WELCOME
Good morning First Baptist. We welcome you to worship this morning. Be sure to remember your brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the week as you pray for them, and as the Holy Spirit brings their faces to your mind. Be sure to also connect with them in the ways that are possible. And if you have any questions or would like to talk to someone, please don’t hesitate to contact the church through the church telephone and leave a message. (519-733-4144)
Songs
Call to Worship
Good morning. We gather today because God has already drawn near to us. Before we speak a word, before we sing a song, His presence is here. In a world that moves quickly and demands much, God invites us to slow down, to lay aside distractions, and to be fully present with Him. We come not to perform, but to receive. Not to rush ahead, but to rest in the God who meets us where we are. And as we are shaped by His presence, we remember that God never fills us just for ourselves. He forms us so His love might be seen through us in ordinary moments, with ordinary people, in everyday places. So let us open our hearts, quiet our minds, and turn our attention toward the living God. He is here, he is at work, and He invites us to worship.
Songs
Prayer
CONFESSION:
Gracious God, You invite us into Your presence with love and patience, yet we confess how often we rush past You. We confess that we choose productivity over presence, efficiency over faithfulness, and comfort over compassion. We move quickly when You are calling us to notice. We fill our lives with noise when You are offering us peace. Lord, forgive us for the ways we overlook the people You place in front of us, for the moments we treat interruptions as inconveniences instead of invitations.
Forgive us when our words lack kindness, when our listening is shallow, and when our lives fail to reflect on the grace we have received. We confess that we often feel we have little to give, and so we withhold even what we do have, our time, our attention, our care.
Have mercy on us, O God. Amen.
WORDS OF ASSURANCE:
Hear the good news. The God who calls us to slow down does not turn away from us. The God who invites us to be present meets us with compassion, not condemnation. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Not because we have been attentive enough, but because He has been faithful enough. Not because we have carried God well, but because God has carried us. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are restored, renewed, and sent again, free to live with humility, patience, and love. So, receive this assurance: You are forgiven. You are welcomed. You are being made new. Thanks be to God.
Start Strong
Living as People Who Carry God’s Presence
Today's Message: Pastor Dave Page
Good morning, everyone. Last week we talked about becoming a people who live in God’s presence. We talked about slowing down. Choosing presence over productivity. Sitting with Jesus before serving for Jesus. But our mission statement has a second component that’s just as important. It says we are committed not only to becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus, but also to inviting others to do the same.
And here’s the thing we sometimes forget – The way we live is one of the strongest invitations we ever give. Long before people listen to what we say about Jesus, they’re watching how we live with Him. They’re noticing our pace. Our patience. Our kindness. Our peace. Our humility. Our joy.
And those things either make people curious about God, or quietly convince them they’re not interested.
This week we’re talking about what it looks like to live in a way that invites. Because God never gives His presence just so we can enjoy it. He gives His presence so His life can be seen through us. And I want to begin with a story
Scripture Reading: Acts 3
Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 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 from those who entered the temple; 3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 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.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
In Acts chapter 3, Luke tells us that Peter and John were on their way to the temple at the time of prayer, about three in the afternoon. This was one of the busiest times of the day at the temple. People were arriving to pray. Sacrifices were being offered. Crowds were moving in and out. Luke says there was a man there who had been crippled from birth. He was carried there every day and placed at the temple gate called Beautiful.
That detail matters.
The gate called “beautiful” was likely one of the large, ornate gates on the eastern side of the temple complex, possibly the Nicanor Gate, made of Corinthian bronze and used by crowds entering for prayer.
So this man wasn’t hidden. He was placed at one of the most visible, active entrances to the holiest place in Israel. Which means this miracle wasn’t private. It was public. God was making a statement: that His grace was now moving beyond the temple walls and restoring people fully into the life of God and the community of God.
You see, in the ancient world, people who were poor, disabled, or unable to work would often be placed near places of high traffic, city gates, markets, and especially temple entrances.
Why? Because that’s where people passed by. That’s where generosity was expected. That’s where almsgiving was seen as part of faithfulness. And it was a place to be seen, so if you weren’t being generous or you were being disrespectful it would be SEEN by everyone!
In Jewish teaching, giving to the poor was not optional. The rabbis taught that giving alms was an act of righteousness, not just charity. One ancient saying puts it like this: “Greater is the one who gives charity than the one who offers sacrifice.”
That idea comes from rabbinic tradition reflecting passages like Proverbs 21:3, “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.”
The temple gate was a place of mercy, visibility, and hope. But it was also a place of exclusion. The man could sit near the temple, but he could not enter it.
In the Old Testament law, those with physical defects were often restricted from full participation in temple worship, not because they were sinful, but because the sacrificial system symbolized wholeness and perfection pointing forward to The Messiah.
This man lived his whole life on the threshold of worship. Close, but not fully included. Seen, but not embraced.
And then one day, Peter and John stop. They don’t just give him money. They give him restoration. And suddenly, he doesn’t just walk, he enters the temple, perhaps for the first time in his life, walking and jumping and praising God.
He moves from the margins into the middle. From the gate into the gathering. From surviving to belonging.
And that’s what the presence of Jesus does.
Why does This Matter?
Peter and John didn’t carry money. They carried presence.
You see, the ancient Jewish culture was an honour and shame-based culture as well so while he was crippled- there was shame and separation. With his healing came integration into the honourable. His healing brought justice and righteousness back into his life- mishpat & tzedakah.
God’s presence with Peter and John was shared with this man in a dramatic and telling way, and that presence turned a threshold into a doorway. It turned a beggar into a worshipper. And God still does that today through ordinary people, on ordinary days, in ordinary places when we walk with Him, and then walk with Him into the world.
God’s Presence Moves with Us
Jesus says, “Go and make disciples.” Not “stay and enjoy.” Not “hold onto this moment.” But “go.” God’s presence is not meant to be contained. It’s meant to be carried ad then shared.
Peter and John didn’t go looking for a miracle. They went looking for God. And they found God already at work in someone right in front of them. That’s often how it works. We’ve all seen this happen in really ordinary ways. There was a day when everything in me wanted efficiency. I had a list. A plan. A schedule. And someone interrupted it. They needed help. They needed time. They needed attention. And honestly, I didn’t want to give it. But something in me knew: This interruption might actually be the invitation.
So I stopped. I listened. I stayed longer than was convenient. And what I discovered was that God was already at work in that person’s story. I didn’t bring anything new into the moment. I just stepped into what God was already doing. And the thing I thought was slowing me down, was actually what God was calling me into.
I have tried hard to pay attention for moments like that more and more in my life. God meets us in interruptions. In needs we didn’t plan for. In people we weren’t expecting. So wherever you go this week know that God goes with you. You don’t leave His presence when you leave this building. You carry it. Just like Peter and John did.
What does that look like in real life?
What did carrying God’s presence look like for Peter and John? It looked like attention. They stopped. They noticed. They looked. They didn’t rush past the man. They didn’t treat him as background noise. They saw him. Paul says, “Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” This is what God’s presence looks like when it becomes visible. Not flashy. Not loud. But faithful.
When we live close to God, we become people who notice. Who care. Who respond. Just like Peter and John did.
Mission as a Lifestyle
There’s a line Peter says that’s easy to miss, but incredibly important: “I don’t have silver or gold. But what I do have, I give you.” That’s mission. Not giving what we don’t have, but offering what we do have. Our time. Our attention. Our patience. Our compassion. Our presence. We often imagine mission as something dramatic or distant. Something new have to go far away to do or to some place that is foreign to us. But most of the time, mission looks like staying, not going.
Let me give you a picture of that.
Jean Vanier was a Canadian philosopher who could have lived a very comfortable, academic life. Instead, he chose to live in community with people who had intellectual disabilities. In the 1960s, he began what became the L’Arche communities, places where people with and without disabilities share life together. Not institutions. Not programs. Homes. Vanier didn’t set out to fix people. He set out to be with people.
He believed that people with disabilities weren’t problems to be solved, they were gifts to be received. So he shared meals. He listened to stories. He washed dishes. He sat at bedsides. He lived ordinary life with people the world often ignored. And through that presence, something remarkable happened.
People were healed, not always physically, but emotionally, relationally, spiritually. Not just those he served. But those who served alongside him. And one of those people was Henri Nouwen.
Nouwen was a well-known theologian and professor who eventually left his academic career to live and serve in a L’Arche community. He once said that in that community he learned more about God, love, and humility than in all his years of study. He went thinking he would help others and discovered he was the one being healed.
That’s what presence does. It doesn’t just change others. It changes us.
Jean Vanier didn’t see mission as something you add to your life. He saw mission as allowing your life to be shaped by love. He didn’t bring answers. He brought attention. He didn’t bring solutions. He brought presence.
“I don’t have silver or gold. But what I do have, I give you.”
That’s exactly what Vanier lived. And that’s the invitation for us. You don’t have to be extraordinary. You just have to be available. You don’t have to go somewhere else. You just have to notice who is already in front of you. Because God is already at work where you are. And He is inviting you to join Him there.
In Closing… let’s bring these two weeks together.
Week 1 was about choosing presence, slowing down, sitting with Jesus. Letting Him shape us before we rush to serve.
Week 2 has been about carrying that presence. Living what we’ve received. Letting God’s life flow through our everyday lives.
We’ve seen that in Peter and John. They walked with God, and then they walked with God into the world.
They didn’t bring a program. They brought attention. They brought compassion. They brought Jesus.
So here are three simple ways to live this series. Not as rules. As invitations.
First — Keep choosing presence.
Protect your time with God. Not because you’re supposed to. But because that’s where life is. That’s where our hearts are re-centered. That’s where our loves are reordered. That’s where we remember what really matters.
If we lose that, we slowly start living off of noise, urgency, and pressure instead of peace, purpose, and presence.
Second — Let God’s presence shape how you treat people.
This is where discipleship shows up. In how you speak when you’re tired. In how you listen when someone is slow. In how you forgive when you’ve been hurt. In how you serve when no one notices.
Peter and John didn’t change the man’s life with a sermon. They changed his life with attention. That’s often how God works.
Third — Ask God to show you one person to love well this year.
Not everyone. Just one. One relationship where you can be present with love. Where you can pray, listen, encourage, invite, and care. Peter and John didn’t heal the whole city. They loved one man. And God did the rest.
And as we live this way, choosing presence and carrying presence, something begins to happen inside us. We start to care less about what impresses people and more about what actually gives life. We start to let go of what Solomon calls “everything under the sun.” The chasing. The striving. The endless hunger for more. And we start to live for what actually lasts. Which leads us right into where we’re headed next.
Next week, we’re beginning a new series in the book of Ecclesiastes.
It’s an honest, sometimes uncomfortable, and deeply wise book where Solomon explores all the things people spend their lives chasing, success, pleasure, work, wealth, recognition, and then gently asks: “Is this really where life is found?”
And then he points us back to what actually matters: To live in reverence before God. To receive life as a gift. To stop chasing the wind and start walking with God. In many ways, Ecclesiastes is the continuation of these first two weeks of the year.
We’ve been learning to live in God’s presence. Now we’re going to learn how not to settle for anything less. So I want to invite you to come back. To bring a friend. To walk through that book with us. Because our world is still chasing everything under the sun. And God is still inviting us to live for something better. So go this week knowing this: You don’t have to carry God to people. He’s already there. You just get to join Him. And trust that God will do more through your faithful presence than you could ever accomplish through your own effort.
Amen?? Amen!
Prayer
Gracious and ever-present God, we come before You this morning aware of our need for You. We thank You that You do not wait for us at a distance, but that You draw near. You meet us in the quiet, You meet us in the busy, You meet us right where we are. Lord, over these past weeks You have been teaching us to slow down, to choose presence over productivity, to sit with Jesus before we try to serve for Jesus. We confess how easily we rush, how quickly we measure our lives by efficiency instead of faithfulness.
Forgive us for the ways we crowd You out with noise, urgency, and striving. Teach us again to remain with You. To abide. To listen. To receive before we attempt to give. And God, we thank You that Your presence is never meant to stop with us. You shape us not only so we might be close to You, but so Your life might be seen through us.
Just as Peter and John carried Your presence into ordinary streets and busy places, help us to remember that we do not leave You behind when we leave this space. We carry You into our homes, our workplaces, our classrooms, our neighbourhoods, and our relationships.
Lord, open our eyes this week. Help us to notice the people we usually walk past. The ones on the margins. The ones who sit at the threshold, close, but not fully included. Give us hearts that stop, that pay attention, that see people not as interruptions, but as invitations. Where we feel we have little to offer, remind us that You do not ask for what we do not have.
Teach us to offer what we do have; our time, our patience, our compassion, our listening, our faithful presence. Clothe us, as Your Word says, with compassion and kindness, with humility and gentleness, with patience and love. Let our lives quietly invite others to wonder if You might be near.
God, we ask that You would place one person on our hearts, not everyone, just one, someone we can love well, pray for faithfully, and walk with honestly this year. Give us courage to be present and trust You with the outcome. As we prepare to step into a new season and a new series, guard our hearts from chasing what cannot satisfy. Teach us to receive life as a gift, to walk in reverence before You, and to settle for nothing less than Your presence.
And now, Lord, send us out, not alone, but accompanied by Your Spirit. Remind us that You are already at work ahead of us, and that our calling is simply to join You there. We place our trust not in our effort, but in Your faithfulness. Do more through our quiet obedience than we could ever accomplish on our own.
We pray all of this in the name of Jesus, who welcomes us from the margins into the centre of grace.
Amen.
Song
Benediction
May you go knowing that God is already ahead of you. May you walk slowly enough to notice where He is at work. May you carry His presence with humility, compassion, and joy. And may the peace of Christ guide you, now and always.
Amen.