Expect the Unexpected

Acts 3:1-12 (NLT)

New Life Version

Peter and John Heal a Man at the Gate of the House of God

1 Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. 2 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. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money. 4 Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” (now, if someone is begging for money, do you want to make eye contact with them? (here, Peter and John wanted the man’s attention) 5 The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting a gift. 6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any money for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”.7 Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and anklebones were healed and strengthened. 8 He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them. 9 All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. 10 When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate, they were absolutely astounded! 11 They all rushed out to Solomon’s porch, where he was holding tightly to Peter and John. Everyone stood there in awe of the wonderful thing that had happened.

• Location: Located on the eastern side of the Temple’s Outer Court, or Women’s Court 
• Features: A covered walkway with massive columns, some of which were 100 feet tall 
• Name: Named after King Solomon, who built the First Temple of the Jews 
• Significance: A place where Jesus taught, debated, and visited with people, and where his disciples continued his ministry

Intro: -Do you think there is anything that God cannot do?  The problem is we expect God to do what we want every time. 

God is not limited by anything other than the faith of the believer. The trouble is not with God! The trouble lies with [for lack of a better word] the believer who, with doubts, has second thoughts & thinks his or her way is better then God’s way.

I guess we put the almighty God in handcuffs. The trouble is that we set our expectations too low and are satisfied with mediocrity. We go to God to patch our tires when in fact, God wants to give us a brand new tire. It’s not like he doesn’t have the power, he is just such a gentleman that he will wait for us to ask for what we want. Do you want a patch, or do you want a tire? Do you want your way or do you want What’s best for you? God‘s way? 

I. Sin cripples our lives.

a. We were all born in sin. This man was crippled, because we on this side of heaven imperfect and polluted by sin. The sin of Adam and Eve.

1.The Word says that this man was crippled from the time he was in his mothers’ womb. (Meaning from his conception).

b. We needed a way to God.

1. This man was taken daily to a place where he could beg for what he wanted. (In the same token. We could not go to God ourselves. Jesus died for our sins, which put us at a place where we could ask God for what we “wanted”

c. Remember the big picture.

We all have a purpose in our lives. It might not look like it (not all are called to be preachers, singers, deacons, but some are called to be much more: AN EXAMPLE). Sometimes it takes the example of a known sinner to change lives. [Example: the king in the 3 Hebrew boys story Dan 3:28-29]

In the story of the three Hebrew boys (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) in Daniel 3:28-29, the “sinner” refers to King Nebuchadnezzar, who was considered a sinner because he commanded everyone to worship a golden statue, forcing the Hebrews to disobey their God’s law by bowing down to it; when they refused, he threw them into a fiery furnace, but later recognized the power of their God and praised him, essentially admitting his own wrongdoing by initially trying to force them to worship another god.

II. What is your handicap?

a. Do you see yourself as that man?

1. Do you see that sins are more than actions; they are the beginning of a process, a process that can have no positive outcome.

2. This handicap does not only symbolize us as sinners. It also may symbolize something that we are struggling with; an issue.

b. What sins are making you lame?

1. Because of his ailment he could not move. He had to be carried to where he wanted to go. Sin will make you sessile.

Sessile: Permanently attached or fixed; not free moving; stagnant.

c. What do you ask God for in relation to our cripple state?

III. SO! What does the lame man have to do with me?!

a. The crippled man had just enough faith to get him over.

1. He had just enough to get someone to take him to the temple at the right time every day. See bible 3:2 btm (We come to church every week at the same time and we get enough Jesus to make it to Thursday, problem is, there are more days left in the week)

The beggar was pursuing the wrong thing.

1. He went to the temple to ask for Money everyday

a. What good would money have done him?

– There was no WVU medical center in those times.

– There was no Wheelchairs back then.

So to answer the question, the money was doing him no REAL good. How do we know that? Because he kept coming back for the same thing. When God satisfies a need “it is finished!”

b. We keep coming to God for him to give us a patch for our tire instead of realizing that he wants to, and has the power to give us a whole new tire.

2. He let the real issue get overshadowed.

a. The beggar should have asked if he could go into the temple to get some prayer.

b. Are you too busy moping up the floor to turn off the faucet? – Unknown

c. Although we are oblivious to what God wants for us, he knows. “But Peter said, “I don’t have any money for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”

IV. What can Faith really do?

1.Faith is better than money in your pocket.

a. With faith, God is bigger than our imagination.

Check out what Ephesians 3:20 State: “Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.”

God Says YES when man says NO. [v.6]

God tells us no to the things we think we want, and at the same time he gives us the thing we really need and it fixes our problems. And in other words if we have faith in God, he gives us new tires instead of patching the old ones.

Here is another example: a parent with a child in a store. The child will cry for what he she wants, but the parent knows what is best to purchase for the child. 

-God will pick you up (the Bible does not say this but Im sure they dusted him off also.

When God answers your prayer. When God gives you an unexpected answer that solves your problem your soul seems to be filled with joy too. This joy is poured out into others in your testimony.

God will give you what you did not know you needed.

Sometimes this creates a little problem. -Since you didn’t know you needed it, you may not know how to use it. For example, the crippled man was cripple from BIRTH meaning he never walked before. He never knew how it would feel to have that part of his body work before.

All of a sudden he is jumping and leaping!

Therefore, If you will allow him, God can and will use your situation as an example and as an opportunity to win souls.

According to this New Year’s word from God

–God gives us the unexpected by intervening in our lives in ways we couldn’t predict or plan for, often through seemingly ordinary people or situations, to bring about positive change, blessings, or guidance, even when we are facing challenges or uncertainty; essentially, God works outside of our expectations to reveal His plan and provide for us in surprising ways.