You Have Not Missed Out On Jesus

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Kids Class - Overflowing Joy

I have a question for you today: What is joy?
You’ll remember that we’ve talked about joy before and I wanted to look this morning about JOY
What are some things that people try to find JOY in?
Being Popular
Sports
Money
Stuff
The world tries to tell you that all of this stuff will give you joy.
But you know what, none of that will give you JOY.
*Illustration*
Do you remember what JOY Stands for?
Jesus First, Others Second, Yourself last!
John 15:11 ESV
11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
Romans 15:13 HCSB
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Intro

Have you ever felt like you missed out on a once in a lifetime opportunity?
I remember when I was younger my family had scored some tickets to the circus that was coming to town. I was so excited and I couldn’t wait to go, but the night before I got sick and I wasn’t able to go. So instead I had to watch my sister get to go have all the fun without me. I remember feeling devastated. It’s not everyday that the circus comes to town, and for me at the time I felt like I had missed out on something huge and I remember after my sister walked out the door to have more fun that I could possibly imagine that I curled up on the couch and cried.
I bet if we all tried hard enough we could probably all remember a time like that in our childhood, where the world seemed to be so much smaller than it is today and little things like going to the circus was all our minds could think about.
But the truth is that disappointment follows us into adulthood doesn’t it? I bet even as adults we can think of events that left us crushed and disappointed sometimes beyond what words can express.
Perhaps you made a bad financial decision and it left you and your families future uncertain.
Or you were passed over for that once in a lifetime job promotion.
Or maybe you worked so hard to accomplish a goal, and failed, and you know you’ll never have that opportunity again.
Maybe you messed up a relationship with s-omeone that you really cared for and were never able to make it right.
Now I don’t bring these things up this morning to depress you or to dig up something painful in your past, if you have gotten over those painful disappointments that’s great and if you are going through a major disappointment let me encourage you to keep pushing, the world us much bigger than what you can see right now.
Hearts heal, our pain fades, and we eventually find our way to enjoying life again.
But there is one relationship that if we don’t get right in our lives that we will never recover from.
There is one opportunity that if we miss out on, it is truly the tragedy of a lifetime.
And that is why we as followers of Christ carry with us a message that Christians have been carrying for 2,000 years. It’s a message that unfortunately some people have come to believe is annoying, or pushy, and even sometimes viewed as outdated.
But here is the truth. Christians share this message because we don’t want others to miss out on what Jesus can do for them.
So this morning we are going to discover how Christians in the first century went about changing people’s lives with the good news of the Gospel.

Setup the text

Our text this morning comes from Acts chapter 3.
But before we begin we should understand where we are in the story of the early church.
In Acts 1 we find the resurrected Jesus conversing with his apostles and telling them to go to Jerusalem and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, 10 days after Jesus ascended back to Heaven, the Holy Spirit comes upon Peter and the rest of the apostles and they begin to speak in tongues and Peter delivers a gospel sermon declaring that the Jesus whom that crucified is both Lord and Christ, and those who believed asked “What shall we do” and Peter told them to repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins and to receive the gift of the HS.
And Acts 2:41 tells us that those who recieved his word were baptized and the number of those who were added to the church that day were about 3,000 souls!
So the church is off to a great start, the last few verses of Acts 2 lets us know that the community of Christ followers were devoting themselves to the apostles teaching, that they were selling their possessions and had all things in common, that they broke bread together day by day in their homes and had glad and generous hearts.
And that the Lord was adding people daily to the number of believers.
In short, the church is exploding in popularity, wonders and signs are being done by the apostles, and the christian community is happy, growing, and has not yet encountered much resistance that we read of.
So that brings us to Acts chapter 3
SLIDE TO TEXT
Acts 3:1–4 ESV
1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. 3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.”

We See You

The first point I would like to make from today’s text is that Christians See those in need.
Or at least, we should see those in need.
When we look at verses 1-4 we discover Luke trying to paint us a picture of something that I bet we are all pretty familiar with even to this day.
Peter and John are on their way to the temple likely to teach about Christ during one of the busiest times of the day, the hour of prayer. So essentially they are going to work right? They’re job was to teach the gospel according to the great commission passages so it makes sense that they would go somewhere where they could do that to a large group of people.
And on the way they come across a lame man, someone who we will learn later in chapter 4 and verse 22 was more than 40 years old. He had been lame a while, and we will also learn in v. 10 that he had been begging there for some time because all the people recognized him as the man who sat at the beautiful gate of the temple begging for money.
And so as Peter and John are walking to work, passing the beautiful gate of the temple about which the Jewish historian Josephus wrote was worth more than all the other gates as it was fashioned out of Corinthian Bronze and apparently very much lived up to its name as beautiful.
And set against this beautiful backdrop is one of the saddest sights that people can see. A poor man who has been lame all his life, unable to provide for himself, apparently without family to support him, relying on total strangers to supply his daily needs through charity.
Now I said earlier that we are all pretty familiar with a picture like this, and while we have never been able to see the Temple complex in all it’s splendor, this is a scene we are all familiar with isn’t it?
I remember when I worked in OKC it was almost every day I would pass by someone who was at an intersection asking for money, often times with the backdrop of some pretty magnificent buildings there in the background.
And when we come across a situation like that it kind of makes us feel uncomfortable doesn’t it? In fact often times it is difficult to look at those people so we keep our heads straight and try to ignore them, pretend like they aren’t there.
I’m telling you this morning, that is not at all different than how beggars have been treated all throughout history. How many people walked right past this lame man as they went to worship God every day without so much as a word? How had this mans dignity and humanity been taken from him to the degree that the text implies that he wouldn’t even look at people as they passed by, but I could imagine would hang his head low and ask for help fully expecting most people to ignore him.
But that was not the case with Peter and John.
The text says in v. 4 that Peter directed his gaze at him.
The KJV says it better I think when it says that he “Fastened his eyes on him.”
You know what that tells me, Peter saw this man.
No I don’t mean that he observed him with his eyesight, what I mean is that Peter SAW him for who he was, a precious soul created by God who had been stuck in a bad situation, and was in desperate need.
And church, that shouldn’t surprise us, because
as Christians we are called to be different from the world.
We proclaim to be followers of the one who ate with sinners and tax collectors, who touched the untouchable, who had compassion on the social outcasts.
Christians are to see and provide for those in need. And Peter and John fully intend on doing that here in front of the temple.
So Peter demands his attention.
[Slide]

We Carry with us a message worth far more than Gold or Silver

All too often in this world we think that money solves everything don’t we?
The government believes it can just throw money at a problem and that will solve it.
But there are some problems that cannot be solved with money.
Among those of course is incurable disease.
And Peter tells them man, I don’t have money, but I have something worth far more.
Can you imagine the roller coaster of emotion for the lame man in this moment?
He’s gone from despair, to expecting money from them, to hearing that they don’t have money.
Peter uses the power of the name of Jesus Christ to command the man to rise up and walk.
Do we truly believe that the message we carry is worth more than Gold or Silver? We should!
Romans 1:16–17 ESV
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Philippians 3:8 ESV
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
We as Christians know that the Gospel message is worth more than silver and Gold because it is the only cure for sin and death.
[SLIDE]
And so with that knowledge, knowing the value and the power of the gospel, we See the needs of others to receive that gift of Grace and we reach out to lift you up to walk with us who have accepted it.
[Slide]

We Want to lift you up to walk with us. v7-10

1 Corinthians 6:9 ESV
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,
1 Peter 2:9 ESV
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Conclusion

There’s one last thing I’d like to say about the lame man that was healed here in Acts 3. And I’d like to begin the thought with a question.
WHERE WAS HE DURING THE MINISTRY OF JESUS?
Was he trying desperately to get to Jesus while news of healing was going on? Could he not find anyone willing to reach out a hand to help him to Jesus?
Maybe that is you this morning? Maybe you feel as though you have missed out on Jesus.
2 Corinthians 6:2 ESV
2 For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Don’t miss out on Jesus.
Repent of your sins, Confess him as Lord before men, and be baptized, immersed in water for the forgiveness of your sins.
If you haven’t done that, we are here for you. It doesn’t matter your past, it doesn’t matter what situation you find yourself in presently, we see you for who you are, a precious soul in the eyes of God and we know you are in need of his grace and mercy. Let Christ lift you up and won’t you walk with us as we follow Christ together.
Matthew 21:14 ESV
14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.
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