Acts 8: Compassion That Is Bigger Than Us (Acts 3:1-10)

Element is spending the next few months in the first half of the book of Acts in order to help grow us deeper into the type of church Jesus is calling us to be. Read Acts 3:1-10. How do you tend to view stories about healing? One of the things Peter does is look intently at the man who was crippled before healing him. In John 5 Jesus heals a man who didn’t really want to get better, the man used his infirmity to gain a sympathetic ear to his plight. Getter better is not always what we truly want in our lives. Many times we want our circumstances to change, but we don’t want our responsibility to change. When Jesus (in John 5) and Peter (in Acts 3) bring about these healings, the two men have two very different reactions. One doesn’t say thank you and brings trouble upon Jesus, while the other goes directly into the temple and praises God.