Awakened Truth Initiative (ati)
The Power and Mission of the Early Church (Acts 3)
Welcome back to our continuing study of the Book of Acts! In our last episode, we explored Acts Chapter 2, where the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost and the church was born. Today, we’ll dive into Acts Chapter 3, where we see the early church in action. We’ll focus on how the church is formed by the community of believers, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and committed to preaching the Gospel and healing those in need. As we explore this chapter, we’ll continue to see that buildings do not define the church but the people who gather together in faith.
- Broadcast on:
- 04 Oct 2024
- Audio Format:
- other
All right. All right. Good morning. Today. We'll walk through the miraculous healing of a lame man by Peter and John will examine Peter 2nd Sermon and discuss what the story reveals about the mission of the church and what Christians are called to do today. So let's get into x3. Let's move through this word today. Welcome to the Awaken Truth Initiative. I'm Dr. Steve and we're here Awaken to what's going on in the world. We are seeking the truth in all things, using God's word as our lens and we're an initiative, meaning we're just going to keep going. We're going to keep moving. We hope you join us. We hope you add in, comment, and let's go seek some truth. So today we start in a day of the life of Peter and John. Pretty cool that we get to see what they're doing. We start right off in x3, which says now Peter and John, we're going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. So here we see these two church leaders that have known Jesus. They have witnessed all these things. They're leaders of the early church and they're still deeply connected to the Jewish practice of prayer. So prayer is not just a Jewish practice. I mean, back then it was, but prayer is a part of the Christian practice as well. Peter and John here demonstrate that early Christians continue to engage with their communities in the context of their culture and faith, even as they preach the gospel. So they're engaged in their Jewish community. They're going up to temple for prayer, even though they are now Christians, right? So they're engaged in their neighborhoods, they're engaged in their community. What does this show us? It shows us that the early church didn't isolate themselves, right? They didn't engage in their surroundings. I'm sorry, they did engage in their surroundings while living out their faith in Christ. So they weren't in a holy huddle. That's what some pastors would call it is a holy huddle. Like, let me explain that. So a holy huddle is when I have like five or six Christians and we only hang out with us. We only go to church and we don't do anything else. We just huddle around each other and say, Oh, look at us. We're great Christians. That is not what Peter and John are doing, right? They are out and about experiencing their community, practicing the Jewish practice of prayer at the temple, but also spreading the gospel so they are engaged. And this is something we should take with us. We should be like, Hey, we are, we are engaged in the community. We are engaged in this. Look, I know that the last couple of times I've talked about like the corporation of church, but they still need prayer, right? You still can go to church and pray and be an amazing example. So hopefully that corporation church will turn to a church of God, a church of prayer, a church of Jesus Christ. So you can go there, you can engage, you can pray, you can meet new people, and you never know what could happen. You could be the person that God put in that place just to make it more godly. So let's go to verse six in chapter three, but Peter said, I have no silver and gold. What I do have, I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. So here we got them walking to the temple. Now all the handicapped, the lame, the blind, the people who needed give outs because they couldn't do stuff on their own because they had a limitation, would sit at the temple and beg. Now, I get that we see this all over our country, but don't don't think these people on the corner that may be trying to swindle money or anything like that. Like these were legitimately in need and the place the temple is where people went to give, and there's probably a great spot for them to receive stuff to help them live. So Peter and John are walking there and this guy is trying to get their attention, and this is what Peter says, it's like, hey, I don't have things, right? I don't, but what I have, I give you. And then he calls on Jesus' name and he says, rise up and walk. You know, Peter and John encounter a man who has been lame from birth, begging for money. Peter, now he's empowered by the Holy Spirit, offers something much greater than money. He offers healing in the name of Jesus, right? This miracle demonstrates the power of the name of Jesus. The early church was a community that lived by faith, relaying, relying on the power of Christ to transform lives. Now listen, I'm not saying that all of us are going to go to somewhere where there are sick and lame people and we're going to be able to call. It's definitely not something all of us are going to do. Can some of us, maybe God can do all things, right? That's the easy answer. God could do all things. He could choose somebody to feel the power of the Holy Spirit to say, you're healed and that person be healed. I have no doubt that could happen, but God uses us to get these things done. Now, why were miracles more, I don't know, show showmanship? Like, why were they more like, holy cow, this guy just got up and went? Well, let's think about the early church, right? There wasn't a whole lot of members. Like Jesus using miracles to show that he was Christ, they forgive sins. The early church shows that these great miracles happen as they build up the church. Now, let's think about today and the miracles today. What is a miracle today? It's a hard question because we see things so much is common nowadays that we do not see them as miracles. For example, if I'm a drug addict, if I'm an alcoholic and I come to know Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and I quit those, that's a miracle. Now, listen, Russell Brand has been in the news quite often. He's been running around. He's been a Christian for about six months and people are seeing what he can do and he is on fire for Christ. Now, I've seen some pastors writing on X and other places saying, hey, he was a drug addict. He needs to sit in a pew for a couple months. He needs to sit in a pew for a few years before he decides he can actually go out and do Christian things. Well, that wasn't the case. If we see what happened after this verse six, we'll see the guy was running and jumping and praising God when he was healed. Now, Russell Brand, a self-admitted heroin addict is saved by Jesus Christ and changed his life. Why would we want to prevent him from telling his story jumping up and down and praising Jesus? Peter and John didn't tell this guy, yo, man, you need to calm down. You need to go sit and listen to us talk for a few years before you preach Jesus. No, he did not. This guy got up and praised God and praised him immediately. And that's what we also be doing because that is a miracle. Listen, I'm a guy whose spirit was attempted to be quenched, right? I came to know Jesus in a church. I got super excited. I got in the master's degree program to do a master's in divinity and hopefully become a pastor for that church to tell me, oh, wait, you've been divorced. You can't be a pastor. And I'm like, what? The Bible doesn't actually say that. And for the church to say, oh, yeah, I mean, we know it doesn't say that. We just don't want to make any decisions that would look bad on the church is essentially what they told me, which is terrible. That's like question the spirit of a guy who's called who is looking to do ministry. It really broke my heart. And it took me a long time to get over that. And then, you know, I go out. I'm serving. I get a doctorate pastoral counseling. I'm teaching Bible studies. I'm doing the counseling. I'm volunteering at places. I'm running some of the ministries. And essentially, the attitude I get is, hey, stay in your lane. That's about as far as you're going to go. Who are we to quench somebody's spirit who is on fire to the Lord? How is that even heard of? I have not read that anywhere in the Bible. As a matter of fact, Paul says, yo, Timothy, don't let your youth get in the way. Let the Lord lead you. Let the Holy Spirit lead you. So we are such a society where there has to be these check marks in order to be a pastor. In some places, you got to have the lineage, right? Like, oh, it's my cousin, my best friend, my son, my nephew. That's who I'm bringing up to be the pastors in my church because they have the lineage while others on fire for Christ ready to do something or just quenched. Anyway, took me a long time to figure out. I don't need a church brand name on my shirt to reach out for Christ. All I need is the Holy Spirit to guide me, a mouth to confess Jesus, Lord, and a testimony. And I have those. So I don't need a brand name on my shirt, but neither did this guy that they just healed. He did not need a brand name. He praised Jesus Christ. That's what he did. And that's what we should all be doing. Don't let somebody quench you. Don't let somebody speak to you like they do about Russell Brand. Oh, heroin addict, he needs to learn more before he starts preaching. No man, listen to his prayers and listen to what he talks about. He is genuine, in my opinion, even though I don't know the guy. And so far, I haven't seen any craziness like when he's talking about the Bible that's that's inaccurate. So like I said before, always use the Bible as your filter. But let's get off that soap box and let's go to hacks three, nine versus nine and 10. And all the people saw him walking and praising God and recognizing and recognized him as the one who sat at the beautiful gate of the temple asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement and what had happened to him. The miracle drew attention. People were amazed. Listen, we can relate that right back to Russell Brand. We can relate that back to my story. We can relate that back to your story drew attention. People were amazed that early churches witness wasn't just in words, but in action. Let me say that again, in action, living out the gospel through both preaching and tangible acts of healing and mercy. What actions are we taking right now? We had a storm come right just recently. And I've seen people all over, even though their spirits trying to be quenched by stuff that we don't even need to get into on this podcast, but they're trying to be quenched and they're out there helping their fellow man. Like that is how we show people Jesus Christ. This is where the church can step in and give, give, give to this cause. And you know, just one more point, we're hurting at home. You know, I wonder if churches are pulling back money from other places, pulling back resources and saying we're hurting at home. Let's go fix this now. Whereas that church brand need to be multicultural and in nations other than ours. Just think about that for a minute. We've got problems here. We have problems here. Let's focus on here and let's get here right. And when we are the example and we are the testimony as a nation, other nations will come to know Jesus as well. All right. So let's go Peter's second sermon. It's what we're going to get into and starts, you know, Acts 3, 12. And when Peter saw it, he addressed the people, men of Israel, why do you wonder at this? Why do you stare at us? Is though by our own power or piety, we have made him walk. So the people here are just amazed and they're looking at Peter and John like, wow, you guys did this. Peter's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, chill out guys. Like he immediately points away from himself and John given all the glory to Jesus. He emphasizes that the miracle wasn't done by their own power, but by the power of Christ. This is the key element of the early church's message. They were messengers of Jesus power, not their own. Listen, God has given you a gift and I pray that you know what that gift is and I pray that you're using it. But when we start to use that gift for our own self, which is so easy to do, we're missing the point. We should take notice here. We should take notes and say, man, Peter just did something amazing. And guess what he did? He was like, well, that ain't me. That's Jesus, right? Christians today are called to do the same point people to Jesus and everything we do, whether through our words or our actions. Listen, if you are so fantastic at your job, you're getting promoted, you're doing great. Are you saying, Oh, look at me. Oh, look how smart I am. Oh, look how good I am. Or are you saying, I am filthy rags and because of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that is why I can do what I do. Because that's what we should be saying. And listen, I get caught up just as much as the other person like, Hey, hey, Steve, you're, you're great at this. And I'm like, Oh, yeah, thanks took a lot of study and I'm like, Oh, geez, man, like I should have said, yes, Jesus, right? How did you get through these college degrees? Jesus and a lot of prayer, right? So let's just take this for an example to say, okay, we should be giving credit to Jesus credit where credit is due. All right. Now, X3 19 in this sermon, repent therefore, and turn back that your sins may be blotted out the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Peter Sermon is centered on repentance. What is repentance again? It is when we turn away from our sins and turn towards God. Some people would call it 180 degree turn. I'd call it a 360 degree turn. Because you're pointed to God and then you kind of fear off, think of a compass kind of like pointing northeast instead of north and you're like, Oh, dang, right? You can turn and fix that immediately. But I say at 360 degree turn, because instead of going back to the path immediately, I believe we should be going full circle to the place we are buried off, repenting of that, apologizing for that, fixing whatever thing we have broken there, and then continuing, right? That's the path that continuation to Christ is moving through that. That is repentance. Repentance isn't just an emotion of guilt. It's not at all. Repentance is an action, and don't forget that. He calls the people to turn away from their sins and turn towards God, promising that when they do their sins will be forgiven and they will experience spiritual renewal. Listen, think of the prayer that people use for salvation, right? Lord, I am a sinner and I need help. That is the first step is admitting. You gotta admit it. You gotta look at yourself, be honest with yourself. Tucker Carlson, leave politics aside now, folks, but Tucker Carlson will say he's absurd and I am too. He'll say he looks in the mirror after the shower and just looks at himself and goes, it's not me. I'm absurd. It's God. Well, have you done that lately, right? Have you admitted to yourself who you are and know that Jesus Christ loved you anyway and gave you a path to heaven? Because that is repentance, right? Repentance looks like fixing whatever is broken, admitting to the Lord and maybe other people in times what happened in praying to God that you will love God more than whatever sin drug you away, right? That's repentance. Repentance was a central, so repentance was central to the message of the early church and it remains central to the Christian life today. The church's mission is to call people to turn to Jesus and for forgiveness and new life. Acts 3, 25 through 26, you are the sons of the prophets of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, "And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. God have raised up his servants, sent him to you first to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness." Peter connects the story of Jesus to the promises made to Abraham, showing that Jesus is the fulfillment of God's covenant with Israel. Through Jesus, God's blessings would extend to all nations of the earth. Listen, Jesus is in the Old Testament. It's not just in the New Testament. There's a promise given in Genesis. There's a promise given through all the Bible about the one who's going to come and that's Jesus. Look through the Old Testament. You can Google the red line through the Bible or a red thread or whatever it's called. You can look these things up easily and see that Jesus is everywhere and everything points to him. So the church's message is part of God's larger story. Rooted in his promises through Scripture, the gospel is not a new invention, but the fulfillment of God's plan to bless all people through Jesus, all people, all people, all people, people like Russell Brand, who is a drug addict, and in Hollywood, people like John Rich, who's a country music star, very solid, people like Tucker Carlson, who's a political analyst, and has come to know Jesus Christ, people of all types, all cultures, all backgrounds. Listen, the church is a hospital. The broken go, right? The church is not a social club. The church is not a place we get dressed up and listen to some dude. The church is not a place where we worship a guy on a stage. The church is a hospital for people to come and find the Lord and hear the message and hear his word. That is what the church is, and we need to continue, continue to know that and welcome people in. All right. So what are Christians called to do? Now this is kind of, we'll jump around a little bit in the next little bit. We might get a little ahead of ourselves, but I think it's important, you know, the community of believers and what Christians are called to do, the power of community and action. So the church in Acts, in Acts chapter three, we see that the early church was deeply connected to one another and to their mission. They weren't confined by buildings or institutions. They were a community united by the faith in Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit. The church is not a building or an institution, guys, okay? It's a community of believers to live out the gospel on every part of their lives. It's a community of believers. What does that mean? It means the people and the pews direct the actions of the church. And if it's the other way around, it's wrong. I don't care. We call leaders up to help organize. We call leaders up that are wise. Yes. But if a pastor was hired and you have no idea what his salary is, and you had no saying is in his hiring, I mean, is that right? Does your pastor have a CEO? Does it have a CFO? Right? Is there a, is there a, oh, this is the head pastor and he's treated like a CEO. This is the executive pastor and he's treated like a chief financial officer more than a pastor like is, is that what we're reading here? I don't think it is. I think what it's supposed to be is a group of people get together. They appoint their leader. All right. And listen, if a church made a whole bunch of decisions and then sat some dude up on a stage and said, Oh, in favor, say I and the church goes, I, that's just showmanship, man. That didn't. That's just showmanship. I mean, come on. But aside from that, the church is a group of people to get together anywhere and help their community. Acts 3, 16 says, and his name by faith in his name has made this man strong whom you see and know and faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. This first reminds us that the early church was built on the faith in Jesus and the power of the gospel was lived out in community and they shared their lives with one another and with those in need share your life with somebody. Christians and non-Christians need to know who you are. You are the light on a hill. You share your life with Christians to be strengthened, to be sharpened. You share your life with non-Christians to spread the gospel and be the example. Acts 2, 42 says, and they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship to breaking up bread and prayers. The early church devoted themselves to four key things. The apostles teaching, which is Scripture, right? That's the Bible. That's what we're reading. That is the apostles teachings. Fellowship, that's the community. That is doing things where you live. The breaking of bread, communion of meals, talking, and prayer, and prayer. These are the essential practices of the church then and now. Think about those things. That's what we should be doing. How we do them? It's going to look different for everybody, but that's how we do them. Now we jump ahead and we go to Acts 4, 32, 33. Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul. No one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common and with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace upon them all. The early church was marked by radical generosity and unity. They cared for one another, shared the resources, and gave powerful testimony to the resurrection of Jesus. We have become so dependent on outside sources from Christian communities, government assistance, welfare, whatever you want to call it. Listen, this is the church's job and some of the church's job now we have passed on to government assistance. Does that make sense to you? Does that what sounds like the church of Acts? Absolutely not. These hurricanes that come through, these things that we need to take care of people in, we should be jumping up as a community and today I see it. Don't get me wrong, today I see it in North Carolina, I see it in Tennessee, I see it in Virginia, I see it in Georgia, I see people stepping up. But we, the church, the Christians have given so much power to the government and others to do the things that we should be doing. It's going to be hard for us to get it back, but we can. We can get it back with prayer, with reading the Bible, with stepping up and taking action. We can get our heritage back, which is to take care of each other, instead of depending on somebody else to take care of them. So that's what the church did. What do we do today? We have seen in Acts one verse eight, but you will receive the power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all of Judea and Samarra, Samaria, into the end of the earth. Explanation. Here it is. Just as the early church was empowered to be witnesses of Jesus, we are called to do the same today. Our mission is to tell others about the saving power of Jesus Christ. That's our mission. We do that with our mouth. We do that with our actions. So get out there and help your community. Galatians 5, 13, for you were called the freedom brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for flesh, but through love serve one another. Like the early church, we are called to serve others in love using freedom using the freedom we have in Christ to bless those around us. We are called to serve others in love. Don't forget the love part. Okay. Things can be hard. Loving people can be hard, but Jesus sat with sinners, right? He flipped tables for a little bit. Of course he did. Like he got people out of the place of worship. He flipped tables, but it says after he flipped the tables, the week and the meat came to see him. Once the last time you've been angry and the week and the meat came to see you, not me. I anger simple, but Jesus' anger was not. So you can't sit in a state of flipping tables and yelling at everybody around you about Jesus. But you can be a great example for them so that people can see Jesus through you, see the love of Christ by loving them. Sometimes love is rebuke, sometimes love is hard, sometimes love is discipline, but love is having a genuine care for everyone. And that's where we should be. One Corinthians 12, 27, now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. Paul reminds us that the church is not a building, but a living body made up of believers. We are all part of Christ's body called to serve, love, support one another. Listen, everybody has a different gift. Okay. You can have the gift of teaching, the gift of speaking, the gift of cooking, the gift of organizing, the gift of loving, caring, the gift of empathy. That is why we have a church because everybody is a piece of the Jesus puzzle and we all have our part to play. And by being a community, when somebody comes up to you and something doesn't match your gift, let's say you can say, hey, have you met this person because they have the gift to hug you. Right? That is why it is a community of believers, and not a brand name or a corporation, community of believers. So then we have Hebrews 10, 24 through 25, and let us consider how to stir up one another. To love and good works. Let me start that over and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encourage one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Fellowship and gathering as a community are essential parts of Christian life. We need each other to grow in faith and to live out the gospel in our everyday lives. I don't want you to miss this and take some of my stuff is, you know, I'm just speaking out and saying don't go to church. That's not the point. I'm saying go to church for the right reasons. Right? Go to church because it's a community you want to be a part of to love your community and help your community. That is what we should be doing. We should be spending our resources here in our country because our country is lost. We have kicked God out of so many things that we need to bring him back. So I ask you, just urge you to pray for your current community. Listening, sending money overseas is okay. Help in other people is great. But let's just pull out a country and say Norway, okay? Just random country Norway is just seeing a great awakening. People are starting to awaken. They're starting to understand who Jesus is. If you're going to hop on the bandwagon and just send your money there, like God's already working there, God puts you in the place you are to bless where you are. Now, it's okay to send your money overseas. Don't get me wrong. We have to spread the gospel to all nations. But the all nations should not be our first priority. The nation we live in, the community we live in, the family we live in is our first ministry. So let's get back to that. You know, let's get back to that. As we reflect on this chapter, let's remember that we are part of the same mission. We are called to be witnesses of Jesus power, to serve those in need, to live in fellowship with one another. The church is alive today, not in buildings, but in our hearts and actions. If you're listening, the church is in you. So listen, I would love to hear your thoughts on any episode, anything I do, any questions are fantastic. Keep up the fight out there. Keep praying for the leaders of our country that Jesus would come and awaken them and that there would be revival in the places that make decisions and that God would bring wisdom into the life of everyone. So listen, God bless you. I will be at Acts chapter four next time you hear from me. Enjoy your week and go love somebody like Jesus loved you. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]