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This morning we are picking back up in our study of the book of Acts.
If you’re new to our church, it would be good for you to know that we practice a form of preaching called Expository Preaching.
What that means is we believe the Bible is best taught by taking books of the Bible, and then breaking them down chapter by chapter, verse by verse, in order to understand what they mean in our lives today.
With that said, we are currently doing that through the NT book of Acts.
A book written by a 1st Century disciple named Luke, who wrote it for two primary reasons:
First, to give us a history of the church.
How it started, who was involved, and the circumstances that surrounded it.
Second, to give us a template for how Jesus intends for us to accomplish the mission of taking the Gospel to the entire world.
So, if you haven’t been with us, I would encourage you to go online to mcf.life where you can listen to all of the messages leading up to today.
Today however, we are coming back to as we continue the story of a man named Cornelius.
A story involving the conversion of a pagan Roman officer to faith in Jesus through the evangelistic ministry of the Apostle Peter.
And when we say evangelistic, we’re referring to evangelism.
And when I say evangelism, I’m talking about the responsibility of every Christian to share the Gospel with people who haven’t heard or don’t know Jesus.
And as we’ve learned, evangelism is a process.
So, what does the process involve?
Well, it’s a three step process.
It begins with you and I understanding what it takes for a person to come to faith in Jesus.
So, what does it take?
Well, first and foremost, it takes a desire for them to seek, know, and be right with God.
Because the fact is, until a person reaches that point, it will be impossible for them to put their faith in Jesus.
Why?
Because before a person can come to faith in Jesus, they have to be willing to accept their need for Him.
In other words, that they are a sinner in need of saving.
And unfortunately, that’s not something we can decide for them.
It’s something they have to come to terms with and be willing to acknowledge on their own.
To acknowledge that because of their sin, they are separated from a good and righteous God, and that they need a savior.
And so until they are willing to face that spiritual reality, they can’t be saved.
This is where Cornelius is at in .
He’s at a place where he wants to know and be right with God.
Which leads us to the second step in this process, which we called a Supernatural Moment.
A moment that is orchestrated by God.
A moment when God responds to a persons desire to know Him and be right with Him.
A moment that leads them to the truth and an opportunity to know and be right with Him.
In other words, when a person desires to know and be right with God, it’s through that desire that God orchestrates a supernatural moment.
A moment when He will lead them to the truth.
A moment when their desire to know God will intersect with what it takes to know Him.
We saw this with Cornelius as Cornelius cried out to God, and God responded by giving Cornelius instructions on where he could find the answers he needed.
Which led us to the third step in this process.
Because along with a desire to seek, know, and be right with God.
Along with a supernatural moment.
It takes an obedient messenger of the Gospel.
And that’s where the Apostle Peter comes into the story.
And that’s where we come in as well.
Because as we learned last week, as Christ followers, we have the privilege of being the conduit in which God speaks through.
The conduit of hope that brings the message of the Gospel to those God has called us to reach.
But as we learned last week, being an obedient messenger is a process as well.
Because if we want to lead people to faith in Jesus, then we have to be willing to do what it takes to be a part of that process.
So, what does it take to be an obedient messenger?
It starts as we put ourselves in a place where we can become a part of God’s plan.
A place where God can lead and direct us.
A place God can speak to us.
A place called prayer.
We saw this last week with the Apostle Peter.
Remember how it all came together?
Triangle Graph
Triangle Graph:
It started at Monday at 3pm as Cornelius cried out to God, and God instructed him to send men to Joppa to find a man named Peter.
It continued into the next day as Peter spent time with the Lord in prayer and God revealed to him that men were on their way to find him, men that God had sent to bring him to a man named Cornelius.
And the fact of the matter is, had Peter not prayed, had he not spent time allowing the Lord to speak to Him, he would have missed out on the opportunity to be a part of God’s plan.
And the same is true for us.
If we want to be faithful witnesses for Jesus, then we have to be ready and prepared.
And to do that, we have to be committed to a consistent prayer life.
A prayer life that allows the Lord to speak to us, guide us, and lead us to the people He’s called us to reach.
But it doesn’t stop there.
Because knowing who to talk too is one thing, knowing what to say is another.
Which led us to the second step in this process, because if we want to be obedient messengers of the gospel, then we have to have a right understanding of what the gospel is and what it isn’t.
Otherwise we could risk leading people down the wrong path.
This was a lesson Peter needed to learn before he met Cornelius.
And to help Peter learn this lesson, God used a strange vision.
We read about it last week.
Because Luke says as Peter was praying:
Acts 10:11-
Luke says as Peter prayed, he saw what looked like a bed sheet coming out of the sky, and in the middle of the sheet were all kinds of animals.
And with the sheet came a voice that commanded and encouraged Peter to basically go hunting and have a BBQ.
So, how did Peter respond?
Luke writes:
“But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord...’”
Luke says after taking a look at the menu, Peter declines the invitation.
He says, “No thanks God, I’m good.”
So, what’s Peter’s problem?
Why was he unwilling to eat from the menu God had provided him?”
Luke tells us.
Because Peter goes on to give his reason.
Luke writes:
“…for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”
Luke says the reason Peter won’t eat is because he doesn’t like what’s on the menu.
In fact, he calls what God offers Him “unclean”.
So, what’s that all about?
Well, as we learned last week, the terms “clean” and “unclean” are OT terms that are connected to the OT covenant.
A covenant God had given the Israelites as they journeyed towards the Promise Land.
A covenant that set religious, moral, and ethical boundaries for the people of Israel.
And included in that covenant was a list of animals they could and couldn’t eat.
Those they could eat were deemed clean.
Those they couldn’t eat from were deemed unclean.
For example, here’s a little chart I put together that gives us an idea of what animals were clean and which were unclean;
Animal Chart:
So, a great question would be, “Why was some food clean and other food unclean?”
Well, as we learned last week, for the most part it was symbolic.
It was one of the ways the people of Israel were to be different than other nations.
To set themselves apart from the impurities of the world.
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