i love that little prayer yourself jesus
is our reward friends amen all right if
you have your bibles i’m going to read
out of acts chapter 4
verses 23 to 31 and that’s going to be
our main text today you’re ready
on their release peter and john went
back to their own
people and reported all that the chief
priests and the elders had said to them
when they heard this they raised their
voices together in prayer to god
sovereign lord they said you made the
heavens and the earth and the sea
and everything in them you spoke by the
holy spirit through the mouth of your
servant our father david
why do the nations rage and the people’s
plot in vain
the kings of the earth rise up and the
rulers band together against the lord
and against his anointed one indeed
herod
and pontius pilate met together with the
gentiles and the people of israel in
this city
to conspire against your holy servant
jesus
whom you anointed listen they did what
yo
what was in your power and will had
decided beforehand should happen
now lord consider their threats and
enable your servant to speak your word
with great boldness
stretch out your hand to heal and
perform signs and wonders
through the name of your holy servant
jesus and they prayed
and the place where they were meeting
was shaken and they were all filled with
the holy spirit
and spoke the word of god boldly this is
the word of the lord to us and everybody
said
amen go ahead and take your seats where
you are
today we’re going to begin a little
journey and
and i i think it’s going to end today
it’s going to be a little momentary
message but i might bleed into next
sunday a little bit
but here’s what i want to talk about
this morning a spiritual
checkup a spiritual checkup
so i think it’s important that once in a
while we have
we take time and sort of assess ourself
and how do we assess ourselves
spiritually well we assess ourselves
based on god’s word so you know when you
go to the doctor
what happens well he might poke you and
prod you and ask you a bunch of
questions and
and they do blood work and all these
different things and the truth is
some of your checkup with the doctor is
a little bit uncomfortable
so so i i apologize beforehand i’m not
trying to make you uncomfortable
but i think the essence of any checkup
is there’s going to be a little bit of
uncomfortability but that’s okay
you know if you go to the dentist what
happens they take new x-rays i hate
getting x-rays at the dentist
i feel like i’m gagging and choking
every time they stick those things way
back there
and i still have my wisdom teeth so it’s
even makes it worse but you know what
that’s what they do
the dentist looks at every tooth and why
what’s the motive
to a checkup what’s the motive to an
examination with the dentist
the motive is actually really simple
early intervention
you know if they can catch something
early that’s the best medicine for
intervention amen
we know that if you’re if you’re going
to get really sick with something the
best chance you and i have
is early intervention early detection so
why not the same thing when it comes to
our spiritual life
can we take that same that same mindset
into our spiritual well-being
and say you know what let’s look let’s
assess you know if you go to your car
during your checkup maybe your car your
doctor says i got to send you to a
cardiologist
i want them to put you on the treadmill
and give your your heart a stress
test well what’s the motive it’s really
simple
they want to see how you respond under
stress
under pressure have you realized
something about 2020
see 2020 was a gift to us in this way
it put every one of us under a certain
amount of stress
and pressure the question is how have we
responded
what has that test revealed what have we
seen about ourselves
and this is why 2020 could be such a
blessing
if we can sit back and assess honestly
and look at it realistically so what is
it revealed has
and i think for some people it’s
revealed deep
unresolved issues hurts pains
challenges and you know what i say
that’s okay
that’s okay because thank god
for early intervention thank god the
holy spirit of god
loves us so much that it reveals things
in our hearts and lives
that are if if unchecked have the
potential to hurt us further
and hurt the next generation and hurt
others
thank god god loves us so much to help
us amen
so i think with anyone with any doctor
you want to go there and you want to you
want to hopefully have some solutions so
here’s the here’s sort of what we’re
going to look at today is this spiritual
checkup
and really we’re going to use 20 20 is a
bit of your own background there your
own backdrop
whatever it offered you but we’re going
to try to look ahead so today we’re
going to look at this
and we’re going to look at our checkup
and we’re going to use acts chapter 4
as our basis for our checkup because i
think there’s such
something so powerful in acts chapter 4.
i don’t have time
to go through the entire chapter so what
i’m going to do is going to give you
sort of the kohl’s notes version
of what happened before where we picked
up reading today
amen so here we go in these verses we
see something really sort of profound
happen and we see the church
first we see peter and john and the
church are going through a time of
testing
a time of stress so the kohl’s notes
version is this
their testing was this and it seems
funny on the surface do you think that
shouldn’t be a test but let’s
let’s hang in there so what was their
test peter and john
had prayed for a lame man and he was
there lame
and he was asking for money and peter
says silver and gold have i none
but such as i have i give thee in the
name of jesus christ of nazareth
stand up rise up and walk and most of us
know that story and the man leaps to his
feet shouting praising god
healed restored so that sounds like wow
how’s that a test
how is that a stress well here’s what
happened next
upon this healing people began a crowd
begin to gather
so people knew this man you have to
understand people walked by that lame
man his whole life
the bible tells us that he was born that
way
the the the elders of the church of the
synagogue actually bring his parents in
to try to discredit the healing and his
parents say listen
all we know is he was born like this
he’s of age ask him
he can answer for himself so we see this
whole scenario happening
so what happens this crowd begins to
gather
there was this miracle that happened so
what does peter do
he starts to preach to the crowd and his
message was very simple he says
jesus christ the one you crucified
he rose from the dead and listen in his
name
this man stands before you healed in his
name
well what happens immediately upon that
the elders of the church get all worked
up
and they arrest peter and john throw
them in prison
and they threaten them and then they’re
brought before all the rulers and the
elders and the teachers of the law
we’re not going to read all of that but
what happened
when they were brought before these this
this group of leaders
listen as something so powerful because
i
never want us to overlook this friends
this is the essence of our faith look
look with me in romans 4 or sorry acts 4
verses 12 and 13.
i got to go back a page this is what
they say they say salvation is found in
no one else
for there is no other name under heaven
given to mankind by which we must be
saved
that’s a straight statement verse 13
says this
now they’re talking about the elders
here of the of the jewish church they
said this
when they saw the courage of peter and
john and
realize that they were unschooled
ordinary men
they were astonished and they took
note that these men had been
with jesus i love that
these men had been with jesus listen let
me give you a little
nugget of encouragement it is through
sometimes our
hardest times that people get to see the
christ
in us in our hardest times
so here’s our checkup here’s our checkup
did you begin to see christ in new ways
in 2020 did you see the faithfulness of
christ
in 2020 that you never experienced
before
did other people in your life have a
chance to understand
where your faith was where your hope was
because friends something happens when
we encounter
christ you cannot encounter christ
and stay the same when you and i
encounter christ
life changes we change something changes
within us
now let’s jump down to acts chapter 18
to 22. i’m going to read this
and then we’re going to get into our
main text 18 to 22 says this
and they called them in again so they’re
still in prison so now this is their
second meeting but
with the elders they called them in
again and commanded them
not to speak or teach at all in the name
of jesus
but peter and john replied we’re just
right in god’s eyes
to listen to you or to him
you be the judges i love that as for us
we cannot help speaking about what we
have seen
and heard friends when you and i
encounter christ or maybe it’s better to
say when christ
encounters us guess what you see
something
you hear something see seeing and
hearing are things you experience
tangibly right here in this world so
i’ve said this before
sometimes you can open your bible and
see something you’ve never seen before
sometimes you can hear something in a
message you’ve never heard before
that doesn’t mean physically you’ve
never heard it maybe you heard it but
all of a sudden your ears are open to it
when we encounter christ it changes the
way we see things
when we encounter christ it changes the
way we hear things
so when you’re when you’re encountering
christ and you hear
problems from people see it changes
the way you hear that problem does the
problem overwhelm you
does the problem look insurmountable or
when you hear a problem do you say
come on let’s take that problem to
christ when you see a problem
do you intervene for good it changes the
way we
see things when we have christ we don’t
see
people as just as just perfect
no we see people as human beings who all
of us have
problems so how do you engage that
problem
well you to the best of your ability you
try to intervene
and then what do you do you bring them
to jesus
so encountering christ leaves us
changed it’s impossible to
not to it’s impossible to encounter
christ and not be
changed and not to begin to hear
differently
and see differently see this is how you
know if you’ve been born again
come on it’s a little nugget for someone
out there this is how you know
you see things differently you hear
things differently
you respond differently that doesn’t
mean
every time i see it perfectly clear that
doesn’t mean
every time i hear it perfect that
doesn’t mean every time i respond
perfect no
but there’s moments where you say no no
this is an opportunity
friends 2020 was an opportunity
it was an opportunity for you and i for
the church of jesus christ
to see christ for who he is the redeemer
the savior the deliverer our source
our security our significance amen
that’s what it was
so let’s keep reading
verses 21 yeah 21-22
after further threats they let them go
and they could not decide how to punish
them because all the people were
praising god for what had happened
so now the elders of the church are
confused they say well if we
if we punish these guys for doing this
miracle
the crowd will be against us but if we
don’t do anything what
what are we saying we’re we’re
confirming them to keep going preaching
in this name
so you can see there’s a bit of a
dilemma for them verse 22 says this
for the man who was miraculously healed
was over 40 years old
so they’re saying it’s hard to discredit
this miracle
so the best we can do is threaten peter
and john not to do it anymore
and you know maybe that’s the best they
had so we leave that alone let’s keep
reading
so when you spend time with jesus you
see and hear things
that change your life and actually gives
courage to your convictions
see i love this peter and john could
have easily said you know what we’re
sorry
we’re never going to speak about jesus
again no no encountering christ
gave them courage to walk out their
conviction
amen listen if you ever lack courage
to walk out your conviction the simple
solution is go back to christ
see if you’re trying to walk out your
conviction without christ
i say this to you in all honesty good
luck that’s not how it works
conviction courage comes from christ
so the more time we spend with christ
the more courage
comes into our heart that gives us
conviction to walk out our life amen
all right i hope that made sense here we
go
acts chapter 4 verse 23 now look at this
you understand what happened
big miracle big preaching arrest
threats imprisonment finally released
look what happens in verse 23
this blesses my heart now remember we’re
talking about a spiritual
checkup look look what happens
on their release peter and john went
back
to their own people and reported
all that the chief priests and the
elders had to say to them
on their release they went back what
does this tell us
point one is what they had a people that
they belong to
i love this i i love this fact
that as soon as they’re released from
prison where do they go
to church to church
that that’s where they ran to so let me
ask you the question
spiritual checkup when pressure comes
into your life
when stress comes into your life where
do you run to that is
that is a major question that you and i
have to answer
when pressure comes where do we run to
if you found yourself running anywhere
else other than to the church
and to the christ of the church then i’m
going to say something
you have to check yourself spiritually
no no when
trump when trouble comes i need to run
to the church
when rejoicing comes this was a good
thing that happened they got released
from prison
they ran to the church to celebrate that
with the church
so the church is the body of christ and
god is at work in his church and through
his the word in his church
so look what happens they’re released
and they went back to their own people
so upon their release they go straight
to church their own people
and i love this because that just is
just makes my heart glad
peter and john went straight to their
own people because they knew
that they were cared for they knew this
church was praying for them intensely
and loved them immensely
think about that that’s why they went
back to church
they knew when they were in prison that
church was praying for them
so they knew when they when when they
were released and freed
that the church would want to be the
first people to know
so where do you run when trouble comes
do you have a people to run to
come on friends this is a spiritual
checkup i say this and i say this often
they say this the fastest growing
religious community in
all of canada is now catch this the
churchless christian
come on that ain’t right
that’s not how it’s supposed to be and
listen i know i know i know
people say oh but you know i’ve been
hurt in church welcome to the club
so what do you throw the baby out with
the bath water
or do we say would he come back and say
you know what god is still at work at
his church
we’ve got to be bigger than a problem we
can’t let a disagreement or a problem
keep us out of church because that’s
where god is
great we are the body of christ amen
if people are going to see god in the
earth if people are going to see
god in saint catharines if people are
going to see god on your street or in
your building guess what
they see it through the church through
you and i because we
are the church amen
so has the stress of 2020 caused you to
see your need for the church
spiritual checkup has the stress of 2020
caused you to see your need
for other believers has the stress of 20
caused you to see how the church needs
you
see let me say this the church needs you
just as much as you need the church so
it’s not
all about i just need from the church i
need from the church i need
nor is it i just give to the church give
to the church give to the church no
in the church i give i receive i give i
receive
the church is like breathing
come on i wish i remember the the
percentage but this is why you can give
mouth to mouth to someone who’s not
breathing
because when you exhale there’s still a
certain amount of oxygen
in your exhale it’s not all carbon
dioxide
come on someone who knows these better
than me i think it’s 20 some percent
is still oxygen come on so in the church
it’s like breathing
you breathe in and you breathe out this
is what builds the church
we breathe out and people are built up
we breathe in what people have amen
the church needs you just as much as you
need the church
point one do you have a people
so when you where and who do you run to
in your times of trouble
great question where do you run in your
times of trouble
who do you run to in your times of
trouble see it’s not enough to say
where do you run because i think it has
to be a dual question
it has to be where do you run and to
whom do you run does that make sense
because i i know people who who
actually love jesus but when they’re in
trouble they run to the wrong people
you understand what i’m saying so you
can’t you can’t run to the wrong people
you’ve got to run to a people who know
you
you’ve got to run to a people who care
for you you’ve got to run to a people
who love you
you’ve got to run to a people where
you’re known and you and you can be
known
amen that’s where you run to
spiritual checkup we’re poking and
prodding
hang in there you know what it’s good
because it brings us health
so we have to know who we’re running to
listen i’m going to say this
boldly if you don’t have a church like
that
if you’re a believer and you’re a
christian and you’re not in a church
get your butt in a church and if you
don’t have
a church and you live in niagara come to
poor church
let me help you we’re not perfect we got
a lot of troubles
we got a lot of people who have troubles
but you know what you’ll be loved
amen that’s what i we’re gonna preach
god’s word and god’s word will help your
circumstance
beyond that i don’t have much for you
but we will point each other to the
christ amen
that’s the hope we have listen i’m not
the coolest guy in the world but i
promise you this i’m going to preach
god’s word as best i can every week
and we trust the word of god to the to
do the work of his word
in and through us amen get in a church
come on it’s not enough to say well i
just watched my favorite preacher at
home
you’re listen when you’re in troubles
you can’t run to houston to watch joel
osteen
he’s not going to take your call come on
he’s you can’t you can’t email him
i’m not going to move on from that point
now here we go nothing wrong with joel
osteen god bless him he’s in houston
you’re a niagara
find a church or wherever you are
all right let’s keep going point two is
this
spiritually healthy people pray together
come on they pray together you ready
verse 24 says this when they heard this
so they heard that they were released
when they heard this they raised their
voices together
in prayer to god spiritually
healthy people pray together spiritually
healthy people friends listen now
have the courage to share their pain
and to share their joys with the church
with their people why
so they can rejoice together they raised
their voices together
listen it’s imperative it’s imperative
friends
that somebody knows what you’re going
through
has to know it listen it’s not enough to
say well god knows
yeah god does know but he’s given you
the body of christ
to touch and feel and taste and smell
and cry with and rejoice with that’s the
point of the church
so we raise our voices together their
prayer begins by being wooed by god look
at verse 25.
when they heard this they raised their
voices together in prayer to god look
what they said in verse
24 sovereign lord what does that mean
god who knows everything see i just said
he knows
but it’s not enough because they pray
together to the one who knows all things
sovereign lord they said you made the
heavens and the earth
and the sea and everything in them isn’t
it interesting how they begin to pray
come on this is this is a little like
kohl’s notes of how you can pray
if you ever wonder how i should pray
here’s how you should pray
begin by being wowed by god
so what do they do they don’t say god
thank you for releasing peter and john
from prison that’s not their first words
out of their mouth
they say god look look they say
sovereign lord
what are they acknowledging god’s in
control of all things
oh that’s good you made the heavens and
the earth
the sea and everything in them you’re
the creator of all things god
you’re above everything listen when we
do the sign of the cross
at the end of the service and i do the
benediction i often say this
remember god is above all things oh
but he sent his son jesus to the earth
to do something for us that no one could
do he died on the cross oh but he didn’t
leave us
he then left us the holy spirit to be
present with us
to strengthen us the entire way through
amen
come on spiritual checkup time
do you acknowledge god is above
everything
i didn’t say you like everything that’s
going on in your life
i didn’t say that there could be some
horrible things happening to you right
now
but can you recognize god is still
bigger than all your problems
or do you let the problems become bigger
than god
see look what they do god you created
everything verse 25
he says you spoke by the holy spirit
through the mouth of your servant our
father david
and then he’s begin to quote scripture
he says why did the nations rage and the
people plot in vain
the kings of the earth rise up and the
rulers band together against the lord
what just happened to peter and john
this exact these exact verses
this is what the rulers rose up to come
against them to come against what they
did in jesus name
and against his anointed one so what do
we see
prayer is a powerful thing begin your
prayer
by being wowed by the goodness of god
the power of god
the longing of god to be with us
sovereign lord says this
you made the heavens and the earth
you’re everything you know all things
this reminds us that god is all-powerful
but also longingly desirous to be close
to us
god longs to speak to us to have
relationship with us
in short god loves us
why do you pray because we know god is
good
point three spiritually healthy people
are honest spiritually healthy people
are honest people and their prayer life
reflects
their honesty look at verse 27 to 29
indeed herod and pontius pilate met
together with the gentiles and the
people of israel in this city to
conspire against your holy servant jesus
whom you anointed they did
what your power and will had decided
beforehand
should happen now don’t get your head
around that too much but just read that
for what it is
that is a sovereign god friends that
reminds us that no matter what is going
on
god is in control the heart of the king
is in the hand of the lord
and where he wills it to go that’s where
it’ll go
so god is in control spiritually people
are honest people let’s keep reading
verse 27
7 8 wherever
verse 29 now lord he says this
consider their threats and enable your
servant
to speak your word with great boldness
so what do we see we see this to be
spiritually healthy people to be a
spiritually healthy person
somebody not all people
but somebody needs to know what’s going
on
in your life i hear me are you hearing
me on this
to be spiritually healthy somebody
has to know what’s going on in your life
not everybody not everybody has to know
but
somebody has to know so let me ask you a
question
the things that trouble you the most
the things are the that are the deepest
in your heart
who have you shared that with who have
you released that to
who have you taken that to whether it’s
a
hurt a pain a rejection i don’t know
a lost dream a a a dead dream
a a fear where have you brought that
spiritually healthy people friends are
honest
they find a place to bear their soul
i listen now i don’t say we should all
stand up in church
and bear our souls completely to the
whole church no that wouldn’t be healthy
and that wouldn’t be helpful because
many people can’t handle that
but i noticed this in my life god always
brings someone into my life who has the
capacity
to handle what i’m going through amen
spiritually healthy people have a place
where they can be completely
honest and why their prayer life
reflects it
so listen in these verses i just read
what does peter say
he says god you know what happened you
know how herod conspired with the elders
and they can they crucified jesus
you know it all he’s talking about
is what is what happened
listen don’t be afraid
of speaking the situation as
it is in your life
don’t be afraid of that sometimes we we
have this concept that
if we say it it’ll come back and it’ll
be worse
no no do you know what the worst thing
is not to say anything
the worst thing is you carry it by
yourself
the worst thing is you hold it in here
because you think it’s so big bad ugly
and scary
that if you let it out it’ll destroy you
listen friends
listen friends the freedom comes from
when we release it to someone and god
so you always release those things to
people who have the capacity to deal
with it
and how do you know if they have the
capacity here’s what they’ll do they’ll
take you in that situation
straight to jesus listen don’t release
it to someone who’s trying to fix you
i don’t need people trying to fix me you
don’t need someone trying to fix you
you need someone to say come to jesus
i know i know it’s big bad and ugly
let’s give it to him
because he’s bigger and better than all
ugly amen
find a place of honesty find a place
where you can
bear your soul and it doesn’t mean it
has to be with 35
other people find someone amen
we’re talking about spiritual checkup
spiritual
is my point number four spiritual
healthy people
know where to go in times of trouble
and they know what to ask for in those
times of trouble
come on here we go verse 29
here’s peter’s prayer verse 29 he says
now lord
consider their threats and enable your
servant to speak your word with boldness
so where does peter go peter’s
acknowledging he’s saying we’ve just
been released from prison but the truth
is this isn’t over
this problem hasn’t gone away lord they
threatened us
they said if we keep preaching in your
name we’ll be imprisoned and maybe worse
god give us the strength give us the
courage give us the boldness
to keep going i love this peter doesn’t
shy away from the reality that is
they’re under
persecution they’re under stress they’re
having a brutal time
don’t be afraid to share the fact that
you’re going through a rough spot
that’s what church is for amen
find someone in the church to share that
with
your burden will be lightened amen
but he doesn’t stop there he then goes
to god
and asks for help healthy people know
who to ask
who to seek help from and know what to
ask look at this verse 29
now lord consider their threats and
enable your servant to speak
your word with great boldness
isn’t that amazing speak the word with
boldness
if there’s one thing you can pray for
poor church
and pray for me every week is that i
would have the courage
to speak the word of god with boldness
amen because we we we live in a time
where the word of god
isn’t completely welcome no no we like
jesus ceo we we love
jesus as you’re your helper we love
jesus as your spiritual guide
but we don’t really like to hear jesus
as lord
so that takes some boldness to preach we
don’t like to hear that your life is not
your own
you were bought with a price therefore
serve him we don’t necessarily like that
message
but that’s the truth he is savior
and lord amen so pray for me
pray for me pray for this church that we
have a bold message to preach
it’s the church praying together and i
love this and this is what peter brings
to the church
see it’s not just peter and john praying
this this is the
church the church owns this this this
persecution
the church feels the suffering but the
church also says
we’ve got a bigger god do you see the
power
of the church spiritual healthy people
see their need for the church but they
also see that they have something the
church needs
amen
we need god’s strength to do what god
calls us to do
verse 30 says this
stretch out your hand to heal and
perform signs and wonders
through the name of your holy servant
jesus i love this verse of scripture and
we’re almost complete here for today
he says stretch out your hand and this
is what peter’s still asking
god to do look at this he says stretch
out your hand lord
to heal and to perform signs and wonders
through the name of your holy servant
jesus you know what he doesn’t say there
he doesn’t say through the name of your
holy servant peter
or through the name of your holy servant
john or from the name of your holy
servant randy
no through jesus so what is what is
peter’s angle
he’s saying god there’s persecution but
i know
this in the midst of persecution
persecution can’t
stop you from healing people performing
signs and wonders
and in your name and seeing miraculous
things happen
see these challenges
these moments of stress and testing
actually are the greatest opportunity
to see god at work the best
so i’m ex i’m fully expecting
and i don’t say this like hopefully
talking no i completely expect
2021 to be a fantastic year
so what do you know what’s is the
pandemic gonna end randy i have no clue
maybe the pandemic doesn’t end for us
until the end of the i don’t know
that’s not my hope my hope is in god
who in the midst of trial in the midst
of stress
in the midst of trouble still continues
to stretch out his hand
to heal and perform signs and wonders
through the name of his holy servant
jesus
so what is the key where do you run
spiritual test spiritual checkup who do
you pray
where do you run to what’s your source
when trouble comes
do you know what to ask in the midst of
your trouble
see sometimes we just ask this god let
the persecution stop
they never prayed for the persecution to
stop
come on nowhere in there does it say oh
lord
change their hearts let them love us now
no
he says let us be bold let us preach the
word
and lord continue to do what only you
can do
amen come on i told rachel
i said i’m fired up for today’s message
i gotta end though
we’re getting running out of time here
we go come on
i think this is my last point maybe not
healthy people
know their part and their part is simply
this
to pray god’s word and let god do
his work amen help spiritual healthy
people
know what their part is and their part
is to pray
boldly look stretch out your hand
to heal and perform signs and wonders
through the name of your holy servant
that’s bold prayer man
healthy spiritual healthy people know
jesus is the key
not themselves jesus leave verse 30 up
there if you could roma
verse look at this in the name of your
holy servant jesus
spiritually healthy people know jesus is
the answer
let’s keep reading verse 31 as we close
after they prayed the place that where
they were meeting
was shaken and they were all filled with
the holy spirit
and spoke the word of god boldly
amen listen the reality is this
that their prayer caused a manifestation
of the presence of the holy spirit
now i’m going to say something we don’t
pray
because we want a manifestation of the
holy spirit
that’s not why you pray we don’t seek
god because
we want a man shaking of the building
no that is how god chose to show up
all we want is this whatever god has for
us
we don’t pray because we need a
manifestation no we pray because we need
god
come on we pray to need him how he
chooses to show up
how god chooses to manifest himself is
up to him
amen so the more here’s what i’ve
realized
and i’ve realized this over over years
this prayer was combined with a
manifestation of the holy spirit
but they didn’t pray for the
manifestation that was god doing what he
wanted to do
we pray to god god responds however he
desires but i’ve realized this
if you’re a note taker if you’ve missed
everything i’ve said today
hear this the more we see
our need for the church the more
god shows up in the church
friends that has been a consistent thing
my entire born-again life
the more we see our need for the church
the more god has always showed up in the
church
the less we see our need for the church
the less i’ve seen god show up in the
church
so where did they run i’m closing
where did peter and john run to their
own people
do you know what i love about poor
church today there’s a people
that god has brought together a people
there’s a group of people within this
church that
love each other care for one another
want the best for one another
pray together are honest with one
another most of these things i talked
about
are evident here in port church but you
know what i long for
for that to grow beyond for more of us
to long for this kind of thing to long
for a place of safety
a place of love
so our desire for portrait is a
manifestation of the spirit of god
right in our midst this begins friends
with people who are united
who know they’re connected and they’re
united in their love for god
their love for one another and their
love for church
that’s what unites us why did peter and
john
run to the church because that was their
people
but they also knew that’s where god was
they also knew that’s where
his word was they also knew that’s where
people were who would pray
that’s also where they knew they’d be
comforted that’s also where they knew
they’d be challenged
but it’s also where they knew they’d be
strengthened
church is a powerful thing
come on listen i speak to somebody today
don’t let past hurts and pains
from church rob you of what god has for
you today
amen don’t be robbed
a spiritual healthy church begins with
spiritual healthy people
so let’s commit to this and i end with
this
any good doctor after he’s given you a
physical
is going to give you some of those
things to really set you on your track
so you know what i say today in closing
if you’ve gone through this spiritual
checkup with us and you realized
i don’t have a people i’m not honest
well the solution is this
find a people choose honesty
be open be transparent
see your need for the church if you say
i don’t see my need for the church
pray to god that he helps you see that
need
amen