The Gospel for the Lame

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Good morning. My name is Dorothy and I'm a member of the youth group here at Christchurch.

Today's scripture reading is from the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 3, verses 1 to 21, as printed in your liturgy.

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

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.

Peter looked straight at him, as did John.

Then Peter said, Look at us.

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

Then Peter said, Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you.

In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.

Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong.

He jumped to his feet and began to walk.

Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping and praising God.

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.

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

While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon's Colonnade.

When Peter saw this, he said to them, Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you?

Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus.

You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.

You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.

You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead.

We are witnesses of this.

By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong.

It is Jesus' name and the faith that it comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.

Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance as did your leaders,

but this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer.

Repent then and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,

that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

and that he may send the Messiah who has been appointed for you, even Jesus.

Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything,

as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks.

Thank you, Dorothy, for that excellent reading.

If you are new to Christchurch within the past few weeks,

hello, my name is Jonathan, and I'm one of the pastors here.

I'm so grateful to our many elders and different friends, guest preachers who've come

so that Catherine and I could get some extended time with our families.

And I'm very, very happy to be back home here in Berkeley and with you all here at Christchurch.

I hope that you celebrated the semi-quincentennial yesterday.

And I know some of you did not get much sleep because of all the noise last night,

but hopefully I can help wake you up a bit.

Also, I hope that you plan to celebrate a U.S. victory over Belgium tomorrow evening.

And if you're from Belgium, no disrespect, but we do hope to beat you.

We're diving back into the Acts of the Apostles.

It's one of the most exciting books in the Bible and really in all of literature.

And some of you will remember that we explored Acts 1 to 2,

which is the story about how the resurrected and ascended Jesus

poured out the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

And the gospel began to go out and it began to be believed.

It began to be lived out by new believers.

And we read there in Acts 2.42 that the early church devoted themselves

to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship,

to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

And it says that the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

So as we read this book, you can almost feel the life of God

and the presence of God and the power of God pulsating in the life of the early church.

And today we pick back up in the story in Acts chapter 3

Acts 3 · chapter mention

where this lame man sits at the temple gate.

He's over 40 years old, as we learn in Acts chapter 4.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

He has this congenital disease that has caused him to be so severely disabled from birth

that he can't use his feet.

He can't use his ankles.

He has to be carried everywhere.

He's reduced to begging.

And his humanity has been diminished significantly.

And so as we look at the experience of this man

and as we listen to Peter's explanation of his experience,

we want to ask ourselves today,

what does it mean to tell us about the church's mission and the church's message?

What does this mean for us today as we seek to carry on the mission

and to share out the message here in the Bay Area in 2026?

And so I want us to look at three things today.

The lame are leaping,

the power is proclaimed,

and the repentant will be refreshed.

So if you're taking notes, three things.

The lame are leaping,

the power is proclaimed,

and the repentant will be refreshed.

Let's start with the lame are leaping.

Verse 1.

It says,

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer

at three in the afternoon.

And in just a moment,

we're going to explore

the way that Jesus' resurrection power is displayed

in the life of this lame man.

But let's first note the source and the secret

of how Jesus' power flowed into his disciple community

so that it might flow through them.

It says they went to prayer meetings.

There was a daily prayer meeting at 3 p.m.

And they went to it.

It was their holy habit.

It was their predictable pattern.

It was their regular rhythm

to pray in community as a church.

Acts 2.42 says,

They devoted themselves to prayer.

Just as Jesus had devoted himself to prayer.

Mark 1.35 says that

Very early in the morning,

while it was still dark,

Jesus got up,

and he went out of the house,

and he went off to a solitary place

where he prayed to the Father.

And this was the source and the secret of power

in the life of Jesus.

It was from this place of prayer

that he went out and healed the lame

and the blind and the sick.

Prayer is plugging into the power of God.

Anyone have an electric vehicle here?

Some of you do, I know.

And your life is like that electric vehicle,

and prayer is plugging your EV

into the supercharger of God's presence and his power.

Until you do that, you're empty.

But when you do that, you're full.

Right?

You go in without any power,

and you come out with much power.

And Peter and John,

they go to this time of prayer regularly

so that they can be filled up

with the power of God

and so that they can be ready

when they encounter a situation

that far exceeds their own abilities

and their own resources.

They know how to respond

because they've been in prayer.

Can I get an amen?

Amen.

So, they go to the hour of prayer,

and then verse 2 says

that now a man was lame from birth.

He was being carried to the temple gate

called Beautiful,

where he was put every day

to beg from those going into the temple courts.

And when he saw Peter and John about to enter,

he asked them for money.

So, here's this man.

He's lame from birth,

and he cannot walk into the temple

in order to praise God.

And really, he represents the helplessness

and the hopelessness of the whole world.

Right?

His physical disability

is a picture of humanity's

spiritual paralysis before God.

That in our fallen, sinful condition,

we are not able to enter into the presence of God.

We're not able to have a right relationship

of praise to God.

We are lame spiritually

as he is lame physically.

And did you notice what this man asked for?

Does he ask to be healed in his body?

Does he ask to be saved in his soul?

No, he asked for alms.

He asked for money

so that he can buy his daily bread.

He just wants to live another day

so that he can ask for more alms tomorrow.

He expects very little.

He hopes for very little.

And it's a sad and tragic situation.

And he is the microcosm

of the state of our world.

This man is put before us

at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles

as a picture of the world

to which the church is sent.

And how do Peter and John respond?

How do these Christians respond?

Do they give this man the money

that he asked for?

Well, you know,

Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan,

Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount

teach us that it's obviously important

to give alms to the poor

as an expression of our faith in God

and our love for God.

It's obviously important

to feed people and clothe people

and house people and nurse people.

It's why Christians invented hospitals.

It's why Christians have always,

you know, had soup kitchens

and all these other things.

But the point here is that the church

has something far better than alms.

The church has something far better

than money to give.

It says in verse 4 that

Peter looked straight at the man

as did John.

And then Peter said,

look at us.

And so the man gave them his attention

expecting to get something from them.

And then Peter said,

silver or gold I do not have,

but what I do have I give you.

In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,

walk.

And taking him by the right hand,

he helped him up

and instantly the man's feet

and ankles became strong.

You see, Peter and John

had been discipled by Jesus.

They had learned how to pray from Jesus.

They had learned from Jesus

what to do

in these kind of desperate situations

of helplessness and hopelessness.

And so Peter says,

I may not have power

in the way that the world

thinks of power.

I'm not rich with silver and gold.

But also you have problems

that money can't touch.

And so Peter says,

the power that we offer

is an infinitely greater power.

It's a power that the world knows

very little to nothing about.

It's a power that's greater

than silver and gold.

It's a power that's greater

than banks and businesses

and governments can offer to you.

It's the power of a name.

And what's the name?

The name is Yeshua.

Jesus.

It means God saves.

That's the meaning of his name.

And the title attached to that name

is Christ,

which means God's anointed king.

And this Jesus,

this Christ of Nazareth,

just a few months before,

God had raised from the dead.

And so Peter says,

I'm offering to you

the name of Jesus,

the power of Jesus.

That's what he says

to this broken man.

Now I just want to pause here

and speak to those of you

who may be exploring Christianity

for the first time.

And just acknowledge that

some people struggle

to believe the miracles

in the New Testament.

And stories like this

can kind of feel embarrassing

when we read them.

People say,

well, these must just be legends

of primitive superstition

that somehow crept into

the oral tradition

and then later got written down.

But we know that

the laws of nature

cannot be broken

and therefore miracles like this

are impossible.

Now if that's you

and that's how you think,

I want you to consider

just a few things for a moment.

First of all,

chaos theory

and quantum mechanics

have told us that

the world we live in

is much stranger

than we have ever really imagined.

Secondly,

if God created everything

and sustains it

by the power of his word,

then the laws of nature

are just another way

of talking about

God's customary way

of sustaining his creation.

But if God wants to go above

and around his customary ways,

who's to say that God's not free

to do whatever he wants?

Third thing

is that the miracle

at the heart of all the miracles

in the Bible

is the resurrection of Jesus.

And if that didn't happen,

then we're wasting time

talking about

any of these other miracles.

But if you look at the compelling

historical evidence

for the resurrection of Jesus

and if you become convinced

that he was in fact

raised from the dead,

then it follows

that if Jesus defeated death

in his tomb

and if he won a victory

over sin on his cross,

then dealing with

powerless feet

and weak ankles,

that's not a problem for him.

Right?

If he can do the greater thing,

he can do the lesser thing.

Fourth thing I want you to consider

is that miracles,

the miracles of Jesus

are never naked displays

of power.

We never see Jesus

acting like Superman

in the Gospels.

Right?

He's never flying through the air.

He never has lasers

coming out of his eyes.

Have you noticed this?

He's never breathing

like cold air on people

and running at supersonic speed.

No.

What does Jesus do?

Jesus is putting

the creator's fallen

and broken creatures

back together again.

When he's working on people,

he's giving the blind sight.

He's making the lame walk.

He's not suspending

the natural order.

He's restoring

the natural order.

He's taking powerless feet

and ankles

and he's putting his power

into them.

He's taking people

who have been told

you're never going to walk again

and he's not just saying

rise and hobble

or limp away.

He's saying,

no, you can go walk

and jump away.

Here's the fifth thing

I want you to consider

if you're exploring Christianity

is that every Jew

witnessing this event

and reading this story

knew the ancient prophecy

of Isaiah 35.

And the prophecy went like this

that when God comes

to his people,

when the messianic age begins,

Isaiah says this,

Then the eyes of the blind

will be opened

and the ears of the deaf

unstopped.

Then shall the lame man

leap like a deer

and the tongue of the mute

shout for joy

and you shall see

the glory of the Lord,

the majesty of our God.

And you see,

when Jesus heals

the disabled

and paralyzed

in the gospels

and when the resurrected

and ascended Jesus

is healing this lame man

now through his disciple community,

this prophecy

is being fulfilled.

The kingdom of God,

the kingdom of the Messiah

has in fact arrived.

And here's the sixth thing

I want you to consider

if you're exploring Christianity.

If you look down

in verse 21,

Peter speaks about

a future time,

quote unquote,

time for God

to restore everything.

And what that means

is that Jesus' healings

are these small

temporary signposts

that point forward

to God's future restoration

of all things.

When what was broken

in God's good creation

in the Garden of Eden

will finally be put right.

When all the poverty

that we see around us,

when all the sickness,

when all injustice,

when all disease and death

will finally be abolished.

every time you read

about a healing of Jesus,

it tells us that

he hates suffering

in this sinful world

more than you do.

And also that he's committed

to someday dealing with it

and restoring everything

once and for all.

And the restoration

of this lame man

to wholeness

is providing for us

a preview

of coming attractions.

It's a preview

of the coming cosmic

comprehensive restoration

that God will give

to his entire creation

and what Jesus

is asking you to do.

If you're exploring Christianity,

Jesus is just saying,

trust me.

Trust the power

in my name.

And all of this healing,

all of the strength

that's in me

will come into you.

Now,

that's for those of you

who are exploring Christianity.

If you're a Christian,

I want to speak to you

just for a minute

and say that

what happened to this man

physically,

invisibly in his body,

it's a picture

of what happens to us

spiritually and invisibly

in our soul

that's disabled

and paralyzed

by sin.

That when Jesus,

when the gospel

comes into us

on that deeper level,

that which was dead

and useless inside of us

is made alive

and useful.

that which was bound

and held up

within us

is released

and set free.

That which was diseased

in our soul

becomes healthy

and the power

and the strength

of the resurrected Jesus

himself

comes into your soul.

That's what it means

to become a Christian.

And how do you know

that that's happened to you?

Well, look at verse 8.

It says that

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.

And 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

and they were filled

with wonder

and amazement

at what had happened

to him.

You see,

God's power

to save

leads you to praise

and then your praise

leads other people

to wonder

and amazement.

And we went

to this church

last weekend.

Catherine and I

went to the church

where we got married

and if you had been there,

you would have been

blown away

at the way

that these Christians

were praising their God.

It was amazing

because it was

low budget musicians,

right?

This was non-professional music.

It was just a piano

and a guitar

and a couple vocalists,

no screens,

just a page

with some notes

and some words on it.

But,

oh my goodness,

the power

of their praise,

the strength

of their singing,

the depth

and intensity

of their joy

was obvious.

These Christians

were like this

lame man

leaping

and they were

unashamed

to praise the God

who had healed them

and had saved them.

It wasn't

World Cup level

but it was

approaching

World Cup level

like Argentinian

Mexican level.

It was amazing.

I don't know

if you've seen

the fans

but that's the kind

of way

this guy

is praising God.

And do you know

the impact

that this had

on me and Catherine

as we were sitting there

listening to their praise,

we were filled

with wonder

and amazement.

Not just at their praise

but at the God

of their praise.

We were strengthened

in our faith.

We were encouraged

in our hearts

because we remembered,

oh my goodness,

the presence of God

and the power of God

is in this place.

the grace of God

and the glory of God

is available

even to us.

And we

were wondering,

we were amazed

in a way

that only the praises

of God's people

can cause you

to wonder

and be amazed.

And you see

this man

who once sat

outside

of God's temple

not praising

but begging.

He's been transformed

to now

become a worshiper.

He's gone

all the way inside,

all the way

into the presence

of God

and it says

that he's leaping

and he's praising

his God.

The lame

are leaping.

But also,

it's not just

that the lame

are leaping,

it says that

the power

is being proclaimed.

The power

is being proclaimed.

Look at verse 11.

It says,

while the man

held on to Peter

and John,

all the people

were astonished

and came running

to them in the place

called Solomon's Colonnade.

And when Peter

saw this,

he said to them,

people of Israel,

why does this surprise you?

Why do you stare at us

as if by our own power

or godliness

we had made this man

walk?

This man

who's now healed,

he's now whole,

he's clinging

to Peter

in a bear hug

while Peter's

trying to start

preaching.

And you notice

that because

Jesus changed

this man's life,

it causes

other people

to wake up,

it causes them

to be hungry

and thirsty

to hear an explanation

for what in the world

just happened to him,

what power

has transformed

him.

And that's what happens

in the history

of the church

during periods

of revival.

You don't have to

convince people

to come and listen,

they start to run.

Like this passage

says,

they're running

to hear an explanation

of the power.

What is it

that makes people

whole?

And what does

the apostle Peter

say to these people?

Well he's quick

to say as the church

should always say,

don't even think

this is about us.

Don't even think

that it's our power

or that it's our godliness

or that it's our,

the piety of our prayers

that somehow

changed this man.

He says,

why do you stare

at us?

Let me turn

your focus

on the one

who's worthy

of wonder.

And oh,

I wish we had time

to fully unpack

what Peter says here

but look at verse 13.

He says,

the God of Abraham,

the God of Isaac,

the God of Jacob,

the God of our fathers

has glorified

his servant Jesus.

You handed him over

to be killed

and you disowned him

before Pilate

though he had decided

to let him go.

You disowned

the holy and righteous one

and asked that a murderer

be released to you.

You killed

the author of life

but God

raised him from the dead

and we are witnesses

of these things.

That's the message

of the Bible

in a nutshell.

That the God,

the creator God

who said,

let there be light.

That same creator God

who came to Abraham

and said,

I'm going to bless you

and through you

all the nations

are going to be blessed.

That same creator God

who came to Abraham's

enslaved children

and liberated,

dismantled an empire

to set them free

and to walk them

through the wilderness

and lead them into

freedom in the promised land.

He says,

that living God

of our fathers

has fulfilled

his promises

when he sent Jesus

his son

and servant

out of eternity

and into time.

And when the author

of life came to us,

Peter said,

we live in a world

that killed him.

But God vindicated

and glorified Jesus.

When the only truly

holy and righteous person

came to us,

what do we do?

We disowned him.

But God raised him

from the dead.

And Peter says,

that is the power

that I proclaim to you.

That the once rejected Jesus

is now the resurrected

and reigning Lord.

And so,

verse 16,

he says,

by faith in the name

of Jesus,

this man whom you see

and know

was made strong

and in Jesus' name

and the faith

that comes through him

that has completely

healed him

as you can all see.

Peter says,

do you want to know

how this man

was restored

and made whole?

Do you want to know

how that can happen

to you?

You got to trust

in the name

and the power

of Jesus.

Peter's proclamation

of power

power is actually

quite countercultural

when you think about it.

Because when you drive

through the Bay Area,

what is every billboard

in the Bay Area

about right now?

It's about the power

of what?

What did you say?

The power of AI.

It's about the silver

and gold

that AI

is going to give

to us.

The United States

and China

are in an all-out

sprint

to be the first

and the best

at harnessing

the power

of artificial intelligence,

of biotechnology,

of what's called

the electric stack

of batteries

and magnetic motors

and power electronics.

And why

are they racing

to this finish line?

because just like

steam power

and steel manufacturing

and the combustion

engines

of the industrial age

and just like

the semiconductors

and computers

and internet

of the digital age,

these civilizations

know that

if we control

these technologies,

then we'll have

the power

to rule the world.

We will rule

the world.

But you see,

Peter is talking

about a different power.

He's talking

about a deeper power.

He says,

this is a power

that these nations

and the little men

and women

who are leading

these nations

know nothing about.

It's a supernatural power.

It's resurrection power.

It's a power

that doesn't come

from inside

of this world.

It's a power

that comes to us

from outside

of this world.

It's a power

that comes

and lays down

its life

for the sake

of humanity

only to take

that life

up again.

Peter calls Jesus

the author of life.

The holy

and righteous one,

the servant

of God.

And Peter says,

he's been glorified

and he's been raised

from the dead.

And by faith

in his name,

you can have something

that AI

and biotech

and electric power

cannot give you.

because Jesus

in the restoration

of all things

will do

way more

for you

than he did

for this lame man

leaping.

He'll give you

a resurrection body

like his resurrection body.

And even now

as we wait for that,

the life of God

can come into your soul

because of what God

accomplished

in his servant Jesus,

the author of life,

hung up on a cross.

Friends,

do you recognize

in Jesus

a power

above and beyond

all the powers

of this world?

It's a power

that's greater

than your silver and gold.

It's a power

that's greater

than the United States

and China.

It's a power

that's greater

than the robots

and all the people

building the robots.

Jesus can do

for you

what none

of these things

can do for you.

Because only

he has the power

to meet

the most fundamental needs

not only of your body

and your soul

but of our planet

and of our entire universe.

His is a power

to heal your soul

and to resurrect

your body.

His is a power

to restore all things

and to enable us

human beings

made in the image

of God

to live again

in the goodness

of God's creation.

No one else

can do that

and Jesus says

this is the power

Peter says

this is the power

that I proclaim

to you

silver and gold.

I do not have

and frankly

I don't need

but I have something

far more powerful

and it's the glorified

and resurrected

Christ.

And that's why

the lame are leaping

and that's why

I'm proclaiming

to you this power

and Peter goes on

to finish

he says

the repentant

will be refreshed.

The repentant

will be refreshed.

The question is

how do we

access this power?

How do we tap

into this power

that is above

and beyond this world?

Well Peter says

very simply

in verse 19

he says

repent

then

and turn

to God.

Repent

then

and turn

to God.

Peter uses

a key word

that is repeated

over and over

in the New Testament

from John the Baptist

to Jesus

to the apostles

all of them

are talking about

this one simple word

repent.

Repent then

and turn

to God.

Peter ends his sermon

where all good preaching

leads

and he emphasizes

the necessity

and the blessings

of repentance.

This Greek word

metanoeo

repent.

It means literally

change your mind.

Change your mind.

Make a change

of principle

and practice.

Peter is calling

for

a turnaround

and an about

face

and put negatively

to repent

involves

turning away

from yourself.

Turning away

from

all of your

self-serving

and self-dealing

and self-centeredness

and turning away

from your old

worldview

and your old

mindset

and your old

ways of thinking

about yourself

in this universe

and put positively

to repent

means

turning to God

and embracing

a new worldview

a new mindset

new ways of thinking

based on

who he's revealed

himself to be

through the Bible

in Jesus

by the Holy Spirit.

So repent

is a radical

change

both of your

mind

and of the

direction

and the trajectory

of your life.

And Peter says

everybody

needs to

repent

and turn to God.

and he says

if you repent

three successive

blessings

will happen

and here they are

in verse 19

repent then

and turn to God

so that your sins

may be wiped out

the times of refreshing

may come from the Lord

and that he may send

the Messiah

who has been

appointed for you

even Jesus

heaven must receive him

until the time comes

for God

to restore

everything.

Did you hear those

three successive blessings

to those who repent?

Number one

your sins will be

wiped out

Number two

times of refreshing

will come from the Lord

and number three

God will send the Messiah

to restore

everything

and I just want to try

to tie this together

as we close.

That first promised

blessing to those

who repent

says

your sins

will be wiped out

even the worst sins

he just talked about

people who killed

the author of life

even that sin

in an instant

in a moment

can be blotted out

and erased

and obliterated

it's not hard

for God

to do that

but now let's jump

over that

second promised

blessing

to those who repent

and look at the third

in verse 21

it says

heaven must receive

the Messiah

Jesus

until the time

comes for God

to restore

everything

and what that means

is that Jesus

even now

is awaiting

the signal

from God the Father

to return

as the king

who will bring

about a restoration

of all things

and will launch

the new creation

in which brokenness

and sin

and self-centeredness

will finally

and fully be removed

and Peter's saying

if you repent

you'll get to participate

in that

can you imagine

a restored creation

how beautiful

it will be

how pleasant

it will be

how wonderful

it will be

to experience

that with Jesus

Peter says

the Christian life

is sandwiched

between

your sins

being wiped out

and everything

being restored

and in between

these two great

events

there's this

second promised

blessing

to those who repent

and here it is

in verse 19

it says

times of refreshing

will come

from the Lord

times of refreshing

will come

from the Lord

that's what the

Christian life

is meant to be about

have you ever been

in a place

of such

oppressive heat

I've just come

from such a place

in the southeast

a place of such

oppressive heat

you're indoors

there's no air conditioning

it's exhausting

it's suffocating

and then all of a sudden

somebody opens

a window

or opens a door

and this fresh

burst of cool

breeze

just comes flowing

in and somebody

comes and hands

you an ice cold

crisp drink

and you take

a deep breath

and you take

a deep drink

and somehow

your strength

returns

and you feel

revived

anybody ever

experienced

that kind of

refreshing

Peter says

you can have

that in the

Christian life

you can have

times of refreshing

that come from

the Lord

and literally

it says

times of refreshing

that come from

the face

of the Lord

times of refreshing

that come from

the very countenance

of the Lord

as he looks

upon you

and you gaze

upon him

Peter says

you can go

to God

today

you can go

to God

tomorrow morning

you can go

to God

in your worst

moment

this week

and you can

look him

in the face

the face

that he's revealed

in Jesus Christ

and from that

place

you can ask

him

please give me

a cold

breath

of air

from the Holy

Spirit

please give me

a fresh

deep drink

from your presence

and he will

refresh you

you can expect

the God

who has graciously

wiped out

your sins

to give you

times of refreshing

now

today

that are foretaste

of that wonderful

final restoration

that's coming

at the return

of the king

times of refreshment

that come from

the very presence

of the Lord

himself

from his face

that because

of Jesus

looks upon you

with love

with mercy

with compassion

and with grace

and you can

expect him

to give to you

an advance

anticipation

of the final

and full

refreshment

that we expect

when God

will come

and complete

his work

at last

and so my

question

for you today

is friends

who here

needs

deep soul

rest

just me

who here

needs

deep

existential

relief

who here

is longing

and thirsting

for

spiritual

refreshment

friends

do you

look around

the church

in the Bay Area

and say

you know

I think

that the church

here might

need to be

revived

I think

it might

need to be

refreshed

well the way

into this

is so

so simple

repent

therefore

and turn

to God

just simply

turn away

from yourself

and turn

to God

and the Lord

will give us

a foretaste

of that final

refreshing

that's coming

and for which

we wait

and hope

let's just take

a moment now

as we

we're going to

come to this

table

to the very

presence of

the Lord

the face

of the Lord

where he

wants to

refresh us

and so I

just want to

give you

time and

space to

ask God

to come

and do

that for

you

in whatever

personal way

and particular

way you

need it

today

let's go to

him now

in prayer

in the name

of the

Father

Son

and Holy

Spirit

Amen