One Mission pt. 3

            Welcome back to FCA, were in a series called One Mission and were studying the book of Acts. It’s an amazing book, and I’m challenging you that as were studying the book of Acts to be reading the book of Acts, because there is so much we can learn on our own. One important view were going to get today from Acts chapters 3&4, is how the early church lived, their perspective, the way they viewed life, and the way they approached God. Their faith not only shaped who they were but how God was going to work through them. Their outlook on life, their outlook on God, I believe we’ve got to have to live our lives today. Here’s what it is they lived every day with a sense of EXPECTANCY they lived with this sense that God was going to move miraculously in their lives that day. They believed that God and his power were going to be in their lives, that day. They lived every day with this expectancy. The question for us today is; are you living your life today with a sense of expectancy? Do you believe that God wants to move in your life? See I am concerned that so many of us here are living so far below where God has intended us to live as his children. He’s given us his spirit, and he wants us to live in a powerful way. Are you living with that sense of Expectancy? Expectancy is really a beautiful thing. But sometimes there are some roadblocks when it comes to our expectancy for God to do something. Some of us think you know there are 6 billion people in the world does God really care about my needs? Should I really expect something from him? Or maybe you’re new in your faith and you don’t know what to expect from God.  You don’t even know what to ask of him. Or maybe you’ve expected something from God in the past, and he just hasn’t seen it through like you thought he would, and so you’re thinking I’m not going to ask God this, I’m not going to expect this of God, because last time he didn’t come through. Or maybe you’re thinking that my ask of God is so big there is no way I’m even going to ask because I don’t know that God can come through on that. And here is what I want to say to you, in our finite brain we only think about the possible. That’s the problem we only think of the natural possibilities, what God thinks about is the impossible. See we as followers of Christ do the possible, while God does the impossible. We do the natural, and God does the super natural. And that is what’s beautiful in the book of Acts is that they not only believed in the supernatural, they expected the supernatural. In Acts chapter 3 we see that in verse 1 which is a great story, “Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o'clock prayer service. As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money. Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, "Look at us!" The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. But Peter said, "I don't have any silver or gold for you. But I'll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene,* get up and* walk!" Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man's feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.” This man had been lame from birth, he never walked, never danced, never ran, and had been set by this gate everyday to beg for money, and he was probably expecting when Peter and John said “look at us” to get something from them. But what he got was so far beyond anything he expected. What he expected was something natural, what God wanted to give him was something supernatural. He was living with the wrong sense of expectancy. But what I want to focus on today is the expectancy of Peter and John what did they expect?

                  

                 Here’s what we can learn today for our lives just like the early church. Number one we need to expect God’s POWER in our life. Because when Peter and John went down and grabbed the man by the hand, what were they expecting to happen? Were they expecting to grab him by the hand pick him up, and then let him fall back down? Were they expecting that? Or were they expecting that when they grabbed him by the hand and held him up that he was going to walk? They were expecting the power of God to flow through their lives, they were acting on that. “Why did they expect it?” because in Acts chapter one verse 8 Jesus said “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. “ Now that same root word in Greek is the same word that we use for dynamite so imagine that kind of power. See the fact is that they acted on the fact that the power of God was in their life. They acted on that, they stepped out in faith knowing that God was going to help them. All through the bible we see men and women that live with that expectancy that God is going to work through them. When David ran out and faced Goliath with that stone, he ran out in the name of God. He ran out with an expectancy to beat that giant talking pickle! Daniel in the lion’s den expected God to be there and close the mouths of those lions. John the Baptist he expected that there would be one coming whose sandals he could not fill. Or the lady that had trouble with her blood and the circulation of it in the crowd, and when she reached out to touch Jesus’ garment, she expected to be healed by him through his clothes. And then all through the book of Acts we read about the first church living with this sense of expectancy, and of God’s power in their lives. You know when I go home and flip up my light switch I expect the light to come on, when you put the key in the ignition of your car and turn it you expect it to start up. Unless you leave the lights on all night, then you can’t go where you need to go. The same is true for us if we’re not living with an expectancy of the power of God in our lives, we can’t be who God’s called us to be. We can expect that power in our lives because God gave us that power. God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power! When we ask God for things we need to expect his power to flow through us. And when we live with that power of God in our lives it can lead us to also expect his PRESENCE in our lives.  Now this is all based on you accepting Jesus into your life. You no longer live but now Christ lives through you. It’s his presence that is seen. If I were to go out with you today in your circle of friends, the people you do life with, the people you spend time with, if I were to ask them this question and this is a rhetorical question answer it in your mind, if I were to ask them can you tell that “blank” (insert your name there) has spent time with Jesus? How would they react? It was evident in Peter and John that they had spent time with Jesus. His presence was seen through them.  I see this as an awesome time to end. See I know that a few years ago there were people that if you were to ask them about me spending time with Jesus they would laugh, and go on and tell you about how unchristian I was. Now, I try to live my life so much like Christ that when people look at me, they go WOW what does that kid have that I don’t? And this week as we grow closer to Easter I hope that you use this time to start making it a habit to others to let them know about your walk with Christ. Thanks for reading!