Acts chapter 3 we're picking it up halfway through Peter's sermon there's just too much in here to do this all in one sermon so I'm gonna read back starting in verse 11 but just to remind you of what happened Peter and John come to the temple to pray they see this lame man at the gate say silver and gold we don't have but we do have give to you rise up in the name of Jesus be healed he the man and this is this significant detail I want you to remember he leaps up I just remember that he leaps up and he's healed. Of course, this draws a crowd, and the crowd is here, and Peter then explains this event. And as he does in the book of Acts, Peter has a lot more to say than just what's happening in this event. So that's where we'll pick it up today. And in Acts chapter three, starting in verse 11. While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's. And when Peter saw it, he addressed the people. Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this? Or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power and piety we have made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses, and his name, by faith in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers, but what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that is, Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent, therefore, and turn back that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, the Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people. And all the prophets who have spoken from Samuel and those who came after him also proclaimed these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness. And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came up to them, greatly annoyed, because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of men came to about 5,000. Let's pray. Father, we ask that you would open our hearts and eyes to hear and see and love your word. We pray that the Holy Spirit would illumine us and illuminate your word, that as we see what you have said, it would go into our minds and deep into our hearts and change us. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen. So God made us to love stories. Do you agree with that? Just think about it. Picture books when we're children, campfire tales to great works of literature, or even your friend who starts every conversation with, you're never going to believe what happened to me. We're hooked on stories. I hope you'll get hooked on the great epic that is the Bible. Most of you believe the Bible. say it's true, you love God, you love Jesus, you've received the Holy Spirit, you accept the Bible is true, that's great, that's a really good thing. I'm trying to challenge you and push you though Christians, are you hooked on the story? The dynamic characters, the twists, the turns, the romance, the really bad guys and the good guys who aren't always good. So this isn't the main point of Peter's sermon at all. But just take this as my pastoral exhortation to you to venture into the story of the scriptures. Make these pages well-worn and beloved paths. I know you can get hooked on a good story. Whether that's like the Lord of the Rings or, for whatever reason, we've all done it, countless seasons of some television sitcom. you're probably a zealous fan of something. So make the Bible your greater passion, those passions. Grow to love the true and best story. And the reason I say this is that the climax of this story of Scripture the great reveal, the place where everything else makes sense is Jesus. It all converges on him. His life, his death, his resurrection, his ascension into heaven, his promised return, all these things that Peter talks about here in Acts chapter three, he's saying this has been the point all along. And so his plea to the people of Israel to receive Jesus, to believe in him, to trust him, is to enter into the story at the resolution. Where does this story end? In forgiveness, in restoration, in refreshing and blessing and holiness all forever. So when you look at Acts chapter 3, think of Peter as a bard, a Bible bard. A bard is like somebody who weaves together a great story with poetry and music. Maybe Peter's not quite a poet, but but it sounds nice, the Bible Bard. He's pointing to how Jesus is the climax of the story of the Old Testament. That's why he's talking to specifically a Jewish audience. And I have to admit, I think it would be hard to understand Acts chapter three without a working knowledge of the Old Testament. I'll do my best to fill in gaps and to encourage you to get that working knowledge because what he's declaring here is to Israel that Jesus is their Messiah. He's their prophet. He's their blessing. Notice how Peter gets there, though. He is interpreting the healing of the lame man as the marker that God's plan and purpose for Israel has been fulfilled. This is why he says in verse 13 that God glorified his servant Jesus. This is an act of God to establish Jesus as King and Savior, as Messiah. Part of that fulfillment, though, was Israel rejecting Jesus. This is what Peter says in verse 13. Jesus whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release him, but you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the author of life whom God raised from the dead, to this we are all witnesses. Why would Peter lay such charges against his listeners? It's because they needed to understand their place in the story. So pick it up in verse 17. Brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your rulers, but what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that is Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. See the connection? You were ignorant and you were evil, he says of them. But what you meant for evil, God meant for good. Because what they were doing out of their ignorance, putting the Messiah to death, God was using to accomplish what he had promised, that the Christ would suffer. Now remember that word Christ is a title. It's not Jesus' last name. It's a Greek word that translates to a Hebrew word you're probably familiar with, the word Messiah. It's the same idea. A Messiah is the Christ. He's the promised Savior and King of Israel. And according to the prophets of old, the Messiah would suffer. You say, well, what scriptures in the Old Testament promise that the Messiah would suffer? If you're a note taker, I'm going to give you a couple that you can do for your own benefit. Isaiah 52, 13 through 53, 12. That's like the pinnacle. And I've probably gone to that scripture so many times in preaching to you, I'm gonna go to another one just so that we get variety. But just go read that and be blessed by what God says there and promises about Christ. The other one I point you to is Psalm 22. and there's lots more, but those are probably the two clearest prophecies of the cross that the Christ would suffer. Let me give you another one from Isaiah 50, and let's turn there. Isaiah 50, I'm gonna look at verses 4 through 9. While you're turning there, I'd say like part of the thrill of knowing the story of the Bible is seeing how all of these prophetic streams converge on Jesus. So Isaiah 50, verses four through nine. Keep in mind, this was written 700 years before Jesus was born. And there's actually a lot that it says about the Messiah, and there's a reason why I'm in Isaiah 50. We'll see that as we go. So Isaiah 50, verses four through nine. So it starts with a picture of the Messiah who teaches, which was a central feature of Jesus's life. So Isaiah 50 verse 4, the Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens. He awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. So Jesus is teaching his life. Next in Isaiah 50 verse 5 we get the Messiah's obedience in suffering. This is the big connection Peter's making. Isaiah 50 verse 5, the Lord God has opened my ear, I was not rebellious, I turned not backwards, I gave my back to those who strike, my cheeks to those who pull out the beard, I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. That's the cross. That's the cross. Next, it's the Messiah's confidence that the cross is not the end of the story. So verse 7 in Isaiah 50, but the Lord helps me. Therefore, I have not been disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. So Jesus faces the cross with absolute confidence that his father is going to bring him through to resurrection. And then finally, in Isaiah 50 verse eight, there's the anticipation that people will reject the Messiah. So Isaiah 58, 50 verse eight, he who vindicates me is near, who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near me. Behold, the Lord God helps me. Who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment. The moth will eat them up. Take that in your mind and go back to Acts chapter three, because Israel was at a crossroads. The question is, are you going to listen to the Messiah? How do I know Jesus is the Messiah? Well, he did everything that was said here. He taught the people, he died, he trusted God, God raised him from the dead, and now, Israel, are you gonna listen to him? Or are you going to be those that contend with him? So hear Peter's plea in verse 19. It is a plea. Repent, therefore. Turn back that your sins may be blotted out. The times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. What we see in Acts chapter 3 is a re-enactment of all of Israel's history. How many times did God send Israel salvation, and then they rejected God, and then God had mercy for them and saved them again. That's what we're seeing here in Acts chapter 3. Peter says, God chose you, right? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, God was our God. He's saying to the Israelites in Acts chapter three, and you rejected his Messiah. You killed the author of life. But now here's Peter's message. You can enter the story at the best part. Repent, turn back that your sins may be blotted out. It's a beautiful picture. The idea of being wiped clean, records erased, like all of that rejection of the Messiah that happened, you know, just a few weeks before will be forgiven by God. Not only that, but repent that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. He's offering the people of Israel new life. The thought of God making all things new and all things right and all things pure and all things beautiful. Peter claims that that day has come with Jesus. Jesus has brought refreshing to his people. The evidence that Jesus has done that is a man leaping who was once lame. You know, where did that connection come from? Well, just turn with me to Isaiah chapter 35. Isaiah chapter 35, we'll look at verses three through six. Because when Peter speaks of times of refreshing, he's calling to Israel's memory and to their minds all these promises of God in the Old Testament that he's going to give them peace and prosperity and restore their land and restore the kingdom. And the difficult claim that Peter is making is that that refreshment has come with Jesus. And Peter's argument is the man standing next to him, and standing is the important word there. So Isaiah 35, verse three, says, strengthen the weak knees and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you. We pause there and ask, well, when? What's the evidence that God will come and save us? Verse five. Then the eyes of the blind shall be open, the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap like a deer." Like, that is just such vivid language that we might say, well, it's metaphorical, except for here's this guy in Acts chapter three leaping like a deer. Like, guess what? The time of God's refreshing and salvation has come to you, Israel. That's what Peter's playing with them. Let me just read the rest of that. The lame man leaped like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sang for joy, for waters break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. Refreshing! That's what Peter says. Times of refreshing are here. The healing of all things is through God's Messiah, and Peter says, that's Jesus. Just look at this leaping man. Peter's call to Israel to repent and turn back is a call to faith in Jesus. Remember verse 16? It was faith in this name that made this man well, perfectly well. Because faith in Jesus makes all things well. And that's true for you too. How is it that God's blessing, God's salvation, God's refreshment, God's forgiveness comes to you? Through Jesus. Jesus is the one who blots out your sins and refreshes you forever. Your sins are not worse than the people of Israel. They crucified God. If God can forgive them through Jesus, He can forgive you. Put your faith in Jesus that your sins may be blotted out. Such good news. Times of refreshing may come. Acts chapter 3 verse 20. that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive, remember Jesus had ascended into heaven, until the time for restoring all things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Now, Peter here is answering, I think, one of the most common and natural questions that we'll have when we start talking about God bringing salvation and refreshment and restoration through Jesus. Here's the question. If Jesus is bringing times of refreshing to his people, why doesn't this world look refreshed? If you were an Israelite in the first century, and they said, Jesus, God is reestablishing his kingdom and bringing refreshment to you, and then 30 years later, Rome destroys Jerusalem. How can those two truths exist together? Or even more immediate in Acts chapter three and four. If Jesus' kingdom is advancing through the preaching of his people, Why is it that they get arrested and thrown in jail? If the kingdom of God has come to earth with Jesus, why does this place look like it's not ruled by Jesus? Those are all, that's a really legitimate question. It's a common question. Listen to how Peter answers it. Right? Repent. Turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that you may have refreshing, that God may send the Christ, verse 21, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all things. The answer is that what Jesus began in his death and resurrection and ascension, he will finish when he returns. We live in between those two times. So we live in the age of refreshment that is not yet restoration. I think the best way to understand that is with the category of already but not yet. This helps explain why it is that we may find life very difficult as the people of God. We might even suffer like the Messiah or the Apostles suffered, but our confidence is that it will end in glory. Like that our refreshment that comes to us right now in Christ will give way to final restoration in the new heavens and the new earth. So think about this category already, but not yet in Acts chapter three. Peter makes this claim, we saw it in Acts chapter two, that the kingdom has begun. Like believe in Jesus so that you will take part in the final restoration yet to come. So as Christians, when you repent and you turn to Jesus, you believe in him, you do receive the forgiveness of your sins. You do experience his refreshment. That's what you have in the all ready, with new life, eternal life. And honestly, as Christians, just countless blessings and joys from God, such wonderful gifts. But at the same time, there's a lot of the promises of God that are not yet. We all face daily temptations. Your soul is prone towards doubt and despair. Our bodies are breaking down. We are slow to learn new life. But Peter's point, which you'll see all through the scripture, is that hope goes hand in hand with faith. Yes, we believe in Jesus for everything that he is to me right now, already. And yet my hope is that there is more to come. that is not yet that is better. That's what Peter's arguing. Come to Jesus now, Israel, and receive refreshment from him so that when the appointed time comes, he will send Christ to restore all things. That's still the promise of the gospel. You can know God's refreshment now and be certain of his restoration in the end. Now where are we at? We're in like verse 21. Peter could have ended his sermon right there. Like that's just like, that's such a good argument. But he keeps going. He doesn't stop. As a matter of fact, he's gonna reach back into two more chapters of Israel's history and we'll do that as well to see how God keeps his promises. But just pause there because as we're starting to see how this story is coming together, I'll just press you again to embark on the journey of knowing and loving the story of the scriptures. You will love Acts chapter 3 all the more if you have categories for who the Messiah is, and who David is, and who Moses is, and who Abraham is. But it's more than that. The more you know the story that God is writing in the Old Testament, the more glorious and true you will see Jesus to be in the New. So before I go back to Peter's sermon, I'm just gonna take like a little sidebar to give you a few words of advice on knowing and loving the story of the Bible. This is just my advice. This is clearly not part of Peter's sermon. So first, form a habit of daily Bible reading that takes in the whole story. I love through the Bible in a year plans. There's a bunch printed back on the coffee table. It's October 27th. You could start now and get ahead for next year. And then when you miss days, because we all miss days, you'll feel good that you're ahead and not behind. So if you're not reading through the Bible, great. There's some plans you could start way before January 1st. That's the best way to get to know the storyline of the Bible. The second piece of advice is read a children's storybook Bible. No shame in that. Because in a children's storybook Bible, you'll learn the basic storyline. You'll learn the characters in really short chapters with lots of pictures. Kids, I know you guys love your little storybook Bibles and encourage you to keep reading them. And ask your mom and dad, would you please read me? Grandparents, get children's storybook Bibles for your grandchildren. Why? So that they can see that the story's all about Jesus. Jesus will make more sense. And number three, if you already have a working knowledge of the Bible and a habit of reading, I encourage you to maybe spend some time with a pen and paper, making your own Bible timeline so you can visualize how creation to Jesus all fits together, history and the prophets, how they all work together. And I would just be delighted to help you with that. If any of those categories want to help you love the story of God's word. I love this story. And God has called me here for you. So if you want to learn to love the story of God's word, just ask for help. And it's not just me, there's many other good brothers and sisters here who would love to help you learn to love the story of God's word. Okay, there's my sidebar. Back to Acts chapter three, Peter's sermon, because guess what he's doing? He's using the Old Testament story. He already showed that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel. Israel, though, rejected him, put him to death. Now they can turn back to him and be saved, and he makes the same point using Moses. Pick it up in verse 22. The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me, Moses said. The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people. And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel to those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. The important repetition here is that idea of the crossroads. Are you going to listen or not? Are you going to listen to the Messiah who spoke to you, Jesus? Are you going to listen to Moses who spoke to you, Israel, or not? So Peter's reaching back to Moses. That's 1500 years before Jesus. That's ballpark numbers. And he's paraphrasing from Deuteronomy 18, 15 through 22. I'm going to read that for you in a second. Deuteronomy 18, 15 through 22. You might want to turn there. Remember, Moses was God's instrument that was used to lead Israel out of slavery in Egypt. Moses then became the mouthpiece of God, speaking God's law to Israel. And in Deuteronomy 18, Moses says, I'm not the end goal here. The Old Testament's not about Moses. It's about a greater prophet. So this is Deuteronomy 18, 15 through 22. which says, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me, Moses says, from among you, from your brothers, and it is to him you shall listen. Just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see his great fire anymore lest I die. And the Lord said to me, they are right in what they've spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I command him. Just pause, doesn't that sound like Isaiah 50? God's putting the words into the mouth of the prophet, just like he did the mouth of the Messiah. And verse 19, and whoever will not listen to my words, that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name, that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, how may we know that the word that the Lord has not spoken? Let me read that again. How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken? Answer, verse 22, when the prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken, that prophet has spoken presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him. Don't need to listen to false prophets, but listen to the promise. There's a line of prophets coming to Israel to whom they should listen. Of course, don't listen to the ones where the prophecy doesn't come true. Some of the greatest characters in the Old Testament are prophets. Peter mentioned Samuel, but you think of like Elijah, Isaiah, Daniel. Peter is saying in Acts chapter three, Jesus is the end of the line. What Jesus said most certainly came true. So let's put the test of prophecy on Jesus. Did Jesus say prophetic things that came true? How about, see, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. This is Jesus speaking in Luke chapter 18. He will be delivered over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked, and shamefully treated, and spit upon, and after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise. How'd Jesus do? 100% nailed it, right? So yes, he is a prophet, but it's so much more than that. He is the Messiah, the Messiah prophet who now speaks from heaven through his apostles, empowered by the Holy Spirit. The big question that Peter is asking them again, and I think he's asking you this question too, will you listen to Jesus? If you don't, you aren't just rejecting a religious idea, you aren't just rejecting a book, you're rejecting the very word of God. And friends, brothers and sisters, this is why we continue to open God's word and speak from the scriptures, and not from our own ideas. Because what our world needs, it's what it's always needed, is for God to tell them what is true. And for people to turn to God and find forgiveness and refreshing. And so brothers and sisters, keep opening the Bible and speaking it to people. That's what Peter does. Okay, we got one more chapter from Israel's history. Acts chapter three, verses 25 through 26. Peter says, you are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your father, saying to Abraham, and in your offspring, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness. This is reaching further back than Isaiah, further back than Moses, all the way to Abraham. Genesis chapter 12. This is roughly 2,000 years before Jesus is born, where God makes a covenant, and a covenant is a strong promise of how God will relate to his people. He's laying down the terms. This is how God knows us, and we know God. Let me just read. This is from Genesis 12, verses 1 through 3. Now the Lord said to Abram, who's later going to be called Abraham, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you, and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you, I will curse. And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. You hear that line that Peter quotes, paraphrases in Acts chapter three? Just as Jesus was the Messiah of Israel and the prophet of Israel, he is also the offspring of Abraham, the blessing to not just Israel, but all the families of the earth. What's super significant about what Peter's doing is he brings it first to Israel. Like, Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, sends his Jewish apostles to the Jewish people. And what should the Jews do? Believe in Jesus. Receive the blessing of God. I know Israel's probably on a lot of people's minds because of the war that's going on there. How should you pray for them? Supremely pray that they would put their faith in Jesus, their Messiah, their prophet, their blessing, like Peter who pleads with them. But what happens if they reject him? What happens to those who curse the offspring of Abraham that's sent for blessing? God will curse them. Like they've already delivered Jesus over to death. They've denied him before Pilate. They've denied the Holy and Righteous One sent by God. They chose a convicted criminal over the innocent healer. Peter says they killed the author of life. The end of the people listening to him is determined and certain. Except, God's mercy. God's mercy runs deeper. Peter's telling them they could repent. They can have faith in Jesus and Jesus will refresh them and restore them. And I love this last line in Peter's sermon, turn them from their wickedness. That is both stunning and predictable. It's stunning because the grace of God to forgive sinners is no cheap grace. We're all a bunch of tired and wretched people. We invent idols. We indulge in immorality. Even in a room like this, the details of my sin and your sin are going to be different. But our guilt is the same. Before God, we are all guilty sinners. What's stunning is out of the vast goodness and mercy of God. He has provided the exact same remedy for me and my sins to you and your sins. It's Jesus. the servant of the Lord, the son of God, the Messiah, the prophet, the blessing, crucified for your guilt, raised to lead you to life. Faith in Jesus is following him through death to your sins and into the resurrection of new life. That's stunning that God would do that for anyone, and yet he does it for many. And yet, you know what, it's really predictable. It's an interesting way to talk about it. Because that's been the story all along. If you've been following the story from Genesis to Jesus, it's grace upon grace upon grace. It should not surprise us that God has mercy for sinners. That's who he is. The Old Testament is not the story of an angry, wrathful God destroying nations. There's a just God, yes. But it's the story of God's abounding love, of God keeping his promises, of God forgiving sinners, of God restoring the fallen. That he would do that again at the climax of the story is really no surprise. Because that's who God is. It's what God always will be. It's a God who forgives sinners. So Peter leaves Israel there with the crossroads, right? Are they gonna listen to Jesus and know the happy ending of the story? Or are they going to stop their ears and harden their hearts and be yet another chapter in God's justice? Well, what happens? Acts chapter four, as they were speaking to the people, the priest and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed. And the number of the men came to about 5,000. The fact that not just then, but now, many will reject Jesus is a tragedy. It means cursing and destruction and death. for many, people we know. But you should also be greatly encouraged that people will believe, people do believe. That should encourage you as you tell your friends and family there's good news about Jesus, that he's the only hope for their forgiveness, that he provides eternal life, that his grace is abundant and his blessings bring great joy. You know, some are going to reject that message. Don't lose heart. Many are going to believe. Just think about what we've seen in the book of Acts. We're in chapter 3. Remember how many Christians there were in chapter 1? 120 in an upper room. Now the church is 5,000 families. I hope that makes you long for God to do it again. This is the story that God is still writing. You know, the community around you is continually rejecting Jesus. I don't think you need statistics to tell you that. even though there's statistics. Christians in the United States of America, you are a faint minority. I don't care what people check on boxes. This is not a place that is faithful to God. Let's pray that God would write another chapter of explosive salvation. Pray for revival, that people would turn to Jesus and there would be times of refreshing for lives who desperately need it. when we tell them that it is a true and exhilarating story. So I pray that God would stir us to tell people. A big crucial part of that is loving the story. So that you so love what God has done in reality that you can't help but tell people. And we do that with books, we do it with movies, we do it with television shows, Like, you know people that are all excited about some new series, and what do they do? They tell you about it. You've got to come see this. You've got to spend time reading this book. Man, may God do that for us in the Bible. A lot of people just think the Bible is a big, brutal, boring, and bossy book. You're just wrong. It is a epic. worth devoting your life to. And I'm hoping that as we are working through the book of Acts, it's going to help us to see this awesome story. Just think about Acts chapters 3 and 4, we're looking at just this week and next week and the week after. Like an ordinary day of prayer in the temple. leads to the healing of a lame man, an impassioned plea to Israel, then the apostles are arrested and thrown in jail. What's going to happen to them? They're miraculously released, and then they pray for boldness to do it again. The Book of Acts are exciting times, and we haven't even gotten to the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul is the great adventure story. the arch villain of Christianity converted, and then sent to suffer and preach around the world, and his travels thousands of miles through countless sufferings, that is the great adventure story of the world. You just gotta read it like that, and not just like a book that's big and boring and bossy. No, no, it's wonderful. Paul did this, though, and Peter did this, not because they loved a good story, but because they loved Jesus. That's why it's a true and good story that we all want to be a part of. We have life in his name. He is God's promised Messiah. He's the prophet who's true. He speaks the words of life and love. He is the blessing to all the families of the earth who have faith in him. It's the greatest story, it's the truest story, and it's our story. So love it and tell it in Jesus' name. Father, we pray that you would help us to that end, God, help us to love your word because we love Jesus. And God, I pray you would give us opportunities and courage to tell this story to other people. And may you do it in our day. We'd love to see thousands of people come to know Jesus. Not so that somebody would write our names down in a history book, but so that people would know real forgiveness of their sins, real refreshment from God, real hope in the restoration to come. And we pray that you would do that. Give us a longing for it. God, you sent your spirit to empower us. So God, we pray that you would do it again in our day. We ask this all in Jesus' name, amen.