INTRO TEACHING (Segment One: Acts 9:32-43)

I. Overview of the Passage

• Peter travels through Lydda and Joppa.

• Aeneas healed after eight years of paralysis.

• Tabitha (Dorcas) raised from the dead.

• Christ continues His ministry through His apostles.

II. Aeneas: The Picture of Long-Term Paralysis

• Eight years bedridden.

• Jesus Christ heals you: no formula, no showmanship.

• Immediate restoration.

• Ripple effect: whole region turns to the Lord.

III. Tabitha: A Life of Compassion Interrupted

• A female disciple full of good works.

• Deeply loved by widows.

• Community grieves but acts in faith.

• Peter prays, commands, Tabitha rises.

• Community-wide belief follows.

IV. What These Miracles Reveal About Christ

• Jesus continues His ministry through His people.

• Healing and resurrection still demonstrate Christ’s authority.

• Nothing is too still or too dead for the voice of Jesus.

V. Practical Steps

1. Go where God sends.

2. Speak the name of Jesus clearly.

3. Be the person who shows up.

4. Pray before acting.

5. Look for resurrection in everyday life.

SEGMENT TWO: What God Restores, He Reorients

I. Restoration Always Leads to Purpose

• Aeneas raised not only to walk but to witness.

• Tabitha raised to continue her ministry.

• Miracles come with mission attached.

II. Purpose After Healing

• God heals not only from something but for something.

• Your testimony becomes a tool for others.

III. Biblical Pattern

• Demoniac in Mark 5 sent to proclaim.

• Peter’s mother-in-law healed, then serves.

• Lazarus becomes a living sign.

IV. Applied Truth

• Your healing is not a trophy; it is an assignment.

• Restoration bends toward mission, not comfort.

• Waiting seasons often prep the stage for greater impact.

V. Key Questions

• What does God want to do through what He restored in you?

• Who needs to see you standing?

SEGMENT THREE: Faith Communities That Create Space for Miracles

I. The Power of Community Faith

• The disciples in Joppa act quickly and with expectation.

• They refuse resignation even after death.

• Their hope creates an atmosphere God inhabits.

II. Ingredients of a Miracle-Ready Community

1. Compassion that sees the person, not the problem.

2. Faith that refuses resignation.

3. Action that moves toward God.

III. The Widows’ Testimony

• They hold Tabitha’s garments as evidence of her impact.

• Their unity and grief blended with hope.

• Love rises when death appears.

IV. The Upper Room Principle

• Some communities prepare burials.

• Others prepare resurrection space.

• Miracles need margin, expectation, and prayerful quiet.

V. Applied Truth

• Check the voices around you in crisis.

• Build circles that believe God can intervene.

• Create an atmosphere where God’s movement is welcomed.

SEGMENT FOUR: When God Delays, Dies, or Does the Unexpected

I. The Mystery of Divine Timing

• Aeneas waited eight years.

• Tabitha dies before the miracle.

• God’s timing is based on revelation, not efficiency.

II. Delay Does Not Mean Denial

• Many miracles occur after hope has died.

• God allows deeper valleys to reveal higher glory.

III. Biblical Waiting

• Abraham waits decades.

• Joseph waits in prison.

• Israel waits generations.

• Lazarus raised after four days.

IV. What Waiting Forms in Us

• Trust independent of circumstances.

• Faith that survives silence.

• Hope that looks beyond evidence.

V. Applied Truth

• Waiting is not inactivity; it is spiritual formation.

• Sometimes the miracle requires the backdrop of impossibility.

• Your job is faithfulness, not forcing outcomes.

• God still works in places that look finished.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION SUMMARY

Six Takeaways for Listeners

1. God restores with purpose, not just relief.

2. Your healing becomes someone else’s testimony.

3. Faith-filled communities create space for miracles.

4. Compassion and unity invite God’s movement.

5. Waiting seasons are preparation seasons.

6. Jesus still raises what has fallen, faded, or died.