Amazing Grace | Earth, Wind, & Fire

So I think it is appropriate, but before we get

into the scriptures and before we get into the

sermon, it was said if you're skilled in landscaping

or yard work that you can sign up. You don't

have to be skilled in either to sign up. You

can be an unskilled person in that and you can

still come and help pick weeds and clean up because

intermission, their campus really, really needs

that. But we have already seen the Holy Spirit

at work in an amazing way, both in the table

of our Lord and the commissioning of a missionary.

see it in the sermon today. I once was lost,

but now I'm found, was blind, and now I see.

It is an amazing testament in that song, Amazing

Grace. And really, friends, why we sang that

is because it's the heartbeat of the gospel.

That yes, the gospel is belief. Confess and believe.

That's what we heard from Josh this morning.

But then it's the Holy Spirit in action. And

it's a reminder that we could never ever earn

or fix grace for ourselves, but that God gives

it to us freely in the person of Jesus Christ.

Now, we see the work of the Holy Spirit. We see

the ascension of Christ in Acts 1. We see the

Holy Spirit coming. Remember, they had to wait.

But now we see that truth lived out. We see a

story of a man crippled from birth outside of

the temple begging for coins. For a simple lunch.

He doesn't even know what he's asking for in

the day. Much like we heard in Josh's testimony,

that simple prayer can be a dangerous prayer.

Thy will be done is probably the most dangerous

prayer we can pray as believers. Not dangerous

as in scary, even though that could be. It's

dangerous as in you're asking the creator of

the universe, the creator of you, to do his will

in your life. When we pray that prayer, we better

be ready for an answer. This guy was not. But

in the name of Jesus, Peter and John give him

something infinitely greater than a couple of

coins. They give him healing, restoration, and

new life. That miracle becomes a sermon in motion

and a picture of grace. And as we commissioned

a missionary from now this church, though he

grew up in a church right down the street and

has, it's kind of a mosaic of all the different

parts of Josh's life that has been put together

for this moment, we are reminded of a very similar

calling. Though it may not be to West Africa,

it may be to the cubicle next to you, to the

neighbor that doesn't mow his lawn. To the person

that you're driving behind in traffic going 20

miles under the speed limit. That we are called

to carry the grace of Christ beyond this brick

and mortar. Beyond 214 Ridge Road. To others

who may be lost to be found. Those who are broken

to be made whole. So let's dive in. We've got

a lot of work to do. The irony of the beautiful

gate. So let's start. We're going to be in Acts

Acts 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3, the first two verses. Now Peter and

John were going up to the temple at the hour

of prayer, the ninth hour, 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, or money, of those

entering the temple, the man. Did you just catch

that? He is laid there daily. When I was doing

some of my sermon prep, I thought about the relationship

that this guy had. We don't know the relationship

this guy had with the guys that were laying him

down every day. I think we see the first miss.

That if it was, let's just say it's the same

people or it's on a rotation schedule, right?

Like our prayer team is or whatever of all those

that are going to start coming more and more

to our Tuesday night prayer meeting because everything

starts with prayer here at Munster Church. I

think they miss it. What if it were you or I

that our job was to carry this guy and lay him

at a gate and go on about our day? We already

have more than he does. We are not lame. We are

not crippled. We have the ability to walk. This

guy doesn't. And I look at just what was missed

there. But this man is laid daily at the gate

called beautiful, yet his life, anything but.

Luke may be underscoring the contrast here between

the outer beauty and the inward brokenness. That

true beauty does not come from the architecture

of our lives or our buildings or what we create,

but from God's grace that transforms us. And

here's there's expectation, right? The posture

of expectation here is very different than the

posture of expectation we may have in life. I

don't know what your life is like as far as expectations.

My hope is you verbalize your expectations because

we cannot be a church that has assumed expectations

or that we can read each other's minds because

we cannot. Not even all those that have been

married 20, 30, 40, 50 years. You talk to those

who have been married that long, decades of marriage,

the best thing they can do one to another is

communicate. To those couples that are looking

to get married, verbal expectations are always

more positive than assumed or just try to guess.

But think about this man's expectation. His normal

life was to be carried, plopped at the entrance

to this gate to get a couple shekels, a couple

alms, that people would just maybe walk by and

just flick him a denarii or two to help him out.

Verses 3 through 5. Seeing Peter and John about

to go in the temple, he asked to receive alms.

And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John,

and said, look at us. And he fixed his attention

on them, expecting to receive something from

them. Right? I'm not going to put a cup of coffee

or lunch on this because it's too easy. What

is he expecting now from Peter and John who kind

of did the look at me? What is he expecting?

Money. Thank you. That's been his mode of life.

Have you ever been stuck in a mode of life wanting

to receive something different day in and day

out? Congratulations. You must be insane. Because

that is the exact definition of insanity. Expecting

the same thing, or doing the same thing, and

expecting a different result. But what he doesn't

realize is that God is going to be doing something

massive in his life. He fixed his attention on

them, expecting to receive something from them.

The Greek here has a sense of someone clinging

to hope. He's expecting coins. But what he receives

is infinitely beyond his imagination. This underscores

Ephesians 3 .20. God does immeasurably more than

we could ask or imagine. And now we're going

to walk into the miracle, right? We're going

to see the immediacy of the healing. He's expecting

coins. He's going to be made whole in verses

6 through 8. But Peter said, I have no silver

or gold. But what I have to give you, but what

I do have, I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ

of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took him

by the right hand and raised him up. And immediately

his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping

up, he stood and began to walk. and entered the

temple with them, walking and leaping and praising

God. Remember, this Acts is written by kind of

Luke's writer, right? And so Luke, a physician,

uses the medical detail. And I love this. His

feet, ankles were made strong. The healing was

instantaneous and complete. This is going to

make some of you mad. He didn't have to go to

rehab. He didn't have to go to rehabilitation.

He didn't have to work it out. He didn't have

the pains and the groans and is this going to

heal? Is this not going to heal? There was no

delay. Because he wanted coins, but what Jesus

gave him was complete restoration physically

and spiritually. Whoa, pastor, where did you

get spiritually? Look at what he did. He's been

plopped at the temple every day to look for some

coins. He is instantly healed. He doesn't praise

the guys. He praised Jesus of Nazareth. How do

we know? He went walking and leaping and praising

God. There was no time to doubt it. There was

no time to wonder what actually happened. He

went from brokenness to restored healing to praise.

When's the last time we had our prayers answered?

And we actually took time to praise. Because

friends, we all need that transformation. It

might not be a physical healing that we need,

but I know for many of you today, it is. You've

been waiting to be healed, and it has not come.

The thing that I try to say to those in that

situation is, God's trying to give you perspective.

Lean in. What is God trying to teach you in that

time? Or maybe it's the brokenness of the world.

Week in and week out, we just see brokenness.

We need God's healing. And some of us may agree

with Dwight Schrute from The Office. We just

need a new plague, and we need to thin some of

us out. I know I'm not the only one that thought

that. I know other people do. If you didn't get

The Office reference, that's okay. Don't worry

about it. The same holds true. God, it would

be much better if you intervened. What are you

doing? Friends, who are we to question the creator?

That the Lord may be bringing community, society,

church, family healing through you. I always

think it's hilarious and actually it's terrifying

to see two of his disciples being so bold to

heal in Jesus' name. Now some of you may have

tried to do that before to know a veil the way

this is. And so we're like, we're just not going

to do it. But what courageous faith of the disciples

to be a part of bringing transformation. Because

transformation is powerful, right? The three

verbs of transformation that we're going to see

in verse 8. Luke's writer says this, and leaping

up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered

the temple with them, walking and leaping and

praising God. He leapt up, he stood up, he began

to walk. The order highlights a progression.

When the Holy Spirit gave this to me this week,

I needed it more than anybody. From dependence

to stability to active participation in worship.

And you might be like, oh, this is great. Here

comes the conviction curveball. This mirrors

our salvation. From helplessness to standing

in grace to walking in newness of life. Okay,

friends, this is going to be tough. For some

of us in our faith, we go from that dependence

to stability. We have an issue. We got a problem.

God solves it. I cannot believe I just quoted

Vanilla Ice in a sermon. But it's true. We have

a problem. We give it to God. He solves it. And

we go right on about our day. I think that's

the wrong response. And I'm not saying this to

guilt anyone to get involved in things at the

church or to become more active in worship or

what the mission of the church is doing. But

I'm going to challenge you. I'm going to ask

you to think about that engagement that you ask

God for help. He helps you. And you just go on

about your day like nothing's different. Think

about the witness this guy has. Every day, plop

there to ask for money. This guy's now praising

in the temple. I think it would have sent shockwaves

through the community. We all know that this

community gossips. We all know our churches gossip,

whether we're a part of that or not. But the

witness of healing, of stability, to active participation

in worship. Maybe you're struggling to go there.

And maybe, just maybe, and here it comes, three,

two, one. Well, we're just not doing things the

way I want them done at the church. So I'm not

going to get involved. I hope and pray that that

mentality dies in you at some point because you're

going to be able to bring that to heaven. Does

heaven need to be exactly the way you want it

to be? I know we joke about that, right? I hope

the menus are in English. I hope all these things

when it comes to heaven, sure. But friends, we're

talking about heaven. We're talking about the

kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven that

you and I are a part of. Well, I just don't like

the way they're doing it or I don't like this

or I don't like the new logo. That's stopping

you from participating into the worship of God.

Friend, that's not a Munster Church issue. That's

a you issue. That's not the heart of Munster

Church issue or Faith Church or whatever the

true churches are in our areas. That is, insert

your name, heart issue. Because one of the things

we're going to see is the validation of the work

of God through the public, the people, as I was

alluding to, verses 9 and 10. And all the people

saw him walking and praising and recognizing

him as the one who sat at the beautiful gate

of the temple asking for alms. And they were

filled with wonder and amazement as to what happened

to them. Friends, here's the conviction continued.

People know that you're struggling. People know

that God's answered your question or answered

your issue or your problem. Yet they look and

go, but nothing's different. Nothing's the same.

They're just going on like nothing's happened.

I think we can get that way about our salvation.

How many of you have ever thought about the fact

that the wages of sin are? All of us were promised

that because of sin. But us in Christ, that is

no longer the promise. The promise is new life

in Christ. Yet we don't want to flee the old

flesh. We don't want to flee the flesh that's

going to be going, that should be going to hell

in a handbasket. We are living a new life in

Christ. Yet when people see your life, you're

still complaining. You're still gossiping. You're

still causing drama. Nothing's ever good enough.

Right? The marriage is still on the rocks. Because

nothing has changed. Everything changed for this

guy, and so did his perspective. So I don't need

to bring you the correction today, because Peter

does. A Christ -centered correction, verses 11

and 12. While he clung to Peter and John, all

the people, utterly astonished, ran together

to them. And the portico called Solomon's. And

when Peter saw... He addressed the people. Why

do you stare at us? Men of Israel, why do you

wander at this? Why do you stare at us as though

by your own power or our own power or piety we

made him walk? They're looking for magicians.

They're looking for something that they can explain.

Peter instantly deflects the attention from himself

to Christ. True spirit -filled ministry refuses

glory for self and gives all the glory to Jesus.

This mirrors John the Baptist, one of the last

prophets. He must increase and I must decrease.

You guys are a part of a church that is growing.

We can't deny that. We're seeing growth in many

different ways. Praise the Lord. The minute we

think we're the cause of that, the Lord that

gives is also dug. The Lord that takes away.

Wow, we have a lot of dugs. That's why we need

to stay humble. We need to stay excited and a

little bit terrified because God's the one doing

the work. It's not me. It's not our counsel.

It's not all you. He is calling us to something

bigger than ourselves. Why? Because he's the

author, has been, will continue to be, the author

of Munster Church's life. Jesus is the author

of life. Verses 13 through 15. The God of Abraham,

the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of

fathers glorifies his servant Jesus whom you

delivered over and denied in the presence of

Pilate when he had decided to release him. But

you denied the holy and righteous one and asked

for a murderer to be granted to you and you killed

the author of life whom God raised from the dead.

To this we are witnesses. Unique title, right?

They killed the Argeos in the Greek. They killed

the pioneer, the founder, the originator of life.

Yet God raised him up. The paradox, what doesn't

make sense in our mind, the giver of life was

killed. But death could not hold him. This is

the gospel paradox and the triumph that you and

I can't explain. We had no pardon, yet we point

to or should point to in our lives. Let's go

back to the first sermon of this series. What

was the church? The people that walked with Jesus

or were close to the people that walked with

Jesus that saw him alive, saw him on the cross,

saw him dead in the tomb, saw him rise again.

That was the church. Friends, we've made it so

much more. We have made it so much more complicated.

And we do that because of two things. Our ignorance

and our need of grace. Verses 16 and 17. And

his name, by faith in his name, has made this

man strong with whom you see and know. And the

faith that is through. Jesus has given the man

this perfect health in the presence of you all.

Peter acknowledges something great. You acted

in ignorance. This doesn't excuse their sin,

but it opens a door for grace. The only way to

receive grace is to confess our sins. When someone

comes to me and wants to make profession of faith,

the first question I ask is, tell me about the

bad news of your sin before you tell me the good

news of Jesus. Because we can know the good news

all day, right? You can come in and you can recite

the Apostles' Creed, Lord's Day 1, Belgian Confession,

Article 2, whatever it is. But do you understand

the bad news of your sin? Because if you don't

understand the bad news, then the good news isn't

all that good. Father, forgive them, for they

know not what they do. Don't we hear that echoed

in this? It's what Jesus did on the cross for

us. So as we go through this life, as the church

continues to work within the world, we're going

to need those times, right? The promised times

that God meets with us. It's today. I know we're

going long, but we can get over it. Guess what?

The bears are on a bye. The promise of times

of refreshing is something we all need. Because

really what that is, friend, And I say this first

and foremost looking here, it's the time where

I'm not the center of it. I'm not doing the things.

It's not my will be done. Because if we were

honest, if life was lived as my will be done,

my guess is not all of us would be in this church.

We would all be doing something else. Or some

of us. Or most of us. Or whatever. But what we

see in the life of the church is that when God

is moving, when God is at work, we need to pause.

We need to reflect. We need to praise. We need

to fill up. I heard it said once that churches

are a gas station for the people of faith. That

they run empty to Sunday, fill up to go yet another

week. Yeah, that may put in perspective those

of you that choose to not come on a Sunday for

whatever reason. Hopefully you're filling up.

believe that, because I think we can fill up

in many different ways, but that's one of the

reasons the church exists. To refresh and fill

the people of God. Verses 18 and 19 help this

point. But what God foretold by the mouth of

all the prophets, that is, his Christ would suffer,

he thus fulfilled. Repent, therefore, and turn

back that your sins may be blotted out. The Greek

word ananapsis meaning cooling relief, renewal,

revival. Repentance is not a burden, but it's

a blessing. Think about your life right now.

What if you were not able to repent? I just described

the agnostic. I've just described the atheist.

Well, who do you repent to? Right? Do you just

repent to your spouse? That ain't fun, and it's

not going to get you to heaven. We repent to

someone who receives that confession, takes our

sins upon himself, and as the Psalms reminds

us, remembers your sins no more to the one who

confesses. Because what is repentance? I'm going

down whatever road I'm at, bad, bad, bad, something

bad. I stop, I pause, I confess, I repent, and

I go back to the cross. What a teaching these

people are getting in mere minutes. This anticipates

both personal renewal and the ultimate restoration

when Christ comes. What are you doing to prepare

yourself for when Jesus comes back? Has anything

changed in your life? Have you received forgiveness

for the sins? Yet nothing seems to change? Or

a friend of mine and I were talking about cheap

grace this week. And the understanding of how

we just throw it out there on a Monday. Hey God,

I'm going to sin on Friday and Saturday, so I'll

ask for forgiveness Sunday. See you there. Guys,

he already knows. He's already there. He's already

disappointed, but he is ready to forgive you.

But just like a kid. That just continues over

and over to fall, to argue back, to disrespect,

or to whatever. They just don't have that understanding

yet. If you are in Christ and you have professed

Christ as Lord and Savior, guess what? You have

that understanding. And you understand what cheap

grace is. Because God already knows. God already

sees you in your brokenness. He already sees

you. When you feel worthless. And here's the

thing. He never puts that on you. That's you

putting it on you. That's Satan putting it on

you. That's an unhealthy relationship putting

it on you. That's whatever it is. Negative putting

it on you. God doesn't see that. Because prophets

call it out. But then they see the good. They

call you to something greater. And Jesus, as

the greater prophet, has always been the case.

He is the greater prophet, priest, and king.

Peter's going to connect with them as he lands

the plane, and so will I. That times of refreshing

may come from the presence of the Lord, and that

he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,

whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring

all things about which God spoke by the mouth

of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, the

Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like

me from your brothers. You shall listen to him

in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that

every soul who does not listen to that prophet

shall be destroyed from the people. Peter connects

something very important. Peter connects to Moses'

promise in Deuteronomy 18. Jesus is the prophet

like Moses, but greater. Because he doesn't just

reveal God's word, he is God's word made flesh.

And here's the thing. We had a profession of

faith today. We had a baptism last week, or a

couple weeks ago. We had a profession last week.

We have a profession at the end of the month.

We're seeing these sacramental ties all come

together from the covenant of God that he made

with his people then and he makes with us today.

Not only I will be with you always to the very

end of the age. And I guarantee you that Josh's

family is leaning into that as they say goodbye

to him this upcoming week. That the same God

that is with them is the same God that's going

to be with you. Is going to be with you when

you're doing your mission. When he's with all

of us, when we do our mission, starting the minute

we walk outside the door today. That covenantal

blessing we see in verse 24. And all the prophets

who have spoken from Samuel and those who came

after him also proclaim these days, you are the

sons of the prophets and of the covenant that

God made with your father, saying to Abraham,

and in your offspring shall be all the families

of the earth be blessed. God, having raised up

his servant, sent him to you first to bless you

by turning every one of you from your wickedness.

The gospel is never tribal or local, it is global.

That makes this passage perfect for today. Because

one of the things we need to understand is that

the same God that is calling Josh to go to the

other end of the earth is the same God calling

you to go to the other side of the office complex

and reconcile with that individual. To that family

member, that spouse, that child, that aunt, that

uncle, that person that hurt you, the person

that you hurt. He is calling you to bring that

amazing grace. That amazing grace that he brings

to us in our salvation. He calls you to bring

to a world that desperately needs it. Friends,

I could go on forever. But we're not going to.

Because I think... What the Holy Spirit has done

for all of us today is enough. So Cheryl, we're

going to go to the very last prayer. I'm going

to ask that you stand if you are able. And let

us close our time. We're going to close with

a worship song too. Let us close our time as

we've done every sermon of this series together

with this closing prayer. We'll all say together,

Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for your amazing

grace. You have healed our brokenness. forgiven

our sin, and raised us to new life in your name.

Fill us with your spirit, send us with your boldness,

and use us to proclaim your grace in every place.

Bless the missionary we commission today, and

through them others may come to know your saving

love. Amen. And as we go out into our days, into

our mission fields,