First Love Church
These podcasts are messages that were preached at First Love Church in Ocala, Florida. We hope that you are encouraged and inspired by what you hear. We are a non denominational, egalitarian church that practices a generous orthodoxy. Find out more about our local congregation online at firstlovechurch.org.
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First Love Church
Peter, Cornelius, and the Holy Spirit's Revolution
The Spirit breaks rules. It demolishes barriers. It interrupts our neat theological packages. Through the revolutionary story of Peter and Cornelius, we witness what happens when divine inclusion confronts religious exclusion.
Peter, raised with strict Jewish purity laws, encounters a vision challenging everything he believed about who belongs in God's family. Simultaneously, Cornelius—a Roman officer representing the occupying empire—receives divine instruction to seek Peter out. These parallel supernatural experiences set the stage for a boundary-shattering encounter that would forever transform the early church.
What makes this story so powerful is how it confronts our tendency to create insider/outsider dynamics. Peter's declaration that "God shows no favoritism" directly challenged the fundamental Jewish belief that they were God's chosen people. This radical message of inclusion—that God accepts those who fear Him from every nation—demolished religious barriers that had defined identity for centuries.
The climactic moment arrives when, even as Peter speaks, "the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening." The timing demonstrates how the Spirit operates as a divine interrupter, not waiting for human processes to complete. The spontaneous outpouring on Gentiles forced the Jewish believers present to reconsider their theological boundaries, culminating in Peter's powerful question: "Can anyone object to their baptism now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?"
This account challenges us to examine where we've drawn our own exclusionary lines. Who have you decided God won't accept? Whose prayers do you believe won't be heard? Are you positioned as a "stomper-out of the move of God" or as a participant in divine inclusion? When God breaks the rules you thought were unbreakable, will you resist or embrace the Spirit's revolutionary work?
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In the service of LOVE,
Pastors Dennis and Heather Drake
Welcome to the First Love Church podcast. This is a collection of Sunday teachings inspired by the Revised Common Lectionary and recorded weekly in Ocala, Florida.
Speaker 1:I'm grateful for your presence this morning with us here, thank you all for being here and I am excited I think that I'm always excited, but I'm particularly excited to talk about the Spirit, to talk about the power, to talk about the inner unction, to talk about the comforter, the advocate, but the presence that allows us to experience all of the love that God is and then for us to be light and love around us. Thomas mentioned I think, probably because I've been mentioning it is the season of Pentecost and in the season of Pentecost we get to practice all of the things that we learned the other six months of the year, when we're talking about the story of Jesus. Now we've heard the witnesses in the story of Jesus and now we get to live as Jesus would live in our homes, in our neighborhoods, as Jesus would live in our homes, in our neighborhoods, in our city. We get to practice the way of Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2:You know, because we live in this natural world, like it or not. You train in natural things, you surround yourself with that, and oftentimes that's all we think about in a day's time. But for those of us that believe, we believe there is a spirit realm, we believe that there is a dimension that is outside of this dimension, and that is not something that would come natural for us to understand, much less interact with, unless we were to have some kind of practices, some kind of teaching. And so I wonder how much effort is given intentionally on understanding and developing the spiritual part of a person.
Speaker 2:I remember all the way back to when I worked at the treatment center, when we would get those kids in they would say that you know that in helping these students we need to recognize that they are three parts to each one of us. And there's that social part that you need, there's that physical part that you must take care of, and then there's the spiritual side, and sometimes you people that boy they're socialists can be uh. And there's people that are gym rats uh. But how many pay that kind of effort towards training in the spirit? Sometimes that is a forgotten part, and then we find people, quite frankly that that might ignore any of those things. Any one of those things puts you out of balance, and so I hope that in this season we would, because it comes around every year I think God is offering us the opportunity to recalculate, realign, you know, and reconnect, or maybe inspire and develop that kind of understanding that maybe we hadn't had before. What do you think?
Speaker 1:I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful for all of us. I'm going to read to us a portion from the letter to the Galatian church, just kind of setting the stage for us for Pentecost to remind us of some things before we get to our text today. One of my favorite stories about Peter and Cornelius. The stage for us for Pentecost to remind us of some things before we get to our text today. One of my favorite stories about Peter and Cornelius, just for those of you who are going to go through your little automatic scripture in your head there. But I want to read to us from Galatians, chapter 5.
Speaker 1:So Christ has really set us free. Now make sure that you stay free and don't get tied up again into slavery to the law. I tell you, if you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ cannot help you. If you are trying to find favor with God by obeying regulations in the law of Moses, then you are trying to make yourself right with God by keeping the law. You are cut off from Christ and you have fallen away from grace.
Speaker 1:Dear friends, if I were preaching to you that you must be circumcised which some people tell you that you must do, and why would the Jews continue to persecute me? The fact that I am still persecuted means I am preaching salvation through Jesus Christ alone. You, dear friends, have been called to live in freedom, not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole command can be summed up in this one teaching Love your neighbor as yourself, but instead, if you're showing loves among yourselves, you are biting and devouring each other. Watch out, watch out, beware of destroying one another.
Speaker 1:So I advise you to live according to this new life, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and then you won't be doing what the sinful nature craves, the sinful nature loves to do. That is evil and that is apart from what the Holy Spirit wants. When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, the Spirit will produce this kind of evidence in us Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law, and those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the sinful passions to his cross and crucified them there. And if we are now living by the Holy Spirit, then let's follow the Holy Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. Now, that is for us a beautiful framework for us. Going into this story, that we remember that if the spirit is leading our lives, there will be evidence of joy, there will be evidence of peace, there will be evidence of love, there will be gentleness, loving kindness, faithfulness.
Speaker 2:All of these things evidence that the spirit is controlling our lives you know, when, um, when I was young, we were raised in the Catholic tradition and I can only speak for the few parishes that I attended, so I would never make a statement about Catholicism that would assume that I could speak on behalf of all Catholics, and the Pope and I are best friends or something. I can just tell you that what my experience and my understanding of the doctrine was, as it were, taught to me by those particular priests, and uh, um, and what, what happened for me was uh, uh, I ended up at a, uh, at a, uh, pentecostal church. You know, here here's a, a church, uh, uh. When you're um, when you're catholic, you, you, uh, are kind of trained that catholics stay away from protestant churches, and uh. So here I found myself in this protestant church and I felt something pulling. I felt the Spirit of God. The words seemed to light up in my mind and in my heart and I felt God drawing me and I felt like I had never, like a thirsty person was getting a drink, I had never heard the Word of God like this, and so I began to have an experience, the word of God like this, and so I began to have an experience, uh, and then, quickly, um, shame and guilt started to overtake me, like, well, maybe I was doing something, I was stepping out on my spouse, almost as it were. You know, and so I was.
Speaker 2:I'd go back to to my Catholic church on Sunday mornings and then I would go to that charismatic church on Sunday nights and I and I would just battle back and forth, you know, and, and I I could recognize that one was telling me that it was through these works of my own that I would receive things. You know, through through the amount of prayers I might receive my forgiveness, and, and these and and this other message was a message telling me that it was completed in Christ Jesus. And I was struggling back and forth until finally I made a plunge. I said I know that I was raised this way and I know I was taught all these things, but I'm feeling a drawing. And I know I was taught all these things, but I'm feeling a drawing, and I'm putting my faith in you, god, that you've shown me in scripture, and I'm making this plunge and I'm trusting you. And boy, I got to tell you that it was scary, but yet I found a peace. That torment began to leave me because I quit being double-minded, I decided to believe.
Speaker 2:But then something began to happen in the Protestant church that continues to happen. All the time. People come up and say, yeah, but you're forgiven in Jesus, but you got to do. And they pull out a laundry list and they start telling me, yeah, but don't forget these laws and that law.
Speaker 2:And all of a sudden I find at times I'm lured back into this place of trying to accomplish salvation in my own strength, trying to, and I want to tell you that, whether you come from from any kind of denominational Salvation in my own strength, trying to, and I want to tell you that, whether you come from From any kind of denominational background, where you sit right now, there's a constant barrage. It seems To be for all of us that we're tempted. You know, like, like Paul said, oh, you foolish Galatians who bewitched you that you would start off in the spirit but end up in the spirit but end up in the flesh, start out in the fire but end up in the smoke. I can't see a single thing, and we get deceived and distracted. And so I want to challenge you that it's by the spirit that we maintain our trust in our salvation through Christ Jesus and not through your works.
Speaker 2:Now, I'm not to say that that means you get to just go behave like a carnal fool, but what I'm saying to you is, in all your efforts to perfect yourself, have you ever been able to do it? Because I haven't. But what I have found? That the more I lean on the spirit and the more I trust in the, the completed work in christ salvation being accomplished through the spirit and I walk in that then I begin to see changes in me, and so I'm challenging you to consider where have you picked back up and started working on that project in your own strength? And maybe the effort and the work really is in just learning how to let go and trust. Is this making sense to anybody? Are you about ready to tar and feather me and get me out of town? Help us, lord.
Speaker 1:From the book of Acts, chapter 10, in Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius who was the captain of the Italian regiment. He was a devout, god-fearing man, as was everyone in his household. That's a feat in itself. I just want to remind you. This man clearly was not just a talker, was a doer. He displayed this, he had evidence of this. He was a devout, god-fearing man, as was everyone in his household. He gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly to God. One afternoon, about three o'clock, he had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward him, cornelius. The angel said. And Cornelius stared at him in terror. And this is how we knew he saw an actual angel, because when people see actual angels, they are face down trying to plead for their lives. And so he encounters this light, this angel, and the angel says he says what is it, sir? And the angel replies your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering. Now send some men to Joppa and summon a man named Simon Peter. He is staying with Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore. And as soon as the angel was gone, cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier and one of his personal attendants. So I just want for the storytelling for you to realize that he is sending a small garrison of people, he's sending his servants, a soldier and personal attendants, and he told them what happened and sent them off to Joppa.
Speaker 1:And the next day, as Cornelius's messages were nearing the town, peter went to a flat roof to pray. It was about noon and he was hungry. But while a meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance and he saw the sky open and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners and in the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles and birds. And a voice said to him Get up, peter, kill and eat them. No, lord, just no. I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean. And the voice spoke again Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.
Speaker 1:And the same vision was repeated three times and the sheet was suddenly pulled up to heaven. I remind you who is having this vision Peter, who also denied the Christ three times, who also made a proclamation that he loved the Lord three times. And so I just have to remind all of us that, whoever we are. The Lord knows exactly what we need. Peter needs it three times. I don't know how many times you need it, but Peter needs it three times. This is the same God who's saying this. I am changing the way that you are thinking about things. I am asking you to change. Give up what you believed before and listen to me. And Peter was very perplexed to me. And Peter was very perplexed. What could the vision mean? I just have to thank you, joni, for laughing. Yes, what could the vision mean when God already told him what the vision meant? The vision meant do what I tell you and don't call it unclean. What could he mean? I don't know.
Speaker 2:Know, I appreciate very much this beautiful interchange here I just kind of want to interject as we're listening to this. You know, I think that peter's approaching this the way many of us do, like god's saying something, but he's a puzzle that is to be figured out. And am I being tricked? And I think that he really was. Wait a minute, you know, eat this. Oh, no, no, you know, I already know that you don't want me to eat this, so you must have been tempting me, right, you know? And so I think that even here, he's perplexed, because he's like trying to figure out what the vision meant when God said what the vision meant.
Speaker 2:And so I think that for many of us, I wonder if it's just Peter, or do we do that same thing, overthink, when we can actually just trust our spirit? This couldn't be, could it? So I better ask somebody else who will give me a different answer than what I know, what I know, that I know. Do you understand what I'm saying? And so I would challenge you to be able to trust God that he's not pulling a fast one on you or trying to trick you and take something from you. God loves you and wants to trick you and take something from you. God loves you and wants to give you good things. No, no mother is trying to trick a baby out of their necessities. Amen, but making them so available so we can trust god peter was very perplexed.
Speaker 1:What could the vision mean? And just then, men sent by Cornelius found Simon's house standing outside the gate. I do want to remind you that Jesus had very recently been crucified, that there were people after them. So this may not have been a joyous proclamation that there is an entire garrison of people outside of this person's house looking for Peter. It may have struck terror in him. It may have been a thought well now, who am I being hauled off by? What is going to happen to me?
Speaker 1:And they asked if a man named Simon Peter was staying there. Also, pay attention to the fact. It says that Cornelius in the beginning is from Caesarea, which is a beautiful place. He had a beautiful house, he's a homeowner, he is part of Rome's empire, he is a colonizer by all effects of this. He is a devout Christian, he is a person who gives alms and who prays, but he is part of a system that is terrorizing the Jews, terrorizing them. And so we look at this story and we pay attention to whom we are listening to and where we are in the story. And they asked if Simon Peter were staying there.
Speaker 1:Meanwhile, peter was puzzling over the vision. The Holy Spirit said to him three men have come looking for you. So while he's trying to be figuring out what God is saying, now the Holy Spirit comes and says hey, hey, there's people and they're looking for you. Get up and go downstairs and go with them without hesitation. Again, that probably would have freaked him out all the more. I'm confident of it because I'm supposed to go with this person of this whole garrison.
Speaker 2:Last time I saw somebody hauled off with some Roman soldiers, it was not good.
Speaker 1:Don't worry, for I have sent them. So Peter went down and said I am the man you are looking for. Why have you come? And they said we were sent by Cornelius, a Roman officer. He is a devout and God-fearing man, well-respected by all the Jews. A holy angel instructed him to summon you to his house so that he could hear your message. I remind you that would have been against the rules too. An angel summoned him to go to the house of a Gentile unacceptable. An angel told him to go and break all the rules. I just want to remind you how this would have been difficult for Peter. I'm not to go into the house of an unbeliever and eat with them. I'm not to go into the house of a person and have communion with them and an angel shows up and says you're to do it and you're due without hesitation.
Speaker 2:You know, and this speaks of the inclusion that I believe God is still trying to get to the church today. Because you know, keep in mind, this whole chapter started when this roman soldier, this person outside of the jewish faith and not even someone who, who was part of really, uh, uh, because you know he's a, he's, he's a roman, he's a, you know. And then the, then god says, through that angel, your prayers have been heard. That just doesn't kind of make sense and and to put it in modern terms, what? What does that mean for you? Who is it that, in your mind, you're convinced their prayers would not be heard by god? Is it certain people in your house, because the way they behave? Is it certain people of different denominations that you think are there, because I bet you there's somebody that votes different than you that you're convinced could not possibly their prayers be heard? And that's how shocking that was then and, unfortunately, how still shocking it is today that we have this narrow idea of the power of God and the scope of God's reach.
Speaker 1:A holy angel instructed him to summon you to his house so that he could hear your message, and so Peter invited the men to stay for the night, and the next day he went with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Joppa, and they arrived in Caesarea the following day and Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and his close friends, and as Peter entered his home, cornelius fell at his feet and worshipped him. Now stop there for a minute too. Here is a person with all of the power of Rome behind them, with the trust of the empire, and he is bowing at the feet of the messenger of the, jesus Christ of Nazareth. And so here we see a beautiful picture of Cornelius's humility in recognizing there is a greater power than the one I know. I mean.
Speaker 1:Rome was a power. Rome had a lot of power taken by force and taken through cruelty and evil, but that power bowed to the power that lived in Peter, and Peter pulled him up and said stand up, I'm a human being just like you. And Peter pulled him up and said stand up, I'm a human being just like you. And so they talked together and they went outside, where many others were assembled Cornelius had been talking about the fact that he had an experience, and this was a mystical experience. An angel shows up and says go and get this man and he's going to come here and he's going to tell you about me.
Speaker 2:You know, let's. Let's talk about that because we can't breeze by the fact that that we keep reading all these stories about people having these mystical experiences. Where's my mystical experience? Well, I wonder if I'm open to it. Um, what would you say if your partner or friend fell into a trance right now? Person right next to you just fell into a trance.
Speaker 2:We would call 9-1-1, or or try to start casting the devil out, or something you know that we're not really familiar with, the move of the spirit, like maybe we think we are as christians, that that there's something you know that is supernatural about following god that we have conveniently pushed aside because that stuff's messy, it's, it's unpredictable. It is, it is oftentimes very scary, and I would. I want the I'm just talking about me, no one else here. I want the predictable, I want the familiar, I want the, the confident thing, so I can have some certainty, because certainty as we and if we're not careful, we exchange it for the mystical, we trade it for the Spirit of God, amen. I'm not talking to anybody in here. It's probably the first service people.
Speaker 1:Peter told them you know it's against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you, but God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean. I do want to say this about the Spirit the Spirit is a rule breaker, absolutely is a rule breaker. The rules that you have and the rules of people around you. The Spirit, over and over again, is a rule breaker, even the laws of nature. The Spirit has broken those rules and there is this incoming, there is this beautiful invitation by the Spirit to live into and to co-create this kingdom that God is offering. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone, anyone, as impure or unclean. So I came without objection.
Speaker 2:Well, except for some people, right, because this is crazy radical stuff you're talking about.
Speaker 1:Well, I just want to remind everybody that the Jesus we loved was a radical Before you thought he wasn't he. I just remind you, the Jesus that we know and the Jesus that we follow is a radical, radical in love, radical in grace. We pause here for a moment to thank you for joining us today. If you're finding this episode meaningful, would you take a moment to share it with a friend? This podcast is made possible thanks to the generosity of people just like you. If you would like to support the ongoing work of First Love Church and the continued work of our podcast, visit us online at firstlovechurchorg, reminding you to like, follow and subscribe.
Speaker 1:So I came without objection as soon as I was sent for Not really, you and I both know there was a lot of objection here in his head, but he heard the voice of the Lord and he did it. Now tell me why you sent for me. And Cornelius replied. Four days ago I was praying in my house about this time. Pay attention to the fact that continual prayers have always been a part of someone who is practicing the presence of God. Continual prayers has always been a practice for those who are looking to have an encounter with the divine At three o'clock in the afternoon, and suddenly a man in dazzling clothes was standing in front of me and he told me Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your that's a sermon in itself. We'll let the Holy Spirit teach it to you.
Speaker 1:Now send messengers to Joppa and summon a man named Simon Peter. He is staying in the home of Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore. That may have been startling too, that the Holy Spirit knew exactly where Peter was, gave very specific directions and said this man is staying in that man's house. You can't look for Peter, he doesn't have a house. But that man has a house. That's where he's staying, a tanner who lives near the seashore. Pay attention also to the fact that history would tell us that tanners would not have had a lot of money and it was very messy, very smelly. You could look it up on what a tanner actually does. It's not a pretty thing. And so this man is staying in a house by the seashore, a beautiful house. He's invited people to come, but he's invited the man to teach him who is a guest of, a man who lives in a not beautiful house and has a very smelly place.
Speaker 1:And I sent for you at once and it was good of you to come, for now we are all here, waiting before God, to hear the message the Lord has given to you. Again, I remind you, this sounds very much like the story in account the first that we hear in the book of Acts. All the people were assembled together and waiting. It is the assembly that matters in these particular portions of scripture, where we learn to hear and to experience the spirit.
Speaker 1:An angel appeared to Cornelius. It is possible the angel could have taught him everything he knows. It is possible the angel could have given him the message right. But this is the work of the spirit. This is how God intends for it to do. If you want to hear, there will be someone who gives you the message. Who are you? Are you a Peter? To someone that you will give a message to of the good news of the inclusion, of the breaking of the barriers? It is good that you came and now we are all here, waiting before god to hear the message the lord gave you I want you to see how you know.
Speaker 2:Obviously, like I was saying, you know, god could have spoke, uh, the Spirit, through the angel, but he chose to use Peter in a group of people, that is. You know. Not that God will always do it that way. God reserves the right to do whatever God chooses to do, but you'll see, so much of the time that it happens in community, because we are not, you know, and I really want to challenge you on that Because I think so much of the time we want our spirituality to be developed on our own, and it's going to happen around people, around the messy Tanner's house. It's going to be amongst people that have rough edges and have issues, and so look for that.
Speaker 2:In community you can find that message that you need Now understand.
Speaker 2:If community isn't available to you, god is not now all of a sudden unable to pull out any assistance for us.
Speaker 2:But I do want you to know that there's going to be a tendency for you, and always is, for us, to pull away, to not really invest, not really trust, when we even see God's self as a trinity, as a community as this, working in and among and with and through each other, and we are made in God's image, and so there's a beautiful thing that happens.
Speaker 2:And you know, heather and I I have such a spiritual partner with Heather, but it's amazing how her and I can be dealing with very carnal things like groceries and then all of a sudden begin to talk about things in the spirit or or maybe joking around about funny things that happen, and then all at once, just you know, move in and out freely through, through those things that are and even in offense of one another, choosing to rise above that and then really finding and seeing and feeling and experiencing God. So I can't stress enough to you the importance of that family community and growing spiritually and the church community that seems to be kind of in our culture now, just when we can get around to it kind of thing, present company excluded, of course, uh, and those folks that are faithful online of course we're not talking about you, but let that really challenge us to maybe, when we do allow other things to distract, the way God might really be using to teach us spiritual things.
Speaker 1:And here's the beautiful paradox of how God works, because I just mentioned two times when the people gathered and the Holy Spirit showed up. And then I want to remind you of the Ethiopian eunuch who's in a chariot by himself, and the apostle is teleported to his presence, just with the Ethiopian eunuch who's in a chariot by himself, and the apostle is teleported to his presence just with the Ethiopian eunuch, and then says what are you reading in the prophet Isaiah? And he begins to have this conversation. And then the Ethiopian eunuch says what prevents me from being baptized? I wasn't there, but I think Philip looked around. Nothing, except every single law we have, except everything I knew to be true. Uh, okay, yeah, this is the Holy Spirit who is coming upon us saying if you are seeking, the Lord will be found. And Peter, okay, I want to go back to this next part.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's that a little bit, though, because I think that the very foundation of the first really act uh, we see, of the holy spirit outside of the day of pentecost, is this ethiopian man being brought into the community when the? Uh, the reason why he was where he was is because he couldn't go into the city and worship and learn, and so he was outside. And then, and then now, the first move, the spirit, is to say no, those people that have been rejected have been pushed outside, bring them home. The very first one. And so I wonder, where is your lawbreaker? You know, what is it kind of that you've settled in as a law that god's not going to go past and then allow god to be a lawbreaker that way? I loved how you talked about that. Even nature itself. Jesus breaks that law of nature by coming back. There was a law of sin and death. It has been broken. What laws need to be broken for you and I to be made free?
Speaker 1:And so why would we prop up some you and I to be made free, and so why would we prop up some? So I said for you at once it was good of you to come. Now we're all here waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you. So he says I want to hear what God has given you.
Speaker 2:No pressure here.
Speaker 1:And Peter says I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. Thank you, sue. Sue also believes in the message that Peter has heard that God shows no favoritism, which sounds like beautiful music now to us, because we recognize we are not God's favorite, like that wasn't how we grew up. That wasn't the culture that we depended on. In this particular culture, everything they believed was based on the fact that they were God's favorite. Every hope they have was built into this cultural belief that we are favorites, we are favorites. This is where our hope is. And now Peter says I see very clearly that that is not going to be the way. Peter is offering a completely different way and that would be astonishing, I think, even to himself.
Speaker 1:God shows no favorites. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. Please do not miss the and do what is right. This doing what is right is not because they have to or that's how they get their saving or their salvation, but the doing what is right is after following after the Spirit. The Spirit is intending that the kingdom will come, that all of the good that God has will be manifest, and it will be done through us. In every nation. He accepts those who fear him and do what is right. This is the message of the good news for the people of Israel that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. Again, this is not as political as it needs to be, but we need to be reminded of it.
Speaker 1:At that particular time, caesar demanded that he was Lord and he would send out proclamations that I'm Lord, and so this empire said that I am the way that anything is going to be happen. In fact, they would say over and over again peace only comes through Rome, through crushing other nations. And so, by Peter standing up in front of an Italian garrison, in front of somebody who represents Rome, and says Jesus Christ is Lord of all, I mean there's not the sting in it that it was when he was telling this man the empire that you serve is not the Lord. Jesus Christ is above them. And you know what happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee, after John began preaching his message of baptism, and you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him, and we apostles are witnesses of all he did throughout Judea and in Jerusalem, and they put him to death by hanging him on a cross. But God raised him to life on the third day and God allowed him to appear, not to the general public but to those of us whom God had chosen in advance to be his witnesses, and we were those who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead and he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all the living and the dead Beloved.
Speaker 1:That means you can take that off your plate. You do not have to judge everyone. Jesus Christ is already appointed. There is already someone who has that job. It's not yours. Jesus is the one appointed by God to judge all the living and the dead. The one appointed by God to judge all the living and the dead. I also am very excited about that because I'm confident that Jesus loves me. If anyone is going to judge me, let it be someone who loves me.
Speaker 1:If anyone is going to judge you, let it be someone who loves you. He is the one that all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in them will have their sins forgiven through his name. And even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all of those who were listening to the message. I love this about the Holy Spirit as much. As the Holy Spirit is a rule breaker, the Holy Spirit is also an interrupter. Now this is a message that we actually had someone coming and saying. I mean, they actually traveled, angels orchestrated this. A lot of this was happening and the Holy Spirit was. It's too good. I'm just giving it now. Thank you for your time. You started. That's wonderful, wonderful, but here the holy spirit falls upon all of them who are listening to the message you know, I've been taught by many people over the years about the holy spirit.
Speaker 2:You know that the holy spirit is almost uh, the teaching is kind of like the holy spirit's kind of finicky or um or or explained as the holy spirit of being like a bird, a skittish bird, and if you do sudden movements the bird will fly off, you know. And so there was always that fear of doing something wrong with the Holy Spirit. And I just love this story because this is accounts of the actual Holy Spirit and not some ideas of man, of teaching, of what might have happened, but the but here's a story of what actually happened, that, as these people that are that are actually way outside of the norm, hear this message, the Holy Spirit falls upon them. You know, the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost begins to. People are hearing all these people from all over are beginning to understand. You know, and being understood is one of the greatest miracles and isn't that awesome that that's how God starts off this demonstration of this new move, this promise of the Holy Spirit. And so you and I need not be afraid of, you know, running off the Holy Spirit, but be excited about learning and opening and asking questions.
Speaker 2:You know, and I do know, that I was also taught one thing that I would like to consider you debunking with me, and it was the idea that you have to tarry for the Holy Spirit. Maybe you've heard that thing. You know that you would wait for the holy spirit. The holy spirit will come upon you. Well, you know, there was a time in the bible where they waited and they tarried for the holy spirit, and then guess what happened? The holy spirit came. So what does that mean to you? In past tense, holy spirit has come, so why would we tarry and wait, for it's already come, amen.
Speaker 2:And so I would now ask you to consider do you have any kind of an appointment time? Is there ever a time in your day that you would have or would consider from this moment on setting aside, so that you could say, okay, holy Spirit. What would you say to me? Have or would consider from this moment on setting aside, so that you could say, okay, holy spirit. What would you say to me? I would like to see a man in dazzling clothes give me a message about going anywhere. That would just be cool, you know, because I'm picturing like Elvis, because Elvis had dazzling clothes.
Speaker 2:So I mean, I'm ready for something cooler than Elvis to come visit. Are you? Have you set aside and I'm teasing a little bit, but I'm not in a way because I really want you to think about have you set aside that time where the Spirit could speak to you to direct you? Or has this culture done a fast one on us, got us so busy and so distracted, so churned up that we just forgot to fuel up?
Speaker 1:No, because this is the summer of love and we talked about that last week. We're all sitting in silence waiting for the presence of the Holy Spirit. So this is the wrong crowd. These are people who are already listening to the Spirit.
Speaker 1:The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed at the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles too, because, again, these are people that are thinking it's for us only. We are the exclusive ones, for they heard them speaking in other tongues and praising God. And then Peter asked can anyone object to the baptism Now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did? I mean to be baptized, meant to be a part of the family. To be baptized meant you were in. It was part of the covenant you are in. To be baptized meant you were in. It was part of the covenant you are in. If you're baptized, you're in.
Speaker 1:The Ethiopian eunuch asks am I in? Am I allowed to get in? And Philip says yes, these people also are asking. And now here Peter says now we can't forbid them baptism, right, the Holy Spirit has just come upon them, the same way it did on us. And so he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and afterward Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days, which, since Peter, thought we broke all the other rules anyway, so we might as well stay at the house here. It's very nice by the sea. I'm sure there were a lot of further conversations, but this continued as part and we see this as a work of the spirit. Now there is a friendship, now there is a community, now there is a joint learning.
Speaker 2:And I would like the perfect opportunity to interject that July 13th we're having a baptism at the church here. Well, not here here.
Speaker 1:If you want to be baptized.
Speaker 2:Yes, and so if you're not already scheduled and you'd like to be baptized, I look around and I say, why not?
Speaker 1:There is no one who prevents you from being baptized.
Speaker 2:It is your choice, and so that is a beautiful thing uh, we have, we have a pool, uh, and by july 13th it'll be. It won't shock you at all to step in that pool. It will, uh, it will feel probably just as warm as the the air of the day. And we will baptize you in the name of the Father, son and of the Holy Spirit, and you will, you will go from from into this new life. As you're plunged into that water, come out, you're made new. I know that for me.
Speaker 2:I was baptized as a baby. I was sprinkled, I was spritzed, as it were, and it turns out I needed a dunking. And so when I got in my 20s and got into the church, I made the decision for myself, and I'm grateful. And you see throughout scriptures, the dedications where parents should and did and I believe, continue. We do that, we dedicate our children to Christ. But I think and believe doctrinally, it's important for us as individuals to make that decision as well. And so what prevents you at all? More than likely, when I dunk you, I will pull you back out.
Speaker 1:I'll affirm that you will definitely be coming back up. I will affirm that for you.
Speaker 2:And so what prevents us? And so let us know if that's you and if you're online and just scheduled to be here in town on uh on july 13th, and we will uh baptize you so we give orders for them to be baptized in the name of jesus christ and afterward cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days.
Speaker 1:I want a little little spoiler alert. You can go home and read the rest of the chapter. When Peter gets back, he's in big trouble. He is in big trouble with the church because he has broken all these rules and they're not having it. They are just not having it and they don't care that he has had some transvision, they don't care about his mystical experience, they don't care about Cornelius. It is the rules that they are focused on. And Peter is in trouble. He is brought before the whole council and then Peter just happens to say yeah, but the Holy Spirit came upon him, and then they were all like what? What they recanted after that.
Speaker 1:But my point was this is not easy for Peter. This whole thing is not easy. This inclusion, this bigger love.
Speaker 1:But there is so much grace for us as we follow this, as we celebrate baptism, as we celebrate our own baptism and I want to remind you with one of the elders of our faith has told us that it is our hope, all of us, to live as if we were wet, like we just got into the baptism, we're just in this family.
Speaker 1:Now Live like you, remember your baptism. You are beloved, you are wanted, you are in the family. But in this time of Holy Communion and in this time of Pentecost, and in this time of Holy Communion and in this time of Pentecost and in this time of paying attention to what the Spirit is asking us to do, that we would be people who live inspired by the Spirit, who live full of God's Spirit and who do greater works than these. Jesus has told us that we will be his witnesses, that we will be the people who say well, there's room for you at the table, do not even question if you do not belong, you belong because Jesus said you did. And this, beloved friends, this is the good news.
Speaker 2:You know, in this exciting walk that we talk about, it doesn't mean it'll always be like easy for you. There are struggles in growing and learning and experiencing and even obeying. You know, I remember there was a time with my youth group where god was just pouring out his mercy and people were getting saved left and right and these kids were coming. You know, they were they called straight edge back then and they would have tattooed necks and stuff and and colored hair and stuff and they were just coming to christ like by the droves and and then I was getting in trouble from the, the church I worked at, because they're like, you know, you're bringing all these kids in that you know have tattoos and and now our tithing members are kids, are asking to color their hair and tattoo their necks, and we can't have this anymore in our church, you know. And so I'm like why I don't? How do you stop the move of God? I mean it's kind of awkward because you know whatever. And then you know things would happen and one time thank God for Pastor Leah I ended the service. I said, listen, god's moving here, but you know the main service is out, so you have to go. But if you've driven yourself or whatever. If you want to stay, you can stay. And so there's just hundreds of kids at the altar just praying and crying. And I, sure enough, got called in the office the next day and you're so rebellious, you know, we told you, when we dismiss, you dismiss, you're not dismissing. And so, thankfully, pastor Lee had sat in the service and he goes no, I was there, he dismissed, you know. And and so, uh and I say all that because I, I, I don't stand up here uh, going, oh, check me out, you know, I'm in the side of god and all these other people on the other side. You know, I haven't had an experience like that in a while, so I wonder if I've slipped into the category of the stomper outers of the move of god.
Speaker 2:You, you want to ask yourself that on a pretty regular basis. Maybe not that way, because that wouldn't understand it clear, or whatever, but I guess what I'm trying to say to you is this that God wants to move, and are we going to be that kind of church who who yells at peter for letting these people that we think shouldn't belong, or we're going to be peter who's just inviting people? You know, I, I don't want to be on the side like the, the church leadership at that time was who was trying to desperately control things, or, you know, I want to be able to, to let god, uh, be god. And then if that means my rules or my boundaries have to be expanded, then so be it. Amen. And so just, really.
Speaker 2:Please don't misunderstand me, I use that story because it's an experience that I had, but not to point fingers anyone else but say you know, where am I maybe doing that now, where I'm thinking I'm right, because all the justification was there why it was a good idea to run those kids off, except for the fact that it's not a good idea to run those kids off, right, you know. And so for us, I think we agree sometimes with things that seem to be right and, as a result, we've pushed god aside. So, uh, uh, when are we open to? I just want it to be your way, god.
Speaker 2:And if that means that I'm uncomfortable or I even have to be at risk of being accused of being a heretical, or you know, their big label for me was that love to call me rebellious, and it was something that really hurt and it was something I was very afraid of. They knew what button to push. Because I don't want to be that person and I've been that so much of my life that you know people recognize that as a fear, and so I want to challenge you that too. Stepping out of this doesn't mean everything comes easy for you at that point. It might be that you have to then deal with those discomforts and those issues and those places, but that is, I would hope, that what we would want is to have those things exposed and dealt with.
Speaker 1:We hope you've enjoyed this week's sermon. If you would like more information about us, visit us online at firstlovechurchorg.
