FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF LITCHFIELD
The Utter Amazement of God: How the Holy Spirit uses broken people to restore broken people Acts 3:1-10
When the Holy Spirit uses broken people to restore broken people it causes the world to be utterly amazed. God works in such a way to cause the world to marvel at his transformational work in the lives of broken people.
Locations & Times
First Baptist Church Litchfield
608 N Van Buren St, Litchfield, IL 62056, USA
Sunday 9:00 AM
The Utter Amazement of God:
How the Holy Spirit uses broken people to restore broken people
Acts 3:1-10
Introduction
Patrick Henry Hughes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Henry_Hughes
Patrick’s worldly accomplishments cause us to marvel.
What caused the people to be utterly amazed at 3:10?
CIT: When the Holy Spirit uses broken people to restore broken people it causes the world to be utterly amazed. To put it another way, God works in such a way to cause the world to marvel at his transformational work in the lives of broken people.
The Broken (3:1-3)
“Now Peter and John were going up together to the temple complex at the hour of prayer at three in the afternoon. 2 And a man who was lame from birth was carried there and placed every day at the temple gate called Beautiful, so he could beg from those entering the temple complex. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter the temple complex, he asked for help.”
Where do all the broken people come?
Two realities of living in a Genesis 3 world:
Sin
The fall brought the curse of sin.
(Genesis 3:14-15)
The fruit of sin is death.
(Romans 5:12; 6:23)
Every person is a sinner.
(Romans 3:23)
(Romans 5:12)
Everyone is broken and the only hope for restoration is through Jesus Christ.
(Mark 2:16-17)
Suffering
Suffering is part of our fallen world’s economy (management)
Gen 3 Adam throws Eve under the bus
Gen 4 Cain kills able
Gen 6 The world is extremely violent
Gen 9 Sarah’s womb is barren
Gen 12 Abram gives Sarah to another man
Gen 17 Abram and Lot must separate over conflict
Genesis 27 Isaac becomes blind
Gen 29 Leah has physical eye issues (lazy eyes or strangely shaped eyes)
Genesis 32 Jacob wrestles with God and becomes limp in one leg
Gen 37-52 The book ends with family discord (Jacob, Joseph & his brothers)
Suffering is part of God’s economy
God is sovereign over suffering
Joseph tells his brothers (who sold him into slavery and caused a great deal of pain in his life) that their evil toward him was part of God’s plan for his life.
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (v. 20). Genesis 50:20
“The Lord is in the heavens and he does what he pleases.” Psalm 115:3
“God works all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
God is sovereign over the womb
“24 This is what the Lord, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb, says: I am Yahweh, who made everything; who stretched out the heavens by Myself; who alone spread out the earth;”
Isaiah 44:24
“For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and I know this very well.”
Psalm 139:13-14
“Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding so that I can learn Your commands.”
Psalm 119:73
“You clothed me with skin and flesh and wove me together with bones and tendons. 12 You gave me life and faithful love, and Your care has guarded my life.”
Job 10:11-12
God sovereignly ordains disability for His purpose
“10 But Moses replied to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent—either in the past or recently or since You have been speaking to Your servant—because I am slow and hesitant in speech.” 11 Yahweh said to him, “Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? 12 Now go! I will help you speak, and I will teach you what to say.” Exodus 4:10-12
“As He was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples questioned Him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him."
John 9:1-3
“I’ve had this recurring thought that God sent Patrick Henry specifically to us, that his birth was much more than just the accidental joining of two infinitely rare recessive genes,” said his father, who credits Patrick Henry for helping him grow up. “My son has rekindled my passion for life … Finally, I have a purpose in life that is bigger than me: teaming with my son to spread God’s message of possibilities and unconditional love to all who choose to listen.”
Patrick John Hughes (Patrick Henry's Father)
The Holy Spirit Empowered Peter’s Faith to Restore the Man (3:4-6)
What do we know about Peter?
Peter was a broken disciple:
Peter was the first disciple to confess Jesus as the Christ.
Peter was also the disciple whom Jesus said get behind me Satan when Peter rebuked Jesus’s death on the cross.
Peter also denied Jesus three times just before Christ went to the cross.
Peter was redeemable disciple:
Jesus forgave Peter’s abandonment and restored him to His ministry.
Jesus then empowers Peter with his Spirit, and he goes on to preach the first sermon that saw over 3,000 people saved.
And now the Spirit has empowered his faith to bring restoration to a man who has was physically broken since birth.
By what authority does Peter tell them the man is to be healed?
Verse 6 “ 6 But Peter said, “I don’t have silver or gold, but what I have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”’
Peter explains the power of faith in Christ in Acts 3:16
“16 By faith in His name, His name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. So the faith that comes through Him has given him this perfect health in front of all of you."
What did Jesus teach his disciples about faith?
Matthew 21:21-22 "Say to this mountain be moved...it will move"
Mark 9:23 "all things are possible by faith"
God uses broken people who believe in his promise of restoration.
It is by faith we live in our redemption. We live out the promises of God by faith. We restore the relationships that we break with sin, by faith in the power and the promise of God to restore all things in and through Jesus Christ.
God uses broken people who believe in his promises to restore broken people. Spirit-empowered people live by faith, trusting in God to joyfully advance his kingdom by making much of Jesus in the church, community, and home.
How did the man respond?
“7 Then, taking him by the right hand he raised him up, and at once his feet and ankles became strong. 8 So he jumped up, stood, and started to walk, and he entered the temple complex with them—walking, leaping, and praising God.”
A Spirit-Empowered Transformational Work Through Broken People Provokes Utter Amazement.
“9 All the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and they recognized that he was the one who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the temple complex. So they were filled with awe and astonishment at what had happened to him.”
The people witnessed a broken disciple who believed the promise of God to restore a broken man whom they had known his brokenness all his life. They witnessed the transformational power of the Holy Spirit and were utterly amazed at the work of God in him.
This is what FBCL is to the community of Litchfield. We are a group of broken people who have been redeemed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are empowered by His Spirit to go out into our community, believe in the promise that God will restore His kingdom on earth, and to proclaim with authority the good news that Jesus came to, redeem, reconcile, and restore sinners to God the Father.
Application
Does your faith express confidence in the Holy Spirit to transform broken people?
Does your personal ministry to Litchfield display the works of God in such a way that people are utterly amazed at Him?
Do you pray for God to work in such a way that Litchfield will be utterly amazed at Him?
How the Holy Spirit uses broken people to restore broken people
Acts 3:1-10
Introduction
Patrick Henry Hughes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Henry_Hughes
Patrick’s worldly accomplishments cause us to marvel.
What caused the people to be utterly amazed at 3:10?
CIT: When the Holy Spirit uses broken people to restore broken people it causes the world to be utterly amazed. To put it another way, God works in such a way to cause the world to marvel at his transformational work in the lives of broken people.
The Broken (3:1-3)
“Now Peter and John were going up together to the temple complex at the hour of prayer at three in the afternoon. 2 And a man who was lame from birth was carried there and placed every day at the temple gate called Beautiful, so he could beg from those entering the temple complex. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter the temple complex, he asked for help.”
Where do all the broken people come?
Two realities of living in a Genesis 3 world:
Sin
The fall brought the curse of sin.
(Genesis 3:14-15)
The fruit of sin is death.
(Romans 5:12; 6:23)
Every person is a sinner.
(Romans 3:23)
(Romans 5:12)
Everyone is broken and the only hope for restoration is through Jesus Christ.
(Mark 2:16-17)
Suffering
Suffering is part of our fallen world’s economy (management)
Gen 3 Adam throws Eve under the bus
Gen 4 Cain kills able
Gen 6 The world is extremely violent
Gen 9 Sarah’s womb is barren
Gen 12 Abram gives Sarah to another man
Gen 17 Abram and Lot must separate over conflict
Genesis 27 Isaac becomes blind
Gen 29 Leah has physical eye issues (lazy eyes or strangely shaped eyes)
Genesis 32 Jacob wrestles with God and becomes limp in one leg
Gen 37-52 The book ends with family discord (Jacob, Joseph & his brothers)
Suffering is part of God’s economy
God is sovereign over suffering
Joseph tells his brothers (who sold him into slavery and caused a great deal of pain in his life) that their evil toward him was part of God’s plan for his life.
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (v. 20). Genesis 50:20
“The Lord is in the heavens and he does what he pleases.” Psalm 115:3
“God works all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
God is sovereign over the womb
“24 This is what the Lord, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb, says: I am Yahweh, who made everything; who stretched out the heavens by Myself; who alone spread out the earth;”
Isaiah 44:24
“For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and I know this very well.”
Psalm 139:13-14
“Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding so that I can learn Your commands.”
Psalm 119:73
“You clothed me with skin and flesh and wove me together with bones and tendons. 12 You gave me life and faithful love, and Your care has guarded my life.”
Job 10:11-12
God sovereignly ordains disability for His purpose
“10 But Moses replied to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent—either in the past or recently or since You have been speaking to Your servant—because I am slow and hesitant in speech.” 11 Yahweh said to him, “Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? 12 Now go! I will help you speak, and I will teach you what to say.” Exodus 4:10-12
“As He was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples questioned Him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him."
John 9:1-3
“I’ve had this recurring thought that God sent Patrick Henry specifically to us, that his birth was much more than just the accidental joining of two infinitely rare recessive genes,” said his father, who credits Patrick Henry for helping him grow up. “My son has rekindled my passion for life … Finally, I have a purpose in life that is bigger than me: teaming with my son to spread God’s message of possibilities and unconditional love to all who choose to listen.”
Patrick John Hughes (Patrick Henry's Father)
The Holy Spirit Empowered Peter’s Faith to Restore the Man (3:4-6)
What do we know about Peter?
Peter was a broken disciple:
Peter was the first disciple to confess Jesus as the Christ.
Peter was also the disciple whom Jesus said get behind me Satan when Peter rebuked Jesus’s death on the cross.
Peter also denied Jesus three times just before Christ went to the cross.
Peter was redeemable disciple:
Jesus forgave Peter’s abandonment and restored him to His ministry.
Jesus then empowers Peter with his Spirit, and he goes on to preach the first sermon that saw over 3,000 people saved.
And now the Spirit has empowered his faith to bring restoration to a man who has was physically broken since birth.
By what authority does Peter tell them the man is to be healed?
Verse 6 “ 6 But Peter said, “I don’t have silver or gold, but what I have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”’
Peter explains the power of faith in Christ in Acts 3:16
“16 By faith in His name, His name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. So the faith that comes through Him has given him this perfect health in front of all of you."
What did Jesus teach his disciples about faith?
Matthew 21:21-22 "Say to this mountain be moved...it will move"
Mark 9:23 "all things are possible by faith"
God uses broken people who believe in his promise of restoration.
It is by faith we live in our redemption. We live out the promises of God by faith. We restore the relationships that we break with sin, by faith in the power and the promise of God to restore all things in and through Jesus Christ.
God uses broken people who believe in his promises to restore broken people. Spirit-empowered people live by faith, trusting in God to joyfully advance his kingdom by making much of Jesus in the church, community, and home.
How did the man respond?
“7 Then, taking him by the right hand he raised him up, and at once his feet and ankles became strong. 8 So he jumped up, stood, and started to walk, and he entered the temple complex with them—walking, leaping, and praising God.”
A Spirit-Empowered Transformational Work Through Broken People Provokes Utter Amazement.
“9 All the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and they recognized that he was the one who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the temple complex. So they were filled with awe and astonishment at what had happened to him.”
The people witnessed a broken disciple who believed the promise of God to restore a broken man whom they had known his brokenness all his life. They witnessed the transformational power of the Holy Spirit and were utterly amazed at the work of God in him.
This is what FBCL is to the community of Litchfield. We are a group of broken people who have been redeemed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are empowered by His Spirit to go out into our community, believe in the promise that God will restore His kingdom on earth, and to proclaim with authority the good news that Jesus came to, redeem, reconcile, and restore sinners to God the Father.
Application
Does your faith express confidence in the Holy Spirit to transform broken people?
Does your personal ministry to Litchfield display the works of God in such a way that people are utterly amazed at Him?
Do you pray for God to work in such a way that Litchfield will be utterly amazed at Him?
