Stay on Message

Passage: Acts 3:11-26

When it comes to selling the Christian faith, churches have tried everything: Big tent revival meetings; door-to-door cold-calling; vans and sandwich boards festooned with Bible verses and “the end is near” slogans; new church facilities with stadium seating and latte bars. Countless books have been published and countless conferences pitched. And we’re all still scrambling to find the best way to get people to come to church.

The technique used by the first church doesn’t seem like that good an idea. In one of the earliest examples of evangelistic preaching, the apostle Peter begins by telling his audience that they’re responsible for the death of his Savior. Peter and John are at the temple in Jerusalem. They have, by the power of the Holy Spirit, just healed a disabled beggar. A crowd of Jewish worshipers has gathered. Peter takes advantage of the opportunity to deliver a message. Here’s the opening clause of his sermon:

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life…

You’d think Peter would ease up after that. He doesn’t. Here’s his conclusion:

For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.’

…When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.

Not exactly a soft sell. The irony is that, in response to this kind of preaching, the early church grew leaps and bounds. We’re told “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47) and “many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand (Acts 4:4).

Are we making the message too easy? Are we sugar-coating the truth? The truth is that all people are born sinners, and that without Jesus Christ we are all lost. The truth is, every human being needs a relationship with God the Father, and the only way to the Father is through the Son, Jesus. This is what we’re about. The church's message boils down to this. This is the message that matters. Maybe we should stop beating around the bush and stay on message.