Surprise!

just a moment. There may be a lot of you who are going through something that's very disorienting and that may be very negative. There may be some of you that are going through something and it's actually been a positive change for you. And one thing that I know for all of us is that we don't always get the chance to brace for impact when changes come in our life, positive or negative, and that's what makes it

really challenging. So I want everybody in this room to stand, and if you're able right where you are, I want you to stand, and I want to read my scripture for today because I'm so excited what God gave me for us to study together for our Bible lesson the scripture is Acts chapter three, verses one through sixteen. And I'll give you a moment to find that and just be open. Just be open and be attentive and be respectful. God doesn't waste words, so you know, really value what

he gives you today. He might say one thing that changes everything. I'm just telling you I've had that experience before, and sometimes it wasn't even when I was looking for some dramatic thing from God and just whack thud copal like the comic book to Say, Acts chapter three, verse one. One day, Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer three in the afternoon.

Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked him for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, look at us. So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something

from them. Then Peter said, silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth walk And verse seven says that Peter took him by the right hand, helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with him into the temple courts, walking and jumping and praising God. All the people saw him

walking praising God. They recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate, called beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to the place called Solomon's colonnade. Came running to them in the place called Solomon's Colonnade. And when Peter saw this, he said to them, fellow Israelites, why does

this surprise you? Why you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilot, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author

of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this by faith in the name of Jesus. This man, whom you see and know, was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him. Thank you Lord that has completely healed him. As you can all see, I'm going to tell you my title. It's going to be a controversial one, but I want you to shout it at the top of your lungs. It's only a one word title. Look at somebody next to you and say, surprise, be seated, surprise. I was

watching your reaction to that. I wish I could see you. You like surprises, Raise your hand in the chat. If you like surprises, raise your hand in the room. If you like surprise. See I like surprises that I like? Is that fair enough? I like surprises that I like. If you like surprises, raise your hand in the chat. Yeah, don't like to be surprised. Just shoot your hand up real quick, just real quick, y'all. Raised it slow because

you don't like anything surprising. Even the raising of your own hand is like your brain was managing the speed of your hand. You're like, we're going to go up now. In response to the preacher's question, or remember, one of my best friends is named Craig Grochelle. He pastors a church in Oklahoma. Of course you know him. He's been here a million times. I look up to him so much. But a few years ago I thought he was too stressed out. So I went to go see him. But

I want to surprise him. The reason I wanted to surprise him is because he is such a control freak. And I asked his permission to share this illustration. I'll ask forgiveness afterwards, because I knew if I said can I come, he'd go, ah, I got this, I got that, I got the other blah blah blah. And I got to preach for seventy five million people out there in Russia, things like this that he does. And so I said, uh, you know, I got to drink a protein shake, I

got a bench fresh seven hundred pounds. He's just so efficient, and so I was like, I'll just go. So Jessica Mitchell on our staff. She reached out to the assistant that worked in his office and just showed that we were coming, but don't tell him. So I go on the airplane. It's something that we used to do for those of you that are watching this into your twenty

twenty one. And then when I got there, the gentleman that picked me up from the airport that was on his staff, I said, where are you gonna sneak me in? He goes, h, well, he kind of knows you're coming. I said, well, how does he know I'm coming? They said, well, we told him because he didn't like surprises. And this is what I said in my head, all right, and this is the transcript that didn't make it voice to speech thing. It was just a text in my head.

I thought, well, dummy, you're not his friend. I'm his friend. I didn't come out here because he liked surprises. I came out here because he needed one. Dummy didn't say that much too. I'm a man of God and I don't say things like this. I have a filter of things like this. But it was funny to me how they thought that just because he didn't like surprises meant he didn't never need surprises, you know. And I knew if I told him I was coming, it would stress

him out. So I knew that the way to really support my friend in a stressful season was to show up and give him no choice about what what's he gonna do? Kick me out when I show up at the door. So when I saw him, I was angry. I said, surprise, you know what I'm saying. The next time I went out, I didn't tell anybody I was coming. I got on the airplane, send him a picture of the board and passed and I said, uber, are you

picking me up at the airport? I didn't ask because I know just because he doesn't like surprises doesn't mean he never needs surprises. So when we get to Acts chapter three, and when I say turning your Bible to Acts three, like I just did a minute ago, our scripture is Acts chapter three. There are many people who listen to me preach who are like, okay, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, numbers due to run me, Joshua Judges, WHOA I'm not seeing an axe acts as axe? This is going to

be a good one. Is this about like a battle axe? Are going to be? You know? They never heard this story before, so they're probably going to get the most out of it. The people that will have a hard time hearing this with their heart are the people who know it in their head. So shot again, surprise. Well, we have an ongoing argument in my house because my wife is very jumpy again. She only has two flaws. This is this only other flaw she has other than the one I told you about last week. She only

has two flaws. She's so skittish and it angers me to no end because I have to walk around my house like some sort of secret ninja, you know, like have to sneak around my house so as not to scare her. And I tell her when when I walk in a room and she jumps up, I go, I live here? Am I allowed to live here? It's so uncomfortable, like having to sneak around like the burglar in the house that I bought. Love you, Hollyanna, but it's just weird.

I live here, I live here. I live here, and I can't just move around and do what I want to do. So of course, the parallel is that a lot of times in church, when God actually shows up, we kind of act like we didn't expect it to begin with, and I'll show you this in the text from the Teachers of the Law and the Saddresses and the Temple Guard, because when Peter did a miracle, they threw him in prison. That's what happens in this text.

But before we get to that, let me back all the way up to the beginning, because there are several surprises in this passage that may not be apparent to the naked eye. First of all, you might be surprised to see Peter and John hanging out together. To begin with. You might be surprised that they would get along because they are completely different. They are completely different. And our expectation is that God is going to bring people into our life that are similar to us. That's called a mirror.

You can buy that at lows. You don't need people in your life that always just reflect back at you your same exact preferences and prejudices, reinforcing your biases. God will bring people into your life that He will use, and it will sometimes surprise you who he uses. So Peter and John are somewhat surprising to see together because Peter is boisterous and John is I have a hard time with people like John when I was reading the passage,

you might not have noticed he didn't do anything. I won't take time to read the whole thing again because I'm gonna I'm gonna clock budget here today with you. But but I promise you read the whole thing. Well, he did one thing. Okay, I don't want to overstate it. He did one thing. John did one thing. Verse four. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. This guy, this guy. The only the only part that he had in the passage that I can see is to look

at the man who's asking for the money. He didn't say, oh, Peter, don't worry about you left your wallet back at the day I got my wallet here. No, he didn't grab the left hand while Peter grabbed the right hand. No, he didn't look at Peter and say you can do it, Peter. It's just like you said, Jesus do with the blind eyes. And when we went the issue of blood, no encouragement, no, nothing,

just looked at the man that Peter looked at. But I I wonder if it was John's perspective that Peter needed that was different than his, that enabled him to be in position to experience God's power. So you might be surprised. Somebody say it out loud, you might be surprised who God uses in your life. God has done some of the biggest things in my life through people I didn't like. No, I won't give you a list.

I'm not going to name names. But some of the biggest things God did in my life he did through people I didn't even really enjoy hanging out with. And the problem with us is, you know, God wants to bring somebody into our life, but if they don't exactly match the specifications of the friends that we think we want or of the people that we think usually the people that we think we need, God to send her

to the people who already think what we think. So why would God send something that we already have plenty of Peter and John. I was surprised they were still hanging out because they were so competitive. They have a history, you know, Peter and John, they were partners in a fishing business and they became fishers of men and Jesus, and they had some adventures together. They had history together. Peter and John not only ran to the tomb together.

And check this out. How different opectives are and how God can give you a person that has a different perspective than you in order to help you see something that you would have been tempted maybe to, just like you would have completely missed it. When they got to the tomb and it was empty, they were surprised. Why

were they surprised? He spent Jesus spent. Well, I guess a dead man rising from the grave is surprising, but after all they've seen him do I know is kind of obvious, but this is exactly what he said he would do. So when the stone was rolled away when they got there on Sunday, they were shocked by it. When the women came back, because the women had the ability to believe something that the men couldn't believe. And I don't know if that says anything about how God

uses sometimes, you know, people or whatever whatever whatever. The men were like the official disciples, but the women were the ones who went to the tomb. All right, now, y'all are a little too loud on this point. When John got there, he got there first, but he didn't go in. When Peter got there, Peter went in, but he didn't believe. So God used John, who stood outside the tomb at a distance, to believe Peter was wired

to believe it when he sees it. John stood out, John, I got to give you an idea of the differences. Why is so surprising? John at the Last Supper, when Jesus was saying, one of you is going to betray me, leaned back on Jesus's chest and said nothing. Peter said, not me. Even if you die, I'm gonna be right here. If the wheels fall off, all right with you. It

doesn't matter, Jesus. I'll cut off an ear, I'll cut off a head, I'll do anything but let the cock crow three times, and Peter's denying him like he never knew him. Is surprising that God would use two people who were so different and use them to do something so amazing as perform the first miracle since the birth of the Church that we witness in the Book of Acts, Peter and John together. If you are more like John

than Peter, that's okay. It will shock you some of the things that God will use about your personality that you think mean that he can't use you. And I don't want to stay there long because it really not my message. But that surprised me that it was Peter and John together because they seem like polar opposite. So question, are you open to who God wants to use in your life or do you have a wish list that looks more like something that you should handt a Santa

than something that you should pray to Jesus. And if they don't match the exact specifications of who you thought God would use, can you be open to a surprise? A surprise? Some of the best work I ever did in my life was with people that I didn't see it on the surface, but see, here's what they're doing. They're going up to the temple at the time of prayer three in the afternoon. You got your nine am prayer, you got your twelve noon prayer, you got your three

pm prayer, and they're going to the temple. That surprised me because the temple was the old system. So now they're preaching the gospel Jesus has ascended to heaven. The context of this is that the day of Pentecost has already come. Peter preaches this amazing confrontational sermon. It wouldn't have been like a YouTube popular sermon. It wouldn't have got a lot of clicks or views or comments or anything. Like that. But it was very effective because when he

preached that, the Holy Spirit demonstrated with power. Everybody say power. Don't say it real timid, say power. That's better. That's better. When you say power, say it from your diaphragm, say power. And now, all of a sudden, the Spirit's power was a demonstration of what Peter preached, and God did an amazing work. Three thousand came into their number that day. Now in Acts chapter three, as the church is growing, this this sect that was considered like almost like a

cult of Judaism. These two leaders, two of the appointed designated leaders from the twelve Disciples. They're going up to the temple, which is where they used to worship. But they have a new understanding that Jesus, God's Messiah, who wasn't a new religion. It was the fulfillment of what God already started. Stay with me, there's going to be a payoff to all this back I'm giving you. When they go up to the temple at the time of prayer,

they are doing what they always did. And at this point in the text we get a picture of sometimes how we are in between two things in our life. We are in between two things in our life. There is the old thing that we used to do. There is the old thing, the familiar thing, the nostalgic thing, the comforting thing, and then there is the new thing, which is true. But in between the two sometimes you have to have a new belief in the same temple, a new belief in the same system. So they're going

to temple like they always did. They're going not only to temple like they did once a week. They did this every day. In the Jewish culture. It would not be unusual to hit all three prayer services. You might have been there at nine, and twelve and three. So they are doing something that is very familiar to them. When God, when God gives them what we would call an interruption in their schedule. Now, let's watch this verse two.

A man who was laying from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. Now let's kind of get in the middle of this situation. He's moving toward his spot by the gate. They're moving toward their spot in the temple. And what's amazing about what happens next is that in order for the miracle to happen, both parties had to be open to a divine surprise. Are you open to divine surprises? Some of

us aren't. In fact, I was imagining this modern day. You know, I've preached this text a few times, so I was imagining, like, how would it look in twenty twenty one? And as I played it out, nobody got healed in the passage because everybody was looking at their phones on the way into church. The whole miracle had

just stopped right at verse three. It was Peter and John going in and the man was going to a spot, and nobody got anything because nobody was looking for anything except something that was inside, something that wasn't even real. And what we like about this, while I can do my weekly rent against the phones that I'm addicted to as well, while we do this, what we like about it is it's predictable. It's predictably miserable, but it gives us something to go to where we can know exactly

this is available to me. So now now, if I live my real life, I might be surprised. I don't like to be some unless I like the surprise. Ordered the prize, Customize the surprise so this is the God. We want this to Jesus. We want God, let me customize the surprises that I want you to send into my life today. And when I realized about the Temple of Us, all of the people who were leading in the temple were surprised when God actually did something. But

it was his house. Now walk around into Holly, this is my house too. Can I move from room to room? And you're not freak out when something actually happened in the name of Jesus. They were surprised that God had the audacity to move in his own house. Can God move in his own house? Can the pother tell the clay what to be? Can God switch things around a little bit? Can God give you a blue wind instead of a red wind? I mean, can we start small? Some of us just don't like any surprises, so we

structure God right out of our prayer life. Peter probably, Peter probably wouldn't have stopped to see the man if it hadn't been for quiet John, and the man probably would not have received this healing. Now, he definitely wouldn't have received it if he insisted on getting what he asked for in the first place. Now here's why This matters to you because right now you are in the process of, if I can put it this way, you are trying to decide whether to embrace what life has

surprised you with or fight it. Just like this man. He was paralyzed from birth. Side note, you are not stuck with what you are born ass right, right, Jesus is bigger than your genetics. Side note, the man in this passage was forty years old. So now what we're about to see happen is God is going to give this man something that he gave up on a long time ago. And I know what that feels like, because the longer that you live, the less surprisable you become. Right,

you start out when you're like, I don't know. I was twenty five years old as a pastor, and I would see something, I'd be like, they would never betray me. I hadn't said that in a while, right, Or I say, I don't want to make it all negative. I would say something like, well, I could never change this habit, and then I did. I did. You won't believe this. I do two leg days a week now in the gym. Y'all give it up. That's a big deal, now, I

like this man. I am forty one years old and I have lived to see some things that I never thought would happen, good and bad. I told Buck when he started training me when I was twenty eight. I said, I don't do legs. Just like my mom has this thing. Ah don't merge, Ah don't merge. Ah don't merge. She does this whole bit about it. You can ask her sometimes she has this traffic thing. Ah don't merge. She will drive seventeen hours to get to Walmart so she

doesn't have to merge on forty five. But it's a blessing, Okay, a small town. So, but the longer you go in life, you get things like, oh, that happens people do that. I missed an opportunity, y'all, and I kicked myself about it. I should have wrote my parenting book before my kids were born. I could have written such a good book. Could have been seven hundred and thirty three pages about what to never do with the child, and what to always do and what kind of kids grow up God's

way to flourish in the courts of our God. Should have wrote it before I found out. You know that life will surprise you man, life will surprise you. People will sure enough surprise you, and you get traumatized. It's weird because like certain people on my phone, they gave me bad news once, so I'm scared to see their name at all anymore. Oh, no, can you relate to this at all? This is a term in for the people over age ten. And then you become less surprisable,

You become more cynical, you become more jaded. You call it discerning, but that doesn't change what it is. Right. You can put a briar's label on a can of spinach, but it's still okay, it's still spinach. So in this passage you got to give a lot of credit to how much Peter has grown by this point in his ministry. And really the credit goes to the Holy Spirit, because in Peter's own mind, he was probably the least surprised

the disciples. He was surprising because he would do the stupidest thing that you could imagine and think that he was doing something good for Jesus. But did you know that Peter was actually shocked when Jesus went to the cross. Not only was he shocked when he rose from the dead, he was shocked when he died. What did you think he came for? He told you this over and over and over again. One thing I was reading this week,

I was just studying all about Peter. I just went on this Peter binge this week, and I was looking at all the different things that Peter said and did, and he talked a lot, and sometimes when he would say something. One time, Jesus took them up on the Mount of Transfiguration, and you can look this up later.

It's really cool. He went up there and Jesus was talking to Moses and Elijah about his departure, because he was getting ready to go to Jerusalem, where he would pay the price for our sin as the sacrificial lamb of God that was slain before the foundation of the earth, the very purpose for which he came to say, save his people from their sins. And he's going to do that. And Peter is sleepy, so he doesn't really listen. But as soon as he wakes up, he starts talking, and

it says something so weird. In the Bible, it says that Peter started saying, let's build a shelter up here for you, a shelter for Moses, A shelter for Elijah? What was he trying to do keep Jesus from coming down that mountain and going to the cross. And in a parenthetical insert, the author says he did not know what he was saying. In other words, he didn't know

what he was talking about. For everybody who is arrogant enough to speak about what other people should do in challenges that you have never faced, I just want to warn you with this, life will surprise you. Okay, So if you're a new pastor and you're saying, well, my church will never you don't know what you're talking about. If you're a new uh, a new husband or a new wife in my marriage, we will never write your

marriage book while you are still engaged. Better yet, write it on the first because life will surprise you and it will take away all of your answers and you won't be able to write your book. And the real challenge of faith. Watch this. This is the part that freaked me out. The real challenge of faith is not to be more certain. It is to stay surprisable. And yes that is a word in Miriam Webster. You can cross check me while I preach from the text stay surprisable.

See the thing about the man in the passage. I'll sit down. I gotta teach the thing about the man in the passage. He wasn't expecting to get healed. In fact, this is a unique miracle that God chose to launch the church because usually when Jesus I see people they asked to be hell. Peter is so obnoxiously proactive he doesn't even ask the man, are you looking for a life change? Because the moment he gets up and walks, he can't beg anymore. We don't think about this stuff

in the Bible, like the man jumps up and walks. Now, what if he's gonna do this miracle in a consider it way for all interested parties. He's just say something like this, Hey man, about this time next week, I'm gonna come by. I got something for you. I got the name of Jesus I served under. Yeah you heard abou him? Yeah, yeah, rose from dead. What he's gonna do just like he got up out of the grave, You're gonna get up out of here, But you wanna line some stuff up for a comeback, because like who

dropped you off to day? Your friends will You're not gonna be able to take you home. No, no, no, Peter has spent three years. You gonna remember this. He spent three years apprenticing under the Savior who specializes in surprises. Oh you didn't know that. No, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's stable. That's right. You can count on him. He won't change, he won't leave you.

But he's surprising. And there's nothing in the text that indicates that the disciples liked it, but they must have needed it because he would put them in exact situations. I wonder who's there right now. He put them in exact situations where he could have given them some notice, like watch this. He's God, he knows. When we get to the other side, there's gonna be five thousand men with all their wives, with all their children, and they're gonna they're gonna be hungry, not only for healing, but

they're gonna need some food. Some boys call the catering service. Let's pack some barbecue. Well, I'm going over to Jewish place. Okay, we're gonna we're gonna do some sandwiches, some whatever. You know the point. But Jess didn't do any of that. Why Why did he surprise them? With a knee. I got a better one. I was praying earlier. This won't be on the sermons, so if you're watching it later. It was during the worship I talked about the woman at the well in Samaria and the reason that that

was on my mind. Give them John chapter four. I sent them to this last minute. It said that Jesus was talking to a woman and his disciples went out to get food, and they were surprised to see him talking with a woman, but no one asked what do you want or why are you talking to her? I learned this, what you are surprised by tells me a lot about what you have assumed. Wow, what surprises you tells me what you assumed. I had a series of experiences.

I wanted to tell you about this. The other day, I was writing music with somebody and they said something that at first I thought was a compliment. And I thought after I thought about I was like, I don't think that was a compliment. They said, I'm so surprised you're so creative, and I mean, I've got an ego just like everybody else. I didn't like the way when I thought about it later. First of all I heard was you're so creative. But then when I thought about

I'm so surprised. I wanted to go back and ask them, but I didn't see him again. I don't know how to ask him. Maybe i'll see him again, ask him. Why were you surprised? What about me made you think I wasn't creative? I've done stuff, do stuff. I don't know why they were surprised by that? What did you think about me? What did you think of what? I mean? Why would that surprise you? I don't know. It was weird to me. This other guy, this is what we

were talking about. And it was the word actually that got me. He said, you're actually a nice guy. I said, just pray for people, you know. It was the word actually that got me. As like, against all odds, I expected the exact opposite. He expected to get something from them, but his assumption was that what they had to offer was money. They went to church expecting to pray. Neither party was expecting a miracle. Can God surprise you or

do you assume so much about him? Like sometimes we're surprised that God is actually a good God because we assumed that what we heard about him growing up, Like in some churches. I'm just being honest. In some pulpits God turns out to be the pettiest character in the whole story. So then to actually find out that he is who we said. He is, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, God to Jacob, the God of

his Covenant, abounding in love to a thousand generations. We can't imagine that we're actually surprised to see the face of Christ, that he would talk with a woman that others would ostracize because we assumed that we knew what he was. You know, what you're surprised by tells me a lot of what you've assumed to begin with. I wonder what you've assumed about you, because by the time you're forty, you pretty much got it figured out what your limitations are. This is my spot, this is my gig,

this is my deal. This is what I do. This is what I have to do to feel good. This is what I have to do to get what I want. That hadn't happened by now, it'll never happen. Notice a word in the text instantly verse seven, Acts three. Instantly the man's feet and ankles rus straw. You mean to tell me that what was four decades in the making that had crippled the man and limited him was undone instantly. Don't misunderstand what I'm about to tell you because I'll

balance it too. But hear this, it can change like that. I know you're scared to shout because like see, we heard stuff like that before and then we were surprised that we still struggled with it later, especially if you came into a relationship with God that was kind of transactional. Pray this prayer, get Jesus to forgive you. You won't have to fry and burn with Hitler. You can go to heaven when you die. Oh, y'all are so shocked. They're so churchy, so surprising. Oh that's what we heard.

That's what we heard. We were surprised by struggle. So you know your sins to the cross, Like I went to this youth camp one time. We actually wrote out our sins, which for a teenager you're doing really embarrassing stuff, so you have to use code for a teenage boy. The most specific you can get is lust. That's like level two and specificity. So you just put that down.

Come over here to the guys. I feel judged over here. Okay, but but you nail it to the cross, and you're like, oh, I nailed my sin to the cross, and then the Lord forgave me. And you get home. Surprise, here's lust right where you left it. But I nailed it to the cross. Surprise. He got in the car. He came right out with you. He's in your blood, boy, expecting to get something from him. And Peter said, watch this. Silver and gold I don't have, but what I have

I give you. The Lord told me to tell you you don't know your own strength. You don't know your own strength because you always stop at your weakness. You don't know your own strength. I saw Graham try to wrestle Holly the other day. She says, stop, you don't know your own strength. You're gonna hurt me. You don't know how strong you are. You're gonna hurt me. And I walked in and I said, boy, you want to

wrest somebody, let's wrestle. Yeah. I thought about myself. I thought, if I'm Peter and the guy asked me for money and I don't have it, I'm probably just gonna say silver and gold have I none? I'm going to church right it was what he said next. It was what he said next that demonstrated the power of the Gospel. It was what he said next, like he was surprised that this guy cut him off at the temple gate.

He didn't expect to see this man. God wasn't I mean, how strategic is God of all the people going to church at three pm that day? First of all, maybe Peter missed the twelve pm so he'd be at the three pm. You ever think about how God works things out in your life, Like you don't see these things, they seem coincidental, but they're really connected. And so this man's being carried at the time that they are carrying something. What they are carrying is going to keep him from

ever having to be carried again. At the same time, coincidence. God is most strategic when you are most surprised. They could have gone to church and prayed. That would have been exactly what they expected. They could have made it to the three pm service just like they expected. And I don't think it would have made acts three Let's try it out. Peter and John were going to the temple courts at the time of the Praier three in

the afternoon and they had a good prayer. It's just for me that doesn't hold the same interest as the story that I read you. And yet, like, is God doing in your life right now this intersection where you're completely caught off guard, But he's not. He's If he had told Peter there was going to be a man at the gate, Peter would have grabbed his wallet. Then he wouldn't have gotten healed. Then Peter couldn't have used

him to preach and say Jesus did this. Then two thousand new converts wouldn't have been added to the church. Then Peter wouldn't have got thrown in prison with John because the authorities didn't know what to do with him, because they were surprised that God actually moved in his own house. Then they wouldn't have had the faith in the boldness to pray together and bond together as the church. Then they wouldn't have gone into the persecution with the

strength of knowing that God can do anything. God, at least in my life, and what I understand about the spirit of God is most strategic. That this man is coming up to his spot at this time. All of the things that had to happen to get them there at the same time. The man thought he was going to get some change, and he did just not dimes and quarters and nickels. Right. I hadn't studied this, But

do they still have a change shortage? When the pandemic started, you couldn't get change in a restaurant or in a store. Church has had the same problem for years. It was weird. I went to Target and I was like, waiting for my change. They're like, oh, we don't do change anymore.

A lot of churches. I mean, the man comes there every day and nothing ever happens, and you hear sermons and Bible studies and all that, and no change, no change, no change, because because we don't like to be surprised, so we want God to change stuff without changing us. And that's not how he does it. Are you surprisable? I was praying God, What do I tell him? He said,

tell him, stay surprisable, Stay surprisable. Keep some room in what you plan for your life, your kids, and for all the trajectory where if God wants to do something a little different. This is the lesson Peter learned. So by the time he's gotten to this point in his ministry, he's full of the Holy Spirit. He's seen the empty tomb, he's been restored when he left Jesus at the cross. He's no longer surprised at his own weakness, but he's

confident in God's strength. He's no longer surprised by his own weakness, but he is con confident in God's strength. Now that's a whole Turkey word for somebody. Stop being so surprised by your weakness. It's there, it's always going to be there. You are but dust. The King James says, you are nothing more than a breadth and a vapor. But God's word is eternal, and he lives in you. That's why Peter said, why are you looking at us? We didn't do it. We just accessed the power of

one who could stay surprisable some of y'all do. Y'all want the marriage seminar part. Stop thinking you completely know what your wife would and wouldn't want to do. You're so boring, You're so boring. You're no longer like I'm telling you man, like I've been married a lot of years now, how many it's coming up on? Twenty? Yeah, nineteen years? Well, yell or like ya, you're in trouble. You didn't remember how many years you've been married. I'm up here saying a lot of stuff. She doesn't care.

But when I tell you I've never loved being married to her more, I'm so glad I didn't confine her to the first version of what I thought. I knew my wife was wine. The first thing she told me at the North Greenville cafeteria that I remember is I would never want to marry a preacher. Surprise. Well, I never I'll never do I'll never preach. I mean, I'll support you. She's good, right, she's good. Right. She surprises herself. She I saw. I called her watching herself back preaching

the other day. She said, Oh that's good. Have you surprised yourself lately? You've got to surprise yourself, not only surprise your spouse, like oh, I gave you six flowers instead of four this year. Not only that stuff. Something you need to surprise yourself. Just do something that, even if it's small, that you didn't think you could do. I'm a night person, go to bed, I'm a I'm not I'm a I'm a morning person. You know what I mean? Just like ah, wild and crazy, I'm sucking.

I normally get it grilled. I'm gonna get it fried. Ah, I'm full of surprising. I'm crazy, right. I like to preach different ways. I like to write different songs. Somebody told me one time I wrote a song that had some rock in it, and they were like, oh, well, black people wouldn't like that. The person who told me was white. How do you know what black people would like? And not like like there's one person, Stop telling me what somebody else would not want, or like like you've

figured out people. I told a man one time, I said, we couldn't have video campuses, and the only way my preaching works is if people are in a room with me while I'm preaching. Surprise. One day I walked in and nobody was allowed to come to church, and and all I had was the thing I didn't think I could do. Surprise it worked. You might be surprised. But now that sounds real cool. When Peter's saying it in verse twelve to the leaders, this man gets up and

walked and he's like, why are you surprised? Why does this surprise you? Will? Come on, Peter, when you first met Jesus and you caught fish, it freaked you out so bad you fell at his feet and said, go away, Lord, I'm a sinful man. When he said I'm going to the cross, he said never, Lord, don't happen to you. When they actually arrested him, you were so surprised you went and coward to a servant girl who said you were one of them. This is something that takes us

a little time. And what happens like you get conditioned to certain things, and if you have enough of the negative or the dysfunctional things, you'll be surprised by the good. Now. I think that's helpful sometimes, right like I think sometimes we ought to be more surprised and less entitled. When Rick Bowling first gave me a bonus check, he said, you're getting a Christmas bonus the first church I worked at,

I hugged him a bear, hugged him. The amount of money today it was so small compared to what things are today. It wouldn't register like that. I wouldn't hug him. I'd be like, thanks man. And what got me into text? I just was reading this again. And when you come to the Bible with fresh eyes, it's amazing. God is wanting to surprise you in your Bible, in your life, in your relations and ships. He's the god of surprises. He's he's talking to a woman at the well. He's he's,

he's he's doing amazing things. For feeding, feeding multitudes with with little meager fish. Captain Bee's uh supplies long John Silver's supplies. He's surprising, But sometimes we're not surprisable. Because it said that the man, once he was able to walk, he went with them in the temple Courts verse eight, walking, jumping and praising God. Say that walking, jumping, praising God.

It caused such a commotion that everybody was was amazed that this man that they used to see sitting was now doing what walking jumping, praising God because he wasn't expecting to walk. There's a praise that comes out of somebody who hasn't learned yet to take God's gifts for granted. How many people went to the temple that day, why

weren't they jumping? Because when you've always been able to walk, when you've always had provision, when you've always had a roof over your head, when you've always been well fed, when you've always been taken care of, you stop being surprised by it. One of my friends said that you exchange appreciation for expectation. You start expecting people to do for you what they don't have to do for you,

and that is very dangerous. So every time I preach, I'm kind of surprised that God actually uses me, and I think that's good. I don't ever want to get to the point where I'm like, well, I mean, I know my Bible, of course God used me. I mean what, I'm anointed, I'm appointed. No, I want to stay surprised. I want to stay surprised, like every once in a while, I just want to take a deep breath and be like, oh,

that was like a premium breath. I know, you can't walk around all the time just praising God for every breath and being, you know, skipping through Walmart and things like this. I'm not talking about being weird, right, But there is a lesson in the fact that of everybody who walked into the temple that day, the one who had never walked before, his feet barely touched the ground. When you first got certain blessings from God, when you first started being used by God, when you first got

on elevation staff, your feet barely touched the ground. So once in a while you got to remember that it's a blessing just to be able to walk. I mean, it's a blessing just to see another day. It's a blessing just to survive. See, you will really understand this. You will really understand this. If you ever went through a season where you thought you wouldn't make it, And

if you haven't had that season, you won't understand. But if you had a season where you were living off of alms, where you were begging for something to make it to the next day, but he got you off, snatch you up his mighty hand, his right hand, his hand of authority. Hit the name of Jesus came to you in your begging place. You know what it means to jump. You know why we call the church's elevation. You know why we praise him. You know why we smile with all of our teeth closed in our right mind.

Blessed to be in the number one more day, Stay amazed, stay surprised. Jump every once in a while. Every once in a while, you have to jump everywhere, But every once in a while, just jump, Just jump, Just jump for joy. Every once in a while, just appreciate the fact that the lane will leap like a deer, and that God did that for me, and you've always been able to walk. You can't really appreciate it because you

stop being surprised. God wants to surprise you. Does this in strategic ways, and God is never more strategic than when you are most surprised. Peter had no plan to preach that day, and he preached a sermon so powerful because God planted somebody at the gate. Surprise, surprise. Now, later in his life he gives us a perspective in One Peter four. He says that just like God surprises you with great gifts and opportunities, right, he said, dear friends,

don't be surprised at the fiery trial. This is first Peter, this is the same guy. He kind of has this thing. He's like, why are you surprised that God is healing this man? This is what Jesus came to do. You should know it more than anyone. You recognize the man, but you didn't recognize the Messiah. So you are surprised when God actually shows up because it does not look like what you put on your list. Are you there right now in your life? He said, don't be surprised

by the favor. Don't be surprised by the fire. Don't be surprised when God strengthens you. That's what he's there for. He gave you his spirit. Don't be surprised when you struggle. And above all else, don't let your struggle keep you from accessing your strength. Silver and gold I don't have, or what I have I give you. And his feet and ankles became strong because Peter said the same Jesus, that you killed the author of life, God raised from

the dead. I like to imagine sometimes that the devil through a big party after Jesus died and the sky grew black, to tell us die it has finished. He thought that Jesus gave up. I like to imagine what it was like Sunday morning when he was standing there with the keys of death, hell and the grave. Surprise, surprise. I want you to stand up right where you are, and I want you to throw your arms out just like this and tell the devil's surprise. You hit me

with your best shot. You formed every weapon against me. You thought you killed my confidence by having people reject me. But surprise, you thought I would die in the Valley of the shadow of death. You thought I would curse God and die. But surprise. You thought it was going to be the end of me. You thought you'd picked my marriage apart. You thought you snatched my kid. You thought getting them on drugs would get me to stop praying for them. But surprise, because it's about the backfire.

Because the same man that sat there begging, what's the one that started a revival in Jerusalem? Surprise, Surprise, you're stronger than you thought. You weren't. Surprise didn't kill you, made you better. Surprise you weren't ready for it. But it's here, Surprise, and into the hands of the God of surprises. You have the opportunity now to place all of your uncertainty and all of your insecurity. God said,

I want to surprise you. Every once in a while, when I get overwhelmed by too many choices, I'll tell Holly, Or if it's a leadership thing, I'll tell one of my staff. Just surprise me. I don't even want to choose. I don't know what to choose. It's just too many options. Just surprise me, Holly. You'll say you want this to eat or that to eat, or the other to eat. I'll be like, just surprise me. I thought, what a great prayer to pray to God for all of us

who have been surprised by life. If Peter and John, the most unlikely Kobe and Shack combination and Gospel history, can be interrupted on their way to prayer by a paralytic man who asked for money, but God healing to the point, remember this, Remember this in verse eleven. After he jumped up and was healed, the Bible says that the man held on to Peter and John. And you're wondering, what's the point of holding on to them if your feet and ankles are strong enough to hold yourself up.

It's because he wasn't ready for this. You weren't either, and God knows that. So when you get to that place, you know where you say, this is something I never saw myself doing. This is something I never saw myself dealing with. Just turn your palms to your father like this and say, surprise me God. No, I want you to walk into confidence this week like Peter learned to walk in He didn't get it at first. We don't get it at first. But to know that when I'm

most surprised, God is most strategic. Let's get this in our spirits. God said, you need to have a surprisable spirit. You need to not get so cynical about things that you just write everything off and push everything away. And just in the name of being guarded, you miss God. So say this. God is most strategic when I am most surprised. So Lord, I'm praying today for those who are in a surprise me season, not that they would like it. Maybe we need it. Maybe we need it.

I'm not asking for something bad to happen to me or anybody else. I like the good surprises God, and I want all of those, but even for the thing that I didn't ask you to do. Like the man in this passage, help me to reach out and take hold of what you brought me. Surprise me, God, surprise me with the facet of your goodness and provision. I didn't see this week. Surprise me because I'm too overwhelmed. I don't know this way, that way, I don't know.

We don't know anymore. The menus to be the world's too complicated, the inputs are too great, the noise is too loud. So surprise us. May we be filled with wonder and amazement. May people barely recognize us this time next year, Maybe leap for joy when we think about all of the things that you've done for us. God, some of us have been sitting at a gate so long, but you are trying to make us a gate for

something that you want to release. Surprise us, Use us, God, would you use us to surprise somebody else, somebody who wasn't expecting their day to be made? We just we come around this idea of why are you surprised by this? We're not surprised by suffering, but we are expecting of glory. We are resurrection people. We give you praise in this moment in Jesus' name. I just want to take a moment and tell you one more thing. I know I've preached a long time, but just send me one more minute.

God did the greatest thing in Act chapter three, at the gate, not in the church service. I don't want you to limit your experience of God's presence just to sitting and listening to a message. You know, I want you to expect God to surprise this week. Expect God

to surprise you with opportunities. Expect God to surprise you with maybe some challenges that He gives you to make you stronger, expecting to surprise you with some blessings, some people to be good to you, just strengthen joy and peace that you didn't even know where it comes from, but you know who it comes from. I'm praying for you for God to surprise you this week. I'm very, very grateful. I don't count it lightly. The privileged to minister God's worked to you and stay surprisable. God has

amazing things in store for you. Thank you for subscribing and we appreciate you and love you so much. Until next time.