How Do You Handle Disappointment? | Acts 12:1-19 | Kevin Queen

It is good to be in the house this morning. If we have not had an opportunity to be at, my name is Nate and I'm the college faster here at Crosspoint. If this is your first time or your first time in a long time, we want to get to know you. So make sure you stop by our info center so that we can hear your story and help you get connected to this place. All of you go ahead and stand up with me as we prepare for worship. What we're going to do before we sing is actually invite our auditorium hosts down and practice generosity. I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you to every single one of you that give faithfully to this church. It is because of you that we are able to help people find and follow Jesus. Hey, and just a minute, we're going to sing a song called "Rejoice in the Lord." I don't know what your week has looked like. I don't know if you've had a great one or a bad one, but I know that every single one of us who have put our faith in Jesus have a reason to rejoice. And so right now, can we fill our mouths with praise and our hearts with worship as we adore King Jesus? Come on, cross point. Can we put our hands together like this? Yeah, come on, wake up. I like to get coffee in here. Come on, put your hands together.

Oh, yeah, sing it like this. ♪ Say rejoice in the Lord ♪ ♪ And again I say again I say yeah ♪ ♪ Rejoice in the Lord ♪ ♪ And again I say again I say ♪ ♪ You say come on ♪ ♪ Rejoice in the Lord and again ♪ ♪ Rejoice in the Lord ♪ ♪ Rejoice in the Lord ♪ ♪ And again I say again I say ♪ ♪ Always sing your praise ♪ ♪ To the Lord for He alone is good ♪ ♪ And His love when He goes ♪ ♪ Forever and always, always, always ♪ ♪ Always, always ♪ ♪ Come on, put it up, put it up, put it up, let's go ♪ ♪ Yeah, let's sing it again, say ♪ ♪ Rejoice in the Lord ♪ ♪ And again I say again I say ♪ ♪ Rejoice in the Lord ♪ ♪ Ooh, and I say ♪ ♪ Let's go, always sing your praise ♪ ♪ To the Lord for He alone is good ♪ ♪ And His love when He goes ♪ ♪ Forever and always, He goes ♪ ♪ To the Lord for He alone is good ♪ ♪ And His love when He goes ♪ ♪ Forever and always, always, always ♪ ♪ And His love when He goes ♪ ♪ Always, always ♪

♪ The Lord woke me up and put breath in my lungs ♪ ♪ That's why I prayed ♪ ♪ Come on, the Lord made His mercy rise ♪ ♪ With the sun, sun, sun ♪ ♪ That's why I prayed ♪ ♪ The Lord gives me blessings ♪ ♪ And I can't, I can't ♪ ♪ Let's go, always ♪ ♪ The Lord is working everything out ♪ ♪ That's why that's why I prayed ♪ ♪ The Lord came from heaven down to the earth ♪ ♪ That's why I prayed ♪ ♪ The Lord for the cross He did it His eyes ♪ ♪ Oh, always ♪ ♪ Oh, the Lord took the keys ♪ ♪ He took the brave ♪ ♪ That's why I prayed ♪ ♪ Come as the Lord is coming back one day ♪ ♪ That's why I prayed ♪ ♪ Always, always ♪ ♪ Singing praise to the Lord ♪ ♪ For He alone is good ♪ ♪ And His love when He goes tight ♪ ♪ Forever and always ♪ ♪ Singing praise to the Lord ♪ ♪ He alone is good ♪ ♪ And His love when He does ♪ ♪ Forever and ever and ever ♪ ♪ And always, always ♪ ♪ Always, that's why I prayed ♪

♪ That's why I prayed ♪ ♪ So, always, always ♪ ♪ Oh, He alone is good ♪ ♪ Take us by return ♪ ♪ That's why we don't ♪ ♪ That's okay ♪ ♪ Always ♪ ♪ Let's go ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ We're calling on you Lord ♪ ♪ Come on we sing this out ♪ ♪ I'm calling on the card and take us ♪ ♪ Who's loving us through generations ♪ ♪ I know that you will keep coming ♪ ♪ I'm calling on calling on the card of Moses ♪ ♪ The Lord who opened up the ocean ♪ ♪ I need you now to do the same thing for me ♪ ♪ Come on we're calling him right now and sing ♪ ♪ Oh come on my card I need you ♪ ♪ Oh come on my card I need you ♪ ♪ Oh come on my card I need you now ♪ ♪ I need you now ♪ ♪ Oh rock or I come ages ♪ ♪ I'm standing on your faithfulness ♪ ♪ On your faithfulness ♪ ♪ I feel faith thrashing in the room ♪ ♪ Come on we sing ♪ ♪ I'm calling on the card of Moses ♪ ♪ And save the rest of our glory ♪ ♪ I know I know with you all things ♪

♪ I'm possibly born ♪ ♪ I'm calling on the card and take us ♪ ♪ Made a shepherd boy courageous ♪ ♪ I make a face to a lion ♪ ♪ But I've got my own child ♪ ♪ Oh come on my card I need you ♪ ♪ Oh come on my card I need you now ♪ ♪ How I need you now ♪ ♪ Just wait to learn ♪ ♪ Oh rock or I'll go ages ♪ ♪ I'm standing on your faithfulness ♪ ♪ On your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Oh come on my card I need you now ♪ ♪ How I need you now ♪ ♪ How I need you is rock or I'll go ages ♪ ♪ Oh rock or I'll go ages ♪ ♪ I'm standing on your faithfulness ♪ ♪ On your faithfulness ♪ Come on whatever you need. He is here in the room right now. He hears your prayers. And so we sing this in faith. That he answers prayers. He is a miracle worker. ♪ You've heard your children ♪ ♪ You hear your children ♪ ♪ You are the same ♪ ♪ You are the same ♪ ♪ You answer prayers ♪ ♪ And you will answer ♪

♪ You are the same ♪ ♪ You are the one who will provide ♪ ♪ You will be providing ♪ ♪ You are the one who will provide ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ ♪ You are the same ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ ♪ You are the one who will provide ♪ ♪ You are the one who will provide ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ ♪ You are the one who will provide ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ ♪ You are the one who will provide ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ ♪ You are the one who will save ♪ Oh, come on, come on!

♪ I need you Lord ♪ ♪ I need you now ♪ ♪ I'm calling on you right ♪ ♪ Oh I'm calling on you right ♪ ♪ I'm standing on your face ♪ ♪ Oh Lord ♪ ♪ Oh no thanks ♪ ♪ Oh God my God I need you ♪ ♪ Oh God my God I need you now ♪ ♪ How I need you now ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, oh Lord ♪ ♪ I'm standing on your face ♪ ♪ Oh your face ♪ ♪ That's who you are ♪ ♪ To the faithful ♪ ♪ To the radical ♪ ♪ It's right to the end ♪ ♪ ♪ I'm calling on the Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Oh mighty river come fill me up ♪ ♪ Come on ask him ♪ ♪ Come and fill me up ♪ ♪ Come here ♪ ♪ Come and fill me up ♪ ♪ Oh God my God ♪ ♪ Oh God my God ♪ ♪ How I need you now ♪ ♪ He hears you ♪ ♪ Oh rock the rock ♪ ♪ I'm standing on your face ♪

♪ Oh my God I need you now ♪ ♪ ♪ Everything changed ♪ ♪ It's getting harder to recognize ♪ ♪ The person I was ♪ ♪ Before I encountered cries ♪ ♪ I don't walk like I used to ♪ ♪ Don't talk like I used to ♪ ♪ I've been washed from the inside ♪ ♪ I've been washed from the inside ♪ ♪ I'll let you ♪ ♪ I'll let you ♪ ♪ Oh it was the world ♪ ♪ Could have only been the world ♪ ♪ I'll let you ♪ ♪ I'll let you ♪ ♪ Oh it was the world ♪ ♪ Could have only been the world ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Could have only been the world ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ I cannot explain ♪ ♪ But nothing's more real than this ♪ ♪ If the presence of God ♪ ♪ Oh what my heart experience ♪ ♪ When I shake in the wayside ♪ ♪ And my sin had the rules that ♪ ♪ I was washed from the inside ♪ ♪ I was washed from the inside ♪ ♪ I'll let you ♪

♪ I'll let you ♪ ♪ Oh it was the world ♪ ♪ Could have only been the world ♪ ♪ I'll let you ♪ ♪ I'll let you ♪ ♪ Oh it was the world ♪ ♪ Could have only been the world ♪ ♪ Oh it was the world ♪ ♪ And there may be a revelation to all the men ♪ ♪ It says that we overcome by the blood of the land ♪ ♪ And the word of our testimony ♪ ♪ But how the people you know without the blood ♪ ♪ There is no testimony ♪ Come on, I'm striving for acceptance, let me tell you Come on, it's only by the blood, yeah, say it's never been a part to say it's already It's a gift, it's free, the gift, let me tell you You're so me by the blood, yeah, say it's anybody you want to be on Your heart takes us all, you're invited, it's marvelous, let me tell you Come on, it's only by the blood, yeah, say it's only by the blood, yeah, say it's already one of me, worthy, for me, baby I'm striving for, let me tell you, it's only by the blood, yeah, say it's already, oh, come on, I'm ready to do, yeah, I know we want some blood Could have only been the blood, I know, yeah, say it's only by the blood, I know we want some blood Could have only been the blood, it's only by the blood, yeah, say it's only by the blood ♪ I'm so thankful for you ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I never knew you ♪ ♪ I never knew you ♪ ♪ No, it was the blood ♪ ♪ Could've only been the blood ♪ ♪ I never knew you ♪ ♪ How they knew you ♪

♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ Could've only been the blood ♪ ♪ Say, "How they knew you" ♪ ♪ Come on ♪ ♪ If you know what the blood said ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ What? ♪ ♪ How they knew you ♪ ♪ How they knew you ♪ ♪ Come on ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ Come on, family ♪ ♪ It's nothing that we can do ♪ ♪ To ever earn this ♪ ♪ There's nothing that we can do ♪ ♪ To ever deserve this ♪ ♪ We can't earn it ♪ ♪ Jesus earned it for us ♪ ♪ Please follow His lead to the cross ♪ ♪ He was crushed for us ♪ ♪ Following His lead with never crushed us ♪ ♪ He took it ♪ ♪ It'll never defeat us ♪ ♪ He defeated it ♪ ♪ He set up a cross as finished ♪ ♪ There's nothing that we can do ♪ ♪ To be understanding ♪ ♪ Jesus did it ♪ ♪ So we are singing and bleeding the blood ♪ ♪ Over all of our lives ♪

♪ We're singing and bleeding the blood ♪ ♪ Over every situation ♪ ♪ We're bleeding and singing the blood ♪ ♪ Over every circumstance ♪ ♪ Because without Him ♪ ♪ Nothing is possible ♪ ♪ Without Him ♪ ♪ Nothing is possible ♪ ♪ Without Him ♪ ♪ Nothing is possible ♪ ♪ But we're here ♪ ♪ Everything is available ♪ ♪ So we sing highest praise ♪ ♪ Say halle ♪ ♪ Say halle ♪ ♪ Say halle ♪ ♪ Say halle ♪ ♪ Say ♪ ♪ Halle ♪ ♪ Halle ♪ ♪ Halle ♪ ♪ Halle ♪ ♪ Halle ♪ ♪ No one wants to love ♪ ♪ It could have only been ♪ ♪ We sing to the blood ♪ ♪ Halle ♪ ♪ Halle ♪ ♪ Halle ♪ ♪ Halle ♪

♪ Halle ♪ ♪ Halle ♪ ♪ Halle ♪ ♪ No one wants to love ♪ ♪ Come on, lift your hands ♪ ♪ All over the room say halle ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ Come on, sir ♪ ♪ I know we want to love ♪ ♪ It could have only been ♪ ♪ The blood ♪ ♪ Say halle ♪ ♪ Say halle ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ Come on, sir ♪ ♪ I know we want to love ♪ ♪ It could have only been ♪ ♪ The blood ♪ ♪ Take our hand ♪ ♪ Our hand is here ♪ ♪ The glory was the blood ♪ ♪ And the Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Holy, you Jesus ♪ ♪ Holy, you Jesus ♪ (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) And today, we're continuing our series in the book of Acts, and last week, we looked at Acts chapter 11, and so when we talk about generosity and living generously, I want you to see this is not something that we've invented, this is what the church did.

And Acts chapter 11, you've got the momentum of what's happened in the church, and they perceived a need in the future, and then everybody came together and did what they could. They gave as they were able, and they saw God show up in that. So Acts chapter 11 is the momentum. Acts chapter 12 that we're going to look at today. Well, that's the mystery. There's mystery in Acts chapter 12, because God is moving, and we see this move of God, and they're experiencing a move of God, and then at the same time they experience something. That they don't understand. That's what we're going to see together. Let me ask you a question as we enter in. Have you ever prayed for something, and then something different happened? Have you ever hoped for something, hoped that something would take place, and put your belief in God, believed God for something, and then something else is what you experience. This is what we're going to look at today. In Acts chapter 12, but before we get into that, let me tell you a story. In early in 2017, since God's call to cross point, our family lived in Atlanta, Georgia, and early on in that year, felt like God had called us to cross point. The thing is we didn't know anybody at cross point. It had never been to cross point in Nashville, but felt like God was telling us that that was the case, and that we couldn't tell anybody. That's an interesting place to be. Very early on in that year, my dad sent me a text, and the text was a link to an article about the Columbia Bar Crossing. It's in a story of Oregon. It's where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean, and it's one of the most tumultuous crossings, bar crossings in the world. In fact, there were more shipwrecks there than any other place at that time, and so I was reading about it, and really the first time that I'd seen about it, they took these, they call them pilots. They took these folks, and they would actually lower them down into the ships to help navigate the channel. And I felt like God was saying, "That's what I'm going to do with you, Kevin." And I'm thinking, "Well, that's interesting, because I've never been a lead pastor before. I've never captained a ship, and I've never done that before. I have no idea what to do, but I felt like God was saying, "That's what I'm going to do with you." So you can imagine, my surprise, that was in January of 2017, when three months later, I get a text from somebody connected to a cross point, saying, "Hey, cross point wants to talk with you about the lead pastor position." Come to find out, they saw a video, a clip of a teaching on Facebook. God works in mysterious ways, and so that was how that came to be. So in August of 2017, our family is driving in a U-Haul, and we're headed north on 75. And so we started in 2017, and two and a half years later was 2020, which if you don't know, that was a wild time to be a pastor. 2020 was a wild time to be alive, but especially being a pastor, I'll tell you, it aged me like a president. I used to have dark hair, I used to have hair, and there was just 2020, in March 3rd, a tornado hit our Nashville campus, and then March 14th, a pandemic shut down the world. And there was the political division, and there was the racial tension, and the economic crisis, and people lost their jobs in the marketplace, and people lost their minds online. And I experienced, probably like you, I experienced significant losses, both personally and professionally. And it seemed like every time that I would get my feet under me, another crisis would hit. And I'll tell you, I barely made it through. And when we finally got to the other side of that, I cashed in my sky mops, because I felt like I was supposed to go to that place.

and I felt drawn to that place to look out over the Pacific Ocean, that place where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean, that tumultuous place. And so I actually did that. I actually went to that spot, and I hiked out to an overlook where there was a lighthouse. And do you know what that place was called? Cape Disappointment. The place where the Pacific Ocean meets the Columbia River, the tumultuous place was called Cape Disappointment, which has me wondering, have you ever been there? Not in the story of Oregon. Have you been there in real life? Have you been to the place where your expectations met reality? Have you been to the place where you had great hopes, but something else different happened? Have you ever been to Cape Disappointment? Maybe you didn't make the cut. Maybe somebody else got the job. Maybe you were fired or you were let go, or the scan came back positive. Maybe you lost somebody that you loved, or it was a pregnancy that never happened, or a relationship that ended, or somebody that you thought would always be there walked away. Has anybody ever been to Cape Disappointment? Can you just raise our hands? I sat on a picnic table that was next to that lighthouse, and I had my journal, and I felt like the spirit brought to me to just write down every disappointment that I'd faced

in the past few years. And so I just started writing them down. And I got a little weepy, and I'm writing them down. And after I finished writing them all down, I was exhausted, so I took a nap. True story, I took a nap. I'm sure people walked up to that spot, saw some dude just sleeping on -- I thought all kinds of things, but I was exhausted. It was a long list, and I was thinking Cape Disappointment is an exhausting place. It's a tumultuous place where reality is met with our expectations. And so it's one thing to be disappointed by someone. It's another thing to be disappointed with God. It's another thing to be disappointed when you've prayed for one thing and experienced another. When it seems like God could have intervened, but something else happened. And that's the question. What do we do with that? That leads us into Acts, chapter 12. We're going to look at two apostles, Peter and James, in their lives. And so before we begin in verse 1, let me just set this back up and remind us that in Acts, chapter 1-8, Jesus tells the disciples, He says, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth."

And this becomes kind of a roadmap for the whole book. It's just telling us that the Holy Spirit is going to come upon them, and we receive the power to be witnesses. And they go from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria. And now we're looking at where they go to the ends of the earth, to go to the Gentiles, Gentiles meaning non-Jews, meaning the other nations. God is telling them that we're going to take this to the ends of the earth. And in Acts chapter what we saw a couple chapters ago, Peter was given this instruction by God to basically pull up a chair. That the gospel is for the Gentiles too. That the non-Jews get in on the gospel. And so God is moving among the nations. The gospel is expanding. And what happens is they experience persecution at home, which is to be thinking when we experience the move of God in our lives, when God is moving, when we're taking ground spiritually, when we're taking territory, oftentimes that's when we'll experience attack. That the enemy comes with discouragement and with doubts and with division, and the enemy comes with disappointment. That there's a tag that happens when we start to move, when we start to get momentum spiritually. And I've seen it personally, I've seen it in the church, that where they're moving forward and there's momentum, well, there's a spiritual attack. And we see it in Acts chapter 12. They face persecution back home in Jerusalem. It says about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.

And when he saw this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the festival of unleavened bread. So this is Herod Agrippa. This is the grandson of Herod the Great. If you remember, Herod the Great was the one who -- remember who Herod the Great was? He was the one who tried to kill Jesus when he was a baby. And now we have the grandson. this small band of Jesus' followers in Jerusalem because the religious establishment saw this as a threat. And so what does he do? He arrests some believers and he goes after James. Now, this is not James, the brother of Jesus. This is James, one of the apostles, one of the disciples, one of the, one of the inner three, and Herod kills him. And when Herod sees that James death benefits him politically, what does he, what does he do? He goes after Peter. I'll put in my notes this way. "Insecure leaders chase the applause of man. Insecure leaders chase the applause of man." And so Herod goes after, goes after Peter, arrests him. And all of this takes place during the feast of unleavened bread, which means this was Passover time. Now, if you'll remember, Passover time was when Jesus was arrested and crucified. So you've got to think for those early believers, they're thinking this is familiar. We know what this is like. They're thinking maybe the same fate for Peter that Jesus experienced. So I want you to put yourself in their position. They just lost a brother. They just lost a friend. They lost one of their leaders in apostle James. Somebody they loved asking the question, "Where were you, God?" Like you could have preserved his life. I was going back in Acts chapter 5. God did it before. It says they arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night, the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. So God opened doors before. Why didn't he open doors for James this time? God could have preserved his life. And if anybody should have got a pass through suffering, a fast pass around suffering, you would think it would be James. And he was one of the inner three. He was one of Jesus' closest friends. Wouldn't he be able to escape suffering? But then that reminded me of Mark. We studied Mark last year in Mark chapter 10, James and John, the two brothers, they come to Jesus. And they come to him and they ask him a question. They said, they replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in

glory." Jesus said, "You don't know what you're asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" They said, "We can." And what's Jesus talking about? He's talking about the cup of suffering. See, they wanted the glory, but nobody volunteers for the cup. Nobody wants the cup of suffering, but nobody escapes suffering in this life. That suffering is a part of us living in a broken fallen world filled with uncertainty, where things are not as they as they should be. Following Jesus does not mean we will not suffer. It means we will never suffer alone. Following Jesus does not mean that we escape suffering. It doesn't mean that we will not suffer. It means we will never suffer alone. And one day Jesus will restore all things. One day all things will be made new and all things will be as they should be. I was talking with my friend Marissa who leads our God behind bars ministry and she was talking about when she prayed for her mom's healing. And she was praying and she was contending and believing and asking God to heal her mom. And she shared with me about how when that didn't happen. When that didn't happen, when her healing didn't happen this side of heaven, she said I was heartbroken. She said, Kevin, I'm heartbroken and disappointed, but I am not destroyed. She said, my worst day was my mom's best day. That she was with the one that she loves. That she saw Jesus face to face. Following Jesus does not mean we won't be disappointed. It means we will not be destroyed. And Peter is suffering. And one of his best friends just died. One of his best friends just lost his life and he's grieving and he's trying to process what's taking place. But before he can even do that, he's arrested too, verse four. After arresting him, Herod put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. So Peter is locked up and Herod puts four This is maximum security that's taking place. But Herod wants to make a statement to Peter. Maybe he's heard about how the apostles got out before. He wants to make a statement, you're not getting out of this. And so Herod has all the guards and he has all the walls and he has all the bars and he has all the chains, but the church has prayer. See, Herod has all the things that could be seen,

but the church was talking to the one who could not be seen, but have power over all things. And we're going to see what happens. And what I want you to see is that prayer is how the church responds to disappointment. Prayer is how the church responds to disappointment. Look at what they do. They bring all of their loss and all of their pain and all of their confusion and all of their uncertainty. They bring their lament and their disappointment and they bring it to God even though they don't understand God, what he's doing, they still bring their hearts to God. And they call a prayer meeting. We don't understand what happened to James, but we don't want that to happen to Peter and so they pray. Even though we didn't get the miracle that we wanted in the past, God, we're still going to continue to come to you. See, prayer is where we bring our desperation. The desperation is the language of the kingdom. See, what prayer says is God, we can't handle this on our own. God, we need you. We don't just pray when we feel like it. We pray when we need God, spoiler alert, we need God all the time. I don't know if there's anything more arrogant than a prayerless life. To say, God, I got this. I got this on our own. And our disappointments remind us that we don't have this on our own. But the gospel reminds us that we are never alone.

And so we bring our heavy hearts to God. We bring our prayer to Him. And disappointment can either drive you away from God or it can drive us toward God. It can drive us to Him. Spurgeon said it this way. He said, "I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the rock of ages." It drove Him toward God. Their disappointment drove them toward God. And it says they earnestly prayed. That idea there is they stretched out themselves in prayer. They poured out their heart to God. He said, "Jesus, you said when two or three gather in your name, you're right there with Him. And Jesus, we need your presence. We need your power. We need your peace." And so they prayed. And look what happens next. Verse 6. It says, "The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Peter is asleep." No melatonin. And like his impeding death, his certain death is the next day. And he's able to sleep. Now this is the same Peter who wrote in 1 Peter 5'7, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." So Peter knew the secret. The peace was to bring his anxieties, bring his concerns,

bring all the things that his hearts cared about and bring it to God because listen, if it matters to you, it matters to God. And so Peter brings his concerns to God and he's sleeping. He's got peace. Verse 7. It says, "Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared in light shown in the cell and he struck Peter on the side and woke him up." Like a wife, jabs her husband to get him to stop snoring. I've heard that that's what happens to some people. But this angel wakes him up and says, "Quick, get up," he said, "and the chains fell off Peter's wrists." Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and your sandals." And Peter did so. "Rap your cloak around you and follow me," the angel told him. And Peter followed him out of the prison. He had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening. He thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself and they went through it. And when they walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. And then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen." So Peter's out. I want you to see a detail in this passage. The detail in this passage is this. He didn't know that he was out until he was out. He didn't know what was happening until he was out,

which gives us this truth. That you can be, just because you can't see what God is doing doesn't mean that God's not moving. You can be living in the middle of answered prayers and not recognize it and not see it. until he was already out. You can be living in the middle of an answered prayer and not know it at the time. John Piper said it this way. He said, "God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them." That God is working. Peter couldn't see it. Once you see, he just kept doing the next thing, taking the next step, put on your gloves, get up, start walking, pass the guards, gate opens. He's just doing the next thing that God leads him to do. And God leads him to freedom. What does he do when he's out? Verse 12, "When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying." So Peter shows up, he goes to the prayer meeting. Peter knocked on the outer entrance and the servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed that she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter's at the door. You are out of your mind," they told her.

And when she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel." But Peter kept on knocking. He's still knocking there. And when they opened the door, they saw him and they were astonished. Rhoda answers the door. Poor Rhoda. Like she said, "Who's there?" And he says, "Peter." She says, "That sounds like Peter." So she's excited and she runs back. Now everybody gives Rhoda a hard time because she didn't open the door. But like, I want you to see what the church did. The church said, "You are out of your mind." Which here's what this does. It takes the formula out of it. 'Cause sometimes we can read it past like this. They say, "Well, if you just have enough faith, "then God will do what you want him to do." I want you to see the level of faith. They were praying things that they struggled to believe. So it's not about the size of your faith, it's about the size of your God. That it's about us continuing to bring our petition and bring our request and bring our hearts to God and bring our disappointment to God and bring it to him. And so they bring these things to him. That's the power of prayer.

Prayer is the presence of God. It's where we experience, the presence of God. It's where we pull up a chair with God. It's not where we pretend like we have it all together. Just read the Psalms, a record of David's prayer, a record of prayers of just this petition, this lament and the questions and the uncertain, how long ago God? But do you have a place where you bring God your heart? And so we see here that the church, they're bringing their heart to God, not as a vending machine to do what they want. But saying, God, you are a Father in heaven and we can trust you, faith is trusting God. Regardless the outcome, we ask, we seek, we knock. But the beauty of prayer is that we experience His presence and it's from His presence, we experience His peace. We see His power. There is mystery here. There is far more mystery than maybe we often admit. But it's in that place of prayer that we realize that we are far more loved than we've ever imagined. And prayer is where we encounter the love of God. And so the church is praying together. It's thinking about the place of prayer where I took that nap on that picnic table. I just stretched it out on the table and just took it out. And then when I woke up, I was thinking, man, I need somebody to pray for me. I just need somebody to pray for me.

I was out West Coast didn't know anybody. And so I Googled prayer service. I think it was a midweek, not just Google prayer service. I was driving up to meet a friend of mine in Seattle. I got there a day early. So I get to Seattle and when I Googled it, it said that there was a prayer service at the Seattle Revival Center, great name for a place. And it was a prayer service called "The Touch of Yeshua." And I was like, I just need a touch. And so I went and showed up there and they asked for my name. And I don't know, maybe it's a little bit of cynicism, but I didn't give my middle name, my first and middle name, didn't give my last name. I was like, I don't want them to know anything about me. I just kind of Kevin Riley and I told him that and I asked for forgiveness later. And so I asked for a prayer. They set me up with these two guys. And so we sat down at a table and there were two guys that were sat down with chairs. There were two guys that were sitting there. And one of the guys was a construction where they were gonna pray with me. One of the guys was a construction worker and he was a hype man. And so he sat down and he just started trying to hype me up The other man was a Persian businessman and he looked at me and said, "I think I have a word from God for you." He said, "Really?" He said, "Yeah." He said, "Do you know how to stop a train?" And I said, "Just remove the track?" He said, "No, it's not that hard."

He said, "If you want to stop a train, all you have to do is put a crowbar in the wheel and then the train won't go." He looked at me and he said, "You're a locomotive." He said, "There are people following you." And the enemy has put a crowbar in your wheel. He said, "Do you know what that crowbar is named?" I said, "No." He said, "Disappointment." He said, "Let me just take you back." Earlier that morning, I was at a place called Cape Disappointment. I wouldn't even tell him my last name, but that was God saying, "Kevin, I know you by name. I know your dress. I know every disappointment that you're carrying in your heart will you surrender it to me." I was, as I had been carrying disappointment with God rather than bringing my disappointment to God. And the dangerous part about disappointment is the enemy wants to use it to cause distance. But God wants to use it to lead us to dependence, to bring our disappointment to him. And so the thing they were praying for was right outside the door, but it took faith to open it up. Peter motioned with his hands for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. "Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this," he said. And then he left for another place. I love this. James just, Peter's just gone. Now this is the James he talks, he's talking about here is the brother of Jesus. He's the leader of the church in Jerusalem. Verse 18, it says, "In the morning there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter, and under Roman law a guard would suffer the penalty of the prisoner that they lost." And after Herod had made a thorough search, a thorough search was made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. Now this sets up where we'll be next week. But today, I want us to think about what's going on here. I was thinking about that. Sometimes God opens the door, and sometimes he doesn't. Sometimes God brings the healing, and sometimes the healing happens in heaven. Sometimes the things that we've been praying for, the miracle happens, and sometimes we were left with questions. Neither James' death or Peter's deliverance defines God's goodness. The cross does that. The cross reveals the goodness of God and the love of God. And when you don't know what to do with your disappointment, can I encourage you? Look to Jesus. Bring your disappointment to Jesus because he experienced disappointment for us. The word tells us that he is our high priest who's experienced, he's encountered, he's known our suffering,

he's known the temptation in every way, he's experienced our sorrow. And he suffered sorrow, he suffered for us so that we could be made right with God. I want you to think about that, the betrayal and the loss and the fear and the uncertainty that Jesus experienced it all. And think about him in the garden there, in the garden and as he's praying with the Father. This is what he does with the disappointment he experienced. He takes it to the Father. In earnest prayer, he pours out his heart for the Father and he says this, he says, Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me. Like if there's any other way than for me to experience this cup of suffering, Father, take it from me. And then he says, but not my will, but yours be done. And Peter and James were there, says they were within a stone's throat. They heard this prayer of Jesus saying, Father, if there's any other way. But then he said, not my will, but yours be done. And the Father didn't take the cup, but instead the Father gave him strength to carry the cup. Say that you may suffer, but you don't. this week as I've been thinking about this in Isaiah where the prophet says that Jesus took our pain that he took our suffering that he took it upon himself that Jesus took our sorrow and growing up I was I was really familiar with with communion and that in communion that Jesus took our sin but the truth that I'm that I'm then I'm learning this week is that that Jesus did not just take our sin but he he also took our suffering that he took our disappointment that he took the consequence of sin in this fallen broken world that he took it upon himself and so that we can bring our disappointment to him that Jesus his body was broken so that we could experience healing so that we could be restored with a holy God and in communion he says come to the table receive his body broken receive his blood poured out and that in doing so we experience his power and presence yes this is a remembrance but it's so much more than a remembrance this power impresses and so today the invitation is going to be to come to the table to receive the cross point we we observe open table communion which means if you've trusted Jesus as your lord and savior you are welcome to receive if you've turned from your sin and turned to him and in repentance if you desire to live at peace with others well this table is for you and if you've not yet trusted Jesus then today can be the day the Bible says today is the day of salvation my encouragement would be for you to put your trust in Jesus you're hoping him

and by coming to the table today an expression of that faith and that belief of saying Jesus I receive life with you and so today when you come to the table my prayer is that there would be healing for your heart that you bring in the moment you bring your sorrow you bring your suffering you bring your questions you bring uncertainty you bring disappointment and you bring it to him that you cast your cares on him because the one who gave his life he cares for you and so I want to pray and then we'll be invited to receive father we thank you we thank you that you have loved us so much that you gave your one and only son that Jesus you bore our sin our transgressions our wrongs you bore our sin upon the cross on yourself but you have also received our sorrow and our sufferings and so today I pray for healing for hearts pray that in this moment as we come to the table that we would encounter the healing it comes only from you I pray just like Peter experienced those chains falling off that there would be freedom that happens today in Jesus the end of great amen this is your body that was broken for me this is your blood that was poured out a sacrament that goes beyond remembering your power working here and now so as I take the blood and body I've remembered your kindness toward me love divine grace on that day this is more Only love And no bread is flesh and parts of darkness And if no one transmits his blood Filling everything for heart to know A grace I've yet to fully know So as I take the blood above me I remember your kindness toward me The love deep on grace on ending This is more than just remembering This is love Only love This is love Only love Just as the twelve were gathered from your table

For here we stand before you now To take some mercy from our wounded Savior To see his hands, his feet, and his brow The supper to foreshadow what's coming The meal that's filling us with faith The bread of presence and the cup of power Of His deeds are all here today So as I take the blood and body Oh I remember your kindness toward me The love deep on grace on ending This is more than just remembering This is love Only love This is love Only love So as I take the blood and body I remember your kindness toward me The love deep on grace on ending This is more than just remembering This is love Only love Only love We think it's more for her We think it's more than just We think it's more than just (soft music) (gentle music) Remember, your kindness towards me Love divine, grace on the deep This is more than just our memory

Love Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus

Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus ♪ I don't live here ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ It could have only been ♪ ♪ In the blood I made ♪

♪ And I made you cry ♪ ♪ Oh God, my love is right here ♪ ♪ Oh God, my love is right here ♪ ♪ I made you cry ♪ ♪ I made you cry ♪ ♪ Was it me ♪ ♪ It could have only been the blood ♪ ♪ I made you cry ♪ ♪ I made you cry ♪ ♪ Oh it was the blood ♪ ♪ It could have only been the blood ♪ ♪ It could have only been the blood ♪ ♪ It could have only been the blood ♪ you