Surprise! | Pastor Steven Furtick | Elevation Church

Video Statistics and Information

Video
Captions Word Cloud
Reddit Comments
Captions
I don't know what it has been  like for you in the last year   as we've all been renegotiating our lives…not  negotiating with God, but just trying to figure   out where our lives are pointed. There may be a  lot of you who are going through something that's   very disorienting, and that may be very  negative. There may be some of you who   are going through something and it has  actually been a positive change for you. One thing I know for all of us is that we  don't always get the chance to brace for impact   when changes come in our  lives, positive or negative.   That's what makes it really challenging.  So, I want everybody in this room to stand   and, if you're able, right where you are, I want  you to stand. I want to read my Scripture for   today, because I'm so excited what God gave me  for us to study together for our Bible lesson. The Scripture is Acts 3:1-16. Just be open. Be  attentive and be respectful. God doesn't waste   words, so really value what he gives you today.  He might say one thing that changes everything.   I'm just telling you. I've  had that experience before.   Sometimes it wasn't even when I was looking  for some dramatic thing from God, and just,   Whack! Thud! Kapow! like  the comic books used to say. Acts 3:1: "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,   where he was put every day to beg from  those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about  to enter, he asked them for money.   Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then  Peter said, 'Look at us!' So the man gave them his   attention, expecting to get something from them.  Then Peter said, 'Silver or gold I do not have,   but what I do have I give you. In the name  of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.' Taking   him by the right hand, he helped him up, and  instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then  he went with them into the temple courts,   walking and jumping, and praising God. When all  the people saw him walking and praising God,   they recognized him as the same man who used to  sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful,   and they were filled with wonder and  amazement at what had happened to him. While the man held on to Peter and John, all  the people were astonished and came running to   them in the place called Solomon's Colonnade.  When Peter saw this, he said to them:   'Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you?   Why do you stare at us as if by our own  power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of  our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You   handed him over to be killed, and you disowned  him before Pilate, though he had decided to let   him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One  and asked that a murderer be released to you.   You killed the author of life, but God raised  him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. By faith in the name of Jesus, this man  whom you see and know was made strong.   It is Jesus' name and the faith  that comes through him that   has completely healed him, as you can all see.'"  I'm going to tell you my title. It's going to be   a controversial one, but I want you to shout it at  the top of your lungs. It's only a one-word title. Look at somebody next to you  and say, "Surprise!" Be seated.   I was watching your reaction to that. I wish I  could see you. Do you like surprises? Raise your   hand in the chat if you like surprises. Raise  your hand in the room if you like surprises.   See, I like surprises…that  I like. Is that fair enough? If you don't like to be surprised,  just shoot your hand up real quick.   Y'all raised it slowly because you  don't like anything surprising,   even the raising of your own hand. It's  like your brain was managing the speed of   your hand. You're like, "We're going to go up  now in response to the preacher's question." One of my best friends is named Craig Groeschel.  He pastors a church in Oklahoma. Of course you   know him. He has been here a million times.  I look up to him so much. A few years ago,   I thought he was too stressed out, so I went to  go see him, but I wanted to surprise him. The   reason I wanted to surprise him was  because he is such a control freak.   (I didn't ask his permission to share this  illustration. I'll ask forgiveness afterward.)   I knew if I said, "Can I come?" he'd  go, "Oh, I've got this. I've got that.   I've got the other." Blah, blah, blah. "I've got to preach for 75 million people out  there in Russia," things like this that he does.   You know, "I've got to drink a protein shake.  I've got to bench-press 700 pounds." He's just   so efficient. I was like, "I'll just go."  Jessica Mitchell on our staff reached out   to the assistant who worked in his office and just  shared that we were coming. "But don't tell him." So, I go on the airplane. It's something we  used to do, for those of you who are watching   this in the year 2021. Then when I got there, the  gentleman who picked me up from the airport who   was on his staff… I said, "Where are you going to  sneak me in?" He goes, "Uh, well, uh, he kind of   knows you're coming." I said, "Well, how does he  know I'm coming?" They said, "Well, we told him.   He doesn't like surprises." This is what I said in my head. This is the  transcript that didn't make it text-to-speech   thing. It was just a text in my head. I  thought, "Well, dummy, you're not his friend.   I'm his friend. I didn't come out  here because he likes surprises.   I came out here because he needed  one, dummy." I didn't say that.   I'm a man of God, and I don't say things like  this. I have a filter for things like this. It was funny to me how they thought that  just because he didn't like surprises   meant he didn't ever need surprises. I knew if  I told him I was coming it would stress him out,   so I knew the way to really support my friend  in a stressful season was to show up and give   him no choice about… What's he going to  do? Kick me out when I show up at the door? So, when I saw him, I was angry. I said,  "Surprise!" You know what I'm saying?   The next time I went out, I didn't tell anybody  I was coming. I got on the airplane and sent him   a picture of the boarding pass, and I said, "Uber  or are you picking me up at the airport?" I didn't   ask because I know just because he doesn't like  surprises doesn't mean he never needs surprises. When I say, "Turn in your Bible to Acts 3," like  I just did a minute ago… "Our Scripture is Acts,   chapter 3." There are many people who listen  to me preach who are like, "Okay. Genesis,   Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,  Joshua, Judges… Whoa. I'm not seeing Ax.   Ax. Ax. Ax. This is going to be a  good one. Is this about a battle ax?"   They never heard this story before, so they're  probably going to get the most out of it. The people who will have a hard time hearing this   with their heart are the people  who know it in their head.   Shout again, "Surprise!"   We have an ongoing argument in my house because  my wife is very jumpy. She only has two flaws.   This is the only other flaw she has other  than the one I told you about last week. She's so skittish. It angers me to no end, because  I have to walk around my house like some sort of   secret ninja. I have to sneak around my  house so as not to scare her. I tell her   when I walk into a room and she jumps… I go,  "I live here! Am I allowed to live here?"   It's so uncomfortable having to sneak around  like a burglar in the house that I bought. Love you, Holly Anna. But it's just weird. I live  here! I live here, and I can't just move around   and do what I want to do? The parallel is that a  lot of times in church when God actually shows up,   we kind of act like we didn't expect  it to begin with. I'll show you this   in the text from the teachers of the law  and the Sadducees and the temple guard. When Peter did a miracle,  they threw him in prison.   That's what happens in this text. But before we  get to that, let me back all the way up to the   beginning, because there are several surprises in  this passage that may not be apparent to the naked   eye. First of all, you might be surprised to see  Peter and John hanging out together to begin with. You might be surprised that they would get  along, because they are completely different. Our   expectation is that God is going to bring people  into our lives who are similar to us. That's   called a mirror. You can buy that at Lowe's. You  don't need people in your life who always reflect   back at you your same exact preferences  and prejudices, reinforcing your biases.   God will bring people into your life he will use,  and it will sometimes surprise you who he uses.   So, Peter and John are somewhat surprising to see  together, because Peter is boisterous and John is… I have a hard time with people like John.   When I was reading the passage… You might  not have noticed. He didn't do anything.   I won't take time to read the whole thing again  because I'm on a clock budget today with you,   but I promise you. Read the whole thing.  Well, he did one thing. Okay. I don't want   to overstate it. John did one thing. Verse 4:  "Peter looked straight at him, as did John." The only part this guy had in  the passage that I can see is   to look at the man who's asking for  the money. He didn't say, "Oh, Peter,   don't worry about it. You left your wallet  back at the… I've got my wallet here." No.   He didn't grab the left hand while Peter grabbed  the right hand. No. He didn't look at Peter and   say, "You can do it, Peter. It's just like you  saw Jesus do with the blind eyes and the woman   with the issue of blood." No encouragement. No  nothing. Just looked at the man Peter looked at. But I wonder if it was John's  perspective Peter needed   that was different than his that enabled him  to be in position to experience God's power.   You might be surprised who God uses in your life.   God has done some of the biggest things in my  life through people I didn't like. No, I won't   give you a list. I'm not going to name names,  but some of the biggest things God did in my life   he did through people I didn't even really  enjoy hanging out with. The problem with us is… God wants to bring somebody into our lives, but  if they don't exactly match the specifications   of the friends we think we want   or the people we think… Usually, the people we  think we need God to send are the people who   already think what we think. Why would God  send something we already have plenty of? I was surprised   Peter and John were still hanging  out, because they were so competitive.   They have a history, Peter and John.  They were partners in a fishing business,   and they became fishers of men with Jesus.  They had some adventures together. They had   history together. Peter and John  not only ran to the tomb together… Check this out how different their  perspectives are and how God can give   you a person who has a different perspective  than you in order to help you see something   you would have been tempted maybe to…  You would have completely missed it.   When they got to the tomb and it  was empty, they were surprised. Why were they surprised? Well, I guess a dead man  rising from the grave is surprising, but after all   they'd seen him do… I know it's kind of obvious,  but this is exactly what he said he would do.   When the stone was rolled away, when they got  there on Sunday, they were shocked by it. When the   women came back, because the women had the ability  to believe something the men couldn't believe… I don't know if that says anything about how  God sometimes uses people… Whatever, whatever.   The men were like the official disciples, but  the women were the ones who went to the tomb.   When John got there, he got there first, but he  didn't go in. When Peter got there, Peter went in,   but he didn't believe. God used John who stood  outside the tomb at a distance to believe. Peter was wired to believe it when he saw it.  John stood… I have to give you an idea of the   differences, why it's so surprising. John at  the Last Supper when Jesus was saying, "One of   you is going to betray me" leaned back on Jesus'  chest and said nothing. Peter said, "Nuh-uh. Not   me. Even if you die, I'm going to be right  here. If the wheels fall off, I'll ride with   you. It doesn't matter, Jesus. I'll cut off an  ear. I'll cut off a head. I'll do anything." But let the cock crow three times and Peter  is denying him like he never knew him.   It's surprising that God would use  two people who were so different   and use them to do something so amazing as perform  the first miracle since the birth of the church   that we witness in the book of  Acts. Peter and John together. If you are more like John than Peter, that's okay.   It will shock you some of the things God will  use about your personality that you think mean   he can't use you. I don't want to stay here  long because it's really not my message,   but that surprised me that it was Peter and John  together, because they seem like polar opposites. Question: Are you open to who God wants to use in  your life or do you have a wish list that looks   more like something you should hand to Santa than  something you should pray to Jesus? If they don't   match the exact specifications of who you thought  God would use, can you be open to surprise?   Some of the best work I ever did in my life was  with people that I didn't see it on the surface. Here's what they're doing. They're going  up to the temple at the time of prayer,   3:00 in the afternoon. You've got your 9:00  a.m. prayer, you've got your 12:00 noon prayer,   you've got your 3:00 p.m. prayer, and they're  going to the temple. That surprised me,   because the temple was the old system.   Now they're preaching the gospel.  Jesus has ascended to heaven. The context of this is that the  day of Pentecost has already come.   Peter preaches this amazing confrontational  sermon. It wouldn't have been a YouTube popular   sermon. It wouldn't have gotten a lot of clicks  or views or comments or anything like that, but   it was very effective, because when he preached  it, the Holy Spirit demonstrated with power.   Now, all of a sudden, the Spirit's power  was a demonstration of what Peter preached. God did an amazing work. Three thousand  came into their number that day.   Now in Acts, chapter 3, as the church is growing,   this sect that was considered almost like  a cult of Judaism… These two leaders,   two of the appointed designated leaders from the  twelve disciples, are going up to the temple,   which is where they used to worship, but they have  a new understanding that Jesus, God's Messiah… It wasn't a new religion; it was the fulfillment  of what God already started. (Stay with me.   There's going to be a payoff to all this  background I'm giving you.) When they go up to   the temple at the time of prayer, they are doing  what they always did. At this point in the text,   we get a picture of sometimes how we  are in between two things in our lives. There is the old thing we used to do.  There is the old thing, the familiar thing,   the nostalgic thing, the comforting  thing, and then there is the new thing,   which is true, but in between the two, sometimes  you have to have a new belief in the same temple,   a new belief in the same system. They're  going to temple like they always did. They're not only going to temple like they  did once a week; they did this every day.   In the Jewish culture, it would not be unusual  to hit all three prayer services. You might have   been there at 9:00 and 12:00 and 3:00. So, they  are doing something that is very familiar to them   when God gives them what we would call an  interruption in their schedule. Let's watch this. Verse 2: "Now a man who was lame from birth was  being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful,   where he was put every day to beg from  those going into the temple courts." Now   let's kind of get in the middle of this situation.   He's moving toward his spot by the gate.  They're moving toward their spot in the temple. What's amazing about what happens next   is that in order for the miracle to happen, both  parties had to be open to a divine surprise.   Are you open to divine  surprises? Some of us aren't.   In fact, I was imagining this modern  day. I've preached this text a few times.   I was imagining how it would look in 2021,  and as I played it out, nobody got healed in   the passage because everybody was looking  at their phones on the way into church. The whole miracle just stopped right at  verse 3. It was Peter and John going in,   and the man was going to his spot, and nobody got  anything because nobody was looking for anything   except something that was inside  something that wasn't even real.   What we like about this, while I can do my weekly  rant against the phones I'm addicted to as well… While we do this, what we like about it is  it's predictable. It's predictably miserable,   but it gives us something to go to where we can  know exactly "This is available to me." If I   live my real life, I might be surprised. I don't  like to be surprised unless I like the surprise,   order the surprise, customize the surprise. This  is the God we want. This is the Jesus we want.   "God, let me customize the surprises I  want you to send into my life today." What I realized about the temple was all  of the people who were leading in the   temple were surprised when God actually  did something, but it was his house!   I walk around and tell Holly, "This is my  house too. Can I move from room to room   and you not freak out?" When something  actually happened in the name of Jesus,   they were surprised that God had the  audacity to move in his own house. Can God move in his own house? Can the potter  tell the clay what to be? Can God switch things   around a little bit? Can God give you a blue one  instead of a red one? I mean, can we start small?   Some of us just don't like any surprises, so  we structure God right out of our prayer life.   Peter probably wouldn't have stopped to see  the man if it hadn't been for quiet John. And the man definitely wouldn't have  received his healing if he insisted   on getting what he asked for in the first  place. Now here's why this matters to you:   because right now you are in the process of… If  I can put it this way, you are trying to decide   whether to embrace what life has surprised  you with or fight it, just like this man.   He was paralyzed from birth. Sidenote: you  are not stuck with what you are born as.   Jesus is bigger than your genetics. Sidenote: the man in this  passage was 40 years old.   What we're about to see happen is God is going to  give this man something he gave up on a long time   ago. I know what that feels like. The longer  you live, the less surprisable you become.   You start out when you're like… I don't  know. I was 25 years old as a pastor,   and I would see something and be like, "They would  never betray me." I haven't said that in a while. I don't want to make it all  negative. I would say something like,   "Well, I could never change this habit," and then  I did. I did! You won't believe this. I do two   leg days a week now in the gym.  Y'all give it up. That's a big deal. I like this man. I am 41 years old, and I  have lived to see some things I never thought   would happen, good and bad. I told Buck when he  started training me when I was 28, "I don't do   legs." Just like my mom has this thing. "I don't  merge. I don't merge." She does this whole bit   about it. You can ask her sometime. She has this  traffic thing. "I don't merge." She will drive 17   hours to get to Walmart so she doesn't have to  merge on 45. But it's a blessing. Small town. The longer you go in life, you get  things like, "Oh, that happens?   People do that?" I missed an opportunity,  y'all, and I'm kicking myself about it. I   should have written my parenting  book before my kids were born. I could have written such a good book. It could  have been 733 pages about what to never do   with a child and what to always  do and what kinds of kids grow up   God's way to flourish in the courts of our God.  I should have written it before I found out that…   Life will surprise you. People  will sure enough surprise you,   and you get traumatized. It's weird, because  certain people on my phone gave me bad news once,   so I'm scared to see their name at all anymore.  "Oh no!" Can you relate to this at all?   This is a sermon for the people over age 10. Then you become less surprisable.  You become more cynical.   You become more jaded. You call it discerning,  but that doesn't change what it is.   You can put a Breyers label on a can  of spinach, but it's still spinach.   In this passage, you have to give  a lot of credit to how much Peter   has grown by this point in his ministry. Really, the credit goes to  the Holy Spirit, because   in Peter's own mind, he was probably the least  surprisable of the disciples. He was surprising,   because he would do the stupidest thing  you could imagine and think he was doing   something good for Jesus. Did you know Peter was  actually shocked when Jesus went to the cross? Not only was he shocked when he rose from  the dead; he was shocked when he died.   What did you think he came for? He told you  this over and over and over again. One thing   I was reading this week… I was studying all about  Peter. I just went on this Peter binge this week.   I was looking at all of the different  things Peter said and did. He talked a lot,   and sometimes when he would say something…  One time Jesus took them up on the Mount   of Transfiguration. You can look  this up later. It's really cool. He went up there, and Jesus was talking to Moses  and Elijah about his departure, because he was   getting ready to go to Jerusalem where he would  pay the price for our sin as the sacrificial Lamb   of God that was slain before the foundation of the  earth, the very purpose for which he came: to save   his people from their sins. He's going to do that.  Peter is sleepy, so he doesn't really listen, but   as soon as he wakes up, he starts talking. It says  something so weird in the Bible. It says Peter   started saying, "Let's build a shelter up here for  you, a shelter for Moses, a shelter for Elijah." What was he trying to do? Keep Jesus from  coming down that mountain and going to the   cross. In a parenthetical insert, the author  says, "He did not know what he was saying."   In other words, he didn't know what he  was talking about. For everybody who is   arrogant enough to speak about what other people  should do in challenges you have never faced,   I just want to warn you with this.  Life will surprise you. Okay? If you're a new pastor and you're  saying, "Well, my church will never…"   You don't know what you're talking about.  If you're a new husband or a new wife…   "In my marriage, we will never…" Write  your marriage book while you are still   engaged. Better yet, write it on  the first… Life will surprise you,   and it will take away all of your answers,  and you won't be able to write your book. Watch this. This is the part that freaked me out.   The real challenge of faith is not to be  more certain; it is to stay surprisable.   Yes, that is a word in Merriam-Webster. You can  cross-check me while I preach from the text. Stay   surprisable. See, the thing about the man in the  passage is he wasn't expecting to get healed. In fact, this is a unique miracle  God chose to launch the church,   because usually when Jesus healed  people, they asked to be healed.   Peter is so obnoxiously proactive he doesn't  even ask the man, "Are you looking for a life   change?" Because the moment he gets  up and walks, he can't beg anymore. We don't think about this stuff in the Bible.  The man jumps up and walks. Now what? If he's   going to do this miracle in a considerate way for  all interested parties, he should say something   like this: "Hey, man, about this time next week  I'm going to come by. I have something for you.   I have the name of Jesus. I served under him. You  heard about him? Yeah, yeah. Rose from the dead. What he's going to do… Just like he got up out  of the grave, you're going to get up out of here,   but you want to line some stuff up  before I come back. Who dropped you   off today? Your friends? Well, they're  not going to be able to take you home."   You have to remember Peter spent three  years apprenticing under the Savior   who specializes in surprises.   Oh, you didn't know that. "No. Jesus Christ  is the same yesterday, today, and forever." He's stable. That's right. You can count on  him. He won't change. He won't leave you.   But he's surprising. There's nothing in the  text that indicates the disciples liked it,   but they must have needed it, because he would  put them in exact situations… I wonder who's   there right now. He put them in exact situations  where he could have given them some notice. Like, he's God. He knows. "When we get to the  other side, there are going to be 5,000 men   with all of their wives, with all of their  children, and they're going to be hungry,   not only for healing, but they're going to need  some food. So, boys, call the catering service.   Let's pack some barbecue. Well, we're going over  to a Jewish place. Okay. We're going to do some   sandwiches." Whatever. You know the point.  But Jesus didn't do any of that. Why?   Why did he surprise them with a need? I have a better one. I was talking earlier  about the woman at the well in Samaria.   The reason that was on my mind… John, chapter  4. It said Jesus was talking to a woman,   and his disciples went out to get food, and they  were surprised to see him talking with a woman.   But no one asked, "What do you want?" or  "Why are you talking to her?" I learned this:   what you are surprised by tells me  a lot about what you have assumed. I had a series of experiences. I was writing  music with somebody, and they said something   that at first I thought was a compliment, and  after I thought about it, I was like, "I don't   think that was a compliment." They said,  "I'm so surprised you're so creative."   I mean, I have an ego just like everybody else.  I didn't like it when I thought about it later.   First, all I heard was "You're so creative," but  then when I thought about "I'm so surprised,"   I wanted to go back and ask  him, but I didn't see him again. I don't know how to ask him. Maybe I'll see  him again and ask him, "Why were you surprised?   What about me made you think I wasn't  creative? I've done stuff. I do stuff."   I don't know why they were surprised by that.   "What did you think about me? Why would that  surprise you?" I don't know. That was weird to   me. This other guy… This is what we were talking  about, and it was the word actually that got me. He said, "You're actually a nice guy."   Just pray for people, you know.   It was the word actually that got  me. It was like, "Against all odds…   I expected the exact opposite." He expected to  get something from them, but his assumption was   that what they had to offer was money.  They went to church expecting to pray.   Neither party was expecting a miracle. Can God  surprise you or do you assume so much about him?   Sometimes we're surprised  God is actually a good God. We assumed what we heard about him growing  up… I'm just being honest. In some pulpits,   God turns out to be the pettiest character  in the whole story. So then to actually   find out he is who he said he is…the God of  Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob,   the God of his covenant, abounding in love to  a thousand generations…we can't imagine that. We're actually surprised to see the face  of Christ, that he would talk with a woman   who others would ostracize, because we assumed  we knew what he was. What you're surprised by   tells me a lot of what you've assumed to begin  with. I wonder what you've assumed about you.   By the time you're 40, you pretty much have  it figured out what your limitations are. "This is my spot. This is my gig.  This is my deal. This is what I do.   This is what I have to do to feel good. This  is what I have to do to get what I want.   If it hasn't happened by now, it'll never happen."  Notice a word in the text: instantly. Acts 3:7:   "Instantly the man's feet and ankles grew  strong." You mean to tell me that what was   four decades in the making that had crippled  the man and limited him was undone instantly? Don't misunderstand what I'm about to  tell you, because I'll balance it too,   but hear this. It can change like  that. I know you're scared to shout.   See, we heard stuff like that before, and then we  were surprised we still struggled with it later,   especially if you came into a relationship  with God that was kind of transactional. "Pray this prayer. Get Jesus to forgive you. You  won't have to fry and burn with Hitler. You can   go to heaven when you die." Oh, y'all are so  shocked. You're so churchy. So surprising. Oh.   That's what we heard. We were  surprised by struggle. So, you   nail your sins to the cross… Like,  I went to this youth camp one time. We actually wrote out our  sins, which, for a teenager,   you're doing really embarrassing stuff, so  you have to use code. For a teenage boy,   the most specific you can get is "Lust." That's  level 10 specificity, so you just put that down.   I'll come over here to the guy's side. I feel  judged over here. But you nail it to the cross,   and you're like, "Oh, I nailed my sin  to the cross and the Lord forgave me." And you get home. Surprise! Here's lust, right  where you left it. "But I nailed it to the cross!"   Surprise! It got in the car. It came right  home with you. It's in your blood, boy.   "Expecting to get something from them."  Peter said, "Silver and gold I don't have,   but what I have I give you." The Lord told me  to tell you: you don't know your own strength. You don't know your own strength because  you always stop at your weakness.   You don't know your own strength. I saw Graham  try to wrestle Holly the other day. She said,   "Stop! You don't know your own  strength. You're going to hurt me.   You don't know how strong you  are. You're going to hurt me." I walked in and said, "Boy, you want  to wrestle somebody? Let's wrestle."   I thought about myself. If I'm Peter and the  guy asks me for money and I don't have it,   I'm probably just going to say, "Silver  and gold have I none. I'm going to church."   It was what he said next that  demonstrated the power of the gospel. He was surprised this guy cut him off at the  temple gate. He didn't expect to see this man.   God wasn't. I mean, how strategic is  God? Of all of the people going to   church at 3:00 p.m. that day… First of all,  maybe Peter missed the 12:00 p.m. so he'd   be at the 3:00 p.m. Do you ever think  about how God works things out in your   life? You don't see these things. They seem  coincidental, but they're really connected. This man is being carried at the time  that they are carrying something.   What they are carrying is going to keep  him from ever having to be carried again,   at the same time. Coincidence?   God is most strategic when you are most surprised.   They could have gone to church and prayed. That  would have been exactly what they expected.   They could have made it to the 3:00  p.m. service just like they expected,   and I don't think it would have made Acts 3.  Let's try it out. "Peter and John were going to   the temple courts at the time of the prayer, 3:00  in the afternoon, and they had a good prayer." For me, that doesn't hold the same interest as  the story I read you. Is God doing in your life   right now this intersection where you're  completely caught off guard but he's not?   If he had told Peter there was going to be a man  at the gate, Peter would have grabbed his wallet.   Then he wouldn't have gotten healed. Then  Peter couldn't have used him to preach and say,   "Jesus did this." Then 2,000 new converts  wouldn't have been added to the church. Then Peter wouldn't have gotten thrown in  prison with John because the authorities didn't   know what to do with them, because they were  surprised God actually moved in his own house.   Then they wouldn't have had the faith  and the boldness to pray together and   bond together as the church. Then  they wouldn't have gone into the   persecution with the strength of  knowing that God can do anything. God, at least in my life, and what I  understand about the Spirit of God,   is most strategic that this man is  coming up to his spot at this time.   All of the things that had to happen to  get them there at the same time. The man   thought he was going to get some change, and he  did. Just not dimes and quarters and nickels. I haven't studied this, but do they still have  a change shortage? When the pandemic started,   you couldn't get change in a restaurant or in a  store. Church has had the same problem for years.   It was weird. I went to Target, and I was  waiting for my change. They were like,   "Oh, we don't do change anymore."   A lot of churches… I mean, the man comes there every day   and nothing ever happens? You hear sermons  and Bible studies and all that and no change?   No change? Because we don't like to be surprised.   We want God to change stuff without changing  us, and that's not how he does it. Are you   surprisable? I was praying, "God, what do I tell  them?" He said, "Tell them 'Stay surprisable.'" Keep some room in what you plan for your life,  your kid's life, and for all the trajectory,   where if God wants to do something a little  different… This is the lesson Peter learned.   By the time he has gotten to this point in  his ministry, he's full of the Holy Spirit.   He has seen the empty tomb. He has been  restored when he left Jesus at the cross.   He's no longer surprised at his own weakness,  but he's confident in God's strength. He's no longer surprised by his own weakness,  but he is confident in God's strength.   That's a whole turkey word for somebody.  Stop being so surprised by your weakness.   It's there. It's always going to be there.  You are but dust, the King James says. You   are nothing more than a breath and a vapor,  but God's Word is eternal, and he lives in you. That's why Peter said, "Why are you looking at us?   We didn't do it. We just accessed  the power of one who could."   Stay surprisable. Some of y'all… Do  y'all want the marriage seminar part?   Stop thinking you completely know what your wife  would and wouldn't want to do. You're so boring. I'm telling you, man. I have been  married a lot of years now. How many?   It's coming up on 20. Yeah, 19 years. (Y'all are  like, "You're in trouble. You didn't remember   how many years you've been married." I'm up  here saying a lot of stuff. She doesn't care.)   When I tell you I've never  loved being married to her more…   I'm so glad I didn't confine her to the first  version of what I thought I knew my wife was.   The first thing she told me at the  North Greenville cafeteria that I   remember is "I would never want  to marry a preacher." Surprise!   "I'll never preach. I mean, I'll support you."   She's good. Right? She surprises herself.   I caught her watching herself back preaching  the other day. She said, "Oh, that's good."   Have you surprised yourself lately? You have to  surprise yourself. Not only surprise your spouse,   like, "Oh, I gave you six flowers instead  of four this year." Not only that stuff.   Some of you need to surprise yourself.   Just do something, even if it's small,  that you didn't think you could do.   "I'm a night person." Go to bed.   "I'm not. I'm a morning person." Sleep in. You  know what I mean? Like, "Oh, wild and crazy.   I normally get it grilled. I'm going to get  it fried. I'm full of surprises. I'm crazy." I like to preach different ways. I like  to write different songs. Somebody told   me… One time I wrote a song that had  some rock in it, and they were like,   "Oh, black people wouldn't like that."  The person who told me was white. How do   you know what black people will like and not  like? Like there's one person. Stop telling me   what somebody else would not like or  want, like you've figured out people. I told a man one time we  couldn't have video campuses   and the only way my preaching works is if people  are in a room with me while I'm preaching.   Surprise! One day I walked in and nobody  was allowed to come to church a year ago,   and all I had was the thing I didn't think I could  do. Surprise! It worked! You might be surprised. That sounds really cool when Peter is  saying it in verse 12 to the leaders.   This man gets up and walks, and  he's like, "Why are you surprised?   Why does this surprise you?" Well, come on, Peter.  When you first met Jesus and you caught fish,   it freaked you out so badly you fell at his feet  and said, "Go away, Lord. I'm a sinful man."   When he said, "I'm going to the cross," you  said, "Never, Lord. That won't happen to you." When they actually arrested him,   you were so surprised you went and cowered to  a servant girl who said you were one of them.   This is something that takes us a little  time. You get conditioned to certain things.   If you have enough of the negative  or the dysfunctional things,   you'll be surprised by the good. Now  I think that's helpful sometimes.   I think sometimes we ought to be  more surprised and less entitled. When Rick Bowling first gave  me a bonus check… He said,   "You're getting a Christmas bonus."  It was the first church I worked at.   I bear hugged him. The amount of money today… It  was so small compared to what things are today   it wouldn't register like that. I wouldn't  hug him. I'd be like, "Thanks, man." What got me in the text… I just was reading this  again. When you come to the Bible with fresh eyes,   it's amazing. God is wanting to surprise you in  your Bible, in your life, in your relationships.   He's the God of surprises. He's talking to a  woman at the well. He's doing amazing things,   feeding multitudes with little meager fish,  Captain D's supplies, Long John Silver's supplies. He's surprising, but sometimes we're not  surprisable. It said once the man was   able to walk, he went with them in the  temple courts (verse 8), walking, jumping,   and praising God. It caused such a  commotion… Everybody was amazed that   this man they used to see sitting was  now walking, jumping, and praising God,   because he wasn't expecting to walk.  There's a praise that comes out of somebody   who hasn't learned yet to  take God's gifts for granted. How many people went to the temple  that day? Why weren't they jumping?   Because when you've always been able to walk…   When you've always had provision, when you've  always had a roof over your head, when you've   always been well fed, when you've always been  taken care of, you stop being surprised by it. One of my friends said you exchange  appreciation for expectation.   You start expecting people to do for  you what they don't have to do for you.   That is very dangerous. Every time I preach,  I'm kind of surprised that God actually uses me,   and I think that's good. I don't ever want to get  to the point where I'm like, "Well, I mean, I know   my Bible. Of course God used me. I'm anointed.  I'm appointed." No. I want to stay surprised. Like, every once in a while, I just want to  take a deep breath and be like, "Oh, that was   a premium breath." I know you can't walk around  all the time just praising God for every breath   and skipping through Walmart and things like  this. I'm not talking about being weird.   But there is a lesson in the fact that of  everybody who walked into the temple that day,   the one who had never walked before…  His feet barely touched the ground.   When you first got certain blessings from  God, when you first started being used by God,   when you first got on the Elevation staff,  your feet barely touched the ground. Once in a while, you have to remember  it's a blessing just to be able to walk.   It's a blessing just to see another  day. It's a blessing just to survive.   You will really understand this if you ever  went through a season where you thought you   wouldn't make it. If you haven't had  that season, you won't understand,   but if you had a season where  you were living off alms,   where you were begging for something to make it to  the next day, but he got you up, snatched you up… His mighty hand, his right hand, his hand of  authority. If the name of Jesus came to you   in your begging place, you know what it means to  jump. You know why we call the church Elevation.   You know why we praise him. You know why we smile  with all of our teeth, clothed, in our right mind,   blessed to be in the number one more day. Stay amazed. Stay surprised. Jump every once in  a while. You don't have to jump everywhere, but   every once in a while, just jump. Just  jump for joy. Every once in a while,   just appreciate the fact that the lame will  leap like a deer and that God did that for you.   When you've always been able to  walk, you can't really appreciate it,   because you stop being surprised. God wants to  surprise you. He does this in strategic ways.   God is never more strategic than  when you are most surprised. Peter had no plan to preach that day,  and he preached a sermon so powerful,   because God planted somebody at the gate.   Surprise!   Later in his life, he gives us a perspective in 1  Peter 4. He says that just like God surprises you   with great gifts and opportunities… He said, "Dear  friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trial."   This is 1 Peter. This is the same guy. He kind of has this thing. He's like, "Why are  you surprised that God is healing this man?   This is what Jesus came to do. You should know  it more than anyone. You recognized the man,   but you didn't recognize the Messiah, so  you are surprised when God actually shows up   because it does not look like  what you put on your list." Are you there right now in your life? He said,  "Don't be surprised by the favor. Don't be   surprised by the fire." Don't be surprised  when God strengthens you. That's what he's   there for. He gave you his Spirit. Don't be  surprised when you struggle. And above all else,   don't let your struggle keep you  from accessing your strength. "Silver and gold I don't have, but what I have I  give you." And his feet and ankles became strong.   "Because," Peter said, "the same Jesus you killed,  the author of life, God raised from the dead."   I like to imagine sometimes that the  Devil threw a big party after Jesus   died and the sky grew black. "Tetelestai.  It is finished." He thought Jesus gave up. I like to imagine what it was like Sunday morning   when he was standing there with the  keys of death, hell, and the grave.   Surprise! I want you to  stand up right where you are,   and I want you to throw your arms out just  like this and tell the Devil, "Surprise!   You hit me with your best shot.  You formed every weapon against me. You thought you killed my confidence by having  people reject me, but surprise! You thought I   would die in the valley of the shadow of death.  You thought I would curse God and die, but   surprise! You thought it was  going to be the end of me.   You thought you picked my marriage  apart. You thought you snatched my kid. You thought getting him on drugs would  get me to stop praying for him, but   surprise!" It's about to backfire,   because the same man who sat there begging was the  one who started a revival in Jerusalem. Surprise!   You're stronger than you  thought you were. Surprise! It   didn't kill you. It made you better. Surprise!  You weren't ready for it, but it's here. Surprise!   Into the hands of the God of surprises you  have the opportunity now to place all of your   uncertainty and all of your insecurity.  God said, "I want to surprise you." Every once in a while, when I get overwhelmed  by too many choices, I'll tell Holly,   or if it's a leadership thing I'll tell one of  my staff, "Just surprise me. I don't even want to   choose. I don't know what to choose. There are too  many options. Just surprise me." Holly will say,   "Do you want this to eat or that to eat or the  other to eat?" I'll be like, "Just surprise me." What a great prayer to pray to God for all of us   who have been surprised by life.   If Peter and John, the most unlikely Kobe  and Shaq combination in gospel history,   can be interrupted on their way to prayer by a  paralytic man who asked for money but got healing   to the point… Remember this. In verse 11,   after he jumped up and was healed, the Bible  says the man held on to Peter and John. You're wondering, "What's the point of holding on  to them if your feet and ankles are strong enough   to hold yourself up?" It's  because he wasn't ready for this.   You weren't either, and God knows that. So,  when you get to that place where you say,   "This is something I never saw myself doing. This  is something I never saw myself dealing with,"   just turn your palms to your Father  like this and say, "Surprise me, God." I want you to walk in the confidence this week,  like Peter learned to walk in. He didn't get it   at first. We don't get it at first. But to  know that when I'm most surprised, God is   most strategic. Let's get this in our spirits.  God said you need to have a surprisable spirit. You need to not get so cynical about things  that you just write everything off and push   everything away and, in the name  of being guarded, you miss God.   So say this: "God is most strategic  when I am most surprised." Lord, I'm praying today for those  who are in a "Surprise me" season.   Not that they would like it. Maybe we  need it. I'm not asking for something   bad to happen to me or anybody else. I like the  good surprises, God, and I want all of those,   but even for the thing I didn't ask you  to do, like the man in this passage,   help me to reach out and take hold of  what you brought me. Surprise me, God.   Surprise me with a facet of your goodness and  provision I didn't see this week. Surprise me. I'm too overwhelmed. I don't know this way,  that way. I don't know. We don't know anymore.   The menu is too big. The world is too  complicated. The inputs are too great.   The noise is too loud. So surprise us.   May we be filled with wonder and amazement.   May people barely recognize us this  time next year. May we leap for joy   when we think about all of  the things you've done for us. God, some of us have been sitting at  a gate so long while you were trying   to make us a gate for something you  want to release. Surprise us. Use us.   God, would you use us to surprise somebody  else, somebody who wasn't expecting their   day to be made? We come around this  idea, "Why are you surprised by this?" We're not surprised by suffering, but we are  expectant of glory. We are resurrection people.   We give you praise in this moment.   In Jesus' name, amen.
Info
Channel: Elevation Church
Views: 1,021,778
Rating: 4.8988423 out of 5
Keywords: elevation church, steven furtick, Surprise!, elevation church sermons, pastor steven furtick, steven furtick sermons, 2021 sermons, preaching, preacher, openness, expectations, miracles, unexpected, perspective, timing, healing, transition, faith, surprisable, surprises, surprise
Id: 0LIEK3lLZl0
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 66min 28sec (3988 seconds)
Published: Sun Mar 14 2021
Related Videos
Note
Please note that this website is currently a work in progress! Lots of interesting data and statistics to come.