Acts (3)

Be sure to view the video introducing our study of Acts 3 (Lesson 3) by clicking here.

Read and meditate on Acts 3.9, 10.
Well I guess! Wouldn’t you be filled with “wonder and amazement” at such a thing? We note that the people “saw him walking and praising God.” The life of faith is meant to be flaunted, displayed, proclaimed, and celebrated. It is not merely a private affair, as some of Christianity’s detractors might like.

For reflection
1.  The healing power of the Gospel releases energies of joy and worship that come to the attention of the watching world when they are put on display in the everyday settings of the world. In what everyday settings of your life should the people who know you observe your joy and worship in knowing the Lord?

2.  Most folks in this situation had come to the temple to praise God. They were doubtless planning to do so formally, as a group, following a prescribed liturgy or program. Then leave. This man’s praise was so genuine, earnest, and constant that people flocked to see the fuss. Meditate on Micah 4.1-8. This last days text could be seen as looking forward to just such a situation as we see in Acts 3. Micah foresees people from the world flocking to see the fuss as well. Why? What was leading them to seek the Lord?

3.  When they recognized the man lame from birth, and saw what he was doing, please remember: these folks had passed by this fellow every day for years,so they were “filled with wonder and amazement.” What’s the difference between wonder and amazement? How should the coming of the Kingdom in your community cause people to wonder? To be amazed? Does the Christianity your church shows to its community cause people to wonder and be amazed? Should it?

4.  The Lord continued to use signs and wonders like this in carrying out His ongoing work of advancing the Kingdom of God. There is no reason to think He has stopped doing this today. We might, however, expect the signs and wonders in our day to be of a sort more characteristic of what is likely to cause our own generation to experience wonder and amazement. Such as? How might local churches, working together, sign the reality of the Kingdom in their community?

5.  Who are the people most likely to observe such “signs and wonders” in your walk with the Lord? Have you asked the Lord to let you show Him to them? What about your lifestyle would sign the Kingdom to the people around you, and cause them to wonder about the hope they see in you?

Summary
The Kingdom comes with distinguishing signs, signs so wonderful, so out of the ordinary, that people who observe them cannot help but question and be amazed. Do you think Christians today expect the Kingdom to come in and through them in this way? Why or why not?

Closing Prayer
In my distress I called upon the LORD,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.
Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.
Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With darkness under His feet.
And He rode upon a cherub, and flew;
He flew upon the wings of the wind.
He made darkness His secret place;
His canopy around Him was dark waters
And thick clouds of the skies.
From the brightness before Him,
His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.
The LORD thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe,
Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.
Then the channels of the sea were seen,
The foundations of the world were uncovered
At Your rebuke, O LORD,
At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
He sent from above, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me,
For they were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the LORD was my support.
He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.

Psalm 18.6-19

T. M. Moore

Each week’s studies in Acts are bound together into a free PDF that you can download for personal or group use (click here). Each week also features a video related to the studies of the week, which you may find helpful as you work through our studies Acts.

Acts is the record of Christ’s ongoing work as King and Lord. For more insight to His work in our here and now, order the book, The Kingship of Jesus, from our online store by clicking here.

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