It Grows With Boldness | Missing Messiah

Welcome to REACH KC everybody, it's so great to have you with us. I just want to invite y'all to stand up if you're not already standing up and join in with us. Even though I don't deserve it, I did it. Even though I can't endure it, I give it. Who am I that you keep me on your mind? God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. All my life, you've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. Oh, oh, there's only one. And I can't live without you. For all that you've done. Even though I don't deserve it, I did it. Even though I can't endure it, I give it. Who am I that you keep me on your mind? God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. All my life, you've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. All my life. All my life. And I, I left you both on my hands. But you gave me chance after chance, after chance. And I, I'm giving all that I am. But you gave me chance after chance, after chance. And I, I left you both on my hands. But you gave me chance after chance, after chance. And I, I'm giving all that I am.

But you gave me chance after chance, after chance. And I, I left you both on my hands. But you gave me chance after chance, after chance. And I, I'm giving all that I am. But you gave me chance after chance, after chance. Who am I that you keep me on your mind? God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. All my life, you've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. Who am I that you keep me on your mind? God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. All my life, you've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. I've survived and I'm here to testify. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. If they say I'm out of my mind, God, I'm just grateful for you. And I'm just grateful for you. Hey! Woo! Who thought I'd find you at the lowest place? Who thought you'd feel me in the crowd? Who knew you'd make good at my mistakes? Nothing like I thought you were, you're bad. What a guy, what a guy. What a guy, what a guy.

Oh, what a guy, what a guy. What a guy, what a guy. I thought you'd show up for perfection. What kind of God looks for the lost? They say it's over for a sinner. Oh, and you said, no, it's not, no, it's not. I thought, I thought you'd show up for perfection. What kind of God looks for the lost? They say it's over for a sinner. Oh, and you said, no, it's not, no, it's not. And you say, no, it's not, no, it's not. What a guy, what a guy. What a guy, what a guy. What a guy, what a guy. What a guy, what a guy. Oh, what a guy, what a guy. What a guy, what a guy. What a guy, it's who you are. What a guy, what a guy. The highest place I'll reach in a day or three. And I've done it all. The best thing that I've seen is your glory. And I've seen it all. Your love has saved my life. Forever standing tall. You are my heaven. The highest place I'll reach in a day or three. And I've done it all. The best thing that I've seen is your glory. And I've seen it all.

Your love has saved my life. Forever standing tall. You are my heaven. If the highest place I'll reach is at your feet. Then I've done it all. The best thing that I've seen is your glory. And I've seen it all. Your love has saved my life. Forever standing tall. You are my everything. If one word is the only thing you need. Then I've heard it all. If I feel your heart and never see your end. I still have it all. Your treasured love is I. Forever standing tall. You are my everything. You are my everything. You are my everything. What a God, what a God. What a God, what a God. What a God, what a God What a God, what a God Yeah What a God, what a God At the highest place I reached into your hand And I've done it all At the first thing that I've seen is your glory And I've seen it all Your love has saved my life

For every second of time You are my everything At the highest place I reached into your hand And I've done it all At the first thing that I've seen is your glory And I've seen it all Your love has saved my life For every second of time You are my everything Oh, what is the only thing you say And I've heard it all But I'm in your heart And never see your end I still have it all Your treasure, your desire Good and satisfied You are my everything Oh, what is the only thing you say And I've heard it all But I'm in your heart And never see your end I still have it all Your treasure, your desire Good and satisfied You are my everything You are my everything Yes, you are You are my everything Oh, Lord You are my everything

You are my everything You are my everything You are my everything You are my everything You are my everything You are my everything You are my everything You are my everything You are my everything You are my everything Death of my home The veil torn before me You silence the voice Of sin and grave The heavens are roaring The praise of your glory For you are raised to life again You have no rival You have no equal Now and forever God you reign Yours is the kingdom Yours is the glory Yours is the name What a powerful name What a powerful name ♪ What a powerful name it is. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus Christ. What a powerful name it is. Nothing can stand against. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus. ♪ They're putting our hope. The veil falling for you. You silence the voice of sin and grace. The heavens are roaring. The praise of your glory. For you are raised to life again. You have no rival. You have no equal. Now and forever God you reign. Yours is the kingdom. Yours is the glory. Yours is the name. ♪ What a powerful name it is. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus Christ. What a powerful name it is. Nothing can stand against. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus. ♪ What a powerful name it is. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus.

♪ All my life you have been faithful. And all my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, I receive a goodness. ♪ All my life you have been faithful. And all my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, I receive a goodness. ♪ All my life you have been faithful. And all my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, I receive a goodness. ♪ All my life you have been faithful. And all my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, I receive a goodness. ♪ All my life you have been faithful. And all my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, I receive a goodness. ♪ All my life you have been faithful. And all my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, I receive a goodness. ♪ Your goodness is running after, it's running after me. Your goodness is running after, it's running after me. ♪ With your life laid down, I'm surrendered now ♪ ♪ I give you everything ♪ ♪ Your goodness is running in me, it's running after me ♪ ♪ It just keeps running, you're so painful ♪ ♪ You never let me go, you never let me go ♪ ♪ All my life you have been a pain ♪ ♪ All my life you have been so, so good ♪ ♪ With every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God ♪ We're gonna do this again. Cause I feel a heaviness in the room. I don't know if anybody else feels it. I don't know what it is that people are hanging on to this morning that is just a struggle. But there is something that is heavy this morning. And I want it to shift. I want it to break. Cause I want to bring a word that is gonna resonate in our hearts today that the Lord has placed on my heart. And before it's there, I need the soil cultivated. And so God, we just pray right now that it would break and we're gonna worship you. We're gonna worship you in this moment. Come on, we're just gonna press in. Let's just, let's lead this song again. And we're just gonna believe that the goodness of God is pursuing us. That he is seeking after us.

And we're gonna press into him. So in this moment, if you're dealing with something, I want to press into the moment. Press into the presence of God. And believe that the goodness of God is chasing after us. Come on, let's sing it church. Let's sing it church. Come on, it's chasing us down. Come on, worship through the anxiety. Let's worship through the pain. Come on. Only you can do it God. Come on, I'm laying it all down God. It's chasing us down. Oh, it's chasing us. All my life you have been paid. Yes, you have. Yes Lord. All my life you have been so, so good. You've never failed me. With every breath that I am able. I will sing of the goodness of God. All my life you have been faithful. Come on, lift your hands across this room. All my life you have been so, so good. Yes, you have God. With every breath that I am able. I will sing of the goodness of God. I will sing of the goodness of God. I will sing of the goodness of God. ♪♪

I feel like there's some people in the room right now that... Let's just keep playing softly, team. I don't know where we're gonna go, but hold on. Because there are some people in the room that I feel are just hanging on to some stuff that need to release it right now, in Jesus' name. And I don't know what it is. I don't even typically detour like this, but I just feel like there's something in the room that is holding you back and that is keeping you bound and held hostage, there is secret sin that is even in your life that needs to be released right now, in Jesus' name. And I'm believing that it's going to come out right now, in Jesus' name. And so if there is some people that are struggling right now, I wanna go back into this team for just a moment so we can give them a second to do this. Because I just don't think we can push forward. And so is what we're gonna do is if that's you, hey, don't worry about what anybody else around you is thinking for just a moment. But let's just believe that God is going to do this. And I want you to just come down here to the altar. If there is something that somebody is hanging on to and dealing with, I just want you to come down to the altar and just release it right now as we just begin to just worship for a moment because I don't think that we can move forward in this service while we're hanging on to these things. And I believe that this is what is going to unleash the word that the Lord wants to place in this room today.

Come on, break it, God, something has to break. Lord, have your way right now. Come on, we release it right now in the name of Jesus. Spirit, break out in this room. Spirit, break out is what it is. Have your way, God. Have your way, Lord. Come on, maybe it's not you. Let's just lift our hands in this place and worship for just a moment, church. Come on. Come on, church. Come on, church. Come on, church, we release it right now. We release it. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. Come in this room and have your way this morning, God. ♪ Down, here they come now ♪ ♪ Here they come now ♪ ♪ Down, here they come now ♪ ♪ Down, here they come now ♪ I just pray peace right now in this room. That there would be peace of mind that there would be peace of spirit that there would be peace and unity because only where unity is is where the spirit of the Lord can flow. So we pray for unity in the room right now that anything that is not of it

would be rebuked in Jesus' name. That God, you would have your way in this moment that you would shift the atmosphere and that we would feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in the room right now. That there would be no anxiety, that there would be no depression, that there would be no suicidal thoughts, that there would be no addiction flowing through your mind but that only the peace of the Lord would flow right now. That insecurities would be moved in Jesus' name. So Holy Spirit, we invite you. We pray for unity of your Spirit in this moment. It's not about us, it's not about a show but it's about what your Spirit can do. And I know in the moment of your presence everything can shift, everything can move. It's not about the Word that I preach, it's not about the songs that we sing but it's about your Spirit, your environment. Let each of us encounter God this morning, God. Let each one of us encounter you, Lord. May we set ourselves aside, may we set our minds aside, may we set every distraction aside this morning. And if you're filled with anything other than peace this morning, I want you to begin to declare this over. You say, I am filled with His peace. I am filled with His peace. I'm filled with His peace. May His peace rest over each one of our minds right now, God.

Lord, we thank you. We give you praise. We give you glory. We give you honor. Come on, if you're ready to receive a Word and you're ready for God to do something in your life, I want you to give a hallelujah, a shout of praise so loud. Come on, I want the devil to hear us, church. Come on, let's give a shout of praise that shakes the heavens, that intimidates hell, that makes the devils go back to where they belong. Come on, Lord, have your way. Yay! Amen, come on, somebody turn to the neighbor, give him a high five. Say, I am so glad that you are filled with peace this morning. Now turn to your other neighbor. I'm glad you are filled with peace too. You brought peace in the room with you this morning. Amen. We came for one thing. We came for one thing this morning, and that is to encounter Jesus in this church, amen? Amen! I felt it all morning, man. Still, still feel it in just some lives. I'm just praying peace and serenity over your mind. Over everything in your life, over your marriages, over your relationships, over your finances, over everything that is encountering you this morning and that it would be removed and that

you would say, God, I came here for you today. I didn't come here for anything else. I didn't come here for a word from past. I didn't come here. I came here to encounter you this morning, God. So may you have your way, Lord, and it's always a hard shift sometimes, but I believe today before we even talk about the offering, before I even announce what that is, I want to remind you why we do what we do. Why we talk about things like Build 900, why we talk about things like Kingdom Builders, why we talk about things like giving and extravagantly giving. Here's one reason why, because in the Bible, there are moments where God asked his people to build something, not because he needed a building. God could encounter every single one of us on the street corner, come on, in a prison cell, in your car, on a back road, when you were thinking that it was all over, not because he needed a building, but because he's building his people. That's what this is about, literally every brick, when you see him building something in the Bible, every brick represented faith. We can't ever say that God isn't even about the details of buildings, because if you ever look at any one of the temples ever being built, he was so fascinated with the intricate details of it that he was concerned about the way that things would be laced with certain colors and how this was going to be here and to the nth degree of what measurement that this was going to be. He is absolutely concerned about the details of every little thing that we are concerned or called and commissioned to do. Every sacrifice has represented trust when you look back into it. Every gift becomes a part of a story bigger than any individual who ever gave it. Any name that who has ever gave anything, it's always something about that, and that's exactly what we talk about when we talk about Kingdom Builders or Bill 900. That's what we talk about. We're not simply just trying to raise money, church.

That's not what this is about. It's not how much money can we, or some financial goal that we're trying to do. We're creating room for people who haven't ever even walked through these doors yet. People that haven't ever even been able to watch us on Pando yet. People that haven't ever even been able to be encountered by something. Every seat literally represents a story. Every seat beside you represents a story. Every seat that's still open up on the balcony represents a story of a life. Why? Because every life has a name and every name has a purpose. And I know that because God created you even before you was in your mother's womb and gave you a name. He spoke purpose into it. Every marriage can be a symbol of every seat that every marriage could be restored, a family that can be healed, a child who can discover God's purpose in their life and begin to walk in a brand new way that they've never even walked. Someone who is far from God today could be worshiping Jesus next Sunday. And the truth is, is someone sacrificed so that every single one of us could hear the gospel today. Where we've got, I love what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9 verses 10 and 11, he said, for God is the one who provides the seed for the farmer and the bread to eat. And in the same way, he will provide an increase. He will provide an increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. And you will be enriched in every way so that you can also be generous. Notice what Paul says. He said, God gives the seed, not just so we can store it, but so that we can sow it. You don't get life out of seed if it's never sown. You could throw a handful of seeds on this stage right here and it would never take root because they have to be planted in proper conditions.

They have to be planted in proper soil. God places in our hands is an opportunity to partner with what He is doing right here on this earth, to build the kingdom, to see it move forward. And when we give, we're saying, God, I trust you more than I trust my bank account. Come on, somebody. Can I get an amen? Your bank account looks like mine does. It's looking at you hasty right now. We can't even be friends. Not you and I, but me and my bank account. We are enemies right now. But build 900 isn't about reaching a financial goal. It's about reaching people for the kingdom of God. That's what it's really all about. People that could spend eternity in heaven because we chose to invest in what God was building. My wife and I had the opportunity to have a conversation the other day with a family and they said, hey, we want to challenge you. So, okay, I like challenges. I don't have nothing else to do. I'll take that. And they said, we really want to see this new building come into fruition for you. So here's what we'll do. We'll challenge you to raise $100,000 and we'll match dollar for dollar that $100,000. But you don't get the $100,000 until you raise $100,000. And I looked at my wife and I said, baby, you still good to drive? Swear. So we robbed a bank last night. We came up with that $100,000. We're moving.

Amen? I'm not kidding. I mean, I'm kidding about the bank robbing, but just for clarification. So here's what I know. I also had somebody else message me yesterday morning, said, when are you guys moving into the new building? I said, when we raise a couple hundred thousand dollars, he said, well, when I get rich, you'll be the first person I give to. And I said, well, here's the funny thing. We don't need a bunch of rich people given. We need everybody to be faithful with what God has called them to give. And then we could raise it. And then guess what? After that was when I was told this. So if everybody does their part, guess what? We can make things happen and watch what God will do, not just in this church, but in your life as well. Amen? If I could get some ushers to come forward. You can give in numerous ways. You can give to Kingdom Builders or Build 900. That would help match that. Or you can just give regularly today, but you can get on the screens and see how many ways you can give or scan the app, whatever. But Father, we just thank you. We thank you for what you're doing in this moment. We thank you for allowing us to be able to be a part of what you are doing. And God, I pray that you will just continue to develop us in this moment, in this second, in this presence, God, because it is you that changes us. It is nothing else.

It is you. So, God, we pray that you would be in this moment, that you would allow us to just continue to steward it and be a part of what you're doing here, God. Bless the gift. Bless the giver. God, open up doors. Open up the windows of heaven, Lord, and pour out your blessing. In Jesus' name, God, we just thank you, in Jesus' name, amen. Good morning, Reach KC, and welcome home. I'm Tim Stahl, the director of Reach Homes. I'm here to share an exciting event with you. We will be having Victory Vacation Bible School. Victory Vacation Bible School is for any child from kindergarten to fifth grade. The times will be from 9 to 11. No registration required. Let them have fun this summer, fellowshipping with other kids, learning about Jesus, and just enjoying themselves. If you have any questions about Victory VBS or any other upcoming events here at Reach KC, feel free to stop by the Connect Center. There's a team waiting there to answer any of your questions before or after service. As we prepare to receive today's message, let's take a moment to remove as many distractions as possible. Get out your notebook, take some notes, because we all know that if you take notes, you get a better seat in heaven. Let's take some time and get excited about what Pastor Adam has prepared for us today. How many of us are excited for this? The word. This week we do, we have VBS. This week we have a team that is here. Come on, can we give it up for the missions team

that is here? Where are some of you guys over here? Come on, somebody. PI has brought another team here, and so we're just excited for what God is doing, and we are just so thankful for the assembly from Broken Arrow here this week, and just all that is happening. They're going to help facilitate Vacation Bible School for kids this week as well, and so if you've got some kids, you can get the information out there at the Connect Center, find out more about that. We would love to have them out and be a part of that, and I'm just believing that God is changing generations right now in this place, and that stories are being rewrote about families that have been discounted and wrote off for generations after generation, and so we're just believing for redemption in those families right now and in this neighborhood and in this community and in this city in Jesus' name, and so we are just believing for that. We are in a series that I wanna just go ahead and jump right into, and we are in a series titled It Grows with Boldness. If you've been here for any period of time, we've been in the book of Acts for, I don't know, a few months now, a couple few months, and so we're going verse by verse, breaking it down,

just looking at each passage and what that looks like and just believing that God is doing miracles and just everything, and it's amazing because you start with power, right, where the Holy Spirit was given at the beginning of Acts, and then about chapter three, you see a shift to where it starts growing with boldness, the church does, and so that's where we're at, and we're in Acts chapter three, starting in verse 22 today, and you can turn there, flip there, scroll there, but we'll also have it on the screen, but I wanna message my title today, The Missing Messiah. The Missing Messiah. Has anybody ever spent like 45 minutes walking around your house trying to find your phone? While you are on it? Like you are telling the person that you're on the phone with, like they're distracted, they can tell you're distracted, and they're like, what's wrong? And they're like, I'm looking for my phone. And they're like, bro, you're on it. Okay, I'm the only one. I know, I get it, like I understand, or literally like search the entire house, I've did this before, I've searched the entire house for my hat. Get into the bathroom, and you look in the mirror, and you found your hat on your head. Or if you're like me, you're looking all over for your keys,

and then you realize you tucked them in your back pocket, and they were on your belt loop the whole time. You know what I'm talking about? Like, you know, I'm not the only one. I know I'm not the only one. We've all done it, and it's funny after the fact, like now we can laugh about it. But in the moment, it's frustrating, right? I mean, you'd be getting mad. I mean, you're cussing to the people on the phone when you're looking for your phone, and you're not even understanding what is happening, and it's frustrating because you're searching for something that isn't even truly missing. You're looking all over the place trying to find it, and it's nowhere to be found because it's right in front of you. You're just not recognizing it. Isn't it amazing how easy it is to overlook something standing right in front of you? Like, I think sometimes familiarity has a way of blinding us. I do. Sometimes even expectations, like stuff that we expect to happen a certain type of way, that's why so many people are controlling in relationships, in Jesus' name. We rebuke it. But sometimes expectations blind us. Sometimes we're looking so hard for something to appear that we fail to notice that it's actually already here.

It's already there. It's already happening, and sometimes I wonder if we do the same thing spiritually. Like how many times have we prayed, God, where are you at? And I don't even see it. I don't see it. I don't see it. I don't see it. I don't see it. I don't see it. And I don't even see you. Where are you at in this entire situation while he's been faithfully working behind the scenes this whole time? He's been there. He's been present. He's been active. Like how many. times have we asked God for direction while ignoring what he's already said a long time ago to us? While ignoring the stuff that he's saying to us even in this moment? How many times have we begged God to move? God I need you, I need you to move, I need you to move this situation, move this person while overlooking the ways that he's already been moving in our life. It's so easy to happen and I think that this is exactly where Peter takes us in Acts chapter 3 and I'm gonna open this up and the crowd is literally standing in the temple remember? We've been there the last couple of weeks the the lame man was just healed and and Peter starts preaching kind of he just giving an address to the the Jewish people that are standing in Solomon's colonnade and and he's starting to talk about this wasn't anything that that that Peter and

John and I or I mean that John and I did this was all Jesus the Jesus that you and your leaders crucified remember and and he's and he's addressing all of this and so the crowd they're still standing in the temple amazed by the healing of the lame man but Peter knows something he knows something that that maybe even some of us don't even grasp and that's that the greatest miracle isn't the man who can now walk the greatest miracle is that the Messiah that they had been waiting for I'm talking people that understood the assignment the Messiah that they had been waiting for had already come he'd already been there and they were still waiting for it literally for centuries Israel God's people the nation of Israel the Jewish people had prayed for him generation after generation searched the Scriptures trying to discern when it would be parents told their children about the coming deliverer prophets spoke about him all throughout the Old Testament you've got the minor prophets the major prophets they all spoke about him even these exact people asked John the Baptist are you the prophet that we've been waiting for are you him because we've been waiting for him we know that he's coming we understand and are you him but then all of the sudden their hearts were full of expectation but then Jesus came and he healed the blind right he healed the lame he calmed the storms he fulfilled prophecy after prophecy after prophecy of all these different things he did everything that the Scripture said that the Messiah would do all of them and yet they still missed him not because he fell to fulfill God's promises in front of them but because he didn't fulfill their expectations and and here's the reality it already stood right in front of them they were just missing him they were just missing him because they couldn't believe that the Savior would have been sent in a manger they didn't believe that the Savior could have been sent in the way it was and I wonder how often we do the same thing we ask God for peace while resisting the surrender that produces it in our life right God do this do this do that do this and he said you're you're supposed to do it like how often do we pray for blessing while overlooking the transformation that he's already been doing inside of us that

blessing right that's transformation that's really like how often do we miss what God has already sent simply because it didn't arrive in the way that we thought it would we thought it was coming in a Ben's but it came in a bucket some of us just need bucket type blessings we're always looking for this big extravagant next thing but sometimes God's just saying hey look at the things that you're actually overlooking because that's what I'm doing something in you and you're not even seeing it and so today for the little bit of time that I have of three and a half hours I want to reveal I want to reveal 16 reasons who needs a three-point sermon when you can have a 16-point one they're like what time is service get over usually here people are googling reach KC right now and they're like what time is service over so I want to reveal 16 reasons people I'm just kidding I want to reveal three reasons people miss what God has already sent They're like I know he's playing but what if three reasons have three reasons underneath of them? And so my prayer this morning is that before we leave this room that none of us will make the mistake that these individuals made Because here's the truth of the matter is that Jesus is still speaking Jesus is still transforming lives Jesus is still working. Even if we don't see it. The question isn't whether he's here. The question is will we recognize him? Will we recognize him? Here's the first reason We miss the Messiah When we ignore God's voice We miss the Messiah When we ignore God's voice We will miss him every single time watch Acts 3 22 Moses said this is Peter speaking remember and he just talked to them about who Jesus was This is the Messiah that you guys crucified that you guys killed out of your ignorance But because of your ignorance there is forgiveness and and all of that And so now Moses said the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people

Listen carefully to everything that he tells you why because we need to understand his voice Listen carefully to everything that he tells you then Moses said Anyone who will not listen or will not hear God's voice to that prophet or will not listen to that prophet Which is Jesus will be completely cut off from God's people now Imagine Peter right standing in the temple. He's surrounded by people who loved Moses They quoted Moses. They memorized Moses's writings. They defended Moses I mean I'm talking they Moses could rely on these people in rooms that he was not in Because they had been fighting for him for thousands of years. They believed it. They would preach from the law of Moses They would correct Jesus saying that the law of Moses said this what about that? And Peter essentially sits there and looks at him and he says if you really believed Moses You would have believed Jesus and He's confronting them with this truth and they actually thought that rejecting Jesus proved their loyalty to Moses But Peter says it actually proved that they never even really understood Moses at all because if they had Then they would have paid attention to this why because Moses was never the end goal Moses was never the destination He was only a signpost that was pointing to the destination The destination was the Messiah and every signpost exists for one reason and that's to point you to something else It's to point you to a direction it's to point you to a place that you need to go or that you are trying to get to and Peter says Moses was never trying to get people to stop with himself. He literally spent his entire ministry Pointing ahead to someone greater. That's why in Deuteronomy 18 Moses promised another prophet like him You can go back and study the word in Deuteronomy 18 and see if what I'm telling you is right and you can put all of these puzzle pieces Together like I did this week and you can be like, wow, this is amazing. But hold on there's myrrh It it gets even more beautiful After his resurrection Jesus sat down with two discouraged disciples, which you can read about in Luke 24 I encourage you to go read Deuteronomy 18 first and then go back over to Luke 24 and then come back to Acts 3 and

You'll be able to put all of this together yourself and it will make sense by just simply reading the passages after I break all of this down and Jesus when he sat down with two discouraged disciples, he began with Moses and Then all of the prophets and he showed them how all of scripture has pointed to himself See Peter isn't inventing a new way to read the Bible to them He's preaching exactly the way that Jesus taught him to preach in Luke 24 Because he goes into it with in Luke 24 at the beginning of Luke 24 and explains to the two discouraged disciples but then in verse 44 and following he's also addressing all of the Disciples and telling them the exact same thing that he told the two discouraged ones and begins to explain to them Exactly how he fulfills and now standing in this room Imagine Peter remembering that conversation that happened just a few months ago While he's standing there in the temple filled with this with this room of people that know the scriptures They study them, they have them memorized, they wasn't carrying around Bibles in every single translation and interpretation or paraphrase that we have and so as what this proves to me here's the danger is that you can know the scripture and still miss Jesus. You can know it, you can quote scripture better than anybody else you know, you can come off the coffin and you can have all of this stuff and still miss Jesus and I know it because the Pharisees knew the Bible better than anybody else. They had it memorized, the scribes literally copied scriptures by hand and wrote them down so that they could remember that's why Paul knew it so well because he served underneath of Gamal and he had and he was a prophet or I mean he was one of the people that served underneath the priest and and he knew or the Pharisees and he knew all of these different scriptures. The priest taught it every single week and yet when the word became flesh right in front of them they crucified him. Knowledge, this is what it tells me, knowledge without surrender can still leave you so far from God that you don't even know it and here's how I know it is because Jesus himself told the religious leaders you search the scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. You're searching the scriptures, you're you're acting like

that as well but the scriptures point to me and yet you refuse to come to me and receive this life that they talk about. Go back and read it in John 5 and here's the hard truth is that this is still possible today. Someone can know Bible stories, you can know all of the kids Bible stories, you can know all of that stuff. Guess what? You can debate theology, you can know the five points of Calvinism, you can know the the principles of Arminianism, you can know all of the things of Pentecostalism or Baptist, you can know all of the doctrine of all of these world religions, you can know all of this and you can quote Bible verses off of your belt, you can attend church every single week three times a week when the church ain't even open. Come on somebody. We'll take it back to the 90s and still miss the Messiah. Watch him walk right by you and I think sometimes we can even think that we're waiting on God to show up when God is actually waiting on us. Like we're asking God I need another sign, I need I need something from you, I need you to do this, I need another confirmation, just give me a feeling down deep in my bones Lord, I need to feel the Holy Spirit come in and just wreck me, I need another miracle and God if you do this in my marriage then I will believe and if you do this and that and meanwhile he's already spoken. See the question isn't has God spoken, the question is have I listened? And I think sometimes there are people that think that God hasn't spoken but it's because we haven't listened to the last thing that he said and sometimes we just need to go back to the last thing that he told us to do that we just brushed off and swept underneath of the rug and said no I don't need to worry about that because I got that part under control God, you stay where you need to stay and I'll stay where I am because I've got this part under control, I know how to handle this relationship, I know that I can save her, I know that I can do these things, oh what was that prophet's name? He said don't save her, she don't want to be saved, don't save... I'm just kidding, that's heresy. But see here's the truth, here's the greatest tragedy, the greatest tragedy isn't that God stopped speaking, it's that somehow throughout time we

have stopped listening. You can literally spend your entire life studying the fingerprints of God and yet still refuse to take his hand. Like it's literally possible to become so familiar with God's Word that you actually fail to recognize God's Son. Even in the midst of a moment where miracles are happening, even in the midst of a moment where we are with people in church seeing things happen, watching things happen, they were people that was in church that knew the scriptures, that was in the temple right now, in the scripture, this is what they're talking about. about they're in Solomon's colonnade man just got healed by Peter the the one that just refused Jesus a few months ago three times and now all of a sudden that dude walks in you know the one that you don't think would be able to walk in ministry and do something but God got a different plan and he walks in and and now all of the sudden they failed to recognize God's Son and they were so familiar with God's Word and Peter's audience wasn't guilty because they lacked information they was they was guilty because they ignored revelation they ignored this moment that God opened up the heavens they had heard they had seen they literally watched Jesus heal so much so that they rebuked him on the Sabbath because they knew that that was the Lord's Day I'm not mocking the Sabbath but Jesus found something more appropriate to heal lame people to heal hurting folks even on the Sabbath that he corrected them and they had watched him teach forgive fulfill all of these scriptures and yet still chose their expectations over God's voice well how do you know they heard God's voice because they knew the scriptures that is God's voice before any audible voice that you may hear even coming from a man or a woman of this world it has to go through scripture and that's the question that Peter leaves hanging over the temple in this moment and honestly even over every heart here today is am I willing to follow Jesus even when it doesn't fit the version of God that I've imagined because I know we all got some Jesus that we know it may not be the Jesus of the Bible we say it is but that Jesus wouldn't condone some of the things that we think he's condoning in our life and then use scripture to back

it up see we will use out-of-context Bible verses to condone unbiblical lifestyles see that's why exe Jesus and I'm not talking about exing Jesus I'm talking about pulling the original principles out of scripture and then applying them through hermeneutic principles to our life so that we can take the real true principles of what scripture really means and apply it to our life see there wasn't lacking evidence the lame man was standing just a few feet away while Peters talking they had plenty of evidence everybody knew who the guy was they knew he was lame it said said in Acts 3 they knew see that the evidence was undeniable yet still so many refused to acknowledge Jesus and and it's crazy because they believed the miracle without believing the Messiah that's how I know we can miss the Messiah when we ignore his voice and I wonder if some of us are doing the same exact thing we celebrate that Jesus is doing something in someone else's life we celebrate it especially here at Reach KC I mean if we shout out addicts getting restored yeah we scream prisoners come on Pando come on somebody give shout outs on panda oh yeah we'll celebrate that somebody got redeemed from from some kind of crazy addiction or some crazy lifestyle will magnify the 24 years they spent in prison and we celebrate those moments while questioning whether God is ever working in our own see we see all these things that happen we watch people we stand next to them in worship beside people who are literally living miracles and still somehow whisper I just don't know if God is even working in my life I don't even know if it's if it's real hear me church the enemy doesn't always have to convince you that God isn't real if he can convince you that he's only real for everybody else but you see you can believe in the Messiah without seeing the Messiah even if the Messiah is standing right in front of you Jesus can be working all around you and yet you deny him because he doesn't meet our expectations we can see this thing and we can see all of this stuff and deep down I think some of us are wondering while we're looking at other people's life when is he going to do something for me and I think that Peter would stand before the Church of America and the world today and say open your eyes

church open your eyes because the same Jesus who healed that lame man is standing right in front of you today you're just not seeing him because he looks different than you expected him to look Look, he's looking different, and the same Jesus who fulfilled every promise is still keeping promises today. He's still the same Jesus. He ain't changed. Don't become so familiar with what God is doing around you that you fail to recognize what he's doing within you. Don't become so familiar, because here's the truth, is it's possible, so possible, for us to have a front row seat to the miracles of God and still miss the Messiah. Because we get so conditioned to seeing things happen for other people that we miss his presence in our own life. The second reason I want to reveal is this, we miss the Messiah when we misread God's plan. We miss the Messiah when we misread God's plan. So we've got our own imagination of how things are going to happen. We've got our own expectations of how God is going to show up, but we'll miss the Messiah every single time when we misread God's plan. And watch Acts 2, or I mean 3, 24 through 25. He goes on and he says, see Moses said this, here's what Moses said. And then he goes on and he says, starting with Samuel, every prophet spoke about what is happening today. You are the children of those prophets. He's speaking to him and he says, you guys are the children of those prophets. And you are included in the covenant that God promised to your ancestors. For God said to Abraham, through your descendants, which is you? This is what he's telling them. Through your descendants, all the families on the earth will be blessed. Now notice what Peter does, he doesn't stop with Moses. He says Samuel, David, every other prophet, Abraham, literally every generation has been telling you the same story. You've been hearing it over and over and over. And it's almost like Peter's saying, how much more evidence do you need? You've been seeing it. It's been for thousands of years. It's been pointing to him and you still missed him. Like, I'm just beating a dead horse.

This wasn't one random prophecy. It wasn't one isolated verse that we build doctrines around. It wasn't even one preacher's opinion. This was the entire story of God unfolding over thousands of years that was right in front of their eyes. It's so easy for us to just say, well, it's 66 books, dozens of authors, thousands of years, hundreds of stories. But hear me, church, it is ultimately about one hero, Jesus. He's the only story of the Bible. It's all pointing to him or it's pointing back to the cross. It's all about Jesus. The Bible isn't just a collection of disconnected stories. It's one story unfolding of God's pursuit of humanity across all time. The sacrifice of Abraham points to Jesus. The Moses who delivers God's people, guess what, points to Jesus. The shepherd David, guess what, points to Jesus, literally, lineagely. The prophets long for Jesus. Every page in the Bible whispers Jesus' name. That's it. This is exactly what Jesus taught on the road to Emos to the two discouraged disciples. Beginning with Moses that we talked about a minute ago, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he showed the scriptures that were speaking about him. Here's what grips me though. Israel wasn't just waiting for anybody. They were waiting for the Messiah. They just had a script already written in their minds. They expected a warrior, but Jesus came as a servant. See, they expected a throne, but Jesus carried a cross. They expected the Messiah to overthrow Rome, but Jesus came to overthrow sin. See, they expected political freedom, but he offered spiritual freedom. See, there's a difference. They expected him to change their circumstances, but Jesus came to change their hearts.

And because he didn't match their expectations, they concluded that Jesus wasn't God's plan. I think this is one of the greatest spiritual dangers that we face is sometimes we reject what God is doing, not because it's wrong, but because it's different than we imagined it would be. We tell God, come on. We tell God how he should answer. I'm not the only one. Don't look. me side-eyed with that rock look the stank eye like I'm the only one that has demanding prayers of God how you should heal somebody how you should provide how you should restore how he should build his own church that he laid his life down for we wrap scriptures around it and we make it sound theological and good but really we're controlling even over our relationship with God and then when he answers differently we assume that he's silent and Peter says no he's been working according to his plan all along see just one chapter ago Peter preached this Jesus the one that you guys killed was handed over according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God think about that that means that everything that's been happening was for a purpose that means like what looked like defeat was God's plan you you can't say that it wasn't see see maybe you've been wondering when you're looking at your situation where is God in all of this how could God possibly be in all of this but God sees a different perspective of your situation than you do see could it be that he's been working all along just according to his script not yours see maybe that closed door that you're so upset about actually protected you maybe it protected you from relationships even that you didn't even know that you was going to encounter that was going to hurt you and scar you even in ministry but you didn't understand that and now you're upset about the closed door when you should be praising God for the protection maybe the waiting that we've been waiting wait come on wait maybe the waiting that we've been dealing with actually developed you maybe the pain that you've been trying to persevere through actually humbled you you didn't like it you don't like the pain you

don't like the feeling you don't like it but maybe the interruption is something that is supposed to redirect you see maybe what feels like God forgetting about you is actually God fulfilling something bigger in you than you can even see see don't miss Jesus we don't miss him because he's absent we miss him because we're looking in the wrong places and in the wrong ways trying to find somebody that's not even see expectation is a dangerous thing hear me this is one to write down this is one to post later you don't have to put my name on it expectation is a dangerous thing when it becomes more authoritative than scripture itself see the greatest obstacle to seeing what God is doing is insisting he will do it the way that you imagined he would see don't miss Jesus because we're misreading his plan because this was his plan all along I'm not saying he's wished every bad thing upon you but it's what I'm saying is every evil thing that we have walked through he will use for his purpose I promise you I'm I'm a living witness of that and the third reason that I want to reveal and I'm gonna try to do this quickly is we miss the Messiah when we misunderstand God's blessing how many of us want to be blessed see some of us that's okay you don't raise your hand yeah I'm taking notes they know it's a setup they've known me long enough verse 26 see when God raised up his servant Jesus remember he just talked about Moses talking about the prophet then he goes in when God raised up his servant talking about that prophet that Moses was talking about Jesus he sent him first to you people of Israel to bless you come on Jesus bless us Lord bless us God by turning each of you back from your sinful ways hold on don't bless us Lord hold on let's negotiate let's talk about what this blessing really is cuz I need to know if I want it before I ask for it and it's funny because Peter's closing statement in his sermon is low-key shocking because if I asked a hundred Christians today what does it mean to be blessed I'd probably hear things like I want my family to be in good health I want my marriage to prosper I want to have financial provision but not just broke financial provision I need to be like millionaire financial provision I want to hit the lottery without playing the lottery

that's how I need to be blessed I need God to open a door I want to buy a brand new house come on not a two-car garage we need a three-car garage house that's blessing two cars house that's mediocre that's the two mites that the lady gave we need a three garage door house in Jesus name and I need a Mercedes G body I mean I need an old-school and I need a motorcycle and then whatever kind of cars my wife wants and then we'll be blessed in Jesus name glory and if you send a donation of $100 today it'll be matched and I'll sit Nazi see that's what we chase because we think that that's what's God's blessing really is and while none of these things are bad other than that last little part that I said Peter Peter defines blessing completely different he says one of God's greatest blessings is turning us away from our sin see Israel thought their greatest enemy was Rome and Peter says no no no no no no no your greatest enemy is not the political government he said the greatest enemy has already been inside of you for your entire life the greatest enemy that you have is living inside of you see their greatest need wasn't a new government come on somebody it was a new heart they needed something deep down with inside of them that was changed and this is still true today we often ask God to remove the pressure when he's trying to transform the person we say God changed my situation and God says no no no I'm trying to change you my child see they almost missed the grading blessed the greatest blessing ever given simply because they defined blessing too narrowly they missed it how many times do we do the same thing how many times do we ask God why haven't you blessed me meanwhile he's making us more patient while we're waiting on that blessing that we have in our realm of expectation create you more humble come on more dependent more holy he's literally healing wounds that no one else can see he's been breaking addictions in your life he's been restoring marriages he's been softening hearts he's been teaching you how to forgive to the people that have hurt you that you didn't even know that you could forgive but now all of a sudden your heart has gotten softer and now all of a sudden you can start seeing that why because he's building character he's

drawing you closer to him we've been looking for external evidence while God has been doing internal transformation this whole time and as what's amazing is when you look at some of the things that you see in Scripture I think of a sculptor somebody that is has this large piece of marble and when it's in the sculptors hands all you have or all you hear is this hammer and this chisel just chipping away at all of it and there's this stuff that's coming out that is falling off and if I was the the piece of marble I'd probably cry out why do you keep hurting me why do you keep doing this stuff why do you keep breaking me why are you doing it I'm tired of being broken I'm tired of being in this situation I'm tired of constantly getting hit on I'm tossed constantly getting beaten down when I'm already down I'm already getting chiseled out and I'm just tired of feeling this but I believe that the sculptor would say this listen my child I'm not breaking you I'm actually trying to reveal something that's always been inside of you things that you can't even see because of the exterior that you carry literally every strike removes something that doesn't belong the sculptor isn't destroying the stone he's uncovering the masterpiece inside of it church this is what sanctification is we are progressively becoming more like God God isn't trying to ruin your life he's removing everything that doesn't look like Christ in it lean in to the pain lean in to the hardship because this this is part of God's plan and just because you don't understand it doesn't reduce the omnipotence of God it doesn't reduce any of that it doesn't reduce who God really is God is who he says that he is maybe just maybe what we've called disappointment heaven actually calls discipleship what if what if we have been missing Jesus because we thought the Savior would show up in a cape to rescue us like Super-Heroes man and make all of our problems go away I've been fasting I've been praying go back and read Isaiah 58 let the prophet that prophesied the suffering servant in that moment talk about what it means when we're trying to make barters with God we're trying to do spiritual things to get him to recognize us Isaiah 58

you can go back I gave you a whole sermon series that you guys can study Deuteronomy 18 Luke 24 Isaiah 58 John 5 Acts 3 what if God's been here with us the whole entire time and we didn't even know it we hear you Lord if I could have everybody stand I believe this I believe that the Lord is calling people back to him right now I believe that if you've been standing right in front of the Messiah and you didn't even see God working in your life I believe that he's calling you right now maybe you've never had a personal relationship with him but you want one right now hey if that's you before anybody leaves just give me two more seconds two more minutes rather I'm Pentecostal I need a few I need a few closings okay but if that's you and you're in here today and you just felt a tug on your heart you felt a tug on your spirit and you say man I need to get it right with the Lord today before I do anything else if that's you and you're in here and you're dealing with some of this stuff and you just feel like God is pulling on your spirit hey I want you to just be able to have a moment to respond today if that's you and you say hey I need to surrender my life to Jesus maybe it's for the very first time maybe it's for the first time in a long time and you just say man I need to get back to the things of God I need to get to the Lord hey if that's you could I just have you raise your hand in here come on if that's you and you just say hey I need a relationship with Jesus can I just have you raise your hand in here and just say come on somebody hey if that's you and you're in here and you say hey I need to do that can I just have you step out of your seat and just come down right over here we want to pray with you hey maybe you didn't even raise your hand but you just say man I need to get back right with the Lord and I just need to have a personal relationship with God and I want to recognize him for who he is because I believe that he is the Messiah and I don't want to overlook him anymore come on if that's you that's all right maybe you're in here and you say you know what I just need to I need to

correct my heart come on thank you Jesus come on anybody else we're reaching for the one that is far from God so if you're in here today maybe you're here you just say man I'm just this is heavy God I don't want to lose this moment could we spend 60 seconds Church just lifting our hands and telling God that if all I had was a moment in your presence God I've had enough if all I if all I've seen is you then I've seen enough God you are enough in my life you are worthy of everything God all I want is you all I need is you have your way in this place right now God as you lead us into a moment to worship you have your way God