular time. Uh if you only if you knew where I came from, if you knew what I used to do or what I used to be, and and and sometimes we some of the people in this community they they kind of know that, and and I just I I just feel like because of that, uh I I really can't serve like I I wish I could, but I think that kind of uh sidelines me from be able to have that kind of ministry or to be that open about uh uh God because people look at me and think I'm a hypocrite or they'll remember when or or or whatever. And now sometimes I think uh that's just people just is an excuse. They don't want to, they'd rather, you know, they don't want to get that involved. They like uh, but sometimes there's a genuine grief about that time in their life, and and it still haunts them. Uh, and then legitimately they just feel like I'm I kind of uh I because of that particular time, I uh you know, I I'm not God can't use me in any of the ways that I look at the church, and I think that you know a lot of these people, I'm not like so-and-so who's up there teaching or who are whatever the case might might be. And and so I I I hear that that heart and that perspective, and uh uh and and lots of times, like say, I it's I can hear they they legitimately feel feel that way. Uh and so as I'm looking at this story uh this morning in in Acts chapter 3, the first thing that stuck out to me uh as you know, I'm reading this and and you know, we've been kind of following along this, and Peter's we're looking at Peter's message uh in chapter two. But here's what struck me, and I talked a little bit about this before, but uh even more so this morning is uh we're witnessing, we're being allowed to witness this this is the brand new church, so and just you know the first couple days of the church as it began, this church age that we're even in now, but we're getting we've gotten to hear the very first message preached ever in this new age and this new church. And and now we're seeing the very first miracle that took place in the new church age uh during the time when we already talked about the fact that uh it's laid out here in this passage that the reason God allowed the the apostles to do the miracles and the signs, and and that the and then we're seeing the very first one here is is that was his way of verifying that as the apostles are teaching uh and and actually laying out the New Testament for us, uh Paul, Peter, James, all of them, uh that God verified that they were speaking for him by allowing them to do these miracles and and and then also just verifying the fact that this church thing, this all is is from him. Uh and uh so uh but right here, so this morning we just and we just read about it, we're witnessing the very first miracle done in this new age. And here, but here's here's another miracle that we might skip by if we if we weren't paying attention is think about the man who's being allowed to preach the first message and do the first miracle. About eight weeks ago, in this time frame, this guy standing up preaching this message that 3,000, at least 3,000, so that's 3,000 men. So it could it could have been that's the way they counted lots of days, it could have been a lot more than that. All these people have just come to Christ based on this four-minute message he preached, and now now he's he's being allowed to do the first miracle. Eight weeks ago, he was denying he ever knew Jesus. In fact, he was cursing the people that they dare associate him with this man. And now he here he is standing before these people. God is using him to preach a wonderful message that led a lot of people to Christ, and now he's doing this miracle where this man who's been crippled from birth, we're told, is and that's the same guy. So what's the point? The point is uh don't dare disqualify yourself from a ministry opportunity. If God puts it in front of you and he inclines in your heart that he wants you to do it, don't don't use those excuses. Don't let Satan, and they're from Satan, don't use those excuses or allow uh anyone else to use those excuses uh to keep you from doing that ministry. Uh whatever it is, and when I say ministry, you might automatically think, well, you're talking about someone up front preaching team. No, there's all kinds of ministries. Uh I just want to make sure that that you're open for God to do those things and you can't and and you're not gonna let those kind of excuses uh uh push you from doing from serving God and getting to see him do wonderful things uh through through your life. And uh because that's that's what he wants to do. So so we're gonna start there. Now now let's continue on because I I think there's uh another really amazing thing uh going on here. So uh jump into the passage here, uh, and we're we're we're moving and we're seeing, we're gonna look a little more about this miracle. Look, look, jump down to verse 3. It said there the here's Peter and John, they're going to the temple to for the prayer time. Uh I'm sure it was their their habit as uh uh Jewish Christians. Uh and uh so because at this point, early in the church, they're still worshiping, they would come together, they'd worship, we read it elastic, they'd worship in the synagogues, and uh and they're worshiping in the homes too on a daily basis. Uh in soon in the future of the church, they're gonna be kicked out of synagogues. Uh the the religious leaders are are there, they already are frustrated with this small group of uh in, but they're still allowing them to be part of their worship. But soon soon that won't be the case. But at this point, they're still allowed to go in and worship in the temple. And so Peter and John, they're on their way in, and uh we and we read when he, the crippled man, when he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Now, first of all, I think it's somewhat comical. Look, look at Peter's response. Look at us. Now, it seems like Peter is saying, Are you serious? Are you do you really check? I mean, uh, you're asking us for money? Look at us. Do we look like we have extra money lying around? I don't know if that's the heart by, but that's what it sounds like to me. It's like, really? Honestly, you know, evidently uh these guys weren't wearing the latest fisherman fashion. You know, they didn't have the habit shirts on, like uh, you know, uh so that that verse is I I enjoy that. That's that's kind of comical. Uh so then verse 6, Peter says, uh, silver and gold, uh, I I don't have, but what I have, I give you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Walk. Okay, here's what I want us to catch. What the man didn't realize was that he had set his sights too low. Uh, you know, he he his expectation was maybe I can get a bit of change. These guys don't look like they have much, but maybe they could spare a little bit of change, a few cents. Uh I don't know what he knows about Peter and John. I don't know that's does he know about Peter's message just a couple days prior to this? Uh very possible. Uh maybe he thought somehow Peter got some uh funds from that after that message. I don't I don't know what, but he but his expectations are are are very low. I don't know if he knows that uh this is the same guy that actually was cursing Jesus a couple of months prior to this. Uh I don't know those details, but I know this much. His his expectations were way too low. Uh and I think that this again is something that is very common. Certainly when it comes to the world's perspective of God, uh what he has to offer, you know, uh they just don't have a clue. Uh you and I have a little more uh insight into that. But even to us, I think so often our tendency uh is that often, if not most of the time, we have very low expectations of of what God can do in us and through us. Uh for whatever our reasons are, maybe because we just we just don't know as God as well as we should. That's probably an issue for sure. Uh or maybe we know too much about ourselves, so we're sure no, you know, God, you might be gonna use some people, but you you you can't use me. You might do that for some people, but you're sure not gonna do that for me. Uh some of us uh early in the summer spent uh uh some time in the book by Henry Blackaby, The Experiencing God, and actually the elders are kind of working our way through this book now, or are working our way through this book. And he tells a story, uh a group of churches he was involved with back in the 1980s, early 1980s. And uh in these churches that they were, it was uh, I don't know how many churches exactly, but it was kind of like a small denomination, not I don't think they're official denomination, but they were kind of a group of churches and pastors that were kind of watching out for each other. And uh they found out that the World Fair was going to be coming to uh Vancouver. Uh and so when they they heard that they came to a conclusion that uh since and they were in that area, that would since they were in that area that God probably that He God wanted them to do something to touch the lives of the individuals that were going to come to the World Fair. And so they uh they and they really felt strongly about that. We we're supposed to do something uh to and so they checked in to find out how many people are they anticipating to come, and they found out it was the anticipation was 22 million people. Uh and and just they thought, well, somehow God wants us to touch those lives. And so they began to pull their thoughts together and they and put together, okay, maybe we could do this. And so they came up with what they felt like God would want them to do, and and so then they said, Well, I wonder how much that is going to cost us to do that, because it's gonna cost something. I think they they wanted to put some literature into everybody's hands, and and uh so they so they estimated the cost, you know. And when you're thinking about some literature, you're thinking, well, you know, well, what they really felt God wanted them to do, and they estimated and checked into the cost of it, was going to cost them $202,000. Now this group of churches had together, combined, had had an in had brought in uh through their offerings that year, they brought in $9,000. Uh that's a big gap. So they said, well, you know, we still have a couple years to go. Uh we'll we're gonna really push this, and and maybe, you know, then the coming year we'll get more offerings and that'll give us an indication how to do it. The next year it went down. They brought in $7,000. So they had $16,000 after two years. They had a year to go, and it's like, okay, but they still felt. They sensed, God, we're supposed to do this, but we're so far away. But we're gonna plan, we're gonna keep moving forward because we just we feel like this is what we're supposed to do, and so we're just gonna trust you that and we're gonna start putting the things together. Uh So uh by the end of the following year, how much money do you think they had? By the end of the following year, they had 200, they didn't have $202,000. Still didn't have it. They had $264,000. That's the kind of and we're our expectations sometimes are so low at what God can do and what he wants to do. I don't want us to think this is all about money, uh, because uh, you know, I I and I share, I think I shared this before, but uh uh I uh uh a number of years ago, uh the mission Mary that I were with for 30 years, we had their 50th anniversary, and at their 50th anniversary, we had a big conference. We all came together and they and they asked Howard Hendricks to speak. He's with the Lord now, but he's just a wonderful Bible teacher. And he told a story, which I always have gotten a kick after, and I know I've shared it for. But he's in Bible college and he's dating a girl, and he'd asked her to marry him, and and she said yes. So they're engaged to be married, and right about that period of time, he sensed God calling him into the ministry. And uh uh, and and and so he shared with his fiance, I think God wants me to go into the ministry. And when she found out that, she gave the ring back and he says, She broke the engagement. And the reason she broke the engagement, she said, Howard, I love you, but I've always wanted to travel the world. And obviously, if you're gonna be a poor pastor or teacher, you're not gonna have the funds to do that. So I'm I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to break the engagement. And what and when you share with you, he says, I really laugh, I laugh at that every time I have to renew my passport. He'd spoken all over the world. She would have traveled more than she ever wanted to if she'd hung out, hung with him. Uh her expectations of what God was gonna do to this guy, little this guy in Bible college, she she just was way too low in her expectations. This beggar was just way low in his expectations of what was before him. He he's asking God for uh a little bit of change, and God has so much more in mind. Verse 7 and 8. Uh so Peter taking him up, Peter says to him, I don't have any fun, I don't have any change I can give you, but here's what I can give you. And taking him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong, and he jumped to his feet and began to walk. Think about what's going on here. Uh, this man has been crippled from birth. Uh he hasn't, this isn't just a recent thing, he's been crippled from birth, which means he has no leg muscles. Uh, you know, some of you have gone through surgery, you know, like a knee replacement, and you know that just you sit around for a couple of weeks uh before they start you into PT, and just in a couple of weeks, your your muscles atrophy. You're thinking, what happened? How, you know, a couple weeks ago I was walking, I can't even hardly stand on them anymore. Your muscles have already atropy, they're already very weak, and so you start working to review those. This man's never not walked in, he's never walked his entire life. He basically has no muscles. Seconds before this moment, when Peter says, here's what I can do for you. And and not anymore, even that, his brain has to be restored. You know, uh uh his mind doesn't know how to send the right messages to his feet to even walk. A lot of you know, a couple years ago, uh a little over a year ago, I guess, my dad had a severe stroke, and and it affected his brain, and his brain forgot how to send the signals to his right side, his right arm and his right leg. Uh his muscles were still there, but uh, and he even after a year of really hard work, uh, you know, Ned can, it's amazing what he can do, but he can he can only partially use that right leg and that right arm. Uh this man's brain was instantly healed. In fact, I think, you know, you because if you read there, it says, you know, Peter reached down to grab him. I think he's Peter says, uh, you know, get up and walk, and he's still sitting there. Peter grabs his hand and pulls him up, and and he's just as surprised as everybody else, because these things have never worked. They've never been used before. And now suddenly, instantly, everything is restort. His mind, his muscles, his leg. He he's he's on his feet and he's walking, and then we read, and then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praise God. He probably has never been inside that temple because they didn't allow disabled people to go into the temple. He could go to the outside grounds, but but he was not allowed because of his disabilities to go in the temple. And and he knows nothing about the decor, you know. He's he doesn't realize, no, this is in fact they're going, it says they're going there for the time of prayer. You know, he doesn't realize we're supposed to be quiet. You know, it's like the library. You just get ready and be quiet about worship, and and uh he's going, he and I can, and in my mind, I just see him, he's running up to the people saying, Look, look, look, and everybody's going, shh, and he's saying, No, look, aren't you paying attention? I'm walking. Yeah, I'm not, I'm that guy that's been sitting there every for these years, and I'm walking, looking, and everybody's trying to quiet, quiet him down, he's causing the commotion, and it it's amazing uh what as he suddenly understands uh how much more God wanted to do for him than he ever had the mindset to understand uh that his expectations were so low when he was dealing with this amazing God who has so much to offer us and to do in us and and through us. Uh so uh we're gonna share communion in a moment, so I'm gonna stop here this morning, but stop with this question. Think about this. Between you and God, and this is private, you can only answer it for yourself, but between you and God is your relationship with God revolving around change, not changes and changing into something else, although that's part of it. But is your expectation really kind of you you only expect a little bit of change? That's kind of the way your day goes, and and uh you know, you you love God, you you know, you're his child, but you don't really have high expectations of him, what he wants to do in you, what he wants to do through you. Uh is does it revolve around very low expectations when you think about this? Because that's the same God you worship, it's the same God. If that's the case, it's not because he's not offering you more or offering you more, it's because we're just not open to let him do in us and through us what he wants to do, what he is offering. Uh we're gonna share together in the cup and in the bread. Paul wrote one time these words, and they're very appropriate and a good reminder for us uh with this kind of a conversation. He wrote in Ephesians his incomparable great power, God's incomparable great power for us who believe, that power is like the working of his mighty, mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ. Here's the example. What kind of power are we working with? What are we talking about? You know, when I talk about the expectations that we we can have of God, how big is that power? Which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realm. That's the power we're talking about. It's the power that's available to you and I on a daily basis, and and it's the power that we should line our expectations up with. Not this, I just need a little change. No, not only do you and I need more, but he is offering more. And so the question is, am I seeing that kind of power working its way out in my life? Because if I'm not, it's available and I'm missing out. So we take the bread, and he told us, he told his followers, uh, that first night, that first meal. He said, I want you to do this often, as a way to remind yourself of how much I love you, or that I have invested in you. Uh, and now we see through this verse in Ephesians of my great power that's available to you. So please eat the bread, Jesus said, in reminder of that. And then he took the cup and he said, This is to be a reminder of the blood I'm gonna shed on the cross, the fact that I am going to give my life in payment for your sins, and that you have accepted that payment. Let's drink it together. Or thanks for just for me. Very encouraging passage. I suspect that honestly, if we're all gonna be honest with ourselves, we all have low expect our expectations will never really line up with who you are. We just we don't get it. But I but I suspect uh for all of us, uh, they can certainly grow some. There may be things that you've been pressing uh in this very room on the hearts of individuals and and uh just the fear, the the the perspective of that time in their life when they feel like they failed you so much that they sideline themselves uh are just are just not recognizing uh your power in the midst of the what seems to be a mountain in front of them, which for you is nothing. Uh so if there's anyone in there right now that are are wrestling with something that you put in front of them and and they came in here fearful and convinced that there was no way, I pray that this message has been an encouragement. It's been a reminder of your great power and that you have made available. And Lord, keep us for asking for change when you want to give us so much more. Thanks for this time we've had together in your word. Use it uh to help us to serve you better. Pray these things in your son's name. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 33:16

Church, as usual, let's stand, let's sing one last chorus together.