LIVE SERVICE
This scene of miraculous healing recounted in our passage for today at first seems quite familiar to many other such wonders written all throughout the Gospels. But there's one important difference: Jesus is no longer bodily present with Peter and John when this lame man is healed. The Pharisees and other religious leaders thought that they had dealt with the Jesus 'problem' when they had had him executed by crucifixion, but his troublesome following did not go away. Jesus was raised from the dead, and in the chapters preceding this story of healing, Luke explains how the church (the body of Christ) began with the promised gift of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. A brief overview is given of this wonderful new community of Jesus followers, with mention of signs and wonders. And here at the start of chapter 3, Luke gives a detailed account of this particular healing, carried out through Peter and John: ordinary men, but filled with the Power of Christ by the Holy Spirit. This healing sets the scene for what is to follow: Jesus is not dead and gone as his enemies had hoped - he is alive, and his life gives power to his people.
Jesus' resurrection is the start of all the 'sad things coming untrue' in the words of C.S. Lewis. There is healing power available for us because Jesus was raised from the dead - healing for our souls, minds, bodies, and relationships.
Read this week’s Bible passage: Acts 3: 1-7 & 4:1-14 [NIV]
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ONLINE SERVICE
If you're unable to meet in person, you are welcome to join our online service which will be featuring the previous week's live sermon, available on Sunday at 9 AM (CAT). Watch on YouTube or Facebook.
The idea of someone being physically raised to life after they have died seems pretty far-fetched, especially in this day and age when we have the ability to medically determine whether a body is actually dead or merely has the appearance of death - we’re not so easily fooled as people may have been thousands of years ago. Some have argued that this might have been the case with Jesus’ resurrection: “Perhaps he fell into an unconscious state, with a shallow pulse and barely breathing, so that his disciples thought that he was dead, but after a few day’s rest he recovered?” Others have theorised: “Maybe the Bible is speaking metaphorically when talking about his resurrection?”
...An actual physical resurrection just sounds too incredible to believe - it’s the stuff of myth or movies. But the scientifically inexplicable wonder of Jesus’ resurrection is what vindicated his otherwise outrageous claims. If there is no resurrection then Jesus must be rejected outright, but if there is a resurrection, it means his claims are true. Come join us as we explore the Resurrection, the defining truth of the Christian faith.
Read this week’s Bible passage: 1 Corinthians 15:3-6, 12-26 [NIV]