June 9, 2013
We Are In This Together | Open to God's Prompting
- Acts 3:1-10
- Rev. Scott Shelton
Thanks to the worship leaders for leading us in worship this morning!
PNC Report from Darin Stalbaum
Amy C doing the children’s message on letter from Shepherd’s Community kids!
Commission Mexico caravan at 10:30! Couglas and Greg Lanham
We continue in this sermon series “We are in this together.” It’s the truth; we are in it together as a church, being the church. If you can’t go on Caravan then pray. Pray for the PNC, support VBS, find a way to be a part of the exciting things happening here at ZPC.
Today’s story is exciting – we talked last week about the early church – we see now a short story about how miracles happened with Holy Spirit’s help in the church.
Acts 3:1-10 (NIV)
Peter Heals a Lame Beggar
“One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”
Let’s pray – O Lord may you open our minds to understand your Word and apply it to our lives and to our church.
See NOTES in bulletin:
Acts 3:1-10 “Open to God’s Prompting”
As we go through each moment of every day, we need to be so Jesus connected, that we step forward as the Spirit leads no matter what.
Open to God’s Spirit, Peter heals a man in need.
Where do you need to be open to God’s Spirit?
Early church ZPC and You
3:1
Peter and John faithful to their roots Faithful to our discipleship roots
3:3-5
Open to interruptions, Holy Spirit Where are we open to the Spirit?
3:6-7
Peter gave what he had Where are we giving in faith?
3:7-10
Miracles happen, people amazed When are you amazed?
We need to be Jesus connected so that we can be Spirit led
Let’s dive right in to this story. Scholars believe it is a vignette of what kind of miracles occurred in the early church when the Spirit was moving.
In verse 1,
3:1 – Peter and John going to pray, one of three times during the day – at 3 pm. They go to the Temple courts as their Jewish tradition states. They are faithful to their roots.
Good Jews would go early morning, the ninth hour, and evening – at Sunset. The ninth hour is 3 pm, nine hours after 6 am.
Despite being followers of Christ, in these earliest days, the disciples continued to follow their Jewish heritage. They were being obedient to God, by going to the Temple to pray.
How are we faithful to our roots at ZPC?
We are faithful to our mission, which matches Jesus’ mission statement for us.
Mission
Called together by God to make disciples and release them for service in our broken world.
At least these three things: Community, discipleship, missions. We need to be faithful to our church history, our roots, our tradition here at ZPC.
Called together – to have community – that we are in this together.
Discipleship – we are disciples who make disciples.
The Six marks of the Disciple call us to have a heart for Christ alone and a mind transformed by the Word. We need to study the Bible and understand it to have a mind transformed.
We are called to be disciples of Jesus – learning from Him, and following him, so that we can make disciples. This is discipleship – following Jesus and living for him.
Released for service in our broken world.
This is both formal and informal. Formally, this leads us to
This leads us to missions. Global and local. To go from this place to our broken world – where we help those who are lost, hurting, and poor. A great report coming next week on how this works.
Informally, we need to be ready to speak up or live for Jesus when called.
We need to be Jesus connected in order to be Spirit led.
So, we too stay connected to our roots, but are always open to the Spirit.
In verses 3 through 5, we read that Peter and John are…
3:3-5
Open to interruptions, Holy Spirit Where are we open to the Spirit?
They are on the way to the temple, just out a gate, when a man begs them for money. They stop and listen, and are open to God’s call to work in this man’s life.
Peter and John while being faithful, were open to God’s call. We might think a chance encounter might be just that. But often, it is not a chance encounter, but a chance to see God at work.
Peter and John were open to God’s Holy Spirit, listened to the man, and Peter was bold.
When are we open to God’s Spirit?
What are some of your biggest interruptions?
Phone calls, Facebook, texts, sports, TV, people dropping by asking for something?
It’s really a mindset we need to have. Do we begin our day saying:
God this day belongs to you. I give it to you – show me how to live it today.
Or do we begin some days like – O boy, another awful day – not sure how I’m going to survive it.
Is the focus on me, or on God? Let’s ask – God, show me, lead me, and guide me to live for you to day. Empower me; encourage me through your Spirit – as you did the early church.
I think our VBS leaders think a Godly way. They are teaching our kids to look for God each day.
At VBS, our leaders said last week that they look for God sightings. We can too.
We can look for God sightings to see God at work.
Peter is empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Peter says, Look at us. It may be that the man is on to his next person who might give him some money. For whatever reason, the man locks in = and Peter has locked in eye to eye with the man.
What does that look like for us? Being open to God’s Spirit or God’s prompting.
I have just finished reading the Bible in a year. It took me 17 months to read the Bible in a year. But I did finish last Friday May 31. So I needed a new book.
I was praying this week, asking –God is this the current study you want me to be in? I feel for now, he is confirming that it is.
I’ve just in the last week taken on a new study for my own quiet time with God. It’s called Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby.
In the first chapter of Experiencing God, Blackaby touches on being open to God’s Spirit at work.
Blackaby says we may ask ourselves, “What is God’s will for my life?”
Blackaby goes on to say,
“’What is God’s will for my life?’ is not the right question. I think the right question is, ‘What is God’s will?’ Once I know God’s will, then I can adjust my life to Him.
In other words, what is it that God is purposing where I am? Once I know what God is doing, then I know what I need to do. The focus needs to be on God, not my life.”
He has this wonderful quote which I was used in a recent sermon:
“Watch to see where God is at work and join Him!”
If we are watching to see God at work, we will see it.
We need to be Jesus connected in order to be Spirit led.
3:6-7
Peter gave what he had Where are we giving in faith?
Peter did not have money. He gave healing in the name (authority) of JC.
It’s a call for action by Peter – Peter goes for it.
When I was in seminary at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, I interned at a church called La Canada Presby. Church. I remember myself and another intern talking to one of the pastors one night after church. We were asking him for advice trying to learn, what we are supposed to be doing at an internship.
We asked, “You know in youth ministry, we do a lot of fun games, you spend time with students building relationships and building trust so you can talk to them about faith. When you are having that hang out time, how do you know when to go deep?”
He said,
“When you have the chance, go deep.” He said, “If you have the sense that God is prompting you to talk about him with a student, go for it. This is why you are here. And if you have a nudge or a gut feeling that it’s the right time to bring up God and faith in a conversation, then it’s time. Don’t let that slip away. Be bold.”
I can’t say I’ve always been bold or listened to that nudge, but I’ve always felt that is great advice. If you sense God wants you to give something to someone else of your faith, go for it. Don’t beat them over the head with it so as to drive them away, but don’t hold back if you sense this is the time to ask them a spiritual question, or to bring in God in a conversation.
Peter gave a miracle, What do you have to give?
Time – when is your time available?
Talents – what can you give?
Treasure – of your monetary, physical gifts.
Give of yourself. Be a bridge to Christ – bridges get walked on.
It will take sacrifice. It might be hard – it might be messy to give, but it’s worth it to do God’s will.
Be Jesus connected so that you can be Spirit led.
Peter gave a miracle – but… It’s not Peter who the power comes from but from God.
Verse 6 – by the name of JC of Nazareth, walk! The name of Jesus has authority – not done in Peter’s power, but in God’s power healing takes place through Peter – but God heals.
Later in the same chapter, Peter says,
3:16 “By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.”
Some say miracles have stopped today.
Apparently a lot of Americans believe healing can happen.
What percentage of Americans who believe God's intervention could save a family member even if physicians declare treatment would be futile? 57 percent.
"Numbers," Time magazine, 2008 STOP
Also, we have this from USA Today:
Number of American who say they have witnessed or experienced miraculous, physical healing: 23 percent (USA Today, 2008; Baylor University 2007)
What can healing look like?
In the fall of 2000, doctors diagnosed Pastor Ed Dobson with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), an incurable and fatal disease. The doctors gave him two to five years to live and predicted that he would spend most of that time in a disabled condition.
Shortly after he was diagnosed, Ed wanted someone to anoint him with oil and pray for healing. And he wanted someone to pray who really believed in healing. So Ed invited a friend, a Pentecostal pastor who had regular healing services, to come over and pray for him. Here's how Ed described what happened:
It was one of the most moving evenings of my entire life. He began by telling stories of people he had prayed for who were miraculously healed. He also told stories about people he had prayed for who were not healed and had passed away, receiving that ultimate and final healing. Before he prayed for me he gave me some advice.
"Don't become obsessed with getting healed, Ed," he said. "If you get obsessed [with getting healed], you will lose your focus. Get lost in the wonder of God, and who knows what he will do for you."
This is some of the best advice I have ever received …. Since that night, I've been trying to get—and stay—lost in the wonder of God.”
Connect two stories…or cut one…
The modern world often does not believe in healing, but one respected theologian and author, Frederick Buechner, (“Wishful Thinking”) says it’s worth praying for:
“Pray for it (for healing). If it's somebody else's healing you're praying for, you can try at the same time laying your hands on him as Jesus sometimes did. If his sickness involves his body as well as his soul, then God may be able to use your inept hands as well as your inept faith to heal him.
If you feel like a fool as you are doing this, don't let it throw you. You are a fool of course. ... If your prayer isn't answered, this may mean more about you and your prayer than it does about God. Don't try too hard to feel religious, to generate some healing power of your own. Think of yourself rather (if you have to think of yourself at all) as a rather small-gauge, clogged-up pipe that a little of God's power may be able to filter through if you can just stay loose enough. Tell the one you're praying for to stay loose, too.
If God doesn't seem to be giving you what you ask, maybe he's giving you something else.”
A great preacher and teacher, Lloyd John Ogilvie said this about Acts 3:
“When the Spirit is given full reign in a church, there will be healings of people for emotional, spiritual, and physical needs. When we preach and teach Christ and pray for needs, miracles do happen. And the greatest miracle is the transformation of a person from self-centerdness to Christ-centerdness.”
God can use us to bring about His will, in His time, when we are alert to God.
Through God’s power, healing can take place in today’s world.
Be ready to take part, be Jesus connected to be Spirit led.
What’s next?
3:7-10
Miracles happen, people amazed When are you amazed?
The people are amazed. And it gives an opportunity for Peter to tell more people who gather the real message – that the greatest miracle is Jesus changing their live through saving them.
Peter was Jesus connected so he could be Spirit led.
We read in…
Acts 4:3-4
“3 They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. 4 But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.”
I am amazed when God is at work.
In my life… About 2 years ago at a Great Banquet, I was asked to be a spiritual director as a team member to help lead the weekend.
There was a man there who was just a little older than me who was struggling with both a career that may be ending and a marriage in trouble. God was really working on him during the weekend to turn over these problems to God and not to keep them to himself.
On Saturday the guests and team were having dinner. There were about 75 men around tables in the church gym. I had been in the Gathering Space and was probably the last person in the room to arrive for dinner. As I came in, I took the first open seat I saw, as there were only a few empty seats left in the room.
As I did, the man sitting next to me turned suddenly and said, “Why did you sit here?” “because it was open.” He said something like, “No one has talked to you?” I said, “no, not about dinner.” He said “Well, I have been worrying about my career and my marriage and I need a spiritual director to talk to – I thought of you – I’ve been looking for you and couldn’t find you. And now you appear out of nowhere to sit beside me.” We had a good talk, where I mostly listened, and he told me months later the Banquet experience allowed God to change his life and the way he viewed his career, marriage, and life. It was no coincidence that there was an open chair, or that I was delayed in getting to the table, or that I sat next to this new friend. God orchestrated it – I just needed to be open to the Spirit’s leading and available to listen to someone in need.
Why do things happen like this at spiritual retreats, Great Banquets, or spiritual conferences and retreats? Usually retreats, trips, and conferences like Great Banquet have these things in common: a focus on prayer for God to work, an expectation that God things will happen. And the distractions of our culture are often removed so that we can see God.
What if we lived more of our everyday lives like that?
What if we stay Jesus connected so we can be Spirit led?
What would it be like, if we were more prayerful, more aware and open to interruptions, more open to God’s Spirit, and more willing to listen, love, and speak up?
We would see God even more at work around us – and would find I believe that we would see miraculous changes in people’s lives.
Jesus says in John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
We remain in Jesus – through prayer, open to His leading, and watching to see where God is working, then join him.
As we are the church in this together,
let’s stay Jesus connected…and be Spirit led.