Prayer and Miracles [LIVE] - 05/10/2026

Let's go! It's so good to see you all today. Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers. You all look absolutely amazing. Absolutely amazing. Happy Mother's Day to you all. In God we live and move and we have our being. He is not far from any of us. He has not left us orphaned. The spirit of truth is with us. We gather in the presence of the one who draws near. So come let us worship the God who holds our lives and hears our cry. We come with praise for he is not turned away from us. Father God who is not far from us, we gather in your presence, trusting that you hold our lives. You have brought us through fire and water. You have not left us without your spirit and we thank you now. We ask that your presence will be made known in this place. We give your name, the praise, the honor and the glory. In Jesus Christ's name we pray and let the church say amen. Amen. Come on church, if you know it, I want you to sing it out, all right? Let's do it. ♪ Christ is my firm foundation ♪ ♪ The rock on which I stand ♪

♪ When everything around me is shaking ♪ ♪ I've never been more glad ♪ ♪ That I put my faith in Jesus ♪ ♪ Cause he's never let me down ♪ ♪ He's faithful through generations ♪ ♪ So why would he fail now, he won't, he won't ♪ ♪ I've still got joy in chaos ♪ ♪ I've got peace that makes no sense ♪ ♪ So I won't be going under ♪ ♪ I'm not held by my own strength ♪ ♪ Cause I've built my life on Jesus ♪ ♪ Cause he's never let me down ♪ ♪ He's faithful in every season ♪ ♪ So why would he fail now, he won't, he won't, he won't ♪ ♪ He won't, it won't fail ♪ ♪ He won't fail, he won't, he won't, he won't fail, he won't fail ♪ ♪ Yea, Christ is my firm foundation ♪ ♪ Through our part which I stand ♪ ♪ When everything around me is shaking ♪ ♪ I've never been more glad, I put my faith in Jesus ♪ ♪ I put my faith in Jesus, He's never let me down ♪ ♪ He's faithful through generations ♪ ♪ So why would He fail now, He won't, He won't, He won't fail ♪ ♪ He won't fail, He won't fail, He won't fail, He won't fail, He won't ♪ ♪ I've never seen the righteous forsaken ♪ ♪♪ ♪ All of the rain came with blue, but my house was built on you ♪ ♪ I'm safe with you, I'm gonna make it through ♪ ♪ All of the rain ♪ ♪ Rain came when blue, my house was built on you ♪

♪ I'm safe with you, I'm gonna make it through ♪ ♪ Rain came when blue, my house was built on you ♪ ♪ My house was built on you, I know that I'm safe with you ♪ ♪ I'm gonna make it through, I'm gonna make it through ♪ ♪ Cause I'm standing strong on you, I'm gonna make it through ♪ ♪ I'm gonna make it through, my house is built on you ♪ ♪ Oh, my house is built on you, oh, my house is built on you ♪ ♪ My house is built on you, oh, my house is built on you ♪ ♪ Christ is my firm foundation, the rock upon which I stand ♪ ♪ When everything around me is shaking, I've never been so weak ♪ ♪ I've never been more glad, I put my faith in Jesus ♪ ♪ Cause he's never let me down, he's faithful through generations ♪ ♪ So why would he fail now, he won't, he won't, he won't, he won't ♪ ♪ He won't fail, he won't fail, he won't, he won't, he won't fail, he won't fail ♪ ♪ He won't, he won't fail, he won't fail, he won't fail, he won't fail, he won't fail ♪ I'm gonna continue to worship and sing Jesus be the name. So I just wanna speak that whatever you need is found in Jesus, that's healing and that's deliverance, it's found in his name. ♪ I could sing your name for all, all, all the day, all the night ♪ ♪ All my life and still find more to love each time ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name ever on my lips ♪ ♪ It's sweeter every time that I call on you ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ It makes me cry holy ♪ ♪ There is no other name, there is no other name, there is no other name ♪ ♪ Jesus you're worthy and you have been made worthy of me ♪ ♪ The friend who never left, I won't forget your faithfulness ♪

♪ Jesus be the name ever on my lips ♪ ♪ It's sweeter every time that I call on you ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ It makes me cry holy ♪ ♪ There is no other name, I know, there is no other name, there is no other name, Jesus you're worthy and you have been made worthy of me ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name, there's just something about your name, Jesus you're worthy and you have been made worthy of me ♪ ♪ There's something about Your Name ♪ ♪ And there's just something about Your Name ♪ ♪ That makes me cry, oh, there is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name, there is no other name ♪ ♪ Jesus, You're worthy, yes, You are ♪ ♪ Oh, You're so worthy, yeah, You're so worthy ♪ ♪ There is no other name, there is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name like Jesus, oh, Jesus, You're worthy ♪ ♪ Your Name is like the morning light ♪ ♪ The one the darkness can't deny ♪ ♪ The resurrection and the life, Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ Your Name can save, Your Name can heal ♪ ♪ Your Name can make the storm be still ♪ ♪ You never fail, You never will, Jesus, oh, Jesus ♪ ♪ The bread of life broken for us ♪ ♪ The wounded and the worthy one ♪ ♪ The first and last and still to come, Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ The King who overwhelmed the grave ♪ ♪ The Lord who will forever reign ♪ ♪ The Name above all other names, Jesus, oh, Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus, be the Name, be the Name, Jesus, be the Name ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus, be the Name that gets all the glory, oh, Jesus ♪

♪ Oh, Jesus, be the Name, be the Name, Jesus, be the Name ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus, be the Name that gets all the glory, oh, Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus, be the Name, be the Name, Jesus, be the Name ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus, be the Name that gets all the glory, oh, Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus, be the Name, be the Name, Jesus, be the Name ♪ ♪ That gets all the glory, yeah, yeah-yeah ♪ ♪ Oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh, Jesus, no-oh-oh oh-oh oh-oh-oh-oh. Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh ♪ Jesus ♪ Be the name, be the name ♪ Be the name, be the name ♪ There's healing in Your name ♪ There's healing in Your name ♪ There's healing in Your name ♪ It makes me cry on me ♪ There's freedom in Your name ♪ There's freedom in Your name ♪ There's freedom in Your name ♪ It makes me cry on me ♪ Salvation in Your name ♪ Salvation in Your name ♪ Salvation in Your name ♪ It makes me cry holy ♪ Jesus be the name ♪ Jesus be the name ♪ Oh, Jesus be the name ♪ That gets all the glory Let's give the name of Jesus glory this morning. I was reading this morning, the Bible says, Jesus says, I am the bread of life. The bread of life.

You will not hunger when you have the bread of life. of the bread of life, and this is what we just sang, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the bread of life, Jesus sustain me, Jesus over my family, over my kids, over my school, over my marriage, over my home, these are the things that we should proclaim today. Father, we thank you that we have the name of Jesus to cry out to for anything. So church this morning, just right now, begin to cry out the name of Jesus over your situations. Begin to speak the name of Jesus over the things that you're going through right now. Don't miss this moment to cry out to the one God. The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us. So cry out Jesus, do a work. Jesus move in our homes, Jesus move in our city, in our country, in our workplaces. Jesus over sickness, Jesus over cancer, Jesus over disease, Jesus over the things that we can't explain and we can't fix. And so we cry out to you this morning, the only one who can, and we say Lord have your way and do your work, your will be done in our hearts and our lives. So we cry out to you today God, faithful God. We say thank you for the name of Jesus. We speak and pray the name of Jesus over everything. In all God's people said today, amen and amen. Man, it is so incredible to see you here, yes.

And I wanna wish you a happy Mother's Day to all the moms in the room. So grateful for you, so grateful for you. So if you're new here at Graceway, I'd love to meet you. Me and a few of our leaders will be at guest central after the service and normally right now I would say in the seat back in front of you, but there is no seat back in front of you, okay? So we're gonna be digital today, my friends. So you can see on the screen a QR code. If you're new here, I'd love to have you hit that QR code. You can also just go to graceway.app and get anything that you need access to today. Checking in as a first time guest or even getting our sermon notes, getting connected to giving, all of those things. And so if you are new here, we'd love to meet you. We'd love to engage with you in some way possible. Today is also a baptism Sunday at Graceway. It's gonna be awesome. We're gonna get to see some parents baptized with their kids in this service. It's gonna be amazing. I love those moments, yeah. And I wanna say this to you. If you have not been baptized, if you've given your life to Christ, you're a follower of Jesus Christ and you've never taken that step of baptism, then let today be the day that you get baptized.

Don't wait. So my encouragement to you would be, even right now, walk out of the service, go to the Next Steps desk and say, hey, I need to be baptized. And we'll make that happen for you in the next service. We have everything you could possibly need so that I promise you, you will not drive home with wet clothes. We'll take good care of you. But let today be the day that you proclaim, I am a follower of Jesus Christ. So we wanna encourage you to do that again. Just step out of the service, go right to that desk and say, hey, sign me up. And we'll take care of that in the next service. I'm gonna invite our ushers to make their way down and we're gonna receive today's tithes and offerings. And again, you can see different ways to give if you're used to grabbing an offering envelope. I'm gonna invite you just to hit that QR code on the screen today for that purpose. And I wanna remind you and always kind of keep in front of you things and opportunities we have, especially for giving above your regular tithes. You remember we're working on the community center just up the street, excited for that to be worked on this summer. And so if you'd like to give to that project, you can just go to the building fund drop down

on your giving and it's a great opportunity to be a blessing to our community. Let's go one more time to the Lord in prayer as we prepare to give. God, we thank you today that it is through giving that we seek your kingdom first. God, we thank you today for the privilege and the honor it is to return back to you what you've given to us. And God, we ask for you to take this offering and make it a blessing here in our community, Lord, and across the earth. We wanna see your future kingdom come right into the present. And God, as we get ready in just a few moments to witness folks getting baptized, we ask for you to just take this and make it an incredibly holy moment, Lord. We're watching the picture of what you've done. and lives in that water, God. People who have surrendered their hearts to you. Lord, you've cleansed them from their sin and you've made them new. So God, we're grateful that we get to be a part of that. Lord, we don't take that moment for granted and we rejoice with all of heaven as we see that happen today. We thank you, God, for our moms, for people who have laid foundations. God, for us to stand in this place today.

And Lord, for those of us who might find ourselves in a moment or a spot of grief today, God, I thank you that you know our hearts. And I ask you, Holy Spirit, to meet our hearts exactly where they are. We proclaim your name today, Jesus, is the name above all names, and we thank you for it. So God, move as we worship you today. It's in the name of Jesus we pray and all God's people said, amen. Amen. ♪ No hope for perfection ♪ ♪ Cause what kind of God looks for the lost ♪ ♪ They say it's over for a sinner ♪ ♪ But you say, no it's not, no it's not ♪ ♪ You say, no it's not, no it's not ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God! ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God! ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God! ♪ ♪ I've seen you move ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God! ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God! ♪ This is one of my favorite Sundays here, y'all, at Graceway. We get to witness our brothers and sisters getting baptized. So come on, let's witness some baptisms together. ♪ What a God, what a God! ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God! ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God! ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God! ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God! ♪

♪ What a God, what a God! ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God! ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God! ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God! ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God! ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God! ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God! ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Come on, let's celebrate what the Lord is doing in this place! Come on! Let's go! ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ The picture of this life could never satisfy ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ Amen. Amen, amen, amen. Come on, let's pray together, fam. Lord, we love you. We thank you for who you are, for who you have been, for who you will always be. We thank you, Lord, for loving us first. We thank you, Lord, for keeping your word. We thank you, Lord, for being a strong tower and a firm foundation. We thank you for the privilege that it is to see people declaring that you've saved them, husbands and wives, moms and sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, Lord. You're remaking our family tree just like you promised that you would.

And I pray today, Lord, that through your Holy Spirit, we would believe you again. We would trust you again. We would come to you again. We would surrender to you again. Lord, you are the one who has the words of life. You are the one who is worthy of all honor and praise. You are the one who keeps us safe, who provides for us, who protects. You are the one that we can give everything to, knowing that you never misuse or lose what we entrust to you. And so I pray now that your Holy Spirit would be speaking and moving and calling, convicting and encouraging. I pray now that Jesus would be made much of. I pray now that you have received our praise, our giving, our prayers, and that you speak to us through your word. We love you. We thank you. And in Jesus' name, all God's people said amen and amen. Hey, welcome to church. It's good to see y'all. So happy you're here. Why don't you take a couple minutes, pass some peace, and then grab a seat. Thank you. All right, fam, how are you today? So good to see you. So good to see you.

Hey, if you are a guest, thank you so much for being here. We appreciate it so much. Church, say hello. Show some love to our first-time guests. Appreciate you being here. Thanks so much. If you're watching us online, man, thank you for joining us. And then men, brothers, church members, Crossroads Correctional and Ozark Correctional, we love you. Good to see you today. Praying God's blessing over you. Hey, if you are a guest, you don't know this, but our room is a little, it's a little in process. Come on, somebody, right? So let me, there's a million reasons that I could give you. Some of them is just, you're the best church in the world. I want you to have the best environment to worship in the world. But you know, I say to you all the time, none of this stuff is the church. None of it, okay? So you don't need to worry about whether or not we're gonna be able to do church because we are doing some work to our space. When you're here, the church happens. And when you're here, the Holy Spirit moves and works, doesn't have anything to do with the walls or the stage or the LED wall, okay?

Next week, those screens are going away. And you know what? We may find out that God still moves, right? We may, I'm just saying, it's possible. The other reason we're doing it is we're expecting guests. Simple as that, all right? And so thanks for bearing with, thanks for being willing to sit on hard plastic chairs. I pray God's grace on your backside for the next little bit of time. And, but yeah, we are intending to have it done in time for 21 days of prayer. We're hosting some conferences and we're also in the next couple of weeks starting phase one of the community center along with this project. So we're excited about that. And if you wanna get connected to that, serving, giving, praying, man, let us know. God's doing some cool things already. Give a shout out give some special love to our honored guests today all the mama's in the house. Come on somebody Amazing amazing Happy Mother's Day So I punched into our new infallible source of truth chat GPT All the different kinds of moms and And 26 different kinds of moms in the in the house today. So so let me list them All right, so that nobody gets missed. Here we go Hey, if you're a new mom, Happy Mother's Day If you're a toddler mom, if you're a school-age mom, if you're a teenager mom, we pray for you. All right. Happy Mother's Day

If you're a single mom, if you're a working mom, if you're a stay-at-home mom, if you're a homeschool mom If you're a foster mom or an adoptive mom, if you aren't biologically a mom, but you stepped in to be a mom, mom We honor you today step moms, spiritual moms, mentor moms, empty-nest moms, grand moms Moms of adult children's grieving moms, waiting to be mom moms Prodigal moms, ministry moms, barely holding it together moms, joyful moms, moms who feel like they're failing or wise moms who know You're never failing like you think you are Motherhood is is like most important work It's like farming you put seed in the ground and it matters to you and you water it and you pray the Sun Shines on it and and if you're a mom in here We want you to know that as anonymous as your work seems we see you we honor you We thank you for your anonymous faithfulness for your tireless work ethic for the blessing that you are Bringing to pass in our lives and we trust that God's going to bless you today. We got a little gift for you out in the lobby We know that you are trying to grow blessings. So we thought we'd give you something that's not that hard to grow All right We got you some succulents just to remind you of the good work that God is Doing in you and through you and so thank you. Thank you Thank you moms for who you are. If you are married to a mom, let me help you. Do not ask her What is for lunch? Tell her it is someplace beautiful and expensive for lunch All right, do not ask her I don't want you have to come in for marriage counseling because you said something stupid. All right Call your mom and and be a blessing to her today So typically and sometimes we pause the series that we're in to talk to your moms But as I was studying Acts chapter 12, man, I really feel like God has a good word for all of us including You mom so let me pray over God's Word today and then we'll get to it Lord speak to us now in your grace and in power For your glory and our good in Jesus name. We pray. Amen in 2013 the author

Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book called David and Goliath in which he picked up the idea that we might misunderstand what really happened between David and Goliath and in turn we might Misunderstand what is an underdog and that maybe what we think is an underdog? isn't He talks about how David was small and passionate and inexperienced and looked Completely outgunned because Goliath is huge. He's strong. He's dominant. He's experienced. He's Unbeatable. He is the champion of the Philistines, but he says if you look a little bit closer The size gives the wrong impression because even though he's huge. He's also slow And even though he's huge he has to be within arms length He's got to get those big fat hands on you to do damage to you David on the other hand fought from a distance that sling That he would have thrown those rocks through Gladwell says a trained Slinger could hit a target on the run at high speed the speeds comparable according to Gladwell to a modern-day gun and His idea even though we disagree with parts of it, right? Because we know that David said in 1st Samuel 17 that the battle was the Lord's we know that God achieved the victory David didn't But it does kind of give us something to pick up you see Goliath believed that power goes to the strongest and David believed that power belongs to God and I'm here today to say that we tend to agree with Goliath We we have a lot of misconceptions about what is strong and what is powerful and our misconceptions lead us to engage, especially spiritually, in the wrong ways. Things that we think are powerful aren't, and things that we think aren't powerful are, and sometimes an apparent disadvantage is actually an advantage. Sometimes when you think you are at your worst, you are actually at your strongest. And so the book of Acts is continuing to move. The book of Acts is a constantly evolving, turning, twisting book, and Acts chapter 12 is no different. You can read it later, but I want to again take my time telling you the story because there's some beautiful, beautiful lessons for us. But Acts chapter 12 is going to bring the close of the church at Jerusalem being in

the forefront. It kind of steps into the background. It's going to bring the close of Peter being the main character, and Paul is going to step to the forefront in Acts 13. But it's interesting because Acts chapter 12 starts with these three words, about that time. About that time. About what time, Dr. Luke? Well, about the time that God has been at work. About the time that after Stephen's martyrdom, the church has spread out and taken the gospel with it. Philip has gone to Samaria, and then the dirty south, and God has saved an Ethiopian eunuch. About the time that Saul gets converted. Yes, that Saul. About the time that Peter has a vision and the Gentiles are now in on the church. About the time that the church is thriving and growing and has peace and the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. About that time, we're introduced to a guy by the name of Herod. And I want to tell you a little bit about Herod, because it's going to help frame the biblical narrative here. Herod, his name would have been Herod Agrippa I. He's one of the most historically well-documented rulers in the New Testament era. He shows up in Acts chapter 12 and a couple other places, but he's also central in the writings of Josephus, who was the most prominent historian in the first century. We know that Agrippa's grandfather was a man by the name of Herod the Great, and that Herod the Great was not a Jew. He was an Edomite, but in A.D. 40, Rome installed him with this title, the King of the Jews. Remember just seven years earlier, they had put an inscription over a cross, King of the Jews. Seven years later, not even a Jew, an Edomite, becomes the King of the Jews. And what we know about him is that he was a profoundly skilled politician. He was brilliant. He was efficient. He was an architect. He built expansions around the temple. He built the city of Caesarea. He built the fortress at Masada, if you know your history. He built all of that. The only problem with all of that is he was also a psychopath. He was deeply paranoid. He was incredibly violent. He had his own wife executed and Agrippa's father executed for the reason that Agrippa's father was especially popular, and Herod the Great assumed that he would leverage his popularity to overthrow him, so he just had him killed. Augustus reportedly said it was safer to be Herod's pig than his family member. That's who this dude was, right? He was nuts. He was nuts. So, Agrippa is raised without a father, with a brilliant psychopathic grandfather. His mother, Berenice, was a Hasmonean. A Hasmonean was a Jewish priestly and ruling lineage that came into existence after the Maccabean revolt. And

so, Agrippa is an interesting leader because he is Herodian. He's a Herod, which means he has deep political and powerful ties to Rome, but he's also a Hasmonean, which means he has deep and religious ties to the Jewish law and hierarchy, and he's royal. He is the perfect candidate to be both used by Rome and to help Rome consolidate power with the Jewish leaders. And so, Agrippa is raised fatherless. He spends most of his time in Rome and he spends it with the imperial family, and Josephus describes him as lavish, flamboyant, financially irresponsible, and politically dependent on patronage. In other words, my guy is stylish, he's loud, he's the life of the party, but he is corrupt. And he is viable. He tells us that there's a critical turning place. The Caesar from A.D. 14 to 37, meaning the one who oversaw the crucifixion of Jesus, was a man by the name of Tiberius. He lives to be 77 or 78. History's a little unclear on how he dies, but the most prevalent theory is that he had heart issues, was bedridden, he starts to get better, and a prefect doesn't want him to stay as the emperor or as the Caesar, and so he smothers him in his own bed. And in lieu of that, a leader by the name of Caligula comes to power in AD 37, and Caligula was very familiar with Agrippa, he has Agrippa released from prison, Agrippa had been thrown in prison because he had said to somebody that he wanted Tiberius to be killed, and Tiberius found out and threw him in prison, sort of like you putting something dumb on social media and then the CIA showing up to your house. But in AD 37, Agrippa's friend becomes Caesar, releases Agrippa, doesn't just release him, makes him a king over territories like Galilee, Judea, and Samaria. My guy Agrippa was smart, was stylish, was compromised, a client king of Rome, politically connected and religiously observant, and so watch what happens. About that time, this corrupt, flamboyant, lavish, bought politician aims to consolidate power with Rome and the Jewish leaders at the time, and the Bible tells us that he laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. Now we don't know all of the some, but we know two. The first is a man by the name of James. James was the son of Zebedee, he is the brother of the apostle John. James was one of Jesus' three inner circle, you've heard it before, Peter, James, and

John. Yes, that James. He likely functioned as what we would call the lead pastor of the church in Jerusalem, and so Herod, wanting to consolidate his power with the Jewish leaders, says, I'll just kill your pastor because I know the Jewish leaders will like it, and James becomes the first apostolic martyr in the book of Acts. And there's a bit of theological shock around this because the Bible doesn't tell us why. The Bible doesn't explain, and to this point, God has been doing all kinds of signs and wonders and miraculous things, and the Bible just says, Herod, about that time, lays violent hands on and cuts James' head off. What? What do you mean? You've been doing all these powerful things up until this point, God, you're going to let James die, die like that? No explanation. The way that Luke treats it is almost like a footnote, isn't it? And then, because it appears to go well, Herod goes on, and he arrests Peter, and Peter is in prison during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Do you know anybody else that was in prison during Passover? It's kind of a big deal to us. His name's Jesus. And so you see Herod pulling political and religious strings about the time that the last good thing that happened for the religious establishment of Judaism was they executed Jesus at the same time, just a handful of years later, he goes and he gets the Apostle Peter and he imprisons him. And what's interesting is that in Acts chapter 12 and verse 6, Luke gives us a little bit too much detail about where Peter finds himself. It's kind of like he wants us to know some things. He says that Peter, in our language, is in a maximum security prison. He has chains all over him.

He has guards on either side. Those guards would have rotated in and out. Here's what Luke is saying, Ocean's 14 is not going to star the Apostle Peter. There is no escape. My guy is stuck. James is dead. Peter is next. That is what Luke is trying to convey to you. This corrupt king who represents the most powerful empire in the world has decided that for political gains, he is going to savage the church and the church really can't do anything about it. That's what Acts chapter 12 is trying to convey to us. But that night, Peter is asleep. The next day, he will wake up to a guard taking him out to have his head removed from his neck. And he's asleep and an angel appears to him. And as the angel is talking to him, his chains fall off and the angel says, Peter, put some clothes on, man, for crying out loud. I can't be rescuing you naked. What's going on here, right? And so Peter puts his clothes on and puts his robe on and he walks back past a couple guards and the Bible says that the gates open of their own accord and the Bible tells us in Acts 12 and verse 9 that Peter thinks he's having a vision. My guy is struggling with visions, isn't he? He just keeps getting it wrong. And I love this because we tend to think that Peter, like in the book of Acts, he's a different dude. Perfect dude, he's basically like a saint. Nah, he's still Peter, right? He's still Peter.

And the Bible says, I love this verse, Acts 12 and verse 11, that Peter gets out on the street and it says this, when Peter came to himself, he said to himself, now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting. Really, Pete, now? Now you got it? Pete, you're standing on the street. You were in a dungeon. You thought you were having a vision. Now you're standing on the street and Peter gets on the street and goes, oh, I guess God really is doing this. You know, that verse is interesting to me and I need you to pray. I need you to pray for your pastors because what this means is that even leaders who walk with God and have some maturity can sometimes struggle to recognize the leading and intervention of God. And I need you to pray that as we aim to lead you, that we see the hand of God because you don't want us leading you without God. Acts chapter 12, simultaneously, Peter's having this experience. In Acts chapter 12 and verse 12, the church, Peter gets thrown in jail, James is dead and so they say, you know what we should do? We should do 21 days of prayer.

And they all pile into the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, who will show up later. He is the author of the gospel of Mark. And Peter, coming to himself, realizes that God has rescued him, walks toward the house that the church is gathered in. The church is in the house, praying for Peter to be released. Say amen if you're tracking with me. And he shows up on the stoop, on the porch. Hey y'all, it's me, let me in. And I'm like, tell that dude to shut up, we're praying. What are you praying? We're praying that Peter would be released. And so they go back to praying. And the Bible says that a servant girl, which in the hierarchy of power, she's at the bottom. You get what I'm saying? Rhoda, when we get to heaven, we're gonna meet Rhoda and say, come on, tell me this story, right? Rhoda decides that she's gonna go check and she gets to the door, opens the peephole, figures out it's Peter, gets so excited, she runs back into the house and leaves Peter standing there. Peter goes back to knocking. Hey, tell her to get back here. She goes in, tells the church,

Peter's at the front door and they say, Rhoda, why you gotta always be lying? Why don't you shut up? We're praying that God would heal and rescue and redeem Peter. I don't know why you always coming in here, interrupting us while we're trying to do church. At some point, she figures out a way to get somebody to go to the door. They look through the peephole. It's Peter. You know, this is an irony that makes great sense to us because the church prays for something that they don't actually expect to happen. Amen. You see, faithful prayer and confident expectation are not always aligned, but here's what I want you to see. God still works. We're gonna talk more about that in a minute, but whew. And what's amazing is that then Luke kind of like closes this scene and he goes back to Herod, Acts 12 and verse 18. And if we take some historical writing in scripture, we know that there is a public event in Caesarea. Now remember, Herod the Great, Agrippa's grandfather, had built Caesarea. It had become a center for Roman power. And so Herod chooses Caesarea to hold public games and festivals, which were always in honor of the emperor,

were always religious to serve the Roman gods and to show how powerful and rich Rome was. And they were also political. And so you have Roman officials, you have provincial elites, and the Bible tells us that there was a delegation from Tyre and Sidon who were there, and apparently Herod is mad at them. So I don't know if they didn't pay their tariffs or they tried to get through the strait or whatever, but something, I'm just trying to help you understand, all right? Just relax. Just relax. But, just send me the email, all right? It's fine. It's fine. And so everybody is here to see the greatness of Rome and to see the greatness of Herod. Say amen if you're chatting with me. And so, history tells us, this is fascinating, that Herod knows he's got to deliver this speech and so he has a robe made of silver, made. And he decides that he's going to start the speech when the sun isn't up. And so, as he's speaking, the sun comes up and hits his robe and it looks like he's glowing. And the Bible tells us that the crowd says, this is the voice of God, not of a man. In other words, his plan is working perfectly. In other words, the corrupt, slimy, grotesque politician is wielding power and it's working. Until God kills him on the spot. The Bible says that he falls over and that he's eaten by worms.

And so, the man who was there to flex on everybody is now screaming and groaning and writhing in pain in front of everybody in that same stupid silver robe. And so, Herod learns what Pharaoh and what Nebuchadnezzar had learned, that you don't play chicken with the God of the Bible. And then the text ends, Acts 12 and verse 24, but the word of God increased and multiplied. We called this series Unstoppable. And this text is perfect. So, if I could give you the bullet points, it would be this, James dies, the church prays but doesn't believe, Peter is delivered, Herod is judged, and the plans and purposes of God keep going. That's the text. So, I love this book. I've preached through the book of Acts before, but I feel like God's kind of given me some new eyes to see it. So, as in many parts of Acts, we see God's people, the church, seeking and sometimes struggling to follow God. And I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful because I believe about this church that we love God, but sometimes it's hard to follow God, isn't it? Sometimes it's hard to see what God is up to, and one of the reasons that it's hard is what I want to call the illusion of power. The illusion of power. It's easy for the church, then and now, to assume that there are powers at work that are beyond our control. In the book of Acts, God has been on the move. God has been doing something. Jesus ascends, He says, go back to Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit's going to come. The Holy Spirit comes, and then the church begins to operate in power, in signs, and in wonders. God's changing the world.

God's bringing His future kingdom into that present in a profound and beautiful way. Saul, that Saul gets converted. Peter starts having visions. Now the Gentiles are in on the church. It's unbelievable. And about that time, the world pushes back, and flexes, and James gets killed, and Peter gets thrown in prison, and hear me, this is not by accident. The systems of the world intend to convey the perception, the perception, turn to your neighbor and say, the perception of control and domination for their own glory. That's what the world intends to do. In fact, listen to Psalms chapter 2, the nations rage, and the people plot in vain. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. And this happens. It happened then, it happens now. It happens politically. It happens economically. It happens circumstantially. It happens through the news. And it certainly happens spiritually. And we know, we know that God is at work. We know He is. We read the Bible, and we go, yes, this is true. But the perception of power feels overwhelming, doesn't it? You see, systems are not an accident. Systems get built because systems create beliefs, and beliefs mask reality. And it continues to work, even in the church, because it feels real and because we treat it like it's real. You didn't get it.

I'm preaching 787% better. Then y'all will respond. And if you will hear me on this, I promise this will free you in so many ways. There are systems that are intended to create belief. Belief that what? This train is moving, you can't stop it. And beliefs mask reality and it works even for Christians because it feels real and because we treat it like it's real. We treat it like it's real. In the early church, we tend to think about the early church as like, that's as close to perfect as the church has been. They were unwavering in their faith. I mean, look at what God did through them. And we think if we could do what they did and be who they were, God would do what he did. But I'm here to tell you, it actually didn't have much to do with them. They experiencing Herod, experiencing Rome, experiencing culture, pushing back, probably believe like you and I do, that God allows rulers to rise in order to reveal the limitation of their power. And you know that, right? They knew that. And they probably believe like you believe that power is delegated. It's not possessed. Doesn't matter what they put on social media

or what their speech says. They are stewards of the power that is only God's. You know that, right? You know that. They believe like I hope you believe that power is always accountable. Power is always accountable. You say, but I want it to be accountable now, but you don't get to pick when. But just because it's not happening now doesn't mean it won't happen ever. No, no, no, no, no. Every leader of every level, because every person from every tongue, tribe, nation will stand before God and give an account. Why? Because it's all God's. They would have likely known that the verse right after I read you in Psalms chapter two about kings and nations scheming against God says this, he who sits in the heavens laughs. And the Lord holds them in derision. God says, I love what y'all are trying to do in the ant farm. But come on somebody. Do these people actually think? Do they actually think that I can't turn the heart of kings like a river whenever I want? Do they actually think that we are on their plan? Do they actually think that they'll never give an answer?

God looks down at the leaders that we go, no one can stop them. And God goes, come on, somebody, are you out of your mind? What? Y'all really need to read a history book. And still that giant looks big, man. That government, that king, that system looks awfully big and unmovable, doesn't it? Yeah. So I know you know the right answer to what I'm about to ask you, okay? And that's what concerns me. Tell me the area that your heart is telling you it cannot be moved. Tell me where your heart is heavy and feels helpless and you cannot see an outcome other than what is currently happening. I know you've got good theology because I know where you come to church. That's right. I'm not asking you about your theology, I'm asking you about your heart. Is it in your finances? Is it in, there's always more month than money and the month that there's enough money, it breaks. Is your heart, yeah, yeah, yeah, I understand that God is your provider, but if he's our provider, I want a refund. Is it in your marriage?

You guys have been at it for long enough and you come from places different enough that you don't actually remember while nobody made you get married. You don't actually remember, come on, I'm serious. You don't actually remember who you fell in love with and you have told yourself that you made a mistake and every time you go to counseling, it gets worse. And every time you think he or she can't go lower, they go elevator shaft lower. And you think, I'm stuck. This is never going to change. Maybe it's your circumstances. Maybe the doc says, hey, we've done all we can do. Maybe it's what's happening in our country. Maybe you watch too much news. And maybe you think that what you're watching is the truth. Hey, mom? Maybe it's with your kids. Maybe... I'm trying to be poignant, y'all. Come on, seriously. This is why this text matters. Because moms, some of you on Mother's Day are going to be taken to a lunch, and you're going to be sitting there thinking, I've put my heart and soul into this. And this is what it is. And this is never going to change. And we're never going to be close. And they're never going to love Jesus. And it's nothing that I can do about it because I've already done everything that I know how to do.

And maybe, maybe Gladwell has a good word for us. Maybe your disadvantage is actually your advantage. You say, what's my advantage? Well, watch. The church, when faced with Rome and faced with Herod, prayed poorly. The prayer of the early church is real, 21 days of prayer crammed into one day. It's not casual, but watch. Their expectation is limited and conflicted. They are surprised when God answers their prayer. And so when it is happening, and I need you to name it, my marriage, my finances, my mental health, my physical health, my work environment, what's happening in our country, what's happening in our city, come on, name the thing that God cannot change. And when you are thinking about it, you should pray because it is your advantage. But listen, sometimes we pray and wonder if we are doing it right, especially when nothing is changing. And this is the grace of the story of Acts chapter 12. Because the church is praying with sincerity, but not belief. And God still works. I've had this conversation with God so many times. God, there is the giant. God, I am praying. God, he is not moving. God, what do you want me to say? Do you want me to stand on one leg? You want me to tie my hands behind my back? Do you want me to say these and thousand those? This thing has got to move. I can't move it. You say you can move it. And I remember talking to an old pastor about this and saying, I'm praying for this thing

to move and God doesn't care. And he said to me, are you praying? And I said, I just told you that I was. And he goes, then you're doing it right. You see, you have this conception that the reason it's not changing is because you aren't saying the magic words. But watch, the early church wasn't saying the magic words. And when God answered the prayer, they said, tell them to go away so we can keep praying. I love Romans 8 and verse 26. We love quoting Romans 8 and verse 28, but we forget that the context of it is actually prayer. Listen to it. The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Here's what the Bible says. You're doing your best, and I would explain to you how it works, but you wouldn't understand. It's too deep for you. And so, the Bible would say, you pray as you know how to pray, and if you're praying, you're doing it right. And the Holy Spirit says, I'll take it from here. And he who searches hearts knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good to those who are called according to His purpose. So watch, what does prayer do? Prayer allows us to participate with what God is doing, but not to control what God is doing. In some way, shape, or form, prayer in God's providence and sovereignty, God allows His heart to be moved by the prayers of His people. You say, how?

I don't know. Don't send me an email. Send me the other email. Don't send me this email. I don't know. I don't know how that works. But I know that your prayers matter, and that it allows us to participate in what God is doing. But watch, it doesn't allow us to control God. So prayer allows us to participate. Prayer prepares our hearts by changing our perspective. Listen to Psalm 121, I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. And we miss this all the time. What does David say? I have to look someplace else. Can I tell you why you don't think God can do it? Because you keep looking at the problem. And what does David say? I'm looking for where God is. This is why I say to you, turn off the news. You're looking the wrong place. My marriage is unfixable. Yeah, when you're staring at it. My finances are unfixable. Yeah, when you're fixated on it. Well, where am I supposed to look? Jesus? You're supposed to get your eyes onto Jesus. So prayer allows me to participate.

Prayer changes my perspective. And watch, prayer prepares my heart for how God is working. Why do I say this? Because in this text and in your life, solutions often come suddenly in response to imperfect but repeated faithfulness. Come on, I can't even quantify the percentage of better preaching than responding I'm experiencing right now. Solutions. What is prayer? Even when you're doing it wrong, you're doing it right. Because it allows you to participate, it gets your perspective right, and it prepares you for something that could happen right now. In response to what? Just seeking God imperfectly with shady, suspect, fragmented belief, or nothing at all, if Acts chapter 12 is to be considered true. Watch, Peter is rescued as the church prays terrible prayers. And Herod is killed at the request of apparently nobody. Meaning God didn't need their prayers to be perfect to answer their prayer, and God didn't need their prayers to accomplish His will. Both things were unexpected. Both things happened suddenly. Both things were in response to God's people imperfectly but faithfully trying to follow Him with limited belief and limited understanding. This is a game changer. This is a game changer. You're telling me, you're telling me that the unmovable thing, you're telling me that God has a plan for the unmovable thing. Yes, that's what I'm telling you. And you're telling me that God is going to execute that plan to perfection, whether I participate correctly or not, because He's that powerful and that good.

And it's just up to me, it's just up to me to try to seek Him faithfully, and that in the right time, that is the height of His glory and the height of my blessing, I wake up one day to boom! Yes, that's what I'm telling you. That's what I'm telling you, that's what the book of Acts is telling you. And so what do we do? What do we do? Well, we're going to close today doing what the early church did. So I need you to close your eyes. I need you to get as comfortable as you can in these portable chairs. I need you to get still before God. And I need you to pick up in the presence of God that thing that you believe is unmovable and undefeatable. And I need you to let it, with all of its weight, land on your mind and land on your heart. You got it? How many of you have something in your mind right now? Raise your hand if you do. Okay, then here's what I need you to do. We don't sit on the promises of God. We stand on them. So I need you to stand up. Okay, so listen to me, first of all. What the enemy wants you to believe is that you're the only one. So I just want you to look around. This is the reason that we're here. Because there are unmovable kings and kingdoms. There are undefeated giants and armies. And if you stare at them too long, you'll start to believe that they're real. But the gospel is, they don't win.

It's not real. So don't treat it like it's real. So I want you to raise your hands. And I want you to begin to do something very holy. I want you to begin to take your belief and your expectations, and I want you to begin to push them toward one another. The early church prayed with sincerity, God, please, but they didn't believe. So when it happens, they were surprised. And I want you to take that thing and I want you to say, God, I'm standing literally on your promises today. And I'm bringing your promises to my problems. And even though my problems are insurmountable to me, they are nothing to you. Come on, take a couple minutes and tell God that right now. You say, I don't believe it. That's fine. Begin to in faith. Let me pray for you. Heavenly Father, we come to you right now and we thank you that you are our father and that you're a good father. We hallow your name today. There's nobody like you. We pray, Lord, that your kingdom would come and that your will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. And Lord, start with us. Give us this day what we need. And Lord, some of us just need a little change of perspective. Some of us just need a little encouragement and hope. Some of us just need to be reminded of your promises and of your power so that we can put one more step in front of the other. Because this thing that's standing in front of us, Lord, has been standing there for a

long time and we do not know how to get around it or go through it. And so we come to you like that father in the gospels and say, we believe. Help our unbelief. I thank you for the gift of Acts 12, the church who did what you told us to do, that our advantage is prayer. And they did it while not believing and you still showed up and you still worked. And suddenly, suddenly, much to their surprise. And I pray today, God, that you would help us to believe you again, to trust you again, to repeat a faithfulness in doing something that feels small, feels like an underdog. And I pray that in your goodness, there would come a time when suddenly we would be in love with our spouse again, where suddenly our rebellious child would repent, where suddenly we would see you as our provider, where suddenly you would do the miraculous, Lord, surprise us, but Lord, align our theology to our expectation in this moment so that we can continue to seek you with hope and with peace and with rest. I thank you, God, that you hear me right now. I thank you, God, that you're moving. And then with the benefit of hindsight, we can trust you with what comes next. And so, imperfectly, we trust you, because only you are perfect. We love you, God. We thank you. Hear our prayers. Move on our behalf for your glory and our good. In Jesus' name, all God's people said, amen and amen. Okay, hang tight, hang tight, hang tight. Prayer team, come on down. If we can pray for you, let us. If you came prepared to give and you didn't, please do. Growth track step two in the next service. Grace Way, look at me, look at me, look at me. Everyone look at me.

Hey, Grace Way, God is moving on your behalf. He sees you, He knows you, He loves you. And for what it's worth, your pastor does too. Have a great week. Happy Mother's Day.