Acts 10:1-23a (preacher: Keith Cooper)

Sunday, 1 September 2019 | Acts 10:1-23a // Keith Cooper | Visions and Menus // This is a pivotal chapter, concerned with the grafting of the Gentiles into the Christian church. Peter was to be used sovereignly by God for this specific mission. This was a process spanning many years. God works according to his own timing and plan. We can trust his methods and timeline. His word will come to pass; no person can prevent this. // // Cornelius was a ‘model’ religious person. But he did not know Jesus as his Saviour. Here we are God plants the seeds of change and salvation in Cornelius. Religion could not save him. Only Jesus could – and in this story, we see that Peter was to be the one who would introduce Cornelius to Jesus. // // Meanwhile God was working in Peter to transform his preconceptions about what was clean and unclean. Just as God declared all food clean, he was now declaring that cleanliness was to be no barrier for the Gentiles: the Gospel was for everyone, not just for the Jews.