01242021 The Gate Called Beautiful Al Robertson

morning church what a blessing to be together on this day it's uh welcome fellowship center welcome live stream uh guys we're glad you're here with us today yeah it's unfortunate that i have to tell you that uh cody demint who grew up here passed away this past week we love the dements hadn't been around for a while but this family is very special to lisa and i and to many in our church family and so they're going to have a funeral here tomorrow i'm sure somebody at the end of service will give you all the details of that but i know that beverly is hoping to feed the family and so we need some food delivered here before 11 o'clock tomorrow if you can so we can lift up this family in a tough time i had a funeral that i had to speak at yesterday in tyler my first cousin uh passed away and it was coveted related and she was only 59 years old it's just a reminder that uh you know we don't have long on planet earth so we want to make the most of it amen every single moment for christ ava would you come up ava bass is going to read our scripture today says here she loves riding her bike and playing softball is that right ava all right excited to have you read for us today you ready therefore jesus said again very truthfully i tell you i am the gate for the sheep all who have come before me are thieves and robbers but the sheep have not listened to them i am the gate whoever enters through me will be saved they will come in and go out and find pasture the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy but i have come i have come that they may have life and have it to the full thank you great job great job ava that was uh from john 10 and uh today our lesson is not from that text but it is a great reminder uh that we're here to talk about the true gate and that's jesus christ and so everything we've been talking about last week mike sort of ignited our journey in acts two we're calling this the unstoppable uh adventure because it really is and it's still not stopping two thousand years later we're still on the journey we're still reaching people we're still helping people last week mike talked about a miracle of these unstudied languages these these disciples were able to speak uh in languages that they had not studied and did not know by the power of the holy spirit and that wasn't the point of it the point was to stir up the audience and it certainly did right and they were willing to listen to peter give the first message about jesus christ thousands of people that day began the journey that we're still a part of this very day what a blessing all those dripping wet new believers excited meeting in the temple courts ready to go ready to commune for one another ready to pull for one another and today we're going to pick up the story in acts chapter 3 and we're going to see a similar thing get started we're going to have a miracle and we're going to have a message and then we're going to have a moment of hope let's start in acts chapter 3 and verse 1 if you've got your bibles or tablets or phones one day peter and john were going up to the temple at the time of prayer at three in the afternoon now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called beautiful ironic right here's this man laying here been this way since birth but he's laying right next to a gate that everyone calls beautiful he was put there every day to beg from those that were going into the temple court so you think about this man's life someone had to carry him in someone had to lay him out he's got his cup he's ready for the daily ritual and we don't know how many years he's been doing this but obviously a long time people are walking in people are walking out now let me tell you a little bit more about this gate most scholars believe and so do i that it was the eastern gate on the wall to jerusalem it also had other names it was called the golden gate the gate of mercy and later years it was called the gate of eternal life what was interesting to me about sort of the irony of this situation this beautiful gate and this lame man laying next to it is that this was the gate that jesus would use if you look out the eastern gate and you're imagining you're in israel you see the kidron valley and then you see the mount of olives where the garden of gethsemane was so you know that jesus spent a lot of time coming in and out of this gate this was the very gate in the triumphal entry that we talked about back in john chapter 12. this is where he came in the palm leaves are going down people are hosanna and praising the name of jesus and it was a moment to fulfill scripture and that whole week we know that he was teaching the temple courts at night he would walk right through this gate where he would go out and he would rest on the mount of olives the last time that he came into this gate he was a prisoner remember we've been out praying judas went out and betrayed him so he came the next time with his hands tied together willing to give his life for us it truly is a beautiful gate right and this lame man is laying here and apparently he's been watching all this he's wondering what all the hubbub is about man the more crowds the more opportunity for me to maybe get a buck or two what's the big deal with this guy named jesus and he's about to find out look at verse three when he saw peter and john about to enter he asked them for money peter looked at straight at him as did john let me just stop right there peter and john have broken the number one rule when you encounter someone that's begging for money and i'm just gonna have an honest moment here right because it still happens to this very day there's usually not a temple gate but if you go out to sam's right there's a guy that's usually right there at that red light you know who i'm talking about right and you know the number one rule you don't make what you don't make eye contact because when you make eye contact with someone who's asking for money there's only two things that are going to happen most of the time you're going to have compassion and you're going to start digging in your chain thing or digging in your wallet just saying well you know this whole guy is probably down on his left maybe his sign is true maybe it's not or you're going to have judgment you're going to think in your heart you need to get a job you look like a fit person right you don't know the man or you don't know the woman and that's what happens that's why you never make eye contact now they're looking at you and you're looking somewhere else in this instance they look straight at him and peter said this is a double whammy look at us now it's interesting the man gives them his attention why because now he thinks i got him if we're making eye contact i'm making progress that's what he's thinking so he looks straight at him expecting to get something from them and then peter breaks his heart peter says silver or gold i do not have now you know the guy's heart sinks right what's the point here why are we having this staring contest he's only living the life that he's always lived it's always ever known his life consists of getting through this day into the next it reminds me when i go to africa and you see thousands of people that are living life this way if i can just get to tomorrow as an american it's very difficult to even understand the mindset of how people live and that's the way it was with this guy but peter goes on to say but what i do have i give you and this guy's life's about to be changed and he has no idea out of his disappointment peter says in the name of jesus christ of nazareth walk now you need to know for a split second here this guy is thinking are you crazy this man hasn't walked his whole life he was born late he wasn't a toddler he wasn't toddling around the house and on those shaky legs like we watched kids like oliver and all the other little babies walk he never had that he has no idea how to walk and now in the name of jesus christ isn't that the guy that used to walk through the gate you're telling me to walk taking him by the right hand because he's not doing anything he don't know how he helps him up and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong would that not have been a sight atrophied muscles little small legs that you know we've seen people in this situation before all of a sudden be made whole what does he do well he jumps to his feet and he begins to walk even though he'd never walked it came to him then he went with them into the temple courts of course walking and jumping and praising god wouldn't you i imagine him doing like the russian dance right he's down on his legs and hook people praising god when all the people saw him walking and praising god they said isn't that the same man who used to sit at the temple gate called beautiful begging but what and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened and in this the point same thing with the languages last week the point is to get people to look and say what is going on here this is something and they were just as amazed as he was a man now had physical transformation but look that's not the point of it just like the languages weren't last week jesus walked by how many times did jesus walk by this guy every time he came through the gate that's where he came in this guy's laying there jesus never held it jesus told us over and over again my purpose is not to not come and heal everybody of sickness or to give every poor person enough money to live my purpose is to come to transform lives that will live forever whether you get the healing or not i'm sure some people looked at it and thought well my cousin has was been lame since birth why why can't he be healed because that's why some people look at some sort of miraculous transformation jealous because if the miracle is the only thing you're looking for and the only thing you're expecting then you're missing the whole point of why jesus came it wasn't about the miracle the miracle only pointed to who jesus is and was and so just like we saw in acts chapter 2 you're going to see the same theme in acts chapter 3. now wonder if peter and john had planned this because you know they've seen this guy too they thought you know what we're going to have some kind of service today watch what's facing to happen when this guy gets healed and so now they have a moment so while there's a great miracle or physical transformation the true point is it's a message of spiritual transformation look back at acts 3 verse 11. while the man held on to peter and john and wouldn't you these guys had just given you the ability to walk i'd want to be in their back pocket from here on out these are my guys all the people were astonished they came running in this place called solomon's colonnade so now they're running to hear what peter and john have to say when peter saw this he said to them fellow israelites i love how he identifies with her i'm one of you why does this surprise you why do you stare at us as if by our own power or goodness we have godliness we have made this man walk why do you think it's us it's not us we're just men like you we're just israelites but we know something so he gives them the true power source the god of abraham isaac and jacob the god of your fathers has glorified his servant jesus i love it we're going all the way back this has always been part of the plan and then he says more you handed him over to be killed you disowned him before pilate though he decided to let him go you disowned the holy and righteous one and ask that a murderer be released to you and you kill the author of life you did it see we have to be convicted and think about that last statement you killed the author of life how do you kill the author of life well that was the secret you don't and yet that was what they attempted to do i love that last song that we sang because if you just look at this and say yeah these were terrible because these were actually the people that participated in the death of jesus but folks 2 000 years later it's us too my sin put him on that cross my sin enacted a plan that had to be had to for me to be saved these people are the same as me and the same as you we handed him over we killed the author of life my sin your sin and then he comes back in 15 and says but god raised him from the dead you don't kill the author of life you think you killed the author of life but the author of life said i came here to die for you but i also came to be raised for you so that you may have life and have it to the full so as i'm standing before my own family yesterday and i've got a urn full of ashes in front of me i have the hope because i don't grieve like the rest of men who have no hope i believe there will be a resurrection one day bodies will come flying out of the ground and he will go to meet the lord in the air you don't kill the author of life you put your heart in faith and trust in him that's what you do and it makes us invincible peter said we are witnesses of this by faith in the name of jesus this man whom you see and no was made strong it is jesus's name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him as all of you can see that's the power of jesus the purpose is not to heal a man that's lame the purpose is to give us eternal life invincibility then if you die you can then live if you're born with a deformity you will live forever not deformed because of the power of jesus but i love that peter he's convicting them which we need to be convicted right we need to be told what you're doing is not right but then he gives them a pathway because when you you're convicted you've got to have a pathway to peace you've got to have a way out the worst thing i've ever seen or can ever see is someone who preaches a message of condemnation but never tells people how to come to christ how do we get out yeah i realize i'm bad i'm terrible what's my pathway verse 17 now fellow israelites i know that you acted in ignorance as did your leaders i love it that peter says i get it you thought you were doing the right thing it was it was ignorant but it was wrong but this is how god fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets saying that his messiah would suffer god's known about this all along this was his plan he knew how you would react he knew what judas would do he knew what pilate would do he knew that you would denounce him defame him and yet he came anyway because he loves you that's a pathway repent them anybody can change repent then and turn to god so that your sins may be wiped out and that times of refreshing may come from the lord what a what a message for us to commit ourselves to him to be cleansed and refreshed i woke up this morning refreshed in new mercies because of what christ has done for me and you know what tomorrow i wake up and the same thing will happen again unless the lord decides i go home tonight or unless he comes back which is even better that's what we have to look forward to and that's what peter would finish with look at verse 20 this is a future moment of eternal transformation and that he may sin the messiah who has been appointed for you even jesus so he says look he's coming back heaven must receive him until the time comes for god to restore everything and he as he promised long ago through his holy prophets now he's going to quote moses would you look at peter peter's impressing me back in acts chapter 2 he's quoting joel he's talk he's quoting david now he's quoting moses later it's samuel and abraham who is this guy i thought this was a fisherman who didn't know anything peter peter knew some stuff and now the holy spirit's just flowing it out of them just like he does with us moses said the lord your god will raise up a prophet like me from among your own people and you must listen to everything he tells you you remember moses you israelites that one you so adore he talked about our lord jesus anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from his people it's not about being a good jew anymore to this audience it's time to become a christian what a moment indeed beginning with samuel all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days and you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant god made with your fathers he said to abraham i mean he just spit them out through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed when god raised up his servant he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways thousands of years of jewish history leading up to this moment where jesus came to this earth now he's here and now he's gone and 2000 years later we're waiting for him to come back why so we have an opportunity to turn from our wicked ways same message applies today the power to save and refresh and to be transformed you know these people got the opportunity to be the first ones to embrace this message the first people to understand what grace is the first people to understand what it means to be refreshed by the holy spirit to be changed to give god glory for the rest of their lives but it still goes forward today does it not last week we saw a beautiful testimony from megan a life that's been changed a life that's been transformed today we have another story that i want to share with you this man has been awakened by our savior and now he's a force for good let's run that testimony guys i'm a grateful believer in jesus christ in the past i've struggled with ivy drug use anger and pride my name is derek i was born in pearl river louisiana grew up there was born into a great family my mom was always there and my grandpa was always there they never missed a sporting event a school function i mean always there for advice and just kind of to teach me the way of life and going into high school i excelled in academics and sports ended up graduating with a 4.2 gpa a salutatorian i was a starter quarterback for the football team for four years and by the time my senior year come you know i had the world at my fingertips i could have went to yale columbia or brown to play football on a full academic and an athletic scholarship so i just say that sin or addiction does not discriminate it doesn't matter if we grew up in the greatest situation or if we had great parents or bad parents sins out there and addiction it affects everybody after uh you know making one be in high school i ended up flunking out of college after my first semester partying become a huge part of my life it wasn't just alcohol and weed um your pain pills uh one pain pill become two two become four before i knew it i was having to take 12 and that was on an everyday basis i began shooting a lot of meth i began making meth um but also around this time the pain pills weren't cutting no more and heroin began extensive heroin use i couldn't go i couldn't wake up in the morning without a shot of heroin and shot of meth i began stealing from my family and loved ones ended up you know ruining the relationship with my mother at work and ended up going out with a bang you know throwing her to the ground body slamming my own mom to the ground emptying the cash register and out the door went um i ended up going from job to job i finally got on with this construction crew in baton rouge after the flood and a lot of hours were long the drive was long so my meth use really increased and uh also you know heroin come back into the picture and not using for those of you know not using heroin for about three years and then that first time would be the first time i overdosed you know i woke up on a gurney headed to the hospital not knowing what happened i began selling a lot of drugs uh methamphetamines exactly and and of course selling drugs put you in bad situations so one night you know i'm sitting in a car trying to make a deal and the car door opens and uh i'm staring down the barrel of a nine millimeter see the flash of the gun bear on him the guy unloads a clip on me at about point-blank range and but still thinking that was enough i still kept on still a couple one you know lying to my family any friends i had left i completely turned my back on i went on the od three or four more times so i just remember [Music] sitting there one one night looking around i had nobody i was alone i was a bad brother i was a bad son i was a bad friend i ruined an engagement divorced here i'm 32 year old and i've lost everything i uh i truly had hit my rock bottom so i did what i did what i i had to do and i just uh i remember my cousin talking about this place in monroe uh called pecan haven so i called uh betty bower and my cousin and and she said uh well derek you know you get you know we can get you up here but you're going to have to go to detox first and uh man i was so scared you know uh i didn't know what to expect but i'm sitting in these in this detox center and these guys bringing us meetings and they all had their life together they all seemed happy and i remember this one guy come and he said look i don't know your relationship with god i don't know if you even believe in god he said but i tell you what if you hide your shoes hide your sandals under your bed when you get up in the morning to get them shoes out from under your bed if you hit them knees and while you're down there you just thank the lord you talk to him and just thank him for uh for just giving you a second chance for loving you he said i promise you your life will change so i said you know i what else you know i'm gonna try i'm willing to try anything for this and i remember that night i hid my shoes under my bed and the next morning when i got out of bed i got on my knees to get my sandals and while i was down there i hit my knees and i started thanking the lord and it was at that moment right then and there where i came face to face with my lord and savior jesus christ you know it's kind of like in the book of acts chapter 3 when peter and john go to the temple and there's this crippled man sitting there just begging for gold and silver and uh i feel i felt like that crippled man you know beat up from life full of shame and guilt just begging for a new life but as peter and john did that day through jesus christ gave that man a new life and as he walked through the gates called beautiful he walked into a new life in jesus christ and from that moment on my life began to change at pecan haven i remember opening the bible and just the words and scriptures now jumping off the page at me forever grateful for for a man named brian rucker who took me under his wing and just started explaining who jesus was and the love and the second chances and and the grace that i never even thought was possible before i'm forever grateful for kyle smith as i'm leaving pecan haven i get accepted into the awaken 514 recovery program and uh grateful for that decision to this day that kyle smith took the time to pour into me i remember the first night of celebrate recovery i thought that you know what existed up here at wfr wasn't possible 300 plus people just like me that was hurt and broken loving one another and loving jesus just want to thank my life you know my life can't get any better you know i'm i'm sitting there and kyle brings me into office and asked me to uh help him manage the awaken 514 program and that was like a slap in the face stop you in your tracks moment here i was just a year ago i can't even manage my own life and a man of god that i look up to kyle just comes and asks me to to help manage a recovery program help manage other guys you know it's just it's unbelievable and without a doubt i said yes because i know the way jesus come into my heart all i wanted to do for the rest of my life is just to help other brothers find christ so here i am um you know still trying to pinch myself thinking it's all a dream and i'm in the likes i get to to wake up every day and come to my home at wfr church i get to be surrounded with godly men and women each and every day i don't deserve that i got a man like robert abel's pouring into me taking me under his wing when uh when i when sometimes i still look at myself as an old drug addict and sinner just when i think things can't get any better god sends a beautiful angel into my life by the name of kayla and somebody who loves jesus just as much as i do god will do exceedingly abundantly more than i could ever imagine and now i'm married to to the woman of my dreams i have the same mother who didn't want me around is now calling me for spiritual advice sometimes you know uh when i wake up in the morning now and i look in the mirror i don't see that broken person anymore i don't see that man that's full of shame full of guilt i don't see that bad brother or that bad son or bad grandson i see a child of god and yes i am still an addict except my addiction today is not drugs and alcohol it's our lord and savior jesus christ and loving and helping others find him i can only say hallelujah when a lame person learns how to walk we're all derrick you don't have to do heroin but you did something we all do where we had to drop to those knees and arise up to walk in the name of jesus christ it's the power of transformation look look what can happen we see the tragedy every day of what happens when people don't humble themselves to jesus they're dying every day by the hundreds of thousands and many don't know the name of jesus this morning if that's you you know there's a lot of things that make us lame if that's you that needs to be healed and transformed but spiritually we want to give you that opportunity maybe you've been thinking about it you've just been scared to make that move take that step i'm telling you the walk to glory begins with giving yourself to christ allowing him to transform your heart and your mind to give you the holy spirit of refreshing it's your pathway so whether you're watching on a computer somewhere or television or you're here in person we want you to be transformed and to be saved you need that today why don't you come forward while we're standing while we sing

Channel: Whites Ferry Road Church

Views: 8,746

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Length: 30min 52sec (1852 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 25 2021