Message Title: Putting Down Roots
Series: Week 3
Scripture: Acts 10:1-48 & Acts 11:1-18
Bottom Line: God shows no partiality. God wants a relationship with all people, no matter their background.
Other Scripture References:
Group Check in:
How is it with your soul?
Prayer Request? Praises?
Ice Breaker:
Are you a planner or do you have a spontaneous personality?
Overview:
Gentile: a person who is not Jewish. A Jewish person calling another person a Gentile was not a compliment.
A "God-fearer" is a fan of the Jewish faith and a supporter of the Jewish people. Cornelius was a GOD-FEARER. He was a generous and compassionate person and well respected by others.
Cornelius was praying and an angel came to him with a vision. God said to Cornelius to send his men to Joppa to see Peter. Without hesitation, Cornelius did as God asked and sent his men to Joppa.
Hunger was a way for God to prepare Peter for what was about to happen.
Peter heard a voice that he identified as the Lord telling him to kill those creatures and to eat to satisfy his hunger. But without hesitation, Peter said, "NO!" It is clear that Peter knew who he was talking to, but Peter was caught between what he believed God has previously said and what he heard God saying in that very moment.
Cornelius goes to Joppa and seeks Peter. It is in this moment that Peter understands the vision from God. It has nothing to do with what one eats and doesn’t eat. At the moment, God was trying to create the willingness in Peter to do what God was about to ask him to do.
Peter was no longer puzzled about the meaning of the vision. While God had made rules for the Jewish people about what they should and should not eat, God had made no such rules about who could and could not experience God’s presence and give themselves to God’s purposes. It was Peter’s people themselves who had decided that it was “improper for a Jew to associate with or to visit outsiders, like a Gentile. God didn’t create the boundary. The people did.
The big idea of Acts chapter 10 is that God shows no partiality. God shows no favoritism. God does not respect the boxes, lines, and categories that people have created. Peter said that in every people, in every nation, in every culture, in every tribe, and in people of any and all situations and life experiences that anyone who reveres God and lives in that reverence has an open door to a relationship with God.
God has given to the world the repentance that leads to life.
Discussion Questions:
Cornelius was a generous man and was known to for giving alms. How do you pray and give alms?
Have you ever questioned God? Have you ever just not understood the reason for something happening or the reason God was asking you to do something?
Peter knew who he was talking to; however, Peter was caught between what he believed God had previously said and what he heard God saying in this moment. How could God be asking Peter to break the rules that God had established? Would this puzzle you?
How was Peter allowing God to change his heart and mind about people and situations? (Acts 10:9-23)
It seems in Bible stories that God is often not inviting us into clarity and certainty, but into ambiguity and trust. Do you ever struggle with the unknown or not being able to have all the answers?
How can faith be important when we can see exactly where to put our feet?
God invites us not to know, but to believe, to trust and to do what God has told us even when it's puzzling and doesn't make sense. What are some ways to build our faith and trust even in times of uncertainty?
Don't miss the willingness, the eagerness, and the openness to hearing God's message. This is a crucial part of experiencing God in your life. How can you open your ears to hear and open your eyes to see God's vision and purpose for your life?
We all have experienced division of some sort in our lives similar to Peter with the Jew/Gentiles. It is because of this division that we often struggle to speak of Jesus to others. How can we break down that divide?