The Holy Spirit's power in our lives is always both personal and purposeful — God's love for you is real, but He always connects it to a purpose beyond you, and chasing one without the other means missing the point entirely.
God genuinely loves you and wants to bless you personally — but His blessing is never just about you. When the Holy Spirit works in our lives, He heals, saves, and empowers us so that we can be swept into His larger purpose for the church and the world. Chase only the personal and you miss what you actually need; chase purpose without first receiving His personal love and you have nothing to give.
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Point 1 of 8
The Holy Spirit's power is personal and purposeful, and you need both
Pastor Bill frames the whole message around this pairing, warning that our Western culture has turned Christianity into a private personal journey with God while dropping the purposeful part we're meant to live out together as the church.
“the Holy Spirit's power is personal and purposeful”
— Pastor Bill Bush
“but what God does in our life is not just about us”
— Pastor Bill Bush
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 2 of 8
Peter and John saw the lame man personally before anything else
Walking through Acts 3, Pastor Bill shows how Peter and John got down to the beggar's level and said 'look at us,' communicating that he mattered as a person of worth even though his culture assumed his disability was punishment for sin.
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Point 3 of 8
The man got what he needed, not what he asked for
He expected money but Peter offered him Jesus' name and a hand instead, and Pastor Bill connects this to his own mission trips to Skid Row where people got angry when offered a meal and relationship instead of cash — a pattern he says shows up in church people too.
Illustration
Taking Orange County students to Skid Row; offering breakfast and a referral instead of cash to people begging, and the mixed reactions that followed
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 4 of 8
Faith means acting before you see the power, not after
Peter and John had no guarantee of a miracle; they simply obeyed by reaching out their hand, and the power came as they acted. Pastor Bill applies this to areas like generosity, marriage, and integrity where people wait for supernatural ease before they'll obey.
“God's power comes when you act in faith”
— Pastor Bill Bush
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 5 of 8
God's healing made life more purposeful, not easier
Pastor Bill points out the healed man still had to get a job and figure out life; the blessing didn't remove hardship, it opened the door to being used for something greater — evidenced by the crowd's amazement and Peter's chance to preach.
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 6 of 8
Jesus delayed healing this man so the miracle could serve a greater purpose
Jesus had walked past this same beggar many times during His earthly ministry without healing him, not because He was unkind but because the miracle needed to happen through Peter and John, by the Holy Spirit, to launch the church's explosive growth.
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 7 of 8
Peter preached the gospel, not just the feel-good story
Instead of milking the crowd's excitement over the healing, Peter confronted them with their rejection of Jesus and God's raising Him from the dead, showing that the point of the miracle was to reveal who Jesus is, not just to make one man feel better.
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 8 of 8
The early church's response was to unite around purpose, not just protection
After Peter and John were arrested, the believers prayed for boldness rather than safety, gave their possessions to the cause, and grew from 120 to thousands, showing what it looks like to get 'on the purpose train' together.
Related passage
“if you only continue to beg for what you want, you'll miss what you need”
— Pastor Bill Bush
“we tend by a secret law of the soul to move towards our mental image of God”
— Pastor Bill Bush
“what we want is often not what we need”
— Pastor Bill Bush
Illustration
A.W. Tozer quote from 'The Knowledge of the Holy' on how one's mental image of God shapes everything about a person's and a church's direction
A story from life
The preacher's son and daughter-in-law, both 24, took a Verde Valley Railway trip to Sedona; the son was most excited about the meal on the train rather than the scenic ride
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Take it into your week
Pastor Bill frames the choice as whether you just want the meal, or you want the train ride.
Application
Accept God's personal love first
Before anything else, receive that God sees you and loves you personally, the way Peter told the lame man to look at him — this is where the journey has to start.
Act in faith before you see the power
Don't wait for things to get easy or for proof before obeying God in generosity, marriage, work integrity, or service — reach out your hand like Peter and John did, trusting God to meet you in the obedience.
Stop just begging for what you want
Examine whether you come to God and church only asking for what feels good or comfortable, and be willing to receive what you actually need instead.
Get on the purpose train together
Move beyond a private, personal-only faith and join the church body in its purpose — give your time, money, and life to reaching others, the way the early believers sold land and prayed for boldness.
Respond to the gospel by reaching your hand up
If you've never surrendered your life to Jesus, confess you're a sinner under God's judgment, and receive His love and grace by declaring Him Savior and Lord.
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI