Carriers

I'm going to go ahead and invite you to open

up your Bibles to the book of Acts, chapter 3,

Acts 3:1

verse 1. That's the book of Acts, chapter 3,

Acts 3 · chapter mention

and we're going to start in verse 1. And if you

have it, why don't you shout, Amen. And if you

don't have it, you can say, hold up. So we're

going to go ahead and read that, and it says

like this, 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 them 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 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. In this hour, I

want to preach to you in this thought that the

Lord gave me, titled Carriers. I'm going to invite

you right there where you are to lift up your

hands, and we're going to come before the presence

of the Lord. Heavenly Father, we give you honor,

and we give you glory, Jesus. Your spirit is

already here, Lord, and your spirit is already

moving, Father. In this hour, Lord, I put myself

before you. Anoint my lips, Father. that I may

preach with the freedom that comes from you,

with your anointing, Father, that your people,

Lord, may receive this word, Lord, with freedom,

with joy, Father, and that it can be a blessing,

Lord, to this congregation and this hour, Father.

In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray and we say,

amen. You may go ahead and have your seats. In

this passage in the book of Acts, chapter 3,

Acts 3 · chapter mention

We see that there's a man, and the Bible says,

now a man who was lame from birth. He was located

at the temple, specifically at the gate called

Beautiful. This was a temple in Jerusalem. Now,

some people, the Bible says that there were some

people that carried this man to the gate. This

gate was not just a spiritual entry to the house

of God, but it was also a monumental wonder.

Its greatness didn't compare to any other gate

in Jerusalem. Now, I don't know if you know a

little bit about this gate, but it was known

for its extraordinary beauty, made of bronze.

This gate was not just any door, but a declaration

of greatness, standing at about 70 feet. tall,

60 feet wide. Now, if you would just pause for

a moment, that is a huge door. That is a huge

gate. It was so big that it required 20 men to

open the gate and close it every single day.

This gate was the entrance to a divine place

where heaven met earth. Where prayer happened

and where people would seek God's mercy. But

despite the splendor of this gate, you would

find many people being carried to this gate.

The blind, the sick, the lame, those who were

in need would be carried to this gate. Because

they knew that the Jews would pray three times

a day. And when they would come to the temple

to pray, they knew they could potentially receive

something from the people coming to the temple

for prayer. Now, when we read this passage, we

could look at every detail and everyone who participated

in this passage that we just read. We can focus

on Jesus Christ as he is the center of this miracle.

He's the center of each miracle, of each message,

of each moment in the scripture, amen? In this

story, the name of Jesus is the fountain of healing.

It wasn't Peter and it wasn't John, but it was

the authority in the name of Jesus Christ that

brought healing to this man. If we look further,

we can focus on Peter. We could talk about John.

We knew who they were. Great leaders set examples.

They were used by God, filled with the Holy Spirit.

But in this passage, when Peter and John walked

by, I love something that they did. They took

time to pray for this man. They could have easily

ignored him, but they chose not to. We could

also look at the... Lame man himself, the beggar,

which here in this passage simply represents

a symbolism of humanity without Christ. A man

who was lame from birth representing you and

I. What life is without Jesus. Just brokenness,

being excluded, in need of a savior, in need

of redemption. Amen? But when we look at the

passage as a whole, I want to walk you through

the process of this miracle. Because there was

different people that played a key part for this

miracle to occur. And I want to start off by

focusing on the people who are not even mentioned.

The first verse says, the second verse, now a

man who was lame from birth was being carried.

It doesn't tell us who carried him. We don't

know who it was. We don't know their names. We

don't know how many. We don't know if it was

two men or if a man and his wife or if they were

cousins. We don't know no details about them.

We just know that it was some people that would

carry these men or in this passage, this lame

man to the gate every single day. Every single

day, they devoted themselves to carry him in

hope that he would receive something. Now, if

we stop for a moment, it wasn't their job. The

Bible doesn't say that this was somebody's job

to do this. It doesn't say that it was their

duty. It doesn't say that they were getting paid

for this. It just says that some people carried

him to the gate. And I want to tell you that

the miracle of this man started with the carriers.

The miracle of this man started because there

was people around there that felt it in their

hearts, that felt a burden to help this man that

was in need, that when they saw him, they knew

that he couldn't get there, that they saw him

in a situation that he couldn't help himself.

And they knew that perhaps they didn't have silver

or gold as well. Maybe they didn't have much

to give him. But all they could give him was

a little bit of help by carrying him to the gates

of this temple. They knew perhaps that they couldn't

heal him. Maybe they looked at each other and

said, well, there's nothing else we can do. But

we know a place. Or maybe somebody can do something

for him. Let's take him there. But what speaks

to me is the fact that they didn't do it once.

The Bible in this passage says that daily they

carried him to the temple gate. Daily. When we

talk about daily, it's called consistency. And

you know how hard that is. Sometimes it's hard

to be consistent for ourselves. Can you imagine

being consistent in helping others? That's the

part that maybe this passage doesn't go in detail.

But I want to pause for a moment because there

was something about these people. There was something

that they were filled with that they just had

a burden within them to do something for this

man. And I wonder, church. If at moments, if

we look at lives today, there's many times where

we could walk by any restaurant and we could

see many people on the streets asking for food

or for money. But what do we notice? A lot of

people walking by. Amen? There's a lot of people

that just walk by, ignore them. Matter of fact,

you don't even have to be lame. They ignore me

just when I say. Hello. They just keep walking.

You don't even have to ask for money. People

just don't say hi anymore. People don't care.

They just go on their way because they're too

busy. They got things to do. But I want to say

that as people of God. There's got to be a burden

within us to take time to reach people. How are

we going to have revival when we see people in

the streets asking for help? We just walk by.

How are we going to ask God, bring revival to

this city. Bring revival to this church, Lord.

And when there's people around us, when we go

to a park, we just walk by and go have fun. If

we are called. The people of God. I believe we

have to follow this example of these carriers.

That they felt a burden within them to do something.

It wasn't even much. It wasn't even much. It

was simply taking him to a place where he could

receive something from somebody else. And I want

to tell you today. That these people are the

ones that started the miracle in this passage.

There was a miracle in their hands that they

didn't even know about. But they found out once

they took them there. And I'm curious to ask

somebody, is it possible that maybe there's a

miracle in your hands for somebody else's life

that is just simply waiting on you to take action,

to reach out to somebody? You see, it may not

be physically, but it may be in the spirit that

they are broken. It may be in the spirit that

they need somebody to be there with them. It

may be in the spirit that they need prayer. But

who else but you and I that call on the name

of Jesus, that call ourselves. believers and

followers of Christ. Who else can they wait for?

If it's not you, then who is it going to be?

If it's not today, when will it be? That we take

it upon ourselves to go out and reach the brokenhearted.

As I read this passage, I started to wonder how

many miracles could we see if we simply took

action and brought people to the temple. How

many miracles could we see if we simply heard

the voice of God to bring them here? Amen? We

don't have to, God didn't call us to transform

the people. God didn't call us to transform their

lives. All we got to do is bring them to the

temple and let God do the rest. Let God do the

miracle. Church, I'm here to tell somebody that

we are called to be carriers, carriers of his

word and carriers of people into the temple of

God, into this place. I don't know about you,

but do you believe that the Holy Ghost moves

in this house? Do you feel the Holy Ghost in

this place? Do you believe that freedom can happen

here? I believe with all my heart that something,

can happen in the presence of the Lord. I believe

with all my heart that when we worship in this

place, miracles happen. We are called to be carriers.

But many times I want to tell you, we cannot

fall into the routine, into the pattern of this

world. We cannot be too busy to stop and pray

for somebody. We cannot be too busy or, matter

of fact, or too cool or too embarrassed or too

ashamed to stop in the middle of nowhere and

you see somebody that is broken and offer a prayer.

We got to be able to discern that moment. When

you see somebody at the store or when you see

somebody at the park, just greet them. You don't

have to go up to them and become best friends.

But if you discern in your spirit, if the Lord

leads you, we got. to be able to answer the call

and just simply speak life into these people

because there is a miracle behind faith. This

is our biggest calling, church. The biggest calling

that you and I have is to go out and speak the

word of God. It's to go out and speak his word.

Acts 5 .42 says, and daily. In the temple and

in every house, they did not cease teaching and

preaching Jesus Christ. Daily in the temple and

in every house, they did not cease teaching and

preaching Jesus Christ. How many of you love

the Lord? Amen. I believe that there's prayer

warriors in this house. I believe that there's

soul winners. But I believe that we have to be

reminded that when we do this, we do this out

of love. Because we know who he is. Because we

know what he's done for us. And we know what

he could do for them. Amen. We got to keep fighting

in the spirit. We got to keep preaching the word

of God. If we have been baptized. In the name

of Jesus. And we are not carrying people to the

temple. Are we fulfilling the calling that we

have in Jesus? When we read in verse 3, it says,

when he saw Peter and John about to enter, he

asked them for money. See, this beggar wasn't

asking for a miracle. He was asking for something

physical. He wanted money. But the beauty about

the Lord is that he will give us more than what

we can ask or think. Exceedingly and abundantly.

Amen. I got to point out what Peter and John

did in this passage. Not only did they see this

man, but they acted in faith and with authority.

And I want to point out that Peter. And John

had the discernment in their spirit that the

Lord wanted to do a miracle in that hour. How

easy could it have been for them to just walk

into the temple to go to prayer. But in fact,

they would have missed on the whole point of

prayer if they couldn't stop and pray for somebody

who needed the prayer itself. Amen. And I want

to tell some of you tonight that. Sometimes we

get carried away in our own minds. Sometimes

we get too focused on things that we want to

accomplish. That we forget that the prayer is

needed. Not just for ourselves, but the people

that surround us. The people that live in your

neighborhood. The people that you work with.

The people that you see at the stores. The people

that you salute here and there. They need your

prayers more than ever. And if it's not you and

me, who else is it going to be? In this passage,

I love that Peter and John were not afraid to

tell him, we don't have silver and we don't have

gold, but what we do have, we're going to give

to you. And they said, in the name of Jesus of

Nazareth, walk. Let me remind you. We are never

going to heal somebody. We are never going to

deliver somebody. I'm never going to be able

to change somebody's mind or somebody's heart.

Oh, but when I pray in the mighty name of Jesus,

when I present myself in his name and I call

upon his name and I say it in the mighty name

of Jesus, who has all the power and all of the

authority, I pray be healed in his holy name.

I believe that there is miracles that can happen

over somebody's life when we simply call on that

powerful name. Amen. man, when we call the name

of Jesus, something happens. We were just singing

it right now. Show me something. Show me one

thing that he can't do. How many of you believe

that? Or are we just singing it? Show me one

thing that God can't do. Show me a mountain that

God can't move. There is no mountain that God

can't move. There is no sickness that he can't

take away when we call on his holy name. God

can do all things because he has all power and

he has all authority. In this passage, We see

that the power of his name is the one that delivered

this man. Matthew 28, 18 says, all authority

in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

All authority in heaven and in earth has been

given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples

of all nations. That is the calling that the

Lord has placed on us. The biggest calling is

not this platform. The biggest calling is not

the instruments, is not holding a mic, is not

preaching behind this pulpit. The biggest calling

is reaching those who are lost. The biggest calling

that you and I could have is reaching those who

are in need of a savior. The biggest calling

that we have is simply to open up our mouths

and preach the gospel and preach the good news

of Jesus. Was that not the purpose that the disciples

had when the Lord called them and taught them

about the kingdom of God? And in Acts 1, 8, he

told them, but you shall receive power when the

Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my

witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria

and to the ends of this earth. Why was it that

the Lord told them to wait for the promise? Of

the Father. You see, they were going to go out

to preach, but he told them, wait until you're

filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. You

shall receive the power when the Holy Spirit

comes upon you. How many of you have the power

of the Holy Ghost in this place? I said, how

many of you have the power of the Holy Ghost?

Now let me ask you, if we were anointed with

the power, let me ask you, why were we anointed

with the power of the Holy Ghost? It wasn't just

for us to show up on Sundays for an hour. He

didn't anoint you with the power of the Holy

Ghost just for you to go home and turn on the

television. He anointed you and I with the power

of the Holy Ghost so that when we pray over somebody,

somebody can actually get delivered. So that

when we actually lay hands on the sick, they

can receive freedom. So that when we call on

the name of Jesus, somebody could be filled with

the Holy Ghost. I said God anointed us with the

Holy Spirit so that we could have power to preach.

So that we could have power to heal. So that

we could have power to set people free. In his

holy name. He anointed us with power. But the

problem that I see sometimes is that we don't

use that power. The issue that I see sometimes

is that we don't pray and use that power. Matter

of fact, sometimes we forget that we have that

power. Can I tell you something? When there's

people that come visit us, I challenge you to

put a hand over their shoulders and just simply

begin to pray and call over the name of Jesus.

And you will see that something's going to change

in the atmosphere. You're going to see that something

is going to change in their lives. You're going

to plant a seed in that person. A few months

ago, there was a young man that came into this

place visiting. And I remember I felt him in

my spirit to go pray for him. He was sitting

in towards the back. And I felt in my spirit,

I need to pray for him. And it's easier said

than done. Trust me, when we got to pray for

somebody, you get a little nervous. You start

to think, what are they going to think? Are they

going to say yes? Are they going to say no? Is

he going to feel weird? It could be. So I felt

the spirit of God in me leading me toward this

young man. And I asked him, may I pray with you?

This was during the altar call. But I just felt

the Holy Ghost. And I knew I couldn't go home

without doing this. And he told me, yeah. And

that's all he said. And I put my hands around

him. And I began to pray a prayer of declaration

over his life. That the Lord may touch him. That

the Lord may fill him with his power and his

Holy Spirit. And in that moment, I just saw him

lift up his hands. And I know that he could feel

what I was feeling. Because I was feeling a fire.

And the fire of the Holy Ghost is contagious.

And in that moment, I began to feel the Holy

Ghost. I began to speak in other tongues. And

something spoke to me. And I want to share this

with you, church. Because many times when we

go. pray for somebody and we're gonna go bless

them they end up blessing you because your obedience

will bring a blessing over your life that you

can't imagine but all you gotta do is obey and

be discerned the spirit of God when he is calling

you to act if there's people coming to our church

don't let them leave without feeling that love

That the Lord has shown you. And that night I

remember. I talked to him and I told him. That

the Lord loved him. And it's important to follow

up. I sent him a message. But all I did was plant

a seed. When I was in high school. I prayed for

a young man. I told him I went to church. We

did a small prayer. Don't think that I. started

speaking in tongues in the lunch area. No, it

was a quick prayer. Something I thought was small,

but nothing that we do in the name of Jesus is

ever small. I said, nothing that we do in the

name of Jesus is ever small. The seed may look

small, but when it's in his name, it's going

to grow. And this young man, years later, We

lost contact for many years. I ended up moving.

We moved on with life. We found each other on

social media. We said what's up to each other.

And months later after that, he messaged me,

Kevin, I want to share something with you. I

started going to church. And this was, kid you

not, maybe 12 years after we had met in high

school. 12 years after. All I did was tell him

about the Lord. In about a minute, it was like

a 10 -second prayer, and all I did was plant

a seed. And I have no idea who watered that seed,

but somebody did. But when he messaged me, I

could feel the Spirit of God, and I could see

that there was a change within him. He left me

a voice. and I could hear the difference in the

way he spoke, and I could feel a fire in him.

And from that moment on, I could see everything

that he was posting, that he was going to services,

that he was traveling out of state to attend

services, that he was being filled with the Holy

Ghost, that he was reaching other people. And

then I remember the verse that says, I planted

Apollo's water, but God gives the increase. And

I'm here to tell you, all you got to do is plant

a seed. in somebody's heart. All you got to do

is plant the seed in somebody's heart. It's not

that hard to do, church. All you got to do is

share your testimony. Tell them the Lord's been

good to me. The Lord has healed me. He has set

my mind free. He has set my heart free. And I

know if God did it for me, I know that he has

the power to do it for you. No matter what your

background is, no matter where you come from,

I know that God can do it for you. And you leave

a seed planted in somebody's heart. And let me

tell you, they may not even show up to City Light

Church. And maybe the Lord will take them out

of state. Maybe they show up to a different church

somewhere else. But the seed was planted. And

then God will use somebody else to water that

seed. And the one who gets the glory is Jesus.

Because he's the one that delivers. He's the

one that heals. He's the one who sets free. In

my family, I believe I've shared this before.

But sometimes I wish I could meet the man that

spoke about Jesus to my parents. Recently, I

had the opportunity to go and visit my family

in Guatemala and reconnect with them after so

many years. And growing up here with my immediate

family, you know, my parents would tell me about

family stories and how they grew up. And I'm

sure your parents are the same. But when I went

and hearing that from them, it put it into perspective

for me. From my father's side, my father came

from a very violent family where they were in

gangs and violence, drugs. And that's the life

that my father had. And I want to give you this

background so you can see how powerful it is

to plant the seed in somebody's heart. My father

was involved in that lifestyle and so was my

mother. That's the lifestyle that the family

lived in. And that's how my cousins grew up.

As of now, they don't go to church. They drink.

They party. The whole nine. And sometimes I pause

for a moment to just simply thank God that he

called me out of that. And that he allowed me

to grow up in church where I could have grew

up as well in gangs. And in violence. And I could

have been somewhere else in this moment. And

I could have been doing something else in this

hour. But God who had mercy upon me. Gave me

the opportunity. Not just to grow up here in

this country. But the biggest blessing. To grow

up knowing him. To grow up knowing his word.

And I wonder. Who that man was that spoke to

my parents about Jesus Christ. Because sometimes

I wish I could meet him and tell him, you, my

friend, may the Lord bless you because you changed

my life when you decided to open up your mouth

and tell my mother and my father that there was

a God that could change their lives around. That

there was a God that loved them and that had

something else for them. Because when he spoke

to them, they received the word of the Lord.

They got baptized in the name of Jesus. They

turned their lives around. And because of that,

I had the privilege to grow up in this path.

And because of that person that I don't even

know who he is, I don't know his name, I don't

know where he's at, I don't even know if he's

still alive, but because of that person that

decided to open up their mouths and plant a seed

in my parents, I'm here today by the grace of

God. I wonder how many people the Lord can use

us to reach and plant a seed. That you will impact

their lives. But not just their lives. Their

kids' lives. I wonder how many future pastors,

preachers, ministers, musicians there is around

you. That they don't even know they have that

gift within them. And all that is waiting to

activate those gifts is you to open up your mouth

and say, Jesus loves you. May I pray for you.

Church, this is so important for us to realize

the power of planting a seed in somebody's heart.

The power of opening up our mouth and saying

that there is a God that can change our lives.

That there is a God that can turn it around.

I don't know about you, but yes, when I see somebody

homeless in the streets, yes, they look sketchy.

I gave somebody one time a few bucks. The man

tried to jump in my car. I said, Lord, I'm trying

to do what's right, but help me out. I reached

out. I said, God bless you. Jesus loves you.

And I gave him a dollar. And he said, do you

have more? Put the window up real quick, hit

the gas, and I said, in Jesus' name, I'm leaving

real quick. And that moment quickly, it wanted

to change my mind. I said, man, this is why I

don't want to do this anymore. But it's not about

us. It's about what Jesus can do for them. And

I continue when I can. And many times I don't

carry cash. But if we could just simply tell

somebody, Jesus loves you. And we could just

simply, God bless you. We were having service

down the street. Let me tell you that God can

turn their life around. Let me tell you, when

I spoke to one of my uncles last month when I

saw him, I was moved. Like I said, I had heard

stories about him. I had heard many things. He

was a terrible man. Lost completely. In gangs

and violence and so many things. So many things.

And can I tell you that the Lord changed his

life around. My parents began to tell him about

the Lord. There was other people around him over

there that began to tell him about the Lord.

And about 10 years ago, he decided to give his

life to Christ. And I could tell you that it

wasn't easy. Because when you grow up in a certain

lifestyle, there's a stronghold that doesn't

want to let you go. There's a spiritual warfare.

The enemy doesn't want to lose that soul. And

you get into a spiritual warfare when you begin

to speak to Jesus to somebody. But when I went

over there and I hugged him, he told me he was

proud because I grew up in the church. And he

started telling me that God had been good to

him. And my cousins that grew up with him and

knowing him, they would tell me, Kevin, you just

don't believe it because you weren't here to

see it. But you better believe that this man's

life has changed completely. You better believe

that the fact that he speaks about Jesus is a

miracle. Because he wanted nothing to do with

God. And I felt the power of the Holy Ghost.

And I couldn't do nothing else but to thank God

for choosing us to carry his word. I'm here to

tell you that we are carriers of his word, church.

That is the best calling that anybody in this

earth could have. The best thing that we could

have in our life is to carry the word of God

and share it to those who need it. Because it's

not going to be you and me. But all we got to

do is bring them to the temple, to the feet of

Jesus. All we got to do is bring them. And God

would change their life around. I'm going to

invite you to be upon your feet in this hour.

And I just want to remind you that only God has

the power to take Saul and change his name to

Paul. Only God has the power to turn a sinner

Into a preacher. Only God can turn a drug addict

into a prayer warrior. And that was my family.

Only God could change their life around. Only

God can take a prostitute and turn them into

a soul winner. Only God can do it. I said only

God can change the lives of the people. Only

God can break strongholds. Only God can do it.

Because he has all power and authority. And I'm

here to simply tell somebody that you and I,

we are carriers of his word. We are carriers

of the blind and of the sick and of the lame.

And we got to carry them to the temple gate where

you and I cannot heal them. But we know somebody

that can. We have an important task, church,

to simply open up our mouths and tell somebody

over there, outside these walls, I know a God

that can change your life around. I don't care

how deep you are into drugs. I don't care how

deep you are into gangs. That's where my family

came from. My grandfather died because he smoked

all his life. My uncle died because he was a

drug addict. He was an alcoholic. I don't come

from a family of preachers. My father's not a

minister. My grandfather didn't a pastor. I come

from a family who were in gangs, in violence,

drug addicts. My cousin my age passed 12 years

ago, killed in a gang violence. I don't come

from the background you think I come from. I

come from a background of a family that simply

needed a miracle, that needed change in their

lives. I come from a family that needed Jesus.

I come from a broken family. That simply needed

somebody to say, Jesus can change you.