Acts 4:20; 3:1-10

You've all received boxes of Cracker Jack this morning as a reminder to share!

Do you remember that old commercial from the '70's..."Sharing"?

The little boy comes in while his father is enjoying a box of Cracker Jack. The father quickly hides the box hoping his son won't notice. And in order to "change the subject" the father begins asking his son about his day at school.

"So what did you learn at school today?"

To which the son replies: "Sharing".

When I was a kid the hardest thing for me to learn was sharing.

 If you have kids you know. There are a whole sets of rules that make up the “principles of sharing”. One such “set” is the Toddler Rules Laws For Sharing:

1. If I like it, it's mine.
2. If it's in my hand, it's mine.
3. If I can take it from you, it's mine.
4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
5. If it's mine, it must not ever appear to be yours in any way.
6. If I'm building something, all of the pieces are mine.
7. If it looks just like mine, it's mine.
8. If I saw it first, it's mine.
9. If you're playing with something and you put it down, it
automatically becomes mine.
10. If it's broken, it's yours.

Let’s be honest, there are lots of times when we’re not very good at sharing.

On the other hand, have you ever notices when you find something really good you can’t help but share it? Some things are too good not to share!

Terrie and I were sitting at an amusement park this summer and I was doing one of my favorite things – eating a large barbecued turkey leg. It was good and it was messing! But it also attracted a lot of attention from the people at the next table. Every time I would pick a piece off the turkey leg they would comment among themselves. Well, I couldn’t help myself (much to Terrie’s embarrassment I assume) I offered them a sample! No, I insisted they taste the turkey leg; which they did, cautiously, and thanked me for my hospitality! The last I saw of the people, they looked like were headed toward the turkey leg stand.

The point is, that turkey leg was too good (and too big) to keep to myself. It needed to be shared. And it was just a turkey leg!

God’s given you and me something a whole lot better than a piece of bird meat on a bone! He’s given us eternal life! And it needs to be shared.

The Good News is not something to be horded to ourselves; you’ve ‘gotta’ share it!

The Gospel is not meant to be private, it’s public; you’ve ‘gotta’ share it!

Your new life in Jesus can’t be hid or horded; you’ve ‘gotta’ share it.

So why aren’t we sharing it more often?

Because we’re scared. We either assume we don’t have enough to share, we don’t know how to share, or if we offer to share the person we wish to share it with will reject both the offer and the “offerer”.

But we ‘gotta’ share!

Our story this morning from Acts chapters three and four illustrate this fact: there’s more than enough to share: we ‘gotta’ share!

So how do we get past the fear or hesitation to share with others? Maybe for you it’s simply an issue of needing to know how to share.

Remember Mary’s story several weeks ago at the 4^th of July fireworks? She told me that was the very first time she had ever talked to anyone about church or the Lord. And as a result Vickie and her two sons have been attending FamilyFellowship!

As we read through the events recorded in Acts chapters three and four I want us to look quickly at nine ‘gottas” (you’ll get it in a minute) concerning sharing our faith with others.

Something this good needs to be shared!

First, let’s recap the story.

Two of Jesus’ Apostles are on their way to church (the Temple) one afternoon to pray. They did this every afternoon about three o’clock.

On their way through the Temple they walked by a crippled beggar sitting at a huge door called the “Beautiful Gate”. This is important, because that location was a close to the Temple as a crippled person could go. On the other side of the door was a large courtyard (about the size of a football field) called the “Women’s Court”. Just about everyone entered through the Gate Beautiful if they were going to the Temple. That made the spot ideal for begging. He wasn’t the only one of course; there were lots of beggars along the twelve steps leading to the Beautiful Gate.

For some reason, this particular beggar caught the attention of Peter. Peter commanded the man, “Look at us!” (I’m sure the man was simply looking everywhere with an outstretched hand crying for money, for the only help he thought he could receive.)

It was Peter’s next statement that caught the man by surprise: “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!”

Then Peter reached out his own hand, grabbed the cripple’s outstretched hand and pulled him up! Instantly the man regained strength in his feet and legs and could walk. Remember – he had never walked before in his entire life!

The Bible says the man literally “jumped to his feet” and began to walk. He went jumping, shouting, praising God – running through the Temple. And the people who normally just gave him a few pennies to shut him up were astounded.

The story does not end there. First, Peter sees all of the people following the former cripple and Peter takes the opportunity to explain that it was the power of Jesus that healed the man. The same Jesus they had crucified less than two months earlier and the same Jesus who rose from the dead three days after the had crucified Him! If Jesus could heal, He could also forgive their sins and they needed to turn to God by accepting Jesus. (Many accepted Jesus as a result of Peter’s sharing His story!)

That little talk and the healing of the cripple get Peter and John into a lot of trouble with the established religious leaders of the Temple. The priests and lawyers of the temple took Peter and John and put them in jail. The next day they were brought before the leaders and told not to either teach or speak in the name of Jesus ever again.

Peter’s answer is our key verse for today: Acts 4:20, “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” [Newell translation: “Sorry, Fellas, but it’s too good not to share! We ‘gotta’ share!]

That’s the story, but this morning I want us to key in on the ‘gottas”. 

(1) First, and this is vital, YOU’VE ‘GOTTA’ HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE.  If you are going to share the Good News it’s got to be something that’s yours personally.

It can’t be something just in your head; it’s ‘gotta’ be in your heart. You have to have experienced Jesus’ forgiveness and eternal life if you want to share it.

It reminds me of the times my kids come asking for “funds”. I take out my wallet and show them the moths – it’s empty. I can’t give to them, even if I want to, if I don’t have anything to give.

You’ve ‘gotta’ have something to share - and if you have Jesus you already have more than enough to share.

Notice Peter’s words in verse six (Acts 3:6) “what I have I give you”.  He gave what he had. He did not let what he didn’t have get in the way of sharing what he did have! And remember this – there is nothing more valuable in all the world that what you have to share about Jesus!

(2) It’s one thing to have something to share, it’s quite another to be willing to share it. That’s why the second ‘gotta’ is YOU’VE ‘GOTTA’ BE WILLING TO REACH OUT.

Peter didn’t just sermonize. He didn’t just “feel the beggar’s pain”. He was willing to reach out and get involved with the beggar! The passage says that Peter “taking him by the right hand”.

Peter got involved!

(3) And he didn’t just get involved – he got involved the “right” way. I don’t know why it strikes me as important, but the passage specifically tells us it was the right hand that Peter used when “he helped him up”.  You see, just reaching out is not enough, YOU’VE ‘GOTTA’ TOUCH IN A MEANINGFUL WAY. Peter helped him up.

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. And the only way to show you care to make it meaningful. Your sharing has to mean something.

That’s why simply telling someone about your church isn’t always enough. Just telling someone you’re a Believer or telling them that “Jesus Saves” doesn’t always hack it! People can tell if you really mean it.

(4) So YOU’VE ‘GOTTA’ BE HONEST as well. Another way to say that is, we’ve got to be TRANSPARENT. When we share people have to see that we are sharing because what we have to share is really good – not because we assume they are really bad.

Look, we’re all in the same boat in many ways. We struggle at times with our families, our jobs, our homes, our lives. We make mistakes. We get hurt. We don’t have to hang out all of our dirty laundry, but we do have to be honest enough to let people know that the big difference in our lives is not that we are better than others, but that Jesus is better and He’s making all the difference!

Peter was genuinely honest with the crippled beggar that day, “I don’t have any money”. I don’t think admitting you’re poor was a very fun thing to do! There were a lot of people watching the two men that day.

Peter had something to share, he was willing to reach out and share it in a meaningful, honest way. He didn’t make the beggar feel bad, the beggar felt bad enough already. Peter set out to help the man by sharing Jesus’ power in his life.

Now the crippled beggar was healed – he was running, jumping, and praising God. But the sharing wasn’t over yet. What we have to realize is our sharing always effects others, not just the initial object of our gift. Others got involved and when that happens…

(5) YOU’VE ‘GOTTA’ LET YOUR CONVICTIONS SHOW.

Here’s the point: when you start to share some people are going to misunderstand. Others will be intimated that you are sharing and they are not. Others simply will not like the fact that you are sharing Jesus. So what you do next will make the difference.

In Acts chapter four Peter and John are rebuked for sharing Jesus. They are literally commanded to stop sharing. But Peter’s reply is neither antagonistic nor spiteful – it’s simply a matter of truth and conviction: “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God”. Peter lived out his convictions.

Will you choose to share Jesus or give into the crowd that wants you to be quiet?

And the thing is, you don’t have to be outrageous to follow your convictions you simply have to be practical…

(6) YOU’VE ‘GOTTA’ BE PRACTICAL. Peter was not talking about what he didn’t know, he was simply sharing what he had “seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). And when he shared he only did what God allowed him to do, he shared God’s power with the crippled beggar, he shared with the crowd the message about what Jesus had done, and he simply told the leaders that Jesus was the only way! It doesn’t get any more practical than that!

(7) YOU’VE also ‘GOTTA’ BE CREATIVE. Creativity means being flexible in how you share. You have to allow God to show you when and what to share. 

Peter set out to heal the cripple but ended up sharing Jesus with probably thousands in the Courtyard that day! Then he ended up sharing before the rulers of the Temple! You’ve ‘gotta” be ready for whatever or whoever God places in your path!

Peter said it this way years later when he wrote his letter to Christians:

“worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But you must do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak evil against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.”  (1 Peter 3:15-16, NLT)

(8) And YOU’VE ‘GOTTA’ BE ENTHUSIASTIC!

Do you know where we get the word “enthusiastic” from? It comes from the word enthusiasm which is actually two Greek words, “en” meaning “in” and “theos” meaning God. Enthusiasm is simply the result of “God in us”. You can’t help but share, you can’t help but speak. 

Acts 4:8 tells us that Peter was “filled with the Holy Spirit”.

Why did it make that point specifically? Wasn’t he filled with God when he healed the beggar or spoke to the crowds? Of course he was. But the Bible wants us to remember that sharing really doesn’t work unless it’s God working through us. That’s what real enthusiasm is all about – God in us.

And with God in you, you can always be confident that He will do a powerful work when you share.

(9) YOU ‘GOTTA’ BE CONFIDENT.

Acts 4:4 tells us that “many who heard the message believed…”

That’s why I’m so excited, enthusiastic about FamilyFellowship.

We can be confident because God is working in us. We have set out to share what God is doing in our lives. We’re willing to reach out in meaningful ways. We’re willing to be honest and practical, and creative. We simply have to be determined to follow through with God’s call for our young church.

As we close, notice how it all started: “One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer…” (Acts 3:1).

It started with both of them working on their own relationship with the Lord. They were going to pray! They were going to church. And as they worked on their relationship with Jesus they couldn’t help but share it with others.

(c) Paul Newell 2003

FamilyFellowship Church

P.O. Box 465, Beaumont, CA 92223

churchforfamily.com