This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Hi, this is Pastor Tom and I want to welcome you to day five of our first week
in the book of Acts. That means we're in Acts chapter three today since we took
a little bit extra time in Acts chapter one and two. We're going through a
chapter a day from now on so we can get an overall view of what God does in this
early church and what God can do in my life, in your life.

Acts chapter two, what an incredible chapter, but you cannot live in Acts
chapter two. You can't live in Acts chapter two any more than Peter could build
a tabernacle on the Mount of Transfiguration and stay there with Jesus and Moses
and Elijah. No, you have to go out from Acts chapter two to make a difference in
the world.

Lloyd Ogilvie in his book about the book of Acts says, "The church was born to
be a blessing. The wind of the Holy Spirit is to pick us up and carry us to
people in need. The fire of the Holy Spirit is to kindle warmth and affection
for others.

The consuming fire is to burn out the chaff of judgmentalism and exclusivism.
The ecstasy of tongues, of the tongues of praise, is to give us excitement for
the ministry of the Spirit through others. " Acts chapter two, I would say, is
the launching pad, but a rocket can't live on the pad.

It looks impressive, but it never gets anywhere. It's got to get off the pad.
Acts chapter three is, in a sense, the church blasting off as we see the
disciples' faith.

I love the way it begins. It begins with the disciples having time for a hurting
person, for a lame man. Acts chapter three, verses one to eight.

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer, at
three in the afternoon. Now, a man crippled from birth was being carried to the
temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going
into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them
for money.

Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us. " So
the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. " Holding him by the right hand, he
helped him up.

And instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and
began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and
jumping and praising God.

What a beginning of the ministry of the church. The good news needs to
personally touch the hurts of people's lives. And Peter, in these verses, God,
through the life and example of Peter, gives us some strong, powerful teaching
about how to heal the lame places in people's lives.

How to launch people into new places of joy and abundance in their life. Because
that's what following Christ is all about. How does this work?

Here's where it starts. The first thing you do is you have to notice people's
hurts. Peter and John are walking into the temple.

There's a beggar there. Beggars were a common sight. Often you would walk by
without even looking.

But Peter stops. And John too. And intently they look at him.

They notice the man's hurt. And being noticed in that moment gave the
opportunity for Jesus to heal. The question is, "Whose hurt do I need to notice
today?

" And pray for them. Or talk to them. Or minister to them.

"Whose hurt do you need to notice today? " You notice people's hurts. Second
thing you do is you call on Jesus' name.

This man's highest expectation was money. Silver or gold. Maybe they're going to
give me some money.

Peter needed to raise his expectation. So he gave him not what he expected, but
what he needed. He didn't fulfill his wants, but he met his need.

The question I have as I look at this is, "How often do I give somebody silver
or gold when what they really need is Jesus Christ? " How often do I encourage
somebody but not take a moment to say that it's because of the love of Jesus
Christ in my life? Now I'm not saying every time you give somebody a word of
encouragement you say, "I'm giving this to you in Jesus' name.

" That can sound a little bit goofy and self-serving, but I am saying, if
there's somebody in your office that God has used you to encourage, and you've
never been able to say to them, "It's the love of Christ that's encouraged me.
So how can I help but pass on that encouragement to you? " Just those few
sentences can change everything.

So you share the love of Jesus Christ, but you do it in Jesus' name. The third
thing that Peter does is this. You believe they can believe.

What I love about what happens here is he says, "Rise up and walk," and then he
sticks out his hand so that this lame man can grab his hand so he can help him
up. Peter's demand for faith was backed up by a hopeful hand of help. He didn't
ask for faith and then just watch the man in judgmentalism condemning spiritual
snobbery.

He didn't ask for faith and then laugh and ridicule. No, he stretched out his
hand. He became personally involved in helping the man to have faith.

So how can I stretch out my hand today? Who do I need to stretch out my hand to?
In essence, to say to them, "I believe that you can have faith.

" Fourth thing you do. It all happens at the beginning of this early church.
Fourth thing you do is you enjoy the Lord's work.

They go into the temple together walking and leaping and praising God. Peter
doesn't say, "Calm down. We don't want any of that here.

" No, people are filled with wonder and amazement. Part of launching out into
all that God wants to do in our lives is enjoying all that God wants to do in
our lives. Don't be so somber about it that people look at you and think, "Well,
I guess maybe they're going to wait until they get to heaven to smile.

I don't know. " Start smiling now because God is working now. You enjoy the
Lord's work.

And as you're doing that, as we walk through what Peter did, you begin, number
one, by noticing people's needs. Number two, you call on Jesus' name. Number
three, you believe that they can believe.

Number four, you enjoy the Lord's work. Number five, you give Jesus credit. You
give him the credit.

The people were looking and wondering at what God had done. And Peter was not
about to let them think that it was somehow by any other power than Jesus
Christ. From the very beginning of this story, why do you stare at us as if by
our own power or godliness we made this man walk?

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his
servant Jesus. Peter says that in verses 12, last part of verse 12 and verse 13.
The idea is you don't take the credit, you give the credit.

In fact, Peter goes into a sermon here, and in this sermon, it's all about
Jesus, even the names of Jesus. He has so many names for Jesus in this sermon.
He talks about his servant Jesus, the righteous and holy one, the author of
life, his Christ.

You give Jesus the credit. And again, as I said earlier, you don't have to do
this in an unnatural way. You just talk about what he's done in your life.

One of the greatest ways to give Jesus the credit is by being grateful, visibly
grateful, verbally grateful for what Jesus has done. You give him the credit.
Number six, what do you do to get people started, to heal the hurts in people's
lives?

You set the right course. He is healed, but now he's got to go in the right
direction, and immediately he hears a sermon from Peter like everybody else
about the right direction to go. What's the right direction for you and I to go
in this life?

Verse 19, Acts 3 19 is one of my favorite verses in the book of Acts. I love
this verse. Repent then and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, that
times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

What's the right direction to go in life? Repent and return. It's a simple
formula.

It's a little R and R, not rock and roll or rest and relaxation. It's a little
repent and return. And when you do that, you get removed and refreshed.

Your sins are removed. You're refreshed and serving him. Repent.

What's the direction that God wants us to go? Repent does not mean you're going
down. Repent means you're turning around.

That's what the word means. It means a second chance, a new chance, a new start.
It means a U-turn.

That's the right course. I'm going my direction. I make a U-turn.

I'm going God's direction. And when I do that, my sins are wiped out and times
of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord. I love that picture of my sins
being wiped out.

That's what God does for us in Jesus Christ. In that day, ancient writing could
sometimes be sponged off. So something that was written on a page could be
totally lost, never to be seen again.

I have books of some of my old sermons and as I look through those books, it's
always a study in history for me, the ones that I wrote out, because those
particular books of my first several hundred messages were underwater for a week
when the church that we were in was flooded. Many of them are still very
readable, although a little bit muddy. But the ones that I wrote in felt tip,
there's something about felt tip being underwater for a week.

As I come to those pages, the pages are entirely blank. Well, I'm sad to have
lost those messages, but the one grateful thing I have about it is what a
picture, what a picture of what happens because of the love of God and Jesus
Christ. On those pages, I can look at them and it's as if those sermons were
never there.

There's not a mark on the page. For you and I, it doesn't take a week underwater
for that to happen. It takes a moment of faith.

I trust in you, Jesus Christ, to forgive my sins. We're all lame. This man was
physically lame, but we're all lame.

We all need healing. We all need forgiveness. Right now, ask him for a clean
slate.

Forgiveness is a clean slate before God. If you've never asked, say to him,
Jesus Christ, forgive me by the power of the cross, what you did when you died
for me. Would you cleanse my life of those sins?

And would you give me power to live the kind of life that only you can give? If
that's a prayer that you prayed recently or a long time ago, you've already
prayed it and thank him once again. Jesus Christ, thank you for cleansing me of
my sin.

In your name, I pray. Amen. Next week, we're going to remind ourselves that
nothing great happens without a battle.

We're going to see in this young church great victories, but also great battles.