Acts 3:1-10
The Crippled Beggar
Introduction
A. In the 1990’s everybody wanted to be like Mike
B. Like Mike if I could be like mike
C. Mike obviously referring to Michael Jordan
D. And why not, he was the best player in the NBA
E. Made some amazing shots
F. Led his team to 6 titles
G. Good looking
H. Every time your turned on the TV you saw a Michael Jordan add
I. He had is own shoe
J. His own clothing line
K. He had it all
L. So everybody wanted to be like Mike
M. However, most people just wanted to wake up one morning and be like Mike
N. They did not want to do the things that it took Michael Jordan to become Michael Jordan
O. Many people tell me that they want to be like the New Testament Church, to do the things that the first church did, to experience what the people in Acts experienced
P. Maybe it is possible
Q. Maybe we can get back to functioning like the Church did in the book of Acts
R. Today we are going to look at Peter and John healing a crippled beggar and we are going to find out how it relates to our church today
S. The first thing we notice is that Peter and John lived a:
I. Consistent Life (1-2)
A. Explanation
1. This was a little bit after Pentecost
2. Pentecost was a physically, spiritually and emotionally draining experience
a) When I am at Edinboro I get the spiritually emotionally and physically drained feel
b) You put everything that you have and you are just drained
3. Because this was shortly after Pentecost, I am sure that peter and John were Tired
4. But I want you to notice what they did
5. They were going to the temple to pray
6. I am sure that they wanted to stay at home
7. Get some rest, and just not be bothered with all of that
8. I mean didn’t they do enough for the Lord, didn’t they give enough already?
9. But Peter and John went
10. They wanted to make sure that they were living a consistent life
B. Application
11. How can we apply this to our lives?
12. We all get tired
13. We all get worn out
14. But that is not a reason to get out of a pattern of consistent living
a) Of going to church, going to prayer meeting
b) Reading the Bible
c) Praying
d) All the things that we need to be doing to maintain spiritual Growth
15. “It just doesn’t feel the same as it did when God moved in a powerful way at (fill in the blank”
16. Your right, it does not feel the same
17. Your right, you experienced something amazing, something you will never forget
18. I just don’t feel the same as I did at (fill in your blank again) as I do at Church
19. Here is Peter and John, they were just part of the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit ever recorded
20. I am sure they were get off the emotional high of the event, but they kept a consistent life
21. Some days you are not going to “feel” anything when you are reading your Bible
22. Some days you are not going to “sense God’s presence” when you are prayer
23. Some days you are not going to see the “power of the Spirit” at church
24. That does not give us any reason to not do what we should be doing
25. Consistency is the key
C. Illustration
26. August 5, 1992 anyone know what happened that day? That was the morning after God called me to be a Pastor
27. The night before was amazing, a lot of people “felt the Presence of God”
28. A lot of people dealt with a lot of issues
29. Our custom was to get up in the morning and have a prayer time, prayer meeting, what ever you want to call it
30. On August 5, 1992 we had a considerable change in attendance, we were down drastically
31. There were two people in particular that were not there that I talk to and asked them why?
32. They both gave me an answer something to the effect “Oh now that I dealt with this issue I finally can get some sleep”
33. Over the next couple of years, those two remembered that day, remembered how it felt, a never was able to get back there again
34. Both of them the last I knew are no longer walking with the Lord
35. August 5 is just one day in their inconstant life
36. Days like August 5 continued to be there norm
37. They experienced God on the 4th, but did not continue with the consistency
38. Follow Peter and John’s example
39. You might not being “feel Up”
40. “Feeling God’s presence”
41. “Feel like your prayers are getting anywhere
42. God is still there, our job is to remain consistent
43. Do you need to work on your consistency?
II. Concern For People (3-5)
A. Explanation
1. The Bible does not tell us who brought this person here every morning
2. They had to be some pretty nice guys, to carry a guy to the gate every morning
3. Now a little background information on that gate
a) This was the most beautiful gate every constructed
b) As Josephus said it “far exceeded in value those gates that were plated with silver and set in Gold”
4. So every day he would be there
5. When I go to a Pirate game or a Steelers game, I begin to recognize the same people Panhandling at the same place
6. Everyone who went to the Temple on a regular basis would have recognize this person, in fact the person would know everybody who went into the temple
a) He probably even knew who to pay attention to and who was not even worth asking because they hadn’t given him anything in 30 years
7. So Peter and John were heading in, and they notice they guy sitting there
8. They had concern for this guy, they cared about him
9. You will notice that they ask him to “look at us”
10. This crippled guy had two bad legs, but had 2 good hands, he was able to keep looking for more while collecting from Peter and John
11. However, with Peter and John’s “look at us” that beggar was forced to pay close attention to them
12. Their request for his full attention, expressed their deep feeling of compassion
B. Application
13. What can we learn from this?
14. Peter and John did not see this guy as a bum
15. They saw this guy as a person who is hurting and poor
16. They saw this guy as a person in need
17. It would have been real easy to walk right by the guy
18. I am sure many of people did that
19. It would have been real easy to drop a quarter in the guy’s cup
20. But they were more concerned then that
21. Where is your level of concern?
22. How much do you care?
C. Illustration
23. At prayer meeting on Wednesday we all named one or two people that we wanted to come to know Christ
24. I was impressed by the amount of concern those who were there had for these people that need to know Christ
25. It was not about earning a badge of honor, it was not about making themselves look good
26. It was about concern for the another person
27. We all need that concern, we need that level of compassion
28. I do not care if it is the most ornery person you have ever meant in your life
29. What about you, do you have that level of concern for other people?
III. Concentrated on What They Had (6-10)
A. Explanation
1. The Peter said “sliver or Gold I do not have, but what I have I give you”
2. When the church started how big was there budget?
3. How well was there building fund funded?
4. Where there facilities in Good order?
5. Well there was no budget, because there was no money
6. There was not building fund, because they thought it was more convenient to meet in people home
7. They own no facilities.
8. The beginning of the church
9. This is not an apology
10. Peter is not saying “sorry I do not have any money, how about this instead”
11. Peter is saying “I know you asked for money, but money is not everything”
12. “I have something that is far more valuable then money”
13. Peter then offers what he has. Jesus
14. That is not apology
15. That is stating that Jesus is far superior to money
16. Far superior to anything else of this world
17. Peter did not concentrated on what he did not have, he concentrated on what he did have
B. Application
18. How can we apply this to our church
19. Take a look around
20. You will notice that we meet in an old building
21. Some parts of the building you could say are falling apart
a) The ceiling disaster
b) The roof is getting close to needing fix
c) The boiler issues
22. All of this stuff is tough to fix because it cost money
23. Our building is not that big, we all wish is were bigger so we could do more
24. I look around here and I do not see any multi millionaires who give $200,000 a year
25. “We are a small church” so we cant do this or we cant do that
26. We don’t have the people to do this or that, we don’t have the money,
27. It’s not about what we don’t have it’s about what we have
28. We have Jesus
29. That is plenty
30. It was good enough for Peter and John
31. It better be good enough for us
C. Illustration
32. There was a survey done a couple of years ago.
33. Most people feel they are not making enough money
34. The survey asked how much more a year do they need in order to make them happier
35. The average amount was $10,000.
36. Here is the ironic thing, the people surveyed income was all over the board
37. You had a range of 20,000 to 200,000. Yet they all needed more
38. If we had a bigger building we would want a even bigger building
39. If we had a bigger budget we would want a even bigger budget
40. If we had more “resources” we would want even more “resources”
41. No matter what we have, we would want more
42. But all of that stuff is not important
43. We have all that we need
44. We have Jesus
45. I don’t want to here from anyone what we do not have
46. What about you? Are you concerned with what we have? Or what we do not have?
Conclusion
A. Over and over I hear statements like “if we could just be like the New Testament Church
B. If we could become like the church in acts,
C. If we could be like acts 2:47 “and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved
D. Guess what?
E. We can
F. In order to move forward, to become BAC the Hospital, take a look Back
G. Notice were the churches focus was:
a. They lived a consistent life
b. They were concerned for others
c. They concentrated on what they have
H. We can do that too, there is nothing there that we can not do
I. WE need to ask ourselves these 3 questions
a. Am I living a consistent life?
b. Am I concerned enough for others?
c. Am I concentrated on what I have?
J. Take those question home with you, evaluate your life
K. Maybe you realize already that you need to make a change
L. You can do it here the alter is open
M. Consistent, concern, concentration
N. Now that we look back, let us more forward
O. Pray
P. (Blessed be your name)
