This recording is from Christ Kingdom Church in Avalon Park, Orlando. Visit us online at ChristKingdom.org for our calendar, driving directions and more audio recordings. When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from Sanhedrin and they conferred together. What are we going to do with these men? They asked everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name. Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God, for we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard. After further threats, they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them because all the people were praising God for what had happened. For the man who was miraculously healed was over 40 years old. On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. Sovereign Lord, they said, you made the heaven in the earth and the sea and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant or Father David. Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot and bane? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his anointed one. Indeed, Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your Holy Servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miracles, miraculous signs, and wonders through the name of your Holy Servant Jesus. Thanks, Becky. That's God's Holy and Inspired Word. If you haven't already turned your Bible, though, we're going to be referring to that several times. Open that up in your text. Good morning. We are continuing in our sermon series this morning called Visionizing, which is something we do every August, as a chance to refresh, to remind ourselves who we are, what God's called us to do in his specific uniqueness. He's given to us as a church. Well, last week, we looked at the topic of who we are. And as this, we looked at our four values that we have as a church. And these are ones that were newly refined by our new group of elders and deacons, officers that were diselected last winter here in our church. So this is pretty exciting to unveil. If you didn't get a chance to listen to that message, it's available online. I want to encourage you to do that not because you want to hear me so much as though the content here will really reveal and help you unpackage. Kind of who we really feel like God's called us to be as a church. And in just quick review, we as a church value gospel sinterness, that the gospel wasn't just something that was there to help you come into faith in Jesus Christ. It wasn't just your plain ticket, but the gospel is the plain. It's the very thing that's supposed to carry you in your relationship with Jesus Christ. The very characteristics and details of knowing your sinfulness you need for Christ wasn't just something on day one you needed. It's something every single day you need to be a follower of Jesus Christ. And to know and rely on Jesus Christ in this Holy Spirit. Our second value is authentic community. That we wanted to be a community where we actually had real intimate relationships with one another. That you could be real. There's a lot of places you can find community these days, but not a lot of places where it's authentic. Where you can be transparent. Where you can come and show the good, the bad, the ugly, and know that people are still going to love you. Or even where people are going to speak truth into your life. Those are rare things to find, but something God does call us to as a church. There really was boldness and belief that we wanted to be a church. We feel like God's called us to be one that's not just here to play it safe. That's not just here to be on the sidelines or up in the stands, but we're on the field. We're in the game here. We are in the midst of a spiritual battle. The Bible describes and we're called to step out and to believe God. To step out to do what he's called us to do. And fourthly, to be kingdom focused. Kingdom focused meaning that it wasn't all about us or our church or our denomination. But it's about Jesus Christ and it's about serving Him. And we do that with people all around the world who also follow Him as well. So that's a big part of that as well. So keep that in mind as we move forward here realizing that's who we are as a church. But specifically this week, we're going to talk about more specifically where we're going. And how we define that is with our purpose statement. This has been slightly refined from our previous purpose statement. But just a few changes of words, but it's an essence the same. And it's this, bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to our hearts, our church, and the world around us. Again, it's taking that idea of that gospel-centeredness, the need that we have, to daily thrive, to depend on Jesus Christ in faith, relying on His Holy Spirit, is what transforms our heart, what will transform the hearts of a people that's called the church, and will eventually have an impact on the world around us. So that's what we're looking at, that's what we're going. And if you're following along, there's an outline in your bulletin. You can kind of follow. We're going to talk about those three different aspects of this purpose statement this morning, beginning with the first one. Bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to our hearts. Bringing it to our hearts. Well, first thing we'll chapter 16, verse 7. This was back when King David was being anointed as King. God says, man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. Elsewhere in the Old Testament, he'll go on and talk about, and he'll actually review his people, and saying, hey, you were circumcised outwardly, but my real desire was that you would be circumcised of heart. God goes on and talks and makes promises that when Jesus comes and when the Holy Spirit's poured out, that His laws will not just be written on the ten commandments, but He says, I will write my laws upon your heart. God is constantly moving deeper and deeper, past religiousness, past outward performance, or the desire to be moral to a transformed heart. And it's not just a heart that's changing, it's a heart that's an intimate relationship with Him. You know, it's real common in the church these days, or people that want to have an encounter with God. Many, I think, who even come to church on Sunday mornings are just looking for a chance to have an encounter with God, to experience Him, to get kind of a fresh word, to get kind of a shot in the arm. But let me tell you this, God doesn't care about a remote isolated encounter with you, ultimately. What He does care about is having an intimate, daily, growing, walking real life, breathing relationship with you. That's radically different than what many of us want. And maybe if some of you are honest enough while you're even here this morning. But we'll come to church in a kind of like going to a shrink. You know, you set aside of 60 minutes or 90 minutes in our case here, and you're just going to have a shot in the arm for the week, and kind of get a good word and feel a little bit better about yourself, and all the bad stuff that happened that's covered by Jesus, and the week ahead, He's going to give you strength and power to do whatever you want. And wait until next week to come back. God's not interested in that kind of relationship. He did not send His Son here on earth to be that kind of a manual, God with us. But He meant to be exactly what that means. And manual, God with you, not 90 minutes a week, 24-7, 365. And He's interested deeply in your heart. What I love about this passage that we read this morning is that it gives us some examples not only of individual hearts, but the church and also the impact on the world, which is why we've chosen this. But one of the guys here that's so amazing is a guy that is named Peter. And I love this picture of Peter because it kind of encapsulates his life in so many ways. You know, Peter had a lot of things that were not so good about him, but he had a few things that were pretty amazing. I love the picture of him outside of the boat when Jesus said, hey, come walk with me on the water. And I love the fact that just a few steps after that, he was sinking and needed Jesus to pull him out of it. It kind of sums up who this guy Peter was. Now, I want you to think about him. I want you to put yourself in his shoes and understand that he was an ordinary guy. He was married with kids. We don't hear really any details about that, but he was. Probably had a lot of kids, most Jewish families did. He was a very common worker. He was a fisherman, which would have been just kind of maybe something equivalent like a construction worker in our day. Something that didn't take any special education to know how to do. Just had a work hard, work long hours, and hope for the best, and hang out with your buddies around the cooler and work 12, 16 hour days, whatever it took to feed your family. Just a common average Joe type guy. That's frustrated with his work. We're told several times in the Gospels that remember Peter was fishing and had no luck fishing. And Jesus comes along and says, well, you know, why don't you try casting your net on the other side of the boat? What does it tell us that? It tells us that Peter was often frustrated in his work. Maybe some of you can relate to a guy like Peter, like this. His future was not all that bright, to be honest. Do you remember that the nation of Israel here is under the oppression of the Roman Empire? They have been consumed by Rome. They're having to pay taxes to Rome. And not just taxes, but they're having to pay unfair taxes. His future was not a bright future at this time, because there was no sign that Israel was in a place close to overthrowing its oppressor at that time. Peter's the kind of guy that's prone to speak before he thinks. He was often jumping out there talking, thinking out loud, and the God of my trouble. Several times, we'll talk about more of those later. And Peter struggled with being a people pleaser. He really cared what people thought about him. And you see that later, him struggling with that very same problem. Peter is pretty much a very average person. He's just like you. He's just like me. But Peter's life takes a radical change in direction. When one guy comes along and says, Peter, come and follow me. And I will make you fishers of men. Come, I'll take the paradigm that you have of what your basic structure and daily life is, and I'll transform it. It's not that you won't ever fish again, but you'll go and you'll understand something far deeper and more important about who you are and what your purpose is and what my purpose is in your life as the Son of God. And Peter's life begins to take a radical change at that point. He begins to be zealous and stand up for stuff at times. He proclaimed truth boldly when Jesus asked him, hey, who do the people say that I am? Peter was one that members stood up and said, hey, you are the Christ. And Jesus said, Bingo, you got it right. And upon that proclamation, I will build my church and the gates of hell won't prevail. Peter began to change in this. He was willing, again, as this picture reminds us, he was the only one that stepped out on the water. He was quick to think out loud and spoke out loud. I said, hey, if you're really Jesus command me to come and walk with you or to you on the water. All the other 11 guys were like, shh, but they had a watch, Peter. And they never got a chance to walk on water, but Peter did. Peter was the only one who tried to physically defend Jesus if you remember the story when he was being arrested. He at least pulled out the sword and he was a very bad aim and he took a swing. And he caught the ear of a guard. But he stood up. He took a step. Peter's life changed direction as the very presence of God walked beside him and the person of Jesus. Peter's life, though, however, was limited without the Holy Spirit's empowerment, which is what we see when we read in chapter 4 here. You see, the Holy Spirit had not been poured out in space and time at this point. Jesus was walking around, was the very image and the presence of God, but he began to tell them as his death came close. Hey, it's better for me to go to the Father because if I go to the Father, the Father will send the Spirit. And greater things will you do than even I have done when the Spirit has poured out. They begin to get promises like that. And in that time, Peter's power to walk into change was really limited. He argued with the other disciples about who was the greatest. We're told that many times that happened. He's rebuked by Jesus for bringing a tool of the enemy. Remember when Jesus was telling him that he was going to be delivered up and died? Peter was the one that said, hey, may it never be. We're not going to let that happen. And Jesus looked at him in the eyes and said, get the behind me, Satan. Because you're not speaking from the Word of the Father. Peter was the one that denied him three times in flood and shame. After hours earlier saying, I'll go to death for you. Peter was the one that even after the resurrection was still off hiding was afraid, was timid. Peter was lacking the power to change inwardly. Even though he walked and spoke and lived with Jesus for at least three years. So what changed? What happened was when the Holy Spirit was poured out. When the Holy Spirit was given to the church to those who have faith in Jesus Christ. Peter's life radically changes at that point. When that happens, and it happens just a couple of chapters before the chapter we read here today and chapter four happens back in chapter two. When this happens, Peter is the first one after the Holy Spirit is poured out to go out and to preach the very first sermon that's preached in the power of the Holy Spirit. He does an incredible job of boldly proclaiming on what three thousand men estimated come to faith in Jesus Christ that very day. Peter hadn't had any thousands of people willing to do anything around him. Ever in his life before, but he was a different man. He boldly began to proclaim the truth and the face of opposition. All you got to do is read through the book of Acts, and you can find more about the stories. He ministered in power, healing to others. In fact, in this chapter four, it's why he got in trouble in the first place of the Sanhedrin. It's because they had healed a crippled guy who had been crippled since birth. The power of God is working and flowing through him. He was persecuted. He was imprisoned for his faith in Jesus Christ. He was eventually crucified according to tradition upside down because he didn't think he was worthy to be killed and executed the same way that Jesus was. The Holy Spirit came and where the presence of God had walked beside him in the form of Jesus, the presence of God became to live inside of him and the power of Holy Spirit. And he was radically changed. Here's the key point. The Holy Spirit is the one who brings the gospel of Jesus Christ to our hearts with the power that changes us. It's the Holy Spirit's role that does that. Let me give you some characteristics of the gospel coming to our hearts. The internal presence of God working in our hearts. What does that look like? What looks like this? It looks like a growing love for God. When the Holy Spirit is filling and working inside your life, when you're submitting to him and yielding to him, your love for God begins to grow. You have a quiet peace and trusting God. Not that you're happy with all of life circumstance and situations. Not like you want to change some things about your life. But in the midst of the difficulties and the ups and downs, you have this quiet sense of knowing he's in control. And if he's holding the universe together, every microcosm, every planet and solar system, he's not going to drop the ball with your life. And there's a piece that passes understanding. It's your quick to confess your sin. Not because it's a pleasurable or fun experience, but because there is one who loves you and has promised to forgive you. So why delay? When you know you have a God that loves you, bring your sin to him and confess it to him. There's a joy and forgiveness. In fact, it's called the joy of your salvation. Remember, it's what David prayed for after he's sinned. He said, Father, return unto me the joy of my salvation. What is that of knowing that there's a God who has saved you? There's a God who forgives your sin. There's a God who comes and cares for you. There's a growing need for prayer and a hunger for God's word in your life. There's a desire to obey the Spirit's leading. And the Holy Spirit always is leading you to step out in faith, to trust God out of your comfort zone. Not to play it safe. These are characteristics of a heart that has been transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. My question for us this morning is, are these characteristics present and growing in your life? Are they there in seed form at the very least? Are they sprouting? Are they growing? Are they reproducing themselves in your heart and in your life? If not, either you're living without a genuine faith in Christ, which could be really possible. Maybe you're just a very moral, religious person. I hated to hear the story of Dr. Laura Slesisinger this past week. There's nobody that speaks a stronger moral message almost in our country than her. In multiple times now in her public awareness and address, she has failed in that area and been held accountable in that area and has fallen to her own moral standard. Well, don't point your finger at Dr. Laura because each of us failed to live up to her own moral standard. But do you understand that the gospel of Jesus Christ is that you can never live up, not only to your moral standard, but much less the moral standard of God, which is perfection. But as you place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you know that he satisfies the demands for perfection in your behalf. And you quit trying to play the game. It's not that you don't try to live obediently. It's not that you don't try to live and glorify God, but you quit trying to think that you can and of yourself. And that changes from you being a moralist to being a follower of Jesus Christ. And the two are radically different. Well, these things aren't true in your life. Maybe you need to get right with God today and come to it sincere faith in Him. And I hope that some of you that are pondering that will do that this morning. If you do have faith in Jesus Christ, maybe it's because you're not actively experiencing the Holy Spirit's power on a daily basis. If those characteristics that I just mentioned are not that evident or not growing. And my encouragement to you is not, you don't need to get right with God. You need to get aligned with God. If your faith is already solidly in Jesus Christ, it's time to align your heart with Him by submitting to His Holy Spirit on a daily basis, seeking Him in His Word, reading the Bible, seeking Him in the fellowship of other believers who will encourage you in that same direction, spending time praying, not just your list of things you want, but asking God to reveal Himself to you, to empower you to live obediently to Him, to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. These are the things that God invites you and calls you to do. Peter was just an ordinary guy, and even though he had the benefit of walking with the presence of God, it wasn't until the presence of God came and filled him in the Holy Spirit that his life was radically and deeply changed. This is why our church has been called to be bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to our hearts, and it begins with you, and it begins with me, but it doesn't stop and remain there. It goes on. It's not just bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to our hearts, but it's also bringing it to our church. It's also bringing it to our church. You see, when the gospel comes to your heart, something amazing happens. You find instant community. As soon as you yield your knee, bow your will to the Holy Creator of the universe, the God of the Bible and His Son Jesus Christ, you automatically become a card-carrying member of a group of people who have done the same thing, who have come to the same conclusion, who are seeking the same hope and salvation, and the only name under heaven, the scripture saved by which men and women are saved, and that is the name of Jesus Christ. And you become that part of a connected part of a community, and it's called his church. It's not always a group of people that you like, that you feel you have the most in common with, it's not always a group of people that you would have picked on your own, but it's a group of people that have similar struggles, similar hope, and you're doing life together. Our example of this is this past week here with my, let's talk to my mom, she came back from an annual treatment in Houston at MD Anderson. And MD Anderson has what they call their rotary house, which is an amazing building there. It's a hotel that's there, but it's not just your ordinary hotel. You see this place is a place that has everyone in it that is receiving treatment for the cure of cancer or seeking to be cured of cancer. And either you're a relative of somebody who has it, or you're somebody that does have it, and only those people are staying in this particular hotel. And so you have an instant community that's there. You're not just spending the night, but you're staying with people who you share a community with. It's a hotel that's very affordable for those that knowing that they can't have a lot of extra money. It's one that you always feel safe in. I remember my mom was saying, even though she's staying in Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States, almost six million people living in it. She felt extremely safe every night there, because she knew what she was around carrying people and she was in a caring place. She said there was always soft music playing in the background, always things to calm you. There was an extremely polite and courteous staff because they knew that you were going through some things that were very, very difficult in your life, and they had compassion and sympathy for that. Everybody listened very well. They weren't quick to talk over top of you. Everyone even talked as she said in the elevators as they went up and down. You didn't just sit there and you must only get in the elevator, right, and you stop, and you stare at the numbers, and you wait. People talked. People interacted. People wanted to know your story. People would love to hear, how are you experiencing? And are you getting better? Those kinds of stories are contagious. She said people talked in the cafeteria, or not the cafeteria, or the place where you had a little breakfast provided. You didn't just go find your own table. You came and you interacted, because your story interacted, because your experience is interacted, because your hopes interacted in this place. She said the hotel guests were very quiet and courteous to one another all the time. You didn't have people running or streaming down the halls or being inconsiderate or playing their TVs too loud, because everybody knew what they needed and valued and what you probably did too, and they respected one another. It was more like a community than it was a hotel. But let me tell you something. What made that happen is three main things. They had a shared problem. They had a shared hope, and they knew they were in it together. They had a shared problem, cancer. They had a shared hope, healing from cancer, survival from cancer, and they knew they were all in it together. That is a great picture of this other building, of what this building is supposed to be like. It's supposed to be a gathering of people who have a shared struggle, who have a shared problem. What's that problem? The problem is the curse of sin and death, and the fact that holy God says that your wages have your sin. What your sin are producing is death, and that's what you're leading towards. It's internal separation from God if nothing changes. But these are people in the church that have a shared hope that there's one who has said, look, I will come and I will die on a cross, and I will take your curse and pay the penalty, and I will give you my righteousness, which is total perfection before God, credited to you. So that you're treated like I should be treated, and I'll be treated like you should be treated. That's the kind of king Jesus is, and that he calls you to follow him and to serve him. That's why to be a Christian and to not be like Christ, totally flies against the face of the very core of what it means to be a follower of Christ. We should be coming more and more like him. That's what God's called us to do. It's people with a shared problem, a shared hope, and people that know they're in it together. They're going through the same struggles, they have the same temptations, and desire to serve God in the face of difficult times, and challenges, and difficulties. That's what the church is, and we're called to experience that, and see the gospel working in our lives. Remember now, the church here in Acts were just ordinary people. Ordinary people who probably had life a lot worse off than we do now. Remember, they're under the Roman oppression as a country. It wasn't just Peter that was under Roman oppression. It was the entire group of people, these followers of Christ. They were going through the same struggles. They were trying to raise families in the midst of that. They had unfair taxes being called upon them. They were struggling to make ends meet, just like us. They were with civil unrest within their own people. Jesus came with the message of hope, but he came, and he totally uprooted things. What had been at least secure and safe was their belief in the God of the Old Testament. And what came, Jesus said, look, I am the God of the Old Testament, revealing the ultimate purpose of the Old Testament. And that temple ain't nothing right there compared to this temple. It totally brought unrest in this community there, because Jesus came, and he was the stone which the builders rejected, the chief capstone, the one that came and rocked it. Oh, this is what these people were living in and struggling through. But what was the church's response to Peter and John's situation? When Peter and John were released from being arrested, what did they do? Verse 23 and 24 said they prayed. They rejoiced. They worshiped together. What did they do in verses 27 through 28? So they trusted God's sovereignty over the uniqueness of the situation. They knew that God was in charge of what was going on. Verse 29 goes on and tells us, and they met to persecution. They asked God to help them be more bold to speak the truth of God's Word. Let me call this, be honest, in our gatherings that we'd experienced some kind of persecution. Why don't we be thinking more about how can we play it safe and make sure that we don't get that kind of persecution again? No, not the church filled with the Holy Spirit and the gospel. They wanted more boldness to do that. Verse 31, we didn't re-quite that far. It says God answered their prayers, and that they were filled with the Holy Spirit. It tells us, verses 32 to 35 to read on it, says they were of one heart and of one mind. That's what a Holy Spirit filled in gospel-centered community. The church is supposed to look like. They live like a real body. Like 1 Corinthians 12 says, you are the body of Christ. Christ is the head. Well, Christ was the head. And when Christ is the head, and the more and more that Christ is the head of a body, the body resembles the head. And acts in one accord, in unity, and in truth with one another. That's what we saw. That's what happened here. And this is why God has called us as a church to be about bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ, not just to our hearts, but also to our church, to be encouraging one another in this, to be moving closer and stronger together. Well, not only does our purpose and design have for us to be bringing the gospel to our hearts, number two to our church, but also three to the world around us. One of the reasons why I chose this picture here of just a water drop hitting a pond or a pool of water there is that always the first ripple when that happens is always larger and deeper. But always the outer concentric circles of the ripple are always longer and wider and reach further out. And that's the same picture. The picture and the idea is that God comes and he works interactively to change that heart, and it compels itself to a church community, and it compels itself out to the world, and continues on and on and on. That's the picture. You see, when the gospel comes to your heart, you don't just find yourself part of an instant gospel community or the church, but you also find yourself impacting the world around you. It cannot help but impact the world around you. Everything about living a gospel-filled life changes and flies in the face of everything in the world around you. You don't have to decide, if you're doing one in number two here, number three just happens. You don't have to come out and set your mind up. Okay, we need to change our world. Most of us sitting here in this room would agree that we need to change our world. But if you make this your front line, if you make number three where you start, if you think that what happens in Washington, D.C. is really what controls the power and how you got to get more and more politically active, which is what many Christians respond and think is the answer, then you're missing number one and two, which is the very thing that is the power to change the world around you. And there's an enemy somewhere that quietly, and without notice, smirks and knows that he's getting the church, leading the wrong direction. It always begins with the heart of a believer and it always compels itself to the heart of a church. And then it always impacts the world around you. You know one great, great example of this is the forming of this country, some 200-plus years, the United States of America. Did you know that 52 of the 56 signers and the Declaration of Independence were devoted followers of Jesus Christ? Did you know that William Bradford, who was one of the original pilgrims, also the governor of the Plymouth Colony himself, he wrote and he said that they, meaning the pilgrims, were seeking to propagate and advance the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world. That's what and why he came to this colony that became the United States of America. Alexander Hamilton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a ratifier of the U.S. Constitution writes, and I quote, I have carefully examined the evidences of the Christian religion. And if I was sitting as a juror upon its authenticity, I would unhesitatingly give my verdict in its favor. I can prove its truth as clearly as any proposition ever submitted to the mind of man. So was the Declaration of Independence in the Constitution the most important documents in Alexander Hamilton's life? No. It was God's word. That was underlying at all. George Washington, our first president said, and I quote, while we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion, to the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian, or Christ's follower. John Adams, our second president, went on to say, the general principles upon which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I believe and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God. This country was started with a church that was in place, with hearts that were devoted to following Jesus Christ and a community called the church that was devoted to following the Jesus Christ. And you know what? It had an impact on the world around it. That impact continues to struggle to maybe fade away in many aspects here today, but do not miss the point that you'll never have those outer ripples if you don't have the first one deep ripple of the life your life personally being impacted through a personal relationship of Jesus Christ. Each of them had that experience. Even though our country, our currency still reads and God we trust, it is a big question, not only not a question at all, who this country trusts in anymore. But my bigger question and more important question is who are you trusting in on a daily basis in your life? You know, the church here in this Acts chapter 4 began to have a huge impact on the world around them. Verse 13 tells us that even the civic leaders of their community took note. Remember when they brought Peter and John in, they said they were astonished. One translation says they were amazed. Why? Because these were unlearned men. These were uneducated men, because they were learned and educated. They were amazed here at the wisdom and the power they saw evident in these guys' life. Verse 16 goes on and talks about how everyone in Jerusalem knew about the work of God through the power of that healing of that crippled person. Verse 21 goes on and says that all the people were praising God. This is why they didn't appreciate many brothers, because they were afraid of the people, because everybody was responding and rejoicing and praising God after seeing the power and the work of God. Verse 31 says the community heard the word of God spoken boldly, because they left them there and they begin to speak it more boldly. Verse 33 goes on and talks about them. They continue to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus as they went further. That was strong testimony given, because of that. See, the key to transformation of our country lies not in the state of the buildings in Washington DC, but in the sanctuaries of the gospel, of gospel led churches around the world, right here, right here in this place. This is why God has called us as a church to be about bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to our hearts, our church, and the world around us. A heart with the gospel in a church with the gospel engages the world around them with the gospel, and that is what changes the world. And that's what will change this East Orlando community. And that's what will change Orlando, United States. That's what will change Japan one day. That's what will change China. That you could tamp an insula. Is the power of the gospel going forth. So here's my question. Are you with me this year? And I'm talking to all of you who call Christ Kingdom Church home right now. Are you ready to be about something much higher than your own personal dreams, your own personal comfort? Are you ready to be about something that one day you'll be, can't get enough of sharing the stories in your nursing home with the people that will listen about what God did in your life and what you saw. Or to talk to your grandchildren one day and talk about, hey, let me tell you when God began to really work and move in my life and how I saw him begin to change the community around me. Those are good stories. They call dying well when you look back on that. But you got a choice today. We have a choice today as a church of what this next new ministry year is going to look like. You can ask yourself was Peter happier and more content before the Holy Spirit came or after? Was the church happier and more fulfilled and before the Holy Spirit came or after? You ask yourself was Israel, the Roman Empire, a better place before the Holy Spirit came or after? Yes, this planet has been a better place since outpouring the Holy Spirit around the world or was a better before or after. When we look back, August 2011, on this past year, will you be looking and saying, look what the Holy Spirit has done or still ask yourself and still wondering what he could have done. Let's pray. Father, just ask that you would lead us now as your church, that you would come and be as bold as you always are as your people yield and submit to you, to cry out to hungry hearts, hearts that cry out. And would you, by your grace, allow our hearts to do that here this morning, even this during this time at Communion? God, would you listen to our cries? Would you come in? Would you pour out your spirit? Bring repentance and bring brokenness and bring healing and bring real hope and transform this coming year. God, I pray that you would use this church in ways that will just blow our minds, ways that we could never imagine, looking back a year from now, God, I pray that we'll just be in awe of the things you've done. So, Father, work, move and do this off your glory and honor and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.