Our Greatest Need

Planning

Passage

Acts 3:1–4:4 NIV

1 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. 11 While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 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. 17 “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22 For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’ 24 “Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days. 25 And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ 26 When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.” 1 The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 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.

Passage structure

Acts 3:1-10 - Peter heals a lame beggar

Acts 3:11-26 - Peter speaks to the onlookers

vv. 11-16 - Jesus’ glory

vv. 17-20 - Repent! And benefits

vv. 21-26 - This was all foretold in the prophets (also v. 18) and Abraham

Acts 4:1-4 - The results: imprisonment and conversions

Big stuff

Big idea: Our biggest need is life in Christ.

Fallen condition focus: We think other needs are more important.

Good news statement: God has addressed our biggest need by giving us Jesus and the opportunity to repent.

Big question: How does God address my biggest need?

Sermon structure

Intro

(1 Kings 3:5 “5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”” ) God asking Solomon

What would you say?

The difficulty of telling someone what is their greatest need in this culture

1, Temporary needs

Beggar’s temporary needs (Acts 3:1-2)

God meets these needs (Acts 3:3-10)

Important but not the greatest

Sometimes God doesn’t heal the lame (Mephibosheth) or the sick (our own experience)

We’ll see that Peter doesn’t focus on healing and offer further healing, but speaks to something even greater

We should work hard to meet these needs and meet the needs of others (Matt 6:1-4; Gal 6:2; Jas 1:27).

But keep in mind our greatest need… What is that?

2, Spiritual needs

Peter’s speech: You need Jesus.

Jesus is powerful (Acts 3:11-16)

v. 12 - Not Peter and John’s power

vv. 13-15 - Power in the resurrection

v. 15 - Power in Jesus being the author of life

v. 16 - Power in healing the lame man

Repent and have your greatest needs met in Jesus (Acts 3:17-21a)

v. 19 - Wiping out of sins

v. 19 - Times of refreshing

vv. 20-21 - Jesus’ return and full restoration

This was foretold. You should know this. (Acts 3:21b-26)

vv. 21b, 24-25a - prophet

vv. 22-23 - Moses in Deut 18:15-19

vv. 25b - Abraham in Gen 22:18; 26:4

Peter’s speech is interrupted. (Acts 4:1-4)

When we proclaim such a great message, there will sometimes be opposition (jail in 4:3) and fruit (conversions in 4:4)

3, Your needs

How do you prioritise your needs? Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Temporary needs and spiritual needs - which is greater?

All important

But the spiritual need is the most important

Thirst compared to eternal life

Challenge to the non-Christian - trust in Jesus

Challenge to the Christian - keep things in perspective

A, Be thankful that God has met your greatest need in Jesus

When life is tumbling down, you can still know things will be okay because of Jesus

B, Value other needs

Against the extreme view that spiritual needs are all that matter / people in secular work are second-class Christians

Lame beggar

(Matthew 25:31-46) Giving to the hungry/thirsty/estranged/needy/imprisoned brother or sister is giving to Jesus

C, Prioritise needs

Against the view that temporary needs matter most

Mission of the church

Peter’s priority

Two dangers: focussing just on temporary or focussing just on spiritual needs

We try to meet all these needs by being different members of the one body

Acts 4:33–35 “33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.”

Acts 6:1–4 “1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.””

Remember that Jesus is people’s greatest need

Doesn’t mean that everyone should become a pastor or missionary

But it might mean that some of us consider it for ourselves

It means that we should be thinking about how we can meet this need of others

Conclusion

What is your greatest need? Jesus

What is your friend’s/relative’s/colleague’s/etc greatest need? Jesus

We do our best to meet people’s needs, whatever they are.

But let’s keep in mind their greatest need. Let’s keep proclaiming Jesus.

Sermon

Intro

In my personal Bible reading, I’m going through the book of 1 Kings.

And in chapter 3, God speaks to King Solomon.

God says to Solomon, “Ask for whatever you want me to give to you.”

“Ask for whatever you want me to give to you.”

What would you say if God said that to you?

If God promised to give you anything, what would it be? [pause]

If you’re the type to write things down during the sermon, you might want to write your answer to that question.

Because your answer to that question might reveal something about you.

Maybe it simply shows what you really want.

But I suspect your answer tells you what you believe to be your greatest need.

What is your greatest need?

Happiness?

Love?

Reconciliation in a broken relationship?

Stability in life?

I’ll be preaching from Acts 3 and the start of Acts 4.

And I’m going to try to persuade us that the passage shows us that Jesus is our greatest need.

Jesus is our greatest need.

And I recognise that some of us are already on board with that.

But others aren’t.

Our culture tells us that each person decides for themselves what their needs are.

“Who’s Martin to tell me what I need? I know myself best!”

If you’re thinking like that, I’m humbly asking you to bear with for a few minutes.

To keep an open mind.

If you disagree with me at the end of the sermon, I won’t be offended.

But perhaps you might see there’s a lot of truth in this passage.

Truth that challenges our current way of thinking.

Truth that’s actually good for us to hear.

I’ve structured the sermon under three headings.

Temporary needs.

Spiritual needs.

Your needs.

Temporary needs.

Spiritual needs.

Your needs.

Let’s get into the first part.

1, Temporary needs

Part 1, temporary needs.

Last week, we looked at Acts 2.

And we saw a momentous, life-changing, world-shaping moment.

The pouring out of the Holy Spirit.

The pouring out of the Spirit was accompanied by miracles.

The sound of violent wind.

The sight of fire resting on people.

Speech in many different languages.

Peter explained these miracles by saying these are signs showing we’re in the last days.

In these last days, anyone who calls on the name of Jesus is saved.

He uses these miracles to point them to Jesus.

The chapter end with a positive picture of the early church.

The church is growing!

People are becoming Christian.

And they’re caring for each other.

They gave to anyone in need.

So as we come to chapter 3, we have expectation of more growth.

More people hearing the gospel and turning to Jesus.

But the start of chapter 3, that’s not what we see straight away.

No, we see a man who has temporary needs.

And when I say “temporary”, all I mean is that those needs don’t last forever.

They’re true in the moment.

And when I say “temporary”, I’m not saying it’s unimportant.

As we’ll see with the man in this passage, his temporary needs are very important.

So what are this man’s temporary needs?

Well he’s been lame from birth.

He needs help getting to places.

If he wants to go somewhere, he needs to be carried.

And because he can’t move properly, he needs to beg.

Begging is how he gets his basic needs met.

Let’s read about this lame beggar in the first two verses.

Acts 3:1-2.

Acts 3:1–2 NIV

1 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.

These are temporary needs.

But they’re important needs.

And we see in this passage that God meets these needs.

Peter is one of Jesus’ apostles.

He’s got nothing special by his own efforts.

But he’s sent by Jesus.

He’s got the Holy Spirit.

And by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus, he does the miraculous!

He heals this man who has been lame from birth and the man goes around walking and jumping and praising God!

Let’s read about this in verses 3 to 10.

Verses 3 to 10.

Acts 3:3–10 NIV

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.

What does this miracle tell us about temporary needs?

Our physical needs, our financial needs, all our needs associated with our life here on earth?

Well it shows us that God cares.

God cared about this man.

He healed this man.

And that man rightly responded by praising God.

Our temporary needs are important.

Our basic needs for food and drink, our social needs, our financial needs... they’re important.

That’s why we see throughout the Bible that Christians are commanded to meet these needs.

Jesus speaks about giving to the needy in Matthew 6.

Paul tells us to carry each other’s burdens in Galatians 6.

Last week in chapter 2 verse 45…

Acts 2:45 “45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”

Our temporary needs are important.

But I think we also see that they’re not the greatest needs.

How do we see that?

Well the first clue is in who God is and what he does.

God is perfectly caring and loving, so of course he will meet our greatest needs.

So when we see some needs not being met, they must not be the most important ones.

That might be a bit confusing, so let’s look at an example.

God healed the lame person in Acts 3, but he doesn’t always heal lame people.

Sometimes God does heal the sick.

But he doesn’t always.

These physical needs are important.

But they’re not the most important.

And the other clue we see is what Peter talks about in the rest of the passage.

Peter starts talking to everyone who’s seen this miracle.

If these temporary needs were the most important, that’s what he’d talk about.

If healing was what people needed, that’s what he would offer.

But there are things that are more important.

There are greater needs.

Greater needs that Peter speaks about to the crowd.

We’re at part 2.

2, Spiritual needs

Spiritual needs.

In our passage, everyone who saw the miracle is astonished.

They don’t know how to understand what just happened.

So they go to Peter to get an explanation.

Peter doesn’t tell them to come for more healing.

He uses this opportunity to give a speech.

There’s a lot in the speech that’s similar to the Acts 2 speech.

In Acts 2, Peter explained the miracles but he didn’t focus on them.

He used the miracles to point people to Jesus.

In Acts 3, Peter does the same thing.

He explains the miracle of the man being healed.

But he doesn’t focus on that.

He uses the miracle to point people to Jesus.

It’s quite a dense speech, but the short summary of it is this:

You need Jesus.

Peter takes this opportunity to tell them they need Jesus.

And he does that first by talking about Jesus’ power.

The healing didn’t come from Peter’s power.

It came from Jesus.

Jesus, who was killed but raised to life in great power and glory.

Jesus, who Peter describes as the author of life; that’s clearly someone powerful.

The healing came powerfully from the name of Jesus and having faith in Jesus.

Jesus is powerful.

Let’s read verses 11 to 16 and behold Jesus’ power.

Verses 11 to 16.

Acts 3:11–16 NIV

11 While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 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.

Peter has shown them how great Jesus is.

But he doesn’t stop there.

He calls on them to repent.

To turn away from living their sinful ways and to living God’s way.

He’s telling them to repent and to have their greatest needs met in Jesus.

This call to repentance is in verses 17 to 21.

I’ll read that for us now.

And while I read it, try to figure out what needs Peter is speaking to.

They are spiritual needs.

And Peter explains how these needs are met.

There are three results, three benefits that come from repentance.

Let’s read verses 17 to 21.

Acts 3:17–21 NIV

17 “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.

Did you catch it?

The three benefits were in verses 19 to 21.

I think verses 19 to 21 are the most important verses in our passage. [Don’t read - only here for the slide)]

Acts 3:19–21 NIV

19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.

Let’s look at what they have to say.

There are three results of repentance.

Three benefits of turning away from their sinful living and living for God instead.

In the middle of verse 19, repentance leads to the wiping out of our sins. [next slide]

And that’s astounding when you think about it.

Sins refer to all the wrong things people have done.

All the lies, selfish thoughts, angry words, sexual immorality...

And the guilt associated with these sins.

Peter is promising that repentance leads to these sins being wiped away!

It’s an amazing promise.

And it’s a true promise because it’s based on Jesus.

Jesus, as the perfectly righteous person… Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for our sins.

He was humanity’s substitute.

So repentance, trusting in Jesus, means that our sins are wiped out.

We’re clean.

We’re declared righteous.

That’s the first benefit of repentance.

The second benefit is also in verse 19. [next slide]

Repentance leads to times of refreshing.

Peter doesn’t explain this in lots of detail.

But basically, he’s saying that being a Christian isn’t only good for the new creation.

It’s good for our ongoing lives.

Life will still be hard, but there will be many times of refreshment.

Times when we’re reminded of God’s goodness, when we’re thankful for his work in our lives, when his people express care for one another...

Times of refreshment.

And the third result is in verse 20, which is explained in verse 21. [next slide]

It’s restoration.

In God’s plan, he has called people to repent.

And in God’s plan, there will be a day when he sends Jesus again.

It’s the second coming of Jesus.

It’s the day sometimes called Judgement Day.

But Peter’s focus isn’t on judgement.

It’s restoration.

We could call that day Restoration Day!

That’s in verse 21.

When Jesus returns, God will restore everything.

Sin will be removed forever.

All pain, all suffering, all grief, all death will be absent.

It will be God’s people with God in glory forever.

And of course, that’s all because of Jesus.

How can a sinful person be with God forever?

Only by having their sins wiped away on the cross.

Only by repenting and trusting in Jesus.

So three results of repentance.

Because people have spiritual needs.

They need their sin dealt with, they need refreshment, and they need hope of a time when everything will be restored.

Those needs are all met in Jesus.

And Peter says that these things shouldn’t be surprising for the Israelites.

It was all foretold in the Scriptures.

In God’s promise to Abraham, in Moses’ words, and in the words of the other prophets.

Peter tells them this was all foretold in verses 21 to 26.

Let’s read Acts 3:21-26.

Acts 3:21–26 NIV

21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22 For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’ 24 “Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days. 25 And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ 26 When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

Well Peter’s preaching the gospel.

And what happens next is broadly speaking what sometimes happens whenever the gospel is preached.

Broadly speaking, some people don’t like hearing it.

Specifically, in this passage, the Jewish leaders don’t like hearing it.

Some of the Jewish leaders are called Sadducees and they don’t believe in the resurrection.

But Peter and John are proclaiming the resurrection.

So they take Peter and John and put them in prison.

Their story will be continued next Sunday.

When the gospel is preached, broadly speaking, sometimes people respond in faith.

Specifically, in this passage, lots of people believed their message.

Lots of people see they need Jesus and turn to him.

Let’s see these two polar opposites to the gospel.

Both rejection and acceptance.

Acts 4:1-4.

Acts 4:1–4 NIV

1 The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 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.

And so we’ve come to the end of the passage.

What have we seen so far?

We’ve seen the lame beggar’s temporary needs.

God cares about those needs and meets those needs.

But there’s a bigger focus in the passage.

Spiritual needs.

That’s what Peter speaks about.

They need Jesus.

Repentance and trusting in Jesus means sins wiped out, times of refreshing, and ultimate restoration.

So what does that mean for us?

We’re at part 3.

3, Your needs

Your needs.

When you think about your needs, how do you prioritise them?

How do you figure out what’s most important?

Perhaps you go to what’s on your mind the most.

Maybe you think it’s what everyone else says you need.

I’ve been saying from today’s passage that our spiritual needs are greater than our temporary needs.

Our need for Jesus is our greatest need.

But what does that actually mean?

I think a comparison might be helpful.

I have here a bottle of water.

Everyone agrees that you need water.

If you don’t drink water, you’re be thirsty.

You’ll be lethargic.

Eventually, if you still don’t drink water, you’ll be dead.

You need water.

I don’t have a good prop for Jesus.

We’re told not to make idols.

I’ll just go with holding my Bible for now.

The Bible tells us about Jesus.

Christians all agree that we need Jesus.

He’s the only way to God.

He’s the only way to eternal life.

Which need is greater?

Water or Jesus?

On one hand, you might say, “they’re all important!”.

And that’s a valid response.

We need both water and Jesus.

My faith in Jesus doesn’t suddenly mean that I’m never thirsty.

And as I look after my family, I encourage them to keep trusting in Jesus.

AND I make sure they have enough food and drink.

Water and Jesus.

They’re all important.

But let’s think about what happens if we only had one.

If I was stranded on a desert island with no drinkable water, but I still had faith in Jesus, what would happen?

Well without drinkable water, I’d die of thirst.

That would be tragic.

Maybe my death would get in the Canberra Times.

“Presbyterian pastor dies of thirst for a sermon illustration.”

But I wouldn’t just die of thirst.

I would go to heaven to be with Jesus.

And when Judgement Day comes, when the time for the whole world to be restored, I know that I will be with Jesus and his people forever.

It’ll be great!

That’s what happens if I don’t have water but I have Jesus.

What about the other way around?

What if I have water, but I don’t trust in Jesus?

If I have water, I’ll keep living my life.

Hopefully I’ll live a long, happy life with a happy family and good friends.

But eventually, I’ll die.

And if I don’t trust in Jesus, then my sins haven’t been wiped out.

I will be judged rightly by Jesus.

He will see that I have turned my back on God.

My guilt will be laid out before me.

And I’ll get what I deserve.

Eternity separated from God’s good presence.

Water or Jesus… which do we need more?

I hope it’s clear.

They’re both important.

But only with Jesus will we have eternal life.

And you could do that by comparing Jesus to any other need as well.

Our needs are important.

But only with Jesus will we have eternal life.

Our greatest need is Jesus.

So if you’re someone who doesn’t trust in Jesus at the moment, maybe now’s the time.

You need Jesus, just like all of us.

Perhaps your need for Jesus doesn’t feel that urgent.

Perhaps you feel like you have heaps of time to look into Christianity.

Aside from the fact that you don’t know what you’ll die or when Jesus will return...

Jesus is your greatest need.

I greatly encourage you to keep investigating.

Keep coming to church.

Feel free to ask me or your Christian friends or others here about what we believe.

Look into the Bible yourself.

I hope that one day you will follow what Peter said in his speech.

That you will repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come, and that God may send Jesus, the Messiah, to restore the everything.

And what if you’re already a Christian?

What if you’ve already repented?

Well the main thing for us is to keep needs in perspective.

Keep needs in perspective.

What does that mean?

Well it covers a lot of things actually.

But let’s quickly focus on three things.

Firstly, we can be thankful that God has met our greatest need in Jesus.

Be thankful that God has met our greatest need in Jesus.

There are often times when some of our temporary needs aren’t met.

When we’re hungry or thirsty.

When we’re feeling alone.

When work sucks.

Family life is difficulty.

Suffering happens.

In these times, we do our best to meet these needs.

It’s appropriate to grieve and to ask God for help.

At the same time, how do we keep going?

We remember that God forgiven our sins because of Jesus.

God has given us eternal life because of Jesus.

Gratitude helps us to keep things in perspective.

Thanking God for Jesus helps us to keep trusting him rather than doubting his goodness.

Let’s be thankful that God has met our greatest need in Jesus.

Secondly, value temporary needs.

Value temporary needs.

It’s possible for someone to hear that our greatest need is our need for Jesus… (that’s correct)

And to jump to the incorrect conclusion that all other needs are unimportant.

It’s possible for someone to hear that the greatest need of their friends and family is Jesus… (that’s correct)

And to feel like they’re a second-class Christian if their full-time job isn’t speaking about Jesus all the time.

I don’t want anyone to feel like they’re a second-class Christian if they’re not in full-time ministry.

The way to address those incorrect conclusions is to see that temporary needs still matter a lot.

We saw it in Peter healing the lame beggar.

We saw it at the end of last week’s passage and we’ll see it next week, when the early church cared for people’s temporary needs.

We see it throughout the Bible.

Temporary needs might not be the greatest need.

But they’re still important.

And we should still try to meet them.

And I’m so thankful that this is happening at church.

I see home groups providing meals for those who are sick or have just had a baby.

I see people help out exhausted parents by babysitting or picking up their kids at school.

I love that we have a care team, led by Adrian and Vicki, who work hard to help people in crises and chronic conditions.

Let’s keep valuing these temporary needs.

Let’s keep working hard to care for others in all sorts of ways.

And just as a bit of a side note...

I do sometimes hear people say they wish they got more help from the church.

And some of these people aren’t part of a home group, which is often where this sort of help happens.

Some of these people haven’t voiced their needs to others.

If you are in need, I do encourage you to join a home group.

You can do so by chatting with me or Tim,

and we’ll also put up a slide at the end of the service which shows you a form that you can fill in.

And I do encourage you to tell people about your needs.

That can be hard to do.

But we’re hear to help each other.

Our needs matter.

So please help us help you by letting us know your needs.

Temporary needs matter.

That’s the second point.

The third and final point is to prioritise people’s greatest need.

Prioritise the greatest need.

We’ve seen that everyone’s greatest need is Jesus.

It’s only through Jesus that our sins are forgiven and we have eternal life.

But talking about Jesus can feel slow.

Church life can feel mundane.

And sometimes there are things that feel more urgent.

Or we might feel like we’re overwhelmed with so many possible things we could be doing.

In our passage, Peter took this opportunity to address people’s greatest need.

It’s Jesus.

And we’ll see in our Acts series that the early church did quite well to meet people’s temporary needs while making Jesus the centre of its mission.

That’s why Jesus is the centre of our mission too.

New Life Presbyterian’s mission statement is to make and grow disciples of Jesus Christ, who are living proof of a loving God, to a watching world.

It’s important for us as individual Christians to remember that Jesus is people’s greatest need too.

What does that look like?

Well for the Christian who’s working, it could look like working hard at your job AND sharing Jesus with your colleagues.

For the parent, it means providing for your child’s physical, emotional, and social needs AND doing your best to grow them as a follower of Jesus.

For the retired person, it might mean using your spare time to teach at New Life Kids or to read the Bible with a friend.

For the high school student, it might mean inviting a friend to youth group or church.

For a small number of us, it might even mean dedicating your Monday to Friday, your 9 to 5, not to regular work (which is good), but to speaking about Jesus.

That could mean being trained through an apprenticeship, going to Bible college, and serving in full-time ministry.

Conclusion

We’re all different people gifted in different ways.

So let’s prioritise the greatest need.

Jesus is my greatest need.

Jesus is your greatest need.

Jesus is the greatest need of our friends, our relatives, our colleagues, and everyone we meet.

So we do our best to meet people’s needs, whatever they are.

But we remember their need for Jesus is the greatest.

Let’s keep proclaiming Jesus.

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you that you are a God who cares for us.

Thank you that you care for our temporary needs. And thank you that you give us opportunities to express that care to others. Help us to love those around us.

Thank you that you meet our greatest need in Jesus. Thank you that you forgive our sins because Jesus died on the cross. Thank you that we have eternal life because of him. So help us to keep trusting in him.

Help us to share him with others, that they too may have eternal life.

In Jesus’ name, Amen