Speaker 1: Yes, and our scripture reading today will be out of Acts, chapter 3.
Speaker 1: It says this, and, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms.
Speaker 1: And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said look at us.
Speaker 1: And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.
Speaker 1: But Peter said I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Speaker 1: Rise up and walk.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 1: And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to Him.
Speaker 1: While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's, and when Peter saw it, he addressed the people Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this?
Speaker 1: Or why do you stare at us as though, by our own power or piety we have made him walk.
Speaker 1: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant, jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release him.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 1: To this we are witnesses, and his name, by faith in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given this man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
Speaker 1: Jesus has given this man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
Speaker 1: And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers, but what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.
Speaker 1: Repent, therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 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 the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets.
Speaker 1: Long ago, moses said the Lord, god, will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 1: 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 fathers, saying to Abraham and in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Speaker 1: God, having raised up his servants, sent him to you first to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.
Speaker 1: This is the word of the Lord for the people of the Lord, and you may be seated.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 2: So we're going to do real quick before we get started.
Speaker 2: We've got note sheets that I just did this morning, so they're hot off the press, we're going to pass out and these are for you to use in your own time to go deeper in the study that we talk about on Sunday mornings.
Speaker 2: But I want to practice something as those are being passed out.
Speaker 2: Why do we say at the end of the reading of God's scripture the word of God, or this is the word of the Lord, or this is the word of God for the people of God?
Speaker 2: It's because it's a reminder that we're here to study and to preach and proclaim, to celebrate not the words of a preacher, but the word of God.
Speaker 2: The Bible is not just another book, it is the revealed word of the Lord, and so I want to start practicing something.
Speaker 2: All right, so you're paying attention.
Speaker 2: When we say this is the word of God, you're going to say thanks be to God because we're grateful for that.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 2: So the word of God, god, because we're grateful for that.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 2: So the word of God.
Speaker 2: All right, you got it Quick learners.
Speaker 2: So next week, I don't have to, I don't have to coach you on that Right.
Speaker 2: So who?
Speaker 2: Who, my liturgical people, you know.
Speaker 2: So take charge next week, matthew.
Speaker 2: All right, how many just love God's Word?
Speaker 2: Everybody got a note sheet that would like one.
Speaker 2: All right, thank you, gentlemen, for passing those out.
Speaker 2: Every single real follower of Jesus is called to ministry.
Speaker 2: Let me just make it more personal.
Speaker 2: You, if you are in Christ, point at yourself.
Speaker 2: You are called to ministry, not necessarily vocational ministry, but you are called to ministry nonetheless.
Speaker 2: And there are two dimensions of ministry to which every believer is called.
Speaker 2: Ephesians 4, 11 and 12, a familiar passage, says this that God gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and the teachers not to do solely the work of the ministry but what To equip the saints, that's, every believer, for the work of the ministry.
Speaker 2: You are called to ministry.
Speaker 2: So there's two dimensions here of ministry.
Speaker 2: One is internal and one is external.
Speaker 2: Let's start with the internal aspect or dimension of ministry.
Speaker 2: We are called look what it says.
Speaker 2: Can we put that sorry that verse back up?
Speaker 2: Ephesians 4, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up that can mean encouraging the body of Christ, that's the people of God, the church.
Speaker 2: So part of your ministry is to build up one another.
Speaker 2: So when you come in on Sunday mornings, I want you to know you are not a spectator, you are supposed to be a participator.
Speaker 2: How do we do that?
Speaker 2: Well, one, we do that through encouragement.
Speaker 2: Hebrews 3, 12 and 13,.
Speaker 2: Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the living God.
Speaker 2: But exhort, that's to encourage, to hold accountable, to spur on on, exhort one another daily.
Speaker 2: This goes beyond Sundays.
Speaker 2: So we have this ministry to one another.
Speaker 2: That begins with encouragement, but it also includes using our spiritual gifts.
Speaker 2: Every one of you have a practical gift, whether that's teaching or singing, or greeting, or working with kids or youth.
Speaker 2: We're to use whatever practical gift that we have.
Speaker 2: We're to use those for the glory of God and the good of one another.
Speaker 2: Beyond that, we believe in the supernatural gifts, in what 1 Corinthians 12, 7 says is to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit.
Speaker 2: Why?
Speaker 2: For the common good.
Speaker 2: And then, finally, we minister to one another through generosity.
Speaker 2: We saw this last week, I believe, in Acts chapter 2, but it's also in Acts chapter 4.
Speaker 2: There was not a needy person among the early church, not a needy person, why, for as many as were.
Speaker 2: Owners of lands or houses sold them.
Speaker 2: They brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet and it was distributed to each as any had need.
Speaker 2: What that means is the principle here is that we so encourage and build each other up, that we're like family, we are family, and that means that if we've got extra money, we're not going to let somebody's electric bill go unpaid.
Speaker 2: Are you with me?
Speaker 2: So we are called to internal, let's say ministry within these four walls.
Speaker 2: It's a beautiful thing within these four walls.
Speaker 2: It's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2: Today, I want to focus on the other aspect of ministry, namely external.
Speaker 2: So that's the focus in our text.
Speaker 2: It's about leaving the building and reaching those who are far from the Lord.
Speaker 2: That's what we see in the text.
Speaker 2: We find Peter and John making their way to the temple, and Peter and John find at the temple gate this beggar who has been lame from birth and he's asking for alms or money.
Speaker 2: And so Peter and John, they help him in a major capacity, a major way, and then they share the gospel not just with this man but with an entire crowd of people.
Speaker 2: And I would just argue today that we are all called to this same type of might not look exactly like this, but we're all called to reach the lost, and I'll call this evangelistic ministry.
Speaker 2: You are called to reach people far from God.
Speaker 2: Isn't that amazing?
Speaker 2: Now you may say.
Speaker 2: It'd be easy to say, listen, that work is for, like these are apostles.
Speaker 2: It's for the apostle, the prophet, the pastor, the teacher, the evangelist, and it absolutely is for them, but not for them alone.
Speaker 2: Let me tell you why I believe that, and I'll just give you two reasons.
Speaker 2: There are more.
Speaker 2: Number one, the power of the Spirit.
Speaker 2: As we saw in Acts, chapter 1, what's it for?
Speaker 2: Ultimately?
Speaker 2: To be witnesses, acts 1, verse 8.
Speaker 2: You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, judea, samaria and to the other most parts of the earth.
Speaker 2: Now you could argue well, he's talking to apostles there.
Speaker 2: Sure, john Stott said it like this though we can no more restrict the command to witness than we can restrict the promise of the Spirit.
Speaker 2: So if you're going to say, listen, the baptism in the Spirit or the excuse me, the evangelistic call is only for the apostles, then you've got to say well, the baptism in the Spirit's only for the apostles.
Speaker 2: And we know that's not true and thus we have to conclude we're all called to be Christ's witnesses.
Speaker 2: We also see this example in the early church.
Speaker 2: In Acts, chapter 8, the church is persecuted and the believers are scattered, and in verse 4, it says this about these ordinary Christians.
Speaker 2: Now, those who were scattered went about preaching, and that word has to do with evangelizing, proclamation of the good news.
Speaker 2: They went about preaching the word.
Speaker 2: Every believer is called to be a witness for Christ, to evangelistic ministry.
Speaker 2: And so I just want to use the text and I want to look at the process of evangelizing, of reaching people who are far from God.
Speaker 2: And so today, if you have somebody that you know and you probably do a family member, friend, co-worker, who's far from the Lord, you need to listen up because this is going to help you reach them by God's grace, them by God's grace.
Speaker 2: So, number one, effective ministry begins with seeing people.
Speaker 2: Now, I'm not encouraging to be one of those creepy people watchers.
Speaker 2: If I'm honest, I got to guard from that because people watching is fun, like if you ever feel bad for yourself.
Speaker 2: Like just sit in front of Walmart.
Speaker 2: Just watch, all right, it'll just lift your spirits.
Speaker 2: Poor Walmart, I got to stop picking on them, you know.
Speaker 2: But I'm talking about truly seeing people.
Speaker 2: Let's look at the text, verses 1 through 4.
Speaker 2: Peter and John were going to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour, and a man, lame from birth, was being stone in the hat, kind of thing.
Speaker 2: But look at this.
Speaker 2: And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said look at us.
Speaker 2: Do you know how humanizing this is?
Speaker 2: They have just given this man great dignity.
Speaker 2: Think about this.
Speaker 2: On their way to the temple and they were going at a specific time to offer specific prayers, which was their custom, and here's a man at the gate begging.
Speaker 2: He's there every day.
Speaker 2: Come on, it's like the man or the woman who's standing at the same's there every day.
Speaker 2: Come on, it's like you know the man or the woman who's standing at the same street corner every day.
Speaker 2: When you pull up with the sign that says hungry, homeless, whatever it says, god bless, it would have been easy to be cynical towards this man, to step over him or to say or to justify that you know what.
Speaker 2: We'll help him later.
Speaker 2: We're in a hurry, we've got to get to prayer.
Speaker 2: But what do Peter and John do?
Speaker 2: They gaze at him and they say look at us, look at us in the eyes is the way that I read this.
Speaker 2: We value you.
Speaker 2: That's what they're saying.
Speaker 2: Think about the story of the Good Samaritan.
Speaker 2: You have this Jewish man who is beaten, robbed and left for dead.
Speaker 2: Essentially, and soon after you had two Jewish men, one a priest, another just a Levite, and they just pass him by.
Speaker 2: They're on their way to perform religious duties and they don't want to be bothered and they don't want to exert their energy or time or money to help this man, and they just kind of step out of the way and they justify themselves we're going to do the work of the Lord.
Speaker 2: Beloved, that man is the work of the Lord.
Speaker 2: Then there's a Samaritan, much like Peter and John, who walks by and you understand that the Jews and the Samaritans were borderline enemies.
Speaker 2: Samaritans to the Jews were seen as half-breeds, they were not respected and they did not communicate.
Speaker 2: But yet it's the Samaritan on his way to do something important and yet stops for the man and at great expense to himself time, money, energy sees that the man gets the help he needs.
Speaker 2: That's exactly what Peter and John do here.
Speaker 2: They see the man I'm not just talking about out of their peripheral like they just walk by and kind of glance.
Speaker 2: No, they gaze at him and say, look at us.
Speaker 2: And I would just ask you today how often we are like the priest and the Levite in a hurry and we just step by somebody or we just throw a couple coins to you know their way to get them to leave us alone.
Speaker 2: Frankly, god has called us to see people.
Speaker 2: Remember Jesus on the way to Jericho I mean, he's on his way to give his life and the man is calling out, the blind man, bartimaeus, remember that story, crying out saying you know, messiah, savior, stop right, help me.
Speaker 2: And the disciples and the people traveling with him are going, leave him alone.
Speaker 2: And Jesus says no, no, and he stops for this man.
Speaker 2: That's exactly what Peter and John do.
Speaker 2: And I would just say to you today folks, people are dying to be seen.
Speaker 2: Life is busy and there are many distractions and we walk through stores and supermarkets with AirPods in so we don't have to communicate with people.
Speaker 2: We're always on this mission.
Speaker 2: We always have an agenda in how many people, hundreds of people, week by week.
Speaker 2: Do we pass that?
Speaker 2: Just want to be seen.
Speaker 2: Broken people, desolate people.
Speaker 2: They want to be seen.
Speaker 2: Broken people, desolate people.
Speaker 2: They want to be seen.
Speaker 2: That's why, on social media today, I'm convinced that some people post all of their lives on there, what they're eating, what they're drinking, what their kids are doing.
Speaker 2: I'll stop there and on and on and on and you go.
Speaker 2: Why would they do that?
Speaker 2: Who cares?
Speaker 2: You know what they're doing.
Speaker 2: They're crying out.
Speaker 2: Somebody, look at me, somebody see me.
Speaker 2: Because my husband has his face in YouTube or the television and he doesn't see me.
Speaker 2: He's here, but he doesn't see me.
Speaker 2: Or my wife she's on her phone all the time and she doesn't see me.
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm preaching now.
Speaker 2: The kids are crying out.
Speaker 2: Oh, mom and dad are here, but they don't see me.
Speaker 2: They're working, they're cleaning, they're doing everything, but looking at me?
Speaker 2: When somebody just gaze upon me, that's the cry of the world.
Speaker 2: And so evangelistic ministry starts with just seeing people.
Speaker 2: We call it relational evangelism.
Speaker 2: If you go out to eat today after the business meeting, take time to see your waitress or waiter.
Speaker 2: Ask them what's going on in their life, ask them if you can pray with them.
Speaker 2: Learn to see people.
Speaker 2: Secondly, the second process in evangelistic ministry is not just to see people, but it's to meet practical needs in their lives.
Speaker 2: Verses 5-7,.
Speaker 2: The lame man fixed his attention on Peter and John, expecting to receive something from them, but Peter said I.
Speaker 2: His attention on Peter and John expecting to receive something from them.
Speaker 2: But Peter said I do not have silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.
Speaker 2: And he took him by the right hand and raised him up and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.
Speaker 2: I want you to notice something here Peter and John do not start their ministry to this man by preaching.
Speaker 2: They don't immediately come in and say, oh, repent or die right, or repent or perish.
Speaker 2: No, they see the man and they begin meeting a practical need.
Speaker 2: It's that old adage is so true beloved People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Speaker 2: If you want to build a platform for somebody to listen to your gospel presentation, you need to take care of them.
Speaker 2: Meet any practical need that you're able to.
Speaker 2: Matthew 5, 14 through 16, jesus says you are the light of the world, and then later on he says let your light then shine before others so that they may see your good works.
Speaker 2: What good works?
Speaker 2: In Luke 3, 10, jesus says.
Speaker 2: The crowds asked jesus, what shall we do?
Speaker 2: And he answered them whoever has two tunics share with him.
Speaker 2: Who has none, and whoever has food do the likewise.
Speaker 2: How many of us in here have excess excess money, closets full of clothes?
Speaker 2: We have the opportunity to meet practical needs of people.
Speaker 2: Why didn't Peter and John give money to the man?
Speaker 2: Well, peter tells us he didn't have it, which flies in the face of every preacher who says you know, you have enough faith, you're going to be rich.
Speaker 2: Well, it's quiet.
Speaker 2: They gave him something even greater.
Speaker 2: They met an even greater need.
Speaker 2: They gave him this gift of healing by the grace of the Lord.
Speaker 2: In James 2, 14 through 17,.
Speaker 2: What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but doesn't have works?
Speaker 2: Can that faith save him?
Speaker 2: If a brother or sister is poorly clothed listen to this and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them go in peace, be warmed and be filled, without giving them the things they need for the body, what good is it?
Speaker 2: I just read this and I was thinking, I just pictured this in my mind.
Speaker 2: You got this lady who thinks she's uber spiritual, she's been in the church forever and somebody comes up and shares a need with her.
Speaker 2: You know, saying you know, I can't pay my electric bill and it's going to be shut off and it's cold out and my pipes are going to freeze and I've got young kids this is a single mom and the lady says oh, let me pray for you, let me pray for you.
Speaker 2: And she takes the single mom's hand and she says oh, lord, god of grace, jehovah, jireh, you are our provider.
Speaker 2: Lord, you make streams in the desert, you make a way where there seems to be no way.
Speaker 2: Oh God, we cry upon you right now, cry to you right now.
Speaker 2: Lord, bless this dear sister in the Lord, provide for her.
Speaker 2: Oh God, amen.
Speaker 2: And then she starts to walk away and I'll tell you this God wants to provide for that lady the hungry, the hurting, the one that can't pay your bill.
Speaker 2: And you know how God wants to do it the one who just prays is supposed to give her half of her sandwich and pay your light bill for her.
Speaker 2: Okay, james is saying don't just pray for the hungry, feed them.
Speaker 2: We've got to meet the practical needs of people, and let me just quickly say that I don't think this text is completely prescriptive in the sense of this means that we're just to go around telling people to get out of wheelchairs.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to say God couldn't do that.
Speaker 2: I don't want to put him in a box.
Speaker 2: One of the greatest things we can do, though, for sick people is take them by the hand and say let me pray for you and pray the prayer of faith over them and believe God for their healing.
Speaker 2: That's a great thing to do.
Speaker 2: It's empathetic of faith over them and believe God for their healing.
Speaker 2: That's a great thing to do.
Speaker 2: It's empathetic.
Speaker 2: But beyond that, we're called to just meet it's not just these great miracles the very mundane practical needs of people.
Speaker 2: Okay, so ministry always, it always must include a proclamation of the gospel.
Speaker 2: Look at chapter 3, verses 11 through 12.
Speaker 2: While he this would be the lame man now healed clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to meet them in the portico called Solomon's.
Speaker 2: So you know, this is the temple.
Speaker 2: Lots of people are there, and there's this lame man that the crowds have seen laid at the gate can't walk day after day after day after day just begging, and now this man's up praising God, giving God glory, and that would draw a crowd Like that'll get you to stop what you're doing.
Speaker 2: But I want you to see this.
Speaker 2: And when Peter saw it, he addressed the people.
Speaker 2: Peter saw the lame man.
Speaker 2: He met a practical need, but then he used that as a platform to share the gospel.
Speaker 2: What does peter tell the crowd?
Speaker 2: Number one, very important peter points people beyond himself and on to the lord jesus, verse 12.
Speaker 2: And when peter saw it, he addressed the people, men of israel.
Speaker 2: Why do you wonder at this time?
Speaker 2: Why do you stare at us as though only by our own power or piety we have made him walk?
Speaker 2: We didn't do this.
Speaker 2: If you go down to verse 16, it says and his name, the name of Christ, by faith in his name.
Speaker 2: This is what's made the man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given this man perfect health in the presence of all.
Speaker 2: Remember the Pharisees in the Sermon on the Mount.
Speaker 2: Jesus called them hypocrites who they gave charitably, but he said they do it to be seen by men.
Speaker 2: They were glory hogs.
Speaker 2: They weren't doing it because they cared about the people.
Speaker 2: They weren't doing it for the glory of God, they were doing it to bolster their own spirituality and self-image.
Speaker 2: You know there are many quote-unquote faith healers out there that you see on the television and I know they talk about Jesus.
Speaker 2: But how many know that the quote-unquote miracles become about them, generally speaking, to where they're in the spotlight, they don't ever say why are you looking at me as if I'm more pious or more anointed than somebody else?
Speaker 2: Jesus did this.
Speaker 2: Now I know they say the Lord uses me, but it's still about them.
Speaker 2: I had a girl in my youth group in Colorado and tragically she was a beautiful young lady, a talented cheerleader, and she was diagnosed with a brain tumor and she went downhill very quickly and we prayed for her and prayed for her and prayed for her and her dear parents you know you do anything for your child and they thought if we could just get her to a Benny Hinn meeting then she could be healed.
Speaker 2: And it was hard for her to travel but they were so convinced this is the man.
Speaker 2: Oh, we know it's Jesus, but this is the man.
Speaker 2: And they drove miles and miles and miles to see this quote-unquote faith healer and I sang at her funeral months later.
Speaker 2: Peter Immediately says Before anything else, this is about Jesus, it's not about me.
Speaker 2: This miracle is from Jesus.
Speaker 2: I'm just a vessel.
Speaker 2: Why do you look at us?
Speaker 2: Secondly, peter points out people's sin.
Speaker 2: So, by the way, this is what we should be doing when we're sharing the gospel with people, pointing people to Jesus.
Speaker 2: But, secondly, sometimes you've got to point out people's sin.
Speaker 2: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac this is verse 13, the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you Jews.
Speaker 2: That's what he's talking to his Jewish brothers and sisters.
Speaker 2: And he's saying 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 watch this and asked for a murderer to be granted to you and you killed the author of life and watch this Not the Romans.
Speaker 2: The blood of the Lord is on your hands.
Speaker 2: He was your Messiah.
Speaker 2: You had him delivered over to the Romans.
Speaker 2: He points out their sin.
Speaker 2: You know there's a popular preacher who was on a nationally watched talk show, television show, and he said you know, this preacher gets, I don't know we give him a tough time you know people do because he doesn't talk about sin.
Speaker 2: You know he talks about the Christian life as if it's all cupcakes and rainbows and it's simply not.
Speaker 2: And so this particular host said you know what's the deal, why don't you preach about sin?
Speaker 2: And this famous pastor says well, we don't have to tell people that they're sinners.
Speaker 2: They know, they don't know.
Speaker 2: The majority of people in America statistically believe that if there is a heaven, if there is an afterlife, that the pathway there, the way that they're going to get in, is by being a good person.
Speaker 2: And most people think themselves to be good.
Speaker 2: Somebody has to lovingly tell them that maybe, compared to Hitler, you're good, hopefully, but when you compare yourself to God's standard of goodness, which is Jesus Christ's perfection, we all fall short of the glory of God.
Speaker 2: We are all sinful, separated from God.
Speaker 2: And it's helpful and lovingly to tell people yes, god is love, but he's also a God of wrath.
Speaker 2: Thirdly, peter proclaims the death and resurrection of Jesus, verse 15,.
Speaker 2: You killed the author of life, whom God raised from the dead to this.
Speaker 2: We saw it with our own eyes.
Speaker 2: We were witnesses.
Speaker 2: We've seen the risen Christ.
Speaker 2: This is an important part of the gospel message.
Speaker 2: Yes, you are a sinner, but notice the progression.
Speaker 2: You are a sinner, but Christ died and God raised him.
Speaker 2: Paul says it like this that Christ died for the forgiveness of sins and then he's been raised from the dead, a validation of that payment, that it has been paid in full.
Speaker 2: And we've got to tell people you have sinned, but I've got great news for you, even those who are responsible literally for the death of Jesus.
Speaker 2: He says I've got great news Jesus died but God raised him from the dead.
Speaker 2: Beloved our faith.
Speaker 2: Christianity itself hinges on one thing not unanswered prayers, not mean church people.
Speaker 2: It hinges on one thing the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, if Christ be not raised, our faith is futile.
Speaker 2: He even says we of all people are most to be pitied and we are still in our sins.
Speaker 2: But then he says but in fact Christ has been raised, hallelujah.
Speaker 2: If Christ is not raised, we have nothing more to offer than any other religion with a dead prophet.
Speaker 2: But we serve a risen Savior who's in the world today, amen.
Speaker 2: He sits at the right hand of Father and he's with us by His Spirit.
Speaker 2: Jesus is raised Great news.
Speaker 2: And then, number four, peter invites the people to repentance.
Speaker 2: See, sometimes we tell people about what Christ has done, but we don't tell them what to do about it.
Speaker 2: So look what he says, verse 19,.
Speaker 2: Repent, therefore, and turn back.
Speaker 2: Notice he doesn't just say believe.
Speaker 2: I know God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
Speaker 2: Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
Speaker 2: But that belief is not an intellectual belief.
Speaker 2: We have to take it within the context of the whole Bible.
Speaker 2: Repentance is a part of saving faith.
Speaker 2: It's not just I know that Christ is raised, but I want to turn my life over to Him.
Speaker 2: I want Him to be Lord of my life.
Speaker 2: Repent and turn back that your sins may be blotted out.
Speaker 2: So he says you've sinned, but Christ is raised and if you will turn to him, no matter what you've done, no matter where you've been, your sins can be blotted out.
Speaker 2: If you're here today and you think, man, not what I've done, oh, you didn't literally kill the author of life.
Speaker 2: We all our sin is what put him to death.
Speaker 2: I get that.
Speaker 2: But Paul called himself the chief of sinners, but God had mercy upon him.
Speaker 2: We need to tell people what to do.
Speaker 2: So, when you share Christ with someone be it a phone call or a meeting you to say would you like to repent now?
Speaker 2: Remember, in acts 2, ron preached a great message on uh, what peter's first sermon after pentecost, the outpouring of the holy spirit.
Speaker 2: And um, as he preached the gospel, it says at the end of chapter 2 that that many cut to the heart and they asked Peter, what do we do?
Speaker 2: In Acts 2.38, peter said repent and be baptized for the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2: So he preaches repentance.
Speaker 2: Finally I love this Peter proclaims ultimate salvation, the renewal of all things, verses 19 through 21.
Speaker 2: Repent, therefore, turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 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.
Speaker 2: That's the ascension, until the time for restoring all things About which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.
Speaker 2: You know we have framed the gospel something like this We've all sinned we're going to go to hell.
Speaker 2: So here's the path to heaven.
Speaker 2: Heaven is a real place.
Speaker 2: Okay, it's real.
Speaker 2: It's beautiful to be absent from the body, to be present with the Lord, but it's not your ultimate salvation.
Speaker 2: The story of the Bible is much more robust and wonderful than the way we've presented it.
Speaker 2: The Bible is about God being with His people, god's beautiful creation.
Speaker 2: Go to chapter 1.
Speaker 2: The Garden of Eden, god being with His people on the earth.
Speaker 2: The earth is meant to be a cosmic temple where God and man dwell together.
Speaker 2: And you go to the very end of the Bible, that's chapter one, genesis one and two.
Speaker 2: Then you go all the way to the end of the Bible.
Speaker 2: This world, because of sin, has been corrupted.
Speaker 2: The earth itself has been corrupted.
Speaker 2: This is why we have the snowstorms and the fires and the floods and all these natural disasters, because the world itself has been tainted by sin.
Speaker 2: So in the end, it's not about the end of Revelation, it's not a picture of us floating up to heaven in the sky somewhere, but it's about heaven coming to earth and again, this place becoming the whole world, becoming a new and better Eden, a place where God and man dwell, a cosmic temple.
Speaker 2: It's a beautiful promise for all those who are in Christ.
Speaker 2: Here's what I want you to see.
Speaker 2: Listen, many of you in this place are servants.
Speaker 2: You serve.
Speaker 2: You know you serve family, you serve friends, you serve the homeless, but if you do not, in all your serving, give them the gospel, you have done them a great disservice, because every good gift that you've given them will eventually be burnt up.
Speaker 2: Listen, this miracle that we see in the text.
Speaker 2: It's a temporary thing.
Speaker 2: The man eventually died, but the gift of salvation is eternal.
Speaker 2: So we've got to move beyond serving people and use our gifts as a platform to share the gospel.
Speaker 2: And God help us if we don't do that.
Speaker 2: So here's what I want you to do with this I want you to commit to pray this week, hopefully longer, but at least this week.
Speaker 2: I want you to do something we're getting ready to.
Speaker 2: I'm going to sing just a quick song in a moment and I want you to write down three names Okay, look at me, you can put them in your phone, you can write them down and put them in your Bible, whatever.
Speaker 2: Three names of people who are close to you that need the Lord, Jesus Christ, and I want you to commit to pray for them every day this week, and hopefully you'll continue.
Speaker 2: But just give you some easy homework.
Speaker 2: Every day this week, you pray for them.
Speaker 2: You say, lord, touch their heart, cultivate it so they're receptive to the gospel.
Speaker 2: You can pray, lord, help me see them, help me see them.
Speaker 2: And then, lord, show me how I can meet their practical needs.
Speaker 2: And I would just pray every day, lord, as I go about my day.
Speaker 2: Let me see people, let me see people, let me see people.
Speaker 2: And then I want you to ask the Lord for boldness, that you would do the very difficult thing, if we're honest, of sharing the gospel.
Speaker 2: And if you don't know how to do this, pastor Ron and Kay lead a kind of evangelism class.
Speaker 2: It's a class that will teach you how to share your faith once a month, on March 9th, and it's not just a class, there's kind of a practicum.
Speaker 2: So you know, there's field work, so to speak, but we're here to help you.
Speaker 2: We'll even go with you to share the gospel with somebody, but we need to do that.
Speaker 2: So that's what I'm going to ask you to do, and I'll just close with this story.
Speaker 2: Some of you know Matthew Horn.
Speaker 2: Two years ago we were housing the homeless here during the cold months and every Tuesday night many of you served.
Speaker 2: Matthew Horn was here.
Speaker 2: And Matthew Horn is a little bit older.
Speaker 2: He's been very ill.
Speaker 2: He has no family, no friends, nothing, completely alone.
Speaker 2: But you guys saw him.
Speaker 2: I'll never forget that.
Speaker 2: One Wednesday night he stood about right there where Ron and Kay are sitting Josh and Tamara and he says no, not Tamara, just Josh.
Speaker 2: So he says he stood up with tear-filled eyes.
Speaker 2: He said I've never felt love like this before.
Speaker 2: And the cry of his heart was you see me, church, he wasn't a project to you, he was a person.
Speaker 2: You see me.
Speaker 2: And you continued many of you, to feed him, to take him places in your vehicle, to help him find shelter and get medical help.
Speaker 2: We visited him in the hospital.
Speaker 2: So we saw him, we met practical needs and then one glorious day he came down to this altar and he repented of his sins and he received the Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: A few weeks later, pastor Ron baptized him.
Speaker 2: That's what gospel ministry looks like.
Speaker 2: And, as a caveat, it's not just homeless people and needy that need the Lord.
Speaker 2: Your banker needs you to see him.
Speaker 2: He's got a practical need as well.
Speaker 2: It might not be money, but it might be.
Speaker 2: He just needs a friend and a listening ear.
Speaker 2: There's a broken world out there, lost people that need to be seen.
Speaker 2: May we see people, may we meet their needs, share the gospel and may God add to his church daily.