Silver and Gold Have I None

In one paragraph

This message came from Acts 3, the third installment in the pastor's series through the book of Acts. He walked through the healing of a man lame from birth at the Beautiful Gate and Peter's sermon to the crowd that gathered afterward. The whole thing pointed to one conclusion: it was not Peter, it was not John, and it was not their godliness. It was Jesus. the pastor opened with a quick recap of...

Read together

1. Acts 1 Jesus tells disciples to stay in Jerusalem until they receive the Holy Spirit; Judas replaced by casting lots
2. Acts 2 Coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost; crowd confused because they understood; Peter preaches and 3000 are added
3. Acts 2:42 All believers devoted themselves to apostles teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer
4. Acts 3:1-26 Peter and John heal the lame man at the Beautiful Gate; Peter addresses the crowd at Solomon's colonnade
5. John 9 Disciples ask Jesus who sinned regarding the blind man, his parents or himself
6. Isaiah 35 Messianic prophecy that the lame will leap like a deer and those who cannot speak will sing for joy
7. Numbers Sins committed in ignorance have a different offering but still must be made
8. Genesis 12:1-3 God tells Abram to leave his country; promises to bless him and that all families on earth will be blessed through his descendants
9. Exodus 18:15-22 Moses says God will raise up a prophet like him from among the people; anyone who will not listen will be cut off
10. 2 Peter 1:3 Benediction: by God's divine power we have everything we need for living a godly life
11. Ephesians 2:10 We are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works established beforehand

Talk about it

1. Peter and John looked intently at the lame man and said 'look back at us' before anything else happened. What does that kind of attention and connection look like in your own life when you encounter someone who is suffering or in need?
2. Peter told the crowd 'silver and gold have I none, but what I do have I will give you.' What do you actually have to give, and are you giving it to others in Jesus' name?
3. Peter said the healing was 'not by our power or our godliness' and pointed straight to Jesus. When you have helped someone through a hard situation, how easy or difficult is it to credit Jesus rather than yourself?
4. Peter told the crowd that what they did to Jesus was done in ignorance, and yet they were still called to repent. How does recognizing that we have sinned in ignorance change the way you think about repentance in your own life?
5. The sermon ended with the suggestion that rather than seeing ourselves as Peter or John in this passage, we might do better to see ourselves as the man who was lame, lifted up by the gospel and clinging to the apostles' teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer. Which of those four do you find yourself holding on to most tightly right now, and which one are you letting slip?