SPEAKER_01: This podcast is brought to you by Grant Parquet Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God.
SPEAKER_01: For more information about Grant Parquet, visit GrandParkway.org.
SPEAKER_02: That's pretty good.
SPEAKER_02: Um God, thank you.
SPEAKER_02: That regardless of how our mood is or what season of life we're in, we are currently being stalked by your goodness and mercy.
SPEAKER_02: Your goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives.
SPEAKER_02: God, thank you for who you are.
SPEAKER_02: That our relationship is not predicated on how well Leo can hold on, but it's how you've held on to me.
SPEAKER_02: How you've held on to us.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, thank you for your faithfulness.
SPEAKER_02: The fact that in this upgrade culture, in this upgrade world, you remain full.
SPEAKER_02: You're the same yesterday, today, and forever.
SPEAKER_02: And God, would you make these truths now evident as we learn from your word?
SPEAKER_02: I ask these things in your name.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: And you can be seated.
SPEAKER_02: Well, good morning.
SPEAKER_02: How are you?
SPEAKER_02: There you go.
SPEAKER_02: I must say it didn't sound like it at first.
SPEAKER_02: As always, it is so good to be with you.
SPEAKER_02: If you have your Bibles, would you grab those?
SPEAKER_02: Go to Acts chapter 10.
SPEAKER_02: Um, Acts chapter 10.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna continue in our study of the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_02: If you don't have a Bible, you can just relax as the text is gonna appear here on the screen.
SPEAKER_02: Either way, I would love for us all to be on the same page, and that's gonna be in Acts chapter 10.
SPEAKER_02: Now, um, I'm gonna get jump right into this passage.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna mean verses 1 through 23.
SPEAKER_02: Acts chapter 10, verses 1 through 23.
SPEAKER_02: Um, I'll just frame our time together like this.
SPEAKER_02: Um, the passage we're gonna dive into right now is vital in explaining why this room looks the way it looks as far as who's in it.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, this right here is a very Jewish book.
SPEAKER_02: It's a pretty Jewish book.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I think all but one author is Jewish.
SPEAKER_02: Very Jewish book.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, it even proclaims of itself that the God of the universe gave his oracles.
SPEAKER_02: He gave his oracles and entrusted them to the Jews.
SPEAKER_02: Very Jewish book, and yet here we are.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, in Fort Bend County, most diverse county in the country, and you are from all over the place, and you are holding your very Jewish book, and you're waiting for your West African pastor to preach the gospel from it.
SPEAKER_02: How did that happen?
SPEAKER_02: Okay, this passage explains that.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna go through verses one through 23.
SPEAKER_02: Here's what it says Um, at Caesarea, there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generous generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.
SPEAKER_02: About the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, Cornelius, and he stared at him in terror and said, What is it, Lord?
SPEAKER_02: And he said to him, Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.
SPEAKER_02: And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter.
SPEAKER_02: He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.
SPEAKER_02: When the angel who spoke this to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, and having relayed everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
SPEAKER_02: The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went on the house top about the sixth hour to pray, and he became hungry and wanted something to eat.
SPEAKER_02: And while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens open, and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth.
SPEAKER_02: In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air.
SPEAKER_02: And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter, kill and eat.
SPEAKER_02: And Peter but Peter said, By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.
SPEAKER_02: And the voice came to him again a second time.
SPEAKER_02: This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once into heaven.
SPEAKER_02: Now, while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he saw might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate and called out, asked whether Simon, who was called Peter, was lodging there.
SPEAKER_02: And while Peter was pondering on the vision, the spirit said to him, Behold, three men are looking for you.
SPEAKER_02: Rise and go down and accompany them without any hesitation, for I have sent them.
SPEAKER_02: And Peter went down to the men and said, I am the one you're looking for.
SPEAKER_02: What is the reason for your coming?
SPEAKER_02: And they said, Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who was well spoken of by the whole Jewish Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 23.
SPEAKER_02: So he invited them in to be his guests.
SPEAKER_02: We broke the universe on page three.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, sin enters the world and it affects everything and infects everyone.
SPEAKER_02: But God has a plan.
SPEAKER_02: So in Genesis 12, he takes a man named Abram and a woman named Sarai, and he goes, I swear to me.
SPEAKER_02: There's nothing higher than him, nothing more true than him.
SPEAKER_02: I swear to me.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna turn you to into a family.
SPEAKER_02: And that family is gonna swell up into a country.
SPEAKER_02: And that country, okay, through that country I will bless every country on the planet.
SPEAKER_02: It's through this country I will bless every country on the planet.
SPEAKER_02: So that's the left side of your Bible.
SPEAKER_02: That's the promise made.
SPEAKER_02: And on the very right side of your Bible, okay, you have a spoiler alert into heaven.
SPEAKER_02: You say the promise is fulfilled.
SPEAKER_02: And in Revelation, we get a glimpse into a worship scene in heaven, and it says, a great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and all peoples and all language, we're yelling, salvation belongs to Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: It's promise fulfilled.
SPEAKER_02: The good news this morning is that you and I are in a very privileged position.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, we are in the middle of a promise made and a promise fulfilled.
SPEAKER_02: So progress has been made in the spread of the gospel, and we know it will be fulfilled, and we stand within that timeline.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, bottom line is this listen, Jesus is the blessing of Israel to all nations.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus is the king of Israel, he's also the king of all nations.
SPEAKER_02: And what he's doing is he's reconciling the world back to the Father, and he invites us to get involved.
SPEAKER_02: He invites you and I to get involved.
SPEAKER_02: Listen, you should want to be used in that.
SPEAKER_02: Is there a higher privilege than being used by God?
SPEAKER_02: You should be eager for that.
SPEAKER_02: There's actually a psalmist who said it like this I would I would rather be a door, I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.
SPEAKER_02: I'd rather be on the greeting team in the house of my God, just opening the door as a gatekeeper than being chilling in the house of the wicked.
SPEAKER_02: There's an honor, a huge honor in that work of being used by God.
SPEAKER_02: And this passage right here answers the timely question: how does God advance his cause?
SPEAKER_02: How does the God of the universe advance his cause?
SPEAKER_02: Well, number one, he uses devout men.
SPEAKER_02: He uses devout men.
SPEAKER_02: Look again at verses one through eight.
SPEAKER_02: It says this at Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household and gave alms generously to the people and prayed continually to God.
SPEAKER_02: About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, Cornelius, and he stared at him in terror and said, What is it, Lord?
SPEAKER_02: And he said to him, Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial to God.
SPEAKER_02: And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called a Peter.
SPEAKER_02: He's lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.
SPEAKER_02: When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier among whom it attended him.
SPEAKER_02: And having relayed everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
SPEAKER_02: Now we're introduced to Cornelius.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, what we know about him is one, he's a centurion.
SPEAKER_02: So he's a commander of at least 100 soldiers.
SPEAKER_02: So off the top, okay, he's not soft.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, he is not soft.
SPEAKER_02: This is a disciplined man, a brave man, a well-trained man, a tough man, an intelligent man.
SPEAKER_02: This is a man's man.
SPEAKER_02: So you know that off top, but he's a centerion.
SPEAKER_02: And he's also, he's also described as a devout man who feared God.
SPEAKER_02: That's the tension in his life.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, he's a Gentile man, okay, of an Italian background, who was an outsider to the religious.
SPEAKER_02: He was excluded from the God's covenant of Israel, and yet he was a God fearer.
SPEAKER_02: What this means is he was not a Jew, okay, but he had reverence for the God of the Jews.
SPEAKER_02: As probably growing up in a Roman-occupied place, he's probably heard of the gods of Rome, whether it was Jupiter or Venus or Mars or Augustus, he probably heard of those gods and he looked at the God of Israel and goes, that's the one.
SPEAKER_02: He had reverence for the God of the Jews.
SPEAKER_02: Now, he held it at arm's length, meaning he can't, he wasn't circumcised, he didn't um uh uh attend to the dietary laws, he just knew that the God, he believed that the God of Israel was the one that was worthy of worship.
SPEAKER_02: That's the tension in Cornelius' life.
SPEAKER_02: The type of man who went to the local synagogue out of reverence for God, but probably sat in the back because he probably couldn't spell Nebuchadnezzar.
SPEAKER_02: The type of man who agreed with the moral and ethical teachings of the Bible, but who was considered unclean by the Jews.
SPEAKER_02: The type of man who was well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, but they couldn't really share their life or their homes or food with him, they couldn't host him.
SPEAKER_02: And that's the tension we find with Cornelius.
SPEAKER_02: He was a Gentile, but this passage says he pleased God, a Gentile who pleased God.
SPEAKER_02: And listen, this is not the Bible, okay, commending pluralism.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, saying, hey, just believe whatever you want as long as you believe hard and live well.
SPEAKER_02: No, okay.
SPEAKER_02: Cornelius had faith in the real God of the universe.
SPEAKER_02: We know this because this passage intimates that he pleased God with his life.
SPEAKER_02: And without faith, it's impossible to please God.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, whoever wants to please God has to believe that he exists, has to and draw near to him, and that he rewards those who draw near to him.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, Jesus' little brother puts it this way: draw near to God and he will draw near to you.
SPEAKER_02: And that's Cornelius.
SPEAKER_02: He's a genuine seeker who is faithful to what he knew.
SPEAKER_02: So, even though he wasn't regenerated yet, to see the beauty and the necessity of Jesus, God holds him up as a pre-believer, even as a pre-believer, as a good example of what devout looks like.
SPEAKER_02: This gives us insight into what being devout in a way that's pleasing to God looks like.
SPEAKER_02: Now, um, some of us hear the word devout, and the picture you have in your mind is a bald monk wearing a robe, taking a vow of silence.
SPEAKER_02: But the beautiful thing about Cornelius' life is that he it's actually more simple than that.
SPEAKER_02: He shows it that being devout is more simple than that.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, being devout means being generous to the poor.
SPEAKER_02: Look at verse 2a again.
SPEAKER_02: Look at verse 2.
SPEAKER_02: He was a devout man who feared God with all his household and gave alms generously to the people.
SPEAKER_02: He gave alms generously to the people.
SPEAKER_02: Alms with this is a donation or gift to the poor.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, and friends, listen, you and I were called to this.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm preaching this by way of repentance, okay, because I'm guilty of not being sensitive enough to people who are homeless and poor.
SPEAKER_02: I I grew up in a place where almost the poverty cap, not Katie, almost the poverty capital of the world.
SPEAKER_02: Not Katie's the opposite, right?
SPEAKER_02: Um, almost the poverty capital of the world where homelessness was ubiquitous.
SPEAKER_02: You saw so many homeless people that you almost didn't see them at all.
SPEAKER_02: And I don't have that type of sensitivity in my heart that I should have, but listen, that's not true about our God.
SPEAKER_02: Psalm 113 describes God as looking far down at the sky.
SPEAKER_02: He looks far down at the sky, and yet he's intimately aware of the homeless and poor man living in the landfill.
SPEAKER_02: That's our God.
SPEAKER_02: If we bear his name, we need his heart for the poor.
SPEAKER_02: Now, this this calling for us to care for the poor and care for those who have lack is actually comprehensive through your Bible.
SPEAKER_02: This is not just in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, in the Old Testament, what you have there is God trying to weave within his people a sensitivity for the people who have lack.
SPEAKER_02: And he does this by infusing certain laws.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, for example, he tells his people, listen, I'm gonna put you in the promised land, okay?
SPEAKER_02: This is a good land.
SPEAKER_02: For six years, farm.
SPEAKER_02: Go crazy, farm, get everything out of those, those crops are gonna be good.
SPEAKER_02: Farm, farm, but on the seventh year, you stop.
SPEAKER_02: And whatever grows, those are for the poor.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, he's weaving that into the law.
SPEAKER_02: There's even another law that says, Hey, whenever you're gathering your crops in your field, don't go all the way to the edge.
SPEAKER_02: Hey, whenever you're harvesting your grapes off of trees, don't get them all.
SPEAKER_02: Or hey, if you're picking up all of your grapes and you're walking back and you happen to drop grapes, leave them.
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
SPEAKER_02: Whenever you drop it, leave it.
SPEAKER_02: Those are for the poor.
SPEAKER_02: So he's weaving within his people a sensitivity for the people who have lag.
SPEAKER_02: That's in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament, we just get really amazing rhetorical questions like if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?
SPEAKER_02: Just a spoiler, we have the world's goods.
SPEAKER_02: Richmond, Rosenberg, Sugarland, we have the world's goods.
SPEAKER_02: We have to remember we are not owners, but we're stewards.
SPEAKER_02: Stealing says what's yours is mine.
SPEAKER_02: Ownership says, what's mine is mine.
SPEAKER_02: Stewardship says, hey, what's mine is his.
SPEAKER_02: What's mine is his.
SPEAKER_02: And listen, if you consider yourself a Christian, just understand you are currently right now benefiting from the greatest act of generosity in the universe.
SPEAKER_02: Who are we not to follow this example?
SPEAKER_02: But being devout means being generous to the poor.
SPEAKER_02: It also means um devotion to prayer.
SPEAKER_02: Devotion to prayer.
SPEAKER_02: On the topic of prayer, I'm reminded of a Christian soldier who went out in the woods every day to pray.
SPEAKER_02: He went to the same spot every day for an hour every day to pray.
SPEAKER_02: So often that rumors started sprouting up amongst his troops.
SPEAKER_02: And the rumors were that he was communicating with the enemy.
SPEAKER_02: They thought they had a rat on their hands.
SPEAKER_02: And he got caught one day coming out of the same place in the in the same place where he used to pray.
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
SPEAKER_02: And his commander was waiting for him with this gun drawn.
SPEAKER_02: And he said, Where have you been?
SPEAKER_02: And this Christian soldier tells him, Hey, I've been out there, I've been out there praying.
SPEAKER_02: And he didn't believe him.
SPEAKER_02: And he says, Get on your knees right now, because you have never needed more prayer than this moment right now.
SPEAKER_02: And this man drops to his knees and he prays in such a way that his trust, his comfort in the Lord, his familiarity, and his fear of the Lord made the officer put his gun away and say, Get up, you can go.
SPEAKER_02: No one could have prayed like this without hours of intimacy with the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: Now, Cornelius is a man who prayed continually to God.
SPEAKER_02: And listen, we know more than Cornelius knows.
SPEAKER_02: At this point, we're on the other side of Cornelius, meaning we have more revelation, we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, we know Jesus Christ and his beauty and his necessity, yet a lot of us would say we struggle to pray.
SPEAKER_02: Now, um there's a passage I want to read over you.
SPEAKER_02: It's Colossians 4 2.
SPEAKER_02: It says this.
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
SPEAKER_02: It says, continue steadfastly in prayer.
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
SPEAKER_02: That's language of devotion.
SPEAKER_02: That's language of commitment.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, steadfastly, that means to persevere in.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, all of us, listen, all of us have reasons as to why we don't pray as much as we think we should.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, whether it's feeling unworthy or a lack of discipline or not knowing what to say or a lack of time or doubt or frustration.
SPEAKER_02: All of us have a reason as to why we don't pray as much as we should.
SPEAKER_02: Listen, valid or not, Satan is so crafty of using those against you.
SPEAKER_02: What Satan is so crafty from my own experience is convincing you you missed curfew.
SPEAKER_02: Dad is so angry, you might as well stay out all night.
SPEAKER_02: So what Satan usually after a sermon like this one, um some of you will go home and not pray again.
SPEAKER_02: What will happen is you'll you'll think, uh oh man, uh Satan will tell you, listen, uh another sermon about praying, you still haven't prayed?
SPEAKER_02: You might as well just keep on not praying.
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
SPEAKER_02: But that's not the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: We're called to persevere through that.
SPEAKER_02: Being a Christian may means making embarrassing U-turns back right back to God.
SPEAKER_02: That's called repentance.
SPEAKER_02: We're called to devote ourselves in prayer.
SPEAKER_02: So being devout means being generous to the poor and devoting ourselves in prayer.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 4 says this an angel says this, your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.
SPEAKER_02: This is sacrificial language, meaning your prayers and your alms are rising up from your house, Cornelius, rising up from your house like incense in a temple.
SPEAKER_02: There was an aroma about his prayer life and his generosity.
SPEAKER_02: And it was pleasing to God.
SPEAKER_02: And God uses such men to advance his kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: So, how does God advance his cause?
SPEAKER_02: Okay, he uses devout men.
SPEAKER_02: Number two, he breaks barriers.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, he breaks barriers.
SPEAKER_02: Look at verses 9 through 16.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, so in scene, this is scene two.
SPEAKER_02: In scene one, we've seen Cornelius, a devout man, get a visit from an angel who tells him to go summon Peter.
SPEAKER_02: And because Peter has a message of salvation for him.
SPEAKER_02: So he he sends two servants and a soldier about 31 miles to south to Joppa, where Peter is.
SPEAKER_02: And this right here is scene two.
SPEAKER_02: It says this, verse 9.
SPEAKER_02: The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up to the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.
SPEAKER_02: And he became hungry and wanted to eat.
SPEAKER_02: And while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance, and he saw the heavens open, and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth.
SPEAKER_02: And in it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air.
SPEAKER_02: And there came a voice to him saying, Rise, Peter, kill and eat.
SPEAKER_02: And Peter said, By no means, Lord, I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.
SPEAKER_02: And the voice came to him again the second time.
SPEAKER_02: What God has made clean, do not call common.
SPEAKER_02: This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once into heaven.
SPEAKER_02: Now, what's happening here?
SPEAKER_02: Okay, up until this point, the gospel was spreading.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, the gospel was spreading, but the gospel wasn't necessarily spreading like wildfire.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel was spreading like a controlled burn.
SPEAKER_02: Because up until this point, Jews were mostly sharing Jesus with other Jews.
SPEAKER_02: Jews.
SPEAKER_02: They were mostly sharing Jesus with other Jews, but here something different happens.
SPEAKER_02: Peter gets a vision during his prayer.
SPEAKER_02: And what happens here is a sheep comes down from heaven with a bunch of animals on it, and he's ordered to kill and eat them.
SPEAKER_02: The problem is some of those animals are considered unclean.
SPEAKER_02: And Peter remembers Sunday school.
SPEAKER_02: He remembers Leviticus 11 and go, no, this is this might be a test.
SPEAKER_02: Nothing uncommon, nothing unclean will touch these lips.
SPEAKER_02: Never have, never will.
SPEAKER_02: I'm a Jew.
SPEAKER_02: That's in my translation.
SPEAKER_02: And this happened three times.
SPEAKER_02: And the sheet was taking up into heaven.
SPEAKER_02: What's going on here?
SPEAKER_02: Okay, the reality is that God is showing Peter this.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, these unclean animals symbolize God's cleansing of the unclean Gentiles.
SPEAKER_02: The vision was a sign from heaven that Jews were no longer to call Gentiles unclean.
SPEAKER_02: From that point on, these two groups had equal footing with God the Father.
SPEAKER_02: And so God was actually breaking down the prejudice within Peter's heart.
SPEAKER_02: God was not contradicting his word, but he was emphasizing his power to transform.
SPEAKER_02: He was emphasizing his power to make clean.
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
SPEAKER_02: This is not talking about food necessarily, but people.
SPEAKER_02: God is communicating this radical idea that literally anyone can come to Jesus and be cleansed.
SPEAKER_02: That was wild back.
SPEAKER_02: That's a radical idea back then.
SPEAKER_02: Because if you're a Syrian, you have the God of the Syrians.
SPEAKER_02: If you're a Roman, you have the God of the Romans.
SPEAKER_02: If you're Egyptian, you have the God of the Egyptians.
SPEAKER_02: But right here, he's communicating that anyone can come to Jesus and be cleansed.
SPEAKER_02: This is not a localized God.
SPEAKER_02: What this means is that the gospel has the power not only to make dead people alive, but has the power to turn two people into one.
SPEAKER_02: God is mighty to save, he's also mighty to unite.
SPEAKER_02: Listen, it is hard to put into words the type of turmoil between the Gentiles and the Jews.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, don't get it twisted because this is the Bible and you have Cornelius and Peter on the same chapter of the Bible.
SPEAKER_02: No.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, they would they they would not have gone Chick-fil-A together at all.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, they would not have been on the same page.
SPEAKER_02: Listen, God chose the Jews.
SPEAKER_02: Why?
SPEAKER_02: Okay, Deuteronomy 7 tells us that God chose the Jews.
SPEAKER_02: God loved and chose the Jews because God loved and chose the Jews.
SPEAKER_02: They were graciously elected.
SPEAKER_02: But as time went on, they started confusing this gracious election with superior superiority and favoritism.
SPEAKER_02: They started looking down on the Gentiles and forgetting that God is using them just to save the whole world.
SPEAKER_02: Instead of being a kingdom of priests that represented God humbly, they became they became people who resented everybody else.
SPEAKER_02: They started calling the Gentiles dogs.
SPEAKER_02: So back then, um if if um back then, what's up, dog had a completely different connotation.
SPEAKER_02: Like if you I'll say if you see me like at like 10 p.m.
SPEAKER_02: at Target, right?
SPEAKER_02: And my pastoral filter's gone, right?
SPEAKER_02: I'm in sweats.
SPEAKER_02: If you see me then, what's gonna happen is um I'll probably hit you with a what's up, dog?
SPEAKER_02: Okay, raised by hip hop culture.
SPEAKER_02: That's that's that's a reflex at this point.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, if that happens, you and it happens to you like for me, just know you're in.
SPEAKER_02: You're in.
SPEAKER_02: Hold that close, you're in.
SPEAKER_02: But back then, to be called a dog by a Jewish person meant the opposite.
SPEAKER_02: You're out.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, you you're out.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, but here God is hinting that he has actually broken that barrier.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, this is Paul talking to about Jesus to the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_02: This is in Ephesians 2, it says this.
SPEAKER_02: For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing the law of commandments, expressed in ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in the place of two, so making peace and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
SPEAKER_02: And he came and preached peace to you who are far off, and peace to those who are near.
SPEAKER_02: For through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, the gospel has the power to make two people into one.
SPEAKER_02: So in this passage, God is converting Peter.
SPEAKER_02: But he's not converting Peter into Christianity, he's converting Peter into the implications of Christianity.
SPEAKER_02: Now we are not in this Jewish and Gentile war in this room, but uh there are still all sorts of walls of hostility um today.
SPEAKER_02: Turn on the news, and this gets built whenever hurt turns into hate.
SPEAKER_02: You hurt me, so I hate all y'all.
SPEAKER_02: Or this uh hostility comes up whenever preference turns to prejudice, okay?
SPEAKER_02: I prefer things this way, so I'll judge anybody who comes to a different conclusion.
SPEAKER_02: Or there or hostility comes up whenever um you you idolize one culture, you end up demonizing another one.
SPEAKER_02: My people are the solution, therefore your people have to be the problem.
SPEAKER_02: And this begs the question has there ever been a group of people that you didn't want to receive the grace from Jesus that you enjoy now?
SPEAKER_02: Has there ever been a group of people that you didn't want receiving the grace of from Jesus that you enjoy right now?
SPEAKER_02: Listen, I ask this because as church people, we are not immune to this mindset.
SPEAKER_02: In the church, in America and throughout all the world, in the church, there's still all sorts of hostility today.
SPEAKER_02: Through all sorts of trivial things.
SPEAKER_02: Like, for example, church size.
SPEAKER_02: This is a big one.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, what tends to happen when churches get our size and bigger, what typically happens, we can drive around and look at like some really, really small churches and go lazy.
SPEAKER_02: Lazy incompetent, and I bet the Holy Spirit's not working in there.
SPEAKER_02: And let me tell you something.
SPEAKER_02: The opposite can happen too.
SPEAKER_02: Tiny churches can look at a church a thousand plus and go fake.
SPEAKER_02: I bet I I know where they're growing, fake falsehoods going on.
SPEAKER_02: And this goes on with church sizes, with spiritual gifts, with um political affiliation, race, age, you name, we're not immune to this.
SPEAKER_02: In fact, whenever Gandhi was a student in England, you guys know who Gandhi is, obviously.
SPEAKER_02: He was looking for a religion that would get rid of the caste system in India.
SPEAKER_02: The caste system is a hierarchical system that was passed down through family, it was very oppressive.
SPEAKER_02: And he came across the gospels and he was deeply touched and thinking he offered a real solution to the division back home in India.
SPEAKER_02: So in England, he decided to go to church one Sunday, and when he walked in, he was refused a seat, and he was suggested that he go worship with his own people because this sir, this church is only for Europeans.
SPEAKER_02: And he thought to himself, if Christians have caste differences, I might as well remain Hindu.
SPEAKER_02: I'm saying this to you, church, not as a rebuke, but as a reminder to keep walking across the rubble of the broken barriers that God has already torn down.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, how does God change the world?
SPEAKER_02: He changes oh, how does God uh advance his cause?
SPEAKER_02: He he breaks barriers.
SPEAKER_02: So he uses devout men, he breaks barriers, and lastly, he uses confused obedience.
SPEAKER_02: Look at verse 17.
SPEAKER_02: Says this.
SPEAKER_02: Now, while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry in Simon's house, stood at the gate and called out to ask whether Simon, who was called Peter, was lodging there.
SPEAKER_02: And while Peter was pondering the vision, the spirit said to him, Behold, three men are looking for you.
SPEAKER_02: Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.
SPEAKER_02: And Peter went down to the men and said, I am the one you were looking for.
SPEAKER_02: What is the reason for your coming?
SPEAKER_02: And they said, Cornelius of Centerion, an upright, God-fearing man, well who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, has directed, was directed by a holy angel to send, to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.
SPEAKER_02: Now, Peter here is confused.
SPEAKER_02: He's inwardly perplexed, as the verse 17 says.
SPEAKER_02: But his vision is confirmed through his guests showing up, saying that they sent from him from Cornelius.
SPEAKER_02: Now, in the chapter before this one, we see Peter boldly responding to the challenge of death and sickness.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, he healed someone of their paralyzed states, and he actually resuscitated someone else.
SPEAKER_02: Those are pretty high hurdles.
SPEAKER_02: High hurdles.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, I haven't healed anyone or bought someone back from the dead in like a while.
SPEAKER_02: It's been a while.
SPEAKER_02: So those are pretty high hurdles.
SPEAKER_02: But he has hurdles in his heart as well.
SPEAKER_02: How will he respond to the challenge of racial and religious discrimination?
SPEAKER_02: Look at verse 23.
SPEAKER_02: So he invited them in to be his guests.
SPEAKER_02: The next day he rose and went away with them.
SPEAKER_02: And some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.
SPEAKER_02: He said yes.
SPEAKER_02: He was confused as he was, he said yes.
SPEAKER_02: Without all the answers, his answer was yes.
SPEAKER_02: Now, Peter gets a lot of flack in our day in hindsight for a lot of his shortcomings, but this was this pattern of confused obedience is actually something that he participated in quite often.
SPEAKER_02: This isn't new here.
SPEAKER_02: We can learn a lot from him in this area.
SPEAKER_02: There was actually a time whenever Peter was fishing the entire night.
SPEAKER_02: He's a small business owner, so what he caught is what he eat, what he ate, and what he sold.
SPEAKER_02: This is very important.
SPEAKER_02: So he was fishing the entire night.
SPEAKER_02: And the next day, while he's still out at sea, he encounters Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: And this is how the encounter goes.
SPEAKER_02: This is in Luke 5.
SPEAKER_02: It says this.
SPEAKER_02: And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.
SPEAKER_02: And Simon answered, Master, we toiled all night and took nothing.
SPEAKER_02: But at your word, I will let down the nets.
SPEAKER_02: And when he had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.
SPEAKER_02: Listen, we toiled all night and took nothing.
SPEAKER_02: Why are we fishing?
SPEAKER_02: We fished all night.
SPEAKER_02: We had we're working all night and took nothing.
SPEAKER_02: But at your word I will.
SPEAKER_02: I'm confused, but I will.
SPEAKER_02: Listen, to obey God when you're confused about what he's calling you to is pleasing to him.
SPEAKER_02: You're trusting that He is that He's sovereign.
SPEAKER_02: That's a trust in the sovereign uh sovereignty of God.
SPEAKER_02: Now I have um I have some pictures here for you.
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
SPEAKER_02: There are there is an artist, um, there are some artists in um in London who have this museum and this um art exhibit, and what they do is they collect trash basically.
SPEAKER_02: And you walk into a room, and what you see is either trash on the floor, or trash in the ceiling, or trash just hanging or on a table.
SPEAKER_02: You see trash, and you probably think to yourself, it's one of these art shows, okay.
SPEAKER_02: However, there's a spotlight at the corner of the room, okay?
SPEAKER_02: So when they turn the lights off, they turn the spotlight on, and you go from this, okay, to seeing this.
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
SPEAKER_02: And they do this over and over again.
SPEAKER_02: So go ahead and go to our next slide.
SPEAKER_02: So you see something like this, okay.
SPEAKER_02: You have what in the world is this?
SPEAKER_02: What could this be?
SPEAKER_02: And then you go from this, okay, to turning out into this.
SPEAKER_02: And go ahead and go to our next one.
SPEAKER_02: So on this one right here is by far my favorite.
SPEAKER_02: So at this point, you're trained, right?
SPEAKER_02: You're looking at how are they gonna make something out of this one?
SPEAKER_02: Okay, go ahead and and and and show it.
SPEAKER_02: So you go from that to this.
SPEAKER_02: Now, that's not my spiritual gift.
SPEAKER_02: However, okay, however, what do you think happens when you go from room to room?
SPEAKER_02: Okay, after you get past the first or second room, you become trained.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, at first you walk in like, well, what are we doing?
SPEAKER_02: And after the first second one, you go, okay, there's a mess, but I know there's more to this.
SPEAKER_02: I trust the artist.
SPEAKER_02: There has to be more to this.
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
SPEAKER_02: That's similar to trusting the sovereignty of God.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, the the same way you get trained to see the beauty in the mess after the first couple rooms.
SPEAKER_02: That's the same way we can read this book, and it should fuel our trust that whenever we're in circumstance or we're called to do something, this step of obedience is messy, but I trust the artist.
SPEAKER_02: What's he gonna make out of this?
SPEAKER_02: I don't have all the answers.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know all the answers, but I trust this artist.
SPEAKER_02: I trust his hand.
SPEAKER_02: This begs the question: listen, in your season of life, what is God calling you to that has you confused or even scared?
SPEAKER_02: Yes, we know what God generally calls all of us.
SPEAKER_02: But what's God specifically calling you to do that has you confused or scared?
SPEAKER_02: Okay, I majored in safety engineering.
SPEAKER_02: My whole major was on like what are the variables?
SPEAKER_02: How difficult I can't import that into my walk with Christ anymore.
SPEAKER_02: That's tough.
SPEAKER_02: As a warrior, okay, that's tough.
SPEAKER_02: But saying yes without all the answers is an act of worship, it's pleasing to God, and he uses it to advance his cause.
SPEAKER_02: So, how does how does God advance his cause?
SPEAKER_02: He uses devout men, he breaks down barriers, and he uses confused obedience.
SPEAKER_02: Now, one of the most important things you can do is is contemplate on your life.
SPEAKER_02: Watch yourself and your doctrine closely.
SPEAKER_02: When you think about your life, whether your daily habits are your big dreams, what cause are you advancing?
SPEAKER_02: Like what's sponsoring your continual actions or your big dreams?
SPEAKER_02: Is it your empire?
SPEAKER_02: Or is it you building someone else's empire?
SPEAKER_02: Or is it God's kingdom?
SPEAKER_02: The Bible says seek first the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_02: He's reconciling the world back to the Father, and he invites us to get involved.
SPEAKER_02: You should want that.
SPEAKER_02: We should want that.
SPEAKER_02: Let's pray that the Holy Spirit makes you and I more eager for his kingdom and his cause.
SPEAKER_02: Your guiding voice.
SPEAKER_02: God, thank you for your forgiveness.
SPEAKER_02: God, thank you for this story that was a nice step in getting us all here.
SPEAKER_02: How diverse this room is.
SPEAKER_02: Make us preoccupied with your cause, not our cause.
SPEAKER_02: It's in your name I pray, Lord.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Now, um, as typical, um, as usual, we we have we like to preach the word and give you some mental space or some space to think about it mentally.
SPEAKER_02: This is our mental worship.
SPEAKER_02: I have some questions up here.
SPEAKER_02: You can take a picture of this, or you can just with the Holy Spirit right now, just look at one of them and just do work with the Holy Spirit right there in your chair.
SPEAKER_02: But I'm gonna give you about 90 seconds to look at these questions.
SPEAKER_02: Father, I I thank you for your leadership in our hearts and our minds.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you for um the conviction that I feel that we feel here in this room.
SPEAKER_02: Um thank you.
SPEAKER_02: Um and God, if for people here who are maybe struck with guilt because they they heard your voice and said, No, God, would you please comfort them with your with your forgiveness?
SPEAKER_02: Let them know that we you you're working um not just with them, but also in spite of them.
SPEAKER_02: God, you are good, and I thank you for your advancing your cause through us.
SPEAKER_02: In your beautiful name I pray.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Um, church, as always, it's so good to be with you.
SPEAKER_02: Like I said, my name is Leo Almeida.
SPEAKER_02: I'm the teaching pastor here at Grant Parkway after our service.
SPEAKER_02: Um, it will some of our pastors are gonna be here down front, ready to pray for you, ready to process with you, ready just to meet you.
SPEAKER_02: Um, if you're new here, welcome.
SPEAKER_02: Um, we're so glad that you're here with us this morning.
SPEAKER_02: Um, if you would just text this number, um text welcome to this number right here.
SPEAKER_02: That gives us a record of your of your visit.
SPEAKER_02: Um, if this is your church home and this is the day you worship through giving, we have some boxes in the room that you can do so, or you can also do that on online.
SPEAKER_02: Now, um as I step back, I'm gonna point your attention to the screen.
SPEAKER_02: I want you always to know what's happening left for a church.
SPEAKER_02: So look at the screen.
SPEAKER_04: Here's what's happening at Grand Park Way Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_04: If you're new, text Welcome to 281-626-5707.
SPEAKER_04: This way we can know you're here and get you connected with the church.
SPEAKER_04: Did you know that we have a church app?
SPEAKER_04: You can use it to get involved, register for events, listen to sermons, podcasts, and more.
SPEAKER_04: Find it wherever apps are available for your devices.
SPEAKER_00: Hi, my name is Carrie Espy, and I'm part of the Welcome Team here at Grand Park Way Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: The Welcome Team is very important to the life and the growth of our church.
SPEAKER_00: First-time visitors will walk in the doors, and their first impression is one that has a tremendous influence on their decision of whether or not to return.
SPEAKER_00: Are people friendly?
SPEAKER_00: Are they welcoming?
SPEAKER_00: Do they greet you and do they ask you your name?
SPEAKER_00: And do they even help seat you in a crowded sanctuary when you're late and you don't know anyone there?
SPEAKER_00: These are things that really make a difference.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what our team aspires to provide for our church community, for anyone who walks in the door.
SPEAKER_00: Serving on the welcome team is a great experience.
SPEAKER_00: We're a community within a community.
SPEAKER_00: We really enjoy each other's company on Sunday mornings.
SPEAKER_00: It's gratifying to see that you are making a difference in this church just by making people feel welcome and making them feel at home here.
SPEAKER_00: If you are interested in joining the Welcome team, there are a couple of ways that you can do this.
SPEAKER_00: You can either contact Travis Dunham at travis at grandparkway.org, or you can simply find one of us wearing a blue badge on a Sunday morning.
SPEAKER_00: Ask us how to join, and they will point you in the direction that you need to go.
SPEAKER_03: About two years ago, a gentleman I know well, and you guys know well, Neil McClendon, gave me the book by Sam Storms called The Singing God.
SPEAKER_03: I took away two main things from my time in this book.
SPEAKER_03: The first one was, God not only loves me, but he really loves me.
SPEAKER_03: And the second one was, God not only is, but he wants to be, and he really enjoys being my father.
SPEAKER_03: I've been on this journey past couple of years trying to understand and better identify what that looks like in my own personal life.
SPEAKER_03: Growing up in a broken home, not necessarily having the best example of what a loving father looks like.
SPEAKER_03: And this book really helped unpacked understanding for me and having more of a desire to understand what it looks like for God not only to be my father, but really enjoy being my father.
SPEAKER_03: This year, Sam Storms will be at our church for Men's Weekend speaking about spiritual leadership.
SPEAKER_03: Whether you're married, whether you have kids, whether you have a job, or whether you're just in the community, we not only need to understand what leadership looks like, we need to understand what it looks like to be a spiritual leader in our household, in our community, in our jobs.
SPEAKER_03: Because that's what God has called us to be.
SPEAKER_03: That's what God has called men in this world to be, to be spiritual leaders.
SPEAKER_03: And I personally look forward to learning more about that from Sam Storms because I know what kind of impact simply his book has had on my life.
SPEAKER_03: So I can only imagine what hearing and learning from him for two days is going to have an impact on my life after that.
SPEAKER_03: So again, I would highly encourage that you consider joining us for Men's Weekend.
SPEAKER_03: It's on October 20th and 21st.
SPEAKER_03: If you have any questions, please approach me or any one of our staff or anybody in the church that is attending.
SPEAKER_03: I highly encourage you to consider joining us for that.
SPEAKER_03: Thanks.
SPEAKER_04: Finally, register your 7th through 12th grade student for our fall retreat.
SPEAKER_04: We'll be headed to Piney Woods Camp from November 10th through the 12th.
SPEAKER_04: For more information or to register for these events, please visit our website at grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_04: If you have any questions or want someone to pray for you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.
SPEAKER_02: For our men, I cannot plug that enough.
SPEAKER_02: That is an indispensable um weekend.
SPEAKER_02: So if you have the time, I would love for you to come out there to men's weekend.
SPEAKER_02: I'm sure your wives and your daughters and everyone in your household would love that as well.
SPEAKER_02: Um we have to we conclude our our our um our our services with the spoken blessings.
SPEAKER_02: Would you please get rise to your feet?
SPEAKER_02: Children of God, the God who needs no armies has invited you to join him on this adventure.
SPEAKER_02: Enjoy him and enjoy the advancing of his kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: I declare these things in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.