21 Days Of Freedom Part 3 | Jesus On Demand with Chris Schlotterbeck

He is glorious.

Behold the one who has come to life.

Welcome to Hub City Vineyard.

To get connected or to give online,

you can go to connect.hcv.church or give.hcv.church.

If at any time during this message

you feel called to make a change in your life,

text changeme to 970-00.

Thank you and enjoy the message.

This morning you picked the right gathering.

You know why?

Because the heat is working.

During our first gathering there was no heat,

so it happened to be 52 degrees when I walked in here.

I am not up on making heat work, so we just kind of went with it.

But thank you, John Mueller, for fixing our heat

so that our second service people can

be warm and snugly.

Thank you, John.

So welcome to HCV.

If it's your first time here, we are

thankful that you're here.

Thank you for being our guest.

If you're joining us from home, thank you

for welcoming us into your space.

Just a couple additional announcements.

If you got baptized, we have your baptism certificates

at the Welcome Hub.

Please stop by and grab them on your way out.

Last week was our group du jour.

Some of you went, but our group leaders all did soups.

As a means to feed you as an appetizer for your lunch.

And we have two winners.

Our first place winner, our grand champion, was Lance.

OK?

So can we give him a lanc- there he is.

Let me just preface by saying that Lance

is one of our youth leaders, and he may or may not

have had the middle school vote.

OK?

So yes, he did win grand champion questionable.

OK?

Our People's Choice Award goes to my wife, Jessica,

for her shrimp chowder.

All right?

Dairy free, gluten free, as healthy as you can be.

I had two bowls last night.

She made some for me for the Ravens game.

It's delicious.

If you want the recipe, talk to her.

You may or may not get it correctly,

because she doesn't follow one.

OK?

She just kind of makes it up, which is a wonderful thing.

So Jess and I were watching a concert on Friday night

on the TV, just chilling and relaxing.

And at the beginning of the concert,

a band used an audio clip from Charlie Chapman's final movie

called The Final Speech from the Great Director.

This was actually the only movie that Chapman ever

made with audio.

And in this movie, he says this.

In the 17th chapter of St. Luke, it is written,

the kingdom of God is within man, not one man,

nor a group of men, but in everyone.

In you, you, the people, have the power, the power

to create machines, the power to create happiness.

You, the people, have the power to make this life free

and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.

Powerful words that I want you to reflect on.

But before we move on, look at your neighbor

and say, the kingdom of God is within you.

See, we say that often here at HCV.

But for so many people, they're not quite sure what that means.

So that's the adventure we're going on this morning.

Now, I want to take you back in a time machine to the 80s.

When I was growing up, I always looked forward

to Friday nights because that was the best night for TV shows.

On Friday nights, we had Knight Rider and Dukes of Hazzard.

OK?

Woo, you know it.

You know?

So some of you are thinking, I don't know what a Knight Rider is.

And I have no idea what a Duke of Hazzard is.

But just do a Google search, you'll quickly learn.

And the cool thing about watching Friday night TV for me

was it didn't matter when you turned it on.

I could have turned it on 30 minutes late.

I was immediately into the show watching it,

excited for all that was going to happen.

Now, one problem that I quickly discovered about my Friday nights

is that back then, I believed that if I turned the TV off

because I had to go somewhere or my mom was taking me somewhere

or something was just happening, that when I returned to the TV

an hour or two later, it would be there.

To which now we know it wasn't.

So I was very disappointed over and over again.

Fast forward to today.

We now have on demand TV.

It's as if what I dreamed of as a young person

actually now has become a reality and my kids are spoiled.

Right?

My kids now have the ability to log into Disney+,

watch any show, any movie, whenever they want with a click of a button.

And we all know that with on demand TV,

we can hit pause if we want to get a snack,

if we want to go to the bathroom.

And you know, for me back in the 80s, that was a commercial break.

Right?

Now you just pause it, move on and do what you want.

Truth is, on demand content has transformed the way we receive content.

We can watch anything we want, any time we want.

We're no longer relegated to broadcast schedules.

OK?

How many of you are thankful for Netflix and Hulu and Amazon Prime

and dare I say, Peacock?

Now, some of you are upset with Peacock

because just last weekend during the NFL's Wild Card weekend,

Peacock had the most streamed live event ever

in the history of the United States.

23 million viewers set a record to watch the Kansas City Chiefs

defeat the Miami Dolphins.

The point, on demand TV, on demand services is where we are now.

And it has changed the way we watch TV, movies or live sporting events.

Heck, it's even changed the way I share with our community of faith.

Every single Sunday, we have nearly 300 people

watching our online content, right?

Or the following week on YouTube, Instagram.

And now, did I mention TikTok?

Thank you, Lily, for going into the TikTok world

because there are thousands of people that will watch this content.

And we believe it will point them to Jesus, which is the point, right?

I can no longer be shallow and just talk to those of you gathered here.

I now have to look into cameras and think about who is watching

not only now, but later, because it has to go broader

because of the on-demand audience.

On demand, dare I say, is the premise for the Book of Acts in the early church.

See, Jesus, he's making this transition to show his disciples

that they need his power on earth on demand, right?

Before Jesus returned to heaven and then sent his Holy Spirit

to fill his followers in Acts chapter 2,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

most of the miracles that we read about is relegated to Jesus' earthly body.

Heck, there's a reason the disciples didn't want Jesus to leave

after he spent 40 days with them in his resurrected body.

Remember, Jesus was crucified, right?

He died, he was buried, and then rose from the dead three days later.

And then in his resurrected body, spent time with his disciples.

Then Jesus says to them, no, it's better that I go away.

In fact, it's good if I go away because when I go away,

I'm going to leave you with the Holy Spirit.

I don't want miracles to be relegated just to me.

No, Jesus wants his power working in you and through you.

And when his power works in you and through you,

then people can experience breakthroughs on demand.

People can experience healing on demand.

They can get restoration on demand.

They can experience forgiveness on demand.

See, Jesus said to his disciples, I am leaving you with a power

that when you walk by someone that is hurting or broken,

you don't have to go and find Jesus.

You don't have to bring Jesus back.

No, you waited on me in the upper room, now you're filled with the Spirit.

Give it away.

Now the disciples, they can lay their hands on the sick.

Because why?

Because Jesus no longer has to be present for the miracles to happen.

And his power can now work through you and me on demand

to release his healing power on this earth.

And this was what is happening in the text that God put on my heart for today

as we continue our 21 days to freedom.

Thus far in week one, we were challenged to get out of the crowd

and to be a disciple and start following Jesus this year.

Last year, we walked away from shame and guilt

as we discussed the book of Leviticus.

That was fun, right?

Everyone nod.

Did everyone learn a little bit about Leviticus?

If you missed any of those two talks, you can go back to YouTube, of course,

and listen in on demand.

Today, we find Peter and John,

they're in the middle of a huge paradigm shift

where they are now understanding Jesus is not just doing stuff for us,

he is now doing stuff through us,

and we get to experience the kingdom of God,

which leads us to our first thought.

See, Peter and John discerned the crippled beggar needed healing.

So here we go, we're going to jump in, Acts chapter three, verses one through four.

Peter and John went to the temple one afternoon.

I love how it is.

Remember, one day, one afternoon, anything can happen

to take part in the three o'clock prayer service.

As they approached the temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in.

Each day, he was put beside the temple gate,

the one called the beautiful gate,

so he could beg from the people going into the temple.

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

Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said,

look at us, so Peter and John stopped and perceived this man needed something.

And not only did he need something, he needed a miracle.

And quite often, God wants to perform a miracle through us,

and we simply have to perceive or discern what he is doing.

What does that mean for us?

We have to stop being so busy that we can't stop and pause and ask God

what he wants to do through us.

Because if you think about your daily lives,

we're going from one place to the next, we're on our errands,

we're on our schedules, we've got to keep up with them.

We forget that, wait a minute, I have the power of God living inside of me.

What if he wants to use me today?

One person said that if the enemy can't get you to sin,

he will just keep you busy.

And we hear it all the time when we're talking with friends

that we haven't seen for a while in church.

Oh, sorry, Chris, I've been meaning to come back.

I've just been busy since the holidays.

Or when we're talking to individuals about joining a serve team,

like today is team up.

You can meet with Jess and learn about all of our teams

here on Sunday mornings and become a part of those teams.

But what do we constantly hear?

Oh, I can't really serve right now, I'm just busy.

I have a lot of things happening in my life.

Or if we talk about groups, our groups have started,

our weekly growth groups, we challenge you to be in a group,

find a group that fits you.

Oh, Chris, I just don't have an extra night, I'm too busy.

See, there's nothing like sin or busyness

that will break our connection to God.

And unfortunately, it's one or the other for the church.

And it's the same thing when it comes to being used by God.

We can become so busy scrolling on our social media pages

that we miss out on the opportunities for God to use us

as a conduit for his kingdom.

What did Peter and John do?

They stopped, they paused, and they discerned.

But then I began to notice the timeline

and geography of this miracle.

So please keep in mind that when we are introduced

to this lame man, we don't get his name.

All we learn is that he was lame from birth, right?

And then in Acts 4 22, we learn this,

for this miraculous sign, the healing of a man

who had been lame for more than 40 years.

Now think about that, 40 years is a long time.

And some of you are thinking, okay, Chris,

why is this important?

Well, it's important because this miracle

didn't happen long after Jesus ascended back to heaven.

So if this lame man had been by the temple

for nearly 40 years, and every single day we read

that he had been dropped at the temple gate,

friends, it's highly plausible and almost inevitable

that Jesus himself walked by this guy

while he was begging at the temple gate.

I mean, if Jesus walked by him and yet never healed him,

doesn't it make you think, well, why?

Jesus, why didn't you heal this man?

And the answer to that question is quite simple.

We don't know, I don't know.

It simply speaks to the reality that healing

is a sovereign work of God.

It's a sovereign work of God, and I can't explain

why Jesus didn't choose to heal this man,

but we read in the scriptures that another man

that was lying by the pool of Bethesda for 38 years

was healed.

See, I don't know why God chose to heal that man

in Bethesda and not this man at the gate called Beautiful.

I don't know why today there are some people

that receive their healing while on earth,

but still others that don't get their healing

until God takes them home and to be in heaven.

We don't know, and what we point to is

it's God's sovereign work.

I do know, however, it's my responsibility

to believe that God is a healer

and to know that his will is to heal.

I do know it's my responsibility to lay hands on the sick

and to pray bold prayers for them to be healed.

That's on me.

That's a choice that I need to make.

But I don't know why Jesus didn't heal this lame man

at the temple gate.

I say that because someone here this morning

is wrestling with a simple question,

that you may or may not get an answer to

until you get to heaven,

as to why some people are healed here on earth

and others don't get healed

until they enter the kingdom of God.

Now another thought that I had is,

maybe the reason this man didn't get his healing

is because Jesus walked by him and said,

that healing is a job for John and Peter.

That's their job.

That's their responsibility.

Peter and John are gonna come later

and I'm gonna let them take care of this man

because they don't even know that I'm about to die

on the cross, get up from the grave,

fill them with the spirit,

and then I'm expecting them to notice

this man sitting at the temple gate.

So here you go, sir, I'll drop a few coins in your cup,

but the healing you're expecting is gonna come later.

Could that be why?

See, all of a sudden, Peter and John,

they roll up on this man in need of healing.

What do they do?

They perceive, they discern,

wait, wait, wait, I'm supposed to do this.

This is what I'm called to do.

Peter and John then, remember,

experience the first miracle of the New Testament church

and they do it together,

which leads us to our next thought.

God used polar opposites to perform this miracle.

Peter and John looked at him intently

and Peter said, look at us.

The lame man looked at them eagerly expecting some money,

but Peter said, I don't have any silver or gold for you,

but I'll give you what I have in the name of Jesus.

The Nazarene get up and walk.

See, Peter and John are nothing like one another.

They're completely opposite.

I mean, for example, just two examples

that jump off the page of scriptures,

Peter is a cusser, John is a cuddler.

Two completely different people, right?

When Peter is being challenged by a young girl

and those gathered around the fire,

remember, oh, you're a follower of Jesus.

Now he began to cuss.

He began to tell him, I'm not a follower.

Peter swore, the scriptures say in Mark 14,

I curse on me if I'm lying.

I don't know this man you're talking about, right?

So he gets up in him and said, no, I'm not.

Get away from me.

He's a cusser.

John, who's John?

He's a dude that always has his head on Jesus' chest.

John 13, one of his disciples whom Jesus loved or esteemed

was leaning against Jesus' chest.

He was a disciple that Jesus loved, we learn.

They were complete opposites.

Who was Peter?

He was the guy that speaks before he thinks, right?

Everyone nods.

We all know someone like that, right?

They say something, oh, my bad, I shouldn't have said that.

Right, my bad.

Now John, John is pensive.

He's careful with his words.

So if you look at these two, they're complete opposites.

Yet what does God do?

He brings them together to perform the first miracle

in the New Testament church.

Why?

Because this is a picture of the church.

This is how the church operates.

Shallow people only look at the differences between us

as points for division.

Deeper people, deeper people understand,

hey, you might not think like I do.

You might not even vote like I do.

But we can all agree to disagree.

Let's connect on the fact that people need to experience God.

And let's focus on that point.

People need to be restored.

Let's connect on the fact that the name of Jesus

should be praised and preached with power.

I mean, you know you're a shallower

if you're only looking for the differences

in other people as a point of division.

But you know there's depth in your walk with God.

When you look at each other and say,

hey, I don't agree with you on that,

but let's go worship and praise God together at HCV.

Right, let's go and do it together.

Deep people know how to work together with others

even when they disagree.

I mean, think about 1 Corinthians 12.

Let's read it together.

But our bodies have many parts.

And God has put each part just where he wants it.

How strange a body would be if it had only one part.

Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.

The eye can never say to the hand, I don't need you.

The head can't say to the feet, I don't need you.

And you're saying, well, what's that have to do with the church?

The point is the body is described like our bodies.

There's all these different operating systems.

We are all working together to make the kingdom of God,

to see the kingdom of a God invade the tri-state area.

So we should not be at all shocked

that the first miracle of the New Testament church

is between Peter and John.

I mean, we all need a Peter

because he is the one that will say what no one else will say.

Right, he's just that guy.

I mean, you may be sitting beside a Peter right now.

Don't look at him, okay?

We all need a Peter, right?

Because sometimes you need someone that just,

will come right out and look at someone and say, you're rude.

I mean, what were you thinking?

There's someone hating on you, you're just mean, change.

There's nothing wrong with that.

But sometimes we need a John.

And what's a John say?

A John says, hey, hey, hey brother,

God's not done with you yet.

Let's get back up and let's just keep moving forward.

The point, the church needs both.

And there's a chance that later,

some of you are gonna be staring at me with evil eyes,

not liking what I'm challenging you to do.

So just nod and just say,

Chris may or may not challenge you later

because the church needs both.

I believe that was the compassion of John

that noticed this man,

but it took the courage of Peter to say,

you're not getting money from me today,

I have something more for you,

which leads us to our next thought.

See, trauma triggers hopelessness.

Trauma triggers hopelessness.

Remember this man, sitting by the temple gate,

he's lame from birth,

which speaks to the trauma in his life that just happened.

Right?

He didn't make bad mistakes.

He didn't want to be physically unable to walk.

It was just the cards that he was dealt.

And we all have those, right?

It's not your bad mistakes, it's not your bad choices.

The things that just happened to us, right?

The father that was not there for you.

The mother that never gave you any validation.

The siblings that mistreated you.

The abuse, the neglect, the divorce, the illness.

Right?

All of us, I believe gathered here are watching online.

We could pass the mic around

and share about the things from birth

that we didn't pick, we didn't want, we didn't deserve.

And if we think about those things,

that could rack up a massive counseling bill.

So we could talk about how this man was lame from birth.

I mean, the Bible, Acts 3, 2,

as he approached the temple, a man lame from birth

was being carried in.

Each day he was put aside at the temple gate.

Think about it, he couldn't even walk, he's being carried in.

So he could beg from the people going into the temple.

So he was dealt those cards,

but we also can talk about his behavior.

Notice what is his behavior, he's what?

Begging.

Begging.

The behavior of begging is a byproduct of being lame.

In this culture,

when a person doesn't have mobility in their legs,

they can't just go out and get a job.

There's no job for them.

Peter and John looks at him intently,

Peter says, look at us.

See, there's even more.

In between the trauma and the behavior,

there's something much deeper that everyone avoids,

it's the mentality.

See, there's the psychology of hopelessness.

In between the trauma of his legs

and the behavior of his begging

is the psychology of hopelessness.

And hear me out,

if the enemy is after anything, he's after your hope.

He wants us to reach a point in our lives

where we wake up and say things like,

this is not ever gonna get better.

This will never change

because the day we lose our hope,

we might as well lose our legs.

In fact, I would rather have a person who is lame

but has hope that a person that has full mobility

of their body but has lost all their hope.

How do I know that?

Because there's people from the disabled community

that are competing in Olympic sports.

There's disabled individuals that play basketball.

There's disabled individuals that climb Mount Everest.

Nothing can stop them because they have hope.

But if a person loses hope, they've lost everything.

See, in between the behavior of begging

and the trauma of his legs is the psychology of hopelessness.

And I wanna ask you a simple question today.

Have you gone deeper and simply asked yourself,

what is the mindset behind my behavior?

Why do I do the things that I do?

See, people don't have a problem talking about their trauma.

This is a word that needs to be redefined,

in my opinion, within our culture.

Because there are people that experience trauma every day

while others, because a person walked into a church

and they didn't get smiled at, oh, that's trauma.

That's not trauma, sorry.

It's just, you were not noticed, I'm sorry.

Forgive us, but that's not trauma.

But there's those of you gathered here this morning

and watching online that have experienced trauma

in your life and I'm in no way trying to belittle it.

I'm just trying to say we have to spend time on it

and look at it so that we can understand it.

Because in the church, we like talking about our traumas

and we spend a lot of time talking about behaviors.

I mean, for many of you, if you grew up in church,

when you were in youth group, all you ever heard was,

stop it, stop doing that, stop talking out loud,

stop acting out.

But when is someone gonna say, well, wait a minute,

let's address the psychology and the mentality

that is behind the behavior.

What is the psychology of this man

that is begging by the temple gate?

It's hopelessness.

He's lost all of his hope, how do I know that?

He stopped looking up.

Think about it, a lot of us miss this part of the text.

The Bible says that Peter and John walked by him,

he asked them for money, that's the behavior of begging.

But then the Bible also says the first thing

Peter and John say to this man is not get up and walk,

be healed, the first thing they say is what?

Look at us.

So we ask them for money and the first thing they say

is look at us, which means he was begging for money

looking down.

Help please, help the poor, help the disabled.

All he had to look forward to was change

hitting the bottom of his cup.

He's lost all hope.

And when a person has been stuck in a position for so long,

how long for this man?

Since birth, his physicality will show

his psychology or his outlook.

This man doesn't even look up anymore

to see who's putting money in the cup.

Thank you, thank you.

He just listens and when change hits the bottom,

thank you, he has nothing to look forward to.

Proverbs 13, 12 tells us this,

hope deferred makes the heart sick.

See this man had a sick heart.

Till one day Peter and John, they stop

and what do they do?

They look at him and that alone shows the power of a look.

No wonder they said look at us.

What dare I say the first miracle in this encounter

is that this man looked at them.

That was the first miracle.

After years of having his head down,

he had a little bit of faith

that he could look up and look them in the eyes.

Friends, we're always gonna move

in the direction we're looking.

So before dealing with your legs,

let's start with your focus.

Let's start with your outlook

and lift your head towards God.

I don't know who I'm speaking to today,

but God highlighted these verses

to tell you it's time to look up.

It's time to take your focus off your struggles,

off your predicament, off your choices,

off your negativity, off your why always me attitude

and look up for what God has for you.

Start looking up again.

Start believing, start hoping, start believing

and start trusting.

This man, he looked up

and it poses the question for all of us,

what are you looking for?

Because in our society, in our culture,

whatever you're looking for, you're gonna find it

and you're gonna walk in it.

For example, if you're looking for something

that is wrong with your spouse,

you're gonna find it.

You're always gonna find it.

If you're looking for a way out,

for a way to divorce him or her,

you're always gonna find it.

I mean, you can even blame it on how he or she

puts the toilet paper on the roll.

Well, I like it being pulled down,

they wanna pull it up.

Who cares?

The point, if you're looking for a reason, you'll find it.

And no wonder Peter and John worked this miracle

because what were they doing?

They were looking to give away

what they had encountered in the upper room.

They were looking to give away this godly power

so that everyone could experience freedom.

Everyone was just walking by this man.

Help, please.

Peter and John stopped and made eye contact.

It's all about where we look and what we're looking for,

which leads us to our next thought.

See, sometimes miracles are preceded by disappointment.

So notice Acts 3, 3 and 5 through 6.

He saw Peter and John about to enter.

He asked them for some money.

Again, back to the beggar, he wanted some money.

The lame man looked up at them eagerly,

expecting some what?

Money.

Notice this man was expecting money.

And we say all this, I don't know about you,

but don't we say this all the time within our culture.

If I just had a little extra money,

if I just had a little more money, just a few more dollars,

is that really what we need?

Or do we need to learn to live on a budget?

Do we really need a little bit more money?

Do we, oh God, I could just use a little more money, really?

Or do we just need a little healing

so that we're not so insecure

that we spend money on things that we don't need

to validate us in front of our friends and family

so they believe that we're well off?

See, this man was expecting money.

Someone sees him, acknowledges him, he looks up,

and what does he expect?

He expects money.

But Peter says this,

I don't have any silver or gold for you.

Imagine the disappointment.

I mean, this man was thinking, yes, this is a haul,

I'm gonna get a lot of money.

He looks up, Peter says, I don't have any silver or gold.

That's disappointment.

Imagine the disappointment and hearing those words,

not even knowing his disappointment

was gonna be preceded by the greatest miracle

he will ever experience.

See, sometimes our greatest miracle

is preceded by our greatest disappointment.

Sometimes it's after the bankruptcy

that you receive the idea for a new business.

Sometimes it's after you get fired

that you actually become a manager instead of the employee.

Sometimes it's after the person that breaks your heart

that you actually get to meet the one

that you were created to be with.

My point, don't give up just because you got disappointed.

And I think about this room that we're in,

you know, the House of Miracles

that we've been in for this Easter will be four years.

And I thought back this week about just being in this room.

You know, it was about eight years ago or so

that we began to pray over on Bauer Avenue

about a property, a building,

because we were growing and we knew Dollar General

was gonna build this new building.

We knew we were gonna have any parking

and we're already out of parking here, I'm sorry,

but we're working on that.

So we began to pray about, okay, God,

we need to find a building.

We need to find a property.

We need to do something here.

And we visited property after property after property

after property for those of you who've been here

for long ago and for those years ago,

you know that we were looking here and there and everywhere.

And it seems that everywhere we went, it was no.

Constantly no.

But we had a generous church.

And being a generous church, we started a building fund.

We started this building fund, started collecting money

and adding to the building fund to the point that

even though we were getting no, no, no, this isn't it,

this isn't it, the building fund grew to the point

that when I got a random Facebook message,

I needed to go and talk to the leaders of this church,

Church of the Holy Trinity, and I met with them

and we prayed over six months and they voted unanimously

to sell us their property.

We took all that money that we had received

all those no's with and we put it in their hand

and we bought it.

My point, in this journey to be in this room,

we experienced a lot of disappointments,

but those disappointments grew us

with faith that we're able to buy a property

and now own a property and watch the kingdom of God grow.

We have to keep walking by faith.

We have to keep trusting.

What if our greatest miracles are on the other side

of our disappointments?

But I'll give you what I have, Peter says,

in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up,

and get up and walk.

See, we can only give what we have

and what did Peter and John do?

They used the name.

They used the name that's above every other name,

that's greater than any other name

and has the power to heal and deliver.

There is power, we sung about this morning

in the name of Jesus, which leads us to our final fall.

See, Peter and John were connected to the kingdom power.

See, there's power in our connection to that name.

And dare I say, can we go a little deeper?

See, the name Jesus only has power

to the degree that we're connected to it.

See, Peter and John, they weren't shallow followers.

They were his disciples.

They were his followers for three years.

They left everything, job, family, friends.

They were connected to the name

and said they knew it's power.

We have to realize it's more than just saying

the name of Jesus and then praying once every four months.

It's more than just saying the name of Jesus

and then choosing to read the Bible,

once a month.

We have to be connected.

Right, I think about my air fryer.

I love my air fryer.

It's wonderful.

It cooks things so I hear really well.

It's powerful.

In fact, it only takes eight minutes to cook my food,

but it has to be what?

Plugged in in order for it to work.

Same goes for our relationship with God.

Acts 3, 6 to 8, but Peter said,

I don't have any silver or gold,

but I'll give you what I have in the name of Jesus Christ.

The Nazarene get up and walk.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Why did he say Nazarene?

I mean, that's a specific city,

but why not Jesus Christ of Bethlehem?

That's where he was born.

Why not Jesus Christ of Capernaum?

That's where a lot of his miracles were.

Why in the name of Jesus Christ,

the Nazarene get up and walk?

Well, maybe, just maybe it has something to do

with the fact that the word Nazarene

comes from the Greek word nasser,

which actually means branch or sprout.

And the imagery actually is of a stump

that had been cut down, a massive tree.

It was cut all the way down to the stump.

There was no hope.

Nothing could be done with it.

But if you return to it after six months,

what do you see growing up out of the stump?

A sprout.

Every stump will try to grow again.

See, maybe Peter was letting this man know

that although he had been down for 40 years

since his birth, there was hope.

They thought Jesus was down and out

when they hung him on a cross and buried him in a tomb.

But we know and can celebrate that three days later,

he rose from the grave.

And I wanna encourage you,

don't let anyone ever tell you it's over.

It's not over till God says it's over

because the kingdom of God can be experienced on demand.

And this is the year that God is challenging

our community of faith to step out, to be bold.

Because then we read, Peter took the lame man

by the right hand, helped him up.

As he did, the man's feet and ankles

were instantly healed in strength.

And he jumped up, stood to his feet, and began to what?

Walk.

Then walking, leaping, and praising God,

he went into the temple with them.

And my question to you this morning is,

who are you helping up?

The kingdom of God causes us to be very uncomfortable.

And God is challenging us, HCV,

to get outside of our comfort zones

and believe that God is gonna use you,

not just today in this gathering,

but tomorrow while you go to work.

Tomorrow while you go to Walmart.

Tomorrow while you visit your family,

which leads us to our action steps.

Partnering with God.

Five simple steps in partnering with God this morning.

And the first is this.

Church, we need to believe in the miraculous.

Peter and John, notice they went to the temple one afternoon.

What were they going for?

They were going to pray.

That's what they were going for.

They were going to pray.

But yet the man that they were about to encounter,

he was born lame, he was lying beside the entrance way.

Right, the trauma produced the behavior of what?

Begging.

He was begging with his head down,

he had no hope.

And the one thing that we have control over is our hope.

And I want to encourage you.

Change your outlook.

Look forward, see people for who they are.

Be on mission for God.

How do we know that Peter and John were on mission?

Because they were charged by Jesus in Mark 16

with these words.

He told them, go into all the world

and preach the good news to everyone.

These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe

they will cast out demons in my name,

they will speak in new languages,

they will be able to place their hands on the sick

and they will be healed.

God challenges us.

If you're following him, do the same today.

That's your charge.

You can be used by God because we are now

filled with the Spirit.

Acts two on the day of Pentecost.

All the believers are meeting together in one place.

Suddenly there was a sound from heaven

like the roaring of a mighty windstorm

that filled the house while they were sitting.

Then what looked like flames

or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them

and everyone present was filled with the Spirit.

It's not us.

For those of you who say, God, I can't do this.

Chris, I can't go out and do these things good.

Keep saying that because it's God in you.

You get out of the way and let the Holy Spirit use you,

which leads us to our next step.

We first have to believe in the miraculous.

Number two, we need to pay attention.

As he approached the temple, a man laying from birth

was being carried in each day. He was put beside the temple gate

so he could beg from the people going in.

When he saw Peter and John about to enter,

he asked them for some money.

Peter and John looked.

They were paying attention.

The Holy Spirit highlighted for both of them

that this is your guy.

And I want to ask you a simple question.

Do you daily pay attention to the Holy Spirit speaking?

Do you give him room to speak?

Do you wake up and say, Holy Spirit, guide my day.

Lead me today. When you go to work, when you go to school,

when you're running errands,

we cannot limit God to Sunday morning gatherings.

I believe that God wants to use the church more on Monday

through Saturday than it does on Sunday. Why?

Because out there is where the meat is.

The meat is on the streets, right?

It's out there where the people have needs.

We can't allow our schedules and our busyness to slow us down.

And I want to challenge you to pay attention

which leads us to our next step.

So we got believe, pay attention, release life.

Peter and John looked at him intently,

and Peter said, look at us.

The man looked at him eagerly expecting some money,

but Peter said, I don't have any silver or gold for you,

but I'll give you what I have.

In the name of Jesus, get up and walk.

And do we simply make eye contact with others?

Do you realize the first miracle in this encounter

was Peter and John making eye contact with this beggar

to acknowledge that he was a person?

It's just simply acknowledging that people are real.

Do we make people feel appreciated and loved

with our words of life?

Do we point others to Jesus with our actions,

words, and our prayers?

And my question to you, all of you is,

what would your family say about you?

Do they see you doing that?

Or is it just something you hear and they're like,

it's just something you hear and then forget?

Which leads us to our next step.

You gotta serve.

Notice Peter took the lame man by the rain hand,

helped him up.

I love this.

And as he did, the man's feet and ankles

were instantly healed and strengthened.

So he released his life with his words, right?

Made eye contact, released his life with his words,

and then he took the time to reach down and help him up.

I believe this was another step of faith

that Peter took so the miraculous can happen, right?

And I believe, unfortunately, within the church,

and I've done this before, just being honest,

there are times when we get asked to pray for others

and we pray for them so that they feel loved

and loved on and received.

Like if someone looks at you and says,

hey, will you pray for me?

Of course we'll pray for them.

We're in church, we're supposed to,

but we don't pray like God can move mountains.

We just kind of pray.

And God wants to raise our expectancy

so that we believe the mountains will actually happen,

that God would release healing and restoration

and forgiveness and miraculous through you and me.

Which leads us to our final step we need to celebrate.

All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God.

When they realized he was the lame beggar

they had been at the gate, they were absolutely astounded.

They all rushed out in the amazement of silence,

the man was holding tight, Peter and John.

The people recognized the beggar.

The man used to sit at the entrance and what beg?

And this has proved that God doesn't waste your pain.

Every one of those 40 years of that man sitting

by the temple gate, right, was just a part of him

expressing his love for God so that others

would be drawn into a relationship with God.

Because see, I believe your greatest shame

can become your greatest platform to declare

the goodness of God in your life.

It's all about our what?

Our outlook.

How are you looking today?

What do you believe God wants to do in your life?

Will you stand with me?

Okay, remember a few statements ago I said,

oh, some of you are gonna be upset with me,

well now's your time, okay?

Okay, so here's what we're gonna do.

I was working out Thursday morning,

listening to worship music and God spoke to me

about how I'm supposed to close this gathering, okay?

So here's what we're gonna do.

You're in a row, right?

So my front row, turn around and face the next row.

There you go, right?

Third row, turn around.

You see what we're doing?

Find people.

Turn around, turn around, turn around.

I want everyone paired up, everyone praying for somebody,

ask, introduce yourself, hi, I'm Chris.

How could I pray for you?

Everyone is praying.

You can do it.

Step out.

Prayer is talking to God, that's all.

Come Holy Spirit.

Move in this place, God.

Change lives.

Allow your boldness, your hope, your meaning,

your love to come forth.

Come forth, God.

Give people the ability to connect with you,

to experience you.

May they step out in faith, God.

May the words that they speak be your words.

May healing come.

May your will be done.

May lives be transformed.

May the miraculous come forth.

I speak to broken bodies.

I speak to images and outlooks on life.

That God, you would transform people

and you would allow your love to come.

That your will would be done, God.

Your will come, your kingdom come on earth

as it is in heaven.

May you hear our prayers, God.

May you move in this place.

May people be challenged and changed.

May relationships with you grow

and be astonished and fortified.

I'm thankful, God, for moving in this place,

for changing lives, for setting people free.

Come Holy Spirit.

Change us now, God, in Jesus' name.

Amen, okay, finish up.

Finish up, finish up and come back to me.

Finish up.

Give me an amen.

There we go, all right, now.

I didn't release anyone, don't be leaving.

Bring it back.

Bring it back, all right.

Okay, I'm gonna take a few more.

Okay, hear me out, listen.

Thank you.

Now I said this during our first gathering.

Some of you, when I asked you to do this,

you looked at me like a ravaging dog

ready to take me down, okay.

I saw your faces.

I don't care.

Because if you can't pray here,

you're never gonna pray out there.

True or false?

We've got to come to a place of being comfortable enough

to pray for one another.

Chances are you met someone new, good.

Now you can pray for them the rest of the week,

whatever it is that you were praying for.

My point is, get outside of your comfort zone.

That's what God's calling us to do this year.

To be bold followers that's willing

to proclaim the kingdom of God,

not just on Sunday mornings at HCV,

but everywhere we go praying for the sick,

believing for the miraculous,

because I believe when we do that,

the kingdom of God comes.

What did Jesus teach us to pray?

May your kingdom come, may your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Amen?

All right, now listen, we're almost done.

Almost done.

If you're not in a relationship with Jesus, okay?

And you haven't made that choice yet,

my prayer team, our prayer team will be right up front here.

Let everyone leave.

Then you quietly come up and pray that simple prayer.

Step out in faith and allow God to change your life

because he wants to.

And then give me a hug on your way out, okay?

Thank you for joining us online, God bless you.

The King of glory's here.

Come and behold,

the King of glory's here.