Episode 130 – Pointing to Jesus – Acts 3:12-26

Speaker 1:

It is time for a pause in your day. Welcome to a podcast where we press the pause button on our busy lives for a few moments, and we focus on God’s word with Sharon and Nicole. We pray this is a time of refreshing for you. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries.

Nicole:

Welcome to Sweet Selah Moments. This is episode 130 Pointing to Jesus. We are studying the early church in season nine, and we’re learning so much about how to do life together as a Christian family, as we study the earliest beginnings of Christian fellowship and worship. We are up to Acts 3 today, and our theme is Pointing to Jesus. Last week, we got to step inside the story of a lame man who had just wanted a few coins to buy some bread and ended up healed and saved instead. What a fun story that was. What happened next though was not as good. People started praising Peter and John instead of Jesus, the source of healing and the only one worthy of praise.

Sharon:

Yeah. That’s an all too familiar human reaction. When we see someone do something stupendous, we turn to praise and sometimes almost worship of that person. And yet the Bible’s very clear that only God is to be worshiped. So, Nicole, I’ve been remembering as we’ve been preparing for this episode, a rather embarrassing time in my own life (Nicole: Oh, no) when God had to take me to task for a really bad attitude, I had two preschoolers at the time, and Steve and Annie Chapman were popular Christian folk singers. (Yeah) And there was a line in one of their songs that just drove me nuts. It bothered me. I didn’t like it. Steve would sing out, ‘It would mean so much to me if you are the only one they see’. And I would kind of pout and think, well, really, God, the only one they see? (That’s awesome) Huh? I think I want them to see me too. (Just a little) Oh my word. It really bothered me. Well, the weirdest thing happened after I kind of said it out loud and got kind of rebellious about the whole thing. It was almost like the Spirit inside me left me alone. I don’t think he left me. I mean, when he’s inside you, he stays there. (Right) He was still residing in me, but he was silent and unhelpful. I was the worst person for about three days. (Oh no) I didn’t even like me. (Oh, wow) Honestly, I was just, I was crabby at everybody. Everything irritated me. (Oh, yeah) Nothing was right in the world.

Nicole:
Those are not fun days.

Sharon:
Oh my goodness. And God quietly reminded me that this is what people would see if they only saw me.

Nicole: Mm. Ouch.

Sharon:

Yeah. When they see Jesus in me, they actually see the best version of me, because I am only complete and whole and well, when I’m yielded to him.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:
And it was, it’s a lesson I’ll never forget because the contrast was horrifying.

Nicole: Oh, yeah.

Sharon:

It really was. So there’s a new song that I love by Casting Crowns. It’s kind of the same theme that drove me crazy with Steve and Annie, but I’ve reformed and it’s the, ‘I don’t wanna leave a legacy song. I don’t wanna leave a legacy. They don’t have to remember me. Only Jesus.’ (Nicole: Oh) And I can’t even say it without crying. Because honestly, Nicole, that’s what I want. (Yes) What’s the point if someone remembers me, nothing. Does that get them to heaven? (Right) Does that give them eternal life? Does that give them the wholeness that comes from Jesus? No, no, no. I want them to see Jesus.

Nicole:
Oh, I feel that. That’s so beautiful.

Sharon:

So. But I went through some real punishment first, which I needed. I needed to be taken down about seven pegs.

Nicole:
Oh, it’s that refinement. It always hurts. It hurts to burn away our selfishness.

Sharon:
Yes, it does. It does. So anyways, we point to Jesus, not ourselves.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:
And that brings true joy.

Nicole:

It does. And you know, it’s really tough because nowadays in our culture, I mean, it’s probably always been this way, but I only live now, so I only know now. (Sharon: Yeah. Yeah) But it’s so tough. We’re so ingrained with the pressure of being seen and applauded for our good deeds and our gifts. (Yes) How are you special? We’ll make a whole YouTube channel about it. Be an influencer, be a TikTok star. Everything is about how am I special and unique. (So true) And how do I get glory and likes and followers? (Mm-Hmm) It’s very hard to be counter-cultural. And go, no…. God, how do people see you in me?

Sharon: Exactly.

Nicole:

It’s a total mind shift and a totally different way to live life.

Sharon: It is.

Nicole:
It’s very hard when everyone around you is Oh, no.

Sharon: Yes. Yes.

Nicole:

You know, I think about people that I’ve seen in my own life or in ministry over the years that really portray that. And, you know, nursery workers, they’re some of the first people that come to mind.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole:

They really live out, that glorifying God instead of glorifying others. Because they’re there faithfully every week kind of tucked away in the nursery where you don’t see them. You don’t see them coming early to lay out the Cheerios and the books, and they stay late and clean everything.

Sharon: Everything.

Nicole:

They have to take information on children’s allergies and then soothe that crying baby. But for parents that just want that one hour of peace to sit and worship and hear God’s word, it’s such a gift.

Sharon: It is.

Nicole:

But they don’t get seen. And they’re not like, oh, we’re the nursery workers. Hey, let’s have a–, you don’t even know their names sometimes.

Sharon: No.

Nicole:
They quietly sneak in the back door.

Sharon:
Just quietly do their thing.

Nicole:
They’re so faithful. Yeah.

Sharon:
I love that. That is such a great example. You’re right.

Nicole:

Yeah. So they’re a good, good example to us. And then one of my favorite characters in the Bible, and I don’t even know her name. It’s the mama of the little boy with the five loaves and the two fishes. She made him a lunch that day. Well, I’m assuming that, it could have been his dad or his brother, but most likely it was the mama.

Sharon: I agree.

Nicole:

That packed that little boy a lunch and off he trotted with his little lunch and Jesus took her little offering to him, her little thing that she could do. And he did a huge miracle with it.

Sharon:
That is so true.

Nicole:
I don’t even know her name. But look what she did.

Sharon:

I actually have never thought of her before. I feel very badly about that. Thank you for reminding me. There was probably a mama behind the bread and fish.

Nicole:
There probably was.

Sharon:
The boy probably couldn’t make bread.

Nicole:

Probably not. And lunches. Oh, I don’t know about you, I hate making lunches so much. It’s my least favorite task every day. Line it up. But look, that mama did it one more day. She did the right thing. And look what happened to that lunch.

Sharon:

One more day. Yeah. I’ve been making lunches for Ray Gamble now for 43 or 44 years, because he’s always taken a lunch to save money. And I’m so tired of writing the little love note every day, they’re so similar. But he loves my little love notes.

Nicole:

That’s so cute.

Sharon:
And if I ever leave one out, he informs me. It wasn’t there.

Nicole:

You should get some like little stamps made up with like a little similar sentiment. Just like stamp it. No, keep writing it. It’s so much more special. Look at me. I’m streamlining ’cause I hate lunches.

Sharon:

Oh man. Well, let’s see how our early church fathers handled the pressure of being the superheroes for a few minutes.

Nicole: Oh yeah.

Sharon:

Because going back now to the lame guy who gave glory to Jesus, the people around are starting to give glory to Peter and John. (Yeah) They’re becoming the superstars.

Nicole:
That happened really quickly.

Sharon:
Oh yeah. Oh yeah, it does. We like to adulate. We like to go ‘wow, wow, wow’ to people.

Nicole:
Isn’t that funny.

Sharon:

So we’re reading from Acts 3:12-26 today. And Nicole, why don’t you just start us off with verse 12 and let’s see what happens.

Nicole:

Yeah. “Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. People of Israel, he said, What is so surprising about this and why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness.”

Sharon:

“For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of all our ancestors, who has brought glory to his servant Jesus, by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him.”

Nicole:
“You rejected this holy righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer.”

Sharon:

“You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses to this fact.”

Nicole:

“Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed. And you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes.”

Sharon:
“Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance.”

Nicole:

(Let me start again) “But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah, that he must suffer these things.”

Sharon:
“Now, repent of your sins and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped away.”

Nicole:

“Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord. And he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.”

Sharon:

“For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets.”

Nicole:

“Moses said, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me, from among your own people. Listen carefully to everything he tells you.”

Sharon:

“Then Moses said, anyone who will not listen to that prophet will be completely cut off from God’s people.”

Nicole:
“Starting with Samuel, every prophet spoke about what is happening today.”

Sharon:

“You are the children of these prophets, and you are included in the covenant God promised to your ancestors. For God said to Abraham, through your descendants, all the families on earth will be blessed.”

Nicole:

“When God raised up his servant, Jesus, he sent him first to you people of Israel to bless you by turning each of you back from your sinful ways.”

Sharon:
Oh my goodness. This is such an amazing speech by a fisherman, isn’t it?

Nicole:
Very quickly, he didn’t prepare this at all.

Sharon: No,

Nicole:
There’s no sermon notes.

Sharon: No.

Nicole:
it says, he saw an opportunity and addressed the crowd.

Sharon:
There he is. It’s brilliant. It’s absolutely brilliant.

Nicole: It is.

Sharon:
I wanna divide it up into four sections, Nicole, with four verses each.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:

And then just talk about them. There’s too much to just talk about the whole passage, I think. So could you reread that first little bit and then tell me what you learned from it.

Nicole:

Yeah. This part is fun. “So Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. People of Israel, he said, What is so surprising about this and why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness? For it is the Lord God. It is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of all of our ancestors who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him. You rejected this holy righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact.” Peter pulls no punches here.

Sharon:
He’s pretty blunt, isn’t he?

Nicole:
He’s very bold and he doesn’t like kind of sugarcoat it at all.

Sharon: Nope.

Nicole:

I love this. So he saw his opportunity. He addresses the crowd. Hey guys, listen up. Why are you surprised by this? Why are you staring at us like we made this happen? He so quickly in his first sentence says, it’s not us, it’s God.

Sharon: Right.

Nicole:
And I love that He doesn’t kind of like bask in the glory for a minute.

Sharon:
Not even for a nanosecond.

Nicole:

And even say, oh God, you, he just points right to Jesus. And that’s so beautiful. He’s so quick to be humble and give him the glory.

Sharon:
Yes. All the talking is about God and not him.

Nicole:

No. He doesn’t even talk about his own story, which is like, well, I was this and now God used me richly. No.

Sharon: No.

Nicole:
Why are you looking at me, he says?

Sharon:
Oh my goodness.

Nicole:

So I love this. And then he kind of goes over, their history with Jesus and how they reacted to him. So he’s taking the vision off of him, pointing it to Jesus and then walking through Jesus’ story.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole:

How he was rejected. But yet God is still willing to forgive them and they can accept Jesus after what they did.

Sharon:
I love it. I love it. Yeah.

Nicole:
So beautiful.

Sharon:
And this is recent. So they know that Jesus died. They know that Pilate wanted to release him.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:
So he’s just reminding them of this history as he starts this.

Nicole:
Right. Kind of priming the gospel message there.

Sharon:

Yes he is. So, okay, now I’m gonna read verses 16-19. “Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed. And you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes. Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah, that he must suffer these things. Now, repent of your sins and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped away.” So he’s back to Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. I mean, the name is mentioned over and over. Faith in the name of Jesus, faith in the name of Jesus. So again, we’re pointing to Jesus in this section. And then he’s so kind, Nicole. He’s like, friends after I’ve just lectured you on the fact that you killed the holy One of God, (Nicole: Right) I realize you did it in ignorance. And most of them did. (Right) If your religious leaders are telling you that this guy is a heretic and he’s blasphemed God. (Right) And they stir up a crowd that says, Crucify him. (Yeah) I get why in ignorance he’d be like, What? He blasphemed God, you know?

Nicole:
Right. Oh, if our leaders think he’s bad, he must be bad.

Sharon:

He must be bad. Right. Right. So he’s gentle with them now. I mean, first he’s not. In the part you read, there was not a lot of gentleness.

Nicole: Nope.

Sharon:

You know, they had to be aware of what they did. But now he’s like, but you did it in ignorance. And guess what? If you turn and repent of your sins, your sins will be wiped away. This is the incredible good news. We can’t get rid of the stain of sin. Jesus gets rid of it for us. And so now he’s appealing to them. This is what you can do. Right?

Nicole:
Yeah. Oh, that’s so good. Yeah. You did this, might have been in ignorance. Now you can do this.

Sharon: Exactly.

Nicole:

Great. Okay. I’m up next with verses 20-23. “Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord. And he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things as God promised long ago through his holy prophets. Moses said, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me, from among your own people. Listen carefully to everything he tells you. Then Moses said, anyone who does not listen to that prophet will be completely cut off from God’s people.” So this is interesting. Peter is backing up his words with scripture.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole:
With a reliable source. They all know Moses. They’re all good Jewish people. They know Moses.

Sharon:
They know Moses,

Nicole:

They know his words. And I love that he goes back to that to kind of reassure them that, Hey, this is all stuff that we’ve talked about in synagogue. This is what, like, you know this is happening. And then again, he kind of gives them, he gets back to being a little more blunt, but you’ll be cut off from God’s people. Like, follow this warning, heed this because the consequences of it are very big.

Sharon: Yes. Yes.

Nicole:
You don’t wanna miss this opportunity for salvation.

Sharon:

Right. Right. If someone’s walking towards a cliff, you don’t say, uh, pardon me, can we just chat for a minute? You say, you take three more steps, you’re dead. Right?

Nicole:
Maybe reconsider your path. You say, no, I care for you. Do not walk off that cliff.

Sharon:
Don’t do it. Don’t do it.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:

Right. Yeah. And that’s what he’s seeing. Yeah. Yeah. I love that first verse too in 20 that you read. “Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord.” Isn’t that beautiful? Times of refreshment.

Nicole:
Yeah. It sounds delightful.

Sharon:
I know. When I think of refreshment, I think of a cool breeze on a hot day and a lemonade.

Nicole:
Oh yeah. That’s great.

Sharon:

You know, that kind of thing. Just something that soothes and comforts. Peter is, yes, being stern in his warning. You will be cut off if you don’t do this, but hey, you can have the refreshment of not feeling guilt for your sin, of being clean again.

Nicole:
The alternative to this horrible thing Is this beautiful thing.

Sharon:
Yeah, beautiful thing. Absolutely.

Nicole:
So he does a great job contrasting them.

Sharon: He does.

Nicole:
So that it makes it like, oh, this would be the better choice, to choose.

Sharon:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. The better choice to choose. Absolutely. Well, the last verses 24-26. “Starting with Samuel, every prophet spoke about what is happening today. You are the children of those prophets. And you are included in the covenant God promised to your ancestors. For God said to Abraham, through your descendants, all the families on earth will be blessed. When God raised up his servant, Jesus, he sent him first to you people of Israel to bless you by turning each of you back from your sinful ways.” I love

that Peter did his homework and studied through the prophets. I keep going back to the road to Emmaus, when those two disciples are so depressed about Jesus dying, that they don’t realize that oh, Jesus is walking beside them alive and risen.

Nicole: I know.

Sharon:

Right. But it’s getting dusk to be fair. (Nicole: Right) And you don’t expect to see a dead man walking. (That’s true) And he probably had a cloak on, whatever. Anyways, he unpacked the scriptures for them and explained all those things. And after he broke bread with them and Jesus left them, they ran right back to Jerusalem to tell everybody. (Right) I think a lot of what they discovered about what the prophets said came from Jesus’ mouth himself on the road to Emmaus. (Oh, how neat.) I mean, I don’t know that, this is a theory.

Nicole:
But it’s a pretty sound theory.

Sharon:
It is based on some reality.

Nicole:
What else do you talk to Jesus about? You don’t talk about the weather with Jesus.

Sharon:

Yeah. Yeah. And it says that Jesus unpacked it. So they are now equipped with the verses from the Old Testament that point to the Jesus that everybody in that room knew about because they all were alive when Jesus was alive (Nicole: Wow) ’cause it’s that fresh an incident. So, and it kind of reminds me too, of the Jesus Storybook Bible (I love that one) where Jesus is on every page, right? (Yes) In every story. That’s kind of what Peter’s saying, starting with Samuel, every prophet spoke about this.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:

This is everywhere. And then, oh, Nicole, my favorite part is that he says, when God raised up his servant, Jesus, he sent him first to you to bless you. Who did Jesus go to first? The Jewish people. His precious people. There’s an honoring that they’ve been given. (Nicole: Right) And Peter’s like, look at the honor you are given. Who is it that says, Abraham, through your descendants, all families on earth will be blessed.(Yes) All families on Earth are gonna be blessed. But guess what, it starts with the Jews. (Yes, you were the chosen people) You guys, it starts with you.

Nicole:
I know. Even though they were gonna reject him. He still offered them that little piece.

Sharon:

So the Holy Spirit sure spoke through Peter in that.

Nicole:
He did. In such a powerful way.

Sharon:

Unbelievable. It’s just been really, really fun to read it and to think of what a blustery, crazy guy Peter was.

Nicole: I know.

Sharon:
And now he’s just full of all this passion and hope.

Nicole:

And so unsure of himself too. ‘Cause after he had denied God, he went just back to his old life. He just did, he was done. He didn’t know what to do with himself. And Jesus came and found him and brought him back and restored him. And then to see him so boldly proclaiming.

Sharon:
This confidence

Nicole:
Oh, it’s so exciting.

Sharon:
Unbelievable. It really is.

Nicole:

It gives such encouragement and hope to us that even when we do mess up horribly, God can restore anything. Look what he’s done with Peter. Look at the words that God is putting through Peter to these people.

Sharon:

Yes. Yes. And so right away Peter points them to Jesus. And he takes opportunity there. The prayer meeting was going on somewhere else, but the mob was actually with Peter because it’s not every day you see a lame man walking around jumping. Right?

Nicole:

Right. I wonder if those were the people that were on their way to the prayer meeting, I wonder what happened, if at the prayer meeting they’re going, where is everybody?

Sharon:
They’re all at the colonade where Peter’s giving this message.

Nicole:
Maybe that’s why they got kicked outta synagogue eventually.

Sharon:

Yeah. Exactly. So. All right. Well, let’s close out by asking our key questions of the day. What was your favorite verse and why?

Nicole:

I liked verse 20. You had mentioned that earlier, but it’s so beautiful that, “then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord. And he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah”. So the times of refreshment sounds like such a beautiful breath of fresh air. (Sharon: Yes) Like you said, like that cold lemonade on a hot day, that relief of sin, because when we’ve done something wrong (Yes) and we haven’t confessed it. It’s probably one of the worst feelings in the world.

Sharon: It is, it is.

Nicole:
It really is, that unconfessed and that you just, you feel like everyone can see.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole:
You don’t want people to know, to live that way is so miserable.

Sharon:

If you live in condemnation, self condemnation (Nicole: Yes) you beat yourself up. (It’s terrible) You don’t even need to be punished by others, you punish yourself.

Nicole:

Right. And I was not a non-believer very long in my life before I was a believer. But the feeling I have with unconfessed sin as a believer, it’s not as strong as what it would be without Jesus. (Sharon: Right) That whole feeling of being lost is so much more profound. (Yes) So that refreshment, I know that feeling of refreshment. I’ve experienced it. (Oh, it’s beautiful, it is) Any believer in Christ has it, and it’s such a beautiful thing. And it comes right from him, the presence of the Lord. (Yes) Like that’s amazing, not like oh, something I kind of give you to the side, but right from the presence of God.

Sharon:

And you’d think, from the presence of the Lord, fear, panic, despair. But if you’ve repented, refreshment, relief. That’s what comes.

Nicole:
You can walk into his presence and there’s refreshment there.

Sharon:

Yes.

Nicole:

Because of what he’s done for us. It’s just, it’s so humbling to me. And I’m just so in awe of what he’s done for me. And I’ve done nothing to deserve that. (Sharon: Nope. Nope) That refreshing from my sins. You know, I think (It’s so beautiful) it’s just a beautiful verse.

Sharon:
It is. I love that too.

Nicole:

And then the little promise, he’ll again send you Jesus. I’m assuming he’s talking about him coming again, ’cause he’s already died for us. (Sharon: Right) Your appointed Messiah. So yeah, that presence. And then he’s coming back for me.

Sharon: He is.

Nicole:
And, then for us.

Sharon:
Yes. And if you repent, you are one of us. You’ll be waiting for him too. Exactly.

Nicole:

So, that verse is so beautiful and all of this big event happening, him pointing to Jesus and reminding them of their sins, that verse is such a beautiful—

Sharon:
Such an invitation.

Nicole: It is.

Sharon:
It’s really beautiful.

Nicole: It’s love.

Sharon:

I actually chose the first part of verse 12. It says this, “Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd”. I was just like, do I see my opportunities?

Nicole:

Ooh. Yeah.

Sharon:

He saw his opportunity and it makes me wanna pray in the morning in my devotion times, help me to see the opportunities, Lord. Help me to see them. One of my favorite opportunities that I did see, because it was so blatant and in my face, was when Ray and I were first married and I was on the bus to University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus. Our apartment handily had buses going to University of Maryland, ’cause a lot of college students lived there. (Nicole: Right) So Ray had the one car and he went to Fort Meade to work, and I took the bus. So anyways, I sat down beside this woman, Gina, who I’m still friends with. (Oh) And Gina said to me, so I just have a question for you. I mean, she doesn’t know me from Adam. (Right) And she says this, so I just have a question for you. My husband and I have been trying to understand the Bible. What’s, and it’s really confusing. Do you know anything about the Bible?

Nicole: You’re like—

Sharon:
I mean, Nicole.

Nicole:
That’s one of those opportunities that kind of smacks you in the face.

Sharon:
Yeah. At that point, evidently I needed a really, I mean—,

Nicole:
Those are the ones I pray for, like God, make it very obvious to me.

Sharon:

It was so obvious. So Gina and Milton came to our apartment. We became friends and we did a Bible study together.

Nicole:
Oh Sharon. Oh my goodness. That’s so precious.

Sharon:
Yes. Unbelievable.

Nicole: Wow.

Sharon:

And like I said, we’re still Facebook friends today. I mean, she doesn’t live near me or anything. Gina, if you’re listening, hi.

Nicole:

You still could have ignored that. I mean, we still can ignore the really blatantly obvious ones.

Sharon:
We really can.

Nicole:

We could have been like, well that’s kind of too big for me and pushed it off. So you still were willing to see that?

Sharon:
Yep. Yep. So I wanna see the opportunities.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:
And then I want the boldness to speak. (Nicole: Yeah) Which the Holy Spirit can give us.

Nicole:
I would love that.

Sharon:
So, okay, so what did I learn about God from this passage? Let me tell you and then you can tell me.

Nicole: Sounds good.

Sharon:
All right. Number one, God’s name, Jesus, has power.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:

The name of Jesus. I can’t tell you how many times in chapter three we have read the phrase ‘name of Jesus’.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:

The name itself has power. It’s a powerful name. It’s why we’re not to take his name in vain. (Nicole: Right) I don’t know why, but I guess ’cause it represents all of who God is. So that’s just interesting to me about God. (Yeah) Number two, times of refreshing come when he is near, he’s a balm to our souls.

Nicole:
I love that. And don’t we need that?

Sharon:

So, yeah. And number three, he’s a covenant God. He made a covenant with Abraham for Abraham’s seed. Abraham’s seed, the Jewish people, just like we would’ve done, (It’s not like I’m condemning them. I would’ve been just as bad) they were really bad. Let’s just face it. They were really bad without the Holy Spirit. And yet he kept his covenant with them. And who does he come to first? The ones he promised.

Nicole:
Aw, that is sweet.

Sharon:
He’s a covenant keeping God.

Nicole:
Yes. So that’s what I learned. How about you?

Nicole:
I like that. I put that he has a big, perfectly laid out plan and we get glimpses of it here and there.

Sharon:
That’s so true, for the prophets, from Samuel, yeah.

Nicole:

And it’s fun to see, kind of like you talked about the men walking with him on the road. Jesus helped to connect the dots of that big plan.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole:

It was such a mystery in the Old Testament. And it was there, but no one could put all, no one had put all the pieces together yet.

Sharon: Right, right.

Nicole:

And now Jesus had come and returned to heaven and he’d revealed it to his disciples and to the believers. Like this was it. Like I was the piece that put all of this together.

Sharon:
Yes. The Cornerstone. Yeah.

Nicole:

Yeah. So it’s really fun to see the ‘aha moments’ of the disciples and how they’re all excited to share like, oh yeah, and he’s coming again. So there’s still a plan that we’re not fully aware of. Like we know he’s coming back. We don’t know when.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole:

We don’t know what the final restoration of creation in ourselves really looks like. So there’s still more to come. And it’s exciting to see those little glimpses of, and then Jesus is coming back again. So I think that’s kind of neat.

Sharon: I love it.

Nicole:

He’s got a big plan and we get glimpses of it. And that we can trust him to keep his promises. Like you said, he’s a God of covenant. So he kept his promises from the Old Testament. And we have Jesus. And now he’s going to keep his promises to be with us and to come again, to send Jesus again.

Sharon:
He is. Amen. Yeah, yeah.

Nicole:

And then I put that he’s looking to restore us. That even here’s Peter talking to the Israelites, to the Jewish people that had just offered up Jesus to be murdered, to be sacrificed. And he is looking at them with restoration and forgiveness and healing. (Sharon: Absolutely) How beautiful is that? (Yes) He could have said, Peter could have said, God gave you the opportunity and you blew it and stinks to be you. Go on your unmerry way because you are now lost.

Sharon:
He could have, yeah.

Nicole:
He could’ve smote them. He could have done anything, but he didn’t.

Sharon:
He was kind.

Nicole:
He confronted them with their sin.

Sharon:
Firm, but kind.

Nicole:
Yes. But he offered restoration.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole:
I think it’s so beautiful. Yeah.

Sharon:
Oh, I love it. I do. Okay.

Nicole:
Yeah. So what did we learn about the early church?

Sharon:

Yes. Yes. We’ll do that one next. What can we learn about the early church and how can we apply that today? Well, we need to recognize the opportunities to point to Jesus and share the good news.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:
They sure did. They also studied the Bible.

Nicole: They did.

Sharon: Didn’t they?

Nicole:
They did. They knew their scripture.

Sharon:

They knew their stuff. Oh my goodness. And we are to be heralds of the truth that Jesus is not dead. He’s reigning in heaven. Am I pointing to Jesus enough? You know, am I just generic? We should be a Christian and in God, or do I point to Jesus the Savior? You know?

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:
I think we need to do both. I mean, Jesus is God. But that specificness.

Nicole:
I think you’re right. Yeah. ’cause he did that. I like that.

Sharon:
What about you?

Nicole:

I put to be bold in truth. Like you said, they knew the scripture. They were ready. Peter didn’t have any inkling that this was going to happen today. He was just going to a prayer meeting and he was able to speak boldly from the scriptures ’cause he had been studying. So just be able to see the opportunity and then be bold enough to speak what God puts on our hearts.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole:

And not be afraid. And I think that also they were really quick to point back to God. So I think that’s something I could take from that too. When something, when God does use me, when he chooses to use me in a way, immediately, it’s him.

Sharon: Deflect it.

Nicole:
Not me. Yes.

Sharon:
Trust me. Don’t say, I want some of the glory. It goes really badly for you.

Nicole:
It’s good to know.

Sharon:
Don’t walk down that path.

Nicole:

Oh my goodness. And then after all that, they were quick to point to salvation. They took the boldness of the truth, they took the fact that everything comes from God. Everything good comes from God and then right to salvation. It was just this nice little (Sharon: Yes) bow on the package of, you know what, take all this knowledge and go to God with this.

Sharon:
And here’s what you can do with it. Right. They didn’t just leave him with a lot of factoids.

Nicole:

Right.

Sharon:
This is what you do now.

Nicole:

Right. Like, oh, God is wonderful and great. He is. Now with that knowledge, go to him. And he’ll restore you.

Sharon:
Yeah. And you’ll be refreshed.

Nicole: I know.

Sharon:
That’s so beautiful.

Nicole:
I like that part.

Sharon:

Oh man. Well, let us pray. Father, thank you. Thank you for this sermon. Thank you for Peter’s kindness and boldness, truth telling and love, all mixed together by the power of your Holy Spirit into a beautiful package. Oh Lord, we can’t talk like this unless you fill us. We ask that you would, that you would give each of us listening to this and Nicole and me as we’re doing this, eyes to see, and ears to hear the opportunity that you give us, to speak the name of Jesus and to call people to repentance and refreshment. Oh Lord, use us please. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Nicole:

What a great reminder we had today to always point to Jesus and not ourselves. Have you ever wrestled with wanting to keep the praise for yourself? It’s a real struggle, isn’t it? If you enjoy these shows, would you consider leaving a review or writing us a note so we know you are out there listening? We also send out a monthly newsletter to all who support our show. If you’d like to be added to the email list, donate any amount at sweetselah.org/donations and write Sweet Selah Moments on the memo line. We’ll make sure you get our newsletter to correspond with us. You can write us at sharon@sweetselah.org. We’d love to hear from you. And please do come back next week for episode 131, Authority Issues. Have a great week.

Speaker 1:

We are so glad you stopped for a while with us. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries. More information about this podcast can be found @sweetselah.org. Thank you for joining us.