This morning's message is entitled what's in a name? See, sometimes people reach a certain level of celebrity that they don't even need two names, right? Just one name and you know who they are, right? Beyonce, right? Adele Cher Bono Bluey. Come on now, parents with young kiddos know what I'm talking about like that. That show hits hard. Ok, I'm not, I'm gonna say more than once. My kids have started watching the show. They left and went into the other room and I found myself still watching being like, wow, you are good enough, you know, and like, ok, anyway, when a name gets to a status to where you can just say the name and you know who they are. That's big time, right? But the reality is, is that a celebrity? It's really not gonna change your life, right? You might know them from afar, but it doesn't change your daily experience. But today I wanna talk about a name that can, can completely transform your life. And that is the name of Jesus. If you take a note, I encourage you to write this down that the name of Jesus creates a new normal the name of Jesus creates a new normal meaning that once you have embraced the name of Jesus in your life, it changes everything holistically about who you are and what you do. There is not a neutral response to the name of Jesus. And we're gonna see this today as we jump into acts chapter three and four. Now setting the stage for our narrative today acts chapter one, Jesus, uh it rises again, appears to his disciples and others and then is about to leave, gives them these words that you were gonna receive the power of the Holy Spirit to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea Samaria to the ends of the earth. So he promises the coming of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. And then in acts chapter two, which we studied last week that the Holy Spirit comes down. There's a sound of a mighty rushing wind. There is like this picture of fire over people's heads. They're speaking in the native language of the 15 different regions that are around. And so, and then Peter stands up and boldly proclaims the power of Jesus and roughly 3000 people get saved. And then the church is formed the largest movement in world history from a group of everyday ordinary people believing in an extraordinary God. Now, naturally, we should complete chapter two, but I'm actually not gonna do that today. And the reason for that is because just a few weeks ago when we talked about the values of our church and the message entitled What's Guiding Your Life. We actually uh broke down Acts chapter two verses 42 to 47 describing where the values of our church comes from. So I encourage you to just go back a couple of weeks either on podcast or online and, and check out that message. But, but we're gonna continue that the church launches. They have everything in common. They, they valued and are devoting themselves to the teaching of the word fellowship with each other. They have this idea of empowered service and joyful generosity and they're giving to the needy and they're, and they're sharing the good news of Jesus with everyone around them. And we get to chapter three. Now we're going to see the gospel and the Holy Spirit lived out in the everyday lives of the disciples. So Peter and John are going to the temple and they say it's about three o'clock in the afternoon. So they're going to a prayer service and they come across, they pass this gate called the gate. Beautiful. It's kind of a fun name. The gate, beautiful. Uh But it's just naming the entrance. So in that area, right, it's, it's a very specific place. And so they go, they come across this guy who has been lame from birth and it was common for beggars to be at the gates of the temple as the Jewish believers would give out alms or give donations away. And so you had you picture somebody holding a sign or, or claiming out or asking for something to just to beg to survive. And so they come across this man and then the disciples actually look at the man and they say, look at us and it, and I've learned over a few years of marriage, that tone matters, right? When you say something, you can say something a lot of different ways, right? And so I want to clarify too. What I think is the tone when they say this OK is I don't think Peter and and and John are going, hey, look at us, right? Like look at us, look at, look at who we are. Look at us like how amazing we are. I think what we're seeing here is that you have a beggar who's just routinely please have mercy on me, have mercy on me, have mercy, just, just rep repetitively saying something hoping to get anything from somebody, right? And so to break him out of his routine and rhythm, the disciples just pause and go, hey, look at us and the reason they're saying that is because hey, because we're looking at you and they see this need. And so he asks, can I just have a little money? Can I have a little bread? Can I have a little something to get to the next day? This is where we're gonna pick up our story and what we're gonna see over these two chapters or that is that the name of Jesus brings with it four distinct things that I think still applies to our lives today. Ok. The name of Jesus really creates a new normal, a new way of living a new way of life. And what we're gonna see in our story today is that the name of Jesus brings four things that can still bring into our lives. 2000 years later, the first thing that the name of Jesus brings is new life. It's a new life. So we we jump into our story here. The beggar has already asked Peter and John for something and Peter responds there in acts chapter three verse six. He says, but Peter said, I have no silver or gold. But what I do have I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk and he took him by the right hand and raised him up and immediately his feet and his ankles were made strong and leaping up. He stood and began to walk and entered the temple with them walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, recognized him as the one who sat at the beautiful gate of the temple. So it's almost like the the homeless guy that stays at the exact same corner every day. So this is a guy who's been doing this for years. Ok. And so they recognize him as the guy from the beautiful gate asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what happened to him. Can you imagine that scene? Someone who's been begging, who's been sick for years after years after years and through the utterance of the name of Jesus, he is healed. Now, this is actually similar to a story of Jesus who he was preaching one time to a group of religious leaders in a room that was crowded in Mark chapter two. And some friends brought to Jesus, a lame man. They couldn't get in the front door. And so they broke through the roof and lowered him down. Um And, and Jesus said to show you that I have the power to forgive sins. Let me show you that I can heal this man. In other words, to show you that I have the power to heal you spiritually, I'm gonna heal this man physically says, rise up and walk. And so right there in front of the leaders, he arose and walked out and took his mat with him. OK? Took his past with him, took his Brokenness with him and walks out and the people were amazed and now the disciples are doing the same thing. And so what we see here repeatedly in the New Testament is that the disciples have the same power to do what Jesus did. And so you're gonna see a lot of mirroring in the book of Acts to the gospels. Jesus did this, then the disciples do this and it's connecting the two. Why? What's the connection? It's the Holy Spirit coming into the life of the believer saying that through the name of Jesus, people are healed. Now, what I want to point out though is that if this man has been there since birth and they're at the temple and they're at a specific gate, this means that the disciples probably saw him before. This means actually that Jesus probably saw him before. And what strikes me as odd and I'm not quite sure what to do with the tension is that for years, someone was sick and hurt and alone and seemingly God did nothing. So what do we do with that? Well, one, I'm not, I'm just being transparent with you. I'm not quite sure what to do with the tension except acknowledge that the tension exists. And so a few thoughts on that is that just because you're sick does not mean God is absent just because you're sick does not mean that you did something wrong. But we do know and we pray to that we have a God who heals and at the right moment and at the right time, God will provide healing whether on this side of eternity or the other side of eternity. And so the reason I think Jesus allowed this man to stay lame to stay sick for so long because it is a greater narrative to at the exact moment that was needed to have the most glory for God. This man gets healed as a testimony for what Jesus can do. Because even greater than the physical healing is the spiritual healing that comes from the forgiveness of sins. What would you rather have? Would you rather be healed for an instant or healed for eternity? I'm not saying that it's either or what I'm saying is that the miracle has already happened because the resurrection has already happened. And so that is the hope and the living hope that we point to. So tho those that are sick have two levels of hope. One. We have a God who heals, who can heal, meaning that if you're walking through something that God can give you new life and can give you instant healing. And there it's possible. So there is hope for healing. But two, even if it doesn't come, understand that God will be glorified. And ultimately, there is a greater healing available to all people through it. The name of Jesus Christ. When I think of this story, I think of a good friend brody or some of you, you know, uh he comes here. Uh He's always got a joke for you, you know, but if you don't know the story, uh he survived a plane crash, uh traumatic brain injury, completely altered his life. Um went through multiple surgeries was in a coma, but now is uh living his best life and uh you might see him here at the second service or might watch online if you see it, he will say hi. He's never met a stranger. Uh also has no filter. So you never quite know what he's gonna say. And so it's really entertaining. Uh but I remember distinctly when he was walking through that and when he was going through that with his parents and, and the parents uh shared with me that they were struggling, they were hurting. Um And, and God gave them the thought in one moment that to his mom, to Gigi said, you see broken, I see mended, you see broke and I see mended and they've hung on to that thought throughout his, the last 67 years of his recovery. And I've held on to that thought to say, wow, how beautiful of that is a hope is a strength that comes from healing. Maybe it's not the healing you, you thought you wanted, but it's available in there and it's what you needed. And so that yes, God can heal. But as you wait, you put your trust in even a greater healing, the forgiveness of sins and salvation that comes through God. So through the power of Jesus, you can be saved. And it's a brand new life. Can you imagine now being that lame person finally entering the temple? Because if he was seen as unclean. He's been on the outside for years. The other thing I take away from this is that it is never too late to turn to Jesus. It is you got to think he's had some bad days and cursed at God, cursed at church. People cursed to other people. Like why this, why me, why now I want you to know that no matter what kind of past or history you have, it is not too late to go to him. And so now he is jumping, he is leaping. He's going in like imagine walking into the temple like the guy who was ignored and smelly and left out and you walk into church. You're like, hey, what's up, Steve? Notice anything, huh? Anything different about me? No, it's not a new haircut. Steve, it's legs. Right. Right. Can you imagine the joy in that that comes from new life. All of that came because of the name of Jesus. The second thing that the name of Jesus gives us is absolute authority. The name of Jesus gives us absolute authority. So this man gets saved. This man gets healed. Ok? He's standing in their midst and Peter goes alright. It's sermon time. Now we get the second recorded sermon and honestly, it's kind of a repeat of the first. If you look at his sermon in acts three, it's a lot like acts two. So like he really hasn't moved on uh here and so he really is coming in strong. He actually, we're not, I'm just gonna read a portion of it for time's sake. But he quotes Moses, he, he, he references Samuel and Abraham because again, these are a lot of Jewish leaders here. And so he's, he's connecting Old Testament to New Testament. But then in, in the center of this, he gets very direct and very specific because remember the timeline here, we are roughly two months after the killing of Jesus in the town where Jesus was killed. And so like, hey, remember what happened two months ago, all y'all were there, OK? And so he says this and so he comes in strong. So we're, we're gonna pick it up here from verse 15 for our sake. Let me just read a couple of these verses. He says, and you killed the author of life who you put to death, the person that brings life whom God raised from the dead. And to this, we are witnesses verse 16 and his name notice that his name by faith in his name and his name alone has made this man strong whom you see and know and the faith that is through Jesus has given this man the man, this perfect health and the presence of you all. And now brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance. So it gets a little softer, you killed Jesus. It's like, but I I recognize you didn't know also as did your rulers verse 18. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets that his Christ should suffer. He thus fulfilled, repent therefore, and turn back that your sins may be blotted out. That times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that he may send the Christ appointed for you Jesus. Now, I want to pause here on this verse for just a second. I want you to notice something. The response to a miracle is repentance. The response to a miracle is repentance. What he's saying here is that when Jesus performs a miracle, the response is not. Wow. Look at how awesome I am. The response is, wow, look at how awesome God is and that the natural response to being rescued is praise Jesus. When you think about those that like a few years ago, there was a story of the Chilean miners who were stuck in a cave for days and days and days, right? And they got rescued and when they came out, what did they do? They kissed the ground, they breathe air, they didn't want to go. That's right. I did it. I survived your welcome world, right? The response is actually one of humility. The response is like, wow, I've been saved. I've been rescued. What he's saying here is that the response to the miracle is repentance because you have the power to heal because you have the power to save because you have the power to go from death to life. I am going to turn from my ways, my sins to yours. And that then the response or the results of the miracle is refreshment. You see that you have a miracle, you have repentance, then you have refreshment. Why? Because you humble yourselves to the absolute authority. That is God verse 21 says whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. And he would go on and quote Moses and Abraham and Samuel. The response to God is not, oh, I can do whatever I want. Now, the response to God is wow, I'm a sinner. I don't deserve this God. Here it is. My life to repent is to turn doing student ministries. Uh for years, you get all these stories of testimonies and I love it and I love the stories. Uh But one of the most common mistakes that I, you don't want to correct because they're like really passionate is that the student were gonna be like God is so powerful because of God. I turned my life around 360 degrees and I was like it, God is good praise God. OK? And then later is like, it's like 180. You want 180 this way now, this way, sorry to make this side the sinful side. But you just kind of look a little more pagan. Um like here here, right, we're getting off track. All right, the response to a miracle is repentant. The result of the miracle is refreshment. It's not look at me, it's look at God, I submit my life to your authority. The name of Jesus brings with it a new life. The name of Jesus brings with it absolute authority. Third, the name of Jesus brings with it miraculous transformation because not only is this transformation of the man who was healed, but also the transformation of Peter and John. See the leaders get this here. The leaders did not like what was going on. There's two groups, the sadducees and the Pharisees who together form the 70 people political component there in the town called the San Hendre. Now the Pharisees, we're actually seeing a little bit more on the liberal side. The sadducees are more on the conservative side, not like how we think about in our culture, but one so is like it's more about the people and following all these rules and we're gonna add lots of rules um so that we can be extra biblical. And then the sadducees were more about political power found um in, in connection to Rome. And they didn't, they took a very literal translation. So they didn't believe in the resurrection of the dead. They didn't believe in miracles. They didn't believe things, it's about power, it's about authority and it's about law and they don't, they don't believe in the resurrection, which is why Paul keeps throwing it in their faces about the resurrection of Jesus. And also why random fact that in the gospels, you see Jesus interact with the Pharisees uh pre resurrection because it's about, there's a greater power and not about following rules but relationship and then post resurrection, you're gonna actually see him interact more with the sadducees because actually, no, there's new life and so kind of these connections, but only thing they agreed upon was that they didn't like Jesus. And so the Pharisees sadducees came together, didn't like Jesus killed him. He rose again. It's like, now what do we do? And so all these people are praising God for this healed person and like, I, I don't know what to do. Let's throw him in jail, right? Let's throw them in jail. They get to the next day and they, and they're standing now between the high priest or the chief priests and both of which come from the sad, you see grouping if you will. So they have more power, they have more wealth. Uh And they're like, what do we do with these fishermen dudes? OK. We pick up our story again. I'm gonna read just a couple of passages. Not all of it for time's sake. But here we go. Acts 41 and uh one through four. And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the sadducees came upon them greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. So you can see why they don't like that. Verse three. And they arrested them and they put them in custody until the next day for it was already evening. So this started at three o'clock, he started preaching and goes into the evening. He's like, ah, everyone's going crazy. What happens? Why were they upset? Well, because verse four, it says in many of those who heard the word believed and the number of men came to about 5000. So now the church goes from 3000 to 5000. Some commentaries actually say there's a lot more to that. It's like, is this a generic term of men? Is this a generic term or is this actually just counting the men? So then like the feeding of the 5000 ones? So maybe there's even more. There's thousands of believers. What do we do with this? They're starting to believe these fishermen and not us. They're taking our power. Skip down to verse seven says, and when they had set them in their midst, they inquired by what power or notice the word here by what name did you do this? You see they've already had a couple of revolts come up in their history and they just try to squash the name of that leader. And if you can squash the leader, you squash the revolt. So by what name did you do this? They're trying to hook them and say like who, who can we blame for this? And so we can lock them away and shut them up. Verse eight Peter. Now notice of the description filled with the Holy Spirit said to them rulers and people uh the people and elders if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man. By what means this man has been healed, then let it be known to all of you and all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified, he loves to just kind of stick it in here whom Jesus raised from the dead by him. This man is standing before you. Well, this Jesus the stone that was rejected by you, the builders which has become the cornerstone this summer when we went through Psalms, we share that this was a prophecy by David and now actually fulfilled here in this moment, kind of a cool connection by the way. Anyway, so he says, no, he is the cornerstone verse 12 and there is salvation and no one else for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Verse 13. Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated common men, they were astonished, they recognized that they had been with Jesus, but seeing the man who was healed was standing beside them, talk about a great piece of evidence exhibit a Steve, show him your legs, right? Like how are you gonna argue that? Right? The best evidence for the Christian faith is to transform life just gonna throw it out there. OK? He continues on and they're like, OK, I mean, technically this guy couldn't walk but now can walk. That's kind of a good thing. Uh So now are we like against helping people as wait a second, we're supposed to be the religious ones. They're not sure what he say. Well, let's just tell him not to talk about Jesus. You know what I mean? Let's just calm it down, right? And then, uh and then verse 21 jumping down, it says, and when they further threaten them, they let them go finding that there's no way to punish them because of the people. They were all praising God for what happened. And then verse 22 for the man on whom the sign of healing was performed was more than 40 years old. Do you know what this tells me is that if you can walk and jump past the age of 40 it's a miracle of God. All right. This verse hits different this year just saying no. The reason they include his age is because 40 years of a past that they knew. So they can't just like, well, he was faking it for 40 years. Hey, Peter was standing before the chief priest and high priest in the council. These are the same people that killed Jesus just two months prior, Peter denied Jesus three times and the last time he denied Jesus, it was a servant, slave girl that questioned him. He said, no, no, no, no, not me. So how do you go from denying Jesus from the lowest of low people in society to now standing before the most powerful people in the community. The same ones that kill Jesus and say you kill Jesus, you better repent. Or else that is the Holy Spirit and that is a miraculous transformation. Not only was that man healed, Peter was healed. Did you catch that in his heart? His mindset, his life was completely changed. 100 and 80 degrees. Last thing, the name of Jesus brings with it, empowered, boldness, empowered, boldness. They don't know what to do. They don't have any legal grounds to keep Peter and John locked up. Thousands of people are believing in Jesus. They're healed. So I don't know what to do. So just let them go. We'll figure it out another day. Go back to all the the first church and then now they go and they pray and we don't have time for all of the prayer. But it talks about creation, talks about inspiration of scripture, talks about how God is still in control. Even when the people, we don't agree with or believe in are in power? Hello? Ok. Look as the election approaches. Ok. We're gonna talk more and more about it, but just to try how to navigate it as a church. Ok. But for today's sake, can I just encourage you with this, that whatever party or whatever candidate wins can, can you just take confidence and courage in the fact that God is still in control in a world that is anxious and freaked out. We don't have to be as a church. Ok. Yes, be involved. Yes, vote, yes, engage, yes dialogue. We'll, we'll get into that a little bit more here in the next month or so as we try to navigate it together. But understand this, that even when it doesn't look great for us, that God is in control, OK? And so then they pray and let's pick up their prayer in verse 30 verse 29. And now Lord look upon their threats and grant your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness while you stretch out your hand to heal and signs and wonders are being performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus. And when they prayed the place in which they gathered together was shaken and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. I love that. I love that they prayed for healing. I love that they prayed for amazing things to happen. And then they also prayed God and whatever happens, we're going to be bold, empowered, boldness, everyday ordinary people with an extraordinary God. The name of Jesus creates a new normal. I want you to notice one last thing here before we pray those four things, new life, absolute authority, miraculous transformation, empowered, boldness. N am e hey, all four of those things comes from the name of Jesus. It was available to the disciples, it is available to you and to me when we embrace and then proclaim the name of Jesus to the world around us. So those are your two questions today? Number one, have you embraced the name of Jesus? Have you embraced it? Do you believe it? Do you believe it? Not just coming to church? Not just checking a box, but do you believe that the name of Jesus has the power to heal you, but more importantly, has the power to save you? And the reason I say it's more important because even if God heals you physically, if you don't trust him spiritually, you will be condemned to hell forever in my book. That's a bigger deal. So pray for healing now, but also understand this, that you can receive healing forever when you embrace believe and receive the name of Jesus in your life as Lord and Savior. It doesn't matter if it's been 40 years, four days, whatever your past, whatever your history is, God can work with you. And in you and through you, when you embrace it, the last thing then is, are you proclaiming the name of Jesus? If you have received Jesus into your life, if you have the Holy Spirit in your life, if you truly believe that you have new life, absolute authority, miraculous transformation and empowered, boldness, then why are we sitting on the sideline? Let's get in the game. Let's share our story. Let's share the good news of Jesus. Um I read the end, guess what God wins. We need to walk in that confidence and boldness to proclaim his name, to love and to serve and to share the good news of the gospel with the people around us. And it's, I'm telling you, it doesn't just have to be here. It's outside these walls. It's everyday life. It's everyday conversations with the people that you interact with. Your coworker, your family, your neighbor, wherever you are, share and show them that new life is available for them too. May we be a church that is marked by love and marked by boldness in what we believe and what we believe is not in us, but in the name of Jesus. Will you pray with me dear God? Just thank you for all those who are here today. God. If there's someone who doesn't know you, I pray that they would put their trust in you. God. We are sinners. We can't make it to heaven on our own. Very much like that lame beggar. There's nothing we could do to be healed. God. I pray that we can put our faith in you. Trust you as Lord and Savior. God, forgive us of our sins. We commit our lives to you gone. Help us to live in the power of your name and the power of your spirit to walk with boldness and proclaim the truth out in this community and beyond. We love you God. We receive you when we proclaim you today and your senses and we pray amen.