Glynlea Grace United Methodist Chruch

Scripture

Acts 10:34-38

So Peter opened his mouth and said: "Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, ³⁵ but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. ³⁶ As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ ( he is Lord of all), ³⁷ you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: ³⁸ how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. ³⁹ And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, ⁴⁰ but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, ⁴¹ not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴² And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³ To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." ⁴⁴ While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. ⁴⁵ And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶ For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, ⁴⁷ "Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" ⁴⁸ And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

Summary and Function

Summary: When Jesus rose from the dead, He proved that He was God in the flesh and able to pay the penalty for all of our sins. In this way, He conquered sin, death and evil on our behalf. It’s important to remember that this was done for all people. Through His life, death and resurrection, Jesus brought salvation to everyone. God loves all people and wants an intimate, love relationship with all people. That’s what the story in Acts 10 is all about. God opened up the Kingdom of Heaven to everyone, regardless of race, social status, education or any other societal classification. Repentance (deciding that you want to live a Godly life characterized by love rather than a sinful life) and faith in Jesus is all that is required for anyone to enter God’s kingdom. With this in mind, we must welcome all people into God’s Kingdom. We must welcome people we would not normally associate with and let them know about God’s love. May this Easter be the time when we actively seek to welcome every person we come across into the Kingdom of God.

Function: To encourage the congregation to reach out to all people with the love of Christ.

The Sermon

I. Introduction: Most people tend to associate only with people who are like them

A. We see this most clearly in a high school setting. Kids tend to form cliques

· Smart kids hang with other smart kids

· Jocks hang with other jocks

· Head bangers hang with other head bangers

· Church going kids tend to hang out with other church going kids

B. This tendency to only hang out with people who are like us continues into adulthood

· White collar workers tend to hang out with other white collar workers

· Blue collar workers tend to hang out with other blue collar workers

· People with the same educational background tend to socialize with each other.

· This is seen, even in church congregations. Most congregations tend to be homogeneous in terms of race, social status and education level.

II. This human tendency to only associate with people like ourselves should not apply

to Christians.

A. Christians should be willing to associate with any group of people to present them with the gospel message

B. The example of Jesus

· He was a Jewish son of a carpenter but hung out with…

· Pharisees, tax collectors, prostitutes, Roman soldiers and sinners

C. Scripture makes it clear that God’s salvation is for all people. That’s what the story in Acts 10 is all about

· Cornelius, a commander in the Roman Army, responds to a God given vision to send for Peter, a Jew who followed Jesus. (Let’s remember, the Roman Army was oppressing the Jewish nation. Roman soldiers and Jews did not associate with each other)

· Peter receives a vision from God. He sees unclean animals and is told to eat them. Peter, being the good Jew that he is, responds that he would never eat anything unclean. God then directs, “Do not call anything unclean that I have made clean.”

· Peter then goes with Cornelius’ servants and visits Cornelius at his house. (A Jew visiting a Gentile Roman Soldier would have been scandalous.)

· Peter says, “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34-35). He then delivers the good news about Jesus to Cornelius and his household.

III. Today we are celebrating the resurrection of our Savior and Lord Jesus.

A. On this day, we reflect on the significance of the resurrection.

· As we do this, we should remember that the significance of the resurrection applies to everyone, regardless of ethnic background, social status, education or any other social standard.

· Just as the sun rises on everyone, the Son of God rose for everyone.

B. We all need salvation and God provides us all with salvation through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ

· We are all sinners and deserve hell

· God, however, loves us all and doesn’t want to see any of us get what we deserve. So,….

· God came to this earth as a human being to live a sinless life and become the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. He paid the penalty for our sins on the cross. With our sins wiped away, we have a re-stored love relationship with God. Instead of hell we get eternal life.

· On the third day he rose from the dead.

1) Proving he’s God in the flesh

2) Conquering sin, death and evil on our behalf.

IV. What this means for us

A. If you are not yet a believer, God’s salvation is available to you. It does not matter where you come from or what you have done. Jesus rose from the dead FOR YOU!!!!

B. If you are a believer, this means that you must be willing to go out of your comfort zone. You must be willing to associate with whoever God places in your path.

· We don’t get to choose who we minister to. God decides that for us. We minister to whoever God sends our way or directs us to.

· We must be willing to meet any need in the name of Christ, even if this means associating with people from different income levels, ethnic backgrounds or education levels.

· Real life examples of ministering to people we may not normally associate with

1) Family promise: ministering to homeless families

2) City rescue mission: Serving the homeless

3) Prayer shawl: Visiting children in the hospital.

4) Going door-to-door in a neighborhood that is different from your own neighborhood.

C. We must remember: THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS MADE GOD’S SALVATION AVAILBLE TO ALL PEOPLE. THIS MEANS WE MUST LOVE EVERYONE AND BE WILLING TO ASSCIATE WITH PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE.