Are you stuck at the gate? Steve Manhanga

Acts 3:1 "One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer - at three in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful,......"
A lame man who was brought to the Beautiful gate was incapacitated and because he was in that condition, he needed special care. He couldn’t work and he needed to be carried. There was nothing wrong with this man in many areas of his body: he could see, speak, touch. He could move his arms and upper torso. In fact, there was only one thing wrong with him – his ankles had no strength. Sometimes only ONE thing can affect our entire life!

This man was handicapped and he needed to be carried. This made him dependent on other people. This man felt discouraged and had low self worth. He felt demeaned. One area of weakness had created another in his life. Not only were his ankles lame – he was lame. We each have a weakness in our lives that keeps us from functioning as a whole person.
What do we do? The easiest thing is to deny our own lameness. God sends people to the gate where we sit to help us receive what God has for us to receive. Watch for that person in your life. Look for that person.
What are you expecting? Acts 3:2 – 3a) What do you want when you go to church? We tend to make the same mistake the lame man made when he was carried to the Beautiful gate that day. He was seeking alms and not expecting a healing. How do we look at other people? What do we expect from our encounter with them?

Illustration of the lame man

b) Vs 6 “What I have I give. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” Peter believed that what he has was better than silver or gold. Was he right? He had Jesus Christ. That is all we need – the power to overcome, to heal, to deliver from oppression and worry etc.

c) V7 We need to help people get up by giving them a hand – the right hand of fellowship. Be expectant! A miracle took place.

Summarised by Molly Manhanga