Grace and Worship: Embracing Forgiveness and Reverence in Faith - 3TC Podcast - Jeff Ryan - 2/9/2025

Jeff Ryan emphasizes the importance of confessing sins and embracing forgiveness, highlighting that everyone is a sinner but can find grace through Jesus. It discusses the significance of passionate worship, using the healing of a lame man at the temple as an example. Pastor Jeff draws parallels between the man's transformation and the need for passionate worship to recapture reverence for God. The healing not only restored the man physically but also spiritually, integrating him into the faith community. We as believers are called to worship passionately, recognizing God's transformative power and expressing gratitude for His grace.

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Whether young or old, single or married, new to church, or a lifelong attendee, there's a place for you here. We invite you to join us toward a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ. Our goal is to share the passion, power, and presence of Jesus with others. We believe in supporting families through service, education, and loving one another as Jesus loves us, unconditionally.

Transcript

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Welcome to the three timbers podcast. We hope this will encourage and uplift you today as we sang that last song. It reminds me, when I was very young going to church, there was this wonderful pastor who literally had the voice of God that you heard him speak, and one of the things he always used to say was, give me Jesus. You can have all the rest. Just give me Jesus. And that's just such a great reminder. And you know, one of the things I'm reminded of every day in my life is that I am a sinner and that I fall short every day, every day, in multiple ways. I fail to live up to the standard that God has given me, and that's why we think it's really important that we confess our sins, that we come to God with what he already knows, which is the bad news is that we're not perfect people. We make mistakes. We are sinners. That's the bad news. The good news is we are forgiven. Me sometimes I focus so much on the bad news that we missed the good news. And the good news is, friends, you and I are forgiven of our sins. And so we want to be intentional. We want to be purposeful, to come before God confess to him what he knows, which shows God I love you and I know you love me. And then we want to read responsibly the good news of how God tells us that we're forgiven. So let's go to God now, silently confessing our sins to Him that He already knows. Father, we come before you, and Lord we just confess we're not perfect. We're not perfect people, we're not perfect parents, we're not perfect spouses. We're not perfect employees or brothers or sisters or aunts or uncles or grandmas or grandpas. We make mistakes, and Lord we know that, and we can beat ourselves up and Lord, we sometimes struggle to forgive ourselves, but Lord, we know that you forgive us. We know that your grace is bigger than any of the struggles that we have. We know that your mercy runs deeper than any way we could think. And Lord, we know that we need to let go and fall into your grace. And so, Father, we know that you love us. We know that you have great plans for us. So Father, I pray that as we confess it, as like we are exhaling out, Lord, all of those ways in which we have come up short. And Father, we are inhaling, Lord, Your Grace. And we ask this in the name of Jesus, amen, will you join me reading responsibly, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that came by Christ. Jesus. Amen, that is the good news. And when it comes to falling short. I'm going to pray I don't fall short into this pit. If you see me, get too close, holler at me. So I don't know, but we are glad that you are with us here today. And one thing you can say about today, today is a day filled with passion, my friends, there will be a lot of passion in God's favorite city, Philadelphia, in some other city in Kansas. I don't know where it's at. And there will be great passion in my home today, I can tell you, because today is a great day of passion everywhere. And there would be a lot of pastors who would take advantage of this situation that would point you to verses like Isaiah, 4031, those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength and soar on wings like evil. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faith. Sometimes, some pastors would do that. I'm not that guy. I'm not that there would be some pastors that would tell you the crucifixion of Jesus was arranged by the chief priest, but I'm not one of those pastors. I would not do that in any way possible. But one thing I can tell you is there will be passion today. There will be passion in homes and in bars and in parties and everywhere you go. Can you imagine going to a Super Bowl party, or if you were in New Orleans at the Super Bowl and being around people who weren't passionate, I mean, passion is contagious. It's like It's like wildfire. It goes everywhere. And passion is a critical, critical thing when it comes to the Super Bowl, and it's also a critical element of recapturing reverence. We must have passion friends if we are going to recapture our reverence for God. Last week, we talked about the purpose of the church, and now we're going to begin talking about passionate worship. Next week, we'll talk about the power of God's Word. Word, and then the week after that, I'll talk about having a presence in our community. All of those things are ways in which you and I can recapture worship. And so we're going to read today from the book of Acts, chapter three. I hope you brought your Bibles. Hope you bring up your Bible app on your phone. So important if we're going to recapture reverence that we have reverence for God's word, that we have it with us, that we have it on our phones, or that we have it in our hands. So I'm going to be reading from the NID version, and as you look that up, I just want to pray again for God's Spirit to speak to us today through His Word, Father, we thank You for Your word. It is a lamp unto our feet. It is the guiding path, Lord of our life. It is the hope in the midst of hopelessness. It is the joy in the midst of joylessness. Lord, it is truth and So Father, I pray that You would speak through me and despite me today. I pray Lord, that your word would convict those of us who need convicting comfort those of us who need comforting, the Lord, point us towards you. We ask this in the name of Jesus, amen. So we're going to read Acts three, chapter, verse one through 10. One day, Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer. At three in the afternoon, no, a man who was lame for birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about tender, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, look at us. So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said, silver or gold. I do not have, but what I do have, I give you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk, kicking him by the right hand. He helped him up, and instantly, the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement and what had happened to him. I this text takes place after the ascension of Jesus, the Holy Spirit has come at Pentecost. And as you begin to read the book of Acts, you see the fellowship that the early church had. They're always meeting together. They were always eating together, praying together, studying together, worshiping together, they were always together. And really, the early part of the book of Acts is about the empowerment of the Holy Spirit that changed believers. The Holy Spirit allowed people to see God differently. The Holy Spirit allowed people to see themselves differently, and the Holy Spirit allowed people to see other people differently. So we see this transformation that is taking place. And what we see happening is Peter and John are going to worship. They're going to worship, which happened about three times a day. Is about Jews growing up. They would have understood that. So they were going to worship. And as they are walking in to the temple there at the gate, beautiful is a man who is betting. Now you have to understand that in this culture, people who had any type of disability, they were not trained to how to do any type of craft, any type of trade, so they were completely dependent upon other people to survive if other people didn't give them charity, didn't give them assistance, they would not make it in any possible way. So here come Peter and John, and they're coming into the temple. And what we need to understand here is that this man was very smart to be placed at the temple. There were three places that people who were poor or people who needed to depend on other people would be they would either position themselves outside of a rich person's home. That makes some sense. They would also place themselves on a highway, where lots of people would be walking back and forth, or thirdly, and probably most strategically, they were placed at the temple gate. Why? Well, people came to the temple three times a day to pray. They were at the temple. Beautiful Gate. It was a main thoroughfare that people were coming in. So this man knew, and he was placed there every day by family and friends in the hopes that there be people who can help him, people that can give him something you have to understand that rabbis in that day taught that giving alms, a, l, m, s, giving alms was a way to show your love for God, and another way to understand ALMS was charity or kindness. And so this guy knew that people always wanted to look good before God, and they could kind of show. Off their piety if they would give to those who are in need. So this man was strategically placed. We know that this man was not part of the faith community. How do we know that? Because what God told the Israelites was not to allow there to be any poor or needy among you, and this man was poor, and this man was needy. And this man was outside of the temple gate, which means he was not welcome to come inside with the faith community to pray and to worship. And so we know that he was not a part of the faith community. So here come John, here come Peter, as they get ready to come to worship and to this beggar, this man, all that he sees. And Peter and John are nameless, faceless, financial vending machines who are dispensing monetary mercy. And then, then Peter does something really important. He says to the man, look at man. And by doing that, what he's doing is he's showing the man respect. He says, I see you. Though many people walk by and don't even see you. I see you. He was saying, I want to give you the respect to know that I don't just see you as a nameless, faceless beggar. I see you as a child of God, that you are worthy to be recognized, that you matter to God. And so he says, I want you to look at me. And so the man looks at him. The man thinking, Well, I'm going to now get some money, because this person stopped, which is always a good sign if you're begging, and now they want to talk to me and look at me. That's even a better side. So this man thought, I'm going to get some really good assistance here, some financial help. And Peter and John, they didn't want to just see this man restored, financially or even physically. They wanted total restoration, that this man knew that he was worthy to be a child of God. And so what is Peter saying to him, silver and gold I do not have he says, I know that you wanted money. I know that you thought that money was the answer to your problems. I know that you thought if you were dependent on others to give you money, that somehow your problems would go away if I only had money. How many of us think like that? How many of us wish, Boy, I wish I just had more silver or gold in my life, more money. We think that money can solve all of our problems. And John knew that there was only one thing that could solve this man's problem, this man's situation, and it is the only thing that can solve your problems and my problems. It's not more silver or gold. But what does Peter say? He says, In the name of Jesus, walk, and what he's saying is in the power of Jesus, in the deity of Jesus, in the divinity of Jesus. He's saying in the name of Jesus, which is more powerful than silver or gold, which will solve your problems, which will address your situation. In the Name of Jesus. That's why, when we pray, we pray in the name of Jesus, because there's something powerful in the name of Jesus. And what does it say? Happens? It says, immediately, the man his feet and his ankles got strong. It says he stood, he walked, he jumped and he praised, because he understood what just happened to him. In that moment, he understood that he went from being crippled and being lame and being an outsider and not having any hope or any joy in his life, in that moment, he understood what God had did for him. He was over joy at the blessing of how God changed him, how God restored him, how God remade him, how God reoriented the direction of his life. And he knew that though Peter and John may have said in the name of Jesus, it wasn't Peter and John appealed him, it was God. See, he knew the source of his blessing. Think about James 117 which says this, every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like the shifting shadows this man understood not only what has happened to him, but he understood who was responsible for his complete change, his physical change, his financial change, his social change, his relational change, he understood everything that happened to him and So what was his response to what God has done, passionate worship. He could've just gotten up, but then he started to walk. He could've just walked away, but he didn't walk away. He started to jump, and then he started to praise God. And then he went in, and he started to worship and praise God. Do you understand what he did? His response to what God had done in his life was to passionately worship God, because he understood, do we understand what God has done for us? Do we understand it? Do we understand what God did but he sent his only son, his only son, to take your place and my place on the cross, an instrument of crucifixion and death that God said, no, no, I don't want you to go. I'm going to send my son and the wrath that you and I deserve for our sin, for coming up short every day as we do what we deserve. Jesus told he took Do we understand that? And let, let's put it in more in more graphic terms, you and I have been saved from the damnation of hell and fire. That's as honest as I can get with you. We've been saved from that. And I don't know if if you're excited or you're grateful, but I hope so, and if you understand what you've been saved from, and you know who's the one that saved you from, it shouldn't our worship be passionate, or we just assume that we were just so good that how could God not save us? This man understood the transformation that just happened in his life. No longer is he crippled, no longer is he looked down on, no longer is he hopeless and joyless because of what God did in his life. So his response was appropriate. I'm going to praise God. Imagine, imagine going to a Super Bowl party. Imagine you get to go to New Orleans and and I want you to to see that when the clock strikes zero and the game is over, do you think the players are just going to be that was really great. I'm really excited that we won. Do you not think that fans will go out into the streets and celebrate? Do you not think that there will be tears on the field from the winning team and the fans? Do you not think that 300 pound men are going to act like little five year olds and hug one another. Why? Because they understand what just happened and they're passionate about this change in their life that they're now champions. Shouldn't our response to what Jesus did be greater than a response to winning a football game? Right? I shouldn't our worship just be so passionate? Passion is contagious. It is absolutely contagious. And shouldn't the worship of God, by the people of God, be so passionate that people say, I want I gotta go with you guys? Man, there's something going on with that group of believers, because they are so passionate about worship. Think about the passion we had just a few weeks ago when we announced that we believe that God is leading us to having our own space. People clapped, people cheered. Some of us cry, isn't God worth passionate worship for everything, not just that? When you say, I have faith in Jesus, that should produce a passionate worship, because you're saying, I understand what was done for me, and I understand who did it, and I'm going to passionately worship the one who did that for me, not because I earned it, not because I deserved it, but because of his grace, because of his mercy. And I am just going to say, Lord, I am going to throw off any shackles that would keep me from passionately worshiping. You. See, that's what passionate worship is about. And what it does is it shows our reverence for God. It shows that we understand who God is, who we are, and what's been done for us. Because if we are casual in our worship and we are lacking passion in in our worship, that the question is, do we really understand and appreciate what has been done for us? Look three things happened in this miraculous moment. The first short, this man can now walk Praise God. The second, that that God was praised and worshiped. That's awesome. But here's the third thing that I want us to focus on is that this miracle was a testimony to other people about the faithfulness of God. Other people were impacted. Everybody knew who this man was. They may not have known him by name, but they knew walking into worship. Oh, there's that man. There's that man who's always begging him. Maybe some even gave him a little bit of money, gave him some silver or gold, but never really engaged him. So people knew who this man was. And so when they turned around and they saw this man not only walking into worship, but jumping into worship and praising God, they knew that this was something of God, because this man couldn't cure himself. He was crippled since birth, and most scholars believe he was probably about 40 years of age. So his whole life, he has been crippled. He has been laid he has been a beggar. He has been dependent on people. So people probably knew this guy, not just as a four year old man, but maybe as a young man growing up. And so when he came in jumping and praising God, they said, this is a thing of God. Something has changed in this person. He's not the same God that he was. He's no longer lame and begging, but he's jumping and praising God. He's passionately worshiping God. Why? Because he was changed. Because God got a hold of his heart, got a hold of his life, changed everything. And when God changes you, it should change your worship of Him. And so people were amazed. And as I was, as I was going through this texting, one of the things that God said to me, he's like, you try to make me so small. Did you ever try to make God small and we only we ask God for something small, like this guy just wanted silver gold. God said, Please, I'm going to give you something greater than silver, gold. I'm going to transform your life. And when God transforms your life, when God transforms your heart, how could we not passionately worship Him? And what I think is even bigger in this text is not that just a man went from being lame and a cripple to walking, but remember, he was outside the temple. He was an outsider. Now he has spiritual acceptance now it says he joined John and Peter, going into the church, going into worship. So now he had said religion rejected me because it said I was lame and a beggar and not worthy of God, but a relationship with Jesus accepted me, and when I've been accepted, I'm going to praise God. Do you ever get accepted to something? Do you ever get accepted, maybe to a school you applied to, if you went to college? Do you ever get accepted to that new job you want? Do you ever get accepted into a club or an organization or whatever it may be that when you experience acceptance into something, you're excited, you praise God. Oh, I got accepted to college. Oh, I got the job, oh, I got my my loan application got accepted. We can get the house, we can get the car. When there is an experience of acceptance in our life, we rejoice. And yes, the church, we don't always rejoice and have the passion that God has accepted us flaws and warts and all. And yet this man comes in and he's praising God because He has been accepted, and he is so thankful. And if you are thankful for God accepting you for who you are, flaws and warts and the states and our past and all shouldn't our thankfulness come out in our worship of healing? Shouldn't we passionately worship God because God is so good to us? Amen, God loves us, and God accepts us in every way and all of the things that happen through this man did one powerful thing, pointed people to God. Other people, when they saw this man walking and jumping and praising God, they didn't see what happened to this man. They saw who did this change to this man. It pointed people to God. And let me be clear, the way that you and I choose or choose not to worship impacts other people. If we choose to worship God passionately, it will impact other people, and they will feel comfortable and passionately worshiping God. If we choose not to worship God passionately, it will impact other people not to worship God passionately. Passion is contagious. Watch the game today, people will become very passionate about the game, and it will be contagious. We should be so passionate about our worship of God that when people see us coming in and coming out of the church, when people come to church, they're saying, Man, there is passion at that church, because they know what God's done for them, and they are so grateful to God, and their worship is contagious. See, when we worship passionately, people go, why you? Why are you worshiping so passionately? What? What's got you this excited, this empathetic about God? Cuz you can say, well, I know what God's done for me, because I'm a sinner and I've fallen short, but God and His great grace has redeemed me through Jesus. And how can I not thank that person? I mean, if you were diagnosed with with a horrible, terrible, terminal disease, and somebody came in and healed you. Would you say, hey, thanks. Appreciate you. Would you be like Thank you? You saved my life. You gave me the cure for which I could not have been cured from if it wasn't for you. And when somebody would cure you from something, you would passionately thank them. God has cured us from sin. He has saved us from His wrath because of his grace. The people who saw this man jumping and praising and passionately worship God would have known that he was the fulfillment of God's faithfulness, particularly from Isaiah 35 Listen to these words. Then will the eyes of the blind be open and the ears of the deaf unstopped? Then the lame will leap like a deer and the mute tongue shouted for joy. They would know God did this. Why? Because only God can produce this kind of passionate worship in a person. Then when you really understand what God has done, how can it not create this joy and this passion? But if we take for granted what God has done, or we don't think it's that big a deal, or we think of, Oh, God should have done it anyway, because I'm just so awesome, then we won't passionately worship God. So let's think about this on an everyday basis. What has God done in your life that should produce passionate worship. Maybe it's things that we don't think about. Maybe it's not going from being a blind leg beggar to not walking, but maybe God's blessed you with a family. Maybe God has blessed you with a family. Isn't he worth passionately worshiping, because you've got people that love you, that you love maybe God healed your marriage. Maybe you're going through difficult times, and God has brought healing. Is he not worth passionately worshiping? Maybe God has helped you overcome an addiction. Isn't he worthy of our passionate worship, because what once controlled US no longer controls us. Maybe God got you that new job, that job you've been hoping for, that job that that gave you insurance benefits or a salary that allowed you to live in a manner that you live. Isn't he worth passionately worshiping? Maybe God's brought you healing in your life. Maybe you had some sort of physical healing or season or trial or difficulty, and God brought you healing. Maybe God gave you a second chance in a relationship or in a job or with somebody isn't even worth praising. Maybe God, maybe God brought new people into your life, friends that encourage you and make you understand your value, as Peter and John said, I see you. Maybe God has brought people into your life that says, I see you. Or maybe God is leading your church to have a new building. Isn't he worth passionately worshiping. People will seek God when they see God's people passionately worshiping. That's what will attract people. People will say, I want to have what you have. I want to know what you know. I want to know what produces such passion for you that we're just lifting the roof off the building. I want to be a part of that. See, everybody wants to be a part of community, and people want to be a part of a passionate community that only happens in the people of God worship Him passionately by faith. And just so you know, this man who went from being lame to being a passionate worshiper was because of his faith. Listen to what it says in verse 16 of chapter three, by faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus name and the faith that comes through him that's completely healed in Israel, because this man had faith. He passionately worshiped. And if you look at what it says here in the last couple of verses, it says this in verse 10, and talking about the people at the temple, they were filled with wonder. And. Amazement and what happened? People are filled with wonder and amazement when we passionately worship God, people are Whoa. Why are you so passionate? Because they see our worship with God. That's what will change, not just us, but that will encourage your brothers and sisters sitting next to you, but it will attract other people when they hear of and see and partake in passionate worship. Why? Because we know what God has done for us. And when you read this text, you can say, Oh, this is the story about the crippled man. It's not it's about something much bigger. It's about God's faithfulness. I want you to look at the crippled man, and I want you to see yourself. Think about it. The crippled man. He was born lame. He was unable to walk. We are lame because of sin. We cannot walk righteously before God, no matter how good we think we are or try to be, we are lame so we cannot walk. We need Jesus. This man was poor. All of us are bankrupt, unable to pay the debt we owe God for our sins. All of us need Jesus. He was outside the temple, and he was unable to enter where all sinners separated from God, unable to come into His presence without the healthy hand of Jesus. It says that this man was healed. Peter reached out his hand and helped him up. We need to help each other up so that we can passionately worship God. Passion is contagious. There will be great passion in God's favorite city tonight. I hope it's a good passion and not a bad passion. You will see passion from people who are wearing our jerseys. We're wearing our sweatshirts. People will talk about it. It'll be all over social media. It'll be all over the news. And what will they be talking about the passion of the fans? What will they show passionate celebration of the team and the fans? Why? Because they recognized what just happened. So friends, I want to encourage you. If you want to recapture reverence, which I know you do, then let us passionately worship God, and as we come together, as our worship team comes back up, let us sing. Let us respond in a way that says, I know what God has done for me. I know what God has saved me from, and I know what God has saved me for, amen. Amen, let's pray, Father, God, we thank You, Lord that you've given us the privilege, the opportunity, Lord, to go from lane to leaping, to go from being an outsider, Lord to being able to come inside and worship and praise you, father. I pray that we would lift our voices, Lord, I pray that the Spirit moves, we would lift our hands. I pray, Lord, we would clap. I pray Lord, that we would be overjoyed, because we get to praise the one who saved us. We get to praise the one who's provided for us. We get to praise the one who has healed us. Lord, I pray that we would be a church that would be known for passionate worship, because we know what you have done and are doing and have promised to do. And I ask this in the name of Jesus, thank you for joining us. For more information about three timbers, church ministries and services, visit three timbers.org. We would love for you to join us in person. You.