Acts 3: 1-10

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at that gate of the temple which is called Beautiful to ask alms of those who entered the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms.  And Peter directed his gaze at him, with John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention upon them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning!

So here's what happened: Peter and John went to the temple. For the Jewish people, the day began at 6 a.m.; that's the first hour. They had sacred hours of prayer at 9 and 12 and 3. Those were the special hours of prayer for the Jewish people.

It was 9 in the morning. They were coming out of the temple after prayer. They were filled with the Spirit. They knew Jesus. They were filled with God. As they were leaving the temple, there was a man on the ground. He couldn't walk. We're told his legs were not able to carry him. He would stay at the temple gate asking for donations. The people coming out of temple were generous people, and they helped him.

When Peter and John got to him, he looked for a donation. They stopped, and they looked at him. Then the Bible says a curious thing. It says that Peter said, 'Look at us.'" I wonder why he said that. Maybe the man was just looking at their purses. But Peter said, “Look at us." And the man looked up and looked them in the eye. And Peter said, “Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I will give thee. In the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk." And the Bible says that he extended his right hand, and the man took his right hand. In that beautiful moment, it was a dignified person speaking to a dignified person, eye to eye. In that moment, he was offering his strong hand to the man that did not have strength. And the man took his hand, and he stood up! He was on his feet. He could balance. Then the Bible tells us that he went into the temple, and he began to walk around. The people were amazed. He began to leap. He probably did a little dance. A miracle happened. This person who was down on the ground was touched by a person who recognized his worth and dignity and who lifted him up. That's what the spirit of Jesus Christ does in people.

Friend, we're on star number 3. We're looking these weeks at the five stars for the faithful Christian: How to find fulfillment in your faith. We're looking at number three today. Remember the first one, at the top of the cross? Worship! Remember the Lord's Day to keep it holy, says the Bible. Worship is the first guiding star of the faithful Christian. And when you come to worship, that should give you fulfillment in your faith.

The second star is at the root, at the foundation. That star represents “Grow". We grow in Christ. And the three ways to grow are to read, to study, and to pray. That's how we grow in Christ. That's the second way we become faithful Christians. We grow. We worship.

And now, the third star is the star of service. One of the things that makes us distinctive as Christians is that we have an urge to serve. We are fulfilled when we serve. It's the star of service.

What is service? Is there an easy way to get a handle on this? I think so. Here's a story I will never forget: I was at a teaching institute with Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. Some of you are too young to remember who Dr. Peale is. He wrote The Power of Positive Thinking, and he was the minister of Marble Collegiate Church in New York City for 50 years. At this particular school, Dr. Peale was in his mid-nineties. At the closing session, the entire faculty was sitting up on the platform. All of us ministers were sitting facing them, taking notes and asking questions. One minister stood up and asked a question. (I wish it had been me; it wasn't.)

He stood up and said, “I have a question directly for Dr. Peale. No offense to any of the other faculty. Dr. Peale, what do you believe is the purpose for preaching?"

I'll never forget what happened. Dr. Peale was sitting in his chair, listening to what was going on. When he heard that, he slowly got to his feet and made his way over to the podium, and said, “I will now tell you what I believe is the purpose of preaching."

We all took out our notebooks and wrote the numerals 1 to 25, convinced that Dr. Peale was going to give us the real thing. “I believe that the purpose of preaching is to help people …" And that was all he said. I will never forget it.

The purpose of preaching is to help people. What does Christian service mean? What does it mean to serve? It means to help people! And you are the people who have been touched by the very spirit of Jesus Christ, and therefore it is your natural inclination to overflow with that love, to help people. Jesus' hands were kind hands, open to anyone. The heart of Jesus was the heart that wanted to help.

How do we do it? How do we be of Christian service? We can follow that star two ways. I'll just mention two ways. One way is to help through the church, to help people become disciples of Jesus Christ. What greater gift can you give people than to lift up their spirits? You wonderful musicians this morning, you are being of service. Ushers, you are being of service. Folks who plant beautiful flowers and keep our grounds neat, you are calling people to Christ. Choir, you are calling people to Christ. Those of you who work in the office folding bulletins, or working with stewardship late at night when nobody else knows you're there, you are being of service. Oh, my Christian friends, when you are noticed and when you are not, when it's rewarding and when it is frustrating, when it is very thrilling – like working on Habitat for Humanity where you can see what you're doing – or when nobody sees and nobody knows except God and you, you are following the star of service. It is a brilliant thing to do.

When you are teaching Sunday School, when you are praying for someone, you are uplifting the cross of Christ, and you are being of Christian service. It's a beautiful thing. It matters not what age you are. It matters not what station you are in life. Follow the star of service, and let the love of Jesus overflow from your heart.

The second way to be of service is directly. Whenever you help someone out, in some way or other, you are following the star. Oh, you folks who run the Rummage Sale so that money can be given to mission, you folks who contribute to the offering knowing that part of your gift is going right outside the walls of this church for mission and the rest of it is going for mission in community, you are being of service. Those of you who will work like crazy this week to make the Bazaar go, you are being of Christian service. God honors you for it.

And so, dear friends, I invite you to go forth into the week knowing that this is another star to follow. See if there is a need God is placing before you, someone who needs the blessing of a Christian heart, someone that needs your help.

Let me close with this: it doesn't matter how young or old we are. Children can be touched by God and do Christian service. This Halloween I had the privilege of walking with a group of adults as we supervised children going trick-or-treating. As the children ran from house to house on that beautiful clear Friday night and they'd go to ring the doorbell, one little girl about 3 years old, dressed like a little angel, was having a hard time keeping up with the others. There was a little boy in the group, dressed as Harry Potter. He was having as much fun as the others, but he had a special place for the little angel, and he just made sure that she got her candy, too, and that she didn't get pushed around by the other kids, and that when she went down the stairs she didn't trip on her costume. He didn't know anyone was watching. He just did it out of love, because there was a place in his heart for the littlest one.

And so it is for all of us, dear Christian friends. Let the love of Christ shine through you as you follow the star of service. God loves you. I do, too.  Have a wonderful week. Amen.