Along the Way
Notes
Transcript
Review ALL IN season. Purpose for the series: how where we are as The Shed is where they were then…
Review Last Sermon: Who is your Barnabas?
This week: After the confirmation of Saul’s conversion, we get a look back at Peter’s ministry as he continues along his path..
31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.
32 Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda.
33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed.
34 Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed.” Immediately he got up.
35 And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.
36 Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did.
37 And it happened at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upper room.
38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, imploring him, “Do not delay in coming to us.”
39 So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them.
40 But Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.
41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.
42 It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.
43 And Peter stayed many days in Joppa with a tanner named Simon.
Title: Along the Way | Pray
The power in these passages is not just found in the two listed miracles, but in the timing of those miracles… The context…
Contextualize where this passage sits in the narrative:
- After the impact made by the entry of the Church through the outpouring in Acts 2 and Acts 4.
- After the persecution led by Saul, the stoning of Stephen, and Saul’s conversion in the verses just previous to this
-But before one of the largest shifts in the narrative of the 1st century church which takes place in the next chapters… (expound)
Here again, I find connection in this passage with where The Shed is now… in a time between shifts… (Explain feeling of upcoming shift)
Not only is this set of verses framed in a textual in-between, but Peter himself geographically is also set out in a path between destinations…
Be begins in Jerusalem, then goes on to Lydda…
33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed.
34 Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed.” Immediately he got up.
35 And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.
Along the way God shows up in power for healing and transformation…
Then Peter is called on by the other disciples to Joppa for a woman whose name means Gazelle… (Luke translates it for Theopolus in v. 36) (Tabitha vs Dorcas)
She was sick and died and they laid her body in an upper room…
Upper room…
Along the way…
What I find significant in these two miracles is that neither was Peter’s destiny…
Sometimes I think we are waiting to arrive at some destination before we start what God has put on our hearts…
Neither Lydda nor Joppa was Peter’s destiny…
Neither the lame man Aeneas nor the dead woman Tabitha was Peter’s destiny…
In fact, Peter’s destiny is still unfolding. A major part of it happens in the next two chapters, yet Peter is performing miracles, traveling, and preaching…
No Lydda was not the final destination, yet he ministered there…
No Joppa was not the final destination, yet he stayed a while and ministered there…
No your job may not be your final destination, yet you’re called to minister there…
Teenagers, your school may not be your final destination, yet you’re called to minister there…
Let’s get out of this mindset that there is some grand destination we have to arrive at before we begin what God has called us to…
Not only that, but let’s get out of the flip side of that mindset that somehow we have accomplished what God set us out to do and now we are just waiting on heaven…
Peter still had another destination… He had another calling… He had another chapter, yet he ministered where he was!
Later Peter writes this:
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
What he’s saying is what he lived… Each of you is a minister of God… a priest for those around you…
And just like he lived in these passages, you don’t have to have a title bestowed on you, neither do you ever graduate from this calling…
As you follow the the path God lays out before you…
ALONG THE WAY…
Minister where you are!
In a busy world, we often have our heads down, where it’s easy to miss the opportunities we have to minister where we are…
Peter could have walked right by the lame man in Lydda…
He could’ve dismissed the opportunity to raise the dead in Joppa…
Just like we so often walk right by or dismiss altogether our ministry opportunities…
This isn’t obligation, it’s opportunity!
This is what it looks like to minister along the way…
Don’t miss what God has put right in front of you…
Altar Call
Along the Way
Along the Way
