The Preaching in Acts - Darren Rowse
Have you ever noticed how the best stories don't need elaborate introductions? Sometimes the most powerful opening line isn't a line at all — it's a person, standing right in front of you, living proof that something extraordinary has happened.
That's exactly what Peter discovered one afternoon in Jerusalem. He didn't need a clever hook or a profound quote. His opening line was leaping around the temple courts — a man who hadn't walked a single step in forty years, now jumping and praising God. The sermon had already begun before Peter opened his mouth.
This week, Darren Rowse took us into Acts 3, where we encounter Peter's second recorded sermon in the book of Acts. It's a sermon born from a miracle, spoken to a crowd desperate to understand what they'd just witnessed. The passage invites us not just to observe Peter's words, but to locate ourselves somewhere in this ancient scene — at the gate, in the crowd, or perhaps in the transformation itself.
You can watch Darren’s message on Acts 3 above or listen to the full sermon below.
The Healing That Started It All
The scene unfolds at 3 o'clock on an ordinary afternoon. Peter and John are heading to the temple for prayer when they encounter a man who's been a fixture at the Beautiful Gate for as long as anyone can remember. For forty years, this man has been unable to walk, unable to work, and under Jewish law, unable to enter the temple to worship. Every morning, his family carries him to this spot — prime real estate for begging, with maximum foot traffic and people in a spiritually receptive frame of mind.
When Peter and John approach, the man extends his hand, expecting perhaps a coin or two. But Peter stops. He looks straight at the man and says something unexpected: "Silver and gold I don't have. But what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."
Peter reaches down, takes the man's hand, and pulls him to his feet. Strength floods into feet and ankles that have never borne weight. The man stands. He takes a tentative step, then another. And then — he leaps.
"He walked through the gate and he leaps. He leaps, jumping, praising God in the temple courts."
This isn't just unusual behaviour for the temple courts. This is a man literally embodying the prophetic vision from Isaiah 35, which describes the coming Messianic age: "Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy."
The crowd takes notice immediately. They recognize this man — they've walked past him hundreds of times. And now he's doing something they never imagined possible. The question hangs in the air: What is going on here?
This is the moment Peter steps forward to preach. No opening joke needed. No illustration required. The living illustration is leaping in front of them.
The Miracle Is the Message
Darren highlighted something crucial that's easy to miss: Peter doesn't perform a miracle and then switch to "the real message." The miracle IS the message embodied.
This is a pattern we see throughout Acts and throughout Jesus' ministry. The healing creates hunger for the sermon. It raises questions that the sermon can answer. The transformation and the explanation work together — they're both gospel.
"The healing and the preaching together are the gospel. Something real has happened, and here's what it means."
People noticed transformation 2,000 years ago, and they notice it today. Not just physical healings, but character changes. Relationships restored. People who speak differently because they've encountered Jesus. People facing tragic circumstances who respond with hope instead of despair. Those who have fallen and failed being lifted up and restored.
Transformation makes people lean in. It creates the curiosity that opens hearts to hear about Jesus.
Before we move further into Peter's sermon, Darren invited us to ask: Where do you see yourself in this story?
Are you the man before healing? Perhaps you feel stuck, paralyzed in some area of life. Maybe you're at the gate, watching others worship but feeling unable to go further.
Are you the man after healing? Jesus has done something in your life, but you're containing it, worried about what leaping might look like to others. ("My wife often says to me when I tell her I'm happy, why don't you tell your face?")
Are you Peter or John? You come with empty hands but actually have exactly what the world needs — an encounter with Jesus.
Are you in the crowd? Just curious, watching, wondering who this Jesus is that people keep talking about.
The Content of Peter's Sermon
With the crowd gathered and running toward him (no one has ever run to hear most of us preach), Peter seizes the moment. His sermon is remarkably short — just 15 verses — but packed with theological weight.
It's Not About Us
Peter's opening line is critical: "Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we have made this man walk?" From the very start, he deflects attention from himself and John. This wasn't their power. This wasn't their godliness.
It was the name of Jesus.
Peter says it twice, slightly differently, to make absolutely sure they understand:
"By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong."
"It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see."
In the Jewish world, a name carries enormous weight. To do something in someone's name means you carry their character, their authority, their presence. It's as if they were there themselves.
This healing looks remarkably similar to healings Jesus performed during his earthly ministry. But Jesus isn't physically present anymore — he ascended to heaven. Yet here's the stunning reality: Jesus is still the healer, but now he works through his disciples. His presence and power have exploded into the world through ordinary people who have encountered him.
When we pray "in Jesus' name," it's not a magical formula or a required closing phrase. It's the presence and power of the risen, ascended Jesus continuing his work through us.
Who Is This Jesus?
Peter then introduces the crowd to Jesus through a series of powerful titles:
The Servant — Peter uses the Greek word pais, deliberately echoing Isaiah's prophecy about the suffering servant. This is radical. Every Jewish person expected a Messiah who would overthrow Rome, restore Israel, rule from a throne. But Peter says: You've misread what God's power looks like. God's power looks like someone who washes feet and goes to a cross.
The Holy and Righteous One — Drawing on Old Testament language his audience would recognize as speaking of the Messiah, Peter makes clear who they're dealing with.
The Author of Life — The Greek word archegos means pioneer or trailblazer. Think of a mountaineer who doesn't just point to a distant summit and say you could climb it. He goes first. He finds the route. He takes the risks. He opens the way so others can follow. Jesus doesn't just talk about life — he blazes the trail to it.
The Messiah — Peter names him explicitly, piling up description after description to build the full weight of who Jesus is.
The Bold Accusation
Woven through Peter's descriptions of Jesus is something striking — almost accusatory language:
"God glorified his servant Jesus and YOU handed him over to be killed. YOU disowned him. YOU disowned the holy and righteous one. YOU killed the author of life."
These are extraordinarily bold words. Peter is speaking just weeks after the crucifixion. Many in this crowd of 2,000+ people were in Jerusalem for Passover. They know exactly what he's talking about. Some of the religious leaders who literally handed Jesus over to Pilate are standing there listening. Others in the crowd shouted "Crucify him!" when given the choice between Jesus and Barabbas the murderer.
These words would have cut deep.
But here's what's crucial: Peter isn't speaking from moral superiority. This is Peter who, on that same weekend, denied even knowing Jesus three times. This is a man who turned his back on the author of life and was restored. He's not preaching from a position of arrogance but from the authority of his own transformation.
Darren quoted Henri Nouwen: "When our wounds cease to be a source of shame and become a source of healing, we have become wounded healers."
Peter is a wounded healer. And this is something vital for us to grasp as we live as witnesses: We testify not because we're perfect, but because we've been transformed. We're not confident in ourselves but in what Jesus has done in us. We ask others to consider something we ourselves have had to reckon with.
The Way Forward
Peter's words are confronting, but he immediately pivots to offer hope. In the very sentence where he says "you killed the author of life," he continues: "but God raised him from the dead."
This is a pattern throughout Acts: You did this, but God did this. It's as if God says, "Hold my beer. You think you did something? Watch this." What looks like the end of the story — death on a cross — God reverses and transforms into resurrection.
Peter then offers three things to the crowd, and to us:
1. Repentance
"Repent then and turn to God." For many of us, this word carries baggage — grovelling, endless guilt, shame. But that's not what's being asked here.
Repentance means to change direction, to reorientate your life toward God. It's not about punishment; it's about turning.
Peter knows this from personal experience. When Jesus met him on the beach after the resurrection, Jesus didn't make him grovel. He simply asked a question three times: "Peter, do you love me?" Once for each denial. That moment was a turning point, not a punishment. A moment of transformation.
This is why Peter can preach with such boldness — because he was transformed in that moment.
And Jesus asks us the same question today. Maybe there's been a moment this week where you've denied him. Maybe sin has been present. Maybe you've just drifted along, not thinking about him. This morning he asks: Do you love me? Will you turn to me?
2. Times of Refreshing
Peter promises something beautiful: "times of refreshing may come from the Lord."
The Greek word is anapsuxus — it literally means breathing space. Catching your breath after you've been holding it.
Darren shared a personal story about sitting in the dentist's chair for half an hour, hands clenched, not breathing, holding tension in his body. When he finally stood up, his legs wobbled, his head spun — and then came the release. That's anapsuxus.
Many of us know this physically, but we also know it spiritually. Peter knew it too. That moment on the beach when Jesus asked "Do you love me?" after Peter had been carrying the weight of his betrayal — that was Peter's moment of anapsuxus. The moment the weight he'd been carrying was lifted.
"Repent and turn to God so that times of refreshing may come. The breathing room is on the other side of turning. The exhale comes when you stop holding on to what you've been carrying and offer it to him."
3. The Restoration of All Things
Finally, Peter points to a future hope: God "will restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets."
The Greek word apokastasis appears only once in the entire New Testament — right here. It means not just improvement but a return to what was always intended. The universe set back in its proper place and order.
This is particularly important for those of us in seasons of waiting. A body that hasn't healed. A relationship that hasn't been restored. Grief that hasn't lifted. You prayed, you believed, and the brokenness is still there.
Peter doesn't promise in his sermon that what happened to the lame man will happen to everyone in the crowd that day. He promises something bigger. Isaiah's vision of the Messianic age — the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the lame leaping — broke into the world with Jesus. It continues through his disciples and the church. But one day, it will be complete.
Darren was honest: "I don't know why God doesn't heal everyone in the moment, but the promise of all things being restored is something that I hold onto as I wait for the things that are still broken around me."
If you find yourself in a place of waiting today, hold on to this hope.
One Way to Live It Out This Week
This week, identify where you are in the Acts 3 story and take one concrete step from that place. If you're feeling stuck, open yourself to Jesus in prayer this week — tell him honestly where you feel paralyzed and ask him to meet you there. If you've been transformed but have been containing it, take one small risk to let it show. If you've been feeling you have nothing to offer, remember: if you've encountered Jesus, you have exactly what someone needs. Speak his name over whatever situation you're walking into this week.
A Prayer For Your Week
Lord Jesus,
Your name is power and healing and life.
We open our hands to you this morning,
Setting aside our own expectations of what you might give us.
Meet us with what we need.
Where we feel stuck, get us unstuck.
Where we've been transformed, give us courage to leap.
Where we have empty hands, remind us we carry your presence.
Speak your name over each of us today.
Amen.
Personal Reflection
Where did you see yourself in the Acts 3 story — as the man before healing, after healing, as Peter/John, or in the crowd? What does that reveal about where you are spiritually right now?
When you hear the phrase "in the name of Jesus," what comes to mind? How might it change your prayers and actions to remember it means carrying Jesus' presence, character, and authority?
Which of Peter's three offerings resonated most with you — repentance (turning toward God), times of refreshing (breathing space), or the restoration of all things (future hope)? What might Jesus be inviting you into through that?
Small Group Discussion
Read Acts 3:1-26 together. What details stood out to you that you hadn't noticed before?
The lame man was a fixture at the Beautiful Gate — everyone knew him. Who are the "fixtures" in your community or workplace that people have stopped really seeing? How might God be inviting you to see them differently?
Darren noted that the miracle and the preaching together ARE the gospel — something real happened, and here's what it means. Share a story of when you've seen a transformation in someone's life (or your own) that made others curious about Jesus.
Peter deflected attention from himself immediately: "Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we have made this man walk?" Why is this deflection so important? When have you been tempted to take credit for something only God could do?
Peter preached from a place of being a "wounded healer" — someone who had betrayed Jesus but been restored. How does this give his words more authority than if he'd never failed? What does this teach us about sharing our faith?
Which of Peter's three offerings — repentance (turning), times of refreshing (breathing space), or restoration of all things (future hope) — is most relevant to your life right now? Why?
The sermon asks: "Are you willing to do some leaping?" If Jesus has transformed you in some way, what would it look like to let that transformation show more visibly to those around you?
How can we pray for one another in light of this passage? Where do you need God's healing, refreshing, or the hope of future restoration?