Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Well, we're at the start of 2024. I cracked a few jokes with people and said, I haven't seen you since last year. And they were like, no, no, I was here last week. Exactly. Yeah.
[00:00:09] So normally at the start of the year, you might start a new series. You might do a word that's motivational for the word for the year ahead. But I'm not going to do that this morning because last autumn, last summer in autumn, we were in a series which we didn't finish on the book of acts. In fact, we only got to chapter nine. The last place we got to was when Saul, who became Paul, that much of the remainder of the book is about when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, and that's where it finished. So unusual. I don't think I've ever said these words before. But we are going to look on the first Sunday of the year at part eleven.
[00:00:48] All right? Yeah.
[00:00:50] Lord Jesus, thank you for this time today. We just pray you bless our coffee now, in Jesus name, amen.
[00:00:56] Part eleven. And we've got three great stories today that are not about Paul because there's a little bit of a segue about another colorful character in the Bible that we're going to look at in three acts today as part of this highly flammable series about a church that's on fire for Jesus. And that is the character, the person, the disciple Peter.
[00:01:22] And Peter was definitely a colorful character. He was sometimes boastful, sometimes impetuous or impulsive, sometimes hot headed. In fact, some commentators wonder if Peter had what, if he was diagnosed today, he might be diagnosed as having ADHD.
[00:01:44] Interesting. I got a friend of mine who was diagnosed with ADHD and he said, I'm not having that. He said, I'm going to call it adha, attention deficit hyperactivity advantage.
[00:01:56] And you can see in Peter's life that he certainly, if there was a diagnosis for that, he certainly used it for his advantage. And no matter what people have labeled you in your life, God can use whatever he's placed on you for his purposes. So never think, oh, I can't do something because I've got this in my life or I've got this characteristic, God can use all of us, and he has a plan for each of our lives. So the three stories we're going to look at in the life of Peter today, there's a healing, there's a resurrection, and there is a paradigm change in vision. So let's get stuck straight into the first of these three stories, the healing of Anaeus. And we find this story in acts, chapter nine, verses 32 to 35. Let's look at it together. We're going to look at quite a lot of Bible today.
[00:02:44] So here we go, verse 32 of acts, chapter nine.
[00:02:48] As Peter was traveling from place to place, he also came down to the saints who lived in lidder. There he found a man named Aeneas who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years.
[00:03:06] Peter said to him, Aeneas, jesus Christ heals. You get up and make your bed. And immediately he got up. So all who lived in Lidder and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
[00:03:22] Now, Peter had traveled to Lidder, which was probably about 22 miles northwest of Jerusalem, and he was a bit of an itinerate. He would travel around churches, encouraging the new believers, encourage them. There's a lot of persecution around. And he would try to help them and encourage them and stir up their faith. Now, something really unusual about this story, because if you think back to the gospels, a lot of the healings that took place, we don't know the name of the people who got healed. We know them as the blind beggar, or we know them as the paralyzed man or Jairus's daughter. We're not often given the names of those, but here we are given his name as Aeneas. And why is that? There's nothing accidental in the Bible. Why did Luke, who wrote the book of acts, why did he give us his name? Well, he was probably well known. He was probably known before he had this healing. Certainly we read as we just read, he was known after his healing, but he was probably someone who had had influence, maybe before he had lost the use of his legs. Maybe he was in authority position, influential position. And people knew him. And so it made sense to use his name because it becomes another validity.
[00:04:45] Yeah, it becomes that thing, a validating component of the message as carried, because people think, yeah, I know aeneas. I know that happened. And so that's why his name is used here. But I want to just go back to Peter for a moment, because Peter had been in a situation just like this before.
[00:05:07] If you go to Mark's gospel, chapter two, verse eleven, it says this, and these are the words of Jesus that Peter was stood there with him when this happened.
[00:05:18] Jesus said, I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.
[00:05:24] Immediately. He got up, took the mat and went out in front of everyone.
[00:05:30] Now, being a disciple of Jesus is being an apprentice of Jesus. It's not just having a faith. It's not just gathering in churches it's about seeing what Jesus does, understanding who Jesus is, understanding how he thinks, understanding the attitudes that he has. And it's adopting those things. It's copying those things. It's being like him. If he was walking in front of us in a snowy scene, it's stepping into his very footsteps. That's an apprentice of Jesus, a follower. Disciple means follower. We don't just follow a set of teaching. We follow a person, and that person is Jesus. We are disciples of Jesus. We are apprentices of Jesus. And Peter had been here before. He had seen what Jesus did. And now he finds himself sometime later, confronted with a very similar scene. And what does he do? He did what Jesus did.
[00:06:26] When was the last time you saw something that Jesus did and copied it?
[00:06:34] When was the last time you learned a new frame of thinking or a new expression or a new set of hopes, and you saw something that Jesus brought to the table and you copied him?
[00:06:48] Get up and make your bed. Peter said.
[00:06:52] Get up, pick up your mat and walk. Jesus said. Peter had put his own spin on it, but he was copying Jesus. And the church that's on fire is the church that copies Jesus. The church that's on fire is full of people, not just one or two leaders or pastors or people who take on responsibilities in certain areas. The church that's on fire for Jesus is the church that copies the ways of Jesus.
[00:07:18] You copy him in your workplace. You copy him in your home. You copy him in your community. We copy him.
[00:07:25] We are his apprentices. Now, Aeneas was a well known cripple before this healing, and he was a well known healed man. After this healing, all who lived there, it says, turned to the Lord. And when we live our life as apprentices of Jesus, people notice something happens and people respond. Let's look at the second story, because this one is even more dramatic, because this involves someone being restored to life. And again, we give in her name. Her name is Dorcas, and it's found in acts nine, verse 36. And it says these words, and they will appear on the screen.
[00:08:03] In Joppa, there was a disciple named Tabitha, which is translated, Dorcas. She was always doing good works and acts of charity. About that time, she became sick and died after washing her. They placed her in a room upstairs. Since Lidda was near Joppa, the disciples heard that Peter was there and sent two men to him, who urged him, don't delay in coming with us. Peter got up, and he went with them.
[00:08:33] I suspect he knew who Dorcas was. He'd heard something about her because there were lots of believers in Jesus who were dying, and he wasn't going everywhere. I suspect there was something about her reputation because she was so involved in the charity in the community and looking after the people of God, particularly the widows. And we'll see in a moment how they were all there when they arrived. It says Peter got up and he went with them. When he arrived, they led him to the room upstairs, and all the widows approached him, weeping and showing him the robes and the clothes that Dorcas had made. While she was with them, Peter sent them out of the room. He knelt down. He prayed, and turning towards the body, he said, tabitha, get up. She opened her eyes. She saw Peter and sat up. He gave her his hand, and he helped her stand up. He called the saints and the widows and presented her alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.
[00:09:32] This lovely follower of Jesus, this lovely disciple of Jesus, this lovely, charitable person who was walking in the ways of Jesus, an apprentice of Jesus, serving a community, died now, new life restored now. Well, now the mourners were now laughing.
[00:09:50] Peter arrived at a scene that looked very similar to another scene he'd arrived at some time previous. We read this scene in Mark's gospel, chapter five. And we read the story of Gyrus's daughter. Let's look at it together. In Mark five, Jesus did not let anyone accompany him, except Peter, James and John, James brother.
[00:10:15] Then they came to the leader's house, and he saw a commotion. People weeping and wailing loudly. He went in and he said to them, why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but asleep. They laughed at him, but he put them all outside. He said, the child's mother, father, mother, and those who were with him and entered the place where the child was. Then he took the child by the hand and said to her, talitha Kumai, which is translated, little girl, I say to you, get up immediately. The girl got up and began to walk. She was twelve years old. At this. They were utterly astounded.
[00:10:56] I believe when Jesus took Peter to that scene, he knew that sometime later, Peter would be facing a similar scene with Dorcas.
[00:11:08] I believe that Jesus wasn't just healing Gyrus's daughter. He was training Peter. He was giving Peter a front row seat because there would be a front line moment that he would be coming to. You know, I find in my life that all of the times when God gives me a front row, that he calls me for that experience to have a front line.
[00:11:34] Some of you in this room, you've walked through some real difficult times. You've walked through cancer journeys, you've walked through family trauma, you've walked through difficulty, you've walked through praying in provision. You've walked through these moments, and God has given you a front row seat. But it hasn't just been because God is wanting to entertain you, or God is wanting to teach you something. It's because God is wanting you to translate that into someone else's life. Somewhere down the line, the front row becomes a front line. And in our lives, that's the way God works, because we are his apprentices. He is schooling us, he's developing us, he is training us.
[00:12:14] And the boredom that comes in when we don't live our lives as apprentices of Jesus is overwhelming. Church services are not enough to entertain us.
[00:12:25] It doesn't matter whether you sit at the front or the back. It's not enough to just watch what Jesus is doing. Boredom will set in and the enemy will pick you off. He'll just pick you off, because that's. And you say, well, I'm just bored. I just don't know what this is all about. It just doesn't keep me engaged enough. And that's not what the faith is about.
[00:12:46] It's about God gives you a front row because he's given you a front line.
[00:12:51] We are apprentices, walking in his footsteps, copying him.
[00:12:55] The experiences we have, and not just for the moment that we have them, but there to be preparing us for a future day and a future moment in our lives. I want to encourage you to copy good experiences. You can see them in other people as well. I love looking around the church and seeing all of the amazing gifts and abilities that we have. And if you see someone doing something, well, why don't you think, is there something I can learn from that? Can I copy them? Can I emulate them in some way? That's a good thing, because God's grace has been revealed through them and you can pick something up from them. I remember as I was a child, I remember I was probably maybe seven, eight years of age, and my parents moved to another village, quite a big village, and there was a really good pentecostal church in that village, and there was a lovely pastor there that I only had the benefit of knowing as a child for a few years because sadly, he died quite young. But his name was Les Knowles, and I remember going to visit the church for the first time, and he came and sat with us halfway up the church hall and just sat with us. But the thing that really captivated me, and I remember I was a child, I wasn't analyzing a pastor. I wasn't sort of trained in what pastoral ministry was. The thing that really impressed me more than anything else as a child was that on Christmas day, he visited the home of every family in the church.
[00:14:21] Wow, Christmas Day. I don't know how many meals he had. I don't know how many pigs in blankets he ate that day, but he just turned up. Just ten minutes, it would have been, hey, kids, what have you had for Christmas? And he was just lovely.
[00:14:38] Do you know, years later, probably 1516 years later, when I became a youth pastor at a church in Derby, it's a big city church, young people were spread out all over. But I remember over Christmas, it wasn't possible to go and visit every family, but I remember phoning every family over Christmas and speaking to every young person. And what was my inspiration? It was les nose, and I've had loads of those over my life. I've had other pastor friends, a good friend of mine that I used to say to him, I want a wristband that says, his name's Nigel. What would Nigel do?
[00:15:14] Because you're amazing as a pastor. I just love watching you. And we can learn from others, can't we? But the best we can learn from is Jesus.
[00:15:26] And he's always trying to show us stuff, but it's always got a front line in mind. It can't just be a front row. It has to be a front line. And he's schooling us. And Peter responded here.
[00:15:41] Jesus is always trying to teach us his ways, his character, his thoughts and his actions.
[00:15:50] But you might say to me, mark, how could I ever emulate Jesus like Mark? He is the son of God.
[00:16:00] It's a good point.
[00:16:02] You're not. He is. It's a good point.
[00:16:07] But Jesus answered it and he said that when I go, it's good because another is coming.
[00:16:18] That will fill you with God himself, that you can go and do the things that I do. In fact, you will do even greater things than you've seen me do.
[00:16:27] That's always the joy of a teacher, isn't it? Seeing your pupils go beyond you.
[00:16:33] That's always the joy of someone who takes on an apprentice. Seeing the apprentice go beyond you.
[00:16:39] Jesus said to his disciples, greater things than these will you do in my name.
[00:16:44] But you need the Holy Spirit.
[00:16:46] And I'm so grateful to God that we are not just a group of intellects and a group of minds and a group of talents and abilities. But we are temples of the Holy Spirit.
[00:17:00] And unless we are, unless we're filled with him, we won't be a church on fire for him.
[00:17:06] And I want to ask a question. How much of the week involves us being reliant on the Holy Spirit? If there's everything we do in the week, we could do without the Holy Spirit, then there's something missing. There's something wrong.
[00:17:18] God is looking and saying, I want to take you to an upgrade level now. I want you to live in the realities of knowing that God himself is living inside you. If you needed to come to church this morning to be reminded that God is living inside you, then there's something missing in your relationship with God because God wanted to remind you that he's living inside you. We don't gather together worship. We're worshippers gathered in together.
[00:17:44] We don't come just to experience God. We come to bring our experiences of God. That's church. That's the family of God.
[00:17:55] If all our goodness in our life is a result of hard work and discipline, then the reality is we're probably more likely to be filled with us than we are with him.
[00:18:04] If all our decisions and attitudes are a result of our upbringing and culture, then we are more likely to be filled with our environment than we are to be filled with him. If all our actions can be accomplished in our own strength and resource, then we are unlikely to be given the spirit of the opportunity in our life that he longs to have.
[00:18:22] Let's look at the third story.
[00:18:25] This is a paradigm changing vision that Peter had, and we read it in acts ten. Let me read from verse nine again. The words will be on the screen the next day. As they were traveling and nearing the city, Peter went up to pray on the roof about noon, he became hungry and wanted to eat.
[00:18:44] I'm so pleased when I read that because you see these heroes and you think he's going to go onto the roof, he's going to pray, and then he begins to think about food. His stomach is rumbling. How many of you find when you pray? There's all sorts of distractions come your way. It happens to the best. Okay? His stomach was rumbling. He became hungry and he wanted to eat. Peter, what are you doing? You're praying or you wanted to eat? Well, he obviously wanted to do both. And while they were preparing him something, he fell into a trance and he saw heaven opened and an object that resembled a large sheet coming down being lowered by its four corners to the earth. In it were all the four footed animals and reptiles of the earth and the birds of the sky. And a voice said to him, get up, Peter. Kill and eat.
[00:19:33] No, Lord, Peter said, for I have never eaten anything impure and ritually unclean. Again, a second time the voice said to him, what God has made clean, do not call impure.
[00:19:47] This happened three times and suddenly the object was taken up into heaven.
[00:19:54] Now, those familiar with Old Testament instruction will know that there are lots of things that were listed as unclean things and failure to adhere to these regulations about what was clean and what was unclean. Some things were eating, some things were touching, that if you failed to adhere to those things, then you would be declared unclean as well. And there might have to be a ritual of purification you'd have to go through in order to become clean again. Peter was well versed in these requirements and he was a staunch follower of them.
[00:20:28] Then he had this vision, and his response to a vision from God wasn't, ah, I get that now, God. His response was, he was perplexed.
[00:20:42] I find often when God speaks, my response is not clarity. My response feels more like confusion when God speaks. Look at that bit more in a moment. But I suspect he wondered if God was now giving him permission to eat any food. When Jesus died on the cross, did he cleanse all the unclean animals? Is that what's happened here? No, this is not about food. This is about hearts. Let's look a bit further.
[00:21:08] In the verses preceding this vision, we are introduced to another man, a gentile. Peter was a jew, but we're introduced to a gentile whose name is Cornelius. And Cornelius was a centurion from the italian regiment.
[00:21:24] And we read that Cornelius was a devout man. He feared God, along with his whole household, and he did many charitable deeds for the jewish people. And we're also told that he prayed to God. He's quite an outstanding man. And Cornelius, before Peter had had his vision, had a daytime vision of his own, and the daytime vision that he had instructed him to send some men to go to a random house in a distant place that was about a day's travel from where he was, and to go and ask for someone who was staying in an Airbnb in this house and to ask him to come back to his house. That was the vision. Can you imagine if you had such a vision here this morning in the know, somebody's getting words of knowledge about erniers and legs, and then you get a vision to go and ask two people sitting next to you to go and visit a house in Plymouth and just knock on the door and say, I know that I'm not after you. I'm after someone who's staying overnight in your house. That's quite a thing. That was Cornelius'vision. And he obeyed, and he sent some men. And so as Peter was stood on the roof, as the food has been prepared, as he's scratching his head over this weird vision that goes against all of his cultural upbringing, and it goes against all his understanding, as he's scratching his head, there's a knock on the door. Let's pick up the story. Verse 17. While Peter was deeply perplexed about what the vision he had seen might mean, right away, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions to Simon's house, stood at the gate. They called out, asking if Simon, who was also named Peter, was lodging there. While Peter was thinking about the vision, the spirit told him, three men are here looking for you. Get up. Go downstairs and go with them with no doubts at all, because I have sent them.
[00:23:22] What a mysterious series of events this was. So Peter went. He just went on this day's journey back to Cornelius'place.
[00:23:34] Now, the way Peter had understood certain foods to be off the menu, he had also understood certain people to be off God's menu.
[00:23:46] Cornelius wasn't a jew.
[00:23:49] He was a gentile. You can only be a jew by being born into a jewish family. But he was a gentile. He wasn't born into this special place of I will be their God, and you will be my people.
[00:24:03] And as a gentile, he was considered to be unclean to the Jews. There's no way that God could ever bring the hope of the gospel into someone who is so unclean.
[00:24:16] No, the promise is for the Jews. The promise, the special promises of God are just for the Jews. That was Peter's paradigm. But Cornelius, a gentile, a non jew, not born into God's special promise, was about to become the evidence of the grace of God that has fanned the Gospel flames across the face of the earth today. That God came for the Jews and then the Gentiles.
[00:24:43] Unless you are born a jew, Cornelius is you, he's me.
[00:24:49] He is representative of those that were understood to be outside of God's plan of salvation.
[00:24:56] Jesus came to be the king of the Jews, but he came to be the king of all.
[00:25:03] And then, despite Peter having this understanding all his life, that it's the Jews, the gospel, Jesus the Messiah has come for the Jews. That was his upbringing. That was his understanding. That was his theological position. That was all he knew. And then a vision, a journey and a meeting, it changes all that.
[00:25:25] This was paradigm shaking.
[00:25:30] It's impossible to underestimate how paradigm changing this was for Peter. And it's incredible to think how revelatory this is for us today.
[00:25:39] The main meaning of this text is to demonstrate that the Gospel is for the Jews and the Gentiles. Praise God.
[00:25:48] But you have probably grown up with your own cultural understandings.
[00:25:58] Maybe you've grown up with some family prejudices or family preferences.
[00:26:06] And I don't care how strong or significant or justified others have told you those preferences, prejudices and fears are.
[00:26:17] If they are not compatible with God's plan, then he wants to speak to you about them.
[00:26:27] He wants to call out a new God centered paradigm in your life. It doesn't matter how long you've held to them.
[00:26:35] Now, throughout history some churches have played a shameful role in adopting cultural paradigms around them at the expense of kingdom paradigms.
[00:26:45] Some churches have supported slavery.
[00:26:48] Others have supported apartheid in South Africa.
[00:26:53] God have mercy.
[00:26:55] But what are your culturally inherited paradigms?
[00:26:59] Maybe there were things that were just normal in your home, normal in your family, normal in your life.
[00:27:04] Maybe there was always conversations about women being objects.
[00:27:09] Maybe alcohol has been naturally abused in your family.
[00:27:13] Maybe there's been a family trait to do your utmost to avoid tax.
[00:27:20] Maybe something a bit more trivial, it would seem. But maybe you've been schooled that supporters of an alternative football club are actually to be hated and despised.
[00:27:31] Maybe you've been taught that it's promotion at all cost. That's what matters, even if you have to step on people to get there. What are the paradigms that you've grown up understanding and thinking?
[00:27:42] Or maybe swing it the other way. And maybe laziness has been the normal paradigm.
[00:27:48] Three generations of people in our family, you've never worked.
[00:27:53] Well, the Bible says if a man doesn't work, he doesn't eat. Bible's actually quite strong inside. Now, you might not be able to get a job, I get that. You might be unwell to get a job. I get that. But if it's just laziness, God wants to speak to you.
[00:28:09] Maybe your expectation about success in your life is so low because your family have never believed in themselves very much. And your expectation, your paradigm, you wake up thinking that you're always going to be the last and the least.
[00:28:24] Or maybe you've just inherited fears and there are fears in your life that they're the normal paradigm of your world.
[00:28:34] When God speaks into these things, it may seem as perplexing to you as this vision did to Peter. But I want you to know that God is inviting you to a journey, to step into freedom, to have an upgrade of understanding.
[00:28:54] But it's not going to happen just with a word of knowledge.
[00:28:58] It's not going to happen with a vision and a dream. It's not going to happen by buying the latest book, or going to the latest conference or listening to the latest podcast. It's not going to happen by connecting into a ministry and hearing what they're going to say. It's not even going to happen by listening to what the prophets say. It will happen when God gets our attention and we're perplexed enough to go on a journey to find out what he's saying. And it always involves a journey. I know people that are deeply disappointed with God because God has spoken to them. He's given them a promise. Given them a promise that their kids will come back to faith. He's given them a promise that they're going to step into some ministry. He's given them a promise that they're going to set up a successful business. And they get the promise and they say, God, fantastic. Thank you for the promise. But there's a journey because like those automatic doors, they only open as you walk towards them. If you've got a word over your life, if you've got God speaking to you, then you need to walk towards the word. If you're going to see its upgrade in your life, there'll be lots of people standing in heaven, I think, going, God, you spoke to me about the business being successful and it didn't happen. Why is that? And God's going to say, because you sat around waiting for it to happen rather than starting something.
[00:30:13] Or, my kids didn't seem to come back to faith, but did you go on a journey and contend in the heavenlies for them? Did you get on your faces and say, God, I will not let you go till you bless me? You've spoken and I believe your word.
[00:30:28] But we want it too instant. We want someone to come and lay hands on us and say, give me a word now, and it's all going to be okay.
[00:30:36] Because God is calling us to be apprentices, to walk a journey of following in his footsteps, not people who are just sat on a front row watching him.
[00:30:46] And the church of Jesus Christ is going to be a place us on fire with the goodness of God. It's going to be a place of apprentices walking journeys and it will be inconvenient every time. To step into a promise of God is deeply inconvenient. It always requires me to lay something down in order to pick something up. But I tell you, it is worth it. If Peter had not gone on this journey, try to think what would have happened.
[00:31:14] Sure, God would have found another way, but it would have bypassed Peter, probably would have been the end of his story.
[00:31:22] When God speaks these things into our life, he is inviting us to follow him.
[00:31:29] We might be tempted to say, God, show me here on the roof, I'm on my place of prayer time, I'm fasting. God, show me, give me a revelation now.
[00:31:37] And I tell you, a lot of the time he speaks to me, I'm like, what?
[00:31:43] I don't really fully get it. God, I thought you were doing this and that doesn't quite make sense.
[00:31:48] Sometimes you got to journal that stuff down and think, God, I don't have a clue what you're on about right now, but I'm going to make a note of that because I think it feels significant. But then we go on a journey and we obey.
[00:32:02] If we don't go on the journey, we don't get the revelation. If we don't get the revelation, we don't get the power.
[00:32:08] And there was power, transformational power. Let's look at it, because when he arrived at the house, when he led them, when he saw them responding to Jesus, we see this happens. Verse 44. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came down on all of those who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out, even on the gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and declaring the greatness of God. Then Peter responded, can anyone withhold water and prevent these people from being baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? He commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.
[00:32:51] This is a year to get your minds transformed.
[00:32:55] This is a year to ditch the paradigms of this world and to accept an upgraded paradigm of the kingdom of heaven. This is the year for that.
[00:33:06] It's time to ditch our prejudice. It's time to ditch our fear. It's time to ditch our earthly kingdom mindset. And it's time to receive a new upgrade of kingdom thinking.
[00:33:21] The power comes when we walk in obedience towards the revelation and because the gospel is for all, all can be changed. Don't give me this. Well, it's been too ingrained in my life. Now, this anger has been with me the last 20 years. It cannot go.
[00:33:39] I have to tell you.
[00:33:41] No.
[00:33:43] Now, if you want to, you can continue to live with that anger for the next 20 years. And you can be in services and you got people pray for you. You can have words of knowledge, but it's going to require you going on a journey in order to step free from that paradigm and to see the power of God at work. You have to step to the promise. And in order to do that, for Peter to leave where he was staying, he had to trust that what God was saying was something he needed to obey. And if God's speaking to you and he's saying, I want you to ditch that anger and I want you to be a gentle person, you have to then take on a new identity. Okay, God, I'm going to walk towards gentleness now. I'm going to walk towards it. I'm going to live it. I'm a gentle person. I'm a gentle person. No, I'm not. Yes, sir, I'm a gentle person.
[00:34:33] But we have to walk towards.
[00:34:36] And the scripture says this. Paul writing to the church in Rome, in Romans twelve, he said this, do not conform to the pattern of this world.
[00:34:49] And the patterns of this world say, that is who you are. That is who you'll be for the rest of your life. No, the gospel is a gospel of change and transformation. It's a Gospel of power. It's a gospel that breaks change.
[00:35:03] Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
[00:35:12] Then you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will.
[00:35:22] As we conclude these three stories, before the spotlight primarily moves on to Paul, let's look and summarize three provocations and challenges that come from these three stories.
[00:35:40] Provoked by the healing of Anaeus.
[00:35:44] When was the last time you learnt something from Jesus and copied him?
[00:35:55] The second story provoked by the resurrection of Dorcas.
[00:36:02] What front row seats have you had and how are you going to turn those into frontline opportunities?
[00:36:14] And provoked by this paradigm change and Cornelius'salvation.
[00:36:23] What paradigms? Is God's kingdom challenging in your life?
[00:36:29] And how are you going to walk towards your upgrade in him? Let's pray together.
[00:36:48] Sought to be faithful to the text, faithful to the message, hope you've heard.
[00:36:55] But even if you have, it's not enough.
[00:37:00] You have to hear and obey.
[00:37:05] And that's the hard bit. Hearing is not easy, but obeying is even harder.
[00:37:14] And I'm going to ask you now to think about what are those things you need to do this week to obey? What's the journeys you need to travel?
[00:37:22] What's the inconvenient roads you need to walk on?
[00:37:31] Because unless there's a decision made to walk those pathways, this will evaporate in the hours, maybe even the minutes ahead.
[00:37:46] Well, Jesus, I'm desperate that your church in this nation is a church that's full of Jesus apprentices on fire for you, full of your spirit.
[00:38:01] And yet we get stuck, entwined, ingrained in so many of the things of the cultures of this world that we're so tepid, we're so tame.
[00:38:21] Convenience so often becomes our king.
[00:38:27] Lord help us, we need you.
[00:38:35] Holy Spirit, maybe you can pray something like this in your life. Holy spirit, I pray that you will stir up my spirit to follow hard after the works of Jesus.
[00:38:49] Whoever young, whoever old you are in some of those older stages of life, you might think, oh, it's all for the young people now, but you older ones, you've had loads of front row seats in your life.
[00:39:07] There's a lot to pass on, there's a lot to input, and a younger generation that every new generation comes up thinks they know best. After all, the younger generation got Google today, haven't they? You know, they learn everything. But I wonder if it could be a multi generation open heart that just says, we want to learn from each other's front row experience.
[00:39:34] Help us to be that intergenerational church on fire for you, o God, living a life of full obedience just in our final moments. If there's anyone in this room or online that's not given their life to Jesus, this is real. You're either in a room filled with people who have lost the plot in life and are absolutely deluded, or there's something happening in this room. And there are millions of us across the world that absolutely, categorically state that Jesus is like no other.
[00:40:15] Can't trust politicians, you can't trust banks, you can't trust employers, you can't trust, not even church leaders, but you can trust Jesus and he's like no other. There's no one like him. And if there was someone I wanted to drive the car of my life, to know with confidence that he's going to keep me safe, to know with confidence he's going to love me with everything. Jesus is the only candidate.
[00:40:46] If you want to just invite Jesus to get into the driver's seat of your life to become your savior come. The one that rescues you from your past and gives you hope for today and hope for tomorrow. Then I encourage you now to pray a simple prayer.
[00:41:04] And the prayer goes like this. Maybe we could all pray it out loud to encourage those who may be saying it for the first time.
[00:41:12] Jesus, I thank you that you love me.
[00:41:17] You gave your life for me.
[00:41:20] I'm amazed that you would do that.
[00:41:24] But I know I've left you out of my life.
[00:41:27] I've done my own thing, and I'm really sorry.
[00:41:32] Please forgive me.
[00:41:34] I want to follow you now.
[00:41:37] I want to follow in your footsteps, become your apprentice, to know your love all the days of my life. In Jesus name.
