Glynlea Grace United Methodist Chruch

Scripture

Acts 3:1-16

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. ² And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at that gate of the temple which is called Beautiful to ask alms of those who entered the temple. ³ Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms. ⁴ And Peter directed his gaze at him, with John, and said, "Look at us." ⁵ And he fixed his attention upon them, expecting to receive something from them. ⁶ But Peter said, "I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." ⁷ And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. ⁸ And leaping up he stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. ⁹ And all the people saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰ and recognized him as the one who sat for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. ¹¹ While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's, astounded. ¹² And when Peter saw it he addressed the people, "Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? ¹³ The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. ¹⁴ But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, ¹⁵ and killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. ¹⁶ And his name, by faith in his name, has made this man strong whom you see and know; and the faith which is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

Summary and Function

Summary: As the Body of Christ, the primary thing we have to offer is a relationship with Jesus Christ. We offer Christ!! He is the answer to all our social ills and personal problems. He is the only one who can save us. We offer the one thing everyone needs. Yes, we help people with material needs and money. We also visit people in hospitals and prisons. We’re always praying for people and offering them emotional support. All of these good works, however, are done in the name of Jesus. As we help people, we introduce them to Jesus. This is what the Apostle Peter was getting at when he said to the crippled beggar, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” (Acts 3:6)

Function: To equip and encourage the congregation to offer Christ.

The Sermon

I. Introduction: People often misidentify their wants as needs

A. My 2 year old son, Joshua, demands his ‘wants’ as if they are ‘needs’

· When Joshua wakes up, he thinks he has to play. He thinks he doesn’t need to sit at the table to eat breakfast.

· To him, playing is a need. Eating a good breakfast is a want.

· My wife and I, however, know that he needs to eat a nutritious breakfast. We insist that he sit down at the table top eat breakfast.

· Joshua will sometimes use loud crying to let us know that he disagrees with our assessment of what he really needs.

B. This confusion between ‘wants’ and ‘needs’ often stays with us into our adult years.

· People need reliable transportation. A simple car would fulfill this need. Yet, people think they need fancy sports cars or big huge trucks that cost an exurbanite amount of money.

· In my case I think I ‘need’ to have

- Coffee every morning

- Oftentimes, That coffee ‘needs’ to be Starbucks

- Then I think I ‘need’ a pastry with that Starbucks coffee even though I had lunch

- Often, when I get that Starbucks coffee and Danish, I find myself getting really full and thirstier. What I really needed was water, not Starbucks.

- We often confuse our ‘wants’ with ‘needs’

· To have joy, peace and security in life, people think they ‘need’

- Lots of money

- Lots of the latest and greatest things

- Notoriety

- Power and influence

- None of these items are ‘needs’. They are only ‘wants’.

II. There is only one thing we really need in order to have joy, peace and security. It is a

relationship with Jesus Christ.

A. Sin is the root of all our problems and sufferings.

· Sin is simply doing what you want rather than what God wants. It is selfishness.

· Addictions (drug, alcohol, pornography etc…): We satisfy our cravings rather than do what God wants us to do. Selfishness/sin is the root cause.

· Injustice/Oppression: People don’t care if they hurt weaker people as long as they get what they want. Selfishness/sin is the root cause.

· Current economic crisis: Banks make unwise loans to get money quickly and people take loans they can’t repay because they want a house now. Selfishness/sin is the root cause.

· Divorce: Spouses don’t consider what is best for each other. They do what they want. Again, selfishness/sin is the root cause.

B. Jesus takes care of our sins.

· As ‘God in the flesh’ Jesus lived the perfect life, died for our sins. He paid the penalty for our sins. On the third day, he rose from the dead, conquering sin, death and evil on our behalf.

· Because Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, we are forgiven and can have a restored relationship with God.

· As people with a restored relationship with God, we receive the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to resist our sinful nature.

· In this way, Jesus rescues us from the guilt and power of sin

III. The church offers everyone the one thing we all need: Jesus Christ!

A. This is what Peter was doing when he said top the crippled beggar, “I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” (Acts 3:6)

· Peter left his livelihood of fishing to follow Jesus, so he didn’t have a lot of money.

· What he did have, however, was Jesus and it is Jesus who heals.

· The early church grew because it offered people Christ

B. The church should follow Peter’s example

· As a church we do many things to help people

- We helped pay people’s rents and utilities

- We give things away at the Thrift Store

- We visit people in hospitals

- We deliver meals on wheels

- We help with Family Promise

· It’s good we help people with their material and emotional needs. Jesus wants us to do that. However, if that’s all we do, then we are nothing more than another social service agency. In addition to helping people, we must also offer them Christ!! After all, He is the ultimate answer to all their problems.

· In everything we do as a church, we must offer people to Christ.

- Pumpkin patch

1) Invite people to church

2) Hand out tracts or church brochures

3) Pray with people

- Thrift Store

1) Invite people to church

2) Hand out tracts or church brochures

3) Pray with people

- Meals on Wheels

1) Pray with the people

2) Invite to church

· In everything we do as individuals, we must offer people Christ

- Share your testimony at every opportunity

- Invite a friend to church

- Pray for someone at every opportunity

B. At KAIROS, we offered Christ

· Last week-end I attended a prison ministry called KAIROS

· We didn’t employ any heavy handed evangelism techniques. We simply loved them and introduced them to the love of Jesus

· Two men gave their lives to the Lord, the rest re-dedicated their lives to God. Grown men were crying and hugging each other

· One man gave his life to the Lord at the previous KAIROS week-end. He went from being a bitter, angry, isolated man to being happy and sociable. He visibly showed the love of Christ in his eyes.

IV. Conclusion: You can’t offer Christ if you don’t have him. All you need to do is accept

him into your heart. If you have not done that, you can do so now.