16th March 2025

New Testament Heroes 9 – 16/03/25 – Martin Mowat

Readings: Acts 2:40-47, Acts 3:1-10

Let’s be in no doubt, the events of Pentecost really happened, otherwise the things that we have just heard about wouldn’t have happened either. And if that were true, we wouldn’t be here today.  

Today, we put Pentecost firmly in the background and we lean forward into the life of the early church.  We’ve just heard from Brigit some of the ways that the lives of those early believers, their habits, their priorities and their attitudes, changed. 

We’ve seen that they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  And we’ve heard words like ‘wonders’ and ‘signs’, ‘holding everything in common’, ‘selling property and possessions’, ‘giving to anyone in need’, ‘meeting together daily’, ‘breaking bread in their homes’, ‘eating together with glad and sincere hearts’, ‘praising God’, and ‘enjoying the favour of all the people’. 

And the result of all that was that “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved”. 

The first thing that strikes me is that these things were going on daily.  It wasn’t just on Sabaoth Days or just on Sundays, it became a way of life - sept sur sept, as the French say.  

The second thing that strikes me is that they did them together, the King James Bible says that they did them “with one accord”, the New American Standard Bible says “with one mind”.  Opposition from Judaism and from pagan Rome would soon cost the church dearly.  Bickering and division within the church itself would surface very soon, but for the moment goodwill and unity bore tremendous fruit because, as we see, this activity and behaviour, this new lifestyle brought them “the favour of all the people”.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity, says Psalm 133, for there the Lord commands the blessing.

David certainly knew what he was talking about because the third thing that we see, as the result of their unity, their sincerity, their visible gladness, and their love for God, for each other, and for their neighbours, was that “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved”. God was at work both in them and through them, doing what only he can do.

Is there a lesson for us here? Our new vision statement says that this church is a place where people will find family and friendship as they enjoy getting to know God, his love and his peace. 

I think that this was exactly what was happening in our passage to those new Christians, 110% sure of their salvation, allowing the Holy Spirit to start changing them from the inside out, convinced that church was the way forward, not just for them, but for everyone.  So they opened their homes, they reminded themselves of Jesus as they broke bread, they prayed, they shared, and they cared.

These 6 verses are a word photograph of the church as it was in those early days, and I dare to say that maybe it’s a photograph of what the church should look like today.

The passage that Brigit read to us is considered to be one of the most important passages in the book of Acts. Why? Because if they hadn’t done these things, as I said at the beginning, the church wouldn’t be what it is today.

‘Devoted’, ‘filled’, ‘sold’, ‘gave’, ‘met together’, ‘broke bread together’, ‘ate together’, ‘praised God’ and ‘enjoyed’.

Those are the action verbs in that passage. Those are the things they did, continually and whole heartedly.  And what did they enjoy as a result? The favour of the people. Just some of the people? No. ALL of the people, which resulted in the Lord adding to their number daily those who were being saved, as they found family and friendship, and as they got to know God, his love and his peace. 

The next thing that happened was just extraordinary.  It’s in the next chapter, the passage that Jess just read. Peter and John were going up to the temple, one afternoon, to pray. The text infers that this was something they did on a regular basis, but on this particular day they noticed something that they had probably seen dozens of times before, but never particularly noticed because it was such a common sight – a lame man being carried into the courtyard, so that he could beg.  

This was an ideal spot to beg from Jewish worshippers intent on doing their religious duty, one of which was giving to the poor. So he probably wasn’t the only one.

But today Peter and John did notice him. Why? Because the Holy Spirit had prompted them to do so.

The man had probably seen Peter and John dozens of times too, without particularly noticing them. That’s why Peter had to say to him “Hey you! Look at us!”, in other words “Pay attention, what we’re about to give you is no ordinary act of spontaneous charity, made out of religious obligation.” This was something that the beggar needed to remember in detail all his life, so that he could tell others all about what had happened to him. 

Peter was also trying to attract the attention of anyone else in earshot. He wanted them to see and remember and tell others about it too. 

You’ve heard what happened and you’ve heard the onlooker’s reaction. “They were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him”.  Well, wouldn’t you be? 

But now we have an elephant in the chapel with us, if you understand that expression.  We have a BIG question that can’t really be avoided, and it’s this.   

We know that Jesus did miracles, and healed people. He even raised them from the dead. Now we’re seeing the apostles do miracles, even healing someone who’ve been lame from birth.

So what about miracles today? Should WE be wandering around the Mirepoix market in pairs on Monday mornings, looking at people in the eyes and healing them “in the name of Jesus”? And should we, as a result, be seeing the Lord adding to our number daily those who are being saved?

Fellow Israelites, said Peter, why does this surprise you? ... You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.  By faith, in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.

So, do miracles happen today? Yes, I think so, but I’ve never heard of anyone behaving in the way that Peter and John did that day.  

Nevertheless, we do pray and ask for things, and they do happen.  We believe that, or else we wouldn’t ask, would we? We wouldn’t pray every Sunday for all those names on our list. 

It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him, said Peter.

Testimony from Janet.