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#20230426 - Unexpected Grace - Acts 3:1-11 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's word recorded live at Calvary
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Church in Aurora, Colorado, to learn more about the many
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resources available, through abounding Grace, Media, or to
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tune into our live stream Services.
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Visit us online at Calvary. Co dot church or download our
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free Calvary Church app now. Let's open our Bibles and study
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God's word. A man a man.
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Well if you'd like to title your message, I did title today's
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message, Unexpected, Grace. And so let's dive in right away.
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Acts chapter 3 here. I'm going to read out the first,
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I don't know. We'll go handful, maybe even go
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a little bit more than a handful of verses here.
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Here's here's what it says that Peter and John, they went to the
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temple one afternoon to take part in the 3:00 prayer service.
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Now as they approach the temple, a man lame from birth was being
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carried in Niche day. He Put beside the Temple Gate,
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the one that they called Beautiful gate and so he could
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beg from the people going into the temple.
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And when he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them
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for some money and Peter and John, they looked at him
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intently and Peter said, look at us.
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Limp and looked at them eagerly expecting to receive some money.
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But Peter said, I don't have any silver or gold for you, but I'll
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give you what I have in the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene
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get up and walk. And then Peter took the lame man
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by the right hand and he helped them up and as he did the man's
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feet in his ankles were instantly healed and strengthen.
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Now he jumped up, he stood on his feet and he began to walk
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and then walking leaping and praising God.
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He went into the temple with Him and all the people saw him,
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walking and heard him, praising God.
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And when they realize that, this was the lame beggar that they
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had seen. So often at the beautiful gate,
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they were absolutely astounded. And they rushed out and in
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amazement to Solomon's Colonnade were the man was holding tightly
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to Peter and John and this is an act of Unexpected Grace.
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And what we're going to look at and what we're going to see here
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tonight, we're going to, we're going to have a Bible study
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where we're going to observe what is taking place and I'll
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give a give a point out a few portions of observation that we
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should take note of. And then we're going to die.
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Very heavy into some application.
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Because gang, we are living in a time and we're living through a
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Time. I'm were stressed in our
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individual in our daily lives is that.
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It's such an all-time high, and then we need to be encouraged
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with God's word. We need to be able to have
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Hoping God to experience that Unexpected Grace.
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And I hope that you're ready. I hope you grab hold of your
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seat and you're ready. Why?
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Because look to your neighbor and say Jesus is Alive.
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Do you believe that? All right, do you also believe
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that Jesus is coming back? Amen.
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And amen. That's that's the great hope.
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That's why we're still here. That's what that that's why we
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dive in week by week, to Bible studies or very first big idea
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here I did. Number one is, this is the
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miracle and so again here's a few observations to just take
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note of as we're looking at this first thing is this, let us
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remember the scene that we're looking at.
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We're in Acts chapter 3. What's before X chapter 3?
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Yes, ain't hard to where you can do this.
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So, what's before Acts chapter 3 Acts chapter 2, that's the birth
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of the church, right? So, the birth of the church and
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in and and what's the tone? What's a climate up in Jerusalem
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at this point in time? Well, except a threesome, some
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commentators. Some Scholars.
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They say that he, this may have been a couple of weeks, maybe,
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as long as a couple months later that you get into Acts chapter 3
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and all that stuff, but the tone in the climate that was up in
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Jerusalem at that point, was it? God moved.
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And people saw that and there was an excitement that was
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there. There is an expectancy there.
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A man. I want to see God.
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Work in his church. Again, he's moving in our
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hearts. He's moving in our pews, he's
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moving in our churches. And there's an excitement
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because we can just taste it. We can just see that on the
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global scene. Hey, God's about to come back,
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that he's about to send Jesus back and whether that happens in
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my lifetime of your lifetime or not, one thing is for certain,
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as we will all meet our maker some point in time.
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And I want to be ready to meet Jesus.
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I don't want to be ashamed at his appearing at his coming.
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I want to stand confidently. And what he's given.
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I want to have that close relationship with him in Acts
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chapter 2. Again that expectancy that was
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there. There was a hunger that was
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there for something else they want.
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Jesus. Now, second thing, you know,
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again we're just looking at this scene of Acts chapter 3, the
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second thing to take note of his list.
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Now, remember the practice of that day.
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Okay. So this is, this is before we
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had megachurches and before we had Church buildings and all
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that stuff. You know, again, we're looking
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at, you know, a few weeks maybe even a few months in the sense
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of how new the church was. And so, what did they do?
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The early Christians were using the structure and the resources
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of Judaism at that time and in, you know, whether they were
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gathering for worship or gathering for Prayer or anything
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like that. Up on the Temple Mount verse
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number 1. This is where Peter and John
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were going. And in up on the Temple Mount
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there was all of the outercourse there if you will and the early
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church took advantage of those things to to meet and to gather
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the one thing is for certain and one thing that we get away from
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sometimes is we maybe we walk a little farther with Jesus that
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that we neglect that first excitement.
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When we first got saved, I don't know what your salvation story
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is. But I have a very radical
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salvation story. May 7th of 1993 8:00 at night,
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21, year old young man. Been married for a year.
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He was going in the ditch. And I was getting involved in
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law enforcement as a young man. But one night, everything came
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unhinged And I don't have a relationship with God, you know,
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as I shared with you earlier, you don't from Dad's side, it
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was Catholicism for Mom's side. It was Pentecostalism left me
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confused, but that night with my wife and my one-year-old
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daughter in the other room, I took my gun Glock 17, and I
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stuck it in my mouth. To take my life.
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And I broke right there in that spot and I turned and I tossed.
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The gun over my shoulder into the corner and I said, God if
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you're real, I need you now. And just like what you would
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expect the lights, right? Nothing happened.
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The lights were still just there.
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Just the same way. They didn't dim, you know, the
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ground didn't shake like it did here in Acts chapter 2, with the
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coming of the Holy Spirit. Nope, that didn't happen either.
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But you know what happened instantaneously in that moment
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that all of that weight, all of that pressure, all of that sin,
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that I had stacked up. If you will by running from God,
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by fighting against got, was gone in the instant.
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Instant, there was no religiosity there in the in that
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bedroom and that night, nothing I think it was just a desperate
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man, crying out to God. God, if you're real, I need you.
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I need you. Now, I need you in a special way
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right now. I need your Unexpected Grace.
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the third thing that we see here again just kind of just just
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just what we're observing by reading these first handful of
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verses here, Is that we're learning that that both Peter
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and John what type of guys were these?
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Look at your Bible verse number 1, what were they doing in verse
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number one? Well, it was 3:00 in the
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afternoon and where were they going?
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They were going to a prayer service, right?
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The, you know, the in Judaism, the Judy, the Jewish people.
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They would pray in morning noon and night, right?
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You know, they'd have those three times a day of prayer.
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And these guys verse number one tells us about Peter and John
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again, as we learn about them, that they were men of Prayer.
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And we go down a little bit farther in the verses verses 6
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and 7. And we see that not only were
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they men in prayer, but when a need was brought before them.
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Hey, they didn't throw money at it.
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What they did is they invested their heart and they pointed to
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Jesus. So, these were men of prayer and
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they were men of faith. And that always stirs me up, you
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know, no again just just seeing what God has done for me, over
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the course of my life. And how many times his
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unexpected gracious showed up in my life is totally encouraged me
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along the way. And when I see God doing that in
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other people's life, guess what? Man, it just makes me want to
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jump in deeper, and deeper, and deeper for Jesus.
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They were men of prayer. They were men of faith.
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If you read the rest of the chapter, you know, you get down
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to verses 22 to 24 right in that section.
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There, you also find that the Peter starts opening up the Old
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Testament. So we know that these guys were
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men of the word as well. And then one obvious take away
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perhaps and we overlook this, like, we go to Acts 2, and then
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we start moving on. And then we kind of forget some
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of the past there, but but, but Acts 2, and 4 tells us that
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these men were filled with the Holy Spirit.
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How many of us need to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
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How many of us need to be empowered afresh by the Holy
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Spirit? There it is.
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I see you there in the vacuum, man to you.
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Well, two times in this chapter again, as we're just as we're
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just looking at this, we see this first side here.
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We're Peter takes a lame man by the hand.
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We read a little bit farther. We come to verse number 12, and
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now down at verse number, 12, Peter, what happens here?
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Well, he sees an opportunity because all the people were
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there together, they'd all come together and they and, you know,
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God healed this guy, and the eyes, and the attention in the
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focus were right there. And all of a sudden Peter sees
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this and he goes, ha, There's an opportunity to preach right
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here. There's an opportunity to bring
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forth the word. And that's what happened in that
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moment. He stepped out in faith again.
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Yes, he stepped out in faith in verse number 7.
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And then again, in verse number 12, God did a miracle.
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We met him the first time. He didn't the second time and he
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starts bringing the word in a fresh way, and people are
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getting saved and things are happening.
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Listen, God's word, guess what you have it in your Bible, God's
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word, it's alive and living, isn't it?
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It's sharper than a two-edged sword.
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What God has put within his word can help us in.
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Dig us out of the deepest darkest pit what God has put
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within his word. God is faithful.
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To meet his right, where we're at with?
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What? Unexpected Grace, man.
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And I don't know how you are tonight.
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I don't know where you're at tonight, but I know this as a
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52-year old man. Married to my lovely bride since
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well, I guess we were 20 years old.
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At that point, we have two daughters 34 and 24, big gap
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there. Yeah, that was Brave.
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And we got six grand babies from 16, 21 years old.
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For a young fella, I have seen God intervene in my life, many
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many, many times. And I want to just share with
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you and encourage you. Maybe you can take this, maybe
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you can take what we're seeing here.
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Just in the open side of Acts chapter 3.
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Maybe you can make this personal, you know, are you
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missing out on something? Because fear his, his kept, you
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from trusting. Jesus think about that.
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Where is it that in your life that you need to take a bold
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step of faith for victory? Because right now, the enemy is
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had you be down for three years plus and then the new climate
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that we live within, with all the pressure and all the
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difficulty, you know, Satan is is Rock You Back on your heels
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and our and our focus is slipped away from a simple walk with
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Christ trusting him to intervene on our behalf and to help us and
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it slid back into man, the walls are pressing into.
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Things are rough. Things are difficult.
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Things are painful. And as we make this personal
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again, as we're looking into the scriptures, we're seeing we're
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seeing Peter, and John here, in the, at the early church, are
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taking these steps of faith, in man.
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If I could do something tonight. Listen, I'm not God, I'm not the
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Holy Spirit, I'm Not Jesus. But I am a man.
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And I'm walking in this world just as you are.
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And if I could share, if I could communicate the heart of God to
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you and share an encouraging word, man, I would stir up your
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pure Mind. By way of reminder, is a.
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Don't forget. Jesus go after him.
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Keep your eyes on Christ. He's coming back again.
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I think about this. With all the the pressures that
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are there. Maybe you're being crushed under
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that pressure, watch listen. Very close to here.
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Because you're feeling that crushing pressure.
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Maybe you've started to pull back from God thinking that it's
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going to fix your problem. Or or what about this?
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Maybe you think that your current trial exempts you from
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living by faith? You know, when somebody speaks
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that and brings that out before I think was like, wait a minute.
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That doesn't sound right. Um, yeah.
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No, I am to continue to live by faith.
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And can I give you a secret that you already know?
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So maybe it's not a secret. But what is the secret of great
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faith? What is the secret of these guys
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is Faith right here. Two simple things again, you
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already know these things. Number one is believing that God
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is able able what able to do for you, what you can't do for
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yourself. What else?
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What else is? It's not only not only holding
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that belief that, you know. Yeah, he's God, he can do
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everything, you know, he created the Earth.
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Yeah, yeah. That's a wonderful thing.
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But it takes it from a passive faith and moves it into an Act
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of Faith in that is, what believing, that God is willing
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to do for you. Realizing that his Unexpected
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Grace, he desires, he pursues you, with his love, he pursues
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you, with his grace, he pursues you because he desires not to
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have your back but to have your face, he doesn't desire for you
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to walk away when when all of a sudden, you know, everything
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fell down around me and I disappointed got, do know, you
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didn't disappoint God, Jesus, save you from the past sins, the
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president sends in the future since you yet to even dis your
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disappoint yourself on that Christ has saved you from those
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things. And a secret to a simpler to a
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great faith is believing that God is able yes.
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But believing that God is willing.
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Now, something else, we see Peter and John here again,
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they're coming right out of the gate, you know, birth of the
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church Acts chapter 2. Now we're in Acts chapter 3, our
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little topical study here tonight.
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I don't want you to miss the example that's happening here
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because I think we can just, we can blow right by it.
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Do we do, you realize that Peter and John, the way that they were
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ministering, they were just doing exactly what they saw.
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Jesus do the way that Jesus did Ministry.
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He reached out to somebody, there was a need there.
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He said rise up and walk extend that hand whatever it was.
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That's what these guys were doing.
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So, what? That mean for us.
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Well, we don't have to know all of, you know, we don't have to
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have our all of our theological ducks, in a row, to be able to
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reach out a helping hand, to help somebody that's hurting.
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But we can do ministry like Jesus did being willing.
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And when Jesus spoke to hurting people, their lives were change.
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Within Unexpected Grace. Amen.
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We we are Distributors of God's grace.
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I shared a little bit of my, my story about how I came to Faith
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in that room on May 7th of 1993. But what I didn't tell you is
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the backstory, the back story is that God was pursuing me for a
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year and a half. The back story was, is that
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there were these crazy Christians at that time they
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kept invited me out to this midweek.
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Barbecue, I like barbecues it. Took him awhile for there, for
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them to give me their, but when I went to the barbecue, it
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really, they had some food. It was like Again, I was in
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Southern California, so it's more like chips and salsa, they
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didn't really have a barbecue. They had a Bible and then it was
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a midweek home fellowship and we used to call him home fellas,
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just back then. It was a midweek home fellowship
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and for, for a year and a half, you know, me and my wife, we had
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pop in and pop out and is like well, okay, we're not really
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doing this Jesus thing and all that stuff.
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But listen, when the walls came crashing in and I was there that
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night with a gun in my mouth. I knew that the message that
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these Christians were sharing with me about a living.
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God, God. And you guys said this earlier,
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right? Jesus is Alive a man.
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He's alive. I knew that if what they were
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saying was true, that he would meet me there with his
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Unexpected, Grace, and whatever your situation is here tonight.
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I don't know. I don't know what you're going
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through right now in the world, but I do know this, that we are
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all under. Unusual strange pressures.
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Now, give you a Biblical answer for that?
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It just a few minutes, but I know that God is is willing to
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meet us as long as we're open before him.
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Now, I want to give you a few examples of Unexpected Grace so
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you can like kind of see this in motion.
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Okay. And these guys will flash a few
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things on the screen here. They're not.
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I didn't give them all the Bible verses on this because I don't
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want you to totally dive into them.
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I just want you. I want you to follow the flow.
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Okay? Okay, examples of Unexpected,
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Grace. First way, is this first way
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that God, that God works is, you know, we see this in the
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gospels, with Jesus, working with that instantaneously that
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he shows up, he does something. This is, this is what Peter and
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John were doing right here, instantaneously God did
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something amazing there. Let me give you two reference
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points. Luke 5:24 What we find here is
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that a group of friends? They brought a paralyzed man.
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They brought him to Jesus and what Jesus sees his condition.
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You know he speaks a few words for them.
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And there's some religious folks that are around he says hey your
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sins are forgiven but then he gets down and it gets real
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practical and he tells the guy, he says he says, stand up.
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He says pick up your mat and go home.
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It was very simple. Watch, hold the whole design.
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Stick with me on this. We flip to the next chapter.
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Luke chapter 6, verse number 10. Now we have another person with
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need and this person is says in Luke chapter 6 of the beginning
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of the chapter. It says that they had a deformed
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hand. His right arm was deformed so
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did it look like this? Did it look like this?
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I don't know exactly what it looks like, but I know it was
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his right arm because the text tells us that that guy had a
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need and guess where he was at. Using the church.
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Well, it was a synagogue. Okay, not really a church.
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But you get like, okay, people of God, they were all there
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together. And the religious leaders in
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that situation they were completely appalled.
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Because Christ would do something that wasn't
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pre-scripted. It's like, whoa.
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Whoa, we don't do that around here.
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What did Jesus tell him right in the middle of all of them as he
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looked around at the crowd? As he looked at the people
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there? He looked at them in their eyes
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and he tells the guy he says, hold out your hand.
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And what do you think happened? You think the words of God fell
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to the ground? No, no.
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That arm went from this, right paralyzed?
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Maybe it was a trophy. Maybe the muscle, wasn't there,
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maybe, maybe maybe there's no longer feeling in that and Bam.
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He saw the chosen. If you saw that episode of The
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Chosen, you remember that? That little scene is played out
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there and is the guy's arm goes Pops in his fingers.
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Start popping his weird. But whatever happened.
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His arm was made whole So these two men, they responded and
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their lives were changed. And even though they were in
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extreme situations, what's up? They did not search for an
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excuse. They merely step forward and
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they obeyed what God said, they were hurting.
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They were desperate, they were hungry for help.
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And I tell you, man, I'm learning this in more recent
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days here, I'm learning that that as the scripture says that
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Jesus didn't come for those who think they are righteous
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righteous. But for those who know they are,
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Are sick. I was a six center.
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Well, still in a pretty messed-up Center and in many of
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you are too, but there are some that are that that are, you
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know, creeping into the so-called Church, the big
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picture, our community churches in all this stuff.
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You know, they're going through the religious motion and not a
20:29
heartbeat for Christ because they know they're sick but
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they're trying to add to their life.
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I'm going to clean up my clean up my life, and I'm going to do
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it this way. I think Pastor Lewis talked a
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little bit about that last week when he was Out of Galatians.
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The simple power of it is is God's Unexpected Grace coming
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our way. Now I know that it's been back a
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couple months here, I don't remember exactly how long but I
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know that on this very screen right here behind me that we got
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a chance to see the preview of Jesus Revolution.
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If you didn't see it, you need to go the movies.
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Check it out, it's really cool. Really awesome.
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But there were some unexpected things that were happening.
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If that particular time, as we're looking all the way back
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here to the birth of the church to the beginning of Acts, that
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was unexpected things that were happening at that time.
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Well, what about today? If I was to say this and I would
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just go like this, I go to church all the Crosshair church,
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right? Are you ready for God to do
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something in your life and a fresh way?
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Or have you put God in a box that he can only work this way?
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And if he doesn't work this way, it while it is not a god, As we
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look around. We see that God is doing
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something different right now. He's still saving people but
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he's doing something different. Maybe.
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Maybe I could stir up your pure Mind by way of reminder and have
21:51
a good chapter 1 verse number 5. The Lord responding to have a
21:55
cohesive look around at the nation's.
21:58
He says, look and be amazed for I am doing something in your own
22:02
day. Something you wouldn't believe
22:04
even if someone told you about it, as I stand before you
22:09
tonight, and I share that God is up to new things, and God is
22:12
doing something that is outside the scope of maybe what we've
22:15
experienced in the past 50 years, They God is doing
22:19
something new. God is still on the throne, he's
22:21
still active, he's still moving. He's still drawing harsh to
22:23
himself, but gang man. The word is going out to the
22:26
highways and the byways in the last folks are coming in.
22:29
I believe that the Rapture of the church is at hand and
22:32
stirring up the body of Christ. With the remembering of, man,
22:37
this is what the church looked like.
22:38
At the beginning, man, people were together, people were
22:40
passionate, people were excited. They didn't put God in a box,
22:42
they let God get out of the box and do what he wanted to do, and
22:45
they follow God. That's the message gang that we
22:48
need within our church. We need to follow the lord where
22:50
he's leading, it doesn't take away from good.
22:53
Bible study, listen, I'm a guest teacher tonight.
22:57
I think that's your head and you guys for letting me be here for
22:59
sure, but guess what? I have a little bit of Liberty
23:02
up here because I'm just giving you a topical message.
23:04
He's got the hard work, man. He's got to lead you guys into
23:07
Green Pastures like all week long and all year long, and all
23:10
that stuff tonight. I guess he's just come put a
23:12
little salt, a little pepper. Here we go.
23:15
Take a look at this. This is awesome.
23:16
I get this. Stir up your faith.
23:17
In a really special way. Now let's Advance a conversation
23:23
a little bit, okay, because we're talking about Unexpected
23:26
Grace here and man it's easy for me to get long-winded and maybe
23:31
not talk about a whole lot, but this Unexpected Grace, I just
23:34
share with you a couple examples of how there's there's
23:37
instantaneously, Jesus has done some stuff.
23:40
Let's do this together. Let's flip ahead or maybe I
23:44
should say flip backwards to the gospel of Mark.
23:46
Mark, chapter 8, I want to show you something here in Margate.
23:50
If you can follow along, if you can get there, they may have the
23:53
verses on the screen as well. But in Mark chapter 8, we've got
23:56
a we've got a handful of versus right here.
24:01
The mark Cuts right to the right to the chase with what he's
24:04
trying to share here. And he says this in verse number
24:06
22, Mark 8 and 22. He says, when they arrived at
24:11
bethsaida that some people brought a blind man to Jesus,
24:15
and They begged him to touch the man and heal him.
24:19
They close attention with your ears.
24:22
Jesus, he took the blind man by the hand, and he let him out of
24:26
the village and then spitting on the Man's eyes.
24:29
He laid his hands on him and in asked him, can you see anything?
24:33
Now Jesus, you just spit it by eyes.
24:37
How am I gonna see something? Now the man looked around.
24:41
He says yes, he said I see people But I can't see them very
24:46
clearly. They look like trees walking
24:48
around and then Jesus placed his hand on the Man's eyes again.
24:52
And his eyes were opened, the site was completely restored and
24:55
he he can see everything clearly.
24:58
And Jesus sent him away saying, don't go back into the village
25:02
on your way home. Have you ever read that before
25:06
show of hands? So that I know you're still with
25:07
me. So, yeah, many of you have read
25:09
that, not all of you. But many of you read that before
25:11
we just gloss over and we keep reading.
25:12
Oh yeah, that's a miracle. Jesus and everything.
25:14
But have we ever thought about applying this?
25:17
You know, we're talking about Unexpected Grace right now.
25:19
And so we've seen that instantaneous thing.
25:21
But but this is a picture of gradual Grace.
25:24
This is God, doing a work and what did he do here in verse
25:26
number 23? Well he grabbed the dude by the
25:28
hand and the first thing that he did with him is he let him out
25:31
of town. Got just he said, come on, let's
25:33
go. Walk them out of town.
25:38
And maybe God has directed you to a change your locations
25:41
tonight. But are you resisting what God
25:43
is calling and leading you into for these next steps that are
25:47
set right before you. You know, thinking about this of
25:51
going, wait a minute? Yeah, yeah I want my heart to be
25:54
wide, open to God doing something you know according to
25:57
his will. Maybe not with him my little
25:59
box. Yeah I want that Unexpected
26:00
Grace. Well man, here's the first thing
26:02
he did with this dude. He didn't instantaneously heal
26:05
him there on the spot but he did again.
26:06
He took him by the hand and led him out of town.
26:08
It wasn't next thing they did. Well, you spit in the guy's
26:11
eyes. What does that mean to us?
26:13
Will think about this for just a second.
26:16
You're expecting God to work in a certain way, it, maybe he was
26:20
expecting, just a little touch here, a little word there,
26:22
something like that and things were all better, but he isn't
26:25
getting his eyes spit in. What are you trying to say,
26:28
Jeff? Well, God's response to your
26:30
situation, it may not be normal. It may not be something that
26:35
you've already experienced God's response to your situation might
26:38
be entirely. Unexpected Grace that you never
26:42
thought he was going to do in a way, you never thought he was
26:45
going to do it. I like that.
26:51
I think I heard some Builders. They preach.
26:53
That's awesome. I think about the third thing
26:56
here in verse number 25, right there.
27:00
Yeah, Jesus already placed his hands on him one time and now he
27:03
places his hands on him a second time.
27:07
You know, when God walked me out from that moment of Salvation in
27:12
1993, my life was not instantaneously put back
27:15
together. My sins were instantaneously
27:17
forgiven. How is the new creation in
27:19
Christ happen instantaneously done but my life was not a whole
27:24
instantaneously. It took weeks and months and
27:28
years and decades. And in fact, God, still doing
27:30
things with me and you know, I didn't realize that you gain
27:33
more problems as you get older, I thought things got better.
27:36
You know. I'm only 52.
27:38
What do you expect still learning?
27:43
Here's the point. Then a second touch was needed
27:47
on this man's life, to complete the healing that God already set
27:49
in motion. May you not get impatient with
27:54
God. God is actively at work within
27:57
your life. If you're a believer in Jesus
27:58
Christ here tonight. And for those of you that are
28:00
listening on the radio, if you're a believer in Jesus
28:02
Christ, you know, without question that God is actively at
28:07
work within your life and he's going to complete that work that
28:09
he started within you. He's not going to lay back, he
28:13
hasn't forgot about you. And even though the times have
28:15
changed and things have gotten difficult, he has not forgotten
28:18
about you. His love extends that far.
28:28
But there's more to do. And it's very interesting here.
28:33
I love the way that this is. This reason the NLT I'm reading
28:35
you. Then LT here tonight.
28:38
But I love the way that is put in the NLT because it like
28:41
brings a like brings a like one of those things.
28:44
Like oh man, okay, I see that differently that.
28:46
Okay, I can get that. And what it says here in verse
28:49
number 26 from the NLT is that that Jesus told him not to go
28:53
back into the village. Was I mean to you or to me that
29:05
God has a new path for us to walk on because he's doing new
29:09
things in our life. And you know the Temptation Of
29:13
Satan is is that when it starts to get rough is he likes to pull
29:18
his back to go back into the old habits.
29:23
He loves for, he loves to come in and attempt this on those old
29:27
spots, those old areas where we have weakness, sad.
29:37
In the encouragement that he tells this guy says don't go
29:40
back into the village van. Well, that's the immediate side
29:46
of God. You know, granting Unexpected
29:50
Grace. There's a gradual side of God's
29:52
Unexpected Grace. We went through those things
29:53
here in Mark, but let's speed it up.
29:56
Just a little bit because we do got to close the message here.
30:00
What's accelerate that a little bit?
30:02
And in, let's consider this, I know that Pastor Bob shared this
30:05
on the weekend on a second Corinthians chapter 12.
30:08
He spoke extensively about it. I'm not going to, but I'm merely
30:12
going to suggest you or to encourage you with this idea and
30:14
the understanding that sometimes God says that his grace is
30:17
sufficient. I think if you've been around
30:20
the body of Christ, maybe for more than 6 months, you probably
30:22
have heard that multiple times from a pastor, you know, not
30:25
including any time that you may have read it yourself.
30:29
Remember, remember that? That Paul's constant condition
30:34
of his eye. It kept him humble.
30:39
And that is something that is needed within our culture is
30:41
something that is needed in the body of Christ, is something
30:43
that is needed amongst our pastors.
30:47
May we recognize and realize that sometimes difficulties are
30:51
simply to keep us humble simply to keep us humble.
30:54
It's not that. You know, I haven't fallen out
30:56
of God's grace, God hasn't given up on me.
30:58
Hasn't abandoned me. But making sense of what he's
31:02
doing in the moment. Sometimes that could be a little
31:06
bit more difficult. And in men, we need the word of
31:08
God to speak into our situations.
31:10
We need other people in our lives, to speak wisdom into our
31:13
lives. We need that prophetic word, if
31:15
you will coming into our life, Well let's move on to the final
31:20
one of that and that is other times.
31:23
It's the furnace of Affliction that frees us and I think
31:27
they're clicking through these things on the screen.
31:28
So I'm just going to trust that. I'm not even going to look back.
31:34
But in Daniel chapter 3 in 25, We find that that that here we
31:40
have the three Hebrew, teenager, Shadrach Meshach and Abednego.
31:44
Again. Another example that these guys
31:47
were in the middle of a fiery, furnace of Affliction in the
31:50
middle of that, that furnace of Affliction.
31:52
Christians, remember this folks if you've not heard this before,
31:56
if you've never come across Daniel before, you never had the
31:58
opportunity to study it, study this him and read through.
32:00
Daniel, it's awesome. But remember in that furnace of
32:03
Affliction, what happened with them that the fire burned away
32:06
the ropes? That their movement was restored
32:10
inside that furnace of affliction.
32:14
They were unharmed by the Flames of trouble that were there.
32:20
And I love what never Nebuchadnezzar says about it.
32:22
He says, okay, I see somebody else's.
32:24
It's in the fire. New King, James puts it the
32:27
best. It looks like the Son of God.
32:31
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. In the furnace of Affliction
32:34
that we find ourself in. When we get into these tough
32:36
spots, we must realize that God's presence is near that we
32:40
may expect. He's right there in the middle
32:43
of it with us. We are not left alone and
32:45
church. We need to know that we need to
32:47
be stirred up in that tonight. We are not left alone in these
32:50
difficult days that we live within.
32:54
Now, let's move on to the last idea, as we begin to make our
32:58
way towards a closing here. Okay?
33:00
The last idea first idea was nothing more than this is that
33:03
we were, we were, we were looking and we were examining
33:06
the big idea of the miracle, okay?
33:08
And now we now we come to the the final idea here.
33:11
Again, I'm just in a topical study here with you tonight.
33:14
The last idea is the message. The message, the message that
33:19
comes out of the word of God, the message that we have been
33:23
going over. Well, who does this message?
33:28
Apply to tonight? Maybe I could lay out one, two,
33:33
three, four, five different people that this message would
33:37
apply to. you know, when the, when the physical body, Gets
33:47
under stress and remains in a situation of stress and it
33:53
doesn't feel like there's any end to what that stress looks
33:57
like. It doesn't feel like there's a
33:59
way out, it doesn't feel like it's going to be relieved
34:01
anytime soon. The illness is began to tick up.
34:06
Because there's so many sicknesses that are caused.
34:10
From an abundance of stress. So who does this message?
34:14
Apply to why I would say this that those you that are in this
34:19
room or listening on the radio or watching the live stream,
34:24
That those of you with physical illness, I would encourage you
34:27
this way I'd say. Take hope my friend.
34:30
Why, why are you telling me to take hope I've been in this
34:33
condition for a while now. Because God's sustaining Grace
34:37
is with you, my friend, his sustaining Grace.
34:41
And for those of you that have family or friends that are the
34:44
that that are in a vertical, really bad, maybe even a
34:48
terminal spot here with physical illness.
34:52
Maybe you're the distributor of that Unexpected Grace as you go
34:56
as you sit with them as you talk with them as you as you
34:59
encourage them as you're near to them it's just simply doing the
35:03
ministry of presence it's just being there.
35:05
You don't have all the right words to say but the Holy Spirit
35:08
uses, you and works in you and he works through you and
35:11
Powerful ways. Well, who else can this message?
35:15
Apply to grab, hold of your chair because this one could be
35:18
a little bit rougher. Maybe you're fighting through an
35:21
unwanted divorce right now. Maybe you're still wrestling and
35:27
and you have a crippling addiction.
35:29
Whether it's drugs or something else that you know what that
35:33
looks like. You've got that skeleton in your
35:35
closet, you've got that bet that anchor that is on you.
35:38
You've got that weight on your back.
35:42
My friend. Can I tell you this?
35:43
Can I encourage you in this that God sees he sees that your heart
35:48
is being ripped out in your wrestling with these things.
35:55
And you should know that he'll give you.
36:00
A preserving Grace in that. Well, who else can this message?
36:05
Apply to. Well, maybe you've been
36:07
victimized. And now a location changes
36:11
needed so that you don't go back.
36:14
Listen, God's directing Grace is speaking to you.
36:17
I can tell you this. That it that it, that in more
36:19
recent months, since the turn of this year, what are we for
36:21
almost, you know, we're getting ready to be five months into
36:23
this year. She wins were to go that can
36:26
tell you this and then community that I'm from, I'm up in.
36:29
I'm up, North, I'm in Westminster Colorado, where a
36:32
bedroom community to Boulder. Some people have said that.
36:36
Well, that's the Republic of Boulder.
36:38
It's kind of its own little thing that's like a community
36:40
joke up there. Yeah, it is.
36:42
But Westminster, it's a bedroom to that.
36:44
When people don't go in the front room, they come into the
36:46
back bedroom and they end up in Westminster.
36:48
All of this stuff that we're seeing.
36:50
Come through the church doors up there right now.
36:54
And just on this topic right here, have have you been
36:56
victimized by something? I'm not, I'm not talking about
36:59
being a social, cause I'm talking about people really
37:02
suffering through and having wrestled with some real
37:06
legitimate trauma in their life. Hurt real hurt, real pain.
37:16
Amen, I look and I look at the little staff that I have and I
37:20
look at where we're going to. We're God is his taking me and
37:23
how he's used me and all this stuff and I go look.
37:25
What am I going to do with this Lord?
37:26
I don't even know what to say. And so many times God often
37:32
reminds me, it's the word of your testimony and I share with
37:37
them how I came to Faith and then I open it up a little bit
37:41
farther and I get real personal with them.
37:45
And I share with them. if from 6 years old all the way through
37:50
those younger years of my life, that I was sexually abused by a
37:54
family member and all of a sudden that their ears perk up
37:58
and they have a different respect towards me.
38:01
Because they're looking they're going okay maybe maybe this guy
38:04
maybe God will use this guy. There's a desperation.
38:07
There's a hunger. Remember at the beginning in
38:08
Acts chapter 3 is, we were looking at that that guy had a
38:10
hunger. He'd been in that condition, you
38:13
know, scripture says, you know, due to been there for about 40
38:15
years or so. But there was a hunger that was
38:19
there. He knew his condition, he knew
38:21
the hurt. And in that somebody stopped and
38:25
said, man, I'm not just going to Pat you on the back and throw a
38:27
coin at you. He says in the name Peter says,
38:30
in the name of Jesus Christ of the Nazarene of Nazareth.
38:33
He says Rise up a walk. Unexpected Grace Falls out.
38:38
And I can't tell you that that that what we're seeing this
38:41
year, in our little church is a little church, you know, is
38:44
probably not right to put a size or a title on a church but we're
38:48
Church of 300 if you count all the church mice and all that
38:51
stuff, but they all got to show up on Sunday and then we can
38:53
count them, okay? It's not like it's an effective
38:58
church, it's a church right there on the highways and the
39:01
byways. It's a church.
39:03
This meeting and touching people.
39:04
Yes, yes, yes. And amen.
39:06
But to the folks that have been victimized, guess what?
39:10
God's directing Grace is speaking to them and maybe he's
39:13
speaking to you tonight. If there is a way forward
39:17
because you don't have to be chained to your past.
39:19
You don't have to let that pass identify you as who you are and
39:22
I can't tell you for how long. Listen, I got saved in 1993, you
39:24
know the story already. Gosh, we're so close now, you
39:27
know, the story, but I can't tell you how many years.
39:32
Decade, maybe 15 years that the label of all the lameness that
39:36
happened in my life, is still connected to what goes on on the
39:41
inside. It takes God.
39:43
Sometimes it work. Those things out with in our
39:45
life. Yeah, he's wonderful.
39:46
He does what he does what he does.
39:47
For sure. Yes.
39:49
But the wrestling aspect that is there Sometimes, you can take a
39:53
lifetime to work through sometimes will never even get
39:56
through it on this side. But I'll tell you the that
39:59
there's a framework of hope within God and God's directing
40:02
Grace as he speaks to us helps us.
40:07
Helps us to see. That there is hope as I move
40:11
forward. Well, the final one and it's
40:14
time to close here. I love this one.
40:20
But maybe God has an instant healing for you tonight.
40:23
Well, we kind of started the bible study this way, you know,
40:27
this is nothing more than his miraculous Grace in the moment.
40:32
I love that. I love when God just takes the
40:36
top off of my little situation and does something miraculous
40:39
there. I don't speak to you, you know,
40:43
I don't speak to you just from leaning on a Pulpit and just
40:45
trying to be, you know, a pastoral and just, you know,
40:47
give you some stories. Don't know.
40:51
I've only been pastoring, 12 years.
40:54
I was in law enforcement for about 10 years and got out of
40:58
that and did a few other things along the way and Started
41:04
pastoring. And and through that time and
41:10
fit two grandbabies, That are right there against the brink of
41:16
death. One accidentally, I don't know
41:20
how this actually happens. It's a long story.
41:21
I got to be careful with sharing this to you now.
41:26
But he's here today. At a year and a half years old.
41:32
My grandson Joshua. A window popped open on his
41:37
condo as his little head was on it.
41:40
Just looking out the window and it popped open and he fell out
41:43
the window, 30 feet down. To the concrete traumatic, brain
41:48
injury, they came, they pronounced him dead, and all
41:50
this stuff he is here today. Leading and living a normal
41:56
life. Yeah.
41:59
Hey, Joshua stand up. I didn't mean to call you out,
42:01
brother. Stand up.
42:02
This is a little guy right there.
42:03
That's him. You see him now?
42:07
There you go. Sorry, I'll give you a big bear.
42:10
Hug afterwards. I didn't.
42:11
I didn't know we're going there. Just happened.
42:14
So God's miraculous Grace when it shows up.
42:25
I think this is my second closing so that means we really
42:26
have to close. Okay once again over the last
42:33
several years, our lives have We've all seen new troubles and
42:39
new fears and new difficulties and all that.
42:43
Again, the stress environment that we live in today, it's at
42:45
an all-time high without question.
42:51
But in spite of this, I want you to know tonight that God is not
42:54
ignoring your cry. He's preparing you for his
43:00
return. Can I read you?
43:03
This final verse. These guys will have this on the
43:05
screen here for you. First.
43:06
Peter chapter 4. Here's what it says.
43:11
I'm reading from the NLT. Peter writes, he says dear
43:15
friends. He says don't be surprised at
43:18
the fiery trials that you were going through.
43:21
Is this something strange were happening to you instead?
43:27
Be very glad I like that. He says, for these trials, make
43:34
you partners with Christ in his suffering.
43:36
Why So that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his
43:42
glory. When it is revealed to all the
43:46
world look to your neighbor and say Jesus is Alive.
43:52
Not bad, not bad. You know guest teacher doesn't
43:55
really get responses. That wasn't bad, okay?
44:01
Let me leave you with this folks.
44:03
May God's Unexpected Grace be upon you tonight.
44:06
A man, a man, a man. Let us stand together, please.
44:13
As a worship team is coming forward.
44:14
As you guys are closing up your Bibles and everything.
44:19
I always love to. Always loved to make sure that
44:24
there is that wonderful opportunity for the expression
44:27
of faith. And so I would ask you this.
44:31
Thank you for dimming the lights as a lights are dim now.
44:35
I would ask you this if God has been speaking to you,
44:39
personally, tonight we raise up your hand so I can see you and
44:42
pray for you. Raise up your hand and hold it
44:44
up high in the sky here, keep them up.
44:46
I see here, I see here. I see all across this area.
44:48
I see here. Here here, here, back all the
44:51
way around around around many of you OV over to this side.
44:56
Turn your hands over like this. I'm a pray for you real fast.
44:59
Father, all these folks in this room here and brothers and
45:03
sisters. They have come to hear from you
45:05
tonight. There's so many men and women
45:10
here that are that are looking to you for your Unexpected
45:12
Grace. And Lord in a very simple way, I
45:16
would just pray. The god that you would meet
45:20
these men and women and that you would help him right there, that
45:22
you would show up do something unexpected this week in their
45:25
life. Now, we know that you're real.
45:32
We know that you're coming. The Lord, the trials in the
45:38
stress environment that we live in day by day.
45:42
Or sometimes it wears on us and we need a fresh hope.
45:45
And so I pray, holy spirit, that tonight that you'd fall afresh
45:49
Upon Us in this place. Follow fresh Upon Us, lift our
45:53
head, be the lifter of our head. Grant to us fresh Joy.
46:01
Fresh hope, fresh piece. New help.
46:06
There is none like you and we worship you now as we go out of
46:10
this place. We thank you.
46:13
And we pray it all in the mighty name of Jesus and all God's
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people said, amen. Amen.
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We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible.
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Study delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church for
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prayer. Call us at 877, 30 Grace.
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That's eight 77304, 2:53 to listen to this message in its
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entirety or to join us for our lives dream Services.
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Visit us online at every Co dot church or download our free
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Calvary Church app be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.
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every Co dot church or download our free Calvary Church app be
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blessed as you worship Jesus this week.