Paul Daugherty - Real Change
Peter and John at chapter three are walking. Peter and John are walking. This is a picture of the church right now, that Peter and John are heading to pray. How many are thankful to have brothers and sisters that will pray with you? Come on, this is the joy of going to church. I just need Peter and John, just actually, let’s go pray together. Let’s go pray together. And I love that the first word in chapter three is now. Everybody say «now».
I want to title this message Real Change, Real Change. Real change starts now, now. It’s what you do today. It’s not what you’re going to do. It’s not what you did yesterday. It’s what are you doing now, now? On the way to the temple, verse two, it says, «A man was lame from birth». Lame from birth. In other words, this was something he was stuck with. He didn’t even get to choose. It didn’t even happen when he was outside of his mother’s womb. Even right as he came out of his mother’s womb, it was there, he couldn’t use his legs. From his birth, he was stuck with this disability.
And he was «carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those who were going into the temple courts». And in verse three, when he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them to give him a gift. He was asking for money. He was asking for a temporary fix. He was asking for change. He wanted quarters, nickels, dimes, dollars, whatever change they could give him, cheap change.
But Peter and John knew what he really needed was real change. They knew that what he was asking for was not what he needed. I’m thankful for people in my life who know that what I’m asking for is not what I need. People who say, «You’re praying for this, and the truth is you don’t want God to answer that prayer because God needs to answer a bigger prayer for you».
I’m so thankful that God doesn’t always meet my expectations 'cause He wants to exceed them. He doesn’t want to just give me a temporary fix. He doesn’t want me to just, you know, have a meal. He wants me to learn to have a real change for the rest of my life. That’s where Peter and John were at with this. And Peter directed his gaze intently at him and he said, «Look at us». And watch this, in verse five. When the man fixed his attention towards them, he paid attention towards them, expecting he was gonna get something from them. And Peter said to him, «Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have, I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ, walk».
Lord, I pray that You would speak to us today, God, about real change. I pray that we would leave this place with real change in our hearts and our minds in our marriages and our families, God, in our current season of life. Whatever people are facing today, here and online, I thank You, God, for real change to happen. In Jesus' name, everybody said… amen.
Thank you so much. All right, let’s get into this. Where does real change begin? Real change starts with me. Real change starts with me realizing that something needs to change in my life. You know, I was thinking about how this man was laid outside of a gate called Beautiful, and yet he was living a very ugly life. That every day he was watching other people run, walk, pray, worship, walk into the temple. And yet here he is, watching other people live in beauty while he looks at an ugly condition every single day, stuck not just lame and paralyzed, but stuck in a place of begging to survive, begging just to have enough money to pay for food for the rest of the day.
Anyone who’s ever had a disability or anyone in the room today with a disability, you know that feeling of other people getting to do something you don’t get to do. I remember going to visit a friend in prison, and he said, «Do you know how lucky you are, just to get to do whatever you want every single day»? He said, «When you live in prison, when you’re incarcerated, you realize how precious freedom is, how precious life is outside these bars, how amazing it is to get to wake up every single day and choose what meal you’re gonna have and choose to get a job and work».
And I imagine people who are in a disability, just that feeling of watching other people use their limbs, their legs. So here he is, he’s stuck there every day, and he’s asking for temporary fixes. He’s asking people for money. And every day people walk past him. Some of us in this room, we are Peter and John. We are the ones that God has sent to go and lift up this beggar, this person who’s hurting in our lives. You don’t realize that this week, you’re gonna have an opportunity to minister to someone who’s hurting, who’s begging, who’s lame. God has sent you on divine assignment, even to church today, that God would cross paths with someone who needs what you have. The world has problems and we have answers. But for some of us in this room, we are the lame man. And spiritually we are hurting.
We are sitting outside the temple or maybe even inside the temple and we’re saying, «I need healing. I have been hurt. I have been broken ever since I was little. I have been steeped in sin. I’ve had generational curses that I’ve just grown up with. My daddy did it, my granddaddy did, my mom did it. I’ve just been born into this family of dysfunction and I’ve never been able to break free. I’ve never been able to do what some of these other people can do. I can’t walk like they walk. I can’t live in the freedom they live in». And we find ourselves searching and wondering, does anyone see me and is anyone going to help me?
So here he is, he’s begging people, anyone, just for temporary fixes. And I wonder what for, some of you, has caused you to be lame. For some of us, it is sin. For some of us, it’s shame. For some of us it is a, and I’m not just talking about spiritually lame. For some of you, you’re in a physical state right now, and you need God to heal you. And I believe He’s not just healing people spiritually. He’s gonna heal people physically because God is the healer and it is His will to heal, to heal emotionally, spiritually mentally, and physically.
For some of you, you’ve been stuck in a depressed state, you’ve been lame in your mind, you haven’t been able to move forward. You’ve been in this place of just feeling overwhelmed, anxious, afraid, concerned, worried. And today, God’s wanting to set you free. For some, we’ve been distracted, we’ve been depleted, we’ve been so discouraged. We’ve just kind of come to the place of, «I just need to survive. If I can just get carried every single day, if other people can just carry me, if other people can just pay my bills, if other people just give me something, if I can just survive another day».
God did not create us to survive, He created us to thrive. He did not create us to just sit outside the temple and go, «If I can just live another week, if I can just get one more sermon to get me through this week». No, you need a life change. You need a transformation in your heart. Not just another Sunday sermon, you need an encounter with the Holy Spirit. You need a change that’s gonna last beyond just Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Not just a temporary high, but a real change. You don’t change until you become desperate to change. So here this man is stuck in this place, every single day, begging for money. When he sees Peter and John about to enter, he asks them for money. He sees them and Peter looks him straight in the eye. Thank God for people who look you straight in the eye, 'cause it’s not enough to just say God bless you.
It’s to look them in the eyes and say, «I see you. I see what’s going on in your world». At the Dream Center, we always say see a need and meet it, see a hurt and heal it. But before you can see a need, you gotta see a person. Everyone saw this man through his problem, his disability. He was known for his condition. He’s the beggar, the lame beggar. But Peter and John saw the potential that was inside him. Thank God for Peter and Johns in the church who see the potential in us, who prophetically speak to where we’re headed, not where we’re at, not where we’ve been, but what God wants to do in our future.
So Peter looks him in the eye. He makes eye contact with him. He sees the human, not the condition, not the disability, not the problem. He sees that he is a child of God. He’s a candidate for a miracle. Turn to someone else and say, «You’re a candidate for a miracle». God sees you. God hears you. I’m so thankful God doesn’t have AirPods in. He’s listening to the cries of His sons and daughters, and He’s lining you up. It’s a set up this week. Someone needs to see you, someone needs you to see them. He looked at them and they looked back at him, and something exchanged, I think, right here. Even before Peter said something to this man, it was like he was seen. When you feel seen, you almost feel vulnerable when you’re seen.
Peter looks him in the eyes and he says, «I don’t have what you’re asking for, but I have what you’re not asking for. You’ve been asking for something out of a place of disappointment with God. You’ve been hurt by the church, you’ve been ignored. You’ve experienced disappointment in the temple. You’ve gone to the temple, you’ve been laid at the temple every day of your life, and you used to pray that you’d get your legs back, that you’d get your healing, that you’d start walking again. And then you started getting ignored, and then your prayers didn’t get answered. And over time, you settled for survival. You settled just to to show up. Your parents kept bringing you to this place because they knew there was something powerful about this place».
I’m so thankful that parents keep bringing their kids to church, knowing that some time, some day, transformation will happen. Life is gonna happen, change is gonna happen. Keep bringing them to the temple. And Peter said, «You’re asking for something I don’t have, but I do have something that you used to ask for. I do have the thing that’s gonna change you for good. It’s gonna be a crazy transition 'cause you’ve gotten used to not walking. You’ve never had to go find a job. You’ve never lived a life where you’ve walked around and ran around. It’s gonna feel uncomfortable at first».
Real change is uncomfortable. Real change doesn’t automatically, instantly make you happy. It might even be a little awkward at first. It might feel a little uncomfortable. But you would rather live in the uncomfortable zone of real change than stay comfortable in dysfunctional sins of cycles of generational poverty. It’s gonna break you free. It’s gonna open your mind up to an abundant mindset. But it’s gonna require some discomfort at first. So he looks him in the eyes and he says, «What I do have».
I wanna give you three points real quick. Start where you are. For real change to happen, number one, start where you are. Number two, use what you have. Use what you have. Stop acting like you don’t have something to use. You do have something. Peter and John said, «I don’t have money». Just 'cause you don’t have money doesn’t mean you don’t have anything. You have time, you have talent, you have energy, you have gifts, you have breath in your lungs. You have something to use. You’ve got something to give to this world.
God did not create us to Be consumers. Just gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. No, God says contribute. Use what you’ve got. Use your voice. If you can sing, join the choir. If you can play the guitar, start volunteering in children’s church. Start worshiping. If you’ve got a voice, witness to someone at QuikTrip. Pray for somebody. I don’t have silver and gold, but I do have a voice. I do have influence. I do have the name of Jesus. And so Peter and John, they look at him. I want the band to come out. They said, «Silver and gold have I none, but what I do have I give to you».
So number one, start where you are. Number two, use what you got. Number three, work with who’s right in front of you. Work with who’s right in front of you. Sometimes we’re waiting on a missions trip for an audience, and God says, «There is someone right in front of you». Work with who’s right in front of you. Someone right in front of you needs what you have. Work with that person who’s right in front of you. Stop worrying about who’s not there, who left. Stop worrying about when you’re gonna have an audience, about who followed you and who unfollowed you. You have somebody who needs what you’ve got right now.
There’s a teenager that needs your affirmation. There’s a husband that needs your love. There’s a wife who needs what you have. There is somebody who needs you to start using what’s inside you. And when we become so self-focused, we stop using what God’s given us and we stop seeing the people that God’s called us to minister to right now, today. Start where you are. Use what you got. Work with who’s right in front of you. Peter and John did this. «Today, I have the name of Jesus,» and he says, «I speak to you in the name of Jesus. Rise up and walk». Now, it would be one thing if Peter and John just declared it, but they demonstrated with action. Compassion is not just sympathy. It’s not just, «Oh, I feel bad for that guy». It’s not just, «Oh, I hope something happens good for them. I really hope someone helps them out».
Peter and John used not just their voice but their hands. And he reached out and he lifted up that man. This is what Tim does every week at the Dream Center. He doesn’t just give someone a handout, he gives people a hand up and he says, «Rise up and walk». And he walks alongside people and says, «Come to the Dream Center. I’m gonna mentor you. You’re gonna get plugged in here. We’re gonna help you get up on your feet again. We’re gonna not just help you, we’re gonna help your kids. We’re gonna help them at the fourth grade level. We’re gonna cut off the pipeline from third grade to the prison. And we’re gonna give education, and we’re gonna not just feed a meal for a day, we’re gonna teach you how to cook, teach you how to fish. And we’re gonna teach you how to start a business. We’re gonna give you computer skills, technology skills.
We’re not just going to give a pool, we’re gonna have a lifeguard who teaches swim lessons every single week. We’re going to change a generation». Real change says I’m not just going to say, «Hope you feel better»! I’m lifting you up and I’m walking with you into the temple. Peter and John walked with him. Look at this in verse seven. «He took ahold of the man’s hand with a firm grip». Look at that, verse seven, that is so powerful. It’s time for the church to take a firm grip on those people who are lame right next to us. And at once his feet, his ankle bones. Ezekiel 37, the prophecy of Ezekiel said, «In the valley of dry bones, I speak to the bones and the bones begin to rattle, rattle».
I hear the bones of the church rattling. God’s saying it’s time for the lame church to walk again. It’s time for the paralyzed saints to get their feet back again. It’s time for those who’ve been hurt by the church to get healed by the church and to get back in the church and start changing lives every single week. I love that Peter and John didn’t leave this man down. It wasn’t just a Sunday sermon. They said, «We’re gonna be with you Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday». Come to men’s discipleship class. Then we want you to volunteer in our intermural sports on Thursday nights at the Dream Center. And this summer, we want you to be a camp counselor at Camp Victory. You gotta go through the growth track 'cause we’re gonna get you really connected.
We want you to start a connect group, and we want you to change your business. We want God to get involved in your marriage and your family. We want God to change your whole life 'cause real change starts right here. And the man began leaping as he stood and he began to walk. Thank you, Tim. He began to walk. I circled that word, began, because it was a process. It was the beginning. Never despise the day of small beginnings, church. Don’t despise the day that your husband at least showed up to the discipleship course. At least your son came back to church today. At least you got all four kids in children’s church. They may not all be saved yet, but you got 'em here. They’re beginning to walk.
Would you stand to your feet, church? Come on, you’re getting your legs back, you’re getting your walking back, you’re getting the Holy Spirit filled up in you. He began walking. He began praising God. When your praise gets louder than your pain, the whole town starts to notice. HALLELUJAH! JESUS! We’ve spent enough time being loud, complaining about our pain, complaining about, murmuring and complaining about, our problems and our paralyzed state. This man said, «I gotta get louder with my praise than I was with my pain. I want the town to know where I used to shout, begging for change, for cheap change, now I’m shouting, celebrating the real change that Jesus has done in me. He changed my body, He changed my mind, He changed my life, and He was right on time».
See, this man had a shout, he had a praise. It’s time for the church to get louder in our worship. We’ve gotta get louder in our worship than the world is with the worry. We’ve gotta get louder in our praise than the world is with pain. And this man, as he began to shout his testimony, the whole temple, everyone in town, they said, «We know this guy. He’s the guy with the disability. He’s the guy with the problem». He was known by his diagnosis, but now he was known for his testimony. God’s gonna turn your test into a testimony. Your mess is gonna become your message.
That’s the marriage that was supposed to lose, and yet God restored it. That’s the family that was supposed to be broken apart and God has 'em all back together again. That’s the guy that was addicted and now he’s leading discipleship class. That’s the girl who was cutting herself. She was supposed to commit suicide and now she’s rescuing girls in Tulsa. She started a girls' home. That was the kid who grew up with an abusive father and now he is taking kids in and he’s teaching them the love of God. You see, the enemy always tries to keep us stuck in what happened to us, stuck in the family we were, stuck the dysfunction. And Peter and John said, «Church, rise up and walk. You’ve got a testimony to share».
And watch this, in verse 11, Peter turns this into a testimony. The man was clinging to Peter and John as if he was a god, as if Peter and John were the gods, the source of power, in amazement. In verse 12, Peter says this. He says, «You men of Israel, why are you so surprised and wondering about this miracle»? In other words, more miracles are about to happen because the works that Jesus did, you’re gonna do even greater. «Why do you keep staring at us as if this was our power? We are not gods. This was not our power. We are only men. We didn’t cause this man to walk.
Let me tell you who the real power comes from. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob». The God of families that were broken and messed up. The God who was there for Jacob, the God who was there for Isaac, the God of our forefathers. He has glorified His servant, Jesus Christ. The power is in Jesus. The power is in Jesus. The power is in Jesus. The power is in Jesus whom you did… And then Peter says, «You crucified Him. You nailed Him to a cross. You thought it was over, but God raised Him from the dead. The power comes from His resurrection».
Church, we have resurrection power. Resurrection power. And Peter says this, I love what he says in verse, I wanna go to verse 15. Verse 15. No, verse 16. Verse 16, sorry. He says, «And His name, through and by faith in His name, has made this man whom you see and recognize well and strong». Yes, the faith. The faith. Y’all. We don’t have faith in ourselves. We don’t have faith in President Biden. We don’t have faith in the United States of America. We don’t have faith in the Supreme Court. We don’t have faith. Our faith is in Jesus Christ who changes our lives. He changes our nation. He’s given this man perfect soundness. That man was not only healed, he was healed from the inside out. He was changed for good.
I want to go to the verse that talks about the repentance that brings refreshing 'cause this is the powerful part. Verse 19, verse 19 in chapter three. He says, «So repent». And at first we go, «What does that mean? To shout out your sins»? No, it means an internal recognition that I’m ready to change. I’m ready to go the opposite direction of the direction I was going. Change your mind, change your purpose. «Repent,» he says, «Turn around. Return towards God’s will. Return towards God’s heart that your sins may be erased, blotted out, wiped clean, and times of refreshing, God wants to bring times of refreshing to His church».