Live Free with Josh Howerton - One Faith, One Family // Acts 10:34-48

Episode Date: November 28, 2024

Have you ever wondered if God’s love truly embraces all people? Today, we witness a pivotal moment as Peter fully embraces his mission to share Jesus with people outside his own culture and tradition. Entering the home of Cornelius, a Roman centurion, Peter delivers the message of Jesus’s love and resurrection to Gentiles, a step that breaks centuries-old boundaries. The Holy Spirit’s powerful presence among Cornelius’s household is a testament to God’s desire for unity and inclusion. Peter’s journey encourages us to break down any personal or cultural walls that separate us from others, offering God’s love to everyone we meet as we live out the truth of one faith and one family.   For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. Church slash daily drive. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Well, happy Thanksgiving, everybody. Hope that your day is filled with joy and gratitude. You know how the two go together.

It's not joy that makes us grateful. It's gratitude that makes us joyful. So I hope that gratitude just flows out of your heart today to the people you get to hang with. And thanks for making time to hang with us for just a few minutes today. I am so grateful for you. And I pray for every listener of this podcast every day of my life. We're going to pick up a story from Acts chapter 10. We hit pause on it yesterday.

as Peter is about to do what no Jewish man would ever do and walk into the house of someone they referred to as the Gentiles or the outsiders. But Jesus is changing hearts, and he's breaking down walls, and he's opening doors, and the Holy Spirit is going to walk with Peter through the door of Cornelius's house. Chapter 10, verse 25, as Peter entered his home, Cornelius fell at his feet and worshipped him. Now, Peter could have really played that up.

He could say, well, yeah, I am. a pretty big deal. Have you seen the chosen? Yeah, I'm in that. But to his credit, he doesn't do any of that. Instead, it says this. Peter pulls him up and says, stand up. I'm a human being just like you. Don't miss that. Here's Peter saying, I'm just like you. I'm just like you. I now realize that we are not so different. We are both made in the image of God. We both need the grace of Jesus. And it's available now to both of us. And so they talk for a while. And then they go inside where to a whole bunch of other outsiders are gathered, and Peter tells them, you know it is 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 mean, after all those years of walking with Jesus, I really should have caught the way he treated everybody, but I'm a slow learner. But I now realize that it's true that God treats everyone on the same basis. Whoever fears him and does what his right is acceptable to him, no matter what race, he belongs to. And Peter goes on and shares the good news of God's love through Jesus with these people. He wouldn't even have eaten with a few days earlier. God had reminded him that through Jesus' death on a cross, he had built a bridge across the deep chasm of sin that separates all of us from the God who made us. And so Peter tells them about the miracles and all the signs and wonders that he and many other people saw Jesus do. And he tells them all

about the cross and the reality of Jesus' resurrection from the dead. And as he's unpacking all this good news, an amazing thing starts to happen. Cornelius and his whole crew start to believe that message of grace and hope. They began trusting what Jesus did for them on the cross. And the Holy Spirit of God shows up in a supernatural way, and these former outsiders start speaking in different languages they had never spoken before. Verse 44, the Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit have been poured out on the Gentiles too. They're saying, what?

This is awesome. So God really does want everyone to come home? He really has torn down the walls. He invites everyone to be a part of his kingdom. And as this is happening, Peter remembers his own experience in Acts chapter 2 when he and the other apostles had this supernatural experience of speaking in languages

that they had never spoken before. And so he knows, he knows it's the Holy Spirit at work. And so he says this in verse 47, can anyone object to their being baptized now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did? 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. Man, it's such a cool story. Now, here's my take on this awesome story.

There's actually two conversions going on here. There's the conversion of Cornelius and his family and friends, but also the conversion of Peter's heart. Or Cornelius and his family were discovering for the first time that God had built a bridge to them through his son Jesus, Peter was learning for the first time how to build bridges to people who were different than him. He was learning for the first time that Jesus really did die for everyone, that the kingdom of God is for everyone, that the Holy Spirit is for everyone, that Jesus tore down, as Paul puts it in Ephesians to the wall of hostility between people, and now everyone. I mean

everyone has been invited into a new life of forgiveness and joy and purpose and freedom. Everyone has been invited into a new community not based on age, skin color, economic standing, IQ, heritage, arrest record, or political leanings. If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation, the old is gone, and a new has come. Man, that is such good news. There's a passage over a little book in the New Testament called Galatians that says something like this. Now, there is no more slavery-free, no more male or female, no more Jew or Gentile. And you could add no more rich or poor, Republican or Democrat, black or white, or Asian, Latino, Arabic, Ukrainian, African, Haitian, Mexican, Brazilian, Filipino, Australian, Iranian, German,

Polish, or some bald podcastos from Central Kentucky. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. In fact, the Bible talks about an incredible day when there will be people from every tribe, every dialect, every nation, every race, and we will be singing praises forever to the one who calls all of us priceless. No more hateful posts, tweets, or divisive headlines. Only unfailing love. And I can't wait for that day. But until that day, what do you say we do our part to bring a little heaven to earth? Let's pray, Father, may your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Let's build bridges and let's pass out invitations to the kingdom of God. And I hope you have an awesome day, and I'll catch you back here tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information about all the digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.church slash daily drive. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out.