Words of Welcome

  Acts 3:12-21 When Peter and John went to the Temple to pray, a man who had been crippled since birth called out to them, begging for alms. I’m guessing that Peter and John had seen him before this, but this time they responded. Here is their reply laid out in the form of a song I learned long ago .  “ Silver and gold have I none, But such as I have give I thee, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,  rise up and walk. He went walking and leaping and praising God, Walking and leaping and praising God, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,  rise up and walk.” If you had been in the crowd and had seen this man “walking and leaping and praising God,” how would you have responded? When Peter saw that a crowd filled with amazement was gathering in Solomon’s Portico, he knew it was time for a sermon. Peter opened his sermon by letting the crowd know that it wasn’t the power or piety of Peter and John that made the man whole. It was faith in th...