You Have Something to Give | Pastor Jeremy Saylor | Sunday Service

Today we're continuing in our series on the Holy Spirit, and we're gonna be in Acts chapter three this morning.

So if you have your Bible, your iPhone, your iPad, turn to Acts chapter three with me this morning.

Starting in verse one.

Bible says that one day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer at three in the afternoon.

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.

When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.

And Peter looked straight at him, and as did John, then Peter said, Hey, look at us, look at us, give us your attention.

So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

Then Peter said, Silver or gold, I do not have.

He jumped to his feet and began to walk, and then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping and praising God.

When all of 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.

And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Church, this is God's word.

And the title of my message this morning is simply this You have something to give.

Turn to your neighbor and say, You have something to give.

Turn to your other neighbor and say, You have something to give.

Turn around the person behind you and say, You have something to give.

Father, we thank you for your word this morning.

Your word is a lamp into our feet and a light into our path that shows us the way to go and how to arrive there safely.

And I pray this morning that we wouldn't just be hearers of your word, but doers of it.

In Jesus' mighty name.

Everybody said, Amen.

Now you may be seated.

Caleb, thank you.

Have a question to begin with this morning.

And my question is simply this have you ever missed an opportunity to meet a need because you didn't think you had the resources to meet it?

Has a need ever been presented to you?

You you've you've seen it, you've looked at it, you've evaluated it, and you thought I can't do anything about it.

What do I have to offer to meet this need?

And so you did not think you had the resources to meet it, and as a result, you turned away from it.

Anybody ever done that before?

There's about five people that are going to heaven in here today.

At some level or another, all of us have probably been presented with a need.

We've evaluated the resources that we have to meet it, and come to the judgment that there's nothing we can do about it.

And so we turn away from it.

This happened to me, honestly, a few weeks ago.

A few weeks ago, I was sitting over in the cafe one morning during the week, and I was praying, and I was reading, and I was writing, and I was prepping for Sunday, and I happened to be alone in the building.

All of our staff offices, because of the construction project that is underway, are all up in the student center, and because they were all up there, I decided to come down here.

And so I'm sitting over there at one of the tables and chairs, and I got my computer out, I got my headphones on.

There's a few construction workers around, but not enough to be a distraction.

And so I have I have found the place of peace so I can work.

Anyone know what I'm talking about this morning?

And I'm I'm I'm working away, and then all of a sudden a construction worker comes up to me and and gets my attention, and I pull my headphones out, and he says words that always cause a reaction in me.

And the words were, are you the pastor of the church?

If I hadn't been in the church, I might have lied.

And I I I wanted to say who's asking, but I I reluctantly said, Yes.

What can I do for you?

And then he said, There's a woman over on the drive-thru side of the sanctuary that's looking for the pastor of the church.

I said, Oh, Jesus.

So very reluctantly and honestly, at this point, I'm pretty frustrated because my morning prep has been interrupted.

Anybody else ever been interrupted in the process of doing what you know you need to do, but the interruption comes and you get frustrated.

Anybody, thank you for making me feel connected with you today.

So I walk over to the drive-thru and I come out the doors, and then the lady steps out of the car, and uh, she kind of stands on the little concrete separation there, and I'm down below on the drive-thru.

And I said, My name is Pastor Jeremy.

What can I what can I do for you?

She says, I I need some help.

Immediately, when she says that, I'm thinking she needs money.

That's customary.

What happens when somebody, stranger, comes to the church, they're looking for help for gas, for utility bill to be paid, something of that nature.

And so honestly, my frustration grows even more.

It's just somebody else wanting something.

Then I say, okay, well, what kind of help do you need?

She said, Well, I'm I'm I'm afraid that I'm gonna hurt myself.

Okay.

I'm in a destructive pattern.

And I'm I'm afraid, I'm afraid, I need some help.

And she just begins to kind of kind of verbally vomit.

I'm I'm I'm afraid, I'm somebody's, I'm gonna hurt myself, and and and I'm I'm trying to get a word in edgewise.

I said, well, how did you find us?

And and what what are you what are you looking for?

Well, I'm hearing voices.

So now I've gone from frustration to irritation to okay, um, she may be suicidal.

Now she may be demon-possessed.

And and I'm trying to get bearings about what's going on, and she just is talking incessantly and not without hesitation.

And I'm like, well, how did you well, friends told me that a church might be able to help me?

Okay, that's great.

Well, you're in a destructive pattern.

What what's the i so I'm thinking suicide?

I'm I'm thinking she's she's about to hurt herself or about to hurt somebody else, and and then she says something that I am totally not expecting.

So what what are you a what what's what are you afraid of that you're gonna do?

I'm trying to get to the root of the problem, and then she says, just very bluntly and matter-of-factly, so much so that it it took me back.

She says, I'm a sex addict and I need help.

Then I go to self-protection mechanism.

I'm over there on the drive-thru side by myself.

Thankfully, there's construction workers around.

Thankfully, she's not in the building alone, and and I take a step back and and and I'm I'm honestly in a little bit of shock and a little bit of awe, and and I and and then she says this.

I grew up in the foster care system and I was raped at 11, and the rest is history, and I just began to break that this what this woman has been through in her life, how she's been abused in every way imaginable.

And I'm thinking, who can help her?

How can how can we get her help?

This isn't something that I need to handle by myself, and and but but who who can this is this is multifaceted, this is layered, it may be demonic uh possession, but there's also years of abuse that need to be dealt with.

This is and and I and I'm thinking who?

And and thankfully, in that moment, I was reminded of Tim Beck in the Ministry of Transformation Ministries that's just right down the street from us, and and they specialize in in counseling and and deliverance and and healing at a deep level.

And I said, ma'am, if if you'll excuse me for just a second, I I think I know where we can get you some help.

And I go make a phone call, and Tim makes his team available, and and but it's gonna be about an hour, and I write down the information and I walk back out and and I and I give her the information and say, if you'll go here, they will help you.

Later that afternoon, I called Tim and I said, Did she ever show up?

He said, No.

And I just broke.

I broke, and here's the thought that it's been at the forefront of my mind since that encounter.

And the thought that's been at the forefront of my mind is simply this is the church of today really ready to minister to the needs of today?

Is the church of today in the West really ready to minister to the cultural needs that exist in the world around us?

And I I want to be frank with you and honest with you this morning, and I my answer is I don't think so.

I don't think so because we don't like mess.

I don't think so because we like ministry to be clean and neat and pretty and packaged and and processed.

No, we don't we don't like ministry that's messy and ugly and dirty and that doesn't always go in a straight line, but will zigzag left, right, up, down, and everywhere until somebody gets to where they need to be.

Am I talking to anybody this morning?

I don't really think the church of today is ready to minister to the needs of today.

I'll say this the church of today isn't ready to minister to the needs that Jesus ministered to.

The Bible's very clear about what Jesus did.

Jesus got his hands dirty.

He went where he wasn't supposed to go.

He he did things that he wasn't supposed to do, he touched people that he wasn't supposed to touch, and he got a reputation for it.

Oh, you gotta watch that.

Jesus, he's a friend of tax collectors and sinners.

He hangs out with people that he wasn't supposed to hang out to, and that's part of the reason that he got crucified.

Because he did not fit in the model of the religious leaders of the day.

My question to us, church, is are we really ready to minister to the needs of today?

Or do we send them away?

In Acts chapter three, we find a story that is radically different than what the disciples had experienced before Pentecost.

Before Pentecost, when the disciples encountered situations like what they found in Acts chapter three, they had a tendency to send them away.

But on the backside of Pentecost, they did not send them away, they gave them something that had the power to change their life.

We read Acts chapter three as a story that's separated from a bigger narrative.

But when I read Acts chapter three this week and was studying, I read Acts chapter three in the context of the disciples' journey with Jesus before Pentecost.

And I was reminded of the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000.

If you remember that story, you remember that Jesus has been preaching all day.

And the disciples, being so observant as they are, come alongside Jesus and say, Jesus, you've been preaching all day.

We're in a remote place.

There's not enough food to feed everybody.

So Jesus, you need to send them away.

That was their solution to the problem.

That was their solution to the mess.

Send them away so that they can go get their needs taken care of.

And Jesus says something remarkable.

Jesus looks at the disciples and says, You give them something to eat.

And their response is, we don't have enough money.

It would take a year's wages to meet the need.

And then Jesus rebuttals their rebuttal.

That's what he always does.

And says, What do you have?

We got a couple fish and and five loaves of bread, and Jesus says that'll be enough.

Jesus blesses it, he breaks it, he distributes it to the disciples, and as the disciples distribute what they do have, it multiplies to meet the need before them.

See, this was the mindset of the disciples before Pentecost.

See, see, before Pentecost, there was a different mode of operation.

See, before Pentecost, the presence and the power of God resided in a temple behind a wall shrouded by a veil.

But on the other side of Pentecost, the temple of the presence of God is no longer confined to a place, it is now in a people.

Paul says that we now are the temple of the Holy Spirit, that the same power and presence that resided in the temple in Jerusalem now resides in us.

And so much so that Paul over and over again in his epistles praised God.

May the eyes of their understanding be opened, may they see the hope to which they have been called, the glorious inheritance that they have in Christ, the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in you.

And so, my hope for you this morning, if you don't get anything else out of this message, is that you get this.

You have more power in you to give the world than you think you do.

You have more power.

The same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in you.

It doesn't live in a temple, it doesn't reside in a place, it resides in a people.

And if that people will get a revelation of the power of Christ in them, there's no need they can't meet.

And so there's a major shift at Pentecost in the mindset of the disciples, and the shift is send them away to I have something to give.

I have something to give.

And that's what we see Peter and John doing in Acts chapter 3.

Acts 3 · chapter mention

They're just going about their daily rhythm.

They're on their way to the temple at three in the afternoon to spend some time in prayer.

It's an ordinary day.

It's not an extraordinary day.

It's a very normal day.

And they're walking by the same gate that they've walked by uncountless times.

They're just walking by this gate.

There's no telling how many times they've walked by this crippled man.

They're just living their normal life, walking by this gate, walking by this man.

But the difference is something has shifted in them that causes them to see the gate and the person a little bit differently than they did before.

They have begun to understand there's a power residing in them that has the ability to change every situation and circumstance.

And so as they walk by the gate this time, they they hear the man.

And then they go to the man.

And if you read the story, it it it Peter says, Hey, look, look, I need I Peter was very intentional.

I think Peter was remeeting remembering the 5,000.

You look at me, you, you, you pay attention to me, and the man, probably shocked that somebody is giving him that much attention, shifts his focus.

He begins to look up at Peter.

And notice what Peter says.

Peter doesn't pretend that he has what the man's asking for.

He says, Silver and gold I do not have.

He acknowledges that what the man is asking for, he doesn't have.

But he doesn't allow what he doesn't have to prevent him from giving what he does have.

How often do we do that, church?

We encounter a need that looks like one thing on the surface.

This guy needed some money.

Why did he mean money?

Because he was a cripple.

There was only one way.

They didn't have the systems that we have today.

The only way that he could survive was on the generosity of others.

And so, so generously, some people brought him to the temple gate so that he could beg.

And then people would generously give him something.

And that was his sustenance.

That was his livelihood.

That's how he made it day in and day out.

He probably, the Bible says if you keep reading, he's about 40 years old.

He's probably on his own.

There's no mention of his family.

And there's the only way he's gonna make it is through the generosity of others.

And Peter looks at him and says, silver and gold, I do not have.

I don't have what you're really asking for.

But I do have what you need.

I have something that won't just allow you to eat for a day.

It's gonna change your life so that you can eat for a lifetime.

What I do have, Peter says, which is the power of the Spirit of God.

What I do have me.

See, see, just recently I was endowed with power from on high through the person of the Holy Spirit.

I was filled with the person and the presence of God.

See, see, see, there used to be a presence in a temple, and now the presence isn't in a temple, it's in people.

And wherever I go, I take that presence with me.

And what I do have, I give unto you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Rise and walk.

What I do have.

You and I are surrounded every day by people who need something.

And we turn the other way.

We're surrounded by people that may need money, or that's what they think they need.

They may need encouragement.

They may need peace.

They have all kinds of needs, and and far too often we we look in a situation and say, you know, a marriage that may be in disarray.

What can I do to help their marriage?

What can I do to help their financial situation?

What can I do to help their career?

What can I do to help their kids?

I'm telling you this morning, you have more power in you to meet the need in front of you than you believe.

Peter and John say, What I do have, I give unto you.

Rise and walk.

Then notice, notice the story, Peter then steps forward and takes the man by the hand and helps him up.

The Bible says instantly his feet and his ankles became strong, and he began to leap and to rejoice and to walk and to shout and to celebrate that what he was asking for wasn't met, but what he needed was met.

Changed this man's situation for the rest of his life.

Why, why, why?

Because two guys didn't let what they didn't have prevent them from giving what they do have.

I want to give you three, three principles about the gifts of the Holy Spirit this morning that you need to understand today.

Three simple truths about the gifts that God has given.

And these are the three simple truths.

Everyone has something to give.

Everyone has something to give.

Number two, the Spirit gives us what we need when we need it.

And number three, our gifts are activated when we take a step of faith.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, now to each one, everybody say each one.

1 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

Turn to your neighbor and say he's talking to you.

Now to each one, the manifestation of the spirit is given for the common good.

In the kingdom of God, no one is giftless.

Every person in the kingdom has a gift that God has given them to serve those around them.

You have a gift.

Turn to your neighbor and say, You have a gift.

To each one, he says, the manifestation is given for the common good.

The word gifts is the Greek word charisma.

And it is a supernatural enablement to live the life of Christ and to do the work of Christ.

You need to understand this morning that the Holy Spirit has filled you with his life for two overarching reasons.

So, number one, you can live the life of Christ so that his fruit can be produced in your life, that love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and meekness and self-control can be the character of your life because your character is a witness.

And so he wants to empower you to live the life of Christ, number one, and number two, to do the work of Christ that he gifts every person with supernatural enablement.

And it comes in all kinds of different shapes and sizes and forms and functions.

If you read the New Testament, a lot of times people will go to the nine gifts listed in 1 Corinthians chapter 12.

1 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

There's a lot more gifts than nine.

The gifts are as diversified as the kingdom of God is.

Romans talks about gifts, Ephesians talks about gifts, Corinthians talks about gifts.

There's probably about 20 different gifts listed.

I'm not going to go through all the gifts because I think in the Pentecostal church, we make too much about my gift.

It's not about your gift, it's about his gift that's given to serve others.

The point is, you have something to give because you've been given something.

And how often do we look at a situation that we encounter?

Maybe like I did out in that drive-thru a few weeks ago.

And think, what do I have to give?

I don't I can't do anything about this situation.

I can't fix this.

Here's my prayer.

My prayer for our church, my prayer for the church, is that we stop limiting what we have to give by what we think we have, and we start looking at the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and the Great I Am and the Everlasting Father and our Prince of Peace who gives us everything that we need and understand I have something to offer.

You have a gift to give.

Number two is this the Spirit gives us what we need when we need it.

I remember years ago when I became pastor of our church, and and and I was I was wrestling with the needs and the demands and and everything, and I was getting a little bit anxious.

I was getting a little bit worked up, and I remember the Holy Spirit speaking to me in prayer one morning.

Son, relax.

If you'll trust me, I'll give you what you need when you need it.

And can I tell you, that's not just a promise for Jeremy, it's a promise for you.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 11, Paul says, all of these, speaking of the gifts, are the work of one and the same spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:11

And listen to this: He distributes them to each one, he distributes them to each one just as he determines.

He distributes them to each one as he determines.

See, the Holy Spirit owns all the gifts, and he gives it to God's people when they need it.

So the gifts, we have this, we have this wrong perspective about the gifts.

That I get a gift, and that my gift that I get is what I get, and I get it all the time, and that's the only gift that I have, and I'll have it the rest of my life.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are way more dynamic than that.

The promise of Scripture is that the Holy Spirit will give you what you need for what you're walking through, where you are, what you're dealing with, whatever the situation demands.

As a matter of fact, Moses' promise to the children of Israel in Deuteronomy chapter 33, verse 25 is this your strength will equal your days.

Deuteronomy 33:25

What does that mean?

It means that our strength isn't a static thing.

When we think about gifts, when we think about our strength, that this is my strength, this is what I can do.

But when you have God inside of you, your strength isn't just always this.

If the day demands this, he's gonna give you that.

If the day demands this, he's gonna give you that.

Whatever you encounter, the Spirit of God empowers you to do.

You know this, he doesn't call the equipped, he what?

What does that mean?

It means he gives you what you need when you need it.

So stop fretting over what you don't have and understand what you do have.

The same power that raised Christ from the dead, not a different power, not a similar power, not a substitute power, but the same power that raised Christ from the dead, lives in you.

It's time for the church to understand that we have the power of God residing in us to meet the needs of the world.

Because when we meet them, the same thing happens.

It happens in Acts chapter 3.

Acts 3 · chapter mention

People are saved.

As a matter of fact, if you keep on reading in Acts chapter 3, the Bible tells us that because of this one miracle, 5,000 people gave their life to Jesus.

Acts 3 · chapter mention

Today, someone may be asking you for something you don't have, but the Spirit has deposited in you what they need.

You may not have cash, but you do have compassion.

You may not have answers, but you do have a listening ear.

You may not have a position, but you do have spiritual authority in prayer.

You may not have a platform, but you can have a prophetic word that can change their life.

You have what they need because He gives us what we need when we need it.

Number three is this our gifts are activated when we take a step of faith.

Listen, you can ask for and pray for gifts all day long.

But if you never take a step of faith, they'll never be activated in your life.

I'll take it a step further.

You can have it deposited in you, it's there laying dormant, waiting to be released, but you have to take a step to release it.

That's what the Bible says.

The Bible says, First Corinthians, Paul says, We have received a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.

That there is the power of God laying, residing inside of you, but it's only activated through faith.

That's what Peter did.

What did Peter do?

He spoke the word, he saw the man number one, he spoke the word number two, and then he reached out and helped him up.

Now, what I find interesting about the story is the man didn't stand up on his own.

He had received the word, and Peter didn't just say it and step back and say, All right, do it.

No, he reached forward and helped him up.

And the Bible said, instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong.

Instantly they became instantly, instantly.

What happened instantly?

It was the instant that Peter helped him.

See, you've got to take a step of faith.

You've got to say the word, you've got to extend the hand, you've got to make the offer, you've got to do something to activate the gift that God has given you.

Romans chapter 12, verse 6 says, We have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us.

Romans 12:6

And if your gift is prophesy, then do what?

In accordance with your faith, activate.

Without faith, the gift isn't activated.

If it is served, then do what?

If it's teach, then do what?

If it's encouraged, then do what?

If it's give, then do what?

Give.

If it's lead, do it diligently.

If it's to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

The gifts that God has deposited in our lives are activated only one way.

It's when we extend the hand, say the word, take the step.

When we do that, we release the power of God to meet the real need.

That they may not even know they need med.

Think about that for a moment.

The man never even asked to be healed.

Maybe the idea of healing wasn't even even anywhere on his radar.

Maybe the thought that he could be healed wasn't a thought that he could even comprehend or articulate.

He's just asking for what he knows to ask.

Every day, church, we walk by people that are asking for things that they know to ask for, but we have something that's even beyond what they're asking for.

And we need to be like Peter.

We need to have eyes to see beyond the superficial to the root of the problem.

We need to have eyes to see.

Every person here has a gate in your life that you walk by every day and you ignore the need at the gate.

Because you think I don't have anything to offer?

Maybe you ignore the coworker that irritates you because you don't think I have anything to offer.

Maybe you turn away from the friend seems to be a little needy.

My question to you this morning is what gate, what gate, what gate, what gate, what gate, what gate do you keep walking by and ignore the need that lies at the gate?

And number two is this.

What do you have to give?

You have more than you think.

That's the same power that raised Christ from the dead.

Lives in you.

You stand with me where you are this morning.

I ask my prayer team to join me to my right and to my left.

In just a moment, I'm going to invite you to respond to the word of God.

I'm going to ask you today to invite the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to the needs around you so that you can see the needs at the gate you walk by every day.

You can see them with fresh eyes.

But not just see them, but God will give you a word to speak over that need and that He'll put something in your hand that you can offer that has the power to change that situation.

The church, can I just say this?

God, above and beyond all of that, I'm praying, God, break our hearts for a world that need you.

Break our hearts for a world that needs you.

Break our hearts, break our hearts, break our hearts.

Listen, if your heart's not broken for the world, you'll never see the need before you.

God, break our hearts.

God, break our hearts, break our hearts.

You just close your eyes and maybe extend your hands towards heaven with me this morning and ask God to break your heart for the world.

Listen, it may be ugly, it may be mean, but it's the world that Jesus left heaven for.

It's the world that Jesus died for.

It's the world that He came for.

God, break our hearts for the world.

Break our hearts for the lost.

Break our hearts for the messy situations, the ugly situations, the situation.

God, break our, oh I pray, God, get give us dirty hands.

Hands like Jesus that will reach down into the muck and the mire to lift somebody out of a pit of despair.

God, break our hearts this morning for what breaks yours.

God, may we realize today we have something to give.

We have the power, the same power in us that you use to raise Christ from the dead.

And God, open our eyes this morning.

Open our eyes this morning.

God, open our eyes to see the needs around us.

May we cease to ignore them.

God, may we stop looking the other way.

But God, may we do like Peter and look directly at it and say, I may not have what you're asking for, but I have what you need, and his name is Jesus.

Lord, open our eyes to see.

God, give us words to declare over your people.

Give us words of encouragement.

Give us words of comfort.

Give us words of strength.

God, give us words that have the power to illuminate the darkness.

Lord, give us the courage today to take a step of faith.

Step of faith.

If you have a need in the house this morning, the worship team is gonna lead us here at the end of our service today.

We're gonna hang out here for a moment.

If you have a need today in your life, I don't want you leaving this place without receiving ministry.

Whatever that need may be, it may be spiritual, it may be physical, it may be that you need God to break your heart.

Your hearts become hard, your hearts become stone, and you need God to give you a new heart, to do a heart transplant, so that you can love what he loves, so you can do what he does.

Maybe you need eyes to see this morning.

Whatever the need is, don't leave this place this morning without receiving a touch from the Spirit of God that has the power to change everything else in your life.

Would you stretch your hands towards heaven with me this morning?

Worship table, please.

Just worship.

If you have a need, get out of your seat right now.

Just move right now.

Don't wait.

Don't wait, don't wait, don't wait.

Move right now.

Meet with Jesus this morning.

Worship today.

We've gathered today.

God, do work in our hearts this morning.

Come on, Pastor McLean.