The Kerygma

Thank you, Ellen, and thank you, Agnes, for sharing that for us. Last week was fun. Got to hear Joyce and just the stuff that they do. Again, I said she's not a superhero.

She's just a simple person who said a simple yes That ended up doing supernatural things. And that's all of us here. That's all of us here. Whether you're called to the Congo, or whether you're called to Admiralty, or whether you're called to Aberdeen, it really doesn't matter.

The question really is, are you saying yes to God? But let me just give you one quick warning now when it comes to that. Please don't do any of those things out of the goodness of your own heart. Don't do it because you just want to be a good person.

Hey, I just want to do this because I got money. They don't. I got time. They don't. I got skills. They don't. Let me just help you because I'm better than you. Don't do it out of the goodness of your own heart. Does anyone remember? Last week I asked Joyce, what was the secret to doing all of this?

And it was her last point. Does anyone remember what the secret was? Yes, cue on. Falling in love with God. Don't do it out of the goodness of your own heart. Do it because you are deeply loved. And there is a love that's inside you that you can't help but express out.

That you can't help but have it overflow into the different settings that God is calling you to. The question really is, how do you get that love? There was a quote that she quoted that I'll paraphrase now by a guy called Paul Washer.

And it was this, a passion for souls comes from a passion for Christ. A passion for mission comes from a passion for Christ. If you don't have a passion for Christ, you don't really have a passion for anything.

And so all of this has to come from that place of love. The question I have for us today is, how do we have that love? How do we get to that place where we are truly in knowledge of that kind of love?

And really it comes down to one thing, the gospel. The gospel. Who grew up in the church here? Just put your hand up if you grew up in the church. You will, well I hope, I think, you will know what the gospel means.

I usually like to pick on Gabs. I want to carry on with that trend right here. Gabs, if I asked you what the, how you would define the gospel in just one sentence or two, what would you say? Yeah.

I put him on the spot to do that. And one, I know because I know that he can. But two, really, we all should be able to do that. If someone goes to us and says, what's the good news? Would you be able to say it?

We are more broken than we actually understand, but we're actually far more loved. That's so similar to what Keller says. That we are far worse than we ever imagined, but far more loved than we ever dare dream. There's something about that that is so important when it comes to what the gospel is in your own heart.

Keep on, what's the gospel for you? What's the good news for you? The story of the creator of the universe coming down to die. Of course, ever the director, there's a story.

That's what it is. We're real people with real problems in need of a real savior. And that is the gospel. We've been going through the book of Acts. If you look at the book of Acts, actually a third of it is speeches.

It's actually people explaining what the gospel is. Whether it's Peter, which is what we're going to go through today, or whether it's Paul, or whether it's Stephen, just before he gets killed, there is a speech that is delivered.

St. Francis of Assisi was the one who said, preach the gospel at all times, use words when necessary, to the effect of, hey, we should be preaching the gospel with our lives. It should be just the way we live.

And so a lot of us Christians, especially the ones who are a little bit more scared and cautious, we'll be like, oh, well, I'll just preach the gospel just with the way I live. And that's enough. And I can tell you here, actually, that's not, if I was just to add that, and someone else added this, it wasn't me, preach the gospel at all times, use words when necessary, and it is always necessary.

How good are we at actually using our words to communicate what the gospel is? And I'm not talking about standing in front of a group of people, talking for 30, 40 minutes on a sermon.

I'm not talking about that. I'm saying, can you, in two sentences or less, tell people why the good news is the good news and why it's changed your life? That is essential because we're in a time and a place where there is a deep, deep need for that.

And you see Peter here doing that. Just to recap, just to rewind your mind of what has happened. The day of Pentecost happened. Boom, a reversal of the Tower of Babel. Boom, a reversal of the law coming. Now the Spirit comes and it's not just on one person.

It's not just on Moses. It's on everyone. And they start speaking all these different languages. Any language you can think of, anything under the earth, they're speaking it and you're like, wow, the people there are like, whoa, what's going on here?

What's the commotion? What's the chaos? The Holy Spirit has come upon them. Actually, it's interesting. The crowd, when they spill out of the upper room onto the streets, the crowd are just like, what is going on? And the words that are used to describe them in Acts chapter 2 are, they're astonished, they're bewildered, they're perplexed, they're amazed, they mock.

These guys must be drunk. And it's at that point, Peter, impulsive, uneducated, Peter, the one who betrayed, who said to Jesus in front of everyone, God, where Jesus, wherever you go, I will go.

And then 10 minutes later, gets scared when a little girl asks him, aren't you with Jesus? And he's like, no, no, that wasn't me. That Peter, that Peter who gets restored by Jesus by the fireplace, stands up and explains to the people, hey, these guys aren't drunk, it's 9 o'clock in the morning.

Something else has happened. Today is the birthday of the church. Today, there is no turning back. And then he explains, and he gives this speech.

And it's interesting, these people go from mocking and being perplexed and being astonished to suddenly being cut to the heart is Acts 2.37. What did he say? And I'll tell you, as we were worshipping there, I was praying, I was like, God, don't let me say anything that you aren't saying here.

I'm going to treat these next, this next time here, what we're about to read, what I'm about to open up as just the words of God that led people from being perplexed and mocking to being cut to the heart.

And I'm going to ask Julian to come up to read it for us. Can I invite you to stand for the word of the Lord? But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give ear to my words.

For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel. And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams even on my male servants and female servants.

In those days, I will pour out my spirit and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke.

The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.

This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

For David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced.

My flesh also will dwell in hope, for you will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence.

Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades nor did his flesh see corruption.

This Jesus God raised up and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he was poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to himself. And with many other words, he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, save yourselves from this crooked generation.

So those who received his word were baptized and there were added that day about 3,000 souls. This is the word of the Lord. Please take a seat.

Thank you, Julian. Holy Spirit, we are eager to hear from you. Not my words.

In the same spirit that spoke through Peter, be the same spirit that speaks here. You know our hearts. You know our thoughts. You know our context. You know the anxieties we have, the pride that we have.

So Holy Spirit, would you speak today to my friends, to my brothers and sisters. It's in your name we pray. Amen. Peter stands up and he just displays this courage.

He's able to articulate something that causes 3,000 people to be just cut to the heart. What was it that he actually showed? It was the gospel. People, this sermon today is on a sermon and we're just going to go through the sermon.

It's called the Kerygma. It's called the simplest proclamation of the gospel and I hope that as we come away from here, you and I will all be able to at least in two, three sentences be able to share what the gospel actually is and I'll show you some of the different parts of the gospel here that we can see.

I remember so clearly, I don't know if Hank remembers, Hank, we had lunch maybe a few months back a half year ago and Hank, by the way, is the chairman of the deacons board so when Agnes comes up to the stage, you know it's something important.

If there's ever a day that Hank has to come up and say something, that's going to be a really serious, very important conversation to have. But there's one thing that actually, I don't even know if he remembers that he said. He was like, I just have a prayer and I hope that our pastors and our leaders in the church have a deeper understanding of the gospel.

I don't know if you, do you remember saying that? You're like, sure, give me credit for that. And I was struck and I was like, what if, what if as pastors, what if as leaders didn't truly have an understanding of what the gospel is in the very depths of our heart?

I'll tell you what it looks like if people don't have a true understanding of the gospel, you hold on to bitterness longer than you should. You find it hard to forgive people. You still gossip, you still compare. Because you don't truly understand the gospel.

And so here we see he explains what is the kerygman. I want to show a couple parts. We won't go through verse by verse because we only have till 1230. So the first thing he does here is he brings the history into the present.

He brings history into the present. He's saying, hey guys, what just happened, what is happening isn't because we've been just drinking all night and we were playing board games and then we were playing poker and then we all got a little bit excited and now we're coming out and it's all a little bit crazy.

We're not making this up. It's not like, oh, we had a great worship time upstairs in that room and now we're coming out and we're going to start something because it was just, you should have been there. It was so good.

It wasn't that. He's saying, hey guys, this has been foretold for a very, very long time. There are prophecies from the Old Testament and he knows his crowd. He's talking to the Jews.

So he quotes scriptures that they would have known and he said, hey, you've grown up learning about these things and it's finally happening. This is it.

You remember the prophet Joel, guys? Remember what he said in chapter two? This is it. It's happening. Joel foresaw that the Spirit will be poured on all people and that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Do you realize how big those two things are for the Jewish people who actually were a very inward-looking group? They were very proud-looking group. They were a group that were very hurt and oppressed for so many years that everything for them was, they were the chosen people but they didn't feel chosen.

And so they, so for them to say, hey, the Spirit's going to pour out on all people and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. He's saying, hey, we're not making this up. This has been brewing for a very long time.

He's saying, these prophecies are now happening today. And then he goes and talks about David. He talks about David in Psalm 16. He talks about David in Psalm 110.

He's saying, you know David, the man after God's own heart. King David, the greatest king Israel has ever known. Do you know that David wasn't talking about himself? David was talking about this day. So he was bringing the history into the present and he was trying to explain to people in their context.

Reminds me of Paul in Acts 17 when he goes to Athens and he speaks to them in their context. and he goes, hey, I know how you guys think. I know what you guys know and I'm here to point you to Jesus.

I'm reminded that Jesus himself was multilingual. He spoke Aramaic and Hebrew and Greek and he would choose to speak to the people in a language that they would understand. The question for us is in Hong Kong, I mean, don't you think it's actually interesting and weird that you are here in Hong Kong and there is a Chinese looking person speaking to you in English about the gospel.

That would not have happened were it not for this day. Pentecost coming and the effects that that had on just the history of the world. And so Peter stands up and brings the history into the present and says, hey, we're not making this up.

Something else I find interesting, he's speaking, being spirit-filled here but he uses scripture. It reminds me that as I was on my journey going, God, I want to hear you. Do you have that? God, I want to hear your voice. I want to hear more of you.

I found the moment I started reading more scripture, knowing more scripture, memorizing more scripture, that scripture club is still alive and well. Thank you, Paul, for leading us in that. The more I found myself memorizing scripture, the more I found I could hear from God.

So I'll encourage you, if you're wondering, oh God, I want to hear from God, these people seem to be hearing from God, then just get into scripture because they would be aligned because it's the same because it's his word. And so you see Peter being filled with the spirit.

I'm not even sure he knows what he's saying at this point. He's just, it just comes out of his mouth and what comes out? Scripture. What comes out is saying, making sense of the present by looking at the history.

Something else he does is he brings clarity because people, no doubt, are confused because you've got this person over here speaking this language and this guy over here speaking Hakka and this guy here speaking Pudhuwa and then suddenly he's going to be like, what is going on?

And he's saying, hey guys, calm down. It's okay. We bring clarity into the situation. It makes me think, those of us who hold the good news, who are bearers of the gospel, do we bring clarity to any situation that exists in this context that we have here?

We have colleagues, we have friends, we have family who are confused, who are hurt, who are broken. I don't know why that's happening. I don't understand why that is happening in the world right now. Can we bring clarity into those situations?

Can we speak truth into those situations? Can we help people understand what's happening in the world by pointing them to Jesus? C.S. Lewis was the one who said, I believe in Christianity like I believe in the sun, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.

You and I, I'm absolutely sure that you and I are surrounded by people who are confused, who are angry about the world, who are confused about themselves.

Do we have the knowledge of God and the spirit of God and the mindset to be able to speak into their situation and go, hey, this is why it's happening. This is why you're feeling maybe this way.

Again, with humility, we're not saying that we know everything, but then point them to Jesus. Point them to clarity. Can we do that?

And so he really points them to, and it's really quite simple. So if you're sat there going, well, James, I can't preach this and I've never done a talk before, I've never been able to share the gospel before, but it really, as long as you say that simple yes, then you'll say, there's a favorite story that I've been reading this last week and it's in John 9 about the guy who was born blind and then he gets healed and then he sees, which is quite appropriate given what we shared last week from Joyce, and he sees and then, this is this whole commotion in chapter 9.

First his neighbors go, is he the guy? We've seen this guy before, he's been blind for the whole of his life, why is he looking around at us? That's creepy, that's weird. And then they take him to the Pharisees and the Pharisees are like, why are you seeing?

Why would this happen on the Sabbath? Let's ignore the fact that now your life has changed forever and that you can actually see us. We're more concerned that someone did it on the Sabbath. And then they go to his family, do you remember they go to his parents?

And his parents are like, well, they know what's happening here and they're like, hey, yep, that is our son. And yes, correct, he didn't see before and you don't know the challenges we've lived as a family but now he is of age and now he does see.

But then they say, hey, just ask him. Just ask him. And it's funny because the way he responds to them when they keep chasing him down is actually quite comical. It's actually quite true.

And he's like, why do you keep asking me questions about this guy? Do you want to believe in him? Do you want to follow him? So this guy who's blind who doesn't, obviously he's never read scripture, who doesn't know anything yet.

He says the most profound things and he's like, look, I don't know who he is. I don't know what all the commotion is with you guys. I'll tell you this though. I was blind but now I see. And then he meets Jesus and he just follows him.

I don't know if it's that hard. When we set out to go, hey, we're going to share the good news, I don't know if it needs to be that hard. I think it's just like that song that we sang, thank you Jesus for the blood, that actually, I was here and then I met him and now I'm here.

It has to be a personal experience but when the spirit fills you and you start knowing the word of God, I believe the words will flow out of your mouth. You look at Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians, he said it's not lofty speech or wisdom.

You're not here to try and debate with your family member or to debate with your friend or your colleague and talk to them about apologetics which actually, there is a space for that and this summer we're going to go through some of the tough questions about the faith such as if there was a good God then why is there evil in this world?

Then let's equip ourselves, brackets by the way, AI is of great help. If you have, my friend who came here last week and he said, he's just been going through these questions with his wife who's not quite a believer yet and he was like, my biggest gift to my wife was to sign up for ChatGPT Plus and then she asks ChatGPT questions and of course, I was like, well how do you know that it's always right?

He's like, it knows more than I do. But the point is, are we even willing to be prepared? Because actually, there are simple ways for us to learn and to equip ourselves to be able to share the gospel in a simple, succinct way that is piercing.

And I wanted to present to us two very simple things that Peter is doing here that maybe we can take. When we present the gospel, I want you to remember two things, there are two S's. One is sin and the other is a saviour.

That's it. Because if you can point to these two things, we're on the right track and let the Holy Spirit and let the Word of God fill in the rest for you. But if you can communicate across, there are two things here, friend, family member, sin, and a saviour, I think we're in the right place.

Verse 22, if you're going to follow along with me here, it says this, Men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you. Another version is attributed to you. So given to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know, this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

So he introduces Jesus. He says, when you talk about the gospel, you can't avoid Jesus. When you talk about sin and the saviour, it has to involve Jesus. Jesus is the beginning and the end. So make sure when you're talking about these things, you talk about these, you talk about all of it through the lens in the context of Jesus and he introduces Jesus and he says, hey, you know Jesus.

He was given to you by God. He was with you and here's your problem. You crucified him. You did this. What is he doing?

He's presenting to them their sin. He's presenting to them the crime that they've committed. Now, these people sat there that may not have been, hey, I didn't crucify him.

But that's the point. They're saying, actually, every time you choose to not trust God, every time you choose to not follow him, to follow the way, that is sin. And really, when we're talking about the gospel, it starts with the ownership of actually, what have we done here?

The awareness and acknowledgement of our own sin. We have to. That concern that Hank had of, do we truly understand what the gospel is? I think it starts with, do we truly understand how wretched we are?

Do we truly understand how broken we are? It has to start there. And there's some people who, oh, well, I don't know about this whole singing. I don't know about this whole worship. Well, then the question is, do you truly actually know the gospel?

Because that's important. The journey of the Christian faith as you mature is that you realize that when you sin, it's not that you are breaking the rules, it's that you are breaking God's heart.

There is a difference. Because when you truly understand the gospel, that man, what I did is actually breaking God's heart and not just the rules. It's not just my actions, but it's my thoughts. That it's a relationship that he's after.

That's when you start to understand. That's the first step to being cut to the heart. That's the first step in falling in love with God is actually just knowing where you're at. Knowing your own sin. And we talked about this a couple months ago when we were going through the spiritual disciplines and confession was one of them.

It starts with us being able to articulate what it is that we're struggling with. When was the last time you were able to articulate your sin? The last time you gave in to temptation, were you able to articulate actually why it is?

Not just to feel bad for what you've done, but to realize the deepest thing, the reason for why you got there. I fell into this temptation not just because I was being, oh, it might be an issue of procrastination.

It might be an issue of loneliness. It might be an issue of going, God, I don't actually trust that you have my best interests at heart. There's one quote that said, actually sin, really what it is is that you don't believe that God wants you to be happy.

That's where the sin is. How are we able when we throw ourselves into work, when we throw ourselves into trying to climb up the ladder to get the achievements that we want, how able are we to say actually my sin is actually I am seeking the approval of man.

I am still trying to prove to my dad that I am worth it. When you're trying to get power, when you're trying to get that promotion so you can exhort authority over people, can you actually, are you able to articulate that my sin is that I need to be in control?

Can we get to that point where we actually know what our sin is and why we have that sin? I think that's the first step. I think we have to be able to, if we want to understand the good news, we have to be able to understand the bad news.

That's why the good news is good. Because if not, if you're sad that yeah, I don't know, well that's because my beloved brother, let me introduce you to the bad news. You think you're doing well, you think you're doing alright, but the truth is we're not.

That's the beginning. But the sin of man does not trump the sovereignty of God. Verse 23, it says this, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed him.

Since the fall, there has been this plan of redemption. Since the fall, when Adam and Eve turned their backs on him and said, God, I don't know if you truly know what is best for us. So we're going to eat that apple and we're going to go because I think we're just going to take this matter into our own hands, thank you.

I think we're going to do what's best for us. Since that moment, God has been orchestrating this plan to bring his children back to him. All of this sits under the sovereignty of God and all the way from the Old Testament it talks about the sacrifices that priests would have to give and now you have someone who's the great high priest who's greater than Moses, Jesus who pays that sacrifice.

So because even though we all fall short of the glory of God, we are now all justified freely by his grace as a gift. This is the finale. This is the climax. You were messed up.

You were broken. You were wretched. You were blind. You were lost. But Jesus came. But Jesus came to save you because despite your sin, God is still in control. Despite your sin, God is still in control.

Verse 24, God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death. I can imagine there's a but here. But God, you crucified him. You did this. But God raised him up.

It reminds me of Ephesians 2 when he says, you were dead in your trespasses and sins. You were following this world and you were heading down this path that would lead to destruction. But, but, but God, being rich in mercy because of the great love that he had for you, saved you.

To understand the gospel, to understand the good news, we have to be able to articulate and understand the bad news and then understand God's intervention. But God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

And then he goes into this passage where he quotes David. Where he goes to the Old Testament, goes to history and goes, this is what it is. You guys respect David. You guys love David. But let me tell you about David. David's dead.

His tomb's just down there. You thought David may have been talking about himself that he would never die but David did die and now his tomb is there but I'll tell you about someone who did die but then came back to life again is what he said.

And he's saying, hey, it's not about David. It's about Jesus. And then he points to proof. He's saying, I'm stood here because I'm a witness. What am I a witness to? That someone died and rose again and there is an empty tomb to prove it.

This reminds me of 1 Corinthians 15 about the resurrection I think that Flo just read. When Paul says, he said, this is the only important thing. If you forget everything else I say today, if you forget everything else this Bible says, 1 Corinthians 15, Jesus died and now he lives.

And there is a tomb to prove it. And for thousands of years they've tried to disprove it and yet they can't. The empty tomb remains. They say someone stole the body. Who stole the body?

Did the disciples steal the body? Because maybe they were just so sad about Jesus. Maybe they stole it and created a whole story but then why were they willing to die for it? Well maybe the Pharisees stole the body because they thought something like Christianity would be born and happen.

Well when it started to gain momentum why didn't they bring the body back out? Well maybe it was the Romans. Well do you know what would happen to those Roman guards because they didn't do their job and they didn't look after that body?

It doesn't make sense. We're sat here this Chinese man English speaking man speaking to you in Hong Kong about the gospel.

This is here right now is because that tomb is empty. And that message has been passed through generations through countries through continents that someone defied the grave.

and Peter's saying it wasn't David. We're not making this up we're witnesses and anyway if we're going to make up a story in that time we wouldn't use the first witness to be a woman because in this context they're not trusted in court so if we're to make up a story we wouldn't use her but yet this is the truth this is how it happened.

The resurrection is what he points to. And then he says well look David also did not ascend verse 34 David did not ascend into the heavens for he himself says the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand.

He's saying David did not fly into the sky but Jesus did and we are all witnesses. So he goes to history he goes to proof he talks about sin and he points to the Savior.

All of this hinges on who Jesus Christ is and the fact that he is alive. And this last verse of his speech let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ this Jesus whom you crucified.

Again just to hammer home you did this. This was our sin that put him on the cross. That last sentence I can imagine Jesus Peter is probably getting pretty loud.

You can't imagine him say that without conviction. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ this Jesus whom you crucified.

The Christ means Messiah which means the anointed one which means the Savior. But I want to focus just a little bit on Lord because Jesus is the Savior from our sin and he did die for our sins because the wages of sin is death.

But then he resurrected and what does he say when he's resurrected? He says now all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me. He is now not just Savior he is Lord.

This would have been we skim over that now because we're like yeah of course Jesus is Lord and we see crosses everywhere and it's cool. Can you understand what he said at that time when Caesar was supposed to be Lord?

Let's not skim over for that that he said that now Jesus is Lord. Did you know that people died for that fact there? It's one thing that Jesus is your Savior it's another thing that Jesus is your Lord.

What does that mean? It means that he is now King he is in control of your life. If we're honest with ourselves Jesus we love that he's our Savior he saved us when we were drowning but do we believe that he is Lord?

If someone was to come into your life and observe the way you lived and just took notes for a whole week would they come up with a summary that Jesus is your Lord? If AI was to listen to everything that you said every conversation that you had every meeting that you had and was to summarize this person or these conversations would it summarize that this person believes that Jesus is Lord?

That's a different thing. When we present the gospel we talk about sin the bad news we talk about the good news that there is a Savior but then we also have to mention that he is now Lord.

C.S. Lewis was the one who said Jesus is either a lunatic or a liar or he's Lord and if he's Lord of your life that means he that means you do what he says. Jesus says when he was there he was like well you guys call me Lord but you don't do anything I say so I'm not really Lord.

Is he your Lord? I think that is the straw that breaks the camel's back and suddenly they're like oh my goodness I get my sin because I'm surrounded by it I love the fact that someone's saving me but now he's Lord that means I have to give up everything and follow him that means I have to say yes to anything that he says because he is Lord and then they say now verse 37 and now when they heard this they were cut to the heart see when you're filled with the spirit and when you understand the word of God and when you understand the gospel first thing it does is it changes your mind and then it changes and drops down into your heart and then it changes your heart and after that it changes your life that's the Lord piece and they're cut to the heart and they go brothers what shall we do they're not saying hey is there a Bible study that I can go to is there a life group that I can go to is there a prayer meeting that I can show up to is there a Bible reading devotional plan on you version that I can follow when they say brothers what shall we do it's one of desperation it's saying okay I acknowledge I have messed up I acknowledge that

I'm a sinner oh my goodness Jesus did save me and now he's Lord he's sat here what do I need to do to follow him is what they're saying has the gospel stayed in well actually has the gospel even gone into your ears have you had the gospel told to you before that you are falling short of the glory of God that you on your current path are heading down a road of destruction and you might say well I'm doing it I don't know about this whole Lord stuff to you I say well when you make yourself the center of your own life actually just look around this world as people make themselves the center of their own life when they act on any and every desire that they have themselves how's that working out how's the contentment there how's the peace that you start to realize life is not just about myself life is just not about me satisfying the desires of my own heart

I've satisfied them for a little bit and then it starts to wane and then I'm in the same place again but Jesus says if you make me Lord if you follow me if you make me your shepherd I will give you life and life to the fool the thief make me Lord I'm not going to Lord over you I want to lift you up so you can live a life that is worth living but you must follow me you must take up your cross and follow me you must count the cost is what Joyce was talking about last week and there is a cost every good thing has a cost but there is something of ultimate value do we truly understand that and then Peter responds to their question and he says repent turn around stop doing what you're doing go the other way because that way leads to a dead end repent he says two things repent and be baptized when you baptize basically you are identifying with Christ's death and his resurrection and you are dying to yourself and now it is no longer you who live but Christ who lives inside you now long it is not old the old has gone but the new has come you are a new creation you are baptized there is a public declaration of faith is what he's saying publicly declare that you acknowledge your sin that you know who your saviour is and now from this moment onwards you are following him repent stop change direction and commit is what he's saying and if you do that if you do that you will have two things given to you and they're two great things one is you'll be forgiven the forgiveness of sins and the second is you will receive the gift of the holy spirit because here's here's the trick there is no such thing as a good christian who does good works there is just someone who acknowledges their sin and that they have a saviour and that is the holy spirit who's living inside them who is compelling them drawing them to god that's it the moment you think you can work your way to being a good christian you've missed the point the moment you think that actually i'm going to be allowed into heaven because of my good behavior because i go to aberdeen every wednesday to do something because i actually took a trip to congo that's what's going to allow me to go to heaven you have missed the point you have missed the gospel again repent and be baptized and you'll receive forgiveness of sins and you'll receive the gift of the holy spirit and the promise isn't just for you but it's for your children and it's for those who are really far off think of the biggest jerk that you know the biggest sinner that you know is going to be for them too it's for everyone let everyone who calls on the name of the lord be saved and they do and they respond 3,000 people don't be shy you can go you look like you have some important sporting event to go to crush them with grace and love and mercy are you the

GU youth that are going to play basketball with us next week alright alright alright you walk on you go alright I see you I see you I see you when the holy spirit comes he's coming to wreck you and then he's coming to rebuild you he's coming to change your mind change your heart and then change your life he's coming to heal you he's going to be piercing he's coming to heal you but not hurt you allow yourself to be cut to the heart to allow your mind to be changed your heart to be changed and your life to be changed there is hope for you those of you who have been far off and you're like okay well I don't know because the stuff I did this year no good if Jesus found out it would be Jesus said you missed the point again it's not about what you did it's about what I did it's not what you've done but it's what

I've done and it's my spirit that's looking to live inside you would you commit would you trust me would you reverse the curse from Adam and Eve where they didn't trust would you come back to me and would you trust me and when you trust me and when you call on my name that's the only requirement if you call on my name you will be saved that is the message of grace that is the message of truth that he gives and I'll finish here the question that I have then is Jesus truly truly your Lord is he your message if they if someone cut you open would it be Jesus that comes through be honest with yourself is that the true message of your life do you ooze of the good news or are you actually still living in the bad news or worse you still think you're doing okay my prayer is would

Jesus be the central message of our lives when the Holy Spirit comes when you open up his word what does it point to it points to him it points to him and it's not the one who was a nice guy who died for a few people he died and then he rose again and he lives and he lives inside us that's why we are all individually burning bushes because his spirit has come along inside of us and descended onto us and that's why we gather and we scatter but once and only once we've truly understood the gospel can we be empowered to do these things is Jesus your central message are you able to talk about sin and savior to people around you just just a word of warning there when you talk to people who aren't familiar with the good news start off with your own bad news don't point out their bad news straight away when people are well why don't we just pray that we get to we get to live in a way where people will look at it and go why are you I'm so amazed by you

I'm confused I'm perplexed why do you still have this hope why do you still have this joy and you say well and then you say well you should have met me two years ago five years ago ten years ago but something happened to me remember Joyce's story about her husband Henri how he lives now completely fearless which I can imagine if you were kidnapped in Africa and had to walk through the forest for 12 hours in the dark and you still don't die yeah nothing can kill you and he lives with that courage we should live with that courage because someone died and rose again for us why are we so afraid of what people think about us when someone died loved us enough to die for us and now he lives and he stood right next to us it should fill us with courage to live with abandon that we're not worried about what people think would you follow him would you trust him would we be cut to the heart

I want us to spend a moment as I invite Flo and Paul and the team to come up I would like to give us a chance to respond this was my fear and this was my hesitation when I began to pray I was like Lord I think you're already speaking to people here and I don't want to distract them from what you're saying to them as we open up the words of what Peter said and Peter says many things literally that's what Luke says he says many more things but his main thing is save yourself from this crooked generation another version is save yourself from this corrupted generation you look at the word and you see the crookedness you see the corruptness and you see your own life that you followed along he says save yourself from it he doesn't mean you can climb out of this hole he means someone has climbed into the hole with you and would you cling on to him and by doing so save yourself so I'm praying that you may be cut to the heart in some way and it will be wrong for me

I'm not an evangelist but it will be wrong for me to not give you a chance to respond whether you are someone you're here for the very first time in church and you are like oh this good news is something serious or whether you've been in church for the whole of your life and you're like actually you know what I'm not sure I truly understood the gospel I'll tell you this that's completely okay can this be the moment can this be the day where there is no turning back can this be the moment where you allow the Holy Spirit to work inside you for you to be cut to the heart for you to respond in a way and say what must I do Jesus you are my Lord you are my Savior I follow you can I invite us to pray I know we're the gathering and we emphasize community and people around us would you allow me just for a second here just to just to make it between you and the living God and if your mind is racing already and you're really not sure what to be thinking what to be doing can I ask you just to just to say

Holy Spirit speak I'm going to ask you to ponder on a few very simple questions and remember the Spirit of the Lord is not here to destroy you or to make you feel bad in prayer earlier before service Gabs prayed that the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom the great surgeon wants to act wants to heal but only if we allow him to so I'd love for us all to just to ponder for a second and ask the Holy Spirit to show us is there any sin in our lives is there any bad news that is in desperate need of good news remember this is between you and the Lord with every eye closed every head bowed if there is sin in your heart and in your life would you acknowledge that can I invite anyone who has that just to raise their hand

I'm not going to embarrass you just simply a simple act of acknowledgement if there is sin that you want to give up and you want to confess and with that sin I pray that you would see that you can approach that throne with confidence you don't have to be sheepish about it because grace and mercy awaits you there is a loving father who runs down from his throne to wrap you in his arms despite that sin that's the truth that's the beauty of the gospel and for those of you who did put up your hands to confess that sin I encourage you don't stop there we won't do it right now but find people who you know who know you who love you and share it with them don't be afraid oh my goodness the other side is freedom what's been weighing on you is heavy but Jesus has come to me because my burden is light

Jesus we crucified you every time we choose to follow the world to not trust you we we we turn our backs on you and we're sorry but praise God that even though there is sin there is a savior if you're sat here with us today and you've never responded to the gospel I want to tell you once again about a savior a savior who loves you whose love for you covers any mistake that you've ever made whose love for you drives out any fear that you have in your heart but don't just trust him because he was a good person or had good teaching trust him because he said he would die for your mistakes and that he would rise again and he did and there is an empty tomb to prove it would you surrender any remaining fear that you have recognize his spirit is here now speaking words of love over you would you respond to this savior and so if you've never made that decision to trust in him before can I ask you to give you an opportunity to just lift up your hand and say

Jesus I recognize you are my savior and I follow you I see you and finally if you recognize your sin if you recognize your savior but actually he's not your lord I invite you would you declare him and follow him and submit to him as lord today rest assured there will come a day where every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is lord the question is whether you do it today or whether you do it that day and if there are those of you who have not truly surrendered and not truly recognized him as lord but want to commit to that today can I ask you to raise your hand!

again this is between you and the lord thank you thank you it's between you and the lord but I promise you if you are able to share that with someone who you know and love it will make that journey so much better so much easier let us today recognize our sin our saviour and that he now sits on his throne as lord we'll have Florence and the team sing one final song to us as we ponder on the cross before we leave