🔥 One healing. One moment. One encounter with the Holy Spirit — and everything changes.
Are you spiritually hungry? Do you long to see the raw, undeniable power of God flowing through your life — healing the sick, setting captives free, and shaking your nation for Jesus?
In this stirring message, I took a deep dive into Acts 3, 4 & 5 — the explosive story of a lame man healed at the temple gate, the fierce opposition that followed, and how a small group of believers, freshly filled with the Holy Spirit, turned the world upside down through bold, unstoppable faith.
This is your invitation to move beyond ordinary Christianity. It’s time to press into Jesus like never before. It’s time to crave more of Him.
It’s time to rise up in the power, confidence, and fire of the Holy Spirit. Because if you truly want the power of the Holy Spirit in your life… you must come under the fresh anointing. And that anointing only comes to those who hunger for it.
Opening Prayer
Holy Spirit, we welcome you here this morning. Thank you, Jesus, that we have the opportunity to come together this morning to worship you and to hear from you as we continue in this part of our service. Lord, I pray that you would open our hearts this morning and speak to us, Lord. Stir us up, Lord. Stir us up in the power of your Holy Spirit, Lord, that we would hunger for more of you. Lord, speak to our hearts and change our lives, we pray this morning. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Introduction & Setting the Context
Well, if you’ve got your Bible with you this morning, then please have it open to the Book of Acts. The Book of Acts and chapter number 3. This is gonna be a bit of a kind of sermon in reverse to an extent, and hopefully you’ll understand what I mean by that by the end.
Um, and, uh, we’ve really been on a bit of a journey over the last couple of weeks building up to Pentecost that’s taking place next Sunday. Uh, it’s unbelievable to think. It really seems like only yesterday it was Easter, and all of a sudden now it’s Pentecost.
Um, and so really what we’ve been doing, we really sense that God, um, is wanting to do something really quite amazing in the power of His Holy Spirit here at Eastgate.
Now, how many sense that God is already moving here? Yeah. That’s at least half of you. The other half of you will know it by the end of today. Fantastic. And how many, how many are hungering for more of God? Yeah. Okay, fantastic. So the other half of you that didn’t sense there was already something are hungering, so you’re gonna get it. Why? Because when we hunger for God, we get it.
The Year of Pressing In
But I wanna take us first of all right back to January. Who remembers January? Yes. I’ll, I’ll give you a clue. It’s when you forgot that Christmas was over and you needed to get the Christmas decorations down. It’s when the credit card bill came in and you remembered how much you spent on Christmas, and it’s when you sort of struggled to keep up that kind of, uh, gym routine.
Uh, I’m looking at some of you and saying, “I can see you’re doing quite well, actually.” Uh, and I can see you looking back at me and saying, “Stuart, you didn’t even start.” You would be correct. I did not start. The gym for me is the buffet. Uh, but there we go. I’m an expert at it. Queue up first, pick up as you go, and then go straight back round and join the back of the queue for seconds.
But guys, when we were back in January, we really sensed that this was the year of pressing in and pressing on. Pressing into Jesus and pressing on to the calling that He’s got on our lives, pressing on to the things that He has called us to be doing.
And so a lot of what we’ve been teaching you over the last few months, a lot of what we’ve been focused on here on a Sunday morning and in some of our other, uh, gatherings throughout the week, is really that theme of pressing into Jesus. How do we press into Him even more? What does it actually mean?
There’s a story in the Bible of a woman with an issue of blood and she presses her way through the crowd. Such is her desire to be healed, such is her faith levels that if she says, “Even if I can just touch a corner of the hem of His garment, then I’ll be healed.” And she presses through the crowd, and Jesus says, “Who was it? Somebody touched me.” And it was just the hem of the garment, but He knew because He says, “Power left me.” Yes, it did. Power left me. The healing power of the Holy Spirit left and went out into that woman, and she was healed instantly. Instantly. Glory.
That’s the power of the Holy Spirit, and that’s what happens when we press into Jesus. We see the power of God rising up in our lives, and we are seeing the beginnings of a move of God here at Eastgate. We’re seeing it. Every single week there’s a yearning. Um, I, I can see it myself, but it’s confirmed for me when people that, uh, really aren’t part of our church come in and they’re visiting and passing through and they say, “There’s something here.” They come through that door and they say, “I can’t put my finger on it exactly, but there’s something I can sense here.” And there’s an excitement there.
I’m not the sort of person that gets overly excited, uh, about things too quickly, but I can tell you something this morning. I am excited about what God is doing in our midst. And do you know something else? It’s okay to be a little bit excited about what God is doing. Yes, it is. Why? Because it’s the good news. It’s the good news.
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
You see, Pentecost was about the coming of the Holy Spirit. Arthur’s been teaching us that in the last few weeks, developing, uh, that need for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, hungering for more of God, and hopefully, uh, that’s been going on.
In the Old Testament before Jesus, what we see is we see from time to time the Holy Spirit came to rest on people. Think of Moses. Think of Abraham. Think of, uh, Ezekiel, Elijah, and the other prophets. The Holy Spirit came to rest on them and used them powerfully, but it wasn’t a continual thing. There wasn’t an indwelling.
Now, when the Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost, there’s an indwelling of that Holy Spirit in us. And I, I just find that absolutely incredible, the fact that the idea that God would want to come and live inside a wretched soul like me.
Now, I, I, I mean, I don’t know anyone else. Maybe you’re all sitting there in a perfect condition, but I’m not in a perfect condition by any stretch of the imagination. And I know that really I need God, but also I find it absolutely incredible that God would want to come and live within me rather than just pushing me aside and forgetting me and saying, “You mucked up. You rejected me. You pushed me aside, so that’s it. You’ve had it.” No, it gives me a chance and a second chance. I’m probably onto my 900 and something chance. And praise God for His grace and mercy.
Acts 3 – The Healing at the Beautiful Gate
So I wanna continue that theme this morning as time is ticking on, and take a slightly different angle here in Acts chapter three and four. We’re not gonna read a whole great passage to start with. We’re gonna read chunks and bits of verses as we go through.
Acts 3:1-8
“Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the 9th hour.” Hmm, let’s just stop there. The 9th hour, this is significant. The 9th hour is 3:00 PM. It was the busiest time of day.
“And a man lame from birth, which means could not walk, was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple.”
The Beautiful Gate was on the eastern side — the East Gate. That’s where our church name comes from. The glory of God coming through the East Gate.
Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, ‘Look at us.’ And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.
But Peter said, ‘I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.’ And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up, he stood and began to walk and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.”
The Crowd’s Reaction & Peter’s Sermon
Verses 9 to 11: “And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who was sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”
While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s.
Peter’s Bold Proclamation (Acts 3:12 onwards)
“And when Peter saw it, he addressed the people, ‘Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this or why do you stare at us as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate… You denied the Holy and Righteous One… And you killed the author of life whom God raised from the dead…’
Repent, therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…”
Acts 4 – Arrest, Boldness & Persecution
Chapter four and verse one: “And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them…”
But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to be about 5,000.
The next day they were brought before the council:
“By what power or by what name did you do this?”
Peter, Filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:8-12)
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders… let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else…”
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished and they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
They warned them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
Peter & John’s Response (Acts 4:19-20)
But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge. For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”
The Church Prays for Boldness
When they returned to the believers they prayed:
“And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.”
Acts 4:31
“And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”
The Ongoing Move of God & Application
In the days that followed we see massive growth, signs, wonders, healings, deliverances, and continued boldness even in the face of further arrest and opposition. God miraculously delivered them from prison.
This same God, this same Holy Spirit, is alive and active today.
Do you want it? Do you really want the power of the Holy Spirit? Are you hungry for more of God?
We need full-fat Christianity — not a form of godliness denying the power. We need the double cream of the Gospel operating in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The anointing gives power for salvation, healing, deliverance, boldness and confidence.
If you wanna go from ordinary to extraordinary, you gotta come under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Closing Prayer
Jesus, I thank you for your word to us this morning. And Lord, I just thank you, God, that we’re not alone, that actually you want to be a part of our life… Help us to develop a greater hunger this week for more of you. Because Lord, we can’t do this without you. We need you, Jesus. We need you, Holy Spirit. Amen.
