 a little bit about the early church any of your any thoughts how as you imagine the early church what comes to your mind? Holy spirit, revival, bathing and bathing sermons and lots of people thousands once they receive the Jesus Christ once and it is amazing yeah yeah amazing amazing it's so you know like like it's like a move of God right in what you're hearing yeah so it's incredible yeah how about the others what's coming to your mind you're thinking about the early church would it be exciting to be a part of that? Yes true so when Jesus was walking the earth I'm sure the disciples felt that it was exciting already but once the Holy Spirit was poured out and they started walking in what Jesus had already promised them it was really exciting but the fact is that the same Holy Spirit you remember we said that this promise is for you and for your children's children and for you know everyone who is afar of whoever believes in God so this promise is for us also while it is very exciting to think about the early church and what it could have been like to be part of that church you know every day being part of the worship meetings and seeing the miracles happening around you sharing caring for one another you know we must not just limit ourselves to that because God wants that for us today okay and we as the church of today can also experience the power of the Holy Spirit in the same way so it's not only limited to the apostles but we draw inspiration from there whenever we look at the word of God right we are reminded of what it is that God can do in and through us so today our expectation is wow God if it could happen then it can happen today right it may not look exactly the same as it was in the early church days but the genuine work of God can still take place and lives can be blessed so we will continue from there so all this is happening and it's an amazing time for for the church what happens right as the apostles continue to minister in this way they are baptized in the Holy Spirit and they are standing so bold for the kingdom of God so we will go to the next chapter here which is Acts chapter 3 yes so along with Peter now you have John who like a teamwork both of them step out and they go together to the temple at the hour of prayer okay so the hour of prayer it still shows us that these people were devout Jews they kept their their godly traditions there's nothing wrong with going to the temple and praying connecting with God and they did that so they went there okay but at that time they happened to see a certain man it says and this man was lame from his mother's womb so he had never walked in his lifetime and he was laid at the temple gate daily it says okay so daily meaning for 40 years I don't know when they started bringing him and putting him there for begging but for many many many years I'm sure every day he was at the temple gate so here is you know somebody that that people would have seen very often and the gate the temple gate was called as beautiful and what was he doing there he was sitting there and asking for arms now while this was the scene what happens okay we are going to talk about that so before that I will share my screen with you because I want to show you a picture all right yeah a picture okay so we shall look at this I hope you can see it can you yes okay great great great so you notice here these people they would go to the temple and this is like this is how the temple would look so there would be a lot of people all over the place there is a gate here this is the gate called beautiful over here I think the beggars would sit so the slave man also would sit somewhere here and very close to the the gate is something called a Solomon's porch Solomon's porch is again a space where the Jews would kind of walk around there they would be there as well so this this is the whole complex like the temple complex okay and this is where the scene is set for us and we'll see what happens so I'm going to share with you a video and I really hope you can listen you can hear the volume the sound if you can't please let me know are you able to hear no ma'am you're not able to hear everyone okay let me see what I can do any settings okay I'm not sure guys but what we will do is you just have a look at it I think that in itself is good enough right about this guy who was brought to the gate beautiful can you hear me everyone okay so let me just narrate it to you then but you see the scenes yes okay so Peter and John are going up to the temple for prayer I told you at a particular time and this man who was lame from birth he was carried brought put it at put him at the gate beautiful the place that we saw earlier so he was just sitting there and look what happens Peter and John are going but this person kind of you know he's begging and Peter and John minister to him they ask him to look at them he must have wanted silver or gold but they tell him silver and gold we don't have but what we have we will give it to you what did they have they had the power of God so they say in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth walk okay they release that upon him and look what happens next so now finally Peter holds his hand after commanding that healing and this person who could not walk his entire life he became strong he stood up right and the strength completely came back notice what's happening he's able to walk and he's so happy he hasn't walked for 40 years so only God knows how happy he was just to be able to move around like this so this is what happens in Acts chapter 3 the apostles are continuing to minister and such a notable miracle happened so in that complex there would have been lot of people right they're all recognizing this lame man and they realize oh this guy was not able to walk and now he's able to walk they're all amazed so they were in Solomon's porch so now that people are amazed Peter goes into his next sermon and he preaches to them and tells them how exactly this miracle happened okay so let me stop sharing the screen with us here okay so yeah I hope you enjoyed that so you notice miracles continue to happen we already saw that wonders and signs were being done through the hands of the apostles now in Acts chapter 3 you have a lame man who was able to stand up and walk and he's rejoicing so Peter Peter said minister to this man who would have expected them to give what right give some resources but Peter is ministering God's resources right God's power eternal things are being given to somebody who did not even have any expectation who would I mean that man would never have thought on that day that today would be my day of healing but God did a miracle in his life okay and this man poor man only money could have satisfied him at that point but God knew that there are greater things that can satisfy him right so God released healing and a miracle upon his life he would say miracle because he's he is born lame and crippled from his birth so it was unusual and amazing for such a person to receive God's healing and some people while interpreting these scriptures you know they say things like silver and gold Peter did not Peter and John did not have but they had the power of God and that's what we need to do the work of the ministry now imagine if it was the other way around if they had silver and gold and they did not have the power of God how unfortunate okay so for us as God's people our resources are mainly God's power right are the word that he has given us the power of the Holy Spirit which he has given us now we don't want to be little natural resources yes we do need money we do need you know other things that help us do the work of the ministry but we mustn't let the temporal things replace the eternal things okay so whatever is main and important should remain the primary thing which is the power of God and that's the beauty of this though Peter and John did not have earthly riches at that point they knew that what they had from God was great enough to bless this man so Peter looks at this man and it says fixing his eyes on him so it's all very dramatic okay so he looks fixing his eyes on this lame man with John Peter said look at us so he gave them his attention this man would have looked to them and thought hey if they are asking me to look into their eyes maybe they're going to give me a lot of money so expectation so expecting to receive something from them he looks back at them then Peter says silver and gold I do not have but what I do have I give you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk and then the miracle takes place so he takes him by the right hand and this man stands up and its scripture says immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength where did the strength come from you know notice Peter also says in the name of Jesus the power in the name of Jesus strengthens the frame of a man who has not walked his entire life I mean if you if we can't call this a miracle I don't know what we can call as a miracle so he rises up and how is his joy revealed we are told leaping up meaning jumping up he stood as if that was not enough it says he walked you saw that entire colony he entered the temple with them walking leaping praising God because God had done a great wonder a miracle in his life and all the people around him saw and you know they were also happy they were praising God and the amazing part is that they had known him for such a long time and this miracle happened before their eyes so obviously the people would have wanted to know what exactly happened how could this man be healed and who are these two men you know who who just use the name of Jesus and heal this man so Peter look at the mission of the early church they knew that they have to bear witness to Christ everywhere they went so he looked at this opportunity of a miracle happening as an opportune time to continue preaching the gospel because there would have been a lot of people around him who would not have known about Jesus and who would not have repented and turned back to God so he thought wow through this miracle how about I preach the message of Christ and people come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ so in that Solomon's porch or remember I showed you the picture excuse me Solomon's potico he he gathers there and the people who are gathered he begins to talk to them and then he tells them why do you marvel at this okay so why are you so amazed at what is going on you know what has happened is that through the Lord Jesus Christ this miracle has taken place and then he describes who this Jesus is and he says look this is the person whom God had sent to us but people you know you people you delivered him up to pilot and you thought that you would kill him but you know he goes ahead and he introduces this this Jesus he says he is the prince of life you killed the prince of life you know that is a contradiction in itself how can you kill someone who is a prince of life so once again what is the central message of Peter's sermon the Lord Jesus Christ his deity so he preaches the Lord Jesus Christ he talks about the resurrection and he says God raised him from the dead okay of which we are all witnesses so whatever you are seeing us do we are doing it as witnesses for Christ and he gives them the answer to their question they are marveled at how this miracle happened so in verse 16 he says and his name through faith in his name faith in his name has made this man strong whom you see and know so he's telling them that because Jesus is the Messiah and they have ministered in the name of Jesus this man was able to receive this miraculous strength and yes faith which comes through him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of all so they are letting the people know about the Lord Jesus and the power of God which is at work now obviously once the Lord Jesus is preached what is the next step calling the people to a response so Peter does that and he says look whatever has happened you know maybe you people who have crucified Jesus you've done it in ignorance as did the rulers okay however what can you do now you can repent okay and you give your hearts to God you change from the inside out because when you do that when you repent right your sins will be blotted out he says okay and God's God will work in your life and he will bring that time of refreshing so he basically preached Christ to them and he goes on to you know in the context of the Jews earlier he brought up David but now he talks about Moses he talks about Moses he talks about prophets and he says that you honor these people but you know what the person that they were pointing to is the Lord Jesus Christ how can we not honor the person whom all the others we honor honor right like so this has to be the greatest person so he says yes look everyone everyone foretold of this person the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Messiah and therefore you know he calls them to repentance and he says turn to Jesus you confess your sins and you know give your lives to the Lord and he will forgive you he will forgive you and all your sins will be blotted out your inequities will be forgiven so this is the manner in which Peter and John actually ministered that day so some of the beautiful things that we see is they don't leave any occasion to preach Christ okay and even when a miracle takes place right what could we do we could just say hey it's great it's wonderful this has happened and that's it but Peter and John use that miracle to once again preach Christ so that is also something we can do every time you know we have seen a healing or a deliverance or something has happened and people ask us how did it happen it's an opportunity for us to share about the Lord Jesus and the work that he has done you know and the love of God which has been shown to us through the life of the Lord Jesus okay so I just want to pause here and check with all of us if you're doing fine and if you have any thoughts or comments about this miracle that took place in the layman's life isn't that an incredible miracle 40 years someone is just not able to walk and finally on a day when they never expected and what did he expect hardly anything he just wanted some money but God gave him the ability to walk okay and such were the miracles that the early church was walking in so doesn't it inspire us to see similar miracles of God in our day and time have you seen any such wonderful works of God and would you like to share it not like a born lame but I was a ministering in one of the church in Kerala Shodanur lady more 50 years old lady was brought by chair for some people she couldn't walk for some three four months or five six months she was terribly suffering in a pain uh if I want if I speaking honestly I don't have that much of faith the church people pushed me to pray for that so after I prayed I don't have faith to ask her to raise and walk things and all church people are so excited very innocent people uh that's they surrounded from the villages and all they encourage that lady to walk and she stood up and walked so much of joy for everyone because she brought by the chair to inside the church I was amazed and surprised that's amazing God moved in a powerful way she rejoiced and celebrated God and they don't know much about Jesus they're from the non-believing bank room I've seen such miracles when I'm ministering God is so grateful not only there's seen so many things God has moved in a healing power way that's amazing to see the God's working people's life yes yes it's amazing indeed Thomas thank you for sharing and when unbelievers are watching this it's a it can point see miracles can point people to God because they have a question and they're wondering how could this happen so at that point when we talk about Jesus you know they they will know that this is actually a work of God and then we can call them to repentance and also notice here Peter never took the glory it's an amazing miracle okay and he could have put it in his resume and said you know when I finished preaching the the greatest sermon after 3000 people were added which is also on my resume okay now a man who couldn't walk for 40 years is able to walk and I did it okay I ministered through the power I ministered the power of the Holy Spirit so you don't find them claiming right to praise adoration from the people they could have easily got that because people were amazed people were praising God they were rejoicing but they were careful to give God glory in his explanation of what happened Peter said that this has happened he talks about Jesus and he says by faith in his name this man has received strength so look at the humility the early church was walking in great signs and wonders but also they were walking in debate humility they knew that it is only God who should be glorified so not at any one point will you see these apostles trying to claim that these miracles were because of them so there was great miracles signs wonders great humility okay that is also something we can learn so if in today's time these kind of things happen we must be careful to give God the glory okay and that is something we can learn from this passage and God's power is always enough as we are walking in sync with the Holy Spirit God prompts us you know that's another beautiful thing you notice here while Peter and John went to the temple I'm I don't know whether they knew already whether the Holy Spirit had prompted to them and told them that today you are going to do this maybe in the prayer time prayer time or whatever God could have told him that however from what we read it seems like you know it just happened like you're suddenly of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit but that was the time that God wanted to minister to this lame person right so God's timing God's prompting us being in sync with what the father is doing that's the way Jesus ministered when he was ministering you know God would put different things in his heart okay that paralyzed person there go minister to him this blind man here go minister to him so moving in sync with the Holy Spirit now this person who was at the gate beautiful was he there when Jesus was walking the earth you know three months prior Jesus was alive and we know about Jesus that he too was a devout Jew so like Peter and John they went to the temple to worship God I'm sure Jesus also would have gone to the temple many times and this man is sitting there for 40 years you think Jesus would have seen him yes Jesus would also have seen this man many many times but moving in sync with the Holy Spirit with the father because Jesus said whatever I see the father do I do it so at this point the father would have impressed it on the hearts of the disciples and said okay this is the day for the individual at gate beautiful to be healed so they're going by the rhythm of the father and this man is ministered too so the point I'm making is being open to the leading of the Holy Spirit being open to what the father is putting on our hearts you know ministry in ministry that's being led by God so at a given point in time you're doing what God wants you to do and you see the fruit of that you see the manifestation of God's power in a in an amazing way right so it was in that sense the timing for this man to receive his healing and he actually did and it was incredible and it gave an opportunity for many people to know about the Lord Jesus Christ so you find Peter preaching once again his central theme is the Lord Jesus as the Messiah and he also points out and tells these believing Jews that when they honor prophets like Moses and Samuel and all of them you must honor the Lord Jesus because he is the one that they were all pointing to so that is something you see unfold in chapter three now we will move on to chapter four of the book of acts okay so now that this amazing miracle has happened what would John and Peter have expected the people to do for them put them on a pedestal take them around for a tour in Jerusalem maybe shouting slogans and saying oh wow these are the two men who did this miracle I'm not sure what they expected out of it right but chapter four we will see exactly what happened to Peter and John so Peter and John what are they doing they are preaching in Solomon's portico as people are standing there they are ministering so that people will be saved over them okay but in the meantime what's going on we are told that priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them or they were they kind of rushed to the spot why because they were disturbed that the people became an audience to a different message the message about Jesus Christ and the leaders knew that the people will turn away from following them to following these apostles and the man Jesus Christ that they are pointing to to add to all of it in Peter's message he talked about how the Lord Jesus could not be killed the prince of life right whom you tried to kill but God raised him up so the message of resurrection which the Sadducees did not believe in okay so for them here is a threat and how far away is the threat right in the temple there is a threat which will lead people away from them okay so the message of the gospel it was amazing to the listeners who wanted to know how this miracle took place who is this Jesus why should we follow this Jesus but again you have another set of people here for whom the message is a threat because people will leave them and they will follow somebody else so how did Peter and John get treated on that day was three we are told that they laid hands on them meaning they went they grabbed them they caught them and what they put them in custody okay so so after this amazing miracle what should the apostles go through a trial okay something that I'm sure they would not have expected but did God prepare them for for this yes because Jesus told them right he told them that if they persecute me why would they not persecute you if they persecute the master why would they not persecute the disciples so they probably were prepared mentally and they had already seen Jesus go through all the difficulties during his trial and we also talked about the fact that now the disciples are bolder because they have seen the resurrection of Christ they are also filled with the Holy Spirit and this is happening to them opposition is coming their way persecution is just sort of you know let loose on them so they are put into custody until the next day okay why until the next day because you know it was already evening and they could not be questioned or interrogated about the miracle that had taken place and this is the last thing you expect it for serving someone you know who needed a miracle you know being okay don't praise us don't take us on a you know like don't take us around the city to to reveal that we have done a mighty work but at least don't put us in the prison but that's what they got being put in the prison however you know even though this was a difficult thing that took place the good part of what happened there in the temple is in verse 4 we read that many believed those who heard the word believed so the apostles are doing their primary responsibility which is to preach the word after the miracle what did they do they preach the word they preach Christ and I told you earlier whenever we preach the word the word does its work the spirit of God moves upon the word that we are ministering and God is not obligated to work on anything else other than his word right so they did their part they ministered the word and people responded and we are told that the number of men who came to be was about 5000 right so so many people have responded to the message and they have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ so for a true minister of God you know we look at the actual rewards what is the reward here a man got healed wow praise God God be glorified people are saved people are added to the church that is my reward what else is happening persecution is happening but you know the apostles obviously you know their minds would have been in the rewards the eternal rewards that they were actually getting through the work that they were doing as witnesses and that that really gives us perspective as ministers of God how we must do God's work what we should expect and you know how we must keep our focus on the things that really should bless our hearts so now they have been put in the custody and they are going to be questioned okay and the next day this is happening the questioning has started it says that the rulers elders and scribes as well as anus the priest okay so there's a list of names that all these wonderful great men of the temple the leaders the rulers they all gathered excuse me so they all gathered together brought these men before them so we are told that Peter and John had to stand before all these people of influence and authority and answer some questions so the question they post to Peter and John is by what power or by what name have you done this right so I already told you thankfully their hearts were rejoicing in what God was doing okay and if they were discouraged by this kind of a response to their ministry you know I don't know what would have happened but thank God the apostles did not get disappointed or feel bad they did a miracle and now all the leaders the great leaders are standing before them including you know anus the high priest and they are questioning them how dare you how could you do this and in whose name have you done this as if they are criminals being questioned for what for doing a good work okay so this is the scene right what do you need at such a time when you are being questioned for something that you have done for God as ministry we are told that Peter he was filled with the Holy Spirit right and he responds to the authorities he addresses them and he says on this day you know you are judging us for a good deed which we have done for a helpless man so you know he also puts it across in that way and says what has happened is a good thing okay and he is not at all scared of fearful to reveal to them that we did it in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth you know when you say Jesus Christ of Nazareth you're not giving them any ambiguity you're being very clear on the individual that you are referring to and again you know going back to the fact that roughly two months back it was a big deal in Jerusalem the crucifixion of Jesus right authorities were involved they were a part of it and they hated this this man who supposedly claimed to be the king of the Jews and here Peter is standing boldly and saying you're asking us in whose name we've done it we've done a good job and you want to know in whose name okay I'll tell you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth okay it's it's a very bold thing what Peter did on that day and he also talk in talking to the authorities he says whom you crucified wow that's a you know that's a very bold way of speaking but we are told here that Peter filled by the Holy Spirit had that kind of boldness and once again you know he doesn't try to sugarcoat the message but he says that God also raised up this Jesus Christ and they did not obviously you know many of them did not want to hear that message that Jesus was raised from the dead by God and then he goes on to tell them that this person whom you have rejected right scripture there's he quotes a scripture there and he says the stone which was rejected by you builders which has become the chief cornerstone he says in his name whom you rejected we raised this man from the dead okay and he also glorifies the name of Jesus and he says salvation is found in no other name but only through this one name right by which man can be saved so you see here the boldness of Peter and John before the authorities and they are not afraid to claim the the victory in the name of Jesus the power in the name of Jesus now when the authorities were listening to Peter and John you know it's so unfortunate that sometimes the messenger may get judged okay the message is a powerful message but the messenger you know people are like how do these guys have so much wisdom to speak like in this way so once again they got judged you remember when people were talking in tongues and people the those visiting Jerusalem heard their own languages they said hey these are men from Galilee right these are men from Galilee how do they how did they manage to speak in this manner so they were not you know well read fluent in other languages you know people who could be credited with education and also even earlier that happened and now the rulers are looking at Peter and John and say oh these guys we know them and what terms do they use to judge them they are looked upon as uneducated untrained men and looking at the boldness of these men the authorities are it says marveled or they were amazed and they realized okay these men have been with Jesus okay isn't that wonderful that even the authorities attributed the boldness that they saw in the disciples to the master and said okay that man Jesus was so bold and I'm sure he would have trained these disciples of his to also be bold so being with Jesus has transformed the lives of the disciples what a wonderful testimony and that is what the rulers are saying they're saying it's not possible for for these uneducated people to speak like this but the reason they are like this must be because of that man the Lord Jesus and we know the reason one more reason is we said Peter being filled with the Holy Spirit it says okay so he was not speaking on his own he was speaking by the power of the Holy Spirit now could the authorities accuse Peter and John of doing something wrong well in verse 14 we are told because of the nature of the miracle okay it was an unusual miracle this man who was healed and now he's standing and everybody has seen what has happened excuse me so the authorities were not able to deny what God did and this is true about every you know true miracle that God does if God has done it you know it cannot be denied and it was really before the authorities and they could not deny this mighty work which God had done okay so what we'll do is I think we will stop here because we're going to look at the response of the authorities and you know what exactly happens after this how the authorities warn them you know not to continue doing the ministry the name of Jesus and what the response of the early church is to this kind of threatening which the apostles receive okay so we will continue to look at it we just have a couple of minutes so we will pause at this point so today we have seen how the early church was growing together how people were being added how the apostles went and did the ministry what kind of attitude they carried while they did the work of the ministry and what doing ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit brought upon them okay and even the opposition that they faced they were facing it by the power of the Holy Spirit and they were never afraid to give the correct reason for the work of God you know which is God himself so every time they came back to the fact that it is the Messiah it is the the name of Jesus it is the power of God which was actually working through them and blessing the lives of the people so that's a little bit of what we have seen right now in the book of facts and we will continue I would encourage you to read the remaining of chapter 4 and also chapter 5 we will continue to look at the early church and some of the things that happened there through I think chapter 5 chapter 6 right chapter 7 also and then eventually you will have these leaders step out to other places and start doing the ministry so you know we will look at all those things later so at this point as we are closing any thoughts from your side or any questions okay so do take it all in and I would also recommend the video that I showed you it's actually from a movie it's called acts of the apostles the movie is called acts of the apostles and the full movie is also on youtube I don't know if you know you're allowed to put it out there free but a lot of people have put it out there free and the good part about this movie is it is verse by verse okay so you would see the narration as per the book of acts so you can watch it as you read so you read two chapters you watch the movie also and you come to class you will sort of see the story unfolding before your eyes okay so if possible read up and also watch the video and you can come we will take up the next couple of passages in the next class so would somebody like to pray please before we close today are in could you please pray yeah sure yeah thank you Lord thank you for for your word and thank you for this day for blessing us to study word again Lord Lord yes Lord thank you I think she's left the meeting so I'll pray and close Heavenly Father we thank you once again for everything that we are seeing and learning in your word we pray Lord that it will enrich our lives and God that we will continue to walk Lord in greater obedience to you and we will see that same power Lord that the early church saw being demonstrated through our lives Father we ask your blessing upon each and every one of us we commit everything into your hands in Jesus name we pray amen amen and thank you church God thank you class God bless you take care and I'll see you again in the next class bye for now thank you thank you mom