Acts 3:6-8 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.

On their way to church Peter and John dropped the greatest pick-up line ever. “Silver and gold, I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” For some reason they were looking for someone to pick up and take to church with them. These guys had just experienced the grace of the Holy Spirit moving in them and instead of just getting themselves to church on time they were looking for someone else to bring. The person they found just happened to be too broken for church. In fact, this guy had been sitting outside church most of his life hoping to get something from the church goers, never expecting to actually go to church. Peter and John were not going to let this man’s reason for not going to church stand in the way. They asked God to remove the barrier for this man and God fixed the reason the guy couldn’t enter. The broken guy finally gets to walk into church under his own strength and everyone there recognizes him saying, “isn’t that the guy who has been sitting outside the building all his life?”. Yes, in fact he has been waiting all of his life to get into the church, but for some reason nobody picked him up. Two guys who were just filled with the Holy Spirit finally picked the guy up in the name of Jesus and now everyone at church is amazed. What a cool way to start a service.

When I read this story, I wonder which person in the story I am. Sometimes I feel like the guy who is too broken for church and other times I feel like the people at church who are amazed this guy came in on his own two feet. The person I want to be is the one who slows down enough on the way to see the ones who believe they are too broken, believe God for a miracle, pick them up and go to church together. This is the power of the Holy Spirit continuing the ministry of Jesus through normal human beings like Peter and John. Had Peter and John not spent three years with Jesus and then waited in Jerusalem to be filled with the Holy Spirit after the resurrection, we would have never heard their names. These two guys would have been just like the billions of other people who move thorough life day by day, but that was not God’s plan for them. This is the first healing miracle after Jesus left the planet. Peter and John were trusting what Jesus told them, walking in the power of the Holy Spirit and letting God display heaven on earth on their way to church. They didn’t wait to get to church to see if God would move through someone else, they believed God would move through them. 

Who do you relate to in this story? 

• The man too broken to go into church.
• The people who passed him by amazed that he came to church.
• The two who stopped to pick him up and bring him to church.

30 Days Toward Greater Faith

1. Wait? - Acts 1

2. Amazed - Acts 2

3. Pick Up Lines - Acts 3