The Ministry at the Gate
Notes
Transcript
Ministry is where people are!
Ministry is where people are!
Some questions to launch today:
Do we do “ministry” this building?
Do we do “ministry” in our homes?
Does “ministry” happen when we are away from this building and away from our homes?
I hope that each of you in your individual context is doing ministry of some kind away from this building and your home.
Question: “I’m to old, what can I do?”
Pray for me, pray for those in our church who are doing ministry outside our walls, our city, our state, our nation and our world is a VITAL part of the overall ministry of the church
Question: “I’m NOT going out knocking on doors and inviting people to church.
“I’m not either… But I want people that I engage with in conversation, to know that I live my life differently.
I don’t act like the world, I don’t talk like the world and I have something more to offer than the world.
Question: “I don’t know what to say? Or how to say it.
If you were with us last week here is a place to start. Speak the Gospel with as few words as possible… let people see how you are different, how you handle what the world sends you differently, how you treat others, then.... then.... tell them that you follow Jesus and that’s why your different.
Why do you follow Jesus?
I’d tell them my 30 second reason.
“I grew up in a single parent household after my Mom died. My life was chaotic and I stumbled through high school. When I got to college the chaos and the no-limits of my childhood really impacted me.
It was a crazy time in my life. At a point during college it was time to move beyond that life.
I met Jill, got married and accepted Christ as the leader and savior of my life.
I want to represent Jesus to my world in relationships with others.
(Then as Act 2:46-47 says,” Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. )
Remember you are NOT doing this alone. It is our job to eat together, they were glad and sincere in their joy, they ate and had fun together.
You would be praising God for the opportunity to share a meal and “show” what it means to be a follower of Jesus, with your words only when it is necessary.
“And the Lord added to their number daily, those who were being saved.” Stay in your lane… Let God do His work after you have opened the door with your “work.”
Peter and John
They paired up to do ministry, The apostles, disciples all paired up to do ministry. They were sent out 2X2. Where one is weak the other will be strong.
It’s hard being a lone ranger and doing ministry in the world today.
I am very thankful for my Elder Board, my wife, and people all around this church who have stepped and come along side each other to do ministry.
1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon.
Peter and John still went to temple? Yes they did, to pray to associate with others. It was not their goal to drive Jews away from the Temple.
As the disciples spent time teaching about Jesus, breaking bread and sharing all they had… the Jews would have gradually no longer needed to go to temple. Understanding that the Temple of God dwells in each believer.
You are a Temple of God! The Spirit dwells in you, you invited Jesus into your heart and God is Father of all and in all. Everything in the Temple is in you.
2 Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.
3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.
Raise your hand if you ever been asked for money on a street corner, been asked for “gas money,” been told that a baby is hungry, been told that someone was cold, always just needing a little bit of change, if you could spare. inevitably the person always say, “God Bless You.”
This crippled man was probably crippled from birth and had never walked. The only way this man would eat would be to beg.
This is the point where I usually have a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde moment
One half of my brain says, “they are just going to go buy meth or heroin and I’m not going to be a part of that.”
The other half says, Jesus command to us was not to discover the who, what, where and why of the beggar but to simply give out of our abundance and generosity.
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 have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
So a miracle was happening… in the last couple of weeks we have talked about miracles. These kinds of miracles, the kinds of miracles that would make the front page of the paper and would make social media quake.
And they would mean absolutely NOTHING to us today. Immediately on facebook, snapchat, Marco-Polo, Tiktok and whatever else is popular for communication, this MIRACLE would be pushed down, marginalized and defeated. It would be made out to be a crooked man and his friends to faked this.
That’s the what and they why of the sign gifts in our world. We have become so jaded to them, we doubt everything and think that miracles like these are FAKE!
Go to V.9
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.
The people that saw him were filled with wonder, “how did that happen, it’s a miracle and amazement, “This is the power of God that rests with these two, Peter and John.
The sign gifts being used as God gave them to draw others towards a redemptive relationship with Jesus. That’s what all of the gifts were given for, we just can’t get that right.
V.12
12 Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. “People of Israel,” he said, “what is so surprising about this? And why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness?
Peter knew what the “People of Israel” were thinking, that didn’t take a spiritual giant. Peter, pointed the power back to where it came from.
He didn’t say, I’ve healed this man... send me millions and I’ll heal you too.
Here is what he said about God and His son Jesus
Vs. 13-16
13 For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of all our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him.
14 You rejected this holy, righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer.
15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact!
16 “Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes.
Listen up Jews… you killed the author of life, but God raised him up. Jesus acts as the last sacrifice, The once for all sacrifice.
This Jesus, the messiah has beat death and defeated satan.
Lots of Questions this week:
Do you have faith in the name of Jesus?
Do you really have faith in the name of Jesus?
Do you really believe that he can do everything that he says he can do.
Do you believe he changed water into wine?
Make the blind man see?
Make the lame to walk?
Do you believe that 5,000 and then 3,000 were fed?
Do you believe that He walked on water?
Do you believe that he healed a woman who touch the hem of his garment?
I could go on and on about the miracles and signs that are recorded as John 21:25 says
25 Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.
Peter says it; By Faith in the name of Jesus… this man was made strong. It’s Jesus name and faith that has given this man complete healing!
Do you have enough faith to see through our 21st century hazy lens to see God healing in miraculous ways? Do you see God when miracles happen? Or do you look for another explanation.
That is a TOUGH question, I wrestle with it all the time, I’m convicted at times of my skeptical ways and I’m in awe of how he works in others.
I’m in awe of the provision that He has given us in Science, medicine, nursing, physical and occupational therapy and laboratory sciences to heal people.
Even though people who have no connection to God give their whole being, their heads, hearts and hands to this work of healing and thrive in these environments,
God is the one who put us together and gave the minds to understand is the power behind these miracles of surgery and medicine.
And now there is a warning… in the book of Acts as well as all of the letters of the New Testament there is a command and a warning.
Listen carefully...
V. 18 and following; “But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer.”
Listen up… God says this has come to pass, it’s happened listen your scrolls as they are read.
V. 19
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.
Times are stressed now and we tend to be in chaos in ourselves. We are stressed, pulled and stretched sometimes beyond what we can handle.
Confess and repent from your sinful ways and refreshment will come to you. It will come over you like a crashing wave.
Here is that warning that I talked about a bit earlier
23 Every last living soul who refuses to listen to that prophet will be wiped out from the people.’
There is a time coming when Grace will end, when Mercy will no longer be, when Holy Spirit will be removed. That will be a time of weeping. Because the time for Grace and Mercy will be past.
No one really, no matter what they say will want to left out during that time.
You see everyone has a chance and probably multiple chances to acknowledge that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Light and the only way to the Father. Many will accept Him as Lord and Savior and many won’t.
Pray without ceasing for those that have not accepted the Lord.