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Introduction
Introduction
Sermon Series: Unhindered
Sermon Text:
Introduction
There is a phrase that has been going around for a few years now.
It is FOMO — the Fear of Missing Out.
This is a fear that strikes many because they feel that they are being left out of something or missing something that is going on.
Many middle schoolers are dealing with this fear as they try to make their mark and find their tribe.
But we do not need to think that this is merely an adolescence issue.
For with the rise of social media in the last couple of decades, this fear has gripped people of all ages — missing a spouse, missing a promotion, missing a date with friends or family.
We all have experienced missing out.
If there was anything that we should fear on missing out, it would be missing out on the what the gospel of Jesus Christ gives us = forgiveness of sins, renewed relationship with God, the promise of life forever with Jesus.
We have been looking through the New Testament book of Acts in this series we are calling Unhindered.
We said that the theme of Acts is that the gospel was sent out and will not be hindered from reaching the ends of the earth.
As we come to , we see a message that is truly good news to those of us that suffer from FOMO.
That message is that the gospel of Jesus Christ is for all peoples.
As we look at this morning, we are going to see that that statement is not just a nice catchphrase, but that it is the TRUTH.
[PRAYER]
Message
God knows our situations.
Cornelius
In , we are first introduced to a man named Cornelius.
Cornelius was a Gentile who served as a centurion in the Roman military.
He had 100 men under his command in the strongest military of the time.
We are told that this man was a religious and kind man.
He was a “God-fearer” meaning that he was a Gentile that sympathized with the teachings of Judaism.
While he worshipped the God of the Jews, he did not convert to Judaism.
He came to the point of realizing that the pantheon of Roman false gods were just that — false gods.
He was looking for the truth and was interested by what he heard about from the God of the Old Testament.
He also was devout in doing deeds of charity towards people and being faithful in prayer.
On the surface, we would say that Cornelius was a “good man.”
He kept his nose clean and did good to other people.
The problem was that like so many in that camp, he knew that he was still lacking something.
He must have had U2’s song playing at the top of his playlist — “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”
We see that God sends an angel to Cornelius in a vision.
This angel commends Cornelius and tells him to send for Simon Peter and listen to the message that Peter has for him.
One thing I want to point out here is the truth that God sees us right where we are.
God had seen Cornelius… all the things he had done… all the searching he was doing.
The same is true with us.
God sees us right where we are.
While it may appear that so many just blow past us and do not even recognize us, God sees us and cares about us.
It would be Peter himself who would share later in that we are to “cast all our cares on him, because he cares for you.”
You may be wondering if anyone notices you.
The answer to that question is a resounding, “YES!!!” God sees and cares.
So should His people (the church).
God sees the struggles that we go through, the questions that plague our hearts, the concerns that we fret over day and night.
God sees our shortcomings and failures, but He doesn’t push us away.
He seeks to draw us closer to Himself in spite of the baggage that we have.
Cornelius found this truth out, and we would do good to learn this truth as well.
God knows our hesitations.
In these verses, we see that Peter is spending some time worshiping the Lord.
It is important that we have time each day where we break away from the hustle and bustle of life to spend time with God in prayer and study of His Word.
You never know what might come of it.
For Peter, this time of personal devotion to the Lord led to a vision from God.
He saw a sheet being lowered from heaven with all kinds of animals on it.
He heard a voice telling him to “Kill and eat.”
The problem was that many, if not all, of the animals on that sheet were considered “unclean” under the Levitical law of the Old Testament.
The command that Peter heard went against everything that he was raised to believe.
He was a good Jewish man who kept to a strict diet told about in Leviticus.
He was hesitant because he didn’t want to sin against God.
But here we have what appears to be God telling him to pull up a seat to the table and have some BBQ.
As Christians, we would probably know that we are to share the gospel of Jesus with others, but that task brings up some hesitancy in our hearts.
We may mess it upWhat will that person think of me?Will they even listen to me?Do they deserve it?
Just as God saw Peter and knew that he was hesitant about following this new command, God knows our hesitancies as well.
As God sees those hesitancies, He wants to work through them and guide us to where we need to be.
This was true in Peter’s life, and it is true in ours.
God knows our destinations.
In , we see that Peter is perplexed by this vision.
What in the world was that all about?
In verses 19-20, God tells Peter to go with the men had arrived at the house where he was staying.
So Peter goes down and sets out with the limo that had been sent for him.
There may be times when we do not know exactly what God is up to in our lives.
That is okay.
Sometimes the questions that perplex us so much are cleared up and answered in the journey of faith that we take with the Lord — one step at a time.
God knew where Peter needed to be.
Peter needed to be in Caesarea, at Cornelius’ house.
One issue was that this was “against the rules.”
Jewish people were raised to not associate with Gentiles much and definitely do not go into their homes.
But thankfully, Peter listened to God’s prompting.
When we hear the Lord leading, the best thing that we can do is to go with Him — that is where we will see His glory.
As Peter gets to Cornelius’ house, he hears the reason why he was brought.
As Cornelius shares about his vision, Peter’s own vision comes into clearer view.
Peter sees that God was trying to show him that the gospel truly is for everyone — Jews and Gentiles.
In verses 36-43, Peter shares the gospel with all that were gathered there in Cornelius’ house.
In verse 44, the Holy Spirit comes down on all who heard, and they accept the message and become Christ-followers.
God not only knew what Peter’s destination was, but He knew the eternal destination of Cornelius and all in his house.
God knew that they were going to be His, but they had to hear the gospel so that they could respond to it.
Do you realize that, according to IMB, there are 7,092 unreached people groups in the world?
There are 3,198 unengaged unreached people groups in our world.
That is over 4.5 billion people in our world are not hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ!
Before we think that those are just way on the other side of the world, there were more than 17,000 here in Callaway County who do not know the Lord in 2010.
When we hear these numbers, please do not let them be just numbers.
Each number represents a person… a person for whom Jesus gave His life on the cross and rose from the grave to save.
The only way that is going to happen though is if we who have accepted the gospel go out and share it with others.
The only way that a person can reach the point of having their sins forgiven and lives changed for the glory of God is to hear the good news of Jesus.
= How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in?
And how can they believe without hearing about him?
And how can they hear without a preacher (someone sharing)?
And how can they preach unless they are sent?
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