Sermon Notes from November 5

Sermon Text:  Acts 10

This Sunday, we continued in our series through the first half of the book of Acts.  We looked at Acts 10 and saw the story of the interaction between Peter and a Roman soldier soldier named Cornelius.  In this story, we talked about the three main characters and noticed something about each:

1. The eagerness of Cornelius - We see this official in the Roman army is a devoutly religious man who prays often and gives to the poor.  He has an encounter with an angel who tells him to seek out Peter who will tell him more about who God is.  So we then see that Cornelius gathers all his friends and family to hear what Peter has to say.  God has prepared Cornelius for this moment and he is eager to receive from God.

2. The obedience of Peter - Peter was a Jew and the Jews did not associate in any way with Gentiles (non-Jews).  So what is surprising about this story is that Peter is obedient to follow God, even though naturally and in his flesh he was probably pretty reluctant.  God gave Peter a vision to show Peter that he should call no human unclean or unfit to receive the good news of Jesus. 

3. The inclusiveness of God - One of the main points of this story is that God is an extremely gracious and inclusive God.  He desires people from every race, ethnicity, culture, educational background, and socioeconomic status to hear and receive the gospel.  He doesn't restrict any person from coming to Him.  All are welcome.  

And this was a new concept for the church to come to terms with.  God wants people who don't look the same way, talk the same way, or act the same way to come together as one family to worship God, united in the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

This means that you and I need to be obedient to follow God to take the good news of Jesus to those who are different than us, because no person is unfit for hearing and receiving the gospel message.  This means that we cannot be a church that excludes people who are not like us.  This means that God is preparing people all around us to be eager to receive Him, and it is our responsibility to go to them and share the love of Christ with them.  

May this quote from John Piper be true of us, "So let us wash our minds and our mouths of all racial slurs and ethnic put-downs and be done with all alienating behaviors. And let's be the good Samaritan for some ethnic outcast, and let's be the Christ for some untouchable leper, and let's be the Peter for some waiting Cornelius."