The Sycamore Message

Rest in the waiting. We are in our sermon series, Summer of Sabbath. We want to learn how to rest.Sometimes we’re told to wait, but we’re readyto go. Our ambition is greater than our ability. Oh, I know what I want to do; I just haven’t realized I don’t know how to yet.Coming out of milestone experiences, we tend to be geared for the next one. We have a plan but no execution. When we’re forced to Sabbath (rest), we receive instruction and nourishment for what’s ahead.1 Kings 19: 3-8 Elijah has just come out of this high-octane experience on Mt. Carmel. He has a showdown with 400 false prophets and proves that Yahweh is the one true God. Elijah is intoxicated with victory until he realizes there are consequences for his anointing. Queen Jezebel is angry with him for killing her false prophets and swears to kill him by the next day.The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:8 that our faith journey goes from glory to glory, but life tends to bring us from glory to boring; from mountain top to valley bottom.The angel tells Elijah to rest at the brook and eat because he needed strength for the journey ahead. While Elijah is TOLD TO WAIT, he is receiving instruction and nourishment from God.Waiting is a discipline of restraint. You feel like going on, but you can’t. You have the energy to move but not the health. When I have to be still and wait on the next move, I tend to ask God what He’s doing. All of a sudden, I’m talking to God and asking for his next move. If it weren’t for having to be still, I’d forget to talk to God. This forced rest of waiting agitates me to prayer.Waiting is being still between the coming and going. Rest is not just the finishing of something but the intermission between two work weeks or the victories you had last week to the new battles coming this week. But instead of resting, we toil and strive using energy that is going to be needed for the journey ahead.Why does it matter? Because we make mistakes when we hurry from one thing to the next. We end up relying on a plan executed by the power of God last time to replicate it without God the next time.Waiting is boring. My son said his kids aren’t going to know what boring is. But boring is a gift from God. The older I get, boring looks better and better. Boredom is a gift created by disciplined rhythms. It’s the rest between your last and your next. Don’t underestimate the predictable, mundane moments in your life. Boredom stops our hurry and forces us to see what’s sitting still around us. Waiting on God requires stillness. He’s not trying to figure out what to do next; He’s waiting on us to be ready.Consider the lilies. Matthew 6:28 “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;”Jesus said check out how they grow. How do they grow? “After flowering, lilies die back inautumn and enter a dormant phase. During this time, the bulbs store energy for the next growing season.”They don’t do anything to add to God’s stature, yet they declare his handiwork. They don’t work, but they produce. They don’t strive to be beautiful; they just are. My favorite line from James Thurber’s, Secret Life of Walter Mitty, “the most beautiful things don’t ask for attention.” Beautiful things arrest and force us to stop and notice. God wants us to be still and know he’s God.Dan Allender says he was looking at Mt. Cook in New Zealand when a man interrupted his moment with, “Isn’t she incredible?” He was perturbed by the man and his comment because it didn’t need affirmation; it was obvious. It was a still and waiting moment that required no commentary.Acts 1:8: How long do I wait? Until you receive power! Wait to make that decision until you’ve received power.

June 7, 2026

Eric Burton

www.thesycamore.net

If you could spend 24 hours pursuing your deepest joy, what would you do?

We begin our sermon series today. We’re calling it Summer of Sabbath.  Rest is as biblical as creation itself. We believe rest is important because it’s what God did and it’s a commandment to us.  As we look at rest over the next few weeks, we want it to resonate with us for the summer. 

Today, Sabbath is Holy.

Sabbath is a Hebrew word that has multiple meanings: from cause to cease, put an end to, exterminate, destroy, to remove, and cause to fail.

I thought it was important for us to look at rest because the majority of Americans will take a vacation between now and August. Also, because we’re busy and we think it’s impressive. We’re tired but keep pushing. We’re working more hours but getting less done.  We miss out on what we worked so hard to create: our family, home, yard, toys.  And to top it all off, we are disobeying and dishonoring God. Yes, believe it or not, we dishonor God when we don’t rest.

Rest is first mentioned in the beginning:

Genesis 2:2-3 

For six days God created the heavens and the earth, light, order, species, vegetation, atmosphere, seasons, mountains, valleys, and humankind. Then God ceased from His work, reflected on His work, said it was good, then declared it holy.

God rested from His work.  There is no work more important than God’s work, and if He rested from His, we should rest from ours. 

A  precedent and parable are told in order for us to pattern our lives after.  Parables were often earthly stories conveying a heavenly meaning.  God was telling how He worked then rested.  This rest, we will come to see, was created by God for us. It represents much more than taking a break or self-care. It shouts something about Him. And because this represents more than taking a break, I have wondered if God was working six days to get to the one day of rest. What if He was doing ALL THIS to get to that? He was working to show us what He was really trying to do. 

Sabbath is holy.

One of the most holy encounters I’ve had was Memorial weekend 2011.

We are commanded to observe it in order to keep it holy or separated. Holy is when something is set apart. It’s a time and day that looks the same but treated differently.  It’s been set apart by God, but we have to set it apart. 

Holy translates the ordinary into something else while remaining what it is.

God wasn’t telling them to observe Sabbath just for their well-being but because He accomplished for His people from the beginning of creation.

Exodus 3:2-5

Moses turned aside from his ordinary work and was captured by a burning bush that remained unburned. The ordinary was transformed into something else while remaining what it was.  The ground he was standing on was holy ground.  He entered into a space that pulled him from his normal routine and encountered beauty and power and peculiar.  It was from this moment that Moses was told why he was spared as a baby.  All of that was leading to this. 

Sabbath is turning away from the ordinary to behold the holy! 

The Sabbath reveals that we are holy.

Exodus 20:8-11 The first time the law is given, Sabbath seems to be for everyone.  It’s commanded because it’s needed.

The Sabbath is a sign of the covenant God made with His people,

Exodus 31:13-14.

A covenant that signifies you are different and separated from every other nation.

This time Sabbath takes on a meaning more closely to put an end to, exterminate, destroy. God put an end to the Egyptians by exterminating them in the Red Sea.  Sabbath was a deliverance from slavery to rest.  Every time you observe it, you are declaring God set you free. 

Every time we Sabbath or rest, we are declaring that God’s set me free from bondage. Sabbath is a sign that we are different and set apart. 

We turn away from our ordinary work and are captivated by the beauty of holy. 

Sabbath is about today.

Matthew 6:34

Cease from your labors today that are really a worry about tomorrow because guess what? Tomorrow has its one set of things to worry about.  Today we turn aside and do things differently than the other days. 

We baptized some folks today and it was effective because they ceased from their ordinary work and allowed Jesus’ resurrection from the dead to bring them new life.

We’re in a holy place where we can lay our cares and troubles down.  Coming to church is not Sabbath, unless you observe it as different than everything else in your life. It becomes Sabbath when we see the ordinary elevated to the special. It becomes Sabbath when it pulls us aside from our ordinary work to behold God’s handiwork.  When we’re not doing it out of duty but because of wonder! It becomes Sabbath when we realize it represents our deliverance.

May 31st, 2026

A Church of Converts

Pastor Eric Burton

May 24th 2026

A Church of Converts. Acts 9:1-21

Meanwhile, the church is growing. Philip just converted an Ethiopian, and meanwhile, Saul is persecuting the church.

Consider the context of Saul. He’s an upcoming star in the religious ranks. He’s an expert on Hebrew law, having been taught by Gamaliel, one of the top lawyers in Israel. He is both a Jewish and Roman citizen, giving him access to two worlds in conflict with each other. He is passionate about defending the law of Moses and Temple worship, and now he is on an ambitious campaign to destroy the Way, this Christian movement. He believes Jesus is a charlatan leading people away from God.

There are lots of people going on their ambitious way, believing they are doing good. Saul meets the Lord on the road to Damascus on his way to persecute Christians.

How many of us have been on our way when the Lord prevented us? I’m thankful Jesus is a Preventer. So many of us are on “our” way, but need to start doing it His way.

Jesus tells Saul, “You are kicking against the pricks” (Acts 26:14). Pricks, or goads, are pointed objects used to direct cattle in a specific direction. Jesus tells Saul, “Fighting against Me, you are only going to hurt yourself.”

Saul was confronted with a question. Jesus asks Saul, “Why are you persecuting Me?” Saul thought he was doing the right thing and didn’t know he was actually persecuting the body of Christ. Our ambition and the approval of others are not validation that we’re doing the right thing.

When Saul is confronted with this question, he is convicted and converted. I believe for there to be conversion, we need to be convicted of our ways. Saul was converted when he met Jesus and saw Him for who He was.

You will be converted when you see Jesus for who He is. Jesus is not just a prophet. He’s not just a historical figure. He’s not a 21st-century construct of how to live a good life. He is the Son of the living God.

When you get a revelation of Jesus, you see Him as Lord. “No man can call Jesus Lord except the Spirit reveal it to him” (1 Corinthians 12:3).

A real conversion is a change of thinking and actions. Conversion will change your previous religious beliefs.

Peter was a fisherman. But after he met Jesus and was converted, Jesus told him, “You used to fish for fish, but now you are going to fish for men.”

Conversion is a transfer of what you used to do for yourself to what you now do for Jesus. What you did for the world, you now do for the kingdom of God. Conversion gives you a whole new prerogative.

Your conversion needs an Ananias. Acts 9:10

There was a man named Ananias that helped Saul confirm his encounter with Jesus. You have revelation but no ability. You have all the spirituality but no practicality. Ananias showed up to help Saul have clarity. His obedience worked in tandem with Saul’s conversion.

We need an Ananias in our conversion that helps confirm what has happened in our lives was not a worldly occurrence, but a real spiritual one. Some of you are called to lay hands on someone so their eyes are opened.

Converted for purpose. Acts 9:15: “Go, for Saul is My chosen instrument to take My message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.”

Lastly, people won’t believe it. Acts 9:21: “Isn’t this the same Saul that persecuted the church?” After Saul was converted, he started telling people about Jesus. That’s the natural progression of conversion.

Jesus told Peter, “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:32). Convert means to turn back.

There are some conversions that need to take place on this Pentecost Sunday. Some have turned away from truth but need to turn back. We need some road-to-Damascus conversions. You think you are doing right, but you need the Holy Ghost to ask you, “Why are you persecuting Me?” You think you’re doing right, but you need a confrontation with God. Stop seeing Jesus as an alternative to get you out of trouble and begin seeing Him as the only Way.

May 17th, 2026

Dr. Landon Galloway

The Sycamore Church

Acts 12 comes at a turning point in the story of the early church. Up to this point, the gospel has been spreading rapidly. Opposition has been present, but mostly religious, mostly local, mostly manageable.But for the first time, the persecution is political. The throne itself moves against the church.

Acts 12:1–5a (NIV) – It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison…

It is the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The week Jerusalem remembers her oldest deliverance. The week the city tastes again the bread of affliction. The week families gather around lamb and bitter herbs and tell their children, “It was a night like this. The Lord brought us out with a mighty hand.”

But this Passover is different. James, son of Zebedee, brother of John, one of the three Jesus took up the mountain, has just been put to death by the sword. Herod Agrippa I, grandson of the Herod who tried to murder Jesus as an infant, has taken up his grandfather’s old project.And he has discovered that killing apostles is good politics.

So he reaches for Peter next. Four squads of four soldiers each. Sixteen men, rotating through the four watches of the night. Two chains on Peter’s wrists. A guard at his right side, another at his left, sentries at the door. This is Rome at full strength against one fisherman from Galilee.

And then Luke writes one of the shortest, heaviest sentences in his second volume: “So Peter was kept in prison.” Sit in that sentence for a moment. Because that sentence is where most of us live. The job is still gone. The diagnosis is still the diagnosis. The marriage is still cold. The prodigal is still prodigal. The funeral has already happened. The prayers have already been prayed. And the door is still closed.

It is easy to read this story and imagine our enemy looks like Herod. But our real enemy is rarely a man on a throne. Scripture is clear: our battle is not against flesh and blood. Our real enemies are the world, the flesh, and the devil. The pressures of this present existence that grind us down. The habits in us that resist transformation. The lies of the accuser that wear at us over time. We pray, we fast, we fight… and some days it feels like the enemy is winning. Some days it feels like we are the ones in chains.

But fortunately Acts 12:5 does not end with Peter in chains.  It begins bleakly. “So Peter was kept in prison…” Chains. Guards. Locked doors. No visible hope.

But then Luke adds one phrase that changes the entire chapter. “…but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.” That single phrase divides Acts 12 in two.•Acts 12:1–5a is despair.•Acts 12:5b–end is breakthrough.

And the link between them is fervent prayer. The Greek word for earnestly is ektenōs. It means stretched out. Like a muscle pulled to its limit. Like a rope at the moment before it would snap, and doesn’t. Luke uses the same word for Jesus in Gethsemane. The church is not praying politely. The church is praying in the posture of a Savior who sweat blood. And remember… this is the prayer that comes after James has already died.

They prayed for James. And James still died. They could have stopped. They could have grown cynical. They could have decided prayer was not worth the risk of raised hopes and dashed expectations. But they didn’t. They prayed for Peter anyway. They prayed again after disappointment. They prayed again without guarantees. They prayed again when outcomes felt unpredictable. That is not cheap faith. That is the most expensive kind of faith there is.

This is what Paul means in 1 Corinthians 14:15a-“So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding…”In other words: I am not limiting prayer to one expression. If there is a possible way to pray, I will pray that way.

I will pray prayers I understand.And I will pray when words fail.I will pray with my mind engaged.And I will pray when my spirit has to carry what my mind cannot.I will pray quiet prayers.I will pray loud prayers.I will pray scheduled prayers.I will pray spontaneous prayers.I will pray on my knees.I will pray in my car.I will pray when faith feels strong.And I will pray when my faith is almost gone.

Earnest prayer is not about technique. Earnest prayer is about tenacity. It says, “I am not stopping just because I am discouraged.” It says, “I am not quitting just because I am tired.” It says, “I will keep showing up before God in whatever way I can.” And some of us are living in situations today that will be changed tomorrow because of prayers we prayed yesterday.

Now look at how God answers.Acts 12:6-8- 6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains,and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told himThe night before Herod plans to drag Peter out for execution, Peter is asleep. Not pacing. Not weeping. Not bargaining with God. Asleep—so deeply that the angel has to strike him to wake him. Jesus slept in a storm. Peter slept in a cell.

When you trust God, you can sleep through the things designed to terrify you. That is what the Spirit does in a person over time. He does not always lift the storm. Sometimes He simply teaches you how to lay down in it. The whole scene takes place during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. Passover points back to what God did in Egypt. Four hundred years of brick quotas and broken backs. Four centuries of crying out to a God who seemed not to be answering. Deuteronomy calls Egypt the iron furnace, the hottest fire a man knew how to build.And one night, God said, "Take a lamb. Mark the door. Wait." Put your cloak and sandals on and be ready. Blood on the doorposts. The angel slipping past every marked house. Pharaoh's grip broken before the dawn. And the sea splitting open of its own accord. Israel walked out on dry ground. And then God did it again at Calvary.The Lamb was not in the house. The Lamb was on the cross. The blood was not on a doorpost. The blood was on a tree.Paul says it plainly: "Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed for us." That is why on the Mount of Transfiguration, when Moses and Elijah talk with Jesus about what He is about to do in Jerusalem, Luke uses one word for the conversation: exodos.Egypt was a rehearsal. Calvary was the performance. And in the very hour the Passover lambs were slaughtered in the temple, Jesus said three words: "It is finished" and the iron gate of sin opened of its own accord. We walked out on dry ground. He did it in Peter's cell. And then, a decade later, God did it again.Festival of Unleavened Bread.  Dead of night. The angel strikes Peterm same verb the Septuagint uses when the Lord struck Egypt. Cloak on. Sandals on. Belt on. Exodus 12, line by line.And the iron gate of the Roman prison opened of its own accord. Peter walked out on dry ground. And He is still doing it today.

The God of Egypt is the God of Calvary is the God of Peter's cell is the God of this room. Same God. He does not need a sea to do it.  He does not need an iron gate to do it. He can do it in a hospital room.  He can do it in a cold marriage.  He can do it in an addiction you have been losing to for fifteen years. He can do it in a soul that has been writing its own eulogy.Because the God who heard a slave's cry in Egypt, and answered a Son's cry on Calvary, and walked past Roman guards in Peter's prison still strikes chains off in the night.  Still opens iron gates of His own accord. He has been doing this for four thousand years. Peter arrives at the house where the church is gathered, praying for him.Acts 12:12–15 – When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!” “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”This is one of the most humorous scenes in all of Scripture. Peter interrupts a prayer meeting where they are praying for him.And when the answered prayer shows up, they leave the door closed because it is too good to be true.Rhoda- A young woman with no standing in the room. And she is the first witness of the answered prayer.

This is vintage Luke, the kingdom never enters where you expect it. Women at the empty tomb. A centurion outside the city. A slave girl at a door.Sometimes God answers the prayer, but we hesitate to open the door. We have been disappointed before. We have learned to manage expectations. We have trained ourselves not to hope too much. We pray for reconciliation, then pull back when the conversation opens. We ask God for provision, then hesitate when opportunity knocks. We pray for freedom, then struggle to believe it is actually possible. They were faithful enough to pray. But not confident enough to expect the answer. And God answers anyway.Breakthrough does not require perfect faith. It requires faithful prayer. Look at where Acts 12 began. Herod on the throne. James dead. Peter imprisoned. The church in hiding.Now look at where Acts 12 ends.Acts 12:21-24- 21 On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people.22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.”23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. 24 But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.Herod accepts the worship of a crowd that calls him a god.

And an angel of the Lord strikes him down. Same angel. Same verb. In Exodus, the angel struck Pharaoh’s house, and Israel went free. In Acts 12, the angel strikes Herod, and the church goes free. And then Luke writes the line that sums it all up: “But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.”Peter free. Herod gone. The word of God multiplying. And it all hinges on that statement: “and the church earnestly prayed.”​What have you stopped praying for? Some of you have been praying a long time, and the door is still closed.

I am not going to insult you by promising the angel is on his way today. I do not know that. Luke does not promise that. James did not get that. But here is what I do know.The same Lord who heard the cry of His people in Egypt hears your cry today. The same God who turned the iron-gate hinges in Jerusalem can turn whatever has been locked against you. The same Spirit who taught the early church to keep praying when their faith was thin is alive in this room.The call of Acts 12 is not, “Pray harder and you will get what you want. The call of Acts 12 is, “Do not stop praying just because you have already been disappointed.”

May 10, 2026

Eric Burton

The Sycamore Church

Acts: We go to worship.  When the church gets together.

Acts 2:43-46

We’re looking at the church in the book of Acts to see what they did that allowed them to have such an impact and how we line up with that church. 

Intro:

We like going places.  We like going out.  “Do you want to go out with me” meant we are in an exclusive relationship.

Two things the first church did:

    1. They went to the Temple daily to worship (giving to God).

    2. They went to each other’s houses to receive the Lord's supper and share (giving to each other).

The church went to worship (giving to God).

We are living in a time and culture where you can’t distinguish staying in and going out.  People wear the same stuff going out that they wear staying in.  Nothing is significant anymore. We’ve eliminated the high-brow Sunday’s best so everyone feels welcome, but in removing the segregation, we’ve also lost the sacredness. We’ve lost the awe of going.

The first church continued going to the Temple after they were saved.  You don’t stop going to church once you are saved.

When I was growing up, we got dressed up, got in your car, left where you lived, and went to a different location.

We first see this in Genesis 22:5 Abraham says to his servants, “You stay here while the boy and I go over there to worship.”  It distinguished between where I am and where God is.

Worship is an intentional destination.  We don’t worship from afar; we come from afar. When they worshiped God, they came to Him.   

The wise men came to worship.

The leper came to worship.

The Roman soldier came to worship.

They left the dilemma they were in to go where the king resided.

Worship is an act of ascension and assembly to exalt God.       

There are a number of Psalms called, Songs of Ascent that Jews would sing as they made the ascension into Jerusalem. Psalm 122:1 I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go to the house of the Lord.  While the Jews were in captivity, they would request to go to Jerusalem to worship their God. They were asking to leave the rigors of bondage so they could ascend.

To worship you and I leave where we are and by design ascend to a higher plane.

Even the pagans would establish their idols and shrines on high places.

Satan brought Jesus to a high place to tempt him with power if He would worship him.

Even our thoughts are fighting for high position.  We are to take captive every thought that exalts itself above God.  Everything in our life is trying to gain higher ground so we will ascend to worship it rather than God.

1 Kings 12: 28-32

King Rehoboam was threatened by King Jeroboam. King Rehoboam didn’t want people going to Jerusalem to worship for fear that he would lose their allegiance. So he created new locations, idols, and invented a new holiday to keep them from going to Jerusalem.  Going out meant we’re in an exclusive relationship, and he didn’t want that.

Worship has been reduced to an imitation of what we used to do. 

The enemy doesn't want us actually going to worship because “ going out” means we’re in an exclusive relationship.

We are living in a day, just as they were, where distractions are vying for our attention to keep us from going to worship.  Or people just don’t feel worthy to go up to God.

Worship indicates you’re not staying where you are but you’re going higher.

2. They went house to house (giving to each other)

    To receive the Lord supper (break bread together)

    To share

The church went house to house. This looked like our Connect Groups. You have to get up and go to fellowship. 

Psalm 133 says, “How wonderful and precious it is when brothers live together in harmony! For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil…”

The result of the church ascending and gathering for worship and fellowship was people being added to the church daily. 

Worship was meant to be given to God, and community was meant to be given to others.

When we assemble together in worship, we leave the mundane and encounter the miraculous. 

It was while they were on the way to worship that they ran into a lame man that needed a miracle.  We don’t see the miraculous because we don’t go anywhere. 

Closing

Hebrews 10:22-25

    Don’t forsake assembling as some do.  Why? The day of His return is near.

Somebody say, we’re going to worship!

The Sycamore Church

John Barnett

May 3, 2026

Acts 2:36–39

We are studying the patterns and foundations of the early church in the Book of Acts.

Question:If it worked for the early church, are we still doing it today?

Context: Peter’s Sermon

Peter is preaching after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. He explains: Jesus fulfilled prophecy, David prophesied about Him, Jesus was crucified, God raised Him from the dead, Jesus is both Lord and Messiah.

Acts 2:36

“So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”

The same Jesus they rejected and crucified…God publicly declared as LORD through the resurrection.

Acts 2:37

“Peter’s words pierced their hearts…”

“Pierced” = Deep Conviction

Greek word: Katanyssomai (κατανύσσομαι) Meaning:

pierced thoroughly, cut to the heart, deep remorse, spiritual conviction

Conviction Happens When:

The Word of God is preached

The Holy Spirit moves

We allow God to deal with our hearts

Conviction vs. Condemnation

Condemnation- Shame without hope, Separation from God, “You’ll never change.” Leads to death

Conviction-  Draws us toward God, Produces repentance, “You need to change.” Leads to healing and restoration.

Conviction is not meant to crush you — it is meant to draw you closer to God.

The Proper Response to Conviction

“Brothers, what should we do?”

Total surrender asks:

“What’s my next step?”

“God, what are You trying to change in me?”

“What do I need to let go of?”

Acts 2:38

“Repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Peter gives a pathway for transformation.

I. Repentance

Repentance Is:

• More than saying “sorry”

• A change of direction

• Turning from sin toward God

• Dying to the old life

You do not clean yourself up before coming to God.

Jesus already carried the cross because we could not save ourselves.

True Repentance is not emotional only, Not temporary guilt, Not goosebumps. True repentance is transformation. “You can’t repent while you are still repeating.”

II. Baptism in Jesus’ Name

Baptism Is:

Obedience to Jesus

Public identification with Christ

Burial of the old life

Remission (removal) of sins

Jesus does not sweep sin under a rug. He removes it completely. Through repentance and baptism, the disease of sin can go into full remission.

Baptism Declares:

“I belong to Jesus.”

Peter once denied Jesus publicly.Now he boldly tells everyone to identify with Him publicly.

III. Receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit

Jesus Promised Power

Luke 24:49

“Stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

Acts 1:8

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you…”

The Gospel Pattern

Repentance - Identifies us with Christ’s death

Baptism - Identifies us with Christ’s burial

Receiving the Holy Spirit - Identifies us with Christ’s resurrection life

The Holy Spirit Is Not Just a Feeling

The Holy Spirit is:

Power

Transformation

Boldness

Hope

Peace

Joy

Strength to endure

Ability to live differently

When Life Squeezes You…

Whatever fills you will come out of you.

Without the Holy Spirit:

anger

fear

bitterness

flesh

hopelessness

But when filled with the Spirit:

peace

boldness

joy

endurance

faith

power

Why Do We Need the Holy Spirit?

Because life pierces us too.

We need power to: respond like Jesus, survive spiritual warfare, endure suffering, resist the enemy, walk through pain without becoming bitter.

Acts 2:39

“This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away…”

The Promise Is:

For you

For your children

For every generation

For everyone God calls

The outpouring has already happened.

We simply must receive what God is offering.

Acts 2:40–41

“Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”

“Those who believed…were baptized…”

They did not delay.

They responded immediately.

Final Challenge

Have you been pierced by God today?

Do not ignore conviction.Do not resist surrender.Do not stay comfortable.

Today Can Be Your Day

• Repent

• Be baptized

• Receive the Holy Spirit

• Walk in power

Become who God created you to be.

“You can’t be filled if you are already full.”

Empty yourself today so God can fill you completely.

April 26, 2026

Eric Burton

www.thesycamore.net

April 19, 2026

Joel Gatlin

www.thesycamore.net

”FOR WITH GOD NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE.”

”AND HE SAID, “THUS SAYS THE LORD: ‘MAKE THIS VALLEY FULL OF DITCHES.’” II KINGS 3:16 NKJV

“FOR THUS SAYS THE LORD: ‘YOU SHALL NOT SEE WIND, NOR SHALL YOU SEE RAIN; YET THAT VALLEY SHALL BE FILLED WITH WATER, SO THAT YOU, YOUR CATTLE, AND YOUR ANIMALS MAY DRINK.’ AND THIS IS A SIMPLE MATTER IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD; HE WILL ALSO DELIVER THE MOABITES INTO YOUR HAND.”

“NOW IT HAPPENED IN THE MORNING, WHEN THE GRAIN OFFERING WAS OFFERED, THAT SUDDENLY WATER CAME BY WAY OF EDOM, AND THE LAND WAS FILLED WITH WATER.”

“WHEN ABRAM WAS NINETY-NINE YEARS OLD, THE LORD APPEARED TO HIM AND SAID, “I AM EL-SHADDAI—‘GOD ALMIGHTY.’ SERVE ME FAITHFULLY AND LIVE A BLAMELESS LIFE.” GENESIS 17:1 NLT

“I WILL MAKE A COVENANT WITH YOU, BY WHICH I WILL GUARANTEE TO GIVE YOU COUNTLESS DESCENDANTS.” GENESIS 17:2 NLT

1. DIG A DITCH

PHYSICAL OBEDIENCE BRINGS SPIRITUAL BREAKTHROUGHS

2. TRUST HIS WORD

 “EVERY WORD OF GOD IS TESTED; HE IS A SHIELD TO THOSE WHO TAKE REFUGE IN HIM.”

"CAN ANY ONE OF YOU BY WORRYING, ADD A SINGLE HOUR TO YOUR LIFE?" (MATHEW 6:27). NIV

”BEHOLD, HE WHO KEEPS ISRAEL WILL NEITHER SLUMBER NOR SLEEP." (PSALM 121 VS 4) NKJV

3. LIVE WITH EXPECTATION

II KINGS 3:20 NKJVSCREEN: “THEN THEY ROSE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING, AND THE SUN WAS

“NOW A MAN WHO WAS LAME FROM BIRTH WAS BEING CARRIED TO THE TEMPLE GATE CALLED BEAUTIFUL, WHERE HE WAS PUT EVERY DAY TO BEG FROM THOSE GOING INTO THE TEMPLE COURTS. WHEN HE SAW PETER AND JOHN ABOUT TO ENTER, HE ASKED THEM FOR MONEY. PETER LOOKED STRAIGHT AT HIM, AS DID JOHN. THEN PETER SAID, “LOOK AT US!” SO THE MAN GAVE THEM HIS ATTENTION, EXPECTING TO GET SOMETHING FROM THEM. THEN PETER SAID, “SILVER OR GOLD I DO NOT HAVE, BUT WHAT I DO

 “NOW TO HIM WHO IS ABLE TO DO EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT WE ASK OR THINK, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT

”AND GOD IS ABLE TO BLESS YOU ABUNDANTLY, SO THAT IN ALL THINGS AT ALL TIMES, HAVING ALL THAT YOU NEED, YOU WILL ABOUND IN

Eric Burton

The Sycamore Church

April 12, 2026

God Rewrites the Story

Mathew 28: 10-15

What the enemy means for harm, God turns into a testimony.

After the resurrection, the religious leaders had one urgent priority — control the narrative. They knew that if the story of a risen Jesus got out, it wouldn't stay quiet. It would spread. It would change everything.

But that's nothing new. From the very beginning of Scripture, this has been the pattern: God at work, and the enemy trying desperately to rewrite the story.

Think about Joseph. Sold by his own brothers, enslaved, falsely accused, forgotten in prison. By every human measure, his story was a tragedy. But Joseph saw something different on the other side of it:

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good."

— Genesis 50:20

The Apostle Paul echoes this same truth in the New Testament:

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, and are called according to His purpose."

— Romans 8:28

Here's what's honest, though — we believe bad things will happen to us. We almost expect them. But do we expect God to redeem them? Do we really believe that the painful chapters, the betrayals, the setbacks — that God can take all of that and make it into something unbelievable?

The enemy didn't want the story of Jesus told, so he tried to manufacture a different one. He still does that today — with your story. He wants you to believe it ends in failure, in shame, in loss. 

But God is in the business of taking what was meant for evil and turning it into a testimony that still gets told.

The resurrection is proof of that. The grave couldn't hold the story down. It never could.

Reflection

What part of my story have I stopped expecting God to redeem — and what would it look like to hand it back to Him?

How do I do this? Hebrews 12:2 tells us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; Let Jesus take ALL THINGS and bring them under his authority. Surrender it all to Jesus today.