Broken
by Kevin Allen
August 31, 2025 · Centerpointe Apostolic Church (Murfreesboro, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Acts 3, Acts 3:1-10, Acts 3:6, Genesis 1:27, 1 John 1:9, Acts 3:1, 2 Peter 1:3, Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Acts 3:8

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kevin-allen--broken
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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going to be going to Acts chapter 3. I was thinking about this service especially what we were doing today and this appreciation Sunday. Of course, the Bible is full of stories of imperfect, broken people, which always gives me encouragement because I'm not a perfect person. And the reality is neither are you. Yeah. Neither are you. In fact, I think if you're comfortable right now, just look at your neighbor and say, you know, you're a piece of work. Some of you got a lot of satisfaction out of that. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we're all a piece of work. We are all a work in progress. You know, regardless of your beginning, and we all have our own unique beginnings. We do. Some of them were good, some of them not so good. Some of us come from families where we were loved and we felt that love and we were taken care of. Some of us were not. We grew up in broken homes and situations that were less than ideal. But I'm so thankful that I didn't have to qualify myself. And you don't have to qualify yourself for God's love. God just loves. I didn't have to get right to come to God. I just had to come to God. And when I came to him, he's been helping me become what he designed me to be. And that's a little bit about what I want to talk about today in Acts chapter 3. A story here of a man who was broken. I want to read to you 10 verses of scripture here in Acts 10 verse 1 through or Acts 3:es 1-10. It says, "Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the 9inth hour, and a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called beautiful to ask alms of those who entered the temple, who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms, and fixing his eyes on him with John and Peter with John, Peter said,"Look at So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up. And immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he leaped up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them walking, leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. Then they knew that it was he who said begging alms at the beautiful gate of the temple and they were filled with wondering amazement at what had happened to him. I wonder if I could just pray over the next few moments. Would you mind bowing your heads with me? Jesus, so thankful that you were here. I'm so thankful that we have your word. I pray God for the next few moments that you would anoint our minds and our hearts to receive what you have for us today. Offer your kingdom and offer your glory. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. It's a beautiful story that is here, but it takes a little bit of unpacking. I think it's fascinating that we see someone who is broken that's laying at a beautiful gate. I don't know about you, but the irony that is there that this man who struggled from birth with whatever his handicap was taken by someone. It said he was carried and he was laid there at the gate. Beautiful. when I think about that, that that brings back and recall in my mind times of my own brokenness and how blessed it was when I was able to go into the beautiful presence of God and he was able to help me in my life. When I look at this story and I see how this man's lameness, it kept him outside the gate of worship. Now, what you may not know unless you spend a little time studying scriptures is that if you had any imperfections at all, you were not allowed to go into the temple. Now, to put that in a maybe a way that you and I could grab a hold of that is if that was still the practice today, there would be some individuals who would be standing at the front door and as you come into church, they would be evaluating you. They would be judging you, right? They would be like, "I don't know. You got a bit of a limp. I don't know if we can let you in." you know, you got like you got something growing on your lip. I'm pretty sure we can't let you come in. That would be rather embarrassing task. I mean, I bet you would, but that'd be pretty intimidating every time you left the house. to make sure that you had everything just so so because you knew that when you walked up to the front door to go into the house of worship that somebody was going to be scrutinizing you to make sure that you measured up to a standard that was there. I'm thankful that those days are passed. How about you? I'm thankful those days are I think you can just come on in. Come on in and be in the presence of God. Come on in the house. But he couldn't do that because he was crippled. And according to the law, he was not allowed to be there. You were not allowed in the presence of God if you had these imperfections. So here we see someone who has a desire to be in the presence of God but can't. But he gets as close as he possibly can. To me, I think that says something about his character, says something about his personality that that if I can't go in, at least get me let me get as close as I possibly can get and set me there. Let me go as far as I'm legally able to be. That's where I want to be right there, you know. So he's there and part of me begins to think about this. I remember when we were traveling many years ago, we went to San Francisco and we were visiting. We went out to Alcatraz. You remember this, babe? And we go through there and they take us through. We're viewing the sales where Capone was at and telling their stories and got the little audio tour. And at some point in the audio tour, it had us over in solitary confinement. And as it said, to go into the sail and then it told you to take the your AirPods out and to just listen for just a minute. And you took it off and you could hear the sounds from across the bay. You could hear like almost conversations and people laughing as it echoed across the water. And they were saying that was part of the power of the punishment of being an Alcatraz when you were in solitary confinement is that you were there alone by yourself, but you could hear life outside the window that was there. I was thinking about that as I was reading this story and preparing for today. Thought about that man that couldn't go into the temple, but he got just outside the gate. But even outside the gate, he could still hear worship taking place inside. He could he could hear the activities that were going on. In fact, I dare say that he could probably even smell the smells that were involved in worship then. And if you don't know what I'm talking about is they were still doing sacrifices in those days. It was a it was it was a bloody affair. So all of these things, all they're affecting his senses, yet he couldn't be in the presence of God. He couldn't be there. He couldn't go into the house. He was limited because of what his body was deficient in. How sad the story. Reading this to me, I feel like you can just get this sense of longing, how much he wanted to be there and experience those things, but he was being kept out. Maybe that's why his story is in the Bible today because he longed to desire and desired to be in the presence of God. Yet he was he was he was not able to. So here we are with this story. We have a lame man unable to go into the house of worship. That is until two preachers come walking by and he sees an opportunity that's here. They're walking on their way to church and they happen to pass by and they're coming in about 3:00 in the afternoon as they're making their way up to the temple. We see this in the opening verse that this man is seen. And I'm going to go into a couple things. I'm not going to be long today and that's not normal preacher talk. I'm really not going to be long today. Sometimes we get a little evangelistic in what we say. But he's as he's as he's being passed by these preachers, something in him decides to make a statement to reach out to take advantage of the opportunity that was presented before him. Peter and John are coming by again about 3:00. And what's most important about this opening verse is that they're coming to pray. And on the way to prayer, a man asked for help. and he received way more than he expected to give because that's what has happened in my life and for many other people that are in this room today that when I came to God I got way more than I expected. Is there any witness to that in the house today? I got way more than I expected. But take you back to verse number six there in chapter 3 that says, "Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I don't have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." This is a story about you and I. This is a story about mankind. And this is a story about how that each one of us in our own way deal with lameness in our life. I'm going to give you another opportunity now. Turn to your other neighbor and say, "You're so lame." Yeah. You're so lame. We all are. We all deal with our own setbacks. The Bible talks about that each of us have those besetting sins that are there. We all have something that we struggle with. And my struggles are different than your struggles. And the things that seem to sometimes get me down are probably something that wouldn't bother you, but what gets you down may not be something that bothers me. But we all have something that's there. We all have moments when we know we don't live up to our full potential. Does anybody understand what I'm talking about? Anybody ever ever ever realize that? Yeah. It it's a part of life. is a part of dealing with the brokenness of humanity and the fall that goes all the way back to the garden of Adam, Adam and Eve when they were there and they messed up. Sin entered the world and from that time to this we've been dealing with the consequences of sin and we got to make sure that we are aware that the potential for failure and mistake is there. It's a part of us there. There's no perfect one. The only perfect one that ever lived, he died on a cross for the rest of us brokenness. I'm thankful for that. But we have to be aware of it. We have things that us and we have things that keep us most importantly from fulfilling the divine destiny that God has for you. See, and I say this often here and I say it so much because you guys are hard to hear, but you were created with a purpose. You're not a mistake. You know, your mom and dad may not have planned you, but God planned you. He had a purpose for you. And as you were being formed in your mother's womb, he was putting things in you that one day he desired to draw out of you for his kingdom purpose and plan for life. And I can stand here as a testament and tell you that I haven't always been perfect in my life. Far from it. If you don't believe me, get with my wife later. She's got a whole list of my problems. But I can tell you this, there's been no greater experience in my life outside the day he filled me with his spirit than when I discovered what God created me to do. then living in the overflow and the abundance of that life of discovering that I have a purpose and plan. But look, that's not something that's not unique to me. It's not just a pastor thing. It's an everybody thing. It's an everybody thing. As we were honoring and talking about all you guys that are working in healthcare, I spent some time doing that. And I did feel like for that season of my life that I was being obedient to God's call in my life along with some other things. And I took advantage of the opportunities I had to speak with people in those moments of their hurting and their pain to help them out the best I could because that's part of the fulfilling process of walking in a life being led by Jesus Christ is discovering why God made you you. Why he gave you your personality, why he gave you your talents and abilities, why why all those things and little personality quirks that are uniquely you are there for a reason. Did you know that you're one of a kind? Amen. Did you know that you're one of a kind? There's nobody else that's ever been like you, nor will there be ever be anybody else like you from this day forward. You are one of one. As I said earlier, you're a piece of work. Uniquely crafted by our creator, designed for a specific purpose and plan. I'm here today to encourage someone that I don't care what has happened to you. You have not been disqualified. Now I know, right? We have an adversary, the enemy of the common term would be the devil, right? We But I think too often times we get too cartoonish with that thought process when it comes to devil is the red suit with the long tail and the horns and the pitchfork. Look, that's not what he's like, okay? He's very sly. He's very cunning. He's very good at what he does. When it comes to devil work, he's the best. He knows how to get to where you are. He knows how to get in there in your mind. And then I don't know about you, but I've discovered that my biggest fight I have on a daily basis is not with things on the outside, but it's with things right here between my ears. Have you noticed that that daily fight that we struggle? Each of us have it. And what's going on there is the enemy is always trying to convince you that you are less than what you really are. Why? because he knows if he can keep you down in your mind, if he can keep you convinced that you can never become all that God wants you to be, that you will never fulfill God's plan and purpose for your life. So, he fights you, man. He fights hard and he fights dirty. And he likes to recall things back to our minds, our mistakes and our failures and to remind us that that we have fallen many times in that same place as if somehow that has caused us to be disqualified from God's love. I'm here to tell you that's a lie. That's a lie. It's not the truth. You are beloved. You are a child of the king. Did you hear what I just said? You are beloved. You are a child of the king. It doesn't matter. He He's not happy when we make mistakes and failures. Yet, he loves us enough to go down in the muck and the mer of wherever we fail and to pull us up and to clean us up and to continue walking down the path with us. He doesn't leave us alone. He doesn't leave us by oursel. He's a faithful and a true and a just God. I'm here today to tell somebody, "Quit believing the lies the enemy keeps trying to tell you. Quit get out of the prison of your own mind. You have a job to do. You have a you have a ministry to fulfill. You have a calling on your life. You are important to the kingdom. And there's never been a day like today to live for God. Today is the finest hour. It's the finest time to be a part of the kingdom of God. Amen. Amen. That's good preaching. If I have to amen myself. God created man in his own image. Genesis 1 27. God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him male and female. God doesn't waste his creation. He doesn't waste his image. He does not make throwaway human beings. He doesn't do that. Everyone you've ever met in your life, God loves as much as he loves you. That's hard. That's hard, right? Because the people who have abused us and taken advantage of us, who who've mistreated us, like we won't look at them and say, "God, how can you love them as much as you love me?" Well, because God's not looking at their mistakes and failures. He's looking at his intended purpose for their life. They're his creation. They're his children. It was said earlier today, God doesn't have grandkids. He only has kids. We're all his children. All of us. And he loves us all the same. He loves us with a perfect love, not a conditional love. That's where we struggle with humanity because we're conditional, Robin. We're conditional. As long as you're buying me lunch and I'm available today if you want to do that, then you're my friend. Now, if you talk bad about me or post something on social media, then we're not friends anymore, right? Our love's like a roller coaster. It's up and down and going around the corners. We got to be careful with that because we often equate that to how God loves us. And that way when we do that, right, the enemy tries to bounce on us in those moments because when we when we're less than we know we should be, the enemy is like, "He doesn't love you. Why would he love you? You're a mistake. You're a failure. You keep messing up. you can't keep your word. You can't hold up your end of the bargain. Well, I want you to know that's a true statement. We don't always hold up our end of the bargain. We do make mistakes and we do make failures, but that does not disqualify us from God's love. He still loves us. That doesn't give us a license to go do anything we want. Well, he loves me, so I can act anyway. Well, no. No. If we're really going to love him back, then we try to commit our life to his word. We try to align oursel with what is important to him according to his commandments and according to his law. He said, "If you love me, you'll keep my commandments." That's what his word says. Those are redlettered words from Jesus. So, I'm not my own. I can't live any way I want to. If I truly am going to receive what he's given to me, then I have to bring my life into alignment with where he is and what he desires for me. And that's why I come back to this point that you were created with a purpose and a plan. So, I'm going to ask you a very pointy question today. Are you fulfilling God's purpose and plan in your life? Are you are you living for self? Are you living for the kingdom of me? I'm asking you. And I know maybe that's a little tough question on this Sunday afternoon. And you're thinking, we got a lot of guests in the house, pastor. Maybe you need to be a little bit vanilla. I'm not going to be vanilla. I'm going to be truthful. I'm going to be truthful. I want to ask you some questions because I know this to be a truth. You were created with a purpose. And maybe you haven't been perfect. Chances are you've made mistakes. Maybe you made a mistake this week. Maybe you made a mistake this last month. Maybe you made a mistake this last year. At some point you made a mistake. If you haven't, you're a liar. Come down here and we'll pray for you. You're not perfect. I'm not either. But I'm so thankful that when I do fall, I have an opportunity to ask for forgiveness. And it says in the book of John that if I first John that if I ask for forgiveness, he's faithful and just to forgive me and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I'm so thankful that I have that that when I make the mistake and the failure that I say, God, please forgive me. Own the mistake. God, I did this. I God, I was angry. God, I was jealous. God, I whatever it was that you did, just own the mistake and live in that overflow of forgiveness and mercy in your life. That's why it's there. not for you to abuse, but for when those moments happen in my life that I don't have to be caught in there. Because if I get caught and I stay there, it becomes an excuse for me not to become all God wants me to be. And the enemy is going to capitalize on it. But I'm here to tell you that God's calling you to a higher purpose in your life. There's a reason that you are the way you are. I don't think everybody believes me yet. We live in a world that's trying its best to remind you and I every day that we're nobody, that we have no purpose, and we have no meaning. just go be happy and do your own thing for a little bit little while and eventually you'll die and go away. You put on top of that the ability that we fight every day in our own minds and this battle that goes on inside there and the mind tells us that we don't measure up unless we're doing this or we're doing that. This we live in this house or we drive this car or we send our kids to this school. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm there's nothing wrong with cars and houses and schools and education. I believe in all those things. But if that's what you're looking for, fulfillment in life, I promise you, you're going to come up short every time. You can't find fulfillment in those things. Why? Because that's not where you were created to be. Now, God will use those things for his kingdom purpose and plan. He will. But if you're looking for your sole definement and fulfillment in life to be about your education, your degree, your status in this community, in this society out there, I promise you, you're going to be a very lonely, sad, pitiful person because that there's a hole inside of your heart that's made only for God. Only he fits there. You can try to stick other things in there. You can try to stick success in there. You can try to stick relationships in there. You can do all that. And again, all those things, they're not bad in themselves, unless that's what you're trying to be defined by. Don't be defined by the be defined as a child of the king. Be defined as a child of the king that you have a kingdom purpose. See, I think we can take all those positions that come our way. And if you're truly living for God, this is just this man's opinion. I believe you're supposed to be successful. I believe that he loves to he loves to praise his kids. He loves to put you in elevate you in positions. Why? Because by doing that, he begins glory and honor and praise. When we deflect and say, you know what, God's been good to me. He's allowed me to have this position. He allowed me to have skills and abilities. He's allowed me to have a mind that can comprehend these things. And when I reflect it up, he gets glory. But we got to be careful with that because if not if I'm not careful, I'll allow that to be a validation for why I want to do what I want to do. I got to live for something that's bigger than me. And remember, I'm talking about lameness. Now again, look at your neighbor. Say, "You're still lame." We got to fight this old flesh every day in our life. I've come here today with a really simple message to preach to you about what God has to say about you in your life. Not what the world has to say about you, not what the enemy tries to convince you of. Listen to me. He created you in his image because he wants you to manifest his glory. And that's the story that's being told in Acts chapter 3. That's the story I've read to you is about an individual who was who was just desiring to manifest the glory of God. He was there and he was weak. He was he was broken. He needed repair. And in a moment of time, God worked a miracle in this man's life. I'm here wondering if there's anybody today in this sanctuary that's struggling with weakness or a broken heart or some kind of a wound or dealing with depression or anxiety or a busted and broken relationship. I'm here to tell you that Jesus is in this room today. And where he is, all things are possible. There's an opportunity for you to have a restoration and a healing in your life today. that you don't have to leave this place the same way you came in. I'm quite sure with a crowd like we have today, there's at least one or two individuals who are not where you need to be with God. And I want you to know, don't let that be a negative in your life. Instead, let that be an opportunity for you. Just like this lame man was at the at the gate. Beautiful. Take advantage of the opportunity has presented itself for you today in this room. Jesus is here. Whatever it is you're struggling with, whatever is causing you to be broken, whatever it is that's kept you set back all these years can be the very thing that God can use for his glory and for his kingdom. Amen. I'm a believer in that. In fact, there are there are there are many in this room today that the thing that had you bound, the thing that had you held back, the thing that you struggled with most of your life, when you finally relinquished it over to God and God performed a work inside your life, that he restored you and he and he delivered you and he broke you free of the chains that were holding you down from addictions and bad relationships and self harm and anxiety and depression. There are many of you in the day in the room that now you have an opportunity to be powerfully used for the kingdom of God because you're no longer bound by those things. Now you're helping other people who are struggling with those situations and you have an opportunity to come alongside him and say, "Hey, I was once where you were at. I once was bound by alcohol. I was by drugs, by sexual perversion, but I got a hold of God one day and he transformed my life and no longer do I have to walk down that dark, lonely path. No longer do I have to feel like I'm worthless and nothing is there." One day, God found me at the gate beautiful. And when he did, he didn't leave me there, but he picked me up and he restored me into a position. And now I have an opportunity to come along people just like you and say, "Hey, you're not by yourself. I'll walk with you through this situation." I can tell you that he is a good and a faithful God. And he keeps his word. He keeps his promises. Amen and amen and amen. What becomes so powerful in this is that we get our testimony. Oh, how powerful is our testimony? Yeah, it's okay to clap for that. How powerful is your testimony? And too many times we sit on it. We don't tell people about it. I'm here to tell you, it's one of the most powerful tools you have in your belt is what God has done for you in your life. How many has God done something for? How many, let me put it this way. How many of you are understand? And you'll be willing to say that one time I was bound by some dark stuff in my life. Let's keep your hand up for just a second. I was bound. I was broken. I was a mess. Oh, I was a wreck when I came to God, but he didn't he didn't leave me in that mess that he lifted me up. Thank you for your honesty. Look around this room right now. this let this be an encouragement for somebody today that hey, I don't know what you're going through, but I promise you somebody else in this room has probably faced the exact same thing and they're here today with their hands raised up saying, "Hey, God met me in my need. He met me in my moment. He didn't leave me there sitting at the gate broken. Instead, he lifted me up. He restored my strength. He gave me an opportunity to go into the house of God. I didn't have to stay outside the walls when I'm able to go in now and raise my hands and worship and to feel his presence and be there in the atmosphere of worship and break. Why? Because he's a good God. He never leaves you where you're at. He never leaves you where he finds you. Instead, he brings you back and puts you on a solid rock foundation that you can build a life on. How many people today have wonderful families because God picked you up? Yeah. Yeah. You come out of a lineage of broken, busted, disgusted stuff, right? Your family tree is all crooked and interweaved and some of you come from Kentucky and there's all kind of stuff that goes on there. But you started a new branch. Hey, you started a new branch. You maybe can't do anything else about what was behind you. But moving forward, hey, there's not going to be another generation bound by alcohol. There's not going to be another generation of sexual. No, you made a change in your life. You cannot excuse what happened in the past. But moving forward, you can say, "Me and Jesus got a good thing going." You're raising another generation and another generation, another. Why? Because he's a good and the f He has a divine destiny planned just for you in your life. Who wants to embrace that today? Hey, you don't have to stay lame. You don't have to. We have a God who loves. What once disqualified you now qualifies you. What once destroyed you now defines you as uniquely and completely his for his service and for his kingdom. See, I believe in divine appointments. I do. I think that's what was taking place there in the very first verse of that chapter. Acts 3 verse number one. It says, "Now Peter and John went up together at the temple at the hour of prayer." There was an appointment. There was an appointment. Somebody was going to church when it was time to go to church. How novel is that? I believe in divine appointments. I think there's a divine appointment taking place today here in this room because of that. We're here and we're in agreement. We've prayed. We worshiped at a specific time. Somebody better watch out. Something good's going to happen next time. The Bible shows us that there was a certain man. We don't know his name, but he had one. We know he had a mother and a father. It takes that. I don't feel like I should have to explain that. He had a family that was there. Somebody took care of him. Somebody got him to the to the gate every day and laid him down. The Bible lets us know that he had been lame from birth. I want to speak to this for just a minute because I feel this and I felt it in prayer as I was putting this together. I feel like I need to say it today. What had happened to him was not beyond his control. Now, I say that because there there there's some of us in this room and I I'm one of those someone's who I made a bunch of mistakes and I it was me. I mean, I could I could try to point fingers at other people, but let's just be honest, you know, it was me. I was the one that made the silly mistake. I was the one that did the thing. I was the one who was living for self. I was the one that was all about the moment. It was me. It was me. I it doesn't even make it was it's an outright lie for me to say it was somebody else's fault. It was me. But there are some in this room today. And it wasn't you. It wasn't you. It wasn't your fault. What happened to you wasn't something you asked for. It wasn't a decision that you made. It was a decision that someone else made. It was something somebody else took advantage of you. Somebody else dropped the ball. somebody else was irresponsible and because of that you've had to struggle in your life and you've had to deal with brokenness and lameness. That's what this story it speaks so much to me and as I read it as the beginning to ask God in prayer like reveal to me all that this story has to say. Lord, let I'm going to speak to your church today and let me let me make sure that that I do its service the way it's supposed to be. So God, what was here and it really jumped out at me that he was he was lame from birth. It was it was not his fault. This wasn't a decision he made that caused it. In fact, it was all he's ever known. Oh, I really feel God right now. Some of you feel like that you're here today and what you've struggled with, it's all you've ever known. There's this heaviness that is there. There's this darkness that's there. There's this fear. There's this there's this anxiety. There's this pressure that you've dealt with and you feel like it's not your fault. Like you you wrestle with it and you struggle with it and you don't know you don't know where to take it or what to do with it because it's just been there your entire life. This was this man. I wish I knew his name. I wish you could call him. You know, maybe we call him Bob. This is Bob. All right. So Bob's struggling with this situation from birth. All he's ever known is somebody had to take care of him. Somebody else always had to pick up his mess. Somebody else always had to make sure he got where he needed to be. And as I speak to whoever I'm speaking to today, I want you to know that God still sees you. He's not forgotten you. I believe again I go back to divine appointments. I believe there's a reason why you're here today. It's not accident that you're in this room. It's not accident that you're listening online. God sees you. He knows the hurt. He's seen the silent tears. He knows the heartache and pain. He's heard the cries in the middle of the night. He knows the loneliness that sets in so heavy like a weighted blanket on you. He knows those things and he has not forgotten you. We got to be careful that we don't forget that he loves us. And you say, "Well, Pastor Kevin, that's really easy for you because, you know, you got things going on in your life, but you don't know what I what I go through and what I live with." You know what? That's a true statement. I don't you know, I'm doing good to try to take care of my own life. I don't know what you struggle with. I don't know what you're facing today. I don't I don't know what's going on. I don't know the battle that's in your mind right now. I don't. But he does. He does. God knows you. Well, that's what pe that's what a preacher is supposed to say. Well, there's some truth in that, but it doesn't negate the truth of it. God knows what you're going through. Now, here's again, I believe in the power of a testimony. Okay? So, I want to do something if you guys are okay with me. I because this is important. I believe in the power of a testimony. So, I wonder if there's anybody in this room today who' be willing as a testament to the goodness of God that you be willing in just a minute to just stand up. If you have had dark nights, if you've had lonely times, if you felt the weight and the pressure of things that were beyond your control that just happened to you and you felt like no one cared and there was nothing going on. But one day, one day Jesus did meet you. One day there was a divine appointment and it was the right time and when it did, man, he came rushing in like a flood and your life has changed from that moment forward. Is there anybody willing to stand up that that was you? Thank you. Look, look. Look. Oh. Oh. He's a good God. He's a good God. He's a faithful God. He sees. Thank you for standing. Thank you for standing. You can be seated. I just want I want somebody to know that God sees. He knows. He hears. You're not by yourself. I know the enemy is going to try to keep you pushed down. He's going to try to keep you convinced that God doesn't care and that he that you're just a misfit misfit and an outcast. But I'm here to tell you, it's a lie. It's a lie. It's a lie. It's a lie. Don't believe that God loves you. God loves you. He sees you. He knows where you're at. And today in this place, you can be restored back into a right relationship. I'm just about done. Second Peter 1:3 says, "He his divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue." God has already given you everything you need. The problem with you is that it's underdeveloped. It's underdeveloped. That that that's what I feel every time I go to the gym. I'm underdeveloped. It's there, Dr. East. I know. Like I can see it. It doesn't manifest itself yet, but it's there. It's underdeveloped. Yeah. You have already in you what you need. It's just underdeveloped. So, I need to convince you that you got to continue to take your gifts and your talents and your abilities and place it in his hands and say, "God, I want you to use me for your kingdom purpose." I wonder what would happen if we could just for just for just for a moment just say, "I'm not going to focus on building the kingdom of me, but I'm going to focus on building the kingdom of God." What would he do? What would he do if we put those things first? Right? I believe his word says that if I would seek his kingdom first, all my needs would be taken care of. And I'm a living testament of that. There there was a time in our life early in our marriage when we got involved in ministry because you don't get into ministry for money. Or at least you shouldn't. We struggled for a while. We struggled, but we put the kingdom first and then God come along and does what God does. He's an amazing God and he takes care of us. We never had a day we went without what we needed. We had a lot of what we didn't want. And there was still a long list of wants, but he always took care of our needs. That's what our God does. See, the Bible tells us Paul Paul was writing to the church at Rome. Who was he writing to? The church. All right? To the people that were in the church. And he says this in verse number one of chapter 12. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. I like that word. that reasonable. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by how? Renewing of your mind. Why? Why was Paul writing it? But who is he writing it to? Church. The church. Because he's telling me, hey, look, you're going to be tempted to think that you made a mistake. But he's like, hey, as he's writing the letter, I says, hey, you got to renew your mind. You got to you got to recall back what God has done for you and remind yourself of it on a daily basis. So that way you can prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. It's about how you think. His desire is to get your mind into the battle that was there because he knows the overwhelming majority of your struggles is going to be right up here. I'm preaching to somebody today. Paul again said to the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians chap 10 verse number three. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God. for the pulling down of strongholds, casting downs arguments, and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into what? Captivity and obedience. It's not just that I know. All right? There's a lot of people that know the word of God and they can quote it, but they're not obedient to it. Yeah. That's like people that go to the doctor and don't take the advice, right? They know what they're supposed to do, but they're not obedient to it. You got to be obedient to what the word of God has for yourself. So, I go back to this man as I get ready to wrap up. To me, I feel like there was I'm going to say this in the center point. Don't roll your eyes, but there's 10 things that I pick up from here. And you're like, 10 things? He said he's going to be quick. We're going to be out of here tomorrow quickly. 10 things. First of all, he was seen. I want you to know you're seen. If you're here, God sees you. He knows where you are. He knows what you're going through. You have been seen. Second thing, he asked. He was bold enough to say, "Hey, I need help. I'm here to encourage you. You're gonna have to be bold in this walk with God." He sees you, but he's a perfect gentleman. He never forces himself on you. He never He never comes in and says, "This is what you're going to do." He doesn't come and put you in a chokeold and say, "So, you're going to live for me or I'm going to wipe you out." That's not how the God works. So, he sees you, but you got to ask. Be bold enough to make your request known. So, he looked. The man looked Bob. I named him Bob. Bob looked. He gave his focused attention to Peter and John because he realized these guys got something about him. He was fixed. Says he fixed his gaze on them. He refused to be distracted by the things around him. Somebody today in the in the next few minutes, you just need to be fixed on what God's trying to do in your life. He expected. He was believing for something. Now, what he was believing for and what he got were two different things. But he had an expectation. Do you have an expectation in this room today that God's going to meet the need that you have? I'm encouraging you need to have an expectation. Then it says he grasp. He took a hold of Peter's hand with faith in action and he partnered with him. That's number seven. He partnered walking with those that go into worship. Then it says he leaped. He put strength in emotion. And number nine, he walked. He had dominion and balance and he restored. And the last one as I bring this to a close and musicians are going to come bring this to a close today. It says this that he entered verse 8 of chapter 3 says he leaping up stood and walked and entered with them into the temple. He entered through the beautiful gate. How many years has he set at that gate? How many years has he been right there on the edge of everything he wanted, but he never could cross because of his brokenness, because of his lameness, because of what disqualified him. And I'm so thankful when the opportunity presented himself, he refused to be passed by anymore. I wonder if there's anybody in this room today who's refusing to be passed by today. Who's determined, I don't want to walk back out the same way I came in. Now, here's what I know. Here's a here's a truth for you. You can do nothing and you're going to leave this place just the same. And maybe for some of you, you're okay with that. Maybe your life's pretty good. But I dare say that there are individuals in this room today that your desires for life to be different, for your circumstances to be different, for your relationships to be different, whatever it is, you can fill the blank in. I would encourage you to take some cues from this man. This lame man who lay at a beautiful gate who all his life because of what was broken in him had to sit outside the temple. He could only hear the worship. He could only experience it from a distance. But thankfully one day Peter and John come walking by and there was something there. And there was a divine appointment, a moment that God had orchestrated just for this man. And he wasn't going to let it pass by. He asked, but what he got in return from that expectation was far greater than he ever anticipated. It wasn't just a few coins in his pocket that would bring temporary relief. I'm not talking about a temporary relief today. I'm talking about a life change. I'm talking about going from begging to leaping and dancing and going past the gate into the house of worship and the house of praise. Does anybody desire that for you in your life today? Silver and gold I don't have for you. What I mean is I don't have a solution for you. I don't. This is this is not about Kevin Allen at all. If you're here for what I can give you, I'm sorry. You're going to you're going to be really disappointed. Just ask Chassity. No, but if you come for what God can do for you, oh my friend, oh my friend, he can do all things. So, as we close the service out today, I I'm going to pray in just a minute. And when I do, I want to be very specific and pointed in my prayer. And I want you to be specific and pointed in your prayer. I don't know what your need is. I don't know what you're going through. I don't know what you're facing. I don't know what kind of heartache and pain has been going on in your life. But I will tell you this, as I was praying this morning, I spent quite a bit of time in prayer early this morning. I could sense a heaviness that was in my heart that there's someone today in this room that you're going through a very difficult season and it's a very heavy thing that you're carrying. And I want you to know, he spoke to me today and he said, "You tell them, I see. I see. He sees you. He sees you today. He sees you where you are and he's here to help. So don't leave this place without what God has for you in your life. Will you close your eyes with me? Jesus, I've delivered what I feel like you gave me for this church today. God, I turn it over to you. Lord, take this moment, this most special of moments today, and I pray that you would start to tug at someone's heart to let them know that you see them, that you know what they're dealing with and what they're facing. God, I sense and feel a heaviness in the room. I know someone's hurting, someone's broken, someone's tired. They're so tired. But God, you're passing by. There's a divine appointment right now. Right now is the moment. And I pray, God, that they would take advantage of this opportunity to be with you, God. Do what you do best. Take the brokenness of our life and make something beautiful out of it in Jesus name. Church, it's prayer time. I invite anybody that'd like to come down to the altar. There'll be some ministers here. We'll pray with you if you'd like to come. I would take advantage of this moment. Don't let it pass you by. Don't don't don't spend another day with regret, but let God do a work in you and in your life.