A story of 2 “converts” - Acts 10:1-11:18

[0:00] Today we will have the opportunity to look at the longest narrative found in the book of Acts. It consists of a chapter and a half of the book of Acts, and you wonder why would Luke spill so much ink on this text?

[0:22] And it's a text that may be familiar to you, it may be familiar to me, and it's a text about Peter and Cornelius. And I submit to you that it's perhaps the longest text, because if you miss the point of what's happening in this text, you miss the point of the whole book of Acts.

[0:44] If you miss the point of this text, perhaps we miss God's heart for the nations. And so Luke spins a chapter and a half of ink on this.

[1:01] And today we're going to look at two questions, and they may seem a little bit irrelevant at first, but they will have deep implications for us. The first question we're going to answer today is, was Cornelius already saved at Caesarea, or are sincere good devout individuals who are monotheists saved?

[1:23] The second question we will look at is, how is one acceptable to God? And so with that in the backdrop, I'm going to read the entire text today, the chapter and a half, with you.

[1:40] And if you have a Bible, please pull it out and turn to Acts chapter 10. And we are going to read Acts chapter 10 through 11 verse 18.

[1:54] This is the word of the Lord. 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 generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.

[2:12] 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? And he said to him, Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.

[2:30] And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who was called Peter. He is lodging with the one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. And the angel who spoke to him had departed.

[2:41] He called two of his servants, devout soldier, from among those who attended to him, and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

[2:53] The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the house top about the sixth hour to pray. And it became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were departing, he fell into a trance.

[3:09] And saw the heavens open and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by the four corners of the earth. And in were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air.

[3:22] And there came to him in a voice, Rise, Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said, By no means Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.

[3:35] And the voice came to him again the second time what God has made clean do not call common. This happened three times and the thing that was taken up at once to heaven.

[3:47] 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 of Simon's house stood at the gate and called out to ask whether Simon, who was called Peter, was lodging there.

[4:06] And while Peter was pondering the vision, the spirit said to him, behold, three men are looking for you. Rise, go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.

[4:18] And Peter went down to the men and said, I am the one whom you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming? And they said to him, Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God fearing man who was well spoken by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by holy angels to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.

[4:42] So he invited them into his guest and the next day he rose and went away with them and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.

[4:54] And the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. When Peter entered Cornelius, when Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet and worshipped him.

[5:09] But Peter lifted him up saying, stand up, I too am a man. And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered and he said to them, you yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with in order to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.

[5:33] And so I was sent for and I came without objection. I asked then why you sent for me.

[5:44] Cornelius said four days ago about this hour I was praying in my house at the ninth hour and behold a man stood before me and bright clothing and said Cornelius, your prayers have been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.

[5:59] Send therefore to Joppa and ask Simon who was called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner by the sea. So I sent for you at once and you have been kind enough to come.

[6:12] Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord. So Peter opened his mouth and said truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation someone anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

[6:34] As for the word that he sent to Israel preaching the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. You yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea beginning in Galilee after the baptism of John proclaim.

[6:50] How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were opposed by the devil for God what was with him.

[7:03] 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. But God raised him on the third day and made him to appear not to all the men, but to us who have been chosen by God as witnesses who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

[7:24] And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judged the living the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sin through his name.

[7:40] And while Peter was still saying these things the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 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.

[7:56] For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?

[8:09] And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days. Chapter 11. Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles who had received the word of God.

[8:25] So Peter went up to Jerusalem. The circumcised parties criticized him saying you went to uncircumcised men and ate with them. But Peter began explaining it to them in order.

[8:39] I was in the city of Joppa praying and a trance of a vision something like a great sheet descending being let down from heaven by its four corners and came down to me. Looking at it closely I observed animals and beasts of prey, reptiles and birds of the air.

[8:55] I heard a voice saying rise Peter, kill and eat. But I said by no means Lord for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.

[9:06] But the voice answered a second time and said what God has made clean do not call common. This happened three times always drawn up again into heaven. And behold at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were sent to me from Caesarea.

[9:23] And the spirit told me to go with them making no distinctions. These six brothers also accompanied me and entered the man's house. And he that is Cornelius told us how he had seen the angel standing at the house saying send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter.

[9:41] He will declare to you the message by which you will be saved you and your household. And as I began to speak the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning.

[9:53] And I remembered the word of the Lord how he said John baptized you with water but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ who was I that I could stand in God's way.

[10:12] And when they heard these things they fell silent and they glorified God saying then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.

[10:29] Let me try to sum up this story. Cornelius was a Gentile not a Jew. He feared God as the best as he knew how. He prayed he gave alms he walked uprightly.

[10:43] Verse 2 says that he was a devout man in chapter 10. And at that same time and God I'm sorry sent to him an angel to send for Peter in Joppa.

[10:55] Joppa is down by the Mediterranean Sea if you go 30 miles north along the Mediterranean Sea you get Caesarea. So you have Cornelius and Caesarea sending an envoy to meet with Peter to get him to come to Caesarea and tell them the good news of Jesus Christ.

[11:14] Peter also saw a vision of animals and that the Jews regarded as unclean because of the ceremonial law of the Old Testament. And the voice came from heaven arise and eat but Peter protested that they were unclean.

[11:28] And the voice came back with decisive words that said what God has made clean you must not call common. In other words with the coming of Jesus into the world the final cleansing sacrifice of Christ now offered with the command to take the gospel to all ethnic groups and to all the world now has been given.

[11:52] The old ceremonial laws about food are lifted that was a barrier between the Gentiles world the Gentile world is now been removed. And so Peter's vision had two points the food laws are fulfilled and they ended in Jesus.

[12:09] And the people second point of the vision was this that the people that the food laws had kept separate from the nations the Gentiles are not to be considered as unclean or common.

[12:21] So that's the two points of the vision. These unclean animals God has now made clean and they are if you will a metaphor for now the nations are also clean.

[12:33] They are to be in Christ they are to be reached by the Lord Jesus they are not common or unclean any longer. Cornelius then sins for Peter. It's interesting to me that Peter doesn't like what was on that blanket or sheet that was lowered and he doesn't like it three times while God had affirmed that.

[13:00] It's interesting that Peter denied Christ three times while Peter has a way of denying things three times that the Lord has said is clean.

[13:13] So then Peter goes with them to Caesarea and finds Cornelius ready he and his whole household to hear the gospel. Peter preaches it they repent the Holy Spirit falls on them they are baptized and they are saved.

[13:28] So the question then that I asked before that it seems inoculus is is Cornelius was he already saved. So I'm going to take you on a journey this week that I had in the text and then I was bothered by and I'm going to bother you with it and so that's going to be how we're going to do this in verse 34 and 35 of chapter 10.

[13:51] I want us to read these two verses. So Peter opened his mouth and said 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.

[14:12] So Cornelius was this man he was someone from a nation that feared God we're told that in the opening two verses and he does what is right. He gave alms to the poor and it does and it says then that made him acceptable to God.

[14:30] What is right is acceptable to him. So is was Cornelius already saved and I'm going to allow the text of God's word to answer the question whenever we try to ask questions of the Lord and his word we must allow the word of God to answer our questions.

[14:50] And so let us then answer this question. No, because of Peter's response in Acts 11 when he retells the Jerusalem apostles when he retells the story of what happened look with me of what Peter says to them he said and he I'm sorry and he says and he told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house saying send to Joppa and bring Simon who was called Peter.

[15:22] He will declare to you a message by which you will be saved you and your household. So the first question of no. Why does he answer this way because of Peter's description.

[15:39] Notice two things that the message was essential verse 14 and and you will and he will declare to you that is Simon Peter he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved.

[15:52] Notice there is a message that needs to be essential that the gospel has the power of God to save unto salvation and that message is necessary for someone to be saved.

[16:03] Second notice the verb tense is future and he will declare to you message by which you will be saved.

[16:14] The verb tense is future a message by which you will be saved. So when we meet Cornelius at the beginning of the text even though he was a devout man he would fear God. He gave alms to the poor. He was not yet saved.

[16:29] If he sends for Peter and hears the message and believes on Christ of the message then he will be saved and if he does not believe he will not be saved.

[16:42] This surely is why the whole story is built around God's miraculously getting Cornelius and Peter together. There was a message that Cornelius needed to hear in order to be saved.

[16:54] So in Acts 10 35 it does not mean that Cornelius was already saved when it says that the people in unreached groups who fear God do right are acceptable to God.

[17:08] It cannot mean that Cornelius was already saved. The second reason why I would answer no is this of what Peter's declaration is in 10 43.

[17:19] So if you read with me in chapter 10 verse 43 we read what Peter said to him Jesus Christ all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sin through his name.

[17:34] What is Peter's declaration? That the forgiveness of sins is salvation. No one is saved whose sins against God are not forgiven.

[17:46] And Peter says that the forgiveness comes through believing in Christ and it comes through the name of Christ. It does not say I am here to announce to you that those of you who fear God and do right are already forgiven.

[18:00] He says I am here so that you may hear the gospel and receive forgiveness in the name of Christ by believing in him. So again it is very unlikely that whatever verse 35 is saying it is not indicating that Cornelius is already saved.

[18:18] Thirdly, no Cornelius is not already saved because everywhere in the book of Acts Luke testifies to devout Jews. And you say well why do you say that?

[18:30] Well if you read in verse 2 chapter 10 verse 2 it says Cornelius is a devout man who feared God. Well all throughout the book of Acts you find devout men who still do not know the Lord namely the Jews at Pentecost.

[18:47] You cannot find a more devout people than the Jewish people and they are the devout people at Pentecost who God's word describes them as devout and yet they too receive the Holy Spirit believe in Christ and are saved not necessarily in that order.

[19:04] And lastly, no because of the reaction of the apostles in Acts chapter 11 verse 18.

[19:17] After Peter goes to these apostles who are Jerusalem and they cannot believe that Peter went to these uncircumcised men and he had the audacity to even eat with them likely an uncoture meal.

[19:35] How is it that Peter could have gone to these uncircumcised people and have a meal that is not kosher with these men? That was the problem that Peter is responding to in the whole chapter of 11 that we read and it concludes with this thought in verse 18.

[19:57] And when they heard these things that is the apostles, when they heard these things they fell silent and they glorified God saying then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.

[20:24] Repentance that leads to life means that repentance led to eternal life. They did not already have eternal life. They received it when they heard the message about Christ and turned and believed in to follow him.

[20:40] So I conclude that Acts 10.35 does not mean that Cornelius was already saved because he was in some sense a God fearing man and did what was right and he did noble things.

[20:52] So that's the answer to our first question. So then the second question is this then. What is this acceptability before God?

[21:03] If Cornelius is not saved in verse 35 when it says, but in every nation anyone who fears him does what is right and is acceptable to God.

[21:16] So what is this acceptability before God? What is this talking about?

[21:28] And I would also say what does this have to do with any prejudices or biases or ethnocentrism and our commitment to world evangelism?

[21:41] What does it have to do with any of that? And my first thought I'll be honest with you is this. It just simply means that all people are acceptable candidates for salvation.

[21:52] So when it says, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is the text says acceptable to him or I was thinking, well, maybe it's saying that all people are acceptable candidates for salvation.

[22:07] Maybe that's what it's saying. I'm going to take you on a journey of me answering and wrestling with this question and how it pertains to the whole text and the whole book of Acts here in a moment.

[22:21] What stopped me is when I read verse 28, turn with me. 10. This is why it's important to bring your Bible because you'll have people like me who ask you to turn places often.

[22:37] In verse 28, it says this and he said to them, you yourselves know how unlawful this is Peter responding to Cornelius and those guests that were in his in his house, and he said to them, you yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation.

[23:04] But God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.

[23:16] And look with me back in verse 15. This is when Peter was retelling or having his vision. It says in verse 15 and the voice came to him again saying the second time what God has made clean do not call common.

[23:35] So this was helpful for me. What does the means that Christians should never look down on a person of any race or ethnicity or anything?

[23:50] We should never think of anyone as unfit to hear the gospel. We should never think of anyone as unclean for me to go into their house and share the gospel or that they are not worth evangelizing or they have too many offensive habits that would get in the way of me visiting them and proclaiming the gospel to them.

[24:14] Christians have no permission to give themselves any excuses to call anyone unclean or common who God has made clean.

[24:26] So the phrase in verse 28 is powerful. It says notice who can be excluded from this. But God has shown me that I should not call any person.

[24:39] You should underline that any person common or unclean. In other words, Peter learned from his vision on the house top at Joppa that God rules out no one.

[24:52] God rules out no one of his favor on the basis of race or ethnic origin or cultural distinctives or physical distinctives. Common and unclean meant was to be rejected or despised or taboo and no one.

[25:10] We should call no one common or unclean. Someone who is to be rejected by God and therefore not have the gospel declared to them.

[25:25] Peter's point here in verse 28 is that not one human being on the face of the earth should we think of that way. Not one as unclean, common who God has made clean.

[25:39] That's what is so amazing about this verse. Not one. Our hearts should go out to every single person, whatever color, ethnic origin, whatever physical traits or cultural distinctives they have.

[25:54] We should not write off anybody or snub anyone. We don't write them off like the priests and the Levites in the parable of the Good Samaritan and passed by on the other side.

[26:08] God has shown me, Peter said, that I should not call anyone, not one common or unclean. Not Native Americans, not the homeless, not Hispanic, not the homosexual, not African American, not the poor, the tattooed, the sick, the wealthy, the pierced, the abortion doctor, the Muslim, or anyone from a different political affiliation.

[26:36] Not one. Two years ago, Melissa and I met with a woman in my office. She was an attender of the church and was interested in knowing more.

[26:52] And she made a passing comment that illustrated to me that perhaps she had a racist understanding of people. The passing comment I spent some time on and I just said, did you just say, repeated it to her, to which she agreed.

[27:11] I invited her to repent of that racist understanding, racist view. She explained it away and excused herself from saying it, but she did not repent, nor was she willing to change.

[27:28] So I shared with her, ma'am, you are not welcome to attend forth any longer. We are not your church. And I pleaded with her to repent.

[27:40] Not one person shall we ever call or think of as common or unclean, that God has called clean, not one.

[27:56] Not one. So if then, this acceptability before God is not simply a matter of clean or unclean.

[28:17] Look with me one more time. We know that everyone is not to be considered a matter of clean or unclean, but this one says, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

[28:36] So then the complexity got a little thicker for me. So my initial thought was that all humans are clean before God, but that's what 28 affirms and confirms.

[28:50] A further thought is some peoples in every nation who fear God and do right, these are acceptable ones for before God. So who are they? And how are we to understand this verse?

[29:07] Verse 35, I want us to spend special attention on the three words in every nation, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to God.

[29:25] He is not talking about every person like he was in verse 28. Here he's talking about some in every nation, in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable.

[29:38] So who is this group of people? So this acceptability people have in mind here is something more. It seems it's merely not being a matter of clean or unclean or common.

[29:52] And Peter says, call no one common or unclean. So here he is saying only some in every nation fear God and do what is right and now are acceptable to God.

[30:03] So who is this group of people? This is what was bothering me. And if it bothers me, I'm going to let it bother you.

[30:16] And enjoy the journey with me. So now we know what verse 35 does not mean. We know it doesn't mean two things. It does not mean that those God fearing doers of good are saved as we saw the four reasons of why Cornelius is not saved.

[30:34] It also does not mean that merely they are acceptable candidates for evangelism as I previously initially thought this week, because verse 28 already says that everybody that's true of.

[30:46] But verse 35 says that only some are God fearing doing right and thus lead to this form of acceptability before God. What is that? And so here is my suggestion.

[30:58] I will invite you to be a Berean and see if the things that I'm saying are so. Cornelius represents a kind of unsaved person among unreached peoples who are seeking God in extraordinary ways.

[31:13] Cornelius was a Gentile. He was a Roman citizen. And this is important. He is a new kind of Gentile. We see in the book of Acts, Gentiles have already come to faith in Christ.

[31:24] For example, when we meet the seven deacons in Acts chapter 6, we come to a gentleman whose name is Nicholas and it says he's a proselyte. So that means Nicholas, who is this Gentile person, he's a proselyte.

[31:38] That means he converts to Judaism. And then he hears about Christ and he believes into Christ for the forgiveness of sin and he knows the Lord and he's a Christian. So he was a Gentile.

[31:49] Then he practiced the Jewish religion, Judaism. He converted to Judaism, was circumcised to do that as the covenant symbol for Israel.

[32:01] And then he believes in Christ. So then he serves the church as a deacon. That's Nicholas. So we already see Gentiles in the church. We see Nicholas. And then in the second, we see the Ethiopian eunuch.

[32:13] But where is the Ethiopian eunuch coming from? He's coming from Jerusalem, the worshiping God in Jerusalem. And he's returning to Ethiopia. And that's when Philip catches up to him and he shares Christ.

[32:25] He believes and he is baptized. Thirdly, we come to the Samaritans. These are half Jewish people and half Gentile of descent.

[32:38] And Peter and John lay their hands on them. They are saved. They receive the Holy Spirit. And then we get to Cornelius. But I want you to see in all of these preceding ones that they have some Jewish orientation to them.

[32:52] Nicholas converted to Judaism before he came to Christ. Philip is worshiping the God in Jerusalem, returning to Ethiopia. He has an affinity toward Judaism.

[33:04] We have the Samaritans who are familiar with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They're half Jewish, if you will. And then we get to Cornelius. And he is a Gentile of Gentiles.

[33:17] He doesn't know of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He's thought well of by the Jews. We understand that from the story. But he is a Gentile of Gentiles.

[33:32] So Cornelius is a Gentile. He's a Roman citizen, a Centurion, one who oversees 100 soldiers. And Peter is saying that God accepts this genuine person who works...

[33:50] He accepts this search as genuine. And works wonders to bring the Gospel to that person as evidence of Peter and Cornelius' vision and an envoy sent to Peter.

[34:03] Peter's willingness to go and the Gospel is proclaimed to him. So look with me in verse 31. This was helpful. And said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard.

[34:16] Your alms have been remembered before God. Do you see the sincerity of this lost person, Cornelius? He does not know the Lord.

[34:28] He wants to know the Lord. His prayer has been heard and it has been observed of him giving alms to the poor. And that says they're remembered before the Lord.

[34:41] So what do we to do with this? But it helps us understand what this acceptability is. Notice your prayers have been heard. Therefore I sent Peter.

[34:52] It implies that the prayers were for God to send him what he needed in order to be saved. So the fear of God that is acceptable to God in verse 35 is the true sense that there is a holy God.

[35:08] That we will one day meet God as desperate sinners. It includes that we cannot save ourselves and need to know God, the God of salvation.

[35:20] And we pray for a day and night and seek and act in the light that they have. So this is what Cornelius is doing.

[35:33] This is what Cornelius is doing as this lost person. Read with me in verse 35 one more time. But in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to God.

[35:56] So here's let me summarize and conclude. I see Cornelius as this new kind of person that we have not yet met in the God's word. He's a Gentile of Gentiles.

[36:08] He does not know the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But he with what his understanding he knows perhaps it's through general revelation that God's invisible attributes, his divine power are clearly seen.

[36:25] He has enough understanding through creation and it says that he was befriended by Jews or he's a friend of the Jews. So maybe be talking through the Jews, he knows enough that he knows I'm going to reject the pantheon of Roman gods and Roman deities that I know.

[36:44] And I am convinced there is one God. I don't know him, but with the light that I do know and do understand, I'm going to obey that. And God hears that prayer.

[36:55] Lord, I want to know you. I don't know who you are. I read an article years ago where there was a woman who was in an unreached people group who would pray.

[37:09] I want to know God, but didn't know how. And she went to go to a village nearby and there happened to be a missionary who was working on the Bible translation.

[37:25] And he knew the language and he went to that village and she met him up in that village. And that missionary proclaimed in her own language she could understand the gospel for the first time.

[37:36] And this is what she said. I have known that there is a God, but now I understand his forgiveness and know his name.

[37:49] His name is Jesus. So God heard this woman's cries. I want to know God and provided a miraculous way for her to encounter someone who in her language could proclaim the name of Jesus and she got saved.

[38:06] And I'm proposing perhaps Cornelius is in this category of that kind of person. So then when we read this verse, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

[38:21] If I'm correct, of the 7.9 billion people on earth and the 3.28 billion who are left unreached, that is, they have less than 2% of the population are believers in Christ.

[38:39] Of that 3.28 billion, there are 5.7 million where there is no church, there is no missionary, no one knows the Lord, no mission organization has taken responsibility for him, no one is translating anything into their language.

[38:57] There is no representation of Christ. And perhaps in these 3.28 billion people, there might be a Cornelius who is crying out.

[39:11] I want to know God and I'm going to act in the light that I know that I have already, but I'm not saved. And I wonder who the Lord may be preparing in our midst to say, I'll go.

[39:27] So a couple of application points is this. No human is common or unclean. No one is to be spurned, shunned, rejected, despised because of one's ethnicity, race, cultural, physical traits.

[39:48] Christians should have no part of any kind of renewed racism that is cropping up in our land. And secondly, every nation around the world are being people prepared by God to seek him.

[40:05] If I could ask Aaron Wilkins to come join me on stage. Aaron, would you come up here for me please? Thank you. All right, I want to give a picture of what perhaps one of our future missionaries may look like, who may go.

[40:20] Come on up here. Thank you, man. Of what our future missionaries may look like. And I want those of you who teach children and who esteem Jesus and teach in a way that makes Jesus be irresistible.

[40:36] He's worth living for. He's worth dying for. It's worth committing your life to. And for people like Aaron, who grow up, who may feel a tug of the Lord to say, I'll go.

[40:49] Even to those Cornelises out there in this world, I'll go. And parents, who would say to a child like that, hey, I'm not going to ask you all the traditional questions like, how are you going to pay for your lifestyle?

[41:03] Where are you going to find a wife? But would say, the Cornelises of this world are worth it. Go.

[41:14] Go. Commit your life to Christ and to his cause. So thank you, church, for being a church who loves kids and wants to see people raised up for the nations to be reached.

[41:28] I'm grateful for this story of Peter and Cornelius. Thanks, Mr. Aaron. Go have a seat.

[41:40] Let's pray. Lord, would you burden us?

[41:56] I wonder who around the world, there is no hope of the gospel yet for that person. But they look into the stars at night, they see your creation.

[42:13] They harvest crops. They eat food. And they know enough information to condemn them and not enough to save them.

[42:24] Or would you burden us for the over three billion people who really don't have a gospel witness around them?

[42:40] Lord, if you are calling anyone from our congregation, I pray that you would deeply confirm that call with other individuals speaking into life and even into their own life to say, go.

[42:57] It's worth it. Lord, help us to have a burden for the city of Spokane, for this Logan neighborhood, and for the nations.

[43:14] Maybe we'd be bold in our spheres of influence that you have given us. Maybe we'd be eager to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ with all of those who we have influence.

[43:32] Today, many of us will go home and watch a game and maybe we even just pick up a phone call and say, would you come over and join me and my friends?

[43:43] And may the purpose not be about a game, but to build a relationship to share you with them. We love you Lord. Thank you for those who teach children, our youth and young adults.

[44:00] And we would foster a love for you. We love you Lord. Amen.