Skip to content Unstoppable: Ready For Opportunities Oct 5 · 55 min ...more
Unstoppable: Ready For Opportunities
October 5, 2025 · 55 min
Have you ever wondered what happens when ordinary moments become divine appointments? In Acts 3, Peter and John's routine temple visit transforms into a powerful demonstration of God's unstoppable work. Pastor Jeff reveals how a beggar's simple request becomes a platform for displaying Christ's healing power and proclaiming the gospel. Through five practical steps—having ready eyes to see needs, hands to serve with compassion, a voice to spotlight Jesus, a heart that calls for repentance, and a life standing in hope—we learn how God can use us in unexpected ways. Whether you're seeking purpose or longing to make an impact, this message shows how being ready for God's opportunities can transform both your life and others'. Don't miss this inspiring guide to experiencing God's power in everyday moments! Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub
Series BRAVE Church October 5, 2025 · 55 min · BRAVE Church
Have you ever wondered what happens when ordinary moments become divine appointments? In Acts 3, Peter and John's routine temple visit transforms into a powerful demonstration of God's unstoppable work. Pastor Jeff reveals how a beggar's simple request becomes a platform for displaying Christ's healing power and proclaiming the gospel. Through five practical steps—having ready eyes to see needs, hands to serve with compassion, a voice to spotlight Jesus, a heart that calls for repentance, and a life standing in hope—we learn how God can use us in unexpected ways. Whether you're seeking purpose or longing to make an impact, this message shows how being ready for God's opportunities can transform both your life and others'. Don't miss this inspiring guide to experiencing God's power in everyday moments! Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub ...more Show the full description Show less Have you ever wondered what happens when ordinary moments become divine appointments? In Acts 3, Peter and John's routine temple visit transforms into a powerful demonstration of God's unstoppable work. Pastor Jeff reveals how a beggar's simple request becomes a platform for displaying Christ's healing power and proclaiming the gospel. Through five practical steps—having ready eyes to see needs, hands to serve with compassion, a voice to spotlight Jesus, a heart that calls for repentance, and a life standing in hope—we learn how God can use us in unexpected ways. Whether you're seeking purpose or longing to make an impact, this message shows how being ready for God's opportunities can transform both your life and others'. Don't miss this inspiring guide to experiencing God's power in everyday moments! Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub
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Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub serves as president of Pastor Jeff Ministries, a national and global ministry designed to equip believers and challenge them to take
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0:00 Well, good morning. Will you help me welcome all of our campuses who are worshiping with us? It's so great to worship with you. I just wanna say thank you so much for your generosity over the last 4 weeks as we've been0:11 talking about Taking Ground Capital campaign. I know so many of you gave so generously. I know there's others this week who have written in saying, how can I give? You can give by going to takingground dot net. You can0:22 do it right online. You can use the QR code behind your seat. Again, we are just grateful for all those who are participating. Once the money's counted, we'll let you know where we stand and what's going on and we're0:33 trusting the Lord just for great work. So just thank you so much for doing that. Very excited to get back into a book and preach my way through it. As I preached through acts 1 and 2 prior to that0:45 series, I just couldn't get it off my heart. So we're gonna be back in the book of acts starting in acts chapter 3 today, we'll go through that book. The series is called unstoppable. We'll break it down into some0:54 different segments. Today will be an unstoppable power for a few weeks, but trusting that the Lord will use this to grow your relationship with Jesus and how he uses you both inside and outside1:05 the walls of this church. So with that, let's continue our worship and go before the Lord and pray and get ready to hear his living and active word among us. Will you pray with me? Our father in heaven, we thank you so1:15 much for who you are and for all you're doing in our lives. Lord, we're so thankful here on this Sunday morning to be able to gather to celebrate you in song, to praise your name, to seek you in1:27
1:39 are speaking. So our prayer this morning is speak Lord for we are ready to hear. And so now for all those who have gathered who desire to hear the Lord Jesus Christ speak directly to you, who will believe what he tells
1:50 you and who will by faith put into practice what he shows you, will you agree with me very loudly this morning by saying the word amen. Amen. I remember when I was in high school and I would
2:02 sit down to begin a class and I would hear the teacher say, take out a sheet of paper, put your name at the top, number 1 to 10 down the left and remove all the materials from the top of your desk. Remember
2:14 that? Yes. Was the pop quiz, which wasn't a bad thing if you knew what the pop quiz was about. It was kind of assumed, it wasn't in the syllabus, but it was kind of assumed that you would be
2:25 reading and doing the things that you were supposed to do. And if you were reading and doing the things that you were supposed to do, those 10 questions would be relatively easy. But if you hadn't, they'd be very, very
2:35 difficult. And what it boils down to is readiness. Sometimes when you play on an athletic team, you're waiting your chance, you're waiting your chance and all of a sudden when your name or number gets called, you you get
2:47 all sorts of nerves because you're like, I don't know that I'm ready yet. Readiness is so important in every aspect of life, whether we're talking business, whether we're talking school, whether we're talking
2:56 friendships, whether we're talking dating, up readiness is so important. But when it comes to spiritually, it's so important that we're ready. And here's why. Because oftentimes
3:08 when we teach through the book of acts, people will say things like this, pastor Jeff, it would have been so great if I could have lived in the first century because wouldn't it be great if we could serve that same God
3:19 that still could do everything that he did back then? Friends, our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And when we read this, what the inspired words of scripture should do by the
3:31 Holy Spirit is inspire you to walk the way that God calls us to walk so that you can experience God in the full measure that God wants you to experience him. And it really boils down
3:43 to readiness. Will you be ready when opportunities present themselves? Because I wanna let you know there's opportunities around us all the time. Simple opportunities right in front of
3:55 our face, and sometimes we miss them because we're not ready. So how can we be ready for the opportunities? That's what I wanna talk to you about today. And to do that, we're gonna be in acts chapter 3. If you wanna turn
4:07 your bible there to acts chapter 3. I hope to get through all 26 verses today. And as I do, what I wanna do for you is highlight 5 ways that you can be ready. 5 ways that you can be ready. If you love the Lord
4:18 Jesus, I don't care whether you're 10 or 110, these 5 ways will work for you. Not only will you be ready when the opportunity presents itself, but you'll know what to do when you
4:30 see it. So acts chapter 3 is where we're gonna start. And as you're turning there, just to set up the story, you'll remember as we we talked through the first 2 chapters in acts, Jesus has told the disciples to wait
4:42 in Jerusalem. He told them that was gonna be the mission that they were gonna receive power when the holy spirit came upon them. They'd be as witnesses in all Jerusalem Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the
4:53 earth. We saw the foundation of how the church worked as they waited on the Lord in prayer and were waiting for him to move. We saw his presence come upon them. We saw the gospel proclaimed
5:05 by Peter. We talked about how this gospel is not only for this generation, but the generation to come for your sons and daughters. And then we saw as 3000 people came to Christ, how the
5:17 community of God functioned. And here as we get into chapter 3, which would have been a few weeks later, we're gonna see this story develop where these 2 men, Peter and John were
5:28 ready for the opportunity that was presented to them. So let me begin this morning by giving you the the first readiness principle that you need and what you need to be ready and it's this, you need a ready eye
5:40 that sees the need. You need a ready eye that sees the need. Notice what happens. It says now, Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. A man who had been
5:52 lame from his mother's womb was being carried along whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple, which is called beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who are entering
6:04 the temple. So how ordinary could this story begin? I mean, this is just so mundane of a story. Here's a guy, 1 of many guys, but here's a specific guy that's been lame
6:16 from the time of his birth. He came out of the womb lame. He's been lame his entire life. He's being put on a mat, carried to this place right outside the temple gate, which is called the beautiful gate. He's being
6:28 set down there for 1 purpose and 1 purpose only, to beg for change so that he can take care of his basic needs. And that's been his life for his entire life. And
6:40 that's what he's done. That's the story. That doesn't sound like a great opportunity, does it? Can I tell you this? Some of your greatest opportunities you'll ever receive as a Christian start off just that way. They're
6:51 very ordinary. Think about for a moment, the people that have impacted your life the most. Probably wasn't from a platform, probably wasn't a big event. It was probably 1 person, it was a dad, it was a coach, it was a
7:01 mom, it was a sister, it was a brother, it was a friend, it was somebody that saw something in you 1 on 1 short period of time, longer period of time that invested in you in a way that nobody else knows and it changed
7:12 who you are. Just a mundane ordinary story. That's how this starts off. But guess what they had? They had a ready eye and they saw the need because notice what happens. It says when Peter and John
7:24 when he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. So he now makes eye contact with Peter and John. And when he sees them, what's he do? He asks
7:36 for money. We still see this every day in our city. It happens right down the street on Hampden and I 25. This guy made eye contact with Peter and John and he was what? He was
7:48 asking for money. Don't know if he had a sign, doesn't say, but it did say that he was speaking. He was asking for money. Everybody saw this guy every single time they went by because this guy was there every single day.
8:00 It's just a boring story. It's a lame guy begging for money. And he's asking Peter and John for money. I mean, the story can't get more ordinary than this, but notice how this changed.
8:12 Notice what Peter and John do. But Peter, along with John fixed his gaze on him and said, look at us. Now, don't know about you or what it's like for you, but what
8:24 do you like when you go by people that are begging? Do you turn the other way? Do you roll up your window? Do you lock the doors? If you're outside your car, do you walk fast? Do you walk around the
8:36 other side? I mean, that's not what Peter does. Peter looks right back at him and says, look at us. Fix your attention. I wanna talk to you. Right?
8:48 Now we could say a lot about people that are asking for alms. There's some of us here who because of our convictions would say, you know what the bible says in second Corinth second Thessalonians 3, if a person doesn't
8:57 work, they shouldn't eat. I don't feel comfortable giving my money out to somebody that's begging. Others of us would say, I wanna give to them as to Jesus and God can take care of whatever he wants to do. That's not the
9:07 point of this story. The point of the story is, can you look at the people that are begging? Do you have time for those that are needy? Can you get them to draw their attention upon you? That's what Peter and John are
9:18 doing. Peter's like, hey, quit asking us for things. You look here and notice what happened. And he began to give them his attention expecting to receive something from
9:30 them. See, Peter and John engaged because they saw a need and they weren't just walking by. Now, where were they going? Let's be clear. It's 3 in the afternoon, the ninth hour. They're going to the prayer meeting.
9:41 They're on their way to first Tuesday. That's what's happening. But they're not so hyper spiritual where they're saying, hey, we can't help this guy. We're praying. On their way to pray, on their
9:53 way to seek the Lord, they noticed a man begging who's been begging there from birth, who says, do you have anything for me? And they said, hey, you look at us right here. And the man started looking like, are you what
10:04 do you got for me? What do you got for me? By the way, if you do choose to give something to somebody that's begging, ask them this. What's your name? Ask them their name. Call them by their name. Give them the dignity
10:15 of their name. Tell them that Jesus loves them. Right? Look at them. Pause long enough. So often we get to a stoplight like I hope they don't make it down 4 cars by me.
10:28 Right? Look at They're human beings created in the image of God. Whatever you choose to do that's your business between you and the Lord and you have to have discernment sometimes. But look at them. Give them a smile.
10:40 Say hello. Ask their name. Right? We see this all over the New Testament. Wasn't Jesus this way? When he was feeding the 5000 seeing the people he felt compassion for them because they were distressed
10:52 and dispirited like a sheep without a shepherd. Or how about the apostle Paul in Philippians 2? Here's what he says, do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also the interests of others. What does he
11:03 say? No matter what you're doing in life, you should have time to pause and see the needs of other people. You should be able to take note of what's going on. It shouldn't be like, oh yeah, there's all these needs in our
11:14 culture. I just drive by them all the time because I'm not gonna take time to see them. I'm only gonna focus on me. That's not biblical as a Christian. Or how about Galatians 6 10? So then while we have opportunity, let
11:25 us do good to all people and especially those who are of the household of faith. So do good to everybody, but especially those who go to church. Do good do good especially to those who know Jesus. Like, take
11:36 time for people. This is what we see in the story of the good Samaritan that Jesus told. What was the point? The point was that the 2 religious people, the priests and the Levite walked by the man because either a, they
11:47 didn't wanna be bothered by him or b, they didn't know him and either way they didn't care. But the Samaritan, the 1 that was despised, the 1 that nobody liked took time went up, found out who he was, didn't know him
11:58 either, but bandaged his wounds, put him on his animal, took him to an inn, paid for him to stay there, made sure he was nursed back to health, and then said to the innkeeper, if he needs anything else, let me know. I'll
12:10 be back by. I'll pay for everything. And when Jesus asked the religious leaders of the day, which 1 did what he was supposed to do? Here's what they said. The 1 who acted neighborly. They couldn't even say the word
12:22 Samaritan. Right? And that's what the heart of the gospel is, is that if we really believe in Jesus and believe he died for us and rose from the dead and we were once dead, now we've been made alive, that we should open
12:33 our eyes and be ready to see all the things around us that are going on. Amen? I was in Portland on Wednesday speaking to a group of pastors and ministry leaders, and I was with pastor
12:45 Nick. After I got done, which Portland's 1 of the most unchurched cities in the in the country, and I was able to encourage them. We got an Uber to head back to the airport, and
12:57 as we were going, we were talking to our Uber driver who told us he was a believer, had a hard time getting to church on Sundays because he needed the money to get paid, but he tuned into different services and he was
13:07 asking us about us and I said, well, guess what? In this vehicle at 10 o'clock every morning in Portland, I'm on the radio. You can listen to me personally. I'll talk to you. So he thought that was really cool and he was
13:16 telling us how he would, you know, sometimes get the chance to pray with people in the car and talk to them about Christ and we were getting ready to get out of the car by the time we were done and both pastor Nick and I
13:26 prayed for him. Said, let us pray for you. We prayed for him. He turned around, he had tears in his eyes. He goes, I prayed for people before, but not 1 time has anybody ever prayed for me. Now, let me tell
13:38 you, ordinary story, not a big deal. It was a big deal for him, but not for anybody else. Let me tell you something. The biggest stories in your life that are gonna unfold start off as just very
13:50 ordinary mundane stories. So when you say I'm reading the book of acts, I want something to happen magical. It always starts off just like that. If you have eyes to see the need, then you can
14:02 move on to the next 1, which is this. It's a ready hand that serves with compassion. It's a ready hand that serves with compassion. See, there's more than just seeing the need, there's meeting the need.
14:14 Notice what happens next. But Peter said, as he's guy was looking, okay, what do you got for me? But Peter said, I do not possess silver or gold, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ the
14:25 Nazarene, walk. How about that? Silver and gold I don't have. I don't have money. I can't give you what everybody else is giving you, but I can't give you something that nobody else can give you. I can give you
14:37 Jesus. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk. Now, when we read this story, you have to understand the book of acts is not prescriptive. It's not prescribing how every story should happen. It's
14:49 describing what has happened. That make sense? So when we read through this story, it doesn't mean every time you see somebody who doesn't walk, tell them in the name of Jesus to walk and they'll walk. And here's how I
14:59 know that. I know it biblically and I also know it experientially. There are times where God will prompt you to pray for someone's healing. There are times where God may move on your heart to speak something to them
15:10 boldly. There are times where you may see something miraculous. I believe that. I have room in my theology to believe that if God wants to move through you to heal somebody, he will do that. I also have enough room in my
15:21 theology. It's not even room. God is sovereign. God gets to choose what he's gonna do, when he's gonna do it, and how he's gonna do it. Amen? I know Christians who have been healed from cancer and it's never come back.
15:33 I know Christians who are with Jesus now who never got healed from cancer on this side of heaven who are perfectly healed now. And why? Because God's sovereign. He does whatever he wants, however he wants, whenever he
15:44 wants to do it. Amen? God doesn't just heal every single person. But in this moment, Peter and John are listening and they're being prompted by the spirit to tell this guy to walk. So he said, I don't have silver and
15:55 gold, but what I do have, I give you in the name of Jesus Christ, walk. And notice what happened. And seizing him by the right hand, not only they're looking at him, not only are they saying, we don't have what you need,
16:05 but we got something else. In the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene walk. They reach out and grab them by the hand and pull them up as if to say, this is what's gonna happen. And they grabbed him by the right hand, he
16:15 raised him up and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. Now, how does that happen? This guy is atrophied from the time that he was born and all of the sudden
16:27 in the time that it took John and Peter to raise him up, he's perfectly healed. How do you know? Because in verse 8, with a leap, he stood upright and began to walk and he entered the temple with them
16:39 walking and leaping and praising God. Now, if you've seen on the Discovery Channel, like animals, like giraffes or whatever when they're born, they kinda stumble around, they kinda walk. I mean, they even animals that
16:50 are born with the ability to walk at the moment that they're born, say stumble and this guy's not stumbling. This guy has no problem. This guy gets pulled up. As he's being pulled up, everything's healed and he begins to
17:01 skip his feet and leap and he's praising God, and he's hugging on Peter and John, and off they go to the prayer meeting. Pretty significant. Right? Watch what happens. And all the people saw him
17:13 walking and praising God, and they were taking note of him as being the 1 who used to sit at the beautiful gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement as to what had happened to
17:25 him. Let me tell you why God heals. Let me tell you why God does something symbolic. Let me tell you why God does a sign. He doesn't just do it for that 1 person. He does it so that he can get glory. He does it so that
17:36 people recognize him as God. That's why he does it. The miraculous happens so that others see him. Now notice this about healing. You'll see it all throughout the bible. You see it when Jesus healed. You'll see
17:48 it when the apostles healed. Here's what happens. There is none of them, not Jesus or the apostles that tries to explain what you should be seeing in the miracle. Do you see how he couldn't walk and now he can
18:00 walk? If it's a miracle, you can figure that out yourself. It's faith healers that have to say, they were in a wheelchair and now they're walking. Hey, let me see that they were in a wheelchair and now they're walking
18:11 and let me see that they're walking 6 days from now too. Right? You don't need to convince me of your power. Peter and John aren't doing any of that. Peter and John are like, we're going to pray. This guy asked us for
18:21 alms. We told him to walk and now he's coming to pray with us. And everybody's like, that's the guy that's been sitting there for years, for decades, and we're he he he's walking
18:33 and he's praising. Like, what in the world is going on? That's what's happening. Now why is this important? Because while you may not have a prompting of the Lord to supernaturally heal somebody, here's what I
18:45 want you to know. They didn't just pass by the man, they saw him through the spirit's eyes. They saw what the holy spirit was doing and the compassion that they presented, it wasn't just soup wasn't just sentimental, it
18:57 was supernatural. Anytime you feel prompted by the Lord when you see a need to move with compassion, the Lord will show up. Now let me tell you what I mean by that. There's oftentimes where we see the
19:09 need, but oftentimes when we see the need, here's what we say. Somebody needs to do something about that. Man, the church needs to help with that. You know what? The government needs to do their job.
19:21 No, you need to do yours. Like that's what the story is about. You see a need, you are moved with compassion, you do something. Yeah, but they need some money. Give it to them. I
19:33 mean, if you really believe that everything you have and everything you are belongs to God, then every opportunity you have is you asking God, how can I steward everything you've given to me to help this other person?
19:44 Like, that's the gospel. 1 of the reasons we don't see the gospel translated as much as we want to or see as many people responding as we would is because we might believe the message of it, but we're not willing to get
19:56 our hands dirty and do it. But even our savior did not come to be served, but to do what? To serve and to give his life as a ransom for many, to become the slave of all. Why is it so important?
20:08 Because we live in a culture that thinks about being upwardly mobile. How do you get more notoriety? How do you make more money? How do you get into a better neighborhood? How do you get more people to recognize you?
20:18 Jesus didn't do that. He did just the opposite. He left heaven and came to earth, and then when he got here, went even lower and lower and lower. Is that really your Lord? Then why are we so
20:30 concerned about upward mobility and we're not so concerned about what's going on around us, and we're not so concerned about how do I serve those near me? Especially those in the church, but even those outside of it
20:41 because that's what it means to be a Christian. Amen? Like when we see a need instead of calling out like somebody needs to do something about it, we see a need and we say, I gotta do something about it. Maybe you take
20:51 some people with you to do something about it, but you gotta do something about it. You can't walk by it anymore. You can't just bypass the moment. You've taken the time to see it. You see the need for it, and because
21:01 you're a Christian, you're stepping in to make a difference. And this is what the whole new testament talks about in James chapter 2. It says, if a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and
21:13 1 of you says to them, go in peace, be warmed and filled, and yet does not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so, faith if it has no works is dead being by itself. What
21:25 good is your faith if people don't see it demonstrated in their lives? It's dead. It's worthless. Or how about first John 3 17 and 18, but whoever has the world's goods and sees
21:37 his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, us not love with word or with tongue, but indeed and in truth.
21:49 Or how about this 1 in Matthew 25 where Jesus is separating the sheep and the goats and they're asking, Lord, when did we see you like this? In Matthew 25 36, he says, for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.
22:01 I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. How about this 1? I was in prison and you visited
22:12 me. Can I just tell you something? Please pray for us. We've been invited out to meet this week in Washington DC with the deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons because they've heard about what we're doing here
22:24 at Brave and we're gonna get to meet them. I believe that meeting's 10 o'clock Thursday, Denver time. But you think about
22:35 Jesus' ministry. He didn't just tell people to be healed. In Mark chapter 1 and verse 41, when the leper said, I wanna be cleansed, what did Jesus do? He reached out and touched him. I mean, it really
22:47 doesn't matter what the deal is. I mean, maybe you're prompted to pay for somebody's groceries. Maybe you're prompted to call your neighbor and encourage them. Maybe you're prompted to go visit somebody in the hospital.
22:58 Maybe whatever it is, but when you do it, can I just encourage you? You don't need to put it on Instagram. Don't need to take a video of you look at me paying for the groceries. You don't need to
23:10 do all that. Just do it. Because who are you doing it for? I'm doing it for Jesus and he sees me and nobody else even needs to see it. Now, God may use you sometimes where it gets public and
23:22 that's okay too, but it should never be about us. It should always be we see the need and we're moved by the need and we're gonna do everything we can to meet the need. Sometimes that need takes place in your family,
23:34 sometimes it's in your neighborhood, sometimes it's where you work, sometimes it's with your friends, Sometimes it's with your family. Sometimes it wasn't even anything that you expected. Sometimes you're just at a store
23:44 and you see chaos. Men, don't avoid it. Step into it. Meet the need. What happens in Christianity
23:56 in our culture is we're so dag gum passive about getting involved in anything because we don't wanna bother anybody else. And we say, that's not my problem. I've got enough problems on my own. I'm just gonna do my own
24:07 thing. And we walk by the need and we don't show compassion. And then we complain and say, God, how come it doesn't work like it did in the first century? Here's what his answer would be, because your heart is hard and
24:18 you don't care about my people. That's why. I mean, if you really care about what God wants to care about, here's a really dangerous prayer that you can begin to pray. Lord, today I'm convicted that everything I am
24:28 belongs to you. You saved me from hell and you've given me eternal life. Everything I have is you. Give me opportunities this week to see things I haven't seen before and give me the courage to step into them and serve
24:39 in a way I've never done. He will answer that prayer if you're bold enough to pray it. That's what God wants. And see if you live like that and then everybody's asking these questions like what
24:51 is going on and how come you did that and why did you serve that way? Then you not only need a ready eye that sees the need and a ready hand that serves with compassion, but you need this. You need a ready voice that
25:01 spotlights Jesus. You need a ready voice that spotlights Jesus. It means you need to be able to talk about what's actually taking place. Notice this in verse 11.
25:13 While he was still clinging to Peter, he's he's still holding on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so called Portico of Solomon full of amazement. So they're all getting into the temple.
25:25 They're going to pray. They're all running. They're like, this is unbelievable. Like this is the guy he was there. I gave him change yesterday. I mean, he's been there for decades. He's why Hey, that's what's going on.
25:36 But when Peter saw this, when Peter saw this, he didn't see it as an advantage to put on social media. He didn't see it as an advantage to heighten his
25:48 stature. When Peter saw this, he replied to the people, men of Israel, why are you amazed at this? Why are you surprised at this? Why are you amazed
26:00 at this? And why do you gaze at us if if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? K. So you see the miracle which is miraculous.
26:12 Ordinary story now turns into this healing, guys leaping all over the place, and they're like, what's going on? And Peter's like, why are you amazed at this? Why is this so surprising to you? And why is it you look at us
26:24 if by we our own power or piety, like our religion and our practice, like we did this. What's he saying? We had nothing to do with this. It's not about us. It's not about who
26:36 we are. It has nothing to do with any of that. And what's he gonna tell them? He's gonna tell them about God. He says this, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
26:48 the God of our fathers has glorified his servant, Jesus. Why does he start with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Because that's the God of the
27:00 Bible. We still serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The same God yesterday, today, and forever. That's the God we serve. Now why does Peter refer to Jesus as
27:11 the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has glorified his servant. Why is he referred to as a servant? Do you know why? Because all throughout the old testament, that's how Jesus is referred to. The Messiah is
27:23 gonna come as a servant. You read the end of Isaiah chapter 52 and all of Isaiah 53. What do you have? You have the suffering servant who was beat beyond recognition. Who was pierced for our transgressions. Who was
27:34 wounded for our iniquity. Who's by his stripes we have been healed. Who was that? That was the servant. Psalm 22, who was on the cross crying out, that was a servant. What's he saying? Jesus came as
27:46 God's promised servant who served to the death. That's what he's saying. Saying Israel know this. You shouldn't be surprised by this guy walking. This is Jesus,
27:58 his servant who has done this. The 1, notice what he says, the 1 whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release
28:10 him. He's not letting them off the hook. You know who this is. You know the 1 that healed him. Remember Jesus when he was standing before Pilate? And Pilate said, I wash my hands. I find nothing wrong with the man. And
28:22 you're like, yeah, but we don't want him. We want Barabbas. Well, what should I do with Jesus? Well, crucify him. Remember when you did that? Remember when you acted that
28:33 way? That's the 1 who healed him. And how do you know? He says this, he's glorified his servant the 1 who you disowned in the presence of Pilate when he decided to release him, you disowned
28:45 the holy and righteous 1. There's only 1 and the only 1 is Jesus and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the prince of life, the
28:57 1 whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses. You asked for Barabbas, the criminal. You put to death the prince of life. You put to death the promised
29:09 Messiah and God raised him from the dead. We're witnesses of that. We saw him ascend. We know who he is and guess what? He's still operating today because you can't kill the king of kings and the lord of lords,
29:21 Jesus Christ. That's what he's saying. And who's he putting the responsibility of death to Jesus to? All those who were there. Who's responsible for Jesus'
29:33 death on the cross? All of us. Because we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It was the sin of mankind that placed him on that cross where he willingly went to that cross to die in your place for all our
29:44 sins. And what does it say? And on the basis of faith in his name, it is the name of Jesus, which has strengthened this man whom you see and know, and the faith which
29:56 comes through him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all. So what happened? Jesus just healed him. You thought he was dead?
30:08 He's alive. We've seen him. He's still alive. You know that he is because he's still doing all the same things he did when he was here. So why are you looking at us as if we did anything? We're not doing anything. We're
30:18 just acting on his name. We're speaking about his name. We're telling people about his name. His name means his reputation and who he is. Friends, Jesus Christ is always was always
30:30 will be king of kings and lord of lords. And when there's opportunity for people to wonder what in the world's going on, tell them it's all about Jesus. It's all about it's our
30:42 opportunity. The problem I have with faith healers on TV beyond the fact that most of them are totally fake is simply this. They're always trying to draw attention to themselves and they're always trying to get money for
30:53 themselves and they're always trying to tell people what they're able to do. I never see that from Jesus or any of the apostles. They're not all excited about the healing. They're excited that people would see that Jesus
31:02 did it and would turn to him. That's what's exciting. Amen? Amen. And that's what we see here. And when you see something that goes on in your own world or in the bigger world
31:14 and God is in it, changes how you are. It changes how you are. Me and Charlie Kirk was killed a few weeks ago. We did a memorial service for him here and then I watched the
31:26 1 the following week on Sunday that was about, I don't know, 5 hours long worth. But wasn't it interesting how many people stood up from his wife to his pastor to people in the president's
31:38 cabinet? And what did they talk about? Jesus Christ, repentance, faith, turning to him, Jesus being the only way, the only truth, the only life, and I'm watching this from my
31:49 father and mother in law's couch saying, this is incredible. This is being watched by hundreds of millions of people all over the world, and what are they testifying to? Jesus. It was a beautiful picture of what
32:01 that's supposed to look like. See, spirit filled believers refuse the spotlight. They redirect it to Christ. I mean, think about John the Baptist. John the Baptist is the forerunner of Jesus. John the Baptist was
32:13 born 6 months before Jesus when when when Mary and Elizabeth came together and they were both pregnant with those 2 boys. John the Baptist leaped in his mother's womb when he saw that Jesus was when he sensed
32:25 that Jesus was alive next to him. I mean, when they were just like a womb away, you know. That was it was just cool. And so he's coming on purpose to say, prepare the way of the Lord. And
32:37 yet, it's interesting because in the gospel of John, when the people see Jesus, he said, behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. The 2 disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus.
32:49 So John's small groups getting broke up now because Jesus Christ is there and John's saying that's the Messiah and they're like, okay, we're not gonna be in your small group anymore. We're gonna go follow him. And he has
32:59 no problem with that. As a matter of fact, in John chapter 3 verse 30, he succinctly says, which would be the heart and posture of all of us as believers, which is this, he must increase, but I must decrease.
33:12 He must become greater, I must become less. That should be the heartbeat of every single born again believer on the planet. Even the apostle Paul said in second Corinthians 4 5, for we do not preach
33:24 ourselves, but Christ Jesus is Lord and ourselves as bond servants or slaves for Jesus's sake. We're nothing. He's the Lord. We're nothing but
33:35 servants. We're nothing but slaves. That's all we are. It's all about him. Even Jesus in the sermon on the mountain said, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and do what? And glorify your
33:47 father who is in heaven. John the Baptist stepped back. I mean, it's like this. You you think about the sun that radiates all this light, but you think about the moon. The moon doesn't make light. It reflects it.
34:00 We're to be like that. We're just to reflect the glory of Christ. It's always about him and you know what it's like. You know our sinful nature. We wanna be known. We wanna have a badge. We wanna have
34:11 a name. We want people to know what we do. When we do something in the church, we want a title. We want a title so people know who we are and we wanna have people know who we are so we feel important. None of that
34:21 stuff's biblical. What's biblical is I just wanna serve Jesus and because I wanna serve Jesus, I'm just looking for other people to serve and this is the opportunity he's given me and I praise God I get that opportunity.
34:32 And if nobody else knows what's going on, God does and he's proud of what I'm doing. Right? That's the heartbeat of how we get to see some of these miraculous things. See for us, we wanna see things before we believe
34:44 things. Right? We wanna see it happen, then we'll believe it. I wanna see the miracle, then I'll believe that God does this. I'm I'm telling you, if you just do these things, if you have, an eye to see this and
34:56 a, hands to go serve it and you have a voice to go speak it, God will show up. I mean, I love it now. And when it's genuine and I've seen a lot of genuine athletes do this, whether it's football
35:08 players or other sport players do this when they say, you know what? Before I start tonight, I just wanna thank my Lord and savior Jesus Christ. He gave me the ability to do this. And you know it's
35:20 genuine not only when somebody wins, but when they lose and they have a bad game. And they're still thanking Jesus for the opportunity they had and how they wanna show him glory. It's like, wow, they're
35:32 serious about I love that. Just like you do. That's what we should all be in. And being we most of us never have a platform like that. Most of us don't have a national platform, even a citywide platform. Here's where you
35:42 get a platform. You got 1 with your family. You got 1 in your sphere of influence at work. You got 1 in your sphere of influence at school. There are people every single day, everywhere you walk that are wearing a sign.
35:53 If you could read it that says, I'm in serious need. Could you help me? Like, yeah, I'm just walking by them because I wanna I wanna go help somebody that's really important so that I feel good about me. No, if you'll
36:04 just open your eyes and you'll start meeting that need and you'll start doing what God wants. And when they're like, why are you helping me? Well, because I love Jesus so much and he loves you so much
36:16 and I wanted to just serve him and that's why I'm doing this for you. Everything about your world changes because it's no longer about you, it's about him and others, which is really how you sum up the Bible. Love the
36:25 Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. In other words, quit thinking about you, Which is really hard because it goes against the flesh of everything we have. Amen?
36:36 But can I just tell you this? As spirit filled believers are gonna continue to live ready, that's not enough. It's not enough to see a need. It's not enough to meet the need, and it's
36:48 not enough to tell other people about Jesus. Here's where I would tell you that you can take the next step and it's this, that a ready heart summons to repentance. A ready heart summons people
37:00 to repentance. He he's told these men what's going on. He's told them, it's not us. It's Jesus. Jesus just healed this man. Remember the 1 that was just here a couple weeks ago that you killed on a cross that God raised
37:12 from the dead? We're witnesses of that. He's still alive, he's still moving, he's still working, but that's not enough because notice what they say next. And now brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance just as your
37:22 rulers did also. Okay? In other words, when you were yelling crucify him that you were crucifying the Messiah. You didn't know. You acted in ignorance. Can I just say this? You need to hear this. You need to hear this.
37:34 Ignorance does not let you off the hook. I have studied the Bible for the last 35 years. I have not found a shred of evidence in the Bible of someone who does not know Jesus that ends up in heaven.
37:47 Not 1. You say, well, about the migrant farmer in Africa? What about the person in Asia that grew up Buddhist? Or I would say, about the person that went to brave church whose parents were Christian, but they're not? I
37:58 mean, ignorance is not an excuse. How do you know? Because Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no 1 comes to the father except through me. And if thatShow more
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