Acts 3:1-10 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, "Look at us." So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them; walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Acts 4:1-4 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

Peter and John preached that Jesus lives and has risen from the dead. They were full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and the power of God made it possible for them to heal the beggar. The people who were annoyed with Peter and John were the very ones who also demanded the crucifixion. Now they saw that the 5000 believers received the message. They were scared that the gospel and the healing of the lame man would spread throughout the whole land.

Events like this enabled the first church to take a great step forwards and to grow. The first chapter of the Book of Acts reports about the origin of the first church. These events took place about 2000 years ago and, even today, these miracles can still take place and people are being added to the church on a daily basis. Is there something you can do today, so that the message about Jesus will be proclaimed? jk

Scripture for further study:
Psalm 72:18; 66:16; 77:14; 107:22; Isaiah 43:21; Habakkuk 2:14; Matthew 15:29-31; 21:1-16; John 5:14,12-14; Hebrews 13:8