[SPEAKER_00]: Alright, so today's message title is available, and I don't know if you've got any Justin Bieber fans out there, it's totally off topic.
[SPEAKER_00]: With a couple of you, I'm not either.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's, anyways, moving on.
[SPEAKER_00]: But anyway, it's a song and whatever.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was on a whole Justin Bieber kick yesterday.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's our anniversary yesterday.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean Amber 11 years and anyways, you know, I don't like like the kid Justin Bieber, but like his older stuff is like, no.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, all right.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sorry, some of you guys are like, this is the first and last day we're ever coming here.
[SPEAKER_00]: This guy.
[SPEAKER_00]: But anyways, available.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's the song.
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't have anything to do with my title, but it did influence my title, I guess, because I was listening to Justin Bieber all day yesterday.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's all I'm saying, but available.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I want to ask you guys the question today.
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you available for God to use you?
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think each and every one of us would probably say, like, yeah, sure, I give God came down and the angel spoke to me or whatever and he told me what to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would say yes because whom I'd argue with God.
[SPEAKER_00]: But are you available in the sense of like, hey, God, like I'm here, I'm ready.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's multiple instances throughout the Bible.
[SPEAKER_00]: We see people they say, here I am, Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: Send me, right here I am.
[SPEAKER_00]: What do you want from me?
[SPEAKER_00]: What do you want for me?
[SPEAKER_00]: What do you want me to do?
[SPEAKER_00]: What do you want me to say?
[SPEAKER_00]: And now I'm just asking you simply.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's only something you can answer for yourself.
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you available for the Lord to use you?
[SPEAKER_00]: Now I'm not asking you the question.
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you able to do it?
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, right, there's two different things there.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've heard it said throughout my time and just growing up following Jesus and in church.
[SPEAKER_00]: is that God is more interested in your availability, not your ability.
[SPEAKER_00]: Does that make sense?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because some of us are like, well, I'm not smart enough.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not ready.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't do that or whatever.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if you would just be available here I am, Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think you might be surprised that God's going to fill you with this spirit and he's going to do some incredible things through you.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's the one who brings empowerment.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now we're going to see this play out today.
[SPEAKER_00]: We spent the last few weeks talking about Saul.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's encouraging, we're going to see more about Saul and he's going to become the apostle Paul that we all know and love today.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we've looked at him and we saw this man who has become me and who God had called him to be.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because God will call you in an instant.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
[SPEAKER_00]: There's kind of just this moment where God will cut to your heart and you just know that this is the Lord speaking today's the day I got to let go of my
[SPEAKER_00]: pass and need to repent of my sins and I just need to surrender unto him and Saul had that moment.
[SPEAKER_00]: But again, as I mentioned last week, becoming who God wants you to be takes time.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know we'd all love to just be like, man, I gave my life to Jesus today and everything's just good and amazing, smooth sailing for the rest of our life, but it's not so much that way.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a process.
[SPEAKER_00]: and some things just take time and that's okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so Saul was becoming the man who's got his calling him to be.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to see more of that in future chapters in Acts, but Luke, the author of Acts, he kind of takes a break.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, just imagine like a movie or a TV show you're watching and you got this character development plot right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's like, okay, we're learning about Saul or like, yeah, we're on the edge of our seats.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, what happens next?
[SPEAKER_00]: And Luke's like, and we're going to cut over to this other scene.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to go to Peter.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's what we're going to do here today because you're going to be able to happen to Saul.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's going on, but that will pick up later.
[SPEAKER_00]: Luke's a good storyteller.
[SPEAKER_00]: I suppose we could say.
[SPEAKER_00]: But we're going to look at another man named Peter.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I would say that if in comparison, Saul's kind of the baby Christian, so to speak, he's just
[SPEAKER_00]: surrender to his life to Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's a brilliant man, no doubt, but he's got a lot to learn, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember, it's like three years.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was in Damascus in Arabia before he went to Jerusalem.
[SPEAKER_00]: And three years is the long time.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's like, it's a process to become in the go where God wants you to go.
[SPEAKER_00]: But what I would say is in comparison, we look at Peter today.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I would say, Peter's a little further down the road than Saul.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because Peter, instead of being in Damascus maybe for three years, he was face to face walking with Jesus for three years.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, Peter, he knew some things.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was a little bit further in his, if you will, his becoming phase of who God wanted him to be.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, Peter wasn't perfect by any means.
[SPEAKER_00]: We know this and we need to remind ourselves today that when we look at this, like man, of course, like Peter, like he's,
[SPEAKER_00]: Him and Paul like who can compete with them.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're the best of the greatest right the greatest of all time apostles and disciples healing and doing miracles in Jesus' name But remember who Peter was
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember some of the things that he did right before he becomes this guy that we're going to read about today.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was one who Jesus remember they're on the boat, the disciples are.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus is on the water walking on the water and like, man, who is that?
[SPEAKER_00]: And I got, I think it's Jesus, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: They're like, well, like, how's he, how's he getting here, man?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like is he in a boat?
[SPEAKER_00]: What, you know, you're not in a boat, man?
[SPEAKER_00]: He's just coming on the water and right Peter's like, well, if it's you, Lord, call me out on the water.
[SPEAKER_00]: which I think is, I could preach a whole sermon about that, but it's interesting, I'll say that.
[SPEAKER_00]: It says, if it's you, Lord, call me on, he says, all right, Peter, come out on the water, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Peter goes out on the water and at first he's walking on water, but what happens shortly after?
[SPEAKER_00]: He starts to look at the waves, he's maybe distracted, takes his eyes off Jesus, we could say, and he starts to sink, right, and then Jesus tells him, right, he gets back in the boat, says, oh, you have little faith, that's Peter.
[SPEAKER_00]: When we're thinking, well, perfect Peter, no, he's not perfect.
[SPEAKER_00]: What else about Peter, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, it's build this idea.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, what's some of the things?
[SPEAKER_00]: There's times when Peter spoke and he shouldn't have said anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: He should have just shut your mouth and listen, Peter, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: He's the guy who just speak what he thought.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then afterwards, like, yeah, it's probably not a good thing to say.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Any of you guys like that, or know somebody like that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course not us, it's someone else.
[SPEAKER_00]: But then Peter at one point, he rebukes Jesus as an instance of like, hey man, you should just keep your mouth shut and then Peter's like, like, Lord, that will never happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even if everyone denies you, I will never deny you and then was Jesus says, hey, get behind me Satan, like I got things to do essentially.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's Peter.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then of course we know Peter, maybe his most notorious failure is that he denied Jesus three times.
[SPEAKER_00]: And not just once, right, remember, he made this whole stance.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, no, I will never deny you, not too long after, shortly after, it's like, Peter's denying him.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know the man.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I'm not his friend.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not, I don't know who that guy is, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: In Jesus' time of need when he's being beaten and then crucified.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's Peter, and we need to understand this when we come here today because again, life, I mean, it's a process.
[SPEAKER_00]: And following Jesus is a process.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know sometimes it's discouraging.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because you're getting beat up, you're getting torn down, you fail, you fall short, and you're just like, man, I'm not, am I even a Christian?
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you've thought that before.
[SPEAKER_00]: because I must not be doing it right, but we all have failures.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love this quote, I forget who it's Bible, he says that the master, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: When we think of someone who's a master of their craft, but he says the master has failed more times than the beginner has tried.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just love that picture because it's like, we get this idea, like we just wanna be great in a moment.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not the reality.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anything, anyone who's great at anything, it's like they will tell you, like,
[SPEAKER_00]: They'll tell you of all their failures and Peter.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's just like that.
[SPEAKER_00]: He has many failures here and Peter, what even though he failed, he keeps getting back up.
[SPEAKER_00]: He keeps showing up.
[SPEAKER_00]: He keeps following Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: And here's the thing is he keeps making himself available to be used.
[SPEAKER_00]: by God.
[SPEAKER_00]: And now when we think of this for our own life, what could that look like?
[SPEAKER_00]: Some of you're like, well, I don't know how to pray.
[SPEAKER_00]: And here's the thing, though, you don't wait till your good at praying to start praying, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, that doesn't make sense.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, you just, you got to start praying.
[SPEAKER_00]: You just got to start somewhere, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't wait to serve until you feel like, oh, I got it all together.
[SPEAKER_00]: You start serving.
[SPEAKER_00]: You learn how to serve by serving.
[SPEAKER_00]: Or,
[SPEAKER_00]: Following Jesus, you don't wait till you got it all together to follow them.
[SPEAKER_00]: You learn how to follow Him while you're following Him, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: That makes sense.
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you available today?
[SPEAKER_00]: But Acts chapter 9 verse 32 is where we're gonna pick up this morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, Luke's changing scenes here and we're going to focus on Peter a bit.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is now as Peter went here and there among them all.
[SPEAKER_00]: He came down also to the Saints who lived in Lida.
[SPEAKER_00]: There he found a man named Anayas Bedridden for eight years who was paralyzed.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Peter said to him, Anious Jesus Christ heals you, rise and make your bed, and immediately he rose and all the residents of Lida and share and saw him, and they turned to Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now we're gonna pause here, and we're gonna unpack some things.
[SPEAKER_00]: And here, very simply, as we see Peter, the first verse, he, as he went here and there, like he's traveling around, and of course he's
[SPEAKER_00]: seen the resurrected Christ now.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's seen the Jesus ascend into heaven.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's preached the message at Pentecost and the Holy Spirit came down and there's tongues of fire.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's seen many people come and surrender and repent of their sins and be baptized.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so you could just imagine Peter's on a mission, right, like I'm just going to go tell everyone because that's what Jesus said and he's doing exactly that he's going to go make disciples of all nations here teaching them what Jesus taught and baptizing them in the name of the Father's Son and Holy Spirit so he's going here and there, but I think this is a simple yet I mean so important point to today's message is like that he was he was moving he Peter was
[SPEAKER_00]: He was going places to see what God might have for him.
[SPEAKER_00]: You see what I'm saying?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like some of us, we sit back and like, well, once God shows me, then I'll go.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think some of it, like we have it backwards, like no, once you go, he'll show you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, maybe, or it's not comforting.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if you remember back to Genesis with Abraham, when God first calls Abraham, he says, go to the place that I'll show you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to make a view of great nation.
[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't give him directions.
[SPEAKER_00]: They say, hey, get on the 35 head north and then at exit four or 11, you're going to get off.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, he doesn't tell him where to go.
[SPEAKER_00]: He says, just go.
[SPEAKER_00]: But as he goes, that's when the Lord starts to direct and guide him.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I've heard it said, you know, you can't steer a parked car, pretty obvious, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's like, as you're driving, it's like, well, now we can be directed and we can move and we can go.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so Peter, I would just say he's available.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's open to whatever God would have for him.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's going from city to city.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's making his way.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now this trip from Jerusalem to Lida is not a small trip.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's roughly 35 miles, which we could say, well, that's not too bad like today.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I mean, back then, like this would probably be a couple days journey.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, if you're walking probably more than that,
[SPEAKER_00]: If he's on a donkey or a horse maybe, it's a little quicker.
[SPEAKER_00]: But this is not like 30-minute drive, you know, 45-minute drive, an hour drive, like this was some commitment.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so he's going, he's moving, he's see what God would have for him.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think Peter's open to like, God, here I am.
[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever you have for me, and when he goes to this town, he goes to Lida, he finds this man Anayas, and he's paralyzed.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just think it's it's so like the Lord, as Peter's going out to see like, How can I minister?
[SPEAKER_00]: How could I be used?
[SPEAKER_00]: He finds an opportunity to minister.
[SPEAKER_00]: right it's like some of us we sit back and I got bring bring it to me but it's like as you go out and you're like okay God here I am.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what I'm supposed to do but like I'm just you know like you don't have to over complicate it could just be a God here I am it's Monday I gotta go to work today but I'm gonna have this open heart open mind I'm gonna be available to whatever you might have
[SPEAKER_00]: for me and you'd be surprised sometimes when you have that open heart open mind of God I'm available you all of a sudden see that all of a sudden God will put in opportunity right in front of you to be a light to minister to someone and so Peter he finds this opportunity because I mean simply Peter was available he was ready he was like here I am Lord used me give me an opportunity and of course that opportunity comes and as I think I said earlier yeah I did but
[SPEAKER_00]: Oftentimes we'll talk ourselves out of serving because we don't think we're able, but it's not so much about your ability.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's again, it's about your availability.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think we miss out on a lot of opportunities to be used by God because we talk ourselves out of it because I'm not smart enough.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not ready.
[SPEAKER_00]: I remember when we were planning to church plant, it's probably maybe a year before we moved, maybe a more maybe less.
[SPEAKER_00]: But somewhere around that time frame, in my struggle, my internal dialogue, excuse was like, I know I'm called.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just not ready.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't feel like I'm ready to be a senior pastor or lead a church.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't like I let a young adult's ministry is similar but very different.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just felt like I don't know enough.
[SPEAKER_00]: People aren't going to take me serious and you know, XYZ had, I'm not ready.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was my excuse.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then one day a guy came up to me after service and I,
[SPEAKER_00]: And I was teaching actually for my pastor, but this guy never met him and I never saw him again after that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like maybe he was an angel who just came there to deliver a message, it literally could have been that.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I'm pretty sure Sam was there with me.
[SPEAKER_00]: He can vouch for this instance.
[SPEAKER_00]: But he's there and said, hey, I got this word.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what it means, but I feel like God wants me to share it with you.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I said, okay, I need to give a whole thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not a prophet.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's giving me the disclaimer.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just said, what is it?
[SPEAKER_00]: And he said, you're ready.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I said, don't I said, thank you, sir.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm pretty sure I know what it means, like thank you for being obedient, but again, we think like, well, I don't have the ability to do it, but do you have the availability?
[SPEAKER_00]: God of here I am, because as you go, God will equip you, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Once you start to step out,
[SPEAKER_00]: In obedience, then you'll start to see that opportunity will come and then as opportunity comes, that's when God also brings the empowerment to do what He's called you to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because just being available doesn't mean that you'll all of a sudden be able to do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: But let's look at verse 1, what is it?
[SPEAKER_00]: 33?
[SPEAKER_00]: So is there he found a man named Anias Bedridden for eight years who was paralyzed.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Peter's going on this journey, he's just kind of like, well I'm just going to go town to town.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to share Jesus and preach to the gospel and hopefully lead some people to Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: But he encounters this problem that he cannot fix on his own.
[SPEAKER_00]: Can we just agree?
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like Peter finds a paralyzed man.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, I know Peter has the answer, but Peter is not the answer.
[SPEAKER_00]: And just understand, as we go out, God here, I am available.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to go, I want to be used by you.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you start to move and see what opportunities might arise.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to come to a point where you're like, well, I can't do anything about this.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I would say that's kind of the point.
[SPEAKER_00]: God sent you out there.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that all of a sudden you can see that your inability to do something creates an opportunity for God to come through and show you that he is able.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Peter comes here.
[SPEAKER_00]: He sees this.
[SPEAKER_00]: This man is paralyzed for eight years and Peter said to him in verse 34.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anious, Jesus Christ heals you and that's important to note.
[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't say, I heal you, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because Peter, I don't, I don't have anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember the story when they're going to the temple, and guys asking for money, he's like, well, silver and gold, I don't have, but what I do have, I give to you, he says, rise up and walk in the name of Jesus, like it's like, in Jesus name, these things are happening.
[SPEAKER_00]: So he says, Jesus Christ heals you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because Peter knows that he and in of himself doesn't have the ability to do this, Peter is available, sure, hey, God used me, but hey, here's the other thing is like, if you're going to use me, I need your help in this, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's kind of the thing, God invites us into his work.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we're available, but we'll reach points where, well, what do I do here?
[SPEAKER_00]: You'll see this throughout your life, I'm sure, where there'll be instances where you won't know what to say.
[SPEAKER_00]: Life is hard sometimes, and there's people that you'll know and love, or people that work that will go through some things.
[SPEAKER_00]: A guy at work not too long ago, one of his family members passed away, and that's always a hard thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't matter if they were close or hated each other.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's all grieving and loss is hard, and then oftentimes what I've learned in those situations that I'll just share with you is oftentimes less.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, you speaking less is better, it's more about your presence, just being there.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I sense that and it's like, I don't know what to tell this guy, you know?
[SPEAKER_00]: You can't tell someone who lost someone, like, it's going to be all right.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, that just doesn't feel right.
[SPEAKER_00]: But anyways, I just asked him, can I pray for you?
[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like that was the opportunity.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I didn't even know all the details at that point.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he said, yeah, I prayed for him.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then, day or so later, he came up to me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nick, thank you so much for praying for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: really meant a lot and it's just like little opportunities like I don't know what to do I don't know what to say but we just be spirit-led and open and Jesus will give you the ability that you'll need in that moment and just know this that when you're going out to be used by God God doesn't want you to try to I don't know manufacture or manipulate or
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, try to make his power work, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: He just wants you to be open and willing.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're an instrument, a vessel, if you will.
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, our inability causes us to hopefully rely on God that he is the one who is able.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so Peter tells them he says, Hey, Jesus Christ heals you, rise and make your bed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, if you are familiar with the gospel accounts, this sounds pretty similar, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: You're probably like, I've heard that before.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's because you have heard it before, because Jesus heals a paralytic at one point.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he tells them he says, Hey, rise up, pack up your bed, roll up your mat.
[SPEAKER_00]: He says, right, and go home.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's very similar.
[SPEAKER_00]: And what is Peter doing here?
[SPEAKER_00]: He's doing what he knows.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's doing what he's seeing Jesus do.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's saying what Jesus has said.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's really what discipleship is.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like he's learned from the master, if you will, the rabbi.
[SPEAKER_00]: And now Peter's doing what he's seen, what he has studied.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the student, if you will, Peter, he's becoming like the teacher.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, verse 35, if it says in all the residents of Lida and Sharon Solham, because he says, rise, pick up your bed and it says immediately he rose.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sorry, I skipped over that.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's important.
[SPEAKER_00]: He rose up.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's not paralyzed anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: A miracle has happened.
[SPEAKER_00]: Says in the residents of Lida and Sharon Solham and they turned to the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I've said this multiple times through our series and
[SPEAKER_00]: Miracles are cool, it's awesome.
[SPEAKER_00]: Praise God for miracles, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: But the miracle opens the door for the message, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because if someone's healed, but they don't end up knowing Jesus, well, then what's the matter, really?
[SPEAKER_00]: But a miracle when someone, like someone comes or back to life in many instances, we'll see that actually in our next section here today.
[SPEAKER_00]: Or it paralyzed for eight years.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can't explain that away with just, oh,
[SPEAKER_00]: Modern medicine, I don't know, you know, people will try to explain these things away, but it's like it's very clearly obviously, well, it's a miracle, and that miracle causes people to lean in a little bit like what happened here?
[SPEAKER_00]: What?
[SPEAKER_00]: How did this happen?
[SPEAKER_00]: Who did this to you, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's the opportunity, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: The miracle opens a doorway for an opportunity that the opportunity is to preach the message.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Peter at no point says it was me.
[SPEAKER_00]: I did it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm so great.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gifted.
[SPEAKER_00]: You should, you know, it's all about Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: He points to Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, that's the whole thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: The miracle is not the message.
[SPEAKER_00]: The miracle sets the path for the message to be preached.
[SPEAKER_00]: And what we see at the end result here.
[SPEAKER_00]: is that they all turn to the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's Jesus, not to Peter, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, we're all going to follow you now, Peter, because you're the miracle worker.
[SPEAKER_00]: Peter probably be like, no, I'm not the miracle worker.
[SPEAKER_00]: He is, I'm just a vessel.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just being available to whatever he might have for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is what he had for me today.
[SPEAKER_00]: I took the opportunity, he gave me the words to speak, and he's the one who healed you, not me.
[SPEAKER_00]: When he points to Jesus, verse 36 as it moves on,
[SPEAKER_00]: A disciple named Tabitha, which translated means Dorkis.
[SPEAKER_00]: She was full of good works and acts of charity.
[SPEAKER_00]: And those days she became ill and died and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room.
[SPEAKER_00]: Since Lida was near Japa, the disciples hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, please come to us without delay.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Peter rose and went with them and when he arrived they took him to the upper room.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now we're going to pause there for a minute, I don't want to go through the whole thing quite yet.
[SPEAKER_00]: But again, here's an opportunity, someone's sick, they're dying, they're dead.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the disciples are like, or the people there, we need to get Peter, Peter, can you come, can you come pray for us?
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, and again, Peter's just available.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's going, I mean, this wouldn't be convenient, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, let me just go, you know, a couple days journey, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, for us, like, if it's more than a 20 minute drive, we're like, oh, man, like, you know, anybody know?
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, out here, I've learned everything's a 45 minute drive or so.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, it's just normal.
[SPEAKER_00]: But in two somewhere, I'm from, if it's more than 20 minutes, like, people were like, I was so far.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, when I go back home, like, we went on vacation.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, you know, 20 minute drive, like, and that's fantastic.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, we went all the way across town.
[SPEAKER_00]: Everyone's like, oh, it's terrible.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's rush hour.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, you don't know.
[SPEAKER_00]: Terrible.
[SPEAKER_00]: You definitely don't know rush hour.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can't say that.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're not allowed to say that in Tucson.
[SPEAKER_00]: But anyways, I digress.
[SPEAKER_00]: But Peter, he's not burdened by it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, he's like, okay, an opportunity's come.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm going to go because I'm available.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to take these opportunities as they come.
[SPEAKER_00]: And what we see,
[SPEAKER_00]: It tells us some details, Luke tells us she was full of good works, and acts of charity, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And she did these things, says in these days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they later had an upper room.
[SPEAKER_00]: But what I love about this instance, thinking about.
[SPEAKER_00]: availability and maybe actions, right, acting on that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Say, okay, got here I am, and now I'm going to step out.
[SPEAKER_00]: This woman Tabitha, she was a doer of good.
[SPEAKER_00]: She's full of good works and acts of charity.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now we can unpack that and try to discern what that means, but what I would say today is she didn't just have good intentions.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think the world, the church, to, we're full of good intentions while I, I wanted to do that.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, or I was going to do that.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was going to text that person or you feel like I should call them.
[SPEAKER_00]: I should serve there.
[SPEAKER_00]: I should invite or whatever it is you can go down the whole list, but oftentimes we, something comes up.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then that's our excuse well, it's busy and something happened and whatever, we're full of good intentions.
[SPEAKER_00]: What you need to know, I'm sure you realize is that good intentions, I mean, it doesn't change anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
[SPEAKER_00]: You understand?
[SPEAKER_00]: You can be like, well, I meant to do this, but you didn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it doesn't matter.
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't count.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, a lot.
[SPEAKER_00]: I meant to call you, but you didn't, you know, like things are that, like good intentions don't save anybody, good intentions don't change anything for you or people around you.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like acting on those good intentions is what we need to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so this woman, I mean, she's not just full of good intentions.
[SPEAKER_00]: She's full of good works, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: She has actions to back it up and then the people, they're grieving over her because they know who she is, like she's
[SPEAKER_00]: She's a woman of God.
[SPEAKER_00]: She's full of good works.
[SPEAKER_00]: She's got acts of charity.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like they know her for what she's done.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that she's been, I would say, available to be used by God.
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, we don't know all of what this might be.
[SPEAKER_00]: What good works did she do?
[SPEAKER_00]: It tells us that she made clothes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe that's all of them, but maybe that's not all she did.
[SPEAKER_00]: She's full of good works.
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, she's helping others.
[SPEAKER_00]: It says, acts of charity.
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, and so something for us to consider, I mean, with Tabitha and thinking of being available, maybe stop focusing on what we can't do and focus on what we can do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, this lady will see she made clothes.
[SPEAKER_00]: She was good at it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so she used what she could do for the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so maybe even today you're just like, well, I'm not smart enough.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not ready.
[SPEAKER_00]: But again, I said this last week, but like, what do you know?
[SPEAKER_00]: You have enough.
[SPEAKER_00]: God saved you somehow.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if he hasn't maybe today or be the day that that's you get saved and you stop fighting against God.
[SPEAKER_00]: But what do you know?
[SPEAKER_00]: What can you do?
[SPEAKER_00]: What good works can you do?
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead of just, well, I want to do these things.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now make yourself available and say, God, here I am and you start with what you know.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this lady she's making clothes essentially.
[SPEAKER_00]: Here I am.
[SPEAKER_00]: And verse 39 says, so Peter rose, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: They say, Peter, can you come pray for us, essentially?
[SPEAKER_00]: So Peter rose and went with them.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room.
[SPEAKER_00]: All the widows stood beside weeping, beside him weeping and showing two nicks and other garments that Dorcus made while she was with them.
[SPEAKER_00]: So again, she made clothes.
[SPEAKER_00]: This was part of her ministry.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, there's a sewing knitting crocheting ministry,
[SPEAKER_00]: But she made clothes there, and she was known for her acts of good.
[SPEAKER_00]: In verse 40, it says, but Peter put them all outside and knelt down and prayed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, we could say, well, what did he put outside was that the people, was the garments, I think it was the people.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And anyway, as he puts them all outside of here, and then what Peter does is again, it's like it's not about who Peter is or what Peter can do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Peter knows that his ability is limited.
[SPEAKER_00]: He knows that he can't heal anybody.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so what does he do?
[SPEAKER_00]: He puts them outside and says, and he knelt down and he prayed.
[SPEAKER_00]: His first resort, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like he meets another situation where it's like, this is something I can't fix.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, this lady's dead.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't bring back the life of someone, and so he kneels down and he prays.
[SPEAKER_00]: His first resort, not his last resort.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think in times in our life, prayer is often our last resort, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: We want to try all the things ourselves, we'll call our friend, we'll call these people, we try everything, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And when all else fails, then we're like, okay, well, then I guess we got to pray.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why is that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it's because we're prideful.
[SPEAKER_00]: We want to fix it ourselves in realities.
[SPEAKER_00]: We just need to come before God first and foremost.
[SPEAKER_00]: God, here I am.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've faced this situation that I don't know what to do and nothing's going to happen if you don't come through and so he kneels down and he prays for her and this is another instance where Peter's seen this before.
[SPEAKER_00]: because Jesus did this exact same thing, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Mark chapter five, Peter watched Jesus bring back to life, jarius, or jyrus, his daughter had died.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus says, rise up and Peter's doing the same thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, he's just walking in Jesus footsteps.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's the student listening to the teacher.
[SPEAKER_00]: the student who's watched the master do these things and he relies on Jesus, not himself.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, he kneels down, he's praying, we're meant at verse 40.
[SPEAKER_00]: And turning to the body said, Tabitha, arise.
[SPEAKER_00]: And she opened her eyes.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when she saw Peter, she sat up, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And so she's come back to life, a dead is now living.
[SPEAKER_00]: The stuff doesn't happen every day, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And so a miracle has happened.
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, you might think, well, okay, cool, the miracles happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: She's alive, but again, the miracle I would argue is not the point of the story.
[SPEAKER_00]: When we see these things, like, let's cool, I want to raise the dead.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I want to heal people, and God might use you to do some of those things.
[SPEAKER_00]: He still works in these ways today, but the thing is, the miracle is not the point.
[SPEAKER_00]: A healing physically is not just the only thing we want or the only thing we need.
[SPEAKER_00]: We want a spiritual healing which is forgiveness for our sins.
[SPEAKER_00]: Eternal life salvation with Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so the miracle happens and then verse 40, she open her eyes, she saw Peter and verse 41 says, and he gave her his hand and raised her up.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then calling the Saints and widows, he presented her alive.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it became known throughout all japa.
[SPEAKER_00]: And here's the key in many believed in the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, many believed in the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't they believed in Peter again.
[SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't that they were so impressed with Peter or, I don't know, amazed by the miracle per se.
[SPEAKER_00]: But it was a miracle was a message or a doorway for the message.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the work of Jesus, and he could do the similar things in your life, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: All of it's about Jesus, and then you can just see as Peter is again, he's available.
[SPEAKER_00]: He just goes wherever the Spirit leads with, there's a need, someone's like, hey, someone died, Peter, can you come over and pray for her and pray for us and Peter's like, sure, let's go.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's just available.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, Peter, I'm sure doesn't know what's going to happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've seen Jesus raised the dead, and I'm sure he could do it again here today, but I'd imagine Peter knew that this might not work.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, Jesus might not heal this lady, because just think about it, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we can ask that question.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a hard question asked.
[SPEAKER_00]: God, why can they have that healing?
[SPEAKER_00]: Why not me?
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think we can argue that about the Bible.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like why didn't Stephen get raised from the dead?
[SPEAKER_00]: That would have been perfect.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like he freaks a sermon.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're still in the dead.
[SPEAKER_00]: How cool would it have been?
[SPEAKER_00]: All of a sudden Stephen comes back to the live.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like that would have been like a yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like let's do that.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not what God did.
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't choose to do that and God will choose to heal who he wants to heal and he doesn't heal some others and that's just again how it is.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not up to us what God does, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Faith isn't believing that God's going to do what you want him to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I got, again, we got good intentions or ideas or thoughts of what God should do in our lives, but faith is trusting God that, hey, I trust you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Here I am.
[SPEAKER_00]: No matter what comes.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's hard, isn't it?
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, is it just me?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's hard, scary sometimes, because it's like, well, what does that mean?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll share this story as many of you know, but some of you are new, but me and my wife, we have three kids, our youngest, Judah.
[SPEAKER_00]: When he was born, I guess we could say complications to a degree, I guess, to say it nicely, but,
[SPEAKER_00]: He had to be put to the Niki right away.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's born, I think, was 37 weeks.
[SPEAKER_00]: So he was like full term, but not really full term.
[SPEAKER_00]: Does that make sense?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, anyone know what I'm talking about.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like 40 weeks is full term.
[SPEAKER_00]: And like, well, 37's fully like, well, what about 40?
[SPEAKER_00]: You've been lying to us the whole time.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so that's a whole other story.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think there was some misinformation there.
[SPEAKER_00]: But Judas Born has to go to the NICU and basically couldn't breathe as if he put on a CPAP.
[SPEAKER_00]: He had a collapsed lung, which there's a more scientific word.
[SPEAKER_00]: My wife could share with you, but I don't know.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a collapsed lung, couldn't breathe.
[SPEAKER_00]: He had to get a chest tube, chest tube, done where he had to get a second chest tube.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is over the series of, he's in there for total for two weeks.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I mean, the first, I don't know, three or four days.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was like, it wasn't, I mean, if we say it was a roller coaster, it was just like, the bottoms fall and out for four days roller coaster.
[SPEAKER_00]: And like, a little bit of like, maybe it's turning around.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was like day two, things seem to be getting better.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then something happened, which I don't even know what happened, but that's the day they had to put a second chest tube and it got extremely worse and I'm not to get too crazy, but it's like I saw my son like he turned purple and the doctor's like, and there's like, you guys need to leave.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, at that moment, we go to the whatever the room, you know, or staying in, and we're just, we're praying, and what else can you do?
[SPEAKER_00]: And if I'm honest, at that point, I'm, uh, I was upset with God.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just like, God, why would you allow this?
[SPEAKER_00]: Right again, faith is not like, well, God, I get to decide, but that was how I felt.
[SPEAKER_00]: God, like, I love you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've given up everything, my friends and family, back in Tucson, a job that I love back in Tucson, to go plant a church that I don't even know what's going to happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: These are my thoughts.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just being honest and vulnerable with you.
[SPEAKER_00]: God, why would you allow this to happen?
[SPEAKER_00]: My son who doesn't, he, he hasn't done anything like wrong, you know, like, why, Lord?
[SPEAKER_00]: And then at one point, I don't know if my friend he texts me or if I think he texts me first.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he's a friend who'd gone through something similar and his daughter was in the niki for like a month, so like double the time.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just felt like he could relate.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if you guys are like this, but sometimes people mean well, they have good intentions, but if they don't really understand, it's hard to receive, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And so he takes me like I'm praying for you and I just asked him I said dude, can I just ask you like honestly like were you angry with God?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because that's why I was he said yeah, it was the first I was angry That he would allow this to happen and for him it was his daughter He's like but then He's like I got over it essentially and realized that my daughter is his And he can do Whatever he wants
[SPEAKER_00]: Could that's what I know?
[SPEAKER_00]: I my god could do anything at this point And so he tells me he's like, well, what we did is we put on worship music in the hospital and And I'll tell you honestly that's the last thing I wanted to do In the hospital I was angry at God.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, I don't try and give him the silent treatment I want to talk to you right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know you're everywhere and you know my thoughts.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to talk to you
[SPEAKER_00]: And my friends, like, and he starts sending me these links, you know, of YouTube worship songs.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we just play it in the hospital room.
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, Judas being worked on and we can't do anything about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we just pray these worship songs.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I mean, I was on my knees and we're crying and praying and crying out to God.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I mean, part of my prayers is just, like, this is like the weirdest prayer, but it's like, God, if you're going to take him, like,
[SPEAKER_00]: And he's yours, but you gotta like do it now.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is me like letting go.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't do anything about what you want to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope you don't.
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope that he gets better and he did.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's alive and happy and you guys see him in a little bit.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you haven't ever seen him.
[SPEAKER_00]: But again, that's hard.
[SPEAKER_00]: God, like faith is God, what do you want?
[SPEAKER_00]: and I realize that that might require some things that I don't want to give up.
[SPEAKER_00]: You just think through the Bible, because we think, well, if I give my life to Jesus, I'm going to have protection from the enemy and things are going to be good.
[SPEAKER_00]: There is a protection from the enemy, but also at the same time, like God is asking for just a full hearted surrender, whatever you want.
[SPEAKER_00]: Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you want to take my son on this point, I mean, he is yours.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know that I can understand that your purposes are bigger than mine.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't understand how this would be in line with your will, but I don't know what you know God, your God.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know that might be extreme, but again, like faith isn't just like, God, I want you to do what I want.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you don't, well, then I don't have faith anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: Faith is trusting God.
[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever you have for me, where do you want me to go?
[SPEAKER_00]: What do you want to do?
[SPEAKER_00]: What does this look like in my life?
[SPEAKER_00]: It might mean moving somewhere that you don't want to move.
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, being like vulnerable, open, when we were thinking about Texas, just no fence, I love Texas now.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I didn't want to move to Texas, like Texas wouldn't, what good could come from Texas?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I'm sorry, it does.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, this my thought was like, dude, the mega churches of mega churches are in Texas.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, everybody knows about Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if they don't believe it, and that's their fault, because they've already heard the gospel.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's my like, limited.
[SPEAKER_00]: narrow minded perspective like everyone knows that's heard the gospel in Texas Why would I go there like you know and so that was my thought but then God starts to soften my heart and lead us as we're all our church planting team We're praying and where do you want us to go and he leads us here, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like God will God whatever you want that might be what God wants to do in your life move you somewhere We're like well, we can't move there We've got a life here well, maybe he wants to do some ministry in your life
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe he wants to work in just a lot simpler ways, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, it's just like good intentions.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, man, I should call that person.
[SPEAKER_00]: And like, that's the way he wants to work.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, yeah, go home and call that person.
[SPEAKER_00]: He got to put on your heart, text them.
[SPEAKER_00]: You'd be surprised.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I'm sure every one of us can say how we've been encouraged through someone else reaching out to text us.
[SPEAKER_00]: But how often do we reach out to others to encourage them?
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, I'm praying for you.
[SPEAKER_00]: and thinking about you today, especially if people are going through a hard thing, hey, I'm thinking about you and your family, I'm praying for you guys.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do that thing, even though you might feel awkward, weird, whatever, but God, hey, I'm available.
[SPEAKER_00]: What do you want?
[SPEAKER_00]: My life is yours.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can use me however you want.
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, we see with Peter he's just he's open, he's available to the Holy Spirit's working and as he's open and available, God does some incredible things.
[SPEAKER_00]: Things Peter wouldn't have saw how he stayed in Jerusalem.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean Peter seems some awesome stuff, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: The day of Pentecost and 3,000 people getting saved, that's amazing.
[SPEAKER_00]: A Peter wouldn't have saw this girl come back to life if you stayed in Jerusalem and has comforted Zone, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And what we'll see is, Peter's God's still working on Peter, too, by the way.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's still becoming the man that God wants them to be.
[SPEAKER_00]: A Peter, I think, is open now, whereas before when Jesus was with them, before the crucifixion and ascension,
[SPEAKER_00]: I think Peter was a little more close-minded.
[SPEAKER_00]: God, this is how you have to work.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is what you're supposed to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think Jesus is broadening his perspective of Peter.
[SPEAKER_00]: I got so much more than that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Verse 41, and we'll read the last few verses.
[SPEAKER_00]: Says any gave her his hand, raised her up, then calling the Saints and widows he presented her alive.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it became known throughout all Java and many believed in the Lord again.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the miracle's not the point.
[SPEAKER_00]: The miracle points to Jesus and many believed.
[SPEAKER_00]: And even this is an instance of if Peter hadn't gone with these people who have ever believed in Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I have to believe God would have raised up somebody else.
[SPEAKER_00]: But still, I just think we miss out on some of the fruit that God wants to bear through our lives because we're reluctant or we're, I don't know, we're rebellious, really.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if we just go, God would do some incredible things and it says verse 43, and this one's interesting.
[SPEAKER_00]: Does any state in Java for many days with one sign in a tanner?
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, this seems like just, I don't know, an odd little bit of information that doesn't really mean anything, but actually, I think means a lot more than we realize, because again, Peter's a man who's in process.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's still becoming the man that Jesus wants him to be like we're never fully there you understand right like God is always working on you when you feel like Okay, I'm not who I used to be but hopefully you're like mentalized, but I'm not who I I want to be fully yet God is always working on us amen
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, he has a degree like this happens like in my life, I used to do like drugs and alcohol once I repented of all that stuff.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like okay cool, but like I haven't become the man that God wants me to be and he still works in my life and then all of a sudden he starts to reveal like things like pride, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Where's like hey, and you got some pride things that you got to deal with and you need humility and God's always working on us, but here's the thing Peter's being worked on still even though he doesn't realize it.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it says he stayed in japa for many days.
[SPEAKER_00]: He stays there for a while.
[SPEAKER_00]: And who is he staying with?
[SPEAKER_00]: He stays with Simon at Tanner.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now I don't know all about this.
[SPEAKER_00]: And now this is not like a spray tan salon, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: Simon at the time is getting a spray tan.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's going on?
[SPEAKER_00]: Peter that's a little weird.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, like a Tanner handled dead bodies animal dead animals.
[SPEAKER_00]: There, and for a Jewish man, which Peter was,
[SPEAKER_00]: To go there, that would be unclean, I suppose we can say.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not just sanitary-wise, it would be against the law, the Bible, everything Peter knows.
[SPEAKER_00]: So again, this is God working on him where it's like all of a sudden, like now I think pre-resurrection,
[SPEAKER_00]: Peter, he was said, we can't go there, we can't stay in Japan, we can't go to that house with guy who's ceremonially unclean with all these dead animals and things that he does for his job, but here post-resurrection, Peter's open.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, he wouldn't have this opportunity had he stayed in Jerusalem, and so he's here.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's living in Simon's house for a while.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it was a few days a week, we don't really know.
[SPEAKER_00]: But something starting to change in Peter.
[SPEAKER_00]: This tells us something, because again, original Peter, he wouldn't, I don't think he would stay here.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was too prideful for that.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was too religious, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: But now he's open.
[SPEAKER_00]: to the workings of God, and now he doesn't know what's about to come because Peter doesn't know Acts chapter 10 is coming.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now if you guys know what it is, you understand if you don't guess you got to come back next week, but there's God's setting something up here.
[SPEAKER_00]: So again, Peter followed the opportunity.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's obedient, he's available, here I am God, used me and he heals in Jesus' name and many people come to believe in Jesus incredible it's awesome.
[SPEAKER_00]: But next week what we're going to see is that God starts to do some more work on Peter.
[SPEAKER_00]: Peter has a vision, right, a vision from God, where it's kind of like, okay, so we're, what is this?
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's another guy, Cornelius, who comes into this whole picture.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's a whole God moment, and we're God starting to break down Peter's walls of what he thinks is clean versus what is unclean.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's a whole thing of food, spoiler alert, I guess.
[SPEAKER_00]: But,
[SPEAKER_00]: If Peter had never been available to go, or a B-O-B-D-Int, he wouldn't see chapter 10 this vision from the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: He wouldn't continue to become the man that God was trying to create him to be.
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess what I want us to see a bit today is today's obedience, our openness, our availability is preparation for tomorrow's opportunity.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like today you reject God's voice or his opportunity or his leading.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just consider it's like you're also rejecting what he has for you tomorrow.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, like what if it's like he has something for you tomorrow and it requires your obedience today and you keep putting that thing off or you explain it away You try to just Push the conviction down But again God might be doing something in you today Because he wants to do something through you tomorrow But again, we must be Available God here I am Whatever you want
[SPEAKER_00]: We want me to say what you want me to do here I am, my life is yours and so we're going to wrap this up pretty quickly here if someone wants to text my wife, okay, cool, thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Usually I preach to like 11 o'clock, so this is unusual, what do we do with our time?
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyways, no, but maybe you guys today,
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know where you might be.
[SPEAKER_00]: You might be like me, I'm not ready.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know enough, but I just want to encourage you guys, be available because again, it's not about your ability.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like our inability almost makes it that much better because when God does come through, it's like, that wasn't me, that was God.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was Jesus, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, the miracle, the miraculous is a doorway to preach the message and to share Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so Peter, he's a man who's becoming, who got wants into Bees, becoming a man available, and Peter starts to see many miraculous things here.
[SPEAKER_00]: As he's going, as he's praying, as he's just being available.
[SPEAKER_00]: So with that said, we're going to pray.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to close in two songs of worship again.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is something a little bit new, but I want to encourage you guys as we do close in worship.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a time to reflect upon the things that God's stirring in your heart and your mind, what it might be.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a time to respond.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, God, here I am.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you've come in here today with a lot of just, I don't know, conviction or shame or guilt.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's just right now, as a moment, you can just come before God and just lay it down.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, God, I'm sorry.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry for who I was becoming.
[SPEAKER_00]: God, I want to be made new and you can come confess your sins to Jesus today.
[SPEAKER_00]: God, hey, I'm here.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am.
[SPEAKER_00]: It says, and if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness, which is good news for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so,
[SPEAKER_00]: As we close and worshiped, I just encourage you guys just to take time with the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to have communion here.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll pass that out if you're a believer here today.
[SPEAKER_00]: We invite you to join us.
[SPEAKER_00]: We take the bread.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a symbol of God's body.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus' body.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was broken for you.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus himself said, Do this in remembrance of me.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then he takes the cup like wise.
[SPEAKER_00]: He says, This is my blood that was poured out for you.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's the blood of the new covenant.
[SPEAKER_00]: And by his blood that we're healed, it's by his blood that we're made new.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I just encourage you guys to take a moment, take communion, reflect on what it means, reflect on what God might be stirring in your hearts here today or what he might be saying to you.
[SPEAKER_00]: And also don't just reflect, but respond.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because again, good intentions.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that's nice, but good intentions doesn't change anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so you might feel like, okay, I see what you're doing
[SPEAKER_00]: here today.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Father, we just come before you and we thank you for this time and your word.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for just the work you're doing in our lives Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we thank you God for for your sacrifice that's used gave you one only son Lord to die on the cross for our sins.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he became since that we might become his righteousness and that and we understand here today.
[SPEAKER_00]: God, we can be forgiven because of his death, burial and resurrection.
[SPEAKER_00]: And God, I just pray here today if there's anyone here who has not surrendered their life unto you.
[SPEAKER_00]: God, I just pray that you would give them the boldness and the courage to make that decision today.
[SPEAKER_00]: That they would stop running, that they'd stop making excuses, that they would stop pushing you away.
[SPEAKER_00]: God, but that's today.
[SPEAKER_00]: Each and every one of us, we could draw near to you, God, and that you, as your word says, you will draw near to us as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, meet us in this moment, have your way here today.
[SPEAKER_00]: And as we take communion, I just pray we could reflect and respond upon your call upon our life.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we pray this in Jesus' name, amen.