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How are we all doing? You surviving the cold change? Feels like winter was settling in today. Tonight we're going to start in Philippians chapter 4 in verse 12. It says, Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. And this is where we get the famous scripture, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. When Paul says it, he's talking about the fact he can do all things. It doesn't just mean he can have the victories, it means he can handle the struggles as well. And it goes on in verse 19, it says this, and my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. All your needs are met in Jesus. Here's the scary thing about youth and young people. There are 18-year-olds, any 18-year-olds here. TJ, how old are you? 18? Do you know that TJ is 18? That means he was born in 2006, 7? 2007! Even scarier. Like people were born in 2007. That was just like the other day. That's right. But there's actual adults who were born in 2007. For TJ, 2007 was a lifetime ago. For us, slightly older, and there's some even slightly more older than myself. 2007 was just recently. I started dating Claire back in uh I think it was 2008. Shall we take a little trip down memory lane? A bit of nostalgia. We won't go all the way back. We haven't got all night, but uh, if we go back to the 90s, uh a few a few things uh from the 90s. Uh anyone here, you were in the 90s, you had MBA trading cards. This became a big thing that even uh suburban kids in Australia were trying to get their hands on Michael Jordan MBA cards. He became the coolest person in the world. Uh perhaps basketball wasn't your thing and sport isn't your thing. Anyone have a Tamagotchi? Anyone, your Tamagotchi's still alive? Anyone? Yeah, who knows? Uh if you don't know what a Tamagotchi is, you can Google that later as well. And then there was the MSN Messenger. Before texting, before smartphones, there were kids who would spend their time talking to their friends at school, and then they would go home onto their computer. And about the only thing that you could actually do on the internet at that time was chat again with your friends, this time just typing. Uh but here's the thing about trends they come and they go, and we just have a tendency to go from one thing to the next, one thing to the next, and the last thing gets discarded, a bit like Audrey's passport, just throwing in the bin, and no one knows why we need it anymore. Shall we move on a little bit into the 2000s? And uh, anyone remember their first iPod? Anyone have an iPod? TJ won't remember because he wasn't even born yet. But uh I remember buying my first iPod. I wanted the U2 iPod. Uh there was one released with it, but they were sold out by the time I got one. But there was a big thing like a brick and had a few thousand phones. Anyone have a MySpace account? Short-lived, yes, there's a few hands. The very first start of uh social media, once again, TJ never had a never had a MySpace account. And perhaps it's the internet's fault, but it seems like the trends just get a bit dumber and dumber as they go. Uh, we go into 2010. Anyone remember when planking was a thing? People would lie down, take a photo of themselves lying down. Uh, what else we got up there? We've got Gangname Style was the dance that took over the world. Um, I've done that a few times. Occasionally my kids still do it. I'm not sure how that works, but um, they're not old enough to even know or remember it. Uh, the dances got sillier. There was the Harlem Shake. Anyone remember Harlem Shake? It's on the next slide. There you go. Uh the selfie sticks came in. Uh, anyone love a selfie stick? You could use a stick now to take us. Uh I don't know what the joke is over there, but we'll get it later. Uh Claire and I may have gone on a few international holidays with a selfie stick. There are more and more, there's Pokemon, Pokemon Go became a thing for a little while. Everyone was trying to catch Pokemon. Uh, I read, in fact, this weekend, after I'd started thinking about this and preparing this message, ABC released an article about people who are still playing Pokemon Go. So perhaps that uh goes against my argument. And then dabbing, dabbing was a thing. People would go to lunch, they would dab. They would go to their graduation ceremony, they'd do some dabbing there. People were getting married, they were dabbing, just wherever they'd go. Everything, all the time. They've all come and gone. And the cor the world constantly moves from one thing to the next. And maybe you've got a friend who's like that. One of those friends who just goes from goes deep in from one trend into the next trend and into the next. Maybe you're that person that can't help but get caught up. And I've already seen some people doing the 6-7 thing today. So clearly we go from one trend to another. But maybe it isn't the cultural trends that people get into, but maybe it's there's always chasing something in the hope of finding satisfaction and fulfillment. Maybe they go from one relationship to the next, each time thinking that this person will make them complete. Maybe they go from one job to another, one career to another, or maybe they're just waiting on that promotion or that pay rise, and then their life would have fulfillment. And the reality is that we're not just talking about someone else, we're talking about me. Chances are we're probably talking about you in some way that all of us run this risk of falling into that trap of thinking that there's just something else out there, and when I get to that thing, then things will be alright. If I can have that, then I will arrive. And it doesn't seem to be just wealth related because we've seen some of the richest people be the unhappiest and most dysfunctional. But Paul writes to the Philippians about something he had learned: that whether he had had a good feed or whether he was still hungry, whether he was in freedom or locked up for the gospel, whether he was thriving or suffering, it was Christ who strengthened him, and it was Christ who supplied everything for him. Let's pray, and then we're gonna share a little Bible story. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for the power of your word to transform our life. So we come to you, God, with open hearts to not just uh come around your word, but to hear something of you, your Holy Spirit to speak to us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Are you ready for a Bible story? And I thought, considering we've got some of the youth excited, and Stealthy's even shaved his beard, he's that excited for going to conference. Uh we're gonna go to a story in Acts chapter 3, and this takes place at the what the Bible says was the called the beautiful gate at the temple. And we haven't really rehearsed this, so you're gonna have to go with us here. Who we got? You ready? TJ? You you're our star, you're the only person we've actually given a role, and we're gonna work out the rest. Come on, if you're coming, if you're coming, quickly, quickly, boys, quickly, boys. Don't be shy now. The problem is TJ is a cripple, so he couldn't walk. Yes, you're a cripple, you can't walk. So, whoever's TJ's friends, we need two guys to be TJ's friends, and you're gonna bring him and carry him to the gate. Here it is, we've got our beautiful AI gate here, and they're bringing TJ across. You see, the thing, the Bible tells us in this story in Acts chapter 3 that there was a cripple. Well done, boys, you can leave TJ there. And the Bible's told us that he was a cripple and he had been a cripple his whole life, and he would lie at the gate and he would ask people for money. And then Acts 3, verse 1 tells us that Peter and John, here we go, we've got two good Peters and Johns here. Who wants to be Peter? Who wants to be John? You're Peter? Okay, that's that's the best role. You're the star role here, Heber. Okay, and they come along. Now, these are Peter, who's famous for occasionally making a fool of himself as he followed around Jesus, uh, also famous for denying Jesus uh at the crucifixion. Not so, not so good that you could claim the role now. But Peter has received been restored during an encounter with the resurrected Jesus. And now Peter, along with 120 people in the upper room and his friend John, they've received the Holy Spirit. That's Acts chapter 1, Acts chapter 2. So these are the first Pentecostals. We're a Pentecostal church, we believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, and these are the first Pentecostals, and they're entering the scene. You're entering, yes, very good, and like just like we had planned it. And these flawed and broken individuals, don't get ahead of ourselves here, don't get ahead. Uh these flawed and broken individuals are now being transformed by the power of the gospel, by Jesus Christ, and they're empowered by the Holy Spirit. And the two men make their way into the temple, and the Bible says that they make they see the man begging for money, and Peter says, Look at us. And the Bible says that the cripple looks at them, and I imagine the cripple at this stage was thinking, How good's this? Someone's going to give me a few dollars, someone might give me something that I can get a meal or take care of myself today. And Peter says, We don't have any silver and gold, but what I do have, I'll give you. And Peter says this in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. He says he takes the man by his hand, yeah, by his hand, and the man's ankles and his knees, they strengthen, and he stands up. And they didn't just walk into the temple, they went leaping and dancing and praising God. Oh, it is a miracle. Well done, boys. You can sit down. Thank you, gentlemen. Church should be fun, amen. That was even that's we didn't rehearse that, but you nailed it. Uh it's a story that's hard not to get excited about. Like you read it and you just see the transformation, and even just like uh all the people that had gone into the temple seeing the cripple are now seeing the man dancing and leaping and praising God. And this passage that flows on from Acts chapter 3, Paul begins, uh Peter begins to preach to the people in the temple, and it causes a big scene. And from there in Jerusalem, this message of the person of Jesus Christ goes on and on and on. And 2,000 years later, because of what Jesus did on the cross, because of the Holy Spirit coming upon his people, and because Peter and John walked into the temple and healed a cripple, here we are today, the Pentecostal church, still believing that the Holy Spirit has the power to change and transform lives. But Peter said, Silver and gold I don't have, but what I do have I give you. So tonight, what I'm preaching to you about, and if you're taking notes, and I recommend that you do, I recommend that you get yourself a nice paper notepad and you can put at the top of it, What have I got? What have I got? Firstly, as we look at this story, let's look at the different sides of the Sioni, would you like to come back to your seat? Are you okay over there? Cool. I just I didn't want you to feel like you couldn't. You're okay. Bless you, brother. The beggar provides a picture of us all. He's a picture of the human condition. The beggar is brought each day and he's laid at the gate. He's near the action, but he's not in it. He's not in the temple. He's not able to step up and participate in everything that's going on. He has an experience of life, but not the fullness of it. And for you and I, apart from God, we have an experience of life, but we know it's broken. We know the world isn't quite the way it's supposed to be, and that's the impact of sin on the world. The first book of the Bible, Genesis, starts with the account of creation. And if you were here on Sunday nights at the start of the year, we spent a bit of time unpacking that story and reflecting on what it means to us today. That God created the world in its fullness, humanity was in right relationship with God, right relationship with each other, and the world was in harmony. But Adam and Eve, in a choice to reject God's wisdom, they trusted their own desires and they trusted their own decisions, not his direction. It was an act of rebellion that remains with us today. So now we have an experience of God's reality, but we're a broken picture of it. So even we might experience love because his image is upon us, we still struggle with selfishness, which makes our love imperfect. So even though we might experience generosity, we still struggle with things like greed and jealousy and envy. So the first thing we see from the beggar was that he was at the gate. He was near but outside. The other thing from this story that tells us is that he'd been that way since birth and he'd been unable to change his situation. Even in begging, he relied on someone else to bring him to the gate. So we know that our human experience isn't the full one, but we also know that we can't put the pieces back together. And if you're new to faith and if you're exploring Christianity, know this that Christianity isn't about people who fix themselves. Christianity is not a self-help tool. A Christian is someone who realizes that they're just like the beggar. They're broken and in need. But humanity has this thing, I guess, like the Tamagotchi or the basketball card, where we are always looking for something. We think if we get this, it can change us. The beggar asked for money thinking it was the thing that could help meet his need. So we think a relationship will fix it. We think that paycheck or the promotion might change it. Or we think a purchase or an experience is the thing that we're waiting for. The beggar lay at the gate and asked for money, but the money could never fix the deep things of his condition. So firstly, the beggar was at the gate. He was near but outside. And secondly, the beggar was broken but unable to fix himself. And the next thing we see is that the beggar he is asking for something he thinks will help. And in that way, we're all like the beggar. We're all searching for the thing we think can help with our brokenness. And we've joked about the fads and the trends, but we all live this life where we are looking for completion, for wholeness, for something. Or perhaps we're just looking for something that provides a distraction to our situation. Like I'm broken, so I'll use alcohol or drugs to cover it up. I'm unhappy, so I'll use retail therapy to deal with it. I'm unsatisfied, so I'll I'll get the buzz of gambling or pornography or whatever short-term thing can distract me. I'm lonely. So even when a relationship's unhealthy, I'll hold on to it. So firstly, the beggar was at the gate, he was near but outside. The beggar was broken and unable to help himself, and lastly, the beggar was searching for the thing he thought could help. And in this way, the beggar is like all of us. This is a picture of our need and our brokenness. But then God reached out to us. And that's the message of the gospel. It isn't self-help, it isn't self-righteousness, it's the complete and full work of Jesus. It's Jesus who drawn drew near to us and brought us life and life to the full. John 10 10 says, I have come that you may have life and you have may have it more abundantly. It's Jesus who heals our brokenness and covers our sins. Isaiah 53 says that because of the cross we are whole and we are healed. It's in Jesus we find fulfillment. Like we started in Philippians. No matter what's happening outside of me, whether I have a lot or I have little, whether I have surplus or I'm in need, whether I'm thriving or suffering, in Jesus God supplies all my needs. Like the old hymn says, take the world, but give me Jesus. So when you put your faith in Jesus, the Bible says you're a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come. It's not plaster over the cracks, it's a full restoration. When you put your faith in Jesus, you've got to understand your new identity. You're not the cripple anymore. You're not your past failures or your shortcomings. You've inherited the fullness of Christ. But like Paul, the challenge on this side, or like Peter, sorry, the challenge on this side of eternity is to understand what have I got? What have I got? So let's look at Peter. And the first thing we see with Peter is we see a man who is full of the Holy Spirit with an expectation that Jesus isn't just an idea, but that the gospel of Jesus is the power to transform lives. I wonder if there's anyone here who's got faith to keep believing for miracles. I wonder if there's anyone here who believes in the power of the Holy Spirit to turn a city upside down, just like it did on that day in Acts chapter 3. I wonder if anyone thinks that those who are broken and hurting in our communities, in our universities, in our schools, in our workplaces, that they can be transformed by the power of Jesus. Is there anyone here who believes in that tonight? What did Peter have? And what can we learn from Peter for our lives that would experience the victory and power of Jesus? First thing we're going to learn is that Peter had a pattern of prayer and worship. Acts chapter 3, verse 1 says this. Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour or 3 p.m., as we would call it today. That the miracle that was about to take place happened because they were going through their routine, their pattern of prayer, their pattern of drawing near to him. This is the same Peter that had just been in the upper room in Acts chapter 2 when the Holy Spirit was poured out. When we understand who Jesus is and what he's done, we aren't the cripple on the outside of the temple. We are now invited into the presence of God. And it's not just the physical temple, it isn't just the church building or the school hall that we meet in today. We're not outsiders, we're invited in to the intimacy of relationship with Him. Hebrews 4 verse 16 says this Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. So whether it's a Sunday service just like this, and I know and I will give testimony to the power of a Sunday service to refresh and recharge our faith and our connection with Him. Or it's a moment in your living room where you take a second to acknowledge the presence of the Holy Spirit. Let's never take for granted that we have access, that we can enter into the presence of God. Let's build it as a pattern in our life. Let's not become familiar with that privilege. Ephesians 5 tells us that we are being filled with the Holy Spirit, not just in a one-off sense, but in a regular, ongoing refilling. For us to understand what we have, for us to understand and be like Paul when he says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. He will supply all my needs through the riches in Christ Jesus. It comes through a regular pattern of being filled with the Holy Spirit, a regular pattern of drawing near to him. If you're feeling like you're out of strength and there might be people in the out of strength season, then you've got to remember that the pattern of prayer and worship, the refilling of the Holy Spirit, your confession can be I can do all All things through Christ who strengthens me. Amen. So, number two, about Peter, as he walked into the temple that day, he was walking with a faith-filled expectation. There would have been many people walking past the man that day. Maybe many people who had seen him there on the days before. But the difference was Peter had gone, had been in God's presence. He received the filling of the Holy Spirit, and now he had a faith-filled expectation. If we live in a pattern of worship, if we develop intimacy with God's presence, it shapes how we see the world. 2 Corinthians 5 says that we walk by faith and not by sight. In the walk, in the natural walk, Peter could have walked right past that man thinking, I don't have the coins to give him. But he was walking in the faith to believe for something greater. You've got to understand that faith comes by the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. So if you have put your faith in him, if you are a Jesus follower, you've received a deposit of the Holy Spirit. So you want to see your family changed, you want to see Jesus heal the broken situations within and around you. You want to see high school and university transformed. It isn't a matter of positive thinking, it's a faith-filled expectation that comes with relationship to the source of our faith, and that is the Holy Spirit. So we have this pattern of prayer and worship. We have a faith-filled expectation that comes out of it. And then what we have is an intention and an engagement with the needs of others. And I'll invite the band to come. The Bible says that in Acts 3, verse 4, it says, Peter fixing his eyes on him with John, Peter said, Look at us. He wasn't like that story of the Good Samaritan where the priest and the temple worker they made their way to avoid that person in need. And then it says further on in Acts 3, verse 7, and he took him by the right hand and lifted him up. And immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. Peter was going about his business. He was doing the routine he went through. He was going to the temple to pray, but he saw a need and he responded. He wasn't in such a hurry that he couldn't interact with the cripple. People were never in interruption to Jesus' ministry. They were the focus of his ministry. Time and time again, the gospels tell us stories of people interrupting Jesus on a journey or breaking in to a moment where Jesus is teaching people. But Jesus' heart was always towards people. You always see miracles, you always find grace, you always find Jesus fully present in the midst of an interruption. And I believe as a church, let's be people who are interruptible. People who allow the needs of others to move us out of our comfort zone and into the faith-filled expectation. Galatians 5 says this, 5, verse 24 and 25. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. Because we've experienced Jesus walking by the Spirit, He's leading every part of our lives. When we read this passage, our mind instantly goes, I guess, to all the naughty stuff, right? Those who have been who belong to Christ have nailed their swearing or their pornography to the cross. Those who belong to Christ have stopped being rude and stopped gossiping through the cross. But maybe we need to allow the cross to deal with some of the simple stuff as well. And I'm preaching to myself here, but those who belong to Christ have nailed their pride and selfishness to the cross. Those who belong to Christ have nailed our preference for the people who look like us, dress like us, act like us to the cross. Those who belong to Christ have nailed their schedules and their calendars to the cross. As we live in a pattern of prayer and worship, as we walk in faithful expectation, we see the needs of the world around us. Not just the physical needs, but the spiritual ones also. You know, our church is passionate about supporting the needs of our community. And you can get involved in what we do, partnering with Reach Homeless services. And we will continue to strategize ways and pathways for our congregation to get involved with meeting the need of our community. But every day we're interacting with people who have emotional and spiritual needs. Jesus said, Blessed are the poor in spirit. God is near to them and he wants to use us. I pray that we never get so busy doing ministry, doing church stuff, being busy with church that we miss the moment of need in people. My prayer is that as a church, knowing what Jesus has done in our lives, that we would have eyes to see like Jesus. And the last thing that Peter had, what have we got? The authority and the power in the name of Jesus. Acts 3, verse 6 says that Peter said, Silver and gold I don't have, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. Peter declares that what he has is found in the name of Jesus. Goes on in Acts 3, verse 16. He's now giving an account to the people in the temple about what's just happened. He says, And his name, through faith in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through him was given, has given him the perfect soundness in the presence of you all. Peter is explaining to the onlookers in the temple, it's the power of his name, it's faith that comes through his name. And when you combine the two, faith and power, a miracle of perfect soundness, complete healing, perfect health, wholeness. It wasn't that the man had faith in Peter, it wasn't that Peter exercised his faith, his own faith, it was a faith that came through Jesus. What's in a name? And why does the name of Jesus get talked about so much? In the culture of the Bible, a name couldn't be separated from the person bearing it. The very name Jesus Christ means anointed savior. So the name of Jesus it carries the authority of Jesus. The name of Jesus carries all the power of Jesus. The name of Jesus carries the wholeness of Jesus. And the name of Jesus carries the victory of Jesus. There isn't another name like Jesus. So there isn't another, there isn't another person like Jesus. So there isn't another name like Jesus. Philippians 2 verse 9 says this. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him a name above all other names. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, and in heaven and on earth and under the earth. You know, you might feel like something's working against you, but the spiritual powers of this world they bow their knee to Jesus. Every tongue will declare that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father. There's a world out there searching, trying to find a solution to their brokenness. There is a broken and crippled world, but there's a name that's above depression, and there's a name that's above anxiety, there's a name above addiction, and a name above broken relationships and broken situations. When Peter looked at the cripple and said, I don't have what you think you need, but what I do have is Jesus. I pray for us as a church that our lives would be a pattern of prayer and worship, a pattern of pursuing Jesus. That our lives would be filled with the faith that comes from Jesus. Not a faith we try and muster up with a bit of exertion and a bit of strength, but a faith that comes through the person of Jesus Christ. And that we would see the world through the eyes of Jesus. And that we'd reach into those situations with the power and authority of Jesus. In Jesus, God supplied everything we need. Through the Holy Spirit, we can know Him. Amen.