November 15, Acts 3
Most of history’s influential leaders have been great communicators. They could get other people to follow them because of their persuasive skills.
A speaker is wasting his time if he does not establish common ground with his audience. This is especially true if he wants to change their minds about some important issue. The smart communicator knows he has to build a bridge and bring his listeners across to his side. Connecting precedes convincing.
Peter’s preaching in the early days of the Jerusalem church is a masterful example of such bridge-building strategy. The miraculous signs were great attention- getters, but they only set the stage. He still had to connect and convince to bring his listeners to Christ. God used his words to convert thousands of people then, and millions since.
Peter started and finished the sermon in Solomon’s portico of the temple with an appeal to Israel’s strong ethnic heritage and direct references to Abraham, the revered father of their nation. When he said the God of Abraham was the one who glorified Jesus, and that Jesus was the one through whom the promises to Abraham were kept, he was plugging into their deepest identity and strongest allegiance. When Peter said Jesus was the one Moses and the prophets had foretold, he was tying the gospel message to the core of a message they
already held sacred. He was telling them that putting faith in Jesus was in no way a repudiation of their scriptures and heritage; Jesus was in fact the realization of these things. All these words were constructing a bridge over which the message could be delivered.
There was not a hint of compromise in all this. Peter still told them they made a terrible choice in rejecting Jesus, giving them the glaring example of how they chose a murderer to be released instead of Jesus. He mixed no words in telling them, “You killed the Author of life.” This brought him to his everyday theme: “God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.” Then he tied that truth to the wonder they had witnessed that very day—it was through the power of Jesus’ name and faith in it that the man they knew to have been lame was now leaping around, praising God.
He then called for the change. He assured them he knew they had rejected Jesus in ignorance, and he urged them to repent. He cast the vision from their own scriptures of how blessed they would be by acknowledging Jesus as Christ, and what destruction awaited those who would not do so.
I doubt the audience was sleeping or checking the sundial while Peter was speaking that day. Everyone who would effectively communicate the message of the gospel needs to enroll in Peter’s School of Preaching. What did he do? He got their attention, made the connection, spoke with conviction and called for decision. Now that’s good preaching.
From The Abiding Companion: A Friendly Guide for Your Journey Through the New Testament,
Copyright © 2010 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—November 2023
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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