Live Free with Josh Howerton - The Bridge of God’s Grace // Acts 10:24-33

Episode Date: November 27, 2024

In today’s episode, we continue with the powerful story of Peter entering Cornelius’s home—a moment that reveals the true inclusivity of God’s kingdom. As Peter shares the good news of Jesus with Cornelius and his household, the Holy Spirit moves in an undeniable way, confirming that God’s love and salvation are for everyone, regardless of background or identity. This encounter brings two conversions: Cornelius and his family discovering Jesus, and Peter’s own heart opening to God’s vision for all people. This story reminds us that through Jesus, God has torn down every dividing wall and invited everyone into a new community of love and grace.   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.com slash daily drive. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, welcome to the Daily Drive. My name is Bro, and we've been walking through the book of Acts, and we left off yesterday in chapter 10, a chapter that is a huge turning point in the history of the early church, actually a huge turning point in the history of the world. God gives Peter,

one of the leaders in the church, a vision about how everyone is invited into his kingdom, not just Jewish guys like him, that Jesus has actually torn down those walls of exclusivity and racism and superiority, that the good news of God's love was actually, for everyone. So let's pick it back up in verse number 19. It says, meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over this vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, three men have come looking for you. Get up, go downstairs, and go with them without hesitation. Don't worry, for I have sent them. So as Peter is heading downstairs with this vision, fresh in his mind, I'll bet he's thinking, you know what? They're going to be Gentiles, aren't they? Yeah, I just know it. They're going to be Gentiles.

That would be such a Jesus thing to do to me right now. I just know it. And so he goes down. And guess what? He's right. And he learns that these non-Jewish guys at the door have been sent by some Roman guy he's never heard of named Cornelius. And then on the heels of this puzzling vision, Peter does something that's unheard of in that day. I don't know if we can appreciate the magnitude of this.

Peter says to these guys, come on in. Come on in. He invites these guys on the other side of the wall to come into the house to be his guest. Now, can you imagine the reaction of the Jewish neighbors as they see these non-Jews go next door? I mean, a husband's out front watching his camel in the driveway and the wife's planting flowers, and they remark to each other, did you just see who went in the house next door? Did you see that? Before long, they'll all be moving in. Can I get just a little vulnerable with you?

Like I said yesterday, I grew up in a compartmentalized salad bar environment to say the least. I was a kid growing up in the southeast part of this country in the 60s and 70s. I can remember how much my dad was prejudiced and used all the inappropriate terms to refer to pretty much anybody who had a different skin color, ethnicity, or heritage. People who came from a different country or even lived in a different state, for that matter. Now, before you think I'm trashing my dad, I love my dad. And if he were able to, he would tell you today how Jesus Christ changed his life. And he wasn't in the KKK, wasn't a neo-Nazi, actually fought bravely against that ideology in World War II. And he wasn't a cruel guy, never marched in white supremacy, protest.

as he treated most people with kindness and respect, it leads to their face. And the awesome thing is, he eventually grew to know Jesus. And he became a brand new creation, and his heart began to change. Jesus does that to people. And when my dad passed away,

he died with a radically different attitude than the one he had when I was a kid. But when I was a kid, oh man. You see, that's just the way my dad was taught. He was raised in a culture and a family that told him that he was much superior to others because his skin was white. His dad was racist. His dad's dad's dad was racist.

His dad's dad's dad was racist. It's just what he knew. So when I was a little kid, all the way through my high school years, I was exposed to some pretty ugly stuff as he attempted to pass along the family tradition to me. And I hate it the way it made me feel. I mean, even thinking about it right now, it just still hate the way it makes me feel. But it's part of owning my story, so it never owns me.

Now again, Gratefully Christ would eventually dredge all that sewage out of my dad's heart through the years. But as a little kid, my heart would sink because I didn't see people that way. Kids just don't. Contrary to some opinion, even though we all wrestle with the sin-nature thing,

prejudice is not a natural thing. It's acquired. Kids just know it's not right. Kids aren't pre-wired with prejudice. It's something that is taught. In fact, I believe parents play the single largest role in creating biased attitudes

in the life of their kids, or in reversing the tide of racism in our culture. See, we can choose. We can choose to raise bigots or bridge builders. You've got to be taught to hate and fear. You've got to be taught from year to year. It's got to be drummed in your two little ears. You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid. If people whose eyes are differently made, if people whose skin is a different shade, you've got to be carefully taught. You've got to be taught before it's too late, before you're six or seven or eight to hate all the people your relatives hate. You've got to be carefully taught.

And as I was being carefully taught at home, there was something inside of me that screamed, this is not right. And as I got older, it began to be reinforced from scriptures. I began to hear and read, such as James 3, 9 and 10 that says, with the tongue, we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in God's likeness. This should not be. So as a boy, I would think, this seems so wrong, to go to church and sing some songs about God and do the religious thing and then bring home an attitude that does not mesh at all with the heart of Jesus.

I would go to Sunday school and learn things like, the Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. As a middle school student, I would sit on my bed and read my Bible at night, and I would read these words in 1 John 4, he says, we love because he first loved us. If anyone says, I love God, yet hates his brother,

he's a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother whom he is seen, cannot love God whom he's not seen. And he has given us this command. Whoever loves God must also love his brother. And as I would listen and read, and as I would follow the promptings of truth that God was instilling inside of me. As a teenager, I would revolve to say in my spirit, I will become a cycle breaker, and these

generations of racism within our family stops with me. And God was getting ready to do that in Peter's heart. The next day Peter travels to Cesarea with these guys that Cornelius sends, and when they get to the house, Cornelius, his relatives and close friends are all gathered there, and Peter is faced with a decision. Would he do what no Jewish man would even consider doing and enter the house of Cornelius? And even though it will cost him his pride, even though it will cost him his self-righteousness,

his prejudice, some friendships, and his reputation in many circles, fully aware of the price he would pay, Peter takes a deep breath, trust what God had revealed to him, and walks through the door. Well, let's just push pause right there. and we'll see what happens with this tomorrow.

But let's continue to ask God to search our hearts so that we can genuinely do what He's commanded us to do, to love our neighbors as our self. Hope you have a great day, and we'll pick this up tomorrow. See you then. 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 lake point.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.