Beyond ‘Try Harder’: Finding the True Power for a Life of Ministry

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
There is something so powerful that happens when we're all in the same room singing the same songs, lifting the same name, the name of Jesus.
[00:00:08] We've all seen it.
[00:00:10] We have felt it.
[00:00:10] And we can't wait to experience it again.
[00:00:13] This February and March, we are heading to eight more cities with Elevation Nights, where we're going to lead some of our favorite songs, hear a powerful message from Pastor Stephen Furtick.
[00:00:23] So join us February 24th through March 5th in Hershey, PA.
[00:00:28] Brooklyn, New York, Indianapolis, Indiana, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Knoxville, Tennessee, Columbus, Ohio, or Rosemont, Illinois.
[00:00:38] Grab your tickets now at elevationknights.com.
[00:00:41] Now, let's get to today's message.

[00:00:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Let's lift our hands together for a moment.
[00:00:46] Let's have a prayer of consecration as we head into a new year together as a church family.
[00:00:54] Jesus,
[00:00:56] It's your name we exalt today.
[00:00:58] We exalt you in our lives.
[00:01:01] As we head into a new year, we just reestablish in our own hearts today that Jesus, you are our priority.
[00:01:09] You are our desire.
[00:01:12] You are our one ambition.
[00:01:15] I don't know what this year holds, whether it's hills, whether it's valleys, but I know that you go with me and that you go before me.
[00:01:23] As we head into this new year we thank you God that all the weapons might be formed against us they will not prosper or prevail I thank you that surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
[00:01:40] Thank you for your abiding presence.
[00:01:44] Thank you for your strength this year.
[00:01:46] Thank you for a spirit of perseverance falling on your people, God.
[00:01:49] Thank you, Lord, that as we orient our hearts towards you, we will see your kingdom come, your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven.
[00:01:59] We honor you, Lord.
[00:02:00] We give you our hearts.
[00:02:02] We give you our lives.
[00:02:04] It's in your name we pray.
[00:02:06] Amen.
[00:02:07] Amen.
[00:02:12] Well, Happy New Year, everybody.
[00:02:13] Feels good to start out the year in worship, doesn't it?
[00:02:17] If I haven't got a chance to meet you, my name's Jonathan.
[00:02:21] I know we have so many new people here today.
[00:02:23] My name's Jonathan.
[00:02:24] I'm one of the pastors here, and let me show you a picture of my family real quick.
[00:02:28] I'll throw it up there.
[00:02:29] That's my wife, Anna, and our three kids.
[00:02:34] We've been a part of this church for 13 years now.
[00:02:38] And for us, it's such a joy to be able to be a part of this church family, this church community, and to be under the incredible leadership of our pastor.
[00:02:45] Can we thank the Lord for our pastor?
[00:02:51] You know, not too long ago, after I preached recently, someone came up to me and they said, man, I really enjoyed the sermon you preached.
[00:02:59] I said, thank you so much.
[00:03:00] And then what they said next, they said it like it was a big accomplishment.
[00:03:04] They said, you know, I used to get so upset when Pastor Stephen wasn't preaching.
[00:03:09] And they said, but now I've decided when he's not preaching, I'm just going to thank God that he's getting to rest his voice.
[00:03:16] And I didn't really know how to take that, but let's get in on it together and let's thank God that our pastor is getting the rest of his voice.
[00:03:24] Who are we kidding?
[00:03:24] He's probably writing a brand new song for us to sing right now, but I'm really excited about what the Lord has given me to share with you today on the cusp of this new year.
[00:03:34] And we're going to look at a scripture from Acts 3 that I think
[00:03:38] has several implications for us today, but we'll also set the tone for us.
[00:03:42] We're gonna read our scripture.
[00:03:43] You can stay standing for just a moment, and then we'll get to sit down.
[00:03:46] After that, it's optional, but.
[00:03:50] Acts chapter three.
[00:03:53] One day, everybody say one day.
[00:03:54] One day.
[00:03:55] I won't have you repeat every two words, but just a few along the way.
[00:03:58] Everyone say one day.
[00:04:01] Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer at three in the afternoon.
[00:04:06] 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.
[00:04:18] When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.
[00:04:22] Peter looked straight at him, as did John.
[00:04:26] Then Peter said, look at us.
[00:04:29] So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
[00:04:35] Everyone say expecting.
[00:04:36] Expecting.
[00:04:39] Then Peter said, silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you.
[00:04:43] In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.
[00:04:49] Taking him by the right hand, he helped them up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong.
[00:04:56] He jumped to his feet and he began to walk.
[00:04:59] Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping and praising God.
[00:05:05] Did anyone walk into church like that today?
[00:05:07] Walking and jumping and praising God.
[00:05:13] When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful.
[00:05:23] And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
[00:05:29] My title for today is Expecting Change.
[00:05:33] Expecting Change.
[00:05:34] Go ahead and grab a seat.
[00:05:39] I thought that would be a good title for your first Sunday of a new year.
[00:05:44] Anyone expecting change going into this year?
[00:05:47] Now, I know that there's probably 60% of you that when it comes to a new year, you roll your eyes at the thought of New Year's resolutions.
[00:05:54] You're like, it's January 4th and already most people have already failed at the things that they set out to do this year.
[00:06:00] And so, this is not a New Year's resolution message, don't worry.
[00:06:04] Even though there's others of you who
[00:06:05] Who, I mean, this is like your favorite time of the year.
[00:06:08] You've already had an off-site with your spouse, you've reflected on the prior year, you've set your budget, all your vacations planned every date night, all your workouts, you've got it all locked in.
[00:06:17] Anybody like that?
[00:06:18] You're just so excited for a new year and the possibility of change.
[00:06:22] No one?
[00:06:22] Okay, cool, we're talking to a cynical church today.
[00:06:25] That's amazing.
[00:06:26] Okay.
[00:06:27] But there is a, even though I know there's a part of us that goes, what's so different about December 31st to January 1st?
[00:06:35] It's just a change on the calendar.
[00:06:36] And yet, there's something about transitions in our life that create a sense of expectation or even anticipation for change to happen in our life.
[00:06:47] Often God will use external transition to bring about internal change.
[00:06:52] So even though you're heading into a new year and some of you are, I don't know what's going to be different from this year to next, there is a sense of optimism, let's say, in the atmosphere even today that maybe something could be different as we head into a new year.
[00:07:07] Now, New Year's resolutions, that's one thing.
[00:07:09] If you're trying to lose weight this year or set up an emergency fund, that's amazing.
[00:07:13] You can come up with your plan and set your goals.
[00:07:15] But what I want to talk to you about today is
[00:07:19] Less about those type of changes that you need to see happen in your life and that you want to work towards this year.
[00:07:27] I want to talk to you more so about the God changes that you need to see happen in your life.
[00:07:33] As we ended last year, many people in our church participated in our year-end offering.
[00:07:38] Once again, thank you to everyone who was a part of our Trust in God offering this year.
[00:07:44] And as part of that process, we ask everyone in our church to write down a word that represents what they're believing God for as we head into a new year.
[00:07:52] And as our staff was praying over those words, there wasn't a single word that I saw that looked like a New Year's resolution.
[00:07:57] I didn't see, go to the gym, eat more vegetables.
[00:08:02] I saw words like restoration.
[00:08:03] I saw words like healing.
[00:08:06] I saw words like forgiveness.
[00:08:08] These aren't ordinary changes.
[00:08:10] These are God changes.
[00:08:11] These are things that can only happen in our life when God begins to create change in us.
[00:08:18] So I love the story of this man in Acts and I was drawn to it because on this ordinary day,
[00:08:23] An ordinary day.
[00:08:24] Remember, Luke who wrote the book of Acts and the Gospel of Luke starts off by painting this as just a day like any other day.
[00:08:33] This is not December 31st.
[00:08:34] This is not January 1st.
[00:08:36] This is not Peter's birthday.
[00:08:37] This is not the man's birthday.
[00:08:38] It's not Christmas.
[00:08:39] It's not Easter.
[00:08:40] It's an ordinary day, and yet something extraordinary happens in the middle of an ordinary day.
[00:08:46] How many of you believe that God can do something extraordinary on an ordinary day?
[00:08:52] Everything about his language is indicating that there's nothing special about today.
[00:08:57] One day, Peter and John are going to the temple.
[00:09:00] They're going at the time of prayer.
[00:09:01] This would have been part of their custom.
[00:09:02] This is just what they do.
[00:09:04] And then it tells us that there is a man who every day, every day,
[00:09:08] was put out by the temple gates to beg for money.
[00:09:11] It's an ordinary day, and yet something so profound happens to this man on this day, this man who was lame.
[00:09:18] Luke later tells us that he was about 40 years old, but all his life, this was his routine.
[00:09:23] Wake up in the morning, and I don't know who took him to the gates, whether it was his parents or whether it was his friends, but someone took him,
[00:09:31] and set him outside that gate and day after day he would sit there and beg for money and yet something happens on this day that changed this man's life forever.
[00:09:41] Now when you come to church it's so important that you come in with a level of expectation that God could do something in your life today.
[00:09:49] Sometimes we get in the habit of treating it like, oh, it's just another Sunday.
[00:09:52] I'm going to hear some worship songs.
[00:09:54] I'm going to hear a message.
[00:09:55] But what if you came in with the expectation and belief that today God could do something in your life that would change you for the rest of your life?
[00:10:03] Anybody believe that anything is possible with God today?
[00:10:11] Now as I read about this man's miracle, the question and the tension for me of why I kept going back to this passage is I think it's so amazing that as he meets Peter and he meets John and that his legs are strengthened and he jumps and he leaps and he praises God.
[00:10:24] I want to celebrate the miracle that happened in his life, but the question it brings up in me is why now?
[00:10:32] After 40 years of waking up day after day, why now?
[00:10:38] Why did God choose to heal them this day?
[00:10:41] Even pastorally, I wonder that a lot.
[00:10:44] It's amazing what I get to see God do in the lives of the people of this church.
[00:10:47] And when someone lets me know that God set them free from PTSD or God set them free from a pornography addiction, I'm the first one to celebrate and praise God for what he's done.
[00:10:57] When someone tells me how God completely restored their marriage after all kinds of betrayal, I wanna praise God, jump, leap, praise God with them for what he's done.
[00:11:06] But in the back of my mind sometimes,
[00:11:08] I'm asking the question, why now?
[00:11:11] And maybe you found yourself in that place too, where you're like, God, I'm so thankful after all these years of being single, you finally brought a man into my life, but God, why now?
[00:11:22] Why now?
[00:11:23] What was it about today?
[00:11:24] What was it about this one day that led to this man being changed?
[00:11:29] And so look at this story with me.
[00:11:31] It says, day after day, every day he was put at the temple to beg from those going into the temple courts.
[00:11:36] And he sees Peter and John, and he asks them for money.
[00:11:39] Peter looks at him, as did John.
[00:11:42] And look at this in verse five.
[00:11:43] So the man gave him
[00:11:44] God gave them his attention expecting to get something from them.
[00:11:49] But he's not expecting a healing that day.
[00:11:52] He's just expecting some money.
[00:11:54] He's just expecting change.
[00:11:57] And yet what he got was so much greater than even what he was expecting.
[00:12:00] Now I wonder if there was ever a point in this man's life where he was expecting a miracle.
[00:12:07] It wasn't this day, but I wonder maybe if in his teenage years, he had days where he would just wake up in the morning and try to wiggle his toes, wondering maybe things will be different for me today.
[00:12:17] Maybe today I won't have to call my friends and ask them to take me to the gate, but some of us get stuck in a condition for so long that it becomes our reality in such a way that when it comes to our relationship with God, we've even given up on expecting anything to change.
[00:12:34] And yet I'm so thankful that God is a God who exceeds our expectations.
[00:12:40] There is this phrase I picked up somewhere that I used to say that God will often meet you at the level of your expectation.
[00:12:47] And I would love to say that coming into church because on one hand it means that if I come into church just expecting it to be an ordinary day or the message was okay, then often that's what I'll experience.
[00:12:59] And so it's like God will often meet you at the level of your expectation.
[00:13:02] If you come into church with an open heart and an open mind, if you come in expecting that through the Holy Spirit, God will speak to you, often that's the very thing you receive.
[00:13:11] And yet when I think about that statement, I couldn't be more wrong.
[00:13:15] Because when I look back over my life, I'm so grateful that God did not meet me at the level of my expectation.
[00:13:21] I'm so grateful that time and time again, God has done exceedingly more than I could ever ask or imagine.
[00:13:28] Is that anyone's testimony?
[00:13:30] Like you didn't expect.
[00:13:32] to even be alive today.
[00:13:33] You didn't expect to be where you are.
[00:13:35] You didn't expect to be blessed with this family, blessed with this purpose.
[00:13:39] You certainly didn't expect that you would be in church in 2026, but how many of you want to praise God that he did more than you could ever expect or imagine?
[00:13:52] So he's expecting to get some change from them and instead Peter speaks to him and it's so swaggy the way Peter does it.
[00:13:58] In the name of Jesus, get up and walk.
[00:14:02] And look at this, taking him by the right hand, he jumped up and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong.
[00:14:08] He jumped to his feet and he began to walk.
[00:14:11] And this is key, it says that he went with them
[00:14:13] That's a key detail because all his life he was not allowed to go into the temple.
[00:14:24] Every single day of his 40 years, he was sat down outside of the temple gates.
[00:14:31] His condition prohibited him from going into the temple.
[00:14:36] And yet when God heals his condition that day, not only does he jump and walk and praise God, but it says that he went into the temple.
[00:14:46] I want you to know that when God brings about a change in your life, it's not just to fix you, it's to restore you.
[00:14:54] Because him going into the temple is significant because it represents him being restored to worship with God and restored into community with others.
[00:15:03] The things that God wants to bring about in your life, the changes that God wants to do on a deep level, they're not just meant to fix your condition to make you feel better or to alleviate your pain temporarily.
[00:15:15] They're meant to restore you in worship and restore you in community.
[00:15:20] That's the most significant change that happens to this man.
[00:15:23] and to the temple.
[00:15:24] And as he's in there, everybody recognized him as the man who, look at this, used to sit at the gate called beautiful.
[00:15:32] I love that language because y'all, this just happened to him.
[00:15:36] This just happened to him and yet they're already calling him the man who used to sit.
[00:15:40] That's like you introducing your husband to someone in the lobby after church and say, oh, this is Frank who used to have road rage.
[00:15:47] And they're like, what are you talking about?
[00:15:49] I just saw him getting angry in the parking lot on the way in.
[00:15:52] It wasn't all that long ago.
[00:15:53] No, no, he used to have road rage.
[00:15:55] He's a changed man because he was in church and God touched him and he changed.
[00:16:00] The man who used to sit, and they're filled with wonder and amazement because they recognize them.
[00:16:06] This guy for 40 years has been sitting at this gate, and isn't that the same guy?
[00:16:10] Now he's walking, he's leaping, he's jumping, he's praising God, and they're filled with wonder and amazement.
[00:16:17] Look what God does in their life because of what he's done in this man's life.
[00:16:21] God heals him, but he fills them with wonder and amazement.
[00:16:26] When a God change happens in your life, it creates wonder in other people.
[00:16:31] If it's possible for him, I wonder what God could do for me.
[00:16:35] And they're filled with wonder and amazement because, look at that, this man who had just been sitting there, instantly his feet and ankles became strong.
[00:16:47] Instantly.
[00:16:48] And as I thought about that word, I thought, man, it must have been so amazing for everyone to see this man who had just been sitting there lame, suddenly walking.
[00:16:56] And yet for this man, this miracle is anything but sudden.
[00:17:03] It's been 40 years.
[00:17:06] And often the God changes that happen in your life will look sudden to other people.
[00:17:11] But for you, I mean, you know all the labor and all the prayer and all the tears you cried to get to this place.
[00:17:18] And so other people are filled with wonder and amazement.
[00:17:21] Look what God has done in your life.
[00:17:23] And it looks so easy to them.
[00:17:24] And yet you know all the petitions when you went before God saying, God, can you do something about my situation?
[00:17:31] God, can you help me right now?
[00:17:33] And so it was sudden to them, but it was slow to him.
[00:17:36] And it brought back up that question in my mind.
[00:17:41] So why now?
[00:17:43] Forty years, day after day, this man is put by the temple gates to beg for money.
[00:17:50] It was just his way of surviving.
[00:17:52] Day after day, he was placed there begging, and yet, on this ordinary day, something happens in his life that changes him forever.
[00:18:02] Why today?
[00:18:03] And I sat there with this question looking for some deep answer, you know?
[00:18:08] Something beyond just, oh, well, in God's timing.
[00:18:10] Because how many of you know when you're really wrestling with something, when you've been chained up and bound by something for so long, the last thing you want to hear as you're working to get free is just, oh, in God's timing?
[00:18:20] I want to be able to trust God's timing, but that's not the thing I want to hear all the time.
[00:18:24] And so I'm looking at this passage going, what was different about today?
[00:18:28] One day.
[00:18:29] Every day.
[00:18:30] Time of prayer.
[00:18:31] One day.
[00:18:31] Every day.
[00:18:32] Time of prayer.
[00:18:33] What was different about today that led to this God change in this man's life?
[00:18:39] And the answer is right on the surface.
[00:18:42] What was different about today?
[00:18:44] He met Peter.
[00:18:48] That's what was different about today.
[00:18:50] He met Peter.
[00:18:53] And y'all, the man's not the only one changing.
[00:18:56] Peter's changing too.
[00:18:59] And I realize that as Luke writes this story, the man who was healed that was lame from birth, he's not even the main character.
[00:19:08] Peter is.
[00:19:10] And Luke is trying to get us to see that Peter is changing as there's a whole bunch of transition happening.
[00:19:17] Let me give you some context.
[00:19:18] Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke where he recorded the words and deeds that Jesus did on the earth.
[00:19:24] And then he continues his Gospel of Luke with the book of Acts.
[00:19:28] Acts chapter 1 starts out with Jesus, who is resurrected from the dead, ascending into heaven.
[00:19:33] So Luke's trying to get you to see there's a God change happening.
[00:19:37] Jesus, who had been doing ministry on earth for three years, has now resurrected and ascended to the Father.
[00:19:44] That's Acts chapter 1.
[00:19:46] Acts chapter 2, there's another God change that happened.
[00:19:49] As the apostles, the people who had been with Jesus during his earthly ministry, are in an upper room in Jerusalem praying, God sends the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and it falls on them like tongues of fire.
[00:20:01] And the church begins that day in Acts chapter 2.
[00:20:05] Y'all, that's a God change.
[00:20:07] God is saying, although Jesus in his physical body has ascended into heaven, Luke wants us to know that the ministry of Jesus is now continuing, but it continues through his church.
[00:20:19] And then in Acts chapter three, where we are, Luke is trying to get you to see that not only is there so much change happening, but as the way God is working in the earth is changing, he's changing Peter too.
[00:20:31] The Peter we read about in Acts chapter three, y'all, if you read about him in the gospels, this is not the same Peter.
[00:20:39] This Peter, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walked.
[00:20:43] But y'all, it wasn't too long ago, right now he's healing people, but not too long ago, he was cutting off someone's ear with a sword.
[00:20:49] How many of you know this is not the same Peter?
[00:20:53] This Peter here who's boldly declaring who Jesus is and what he's done, not too long ago, just weeks earlier, was keeping his distance as Jesus went to the cross and even denying that he knew him.
[00:21:05] This is not the same Peter.
[00:21:07] He's somewhere between Fisherman Peter and Saint Peter.
[00:21:11] He's not there yet, but he's certainly not who he used to be.
[00:21:15] and a miracle takes place in this man's life because God is changing Peter.
[00:21:21] Peter is going through a God change right now.
[00:21:24] I wanna show you a few things that are changing in Peter's life.
[00:21:27] The first one is this.
[00:21:28] It says that Peter looked straight at him, as did John.
[00:21:32] Then Peter said, look at us.
[00:21:36] So the man gave him his attention, expecting to get something from him.
[00:21:40] It's amazing to me that before the man gave Peter his attention, Peter gave him his.
[00:21:46] Peter's changing.
[00:21:48] Because Peter had a tendency, if you read about his life, to always be caught up in what he was doing.
[00:21:54] Always be caught up in his agenda.
[00:21:56] Always be focused on what's in it for Peter right now.
[00:22:01] And it's amazing that as Peter is doing his thing, going up to the temple to pray, it was the right thing to do.
[00:22:07] It was on his calendar for the day.
[00:22:09] I'm going to the temple to pray.
[00:22:11] It's amazing that Peter, as God is changing him, stops to see someone in their condition who needed help.
[00:22:20] The fact that Peter saw him is incredible.
[00:22:23] It lets me know that Peter is changing, because that's not like Peter.
[00:22:28] Now, when the Scripture says that he saw him, it's an echo to, when the Scripture uses the word saw, it's an indication of it means he was filled with compassion and a sense of responsibility.
[00:22:39] No, this is Peter who would say, hey, tell the little children to get away from Jesus.
[00:22:43] I'm spending time with them.
[00:22:44] He's now filled with compassion and a sense of responsibility.
[00:22:49] Like when Jesus was about to heal, about to raise a little boy from the dead, it says that he saw his mother and his heart went out for him.
[00:22:56] Jesus saw people and had compassion.
[00:22:59] And after three years of being with Jesus and not always getting it, now Peter is changing and as he's going to the temple, he sees this man.
[00:23:09] Every day, thousands of people would have walked past this man.
[00:23:13] And many of them would have given him money.
[00:23:15] As they went to the temple to worship, part of their worship was giving alms to the poor.
[00:23:20] So there would have been beggars all around the temple.
[00:23:22] And people, as they would walk to the temple, they would walk past them and maybe throw them some money.
[00:23:28] They would look past them, but they wouldn't look at them.
[00:23:31] What's different about this is that Peter stops and he sees the man.
[00:23:36] He gives him his attention.
[00:23:39] Instead of just giving him money, this isn't transactional.
[00:23:43] It's relational.
[00:23:45] And one of the ways that I know God is changing me in my life is when I begin to see people.
[00:23:52] See people.
[00:23:53] Not get so caught up in my world and what I have to do and what I think should happen.
[00:23:58] But I want God to give me eyes to see people for where they are and that he would fill me with compassion.
[00:24:05] I'm so glad Tad's sitting in church today.
[00:24:07] You're always in church, but I was glad you're here today.
[00:24:09] One of the things I love about Tad, this is one of the things I admire about Tad because
[00:24:15] Katie, when we do baptisms as a church and there's sometimes hundreds of people lining outside the tank waiting to get baptized, you can see them kind of shaky tears in their eyes.
[00:24:23] It's such a big and special moment for them.
[00:24:26] I love watching your husband because he has a way of seeing people.
[00:24:30] And Tad will walk through the line and stop and talk to each person and pray for every single person being baptized that day because he's a changed man.
[00:24:40] God saw him and now he sees others.
[00:24:44] I wonder what God might do through you if you become a person who has eyes to see people who are in need.
[00:24:56] That was a prayer I had for a year.
[00:24:58] I'd wake up every day and it simply went like this, God, help me see Christ in others that they might see Christ in me.
[00:25:05] God, help me see Christ in others that they might see Christ in me.
[00:25:07] See, Peter, he's not seeing like he used to see.
[00:25:12] He's seeing like Jesus.
[00:25:13] He's noticing people in their need, in their condition, and he senses not only compassion, not just, I feel for them, but I have a sense of responsibility to do something about it.
[00:25:23] And look what happens next.
[00:25:24] Not only does Peter see them, but Peter then says, silver or gold, I do not have.
[00:25:30] If anyone had an excuse just to walk by this man that day, it was Peter.
[00:25:35] Because he did not have what the man was asking for.
[00:25:38] He didn't have silver or gold.
[00:25:41] And as this man is asking for money, Peter could have just been, nope, gone on his way.
[00:25:46] But he stops and he says, silver or gold I do not have, but look at this, but what I do have, I give to you.
[00:25:54] I know Peter is changing because most of his life, Peter operated from a place of scarcity.
[00:26:00] Like when crowds of people were waiting around to hear Jesus, Peter's the one saying, send the crowds away so they can get something to eat because he himself was hungry.
[00:26:09] Peter had a way of just thinking about being protective and yet here he is in this scenario.
[00:26:14] I know God is changing him because he says, I don't have what you're asking for, but what I do have, I wanna give it to you.
[00:26:21] I know God is changing me when I begin to give more than what people ask for.
[00:26:28] If you can get this idea in your heart, I really believe it will unlock your ministry this year and the things that God wants to do through your life.
[00:26:35] So many of us live our lives going, well, if someone asks for it, I'll give it to them.
[00:26:40] But something fundamentally shifts in the way that God can use you when you stop limiting your ministry by what people are asking for and you begin to look at, God, what have you already given me in my life that I can give to be a blessing and make a difference in someone's life?
[00:26:56] because you have to realize people will rarely ask you for what they actually need.
[00:27:01] They just ask you for what they want.
[00:27:03] This man, he wasn't asking for healing.
[00:27:07] He was asking for money.
[00:27:09] An example in my life, my friend Levi's here today.
[00:27:12] I didn't tell him I was gonna use him as an example, but when we were getting to know each other, we'd hung out a couple times through a mutual friend, and one day that friend of ours, he pulls me aside privately, I've never told you this, and he said, Levi wants to go to church with you so bad
[00:27:26] I said, what?
[00:27:27] And two things came through my mind.
[00:27:29] I said, all the times we've hung out, he's never asked me about going to church.
[00:27:32] What's up with that?
[00:27:34] And second of all, it's a church.
[00:27:35] He doesn't need a special invite to come.
[00:27:37] If he wants to come, he can just come.
[00:27:39] You don't need an invite from the campus pastor to show up here.
[00:27:42] But I thought about it.
[00:27:43] He said, no, he really wants to go with you.
[00:27:44] I bet if you ask him, he'll come.
[00:27:46] And so, on his encouragement, I invited Levi to church, and guess what?
[00:27:50] He came.
[00:27:51] Now, this isn't a dramatic story.
[00:27:52] He already had a relationship with Christ, but he was outside of Christian community, and he didn't have a place of regular worship.
[00:28:01] And I knew that.
[00:28:02] and I knew that.
[00:28:03] And I knew I had what he needed, but I never offered it because he never asked.
[00:28:11] And I wonder if there are people in your life who need what you have, but you are withholding it because you're waiting for them to ask you.
[00:28:22] and I wonder while you're assuming, well if they wanted to come to church with me, if they wanted me to pray with them, they would ask and they're going, I don't get it.
[00:28:30] I know they love their church, they talk about it all the time, they post the messages, they're always playing the worship song.
[00:28:35] I wonder how they love their church so much and yet they've never asked me to come.
[00:28:41] My dad's here today so I wanna use him as an example and it's a good one too, okay?
[00:28:47] But so often when I call my dad to talk to him, he'll tell me how he got to minister to someone, how he got to pray with someone, whether that's praying for an employee at his office who got a cancer diagnosis or someone at the gym who's going through a divorce.
[00:29:04] And he'll always call me with these stories.
[00:29:05] I got to pray for so-and-so, they're going through this, they're going through that.
[00:29:08] And I was always wondering, why are so many people asking my dad to pray for them?
[00:29:14] Because y'all, I'm a pastor and people don't even ask me to pray for them as often as they ask him.
[00:29:19] Time after time he tells me these stories and then I realize no one's asking him to pray with them.
[00:29:26] No one's asking him to pray with them.
[00:29:29] But somewhere along the way, he decided to be intentional with what God has given him.
[00:29:35] And instead of waiting for someone to ask, he decided to give.
[00:29:39] So when someone said, I just got a diagnosis, he knows he can't heal their cancer, but he gave what he had.
[00:29:47] Can I pray for you?
[00:29:49] When someone is going through a divorce, he knows, I don't know how to fix your marriage right now, but can I pray for you?
[00:29:55] He gave what he had.
[00:29:57] I want to let you know, brothers and sisters, that God has given you so much.
[00:30:03] and what God has done in your life is not just meant for you it's meant for other people around you there are people in your world who need the peace you have who need the joy you have who need the hope you have who need the strength you have and God has given it to you God has changed you so that you can
[00:30:22] Give it to them.
[00:30:23] Peter says, silver or gold, I don't have, but what I do have, I give to you.
[00:30:29] He gave the man something so much greater than what he asked for.
[00:30:33] And that's my heart for this year, not only for myself, but for all of us as a church.
[00:30:38] What would this city look like if we became a people who did not wait to be asked, but decided that we're gonna freely give what God has given us?
[00:30:48] He gave what he had.
[00:30:49] Look at this last thing that's changing in Peter's life and it shows up in this powerful statement.
[00:30:55] He says next, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, walk.
[00:31:02] Y'all, this is a change for Peter too.
[00:31:05] Now, sometimes when we read these stories, it's easy for us to kind of strip the humanity out of it sometimes.
[00:31:10] Peter sounds so bold.
[00:31:11] In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.
[00:31:15] But I wonder, do you think maybe underneath
[00:31:18] The surface, Peter's heart, was racing a little bit.
[00:31:22] Do you think maybe, as he said, in the name of Jesus Christ, walk, that his voice got a little bit shaky, wondering, man, I've seen Jesus do miracles before, but what if this doesn't work?
[00:31:34] There's all these people around.
[00:31:35] What if I say, get up in the name of Jesus, and this man can't?
[00:31:38] What if it doesn't work?
[00:31:39] What if he can't walk?
[00:31:40] Worse, what if I set him up to hope again, and it doesn't work?
[00:31:44] I wonder if Peter was feeling a little bit anxious as he walked past this man and decided that day, I'm gonna pray for his healing.
[00:31:53] Maybe he was a little bit anxious or the old Peter certainly would have been arrogant, you know?
[00:31:58] Peter had a way of just doing things his way.
[00:32:00] I know what's best.
[00:32:01] But whether it's insecurity or conceitedness, it's all self-consciousness.
[00:32:07] And one of the changes that God wants to bring about in our life is taking us from being self-conscious to Christ-conscious.
[00:32:16] When he says, in the name of Jesus, this is not just like a formality like what you pray at the end of giving a blessing over your food.
[00:32:23] Thank you for these carrots.
[00:32:24] Thank you for this chicken.
[00:32:25] Bless it to our bodies in the name of Jesus.
[00:32:26] Amen.
[00:32:27] No, no, no.
[00:32:28] When he says, in the name of Jesus, it means that he is walking in the identity of Jesus.
[00:32:36] The power of Jesus and the authority of Jesus.
[00:32:41] So as Peter stands before this man, this is a change for Peter because for once in his life, he's not trying to do it in his own strength.
[00:32:49] He's doing it in the strength and in the name and in the authority and in the power of Jesus.
[00:32:58] Some of us talk ourselves out of being used by God because we're going, how can I give someone advice on how to fix a relationship when there's people I'm afraid to pick up the phone and call?
[00:33:08] How am I going to talk to someone about their addiction when I've got this plank in my own eye?
[00:33:13] And so we disqualify ourselves from being used by God because we think, how can God use someone like me?
[00:33:19] But the reality is that if you are in Christ, it has nothing to do with your worst days.

[00:33:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
or your best days.
[00:33:26] When you stand up in front of someone to minister or to be used, you're not doing it in your name.
[00:33:33] You're doing it in the name of Jesus.
[00:33:39] You have his power.
[00:33:40] You have his authority.
[00:33:43] You're doing it in his name.

[00:33:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Yesterday, Anna said to me, she said, do you try to be nicer to me before you preach?
[00:33:48] I think she said, are you being so nice lately?
[00:33:50] It's like I need to come up here with a clear conscience.
[00:33:54] And so in my head, I thought, well, it's better than the alternative, right?
[00:33:58] Because not too long ago, I used to be so mean before I preached.
[00:34:02] Wouldn't I be mean?
[00:34:03] I can't believe I'm telling them this right now.
[00:34:07] And honestly, for a long time, it was the pressure and the anxiety I would feel around preaching because I would think, what do I have to say?
[00:34:17] What do I have authority to speak on?
[00:34:20] Who am I to stand up there and talk to people?
[00:34:23] And through the work of God in my life, something began to shift where all that anxiety started to go away because I realized it's not me standing here.
[00:34:33] that when God gives me an opportunity to minister, I'm not doing it as Jonathan Josephs.
[00:34:39] I'm here to minister in the name of Jesus.
[00:34:43] So it's not about what I have to say.
[00:34:48] It's about what he has to say.
[00:34:50] And it's not about my worthiness, whether I was mean or whether I was nice, but I'm glad I'm being nice now.
[00:34:56] It's not about that.
[00:34:57] It's about what he's done.
[00:34:58] It's about what he did.
[00:35:01] Peter looks at the man and says, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.
[00:35:07] And instantly, the man's healed, and he gets to his feet, and he's jumping, and he's leaping, and he's praising God, because on this ordinary day, something changed.
[00:35:18] He met Peter, and Peter's a changed man.
[00:35:22] There are things that God will do in your life that aren't just meant for you.
[00:35:27] They're meant for other people too.
[00:35:28] God changes you so that he can change others.
[00:35:32] And look at this, as people are standing looking at this man in wonder and amazement, it says that a bunch of people start to come together, the words getting out about what has happened.
[00:35:42] And in verse 12, look what Peter says.
[00:35:45] When Peter saw this, he said to the crowd, he uses every miracle as an opportunity to declare the gospel.
[00:35:51] When Peter saw this, he said to them, fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you?
[00:35:56] Why do you stare at us as if it's by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
[00:36:05] Look at verse 16.
[00:36:07] By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong.
[00:36:14] It is in Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you all can see.
[00:36:23] It is in Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him.
[00:36:29] Peter said, what are you looking at us for?
[00:36:33] It's not by our power.
[00:36:34] It's not by might.
[00:36:36] It's by the power of Jesus that this man can walk.
[00:36:38] Not only Jesus' name, but he says by faith in the name of Jesus.
[00:36:42] Now the question is, whose faith?
[00:36:45] Whose faith in Jesus healed this man?
[00:36:49] This man never asked to be healed.
[00:36:53] It wasn't his faith.
[00:36:55] There's no indication this man even knew who Jesus was.
[00:36:58] It wasn't his faith.
[00:37:00] So whose faith in Jesus?
[00:37:04] Peter's.
[00:37:06] Your faith isn't just meant to change you.
[00:37:12] Your faith is meant to change others.
[00:37:24] And some of us are in the habit of just coming to church when we need something from God.
[00:37:28] I gotta get to church today.
[00:37:29] I need encouragement.
[00:37:31] I need strength.
[00:37:32] And as long as you look at your faith that way as if it's just for you to help you get through and to help you get by, you'll always limit what God can do through your life.
[00:37:42] But what if you decided that, hey,
[00:37:44] I'm coming to church anyway because even though I might not have a need today, maybe there's someone else coming to church that needs a touch from God, and maybe God has given me what they need.
[00:37:56] Your faith isn't just meant to change you.
[00:37:58] It's meant to change the people around you.
[00:38:02] And Luke goes on to say that there were many, many people who placed their faith in Jesus that day.
[00:38:08] People's lives were changed because God changed that man.
[00:38:11] But God changed that man because he changed Peter.
[00:38:17] And I see this year being different for you because I know all of us have things in our life that we're saying, God, just help me believe.
[00:38:24] I want to expect you.
[00:38:25] I want to have expectation.
[00:38:27] I want to have faith.
[00:38:27] I want to have hope.
[00:38:28] I want to have trust.
[00:38:29] There are things in my life that I want to see God change, but I have to remember too that some of the things that God wants to change in my life aren't just meant for me.
[00:38:37] It's because God has blessed me to be a blessing.
[00:38:41] God changes me so that he can change others.
[00:38:44] I need eyes to see.
[00:38:46] I need open hands to give what he's given me and I don't do it in my own strength I do it in the name of Jesus I see this year being a year where you go from just coming to God like Peter used to do so much of Peter's life was following Jesus because of what was in it for him and now Peter's changing
[00:39:06] Peter's changing, and he sees his purpose in life not just knowing Jesus for his own sake, but for the sake of others.
[00:39:13] I see this changing in your life this year.
[00:39:15] I see you coming to church not just to receive, but to give.
[00:39:19] I see you praying for people out in the lobby after church because you saw an orange Bible in their hand.
[00:39:24] and you said, I can pray for them.
[00:39:26] I can give them a word of encouragement.
[00:39:28] I see you looking at someone in worship and God giving a scripture on your heart and you going up to them and being a blessing to them because your faith is not just for you.
[00:39:37] God changes you so that he can change others.
[00:39:42] So I wanna close by just praying over you a prayer of activation today as we head into this new year.
[00:39:50] That this would be a year that not only do you see God changes in your own life, but that God would change people through you as well.
[00:39:58] Can you stand to your feet?
[00:40:11] And let's do it like this.
[00:40:11] Let's put our hand on the shoulder of someone around us right now.
[00:40:16] And in the spirit of this message,
[00:40:19] I'm gonna pray and you're gonna repeat after me and I haven't planned this out so there's not like a nice cadence to it just you just got to go with me but you're gonna pray for the person on your right and on your left because you have been given the Spirit of God and you are in Christ the Bible says that the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective
[00:40:39] And God is getting ready to do incredible things in our church this year.
[00:40:43] God is getting ready to do amazing things in your life, things that will exceed your wildest imagination.
[00:40:50] But it's not just what he wants to do in you, it's what he wants to do through you.
[00:40:54] So with your hand on the shoulders of the people next to you, do your best to flow with me as we say this prayer together, okay?
[00:41:02] Say, Father, I thank you for the person on my right and on my left.
[00:41:09] Thank you for what you've done in them.
[00:41:12] Thank you for what you're going to do in them.
[00:41:16] And I thank you for what you wanna do through them.
[00:41:21] I pray that you would give them boldness this year.
[00:41:25] I pray that you would open up their eyes to see.
[00:41:29] The opportunities that you're giving them to make a difference for your glory.
[00:41:37] Strengthen them, increase their expectation, stir up their faith that we would see you move like never before.
[00:41:49] We pray these things in the name of Jesus.
[00:41:55] Let's give God a praise.

[00:42:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Hey, thank you for watching The Elevation Church YouTube.
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[00:42:25] Thanks again.
[00:42:26] I'll see you next time.