Lame Christians

Thank you Rev. R. Morse

Lame Christians

Acts 3:1-10

[Lame: An offensive term meaning walking unevenly because of a leg injury or motion impairment; inadequate; unconvincing; unsatisfactory; ineffectual or inept.]

He was born.

He never learned how to walk.

He was lame.

Had he been dropped or mistreated when he was a small baby?

(Remember Mephibosheth?)

He was born.

He was a fully grown man.

He could not hold down a job, so he begged for handouts.

He could not take care of himself.

His friends or family only did his menial tasks, but left him alone to beg.

He was carried to the gate of the temple every day.

He was so close to the glory and presence of God.

He could never go into that presence, he could only beg at the gate.

He could hear the others pray, but he himself would never offer a prayer.

His feeble attempts at prayer only amounted to begging.

Who taught him how to beg?

[Beg: to ask somebody for something in a very intense, humble, or even humiliating way. An example of this could be like when a dog has been taught to sit up and ask for food.]

Begging is a selfish act.

We are born beggars.

We cry, we scream, we throw tantrums to get what we want.

Beggars grow up and learn to take care of themselves.

Beggars grow up and learn to take care of others.

This man was begging for the wrong things.

He needed to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

One day he met a couple of men who had what he needed.

These men did not have silver or gold.

But they gave this lame (Christian) man what they had.

They gave him the power of God in the name of Jesus Christ.

They refused to help this man in his begging.

The man was a good beggar.

He was a pro beggar.

He didn’t need alms; he needed healing for his lameness.

Peter and John gave him healing in the name of Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus healed his ankle bones and feet.

He jumped up; he stood up; he walked; he leaped; he praised God!

He went in to the House of Prayer.

After 40 years of begging, he became a whole, grown up Christian!!!

Are you lame? Are you still begging?

Are you ready to go in to God’s house?

Another lame man:

John 5:5-9

He was vexed with an infirmity for 38 years.

He lay by a pool called Bethesda.

There were a lot of folks at this pool who were infirm like him.

Unlike the man at the temple gate, this man had many friends.

Christians without full adult function tend to hang out together.

We could say they had their own church.

Their church might have been named, “The First Church of Lame Christians United.â€