Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / May 21 - Acts 3

Transcript

May 21 - Acts 3 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's Thursday, it's the 21st of
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  May. And how good are you taking a
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  moment in the midst of the busyness of your day to say,
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  come on Sean, let's read that next chapter of Acts.
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  Let's see what God has in store for His church as it begins to
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  grow. And when we think of church, we
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  think of buildings and services. But back in this day it was this
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  group of new believers whose minds were blown by what Jesus
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  had done for them. Heard the Holy Spirit
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  transforming them into this community that just put others
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  1st and not their own selfish needs.
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  Not selfish needs, but their own self centred needs, which
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  frankly in a brutal place like the Roman Empire in the 1st
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  century, it was hard to survive. So the fact that people just
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  look beyond themselves to others is absolutely miraculous.
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  And it's in the midst of this that we today will hear this
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  incredible story of God being so active and shaking things up.
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  It's a story that you have heard.
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  Well, I'm assuming that because it's such a famous one, and it's
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  one that will eventually get them into a little bit of
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  trouble and starts to stir the hornet's nest.
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  So let's read this wonderful story together, friends.
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  In Acts chapter 3, Peter and John went to the
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  temple one afternoon to take part in the 3:00 prayer service.
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  As they approached the temple, a man lame from birth was being
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  carried in. Each day he was put beside the
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  temple gate, the one called the Beautiful gate, so he could beg
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  from the people going into the temple.
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  When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some
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  money. Peter and John looked at him
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  intently and Peter said, Look at us.
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  The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting 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. Then Peter took the lame man by
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  the right hand and helped him up, and as he did, the man's
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  feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened.
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  He jumped up, stood on his feet and began to walk.
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  Then walking, leaping and praising God, he went into the
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  temple with them. All the people saw him walking
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  and heard him praising God. When they realised he was the
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  lame beggar they had seen so often at the beautiful gate,
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  they were absolutely astounded. They all rushed out in amazement
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  to Solomon's colonnade, where the man was holding tightly to
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  Peter and John. Peter saw his opportunity and
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  addressed the crowd, people of Israel.
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  He said. What is so surprising about this
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  and why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our
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  own power or godliness? For it is the God of Abraham,
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  Isaac and Jacob, the God of all our ancestors, who has brought
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  glory to his servant Jesus by doing this.
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  This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before
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  Pilate. Despite Pilate's decision to
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  release him. You rejected this holy righteous
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  one and instead demanded the release of a murderer.
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  You killed the Author of life, but God raised him from the dead
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  and we are witnesses of this fact.
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  Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed, and
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  you know how crippled he was before.
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  Faith in Jesus name has healed him before your very eyes.
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  Friends, I realise that what you and your leaders did to Jesus
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  was done in ignorance, but God was fulfilling what all the
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  prophets had foretold about the Messiah, that he must suffer
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  these things now. Repent of your sins and turn to
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  God so that your sins may be wiped away.
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  Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the
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  Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah,
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  for he must remain in heaven until the time for the final
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  restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through
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  his holy prophets. Moses said.
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  The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from
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  among your own people. Listen carefully to everything
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  he tells you. Then Moses said anyone who will
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  not listen to that prophet will be completely cut off from God's
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  people. Starting with Samuel.
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  Every prophet spoke about what is happening today.
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  You are the children of those prophets and you are included in
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  the covenant God promised to your ancestors.
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  For God said to Abraham, through your descendants, all the
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  families on earth will be blessed.
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  When God raised up his servant Jesus, He sent him first to you
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  people of Israel, to bless you by turning each of you back from
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  your sinful ways. Our Lord, your mission is so
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  clear as we read this. You did not come incarnated in
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  this form of a man in Jesus to set things cosmically right.
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  Know you came so that you could transform each one of us, your
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  beloved children, to know you and to be in your family.
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  You do not have a vision that is broad and vanilla, but you have
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  a vision that is for me and for each one of us.
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  Praying this prayer because you love us with a Father's heart
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  and you draw us back into your family.
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  Thank you for everything you've done, Jesus.
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  Thank you for making a way. Thank you, Father, for giving us
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  your Son at great cost to yourself so that you can
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  reconcile us back to you. And thank you, Holy Spirit, for
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  coming and dwelling in US, pointing US ever back to Jesus
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  so that we can know the character of God more and more
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  and how much we are loved and saved.
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  So, Lord, transform our lives just as Peter, speaking to that
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  audience urged them to do. Let us turn our back on the
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  things that draw us away from you and come fresh to you as our
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  number one priority in our lives.
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  Because what could be more important than you?
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  We love you, we praise you, we lift you up, and we pray all of
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  this in your name. Jesus, I'm in.