God Shows No Favoritism
First B Jackson
2025-02-09

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Alright. Good morning, everybody. I am delighted to see you, and I'd love to worship together in songs. So would you stand with me? Would you stand with us?

And I'd like to sing Psalm 34 together. The verse three says, glorify the Lord with me, and let's exalt his name together. What do you say we do that? I sought the Lord, and he answered me. Sought the Lord and he answered me

and delivered me from

Here's my favorite line. Taste and see. Oh, taste and see

So I look like I'm dressed to go to the beach. I'm dressed to go to the baptistry, but I'm so excited this morning. The band coming in this morning and kinda getting warmed up for this. It's just great. I don't have the clicker, Josh.

So would you just click on through? We do have Awana going on tomorrow night. Right? Awana is happening tomorrow night and that is

It's ice cream night.

Ice cream night. That's good. Teton Valley Idaho Fellowship is the second Friday of the month every month. It started in January. I think that's happened already.

Has it happened already? What's today's date? It's Friday. It's Friday. Okay.

Or did it happen Friday? Yes. That's coming. It is this coming Friday. Finally.

I got ahead of it. Okay. This Friday, Teton Valley Idaho Fellowship. There's also a men's snowmobile retreat, 2025. Men's snowmobile retreat is a $120 a person.

That is February 21 through the twenty third. Guys, if you would contact Richard Largie, there are his details and that's the way to go. What's next? Nehemiah, the women's study. This is a Wednesday, 10AM to noon at Gateway.

It's meeting at Gateway this go round and it's great. Deborah Buckingham has been speaking. Natalie Yates spoke the time that I was able to be there. It's a ladies study from ten to twelve at Gateway. So that's happening every Wednesday.

Young adults, this is a community formation, kind of a small group that's happening Mondays at seven. And it start started February 3, it'll go through May 5. It's a planned kind of thing for those of you who are young adults and ladies. You're welcome to join that. First b in the Bible is our daily email.

It comes out every week day. Brad has been administrating that now for three years. We're finishing the Bible this year. So we're taking a chunk of scripture. This week, I got to write a blurb about Matthew 22, but then coming up, we're gonna have people writing long chunks about Deuteronomy.

It's a really good way of getting into the word and kinda staying in the word and getting context for what's going on. You can sign up on the website. VBS. Oh my goodness. This is cool.

It's a ways out, but plan your calendars now. This is a save the date card right here. June 23 through the twenty sixth of twenty twenty five. Road trip is the theme and that's my favorite. I love a good road trip.

So road trip is the theme of this VBS. That's wonderful. More information coming soon. And there is at 04:00, the combined youth groups from the church. Mike, do you wanna say anything from the back about this?

Super Bowl party, 4PM, youth group middle school, high school. Thank you very much, Mike. Is there anything else? Okay. There is.

There are baptisms. I'm gonna invite the baptism candidates forward. And this is three quarters of a nuclear family right here. And I told them I'd give them a chance to to speak, but they all agreed that being in the water was enough of a statement because we know what this is about. Jenny, did you wanna say anything?

No. I'll tell I'll tell you what tell them what you said. So a couple three weeks ago, think it was now, Ernesto Valenzuela came forward to be baptized, and he kinda spoke his piece in Spanish. And it was moving for a lot of us, for me included. I was crying, filling filling up the baptistry a bit.

And she said, I felt like I'm gonna do that. Not today, but I'm gonna do that soon. And so she came in and we talked, and then they came in and we talked. And this family is dedicated to Jesus and they have been, but right now, they're showing that publicly to build up this body and the body of Christ on earth. So here we all are.

I'm gonna step in first. Did y'all ever decide if you're going by height or age? They had a lot of different ideas. Alright. Okay.

Look away. Let me take off this microphone. So Nico Shervin is our first candidate this morning. Nico, have you trusted in Jesus as the Christ and savior, son of God who died for your sins, have you? Yes.

Do you seek after him, and do you wanna follow him for the rest of your life?

Yes.

Well, then in obedience to the command of Jesus Christ, our lord and savior, I now baptize you, my brother, Nico, in the name of the father and the son and the Holy Spirit. It's warm. So, Finley, Sherman, have you trusted in Jesus Christ as your savior and Lord? And are you a believer in Jesus? Yes.

And do you seek to live and follow after him and his teachings for the rest of your life? Yes. Well then, in obedience to the command of Jesus Christ, our Lord and savior, I now baptize you my sister in the name of the father and the son and the holy ghost, buried with Christ, and raised to you all. This is so beautiful. I'm sorry.

Jenny, have you trusted in Christ as your savior? Yes. Do you seek to live after him for the remaining days of your life? Yes. Well, then in obedience to the command of Jesus Christ, our lord and savior, I now baptize you, Jenny, my sister, in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit.

So is there anybody else? Here is water. What hinders you? If you are a believer in Jesus, I'm serious. The band will wait.

Consider it. In Jesus name, lord, I pray pray your blessing on this family and on this family, the family of God, gathered and assembled to sing your praises and to be thankful together. In Jesus name, I ask for your blessing. On your word being presented this morning, Lord, that your spirit would be active and do the work. In Jesus' name, amen.

Hey, would you stand up and just say hello to the person around you? Give them a hug. High five. Holy kiss. You.

All the earth, shout your praise.

All the earth will shout your praise.

Our hearts will cry. These bones will sing. And God, these things that we are singing are so true. You are light. You are the light of the world.

You are love, God. You're the definition of love. Your truth. Thank you, God, for your spirit. God, would you feel each one here today as we pour out praise to you?

Really, thank you for the breath that you've given in our lungs. We want to use it to glorify you, to lift you up. Jesus' name. Amen. I search the world.

I searched the world. But it couldn't fill me here. Man's empty praise God, I'm just amazed this morning how you can turn a life just clear around. Just one a one eighty. And and the way that your your love and your spirit and your truth pour out on your people and how your people respond.

God, would you hear us this morning? We hear our voices as we raise our voices to you, and again, to lift you up, to exalt you. God, truly you are worthy of all of our praise, of everything that we bring to you, that we offer you, and more. You are so so worthy. Thank you.

Thank you for meeting us in worship today. Thank you for meeting each need and knowing us so intimately, so well, knowing exactly what we need for the brokenhearted this morning, Lord, for company, for for comforting the brokenhearted. God, for those who are elated and things are well. Thank you, Jesus, for that joy that we have in you. We're so grateful to be here.

So grateful. In Jesus' name, Amen.

I

dare not trust the sweetest friend, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. Let's sing that again. We'll sing of his return. Amen. Amen.

You can have a seat here for a moment. This is the worship through giving part of of the service, and I'll invite our ushers to come forward. We'll sing a song called Canvas and Clay from Isaiah 64. A simple verse, but it really is profound that he's saying, we're the clay. God, you're the potter, and we're the work of your hand.

Would you shape us? Would you mold us? Before we sing, Ray, may I ask you to pray?

Mighty, there are so many times. Lord God almighty, there are so many times that we don't feel like a masterpiece, Lord. You turn graves into gardens, Turn season to highways. That's great, Lord. You're the potter.

We're the clay. We're asking you, Lord, to to mold us and make us the way that you would. Whatever it is that you wanna do, do that. Lord, may we not resist that. Your loving hand, your loving touch, your great design.

Lord, may we not resist any of that. In Jesus' name, Lord, I ask that you'd bless this offering, that you'd bless everything that's put into these plates, whether it is something that can be seen and counted or something that is the attitude of the heart or a conversation with a neighbor, a friend, an enemy. Lord God almighty, would you bless the commitments made this morning to you? I pray that we'd be turning towards you, lord, and not away. In Jesus name, we thank you that you have put an end to shame and guilt and death.

You've overcome. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.

Things work together for

my future and for my good you make all things work together for your glory and for

So There are some there are some holes that have just been opened up from the kids in here and there are a bunch of people that are standing in the back. Can we do something? We I know y'all have never moved anytime I've ever asked. We're going to do it today though. I believe in you.

I believe you're going do it today. So if there is any space in your row, would you all just move towards that space and leave the aisle seat or the other aisle seat open, please. And we're going to have people come forward. It's so much easier to talk to a full room than it is an empty room. So if you all would, I'd really really appreciate it.

I'm not there's a bunch of seats right here still wide open. Do what you wanna do. Alright. That's the way it goes. I'm not playing the bass anymore.

The clicker was here and I have to find it, but I don't see it. Here it is. Okay. Amen. So in our continuing study of the New Testament and just going forward in scripture, I have a deep and profound belief that God's word will work if we will let it.

If we're humble before the text of scripture, we'll find something that will transform us and it's just awesome. So acts ten one forty seven is an absolutely huge leap forward in the in gospel history. Right? Jesus said that you would be my witnesses to his apostles and disciples and we're seeing this happen from Jerusalem into Judea, into Samaria, and to the uttermost part. So here we are at acts 10 starting off in verse one.

We'll go through the whole chapter 10 today. In Caesarea, if you don't know where that is, there is a map right there. Caesarea. Israel's right here. Tarsus where Saul is from.

We talked about that a couple weeks ago. Cyprus where Barnabas is from. And Caesarea is right here along the ocean is Maritime Caesarea. This place still exists. It's still there.

If you go on a tour of Israel, they'll probably take you there. It was a place where there was a Roman outpost and the next line says, in says, Rhea there lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius who was captain or centurion, a centurion of the Italian regiment. Italian regiment had about a battalion size, if you're a military person, a normal battalion size is what the whole Italian regiment would be, but he was in charge of between 60 and a 100 men. And if you read the New Testament through, you all know Rome was the enemy. Right?

All the Jews thought Rome was the enemy and Rome Yeah. Thank you, Connor. Rome was the enemy. They hated the folks that collected taxes for them. They couldn't stand the soldiers and you might see a soldier here and there that does something that you go, yeah, I agree with them.

But if you look at the centurions in the New Testament, it is radical. They all, in western terms, wear a white hat. They're all good guys. And Cornelius is one of those. So he's a part of the Italian cohort living there in Caesarea.

He was a devout, God fearing man and it is capitalized right here because he feared the one God. He was not a full Jewish proselyte, but he was someone who recognized one God. He was a monotheist and he recognized that that was the God of Isaac, Abraham. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Thank you very much, and Jacob.

He was a God fearing man as was everyone else in his household. This includes his servants, it includes his family, God fearers. And he gave generously to the poor as an outgrowth of his belief in God. He believed God had been good to him and he was good to others. So he gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly to God.

And one afternoon about 03:00, the ninth hour counted from sunrise. He had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming towards him. So not asleep, it was afternoon and he saw a vision. Now I know that when you walked in here, walked right past the sign that said First Baptist Church and you might not expect us to talk about dreams and visions, but we're talking about the Bible. They're all over the place.

Okay. One afternoon about 03:00, he had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming towards him. It was very real, and it was very real to him, and it said Cornelius, called him by name. The angel said. And Cornelius stared at him in terror.

Is that any different than anybody else we've ever seen an angel meet? No. They're always scared to death when they meet the angel. Right? The messenger of God and Cornelius, a centurion in the Roman army with the backing of a 100 men probably stared at him in terror.

What is it, sir? I highlight this word. I highlighted a couple weeks ago. One time it was capitalized Lord like Lord Jesus. One time it was a small l, and now it's sir.

It's the same word, Kyrie. Kyrie means Lord, but it can be anything from sir all the way up to Lord of my life. Okay? I believe that ought to be a bigger than sir right there myself. Your translation may say Lord and it may say Lord.

Okay? But this is it. What is it? Lord, sir. He asked the angel and the angel replied, consider that too.

He he saw this heavenly being that scared him to death and then answered, what is it, Lord? And the angel replied, your prayers and your gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering. Isn't that beautiful? He's pre salvation now. Okay?

He does know God and he does pray to him and we'll see in the text. I don't want you getting upset with me, but we'll see it in the text that there is a difference in knowing who God is and having respect for him and knowing him. To know about him and to know him are two different things. The angel replied, your prayers and your gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering. He recognizes you.

Now, Cornelius, send some men. What's Cornelius's job? He sends men to do whatever it is that needs to be done. Now, Cornelius, send some men to Joppa and summon a man named Simon Peter. Remember last week, the last thing we said last week, the end of chapter nine, it says, and Peter stayed a long time in Joppa and he was living with Simon, a tanner of hides.

Being near the seashore is really helpful for the tanning industry. You have to have lots and lots of water. He's staying with Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore. So She fell seashore. Sorry.

Now, send some men to Simon. He's staying with Simon who lives near the seashore. So Joppa is about 31 and a half miles away. Not about, it's 31 and a half miles away. If you were to go to Israel today, Tel Aviv, Jaffa is probably the airport you'd fly into, and Jaffa is Joppa.

Caesarea is just up the coast, 30 miles. 31 and a half miles. As soon as the angel was gone, Cornelius called two of his household servants and one devout soldier. So this was probably one of his men, but it's a household servant and he's given him the protection of the Roman army. Right?

And one of his personal attendants, and he told them what had happened. Can you imagine this staff not staff sergeant, this sergeant, whatever, or captain. I don't know anything about the military. Sorry. I'm thankful for it, but I know nothing about it.

He told them what had happened and he sent them off to Joppa. Go find this guy. He's living right now with a guy named Simon. So the next day, as Cornelius' messengers were nearing the town, so that's 31 miles of no nothing to sneeze at. He has a vision at 03:00.

He calls them together. They start going and they walk probably through the night taking breaks. Next day, as Cornelius' messengers were nearing the town, Peter Peter, this is Peter that we know, Simon Peter. Peter, the great apostle. Right?

The one who cut off the guy's ear, the one who jumped out of the boat, sunk, and been pulled back up. Peter, the impetuous one who has now been emboldened by the Holy Spirit and is preaching. And Peter, it says, when Cornelius' messengers were nearing the town, Peter went up on a flat roof to pray. It was about noon and he was hungry. I think that plays into this vision a little bit.

He was hungry, but while a meal was being prepared down in the house downstairs, he fell into a trance. So vision, trance. He was still cognizant, he was not asleep, it wasn't a dream. We've hear dreams and visions, but he was able to tell what was going on and he saw a vision of the sky opening and something like a large sheet, a linen sheet, ship sail is called this and a table cloth is called this. So it looked like something, like a large sheet that was being let down by its four corners, and inside of this sheet were all sorts of animals.

There were reptiles, and there were birds. There were all sorts of animals. I take all sorts of animals to mean clean and unclean if you're a good Jewish boy. It's not just unclean, and it's not just clean. It's all sorts of animals.

We know some of those are clean and some are unclean. And then a voice said to him, get up Peter, kill and eat. Oh, the hunters in the room go, yeah. I wore camouflage pants yesterday. That's the first time since eighth grade I've worn camouflage pants.

I'm not a hunter. But boy, it was a very different reaction all over town. A voice said to him, get up Peter, kill and eat them. No, Lord. Now, I've said so many times from this stage.

I've said, you can either say, yes Lord or you can say no, but you can't say no Lord because it's saying. When you say no, you're saying no to the one that you say you're falling after, the one that you say that you'll listen to and obey right away with a happy heart. No, Lord, Peter declares. Now Peter grew up Jewish. Peter had a lot of different declarations over the gospels where you could see his Jewish character and flavor.

No, Lord, Peter declared, I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure or unclean. Every time I read this, I think back to the woman at the well in John's gospel. The woman at the well in John's gospel, why is it that you're speaking to me? I don't get it. You're a man.

I'm a woman. You're a Jew, and I'm obviously a Samaritan woman. And Jesus treated her well the whole time, and then when she ran into town and she brought the people back, it was beautiful. He didn't treat her as unclean, Peter's never eaten anything impure or unclean. Impure means common, just common.

Don't do this. You're holy so your diet should be holy was the way the Jews had always believed. They knew that other people ate that stuff and didn't get sick, but it wasn't about that. It wasn't about that. It was about a code of living and he says, I have adhered to that code all of my life.

I have never eaten anything that was impure, common, or unclean. And that says that they stayed in Samaria three days. Peter fasted for three days, begrudgingly, I'm sure, or he had to forage for himself. He was there in Samaria. Everything would have been impure or unclean for the good little Jewish boy.

No, Lord, he said, I've never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure or unclean. But the voice spoke again, a voice from heaven literally, do not call something unclean if God has made it clean. Can God purify? Yes. Amen.

The same vision was repeated three times. And then the sheet was suddenly pulled up into heaven. And Peter was very perplexed. What could this vision mean? Well, if you're a natural born person and you're thinking, you're saying, you're hungry Peter.

You're hungry. You're watching ship sails flapping the breeze over there and you're smelling who knows what coming up from the street. Caesarea is a Roman town, know. It's not just Jewish food. It's he's smelling street food and seeing the sales flapping and he's hungry.

No. No. No. No. No.

Can it mean? Was it just that I was hungry? And just then at exactly that time, it said that they were nearing the house. The men that were sent by Cornelius found Simon's house and standing outside the gate, they asked if a man named Simon Peter was staying there. Tanneries by the way are the easiest thing to find in the world.

Have you ever been near one? They stink to high heaven. It is the worst, most putrid smell. I barely have a sense of smell, but I can find a tannery. It's really, really, really rough.

Before refrigeration, it's easy to find Simon the tanner. Thank you, Lord, for making him easy to find. They asked if a man named Simon Peter was staying there, and meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision because he was perplexed, the Holy Spirit said to him, message from God. Three men have come looking for you. He's still up on the flat roof.

He hasn't seen him yet. Three men have come looking for you. Get up Peter. Go downstairs and go with them without hesitation. Make no distinction is literally what it says.

It doesn't matter who they are. Make no distinction for I have sent them. Alright. So Peter went down and said, I'm the man you're looking for. Isn't that beautiful?

Why have you come? Now, just sit with me for a moment and I'm the man you're looking for. When people come looking for Peter in the gospels or in the at the end of the gospels, he he cursed to say, I'm not with those people. He knew. He had he had some fear in his that he would not go and live in if he said he was with Jesus.

But after the resurrection, that fear has completely abated. And he's ready to listen to whatever it is that the Holy Spirit prompts him to do. And so he says, go down there, make no distinction, go with them, do what they're asking. And I'm the man you're looking for, he's very brave because they very well could have been looking for him, a delegation from Jerusalem like Saul went out to go kill Christians. Very likely could have been anything, but he'd had this vision which he was confused about.

But, when he's listening, the spirit says, go ahead and go, make no distinction. I'm the man you're looking for, why have you come? They said, we were sent by Cornelius, a Roman officer. He's a devout and God fearing man. Capital g, it's the right God.

It's not the gods of Rome. It's not this whole pantheon. He's well respected by all the Jews. This reminds me of the guy in Jesus' ministry that several Jewish guys came to him and said, he's helped us build a synagogue, he's constantly helping. He's well respected by all the Jews.

Now, he's well respected by them, but he's not a full proselyte. I don't know what stopped Cornelius from becoming a full proselyte to Judaism. It honestly might have been circumcision. I ain't doing that. I don't know why.

That's a speculation, but something stopped him and so because he was not a full proselyte to Judaism, the Jews still treated him as impure and unclean. Yes, you can help, but you can't do this. And no, we're not gonna come over to your house, and there are lot of things that our relationship will not allow. Thank you, and we recognize, and we respect you, but there are limits to that. A holy angel instructed him to summon you to his house so that he can hear your message.

Now this this is awesome. Now you might be sitting there going, yeah, yeah, that happened in the Bible. I don't ever hear that happen anytime today. I'm gonna read something to you. I hope it's gonna come up.

I am nervous. Oh, it's not email. Sorry. Check your phones. It's fine.

No. Here we are. So I called and asked a friend yesterday or texted and asked a friend, hey, do you have a two minute story from the thousands that you've heard? I've heard hundreds, but this guy's heard thousands. So you have a story of a vision, something recent, and he said, coming right up.

This is a miracle story from Youssef. Youssef, on November 28, this past year, this is recent. On November 28, I drove with my family up into the mountains near the Holy Land to enjoy the day, and perhaps buy a few small things from the widow refugees from around Gaza that make small crafts to support their children. So as the sun set, I moved away from the crowd to pray. A few minutes later, an older widow named Miriam approached and asked to speak, and I asked her what was on her heart, and she said, last night, God came into my dreams and his face was as bright as a shining star.

And in my dream, I asked, who are you? And he replied, I am Jesus, your God. And I said, what do you want from me? And he said, I want you to change your generations, go back to your land, which is Gaza, and fight with the devil. And I said, how am I how to do this?

And he said, tomorrow, go up to the mountains and you'll see there my holy man. First, cook some sweets for him and then feed him this sweet dish and then ask him about me. So Miriam began to cry as she told me the story. She looked at me and said, how can I follow Jesus? I was afraid at first when Miriam approached me.

In this area, it could be anything. Right? Just like Peter, it could have been anything that we we don't know what's going on. But when I saw that she had been crying, I sensed that she was seeking God and I replied, okay, I will tell you about Jesus. And she said, wait a minute.

And then she walked off. And then minutes later, came back. She brought nine men, 13 women, and 26 children. I have told them all about my dream and about the holy man I was supposed to meet, and then she handed me the sweets, and the Holy Spirit came among us, and I began in Genesis introducing them to the most high God. And I took them through the book of acts, and one of the men stood up and said, how is it possible that I have not known about this for my whole life?

And I said, God has come now because he has plans for you beginning today. I explained to them the work among refugees and how Jesus came to die on the cross to forgive them their sins, to free them from the devil, and to guarantee their way to heaven. And after many hours of conversations, they all decided to follow Jesus. And we made a hand chain and we prayed together, and then they said, Jesus wants us to spread his name in Gaza. So how do we do this?

And I told them we'd talk tomorrow at the same place because first they needed to learn more from the holy book. And early the next day, our family began cooking food from the gifts that had just come to us. This is someone who's dedicated their life to following, but it's someone who had just received a bounteous gift and then recognized what it was for. We don't always know what it's for. We cooked all day and then we returned to the mountain to meet Miriam and her friends.

This time she brought 486 people. Eight of them had all received dreams from Jesus the night before. They had many questions and we spent all night talking and reading from the book of acts. And at 4AM, all of them were water washed baptized for Jesus. This is a miracle that only God can do.

It does still happen. I know that it's not your normal everyday experience all the time, but do you have a sense with a still small voice that God is speaking to you? Do you? When you do, obey it. So Peter invited the men to stay for the night without distinction.

The next day, he went with him accompanied by some of the brothers from Joppa. So there it is, 31.25 miles that says. I'm being pretty picky. They arrived in Caesarea the following day. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and his close friends, 486 people.

That's what that text said, not this, but he called together a large group of people. It's what it says as Peter entered his home. That's massive. Cornelius fell at his feet and worshiped him. Now the first time he recognized that angel, sir, Lord, Lord, I don't know what it was, but this time when he sees that that vision was true and what God had said would happen was coming to pass, obescence, worship.

He falls at his feet to worship Peter and Peter said, come on, come on, reaches down, stand up. I'm a human being just like you. I made plenty of mistakes. I'm not anything to be worshiped. Stand up.

So they talked together and they went inside. Inside of a Gentile's house where many others were assembled, large group. And Peter told them, you know it's against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or even associate with you. But God, it's one of those but God moments, it's the best. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean.

Can you take a moment just right here today? Do you know that God has God doesn't make distinctions? Let me keep saying it from the text. You won't believe me. Just Peter said that he shouldn't think of anyone as impure and clean.

Is that just for Peter or is that for us? Impure and unclean. They knew the rules and it looked like he broke the rules. The rules were for a time to point to Jesus who fulfilled the law. We can't do that.

And when Jesus came and when this is happening, I go forward without objection. God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean, So I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. Now tell me why you sent for me. What is it? What is it that you need?

And Cornelius replied, listen, four days ago I was praying in my house about this time, it's just normal like Daniel. Right? It's just the normal time to be praying, 03:00 in the afternoon, and suddenly a man in dazzling clothes, hey. Was standing right in front of me, and he told me, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your gifts to the poor have been noticed by God. Now, send messengers to Joppa and summon a man named Simon Peter.

He's staying in the home of Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore. Now, we're all here. I gathered this big crowd in anticipation of what was coming. We're waiting before God to hear whatever message the Lord has given you. And Peter replied, I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism.

Can I stop right there and ask if we show favoritism, if I show favoritism, is there something that we have decided those people are unclean, those people are impure, I don't want to have anything to do with them, Lord send somebody else to talk to that person, I hate their guts? If you have that, you know the bounds that God is willing to go to break free. Break you free, not just other people. Break you free so that they can hear the message. Peter replied, I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism.

James, my brothers and sisters, don't hold your faith in our glorious Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism like you deserve it or merit it and other people don't. Oh, sorry. Let's slide in the family stone. I forgot to put that in there. Was wondering.

In everyday people, you remember that song? So it's talking about the red one that doesn't like the white one, doesn't like the black one, the skinny one, that one, all this everyday people, everyday people, there aren't any other kind. If we talk about, I don't wanna go to the sinful people. There aren't any other kind of people. We're all sinful.

We're all ragged. We're we so on and so on, Scooby dooby dooby. We have to live together. Alright? I am everyday people.

You are everyday people. In every nation, he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. Oh, wait a second now. That sounds like universalism. No.

It doesn't say in every nation, he accepts everybody. He recognizes people in every tribe, tongue, and nation. Nation right there is ethnos. He recognizes people of every family and he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. He is constantly at work by his spirit drawing people towards him and this is the message of good news for the people of Israel.

It's not just you people of Israel, you are just a conduit through which the blessing flows. That's the good news for the people of Israel. We get to be the ones who disseminate this good message. Did they do it? Not so great.

Sometimes they did well, sometimes they didn't, but this Peter right now when he's willing to step over the cultural bounds, yes, it's happening. This is the message of good news for the people. There's that there's peace with God through Jesus Christ who is Lord over all. The all is all. He's saying, he is the Lord over all.

Not everyone will choose and not everyone will accept it, not everyone will accept the gift, but it's from every tribe, tongue, nation that he's reaching out to. You know what happened throughout Judea? You all heard this beginning in Galilee just North east of you. After John began preaching his message of baptism, John's message of baptism was about baptism for repentance, recognizing your own sin. That's a good step.

I've heard a lot of Southern Baptists in the past that say before you get somebody saved, you gotta get them lost. They've gotta recognize their own sin and their need of a savior before they can step into the good news. And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and Jesus went about doing good and healing all of those who are oppressed by the devil for God was with him. And we, apostles, are witnesses of these things. If you read the book of Acts and you don't hear witness, witness, witness, witness, witness, witness, it comes up all the time.

We apostles, the ones who are sent out, are witnesses of all he did throughout Judea and in Jerusalem. We see that we are witnesses of these things. What Jesus said in acts one eight is you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses. You will be telling people about me everywhere in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth. So Jesus prophesied that over them, commanded them if you will, and then in Acts one twenty two, when they're deciding who to replace Judas with, it says, from the time of Jesus.

This is the candidates. They need to be somebody who is with us from the time of Jesus, who was baptized by John until the day he was taken up from us. Whoever is chosen will join us as a witness. What do witnesses do? Testify.

They're not lawyers arguing a case. They're not judges deciding. Witnesses testify, and that's what he called them to be, and that's what he's called us to be. Whoever's chosen will join us as a witness of Jesus' resurrection. Acts two, after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and Peter's first official sermon in this new church.

God raised Jesus from the dead and we are all witnesses of this. In Acts three, when they're on trial, one of the terms. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead and we are all witnesses of this fact. Acts five. We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit who is given by to those who obey him, witnesses.

Obedience is in there. Do you see that? Obedience to what God is asking you to do is essential to live in a vibrant, abundant Christian life. Acts ten thirty nine, we just covered. We apostles are witnesses of all he did throughout Judea and in Jerusalem.

They put him to death by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him to life on the third day. Do you hear the gospel in there? The gospel is a gospel of power over evil and power over sin, but it comes back to the actual proclamation of these are the facts. This is what happened. And before that, he was a God fearer.

Yes. He recognized the God of the Jews as the only God. Cornelius did and his household did, but Peter's message is the gospel and why Youssef said that she came to him. It still happens that way. Right?

It still happens that way. God raised him alive on the third day, then God allowed him to appear not to everybody all the time all around the world, but to us. To whom God had chosen in advance just to be his witnesses. There it is, witnesses. What you need to do is just tell what Jesus did to you.

Just tell what he did for you. There's no theological argument against a transformed life. We're witnesses of these things. We were those who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead, and he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one that's appointed by God to be the judge of all, to the living and the dead. He told us to go everywhere.

Here I am doing it, and Jesus is. He doesn't say Jesus was because Jesus is. He is the one. All the prophets testified about. If you've been hanging out around the synagogue and you recognize that that that the prophets are all looking forward to someone, Jesus is that one.

Saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name and even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. Praise God. His word proclaimed with his spirit present and he's always present. For those who are listening, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message and the Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles too. Imagine living all your life thinking those folks were dirty, unclean, unworthy.

God doesn't love them like he loves us. You've thought that your whole life and then it would be amazing, but they had heard him speaking and other times, they heard him praising God. It was the same scene that they had seen in Jerusalem, the same scene that they had seen in Samaria, and so they're seeing that this is coming to pass. Should they have been amazed though? Really, they had the whole Old Testament.

You all supposed to be light to the Gentiles. You're supposed to be a light to the nations. You're supposed to carry my message. And oftentimes then, and let me say, oftentimes now, we feel like once we have Christ that we have been elevated because we deserved it, and we think that we're the good guys and they're the bad guys, and never the 20 shall meet. He sent the good guys to the bad guys.

Actually, he sent the good guy to the bad guys. There's just one, Jesus. And if you accept that message, your righteousness is his righteousness. Right? You're imputed with his righteousness.

You don't just immediately get to be a good guy and then you're against all the bad guys. Should they have been amazed? Joel two. And Peter specifically mentions this in his first sermon after the fall in the Pentecost because Peter thought that was how this was going. He didn't realize the balance that this was going to.

Then after doing all of these things, I will pour my spirit, Holy Spirit out upon your sons and your daughters and they'll prophesy, they'll proclaim thus saith the Lord. Your old man will dream dreams, your young man will see visions and in those days, I will pour out my spirit. Can anyone object? Oh, I'll pour out my spirit on all, all the peoples. Then that slide didn't work, don't know why.

Okay. The next thing, after they believed the message that was proclaimed, the next thing is Peter says, hey, can anyone object to their being baptized? They believe. Some of y'all might have said, I don't know if that little girl is old enough to be baptized. She believes.

Can anyone object? Remember the Ethiopian eunuch. Right? He's riding along in a chair reading one minute, Philip comes along, explains what he's reading and says, here's water. What hinders me from being baptized?

It is that fast. It's a step of obedience. Can anyone object to these folks being baptized now that they've received the Holy Spirit in the same way that we did? So he gave orders for them to be baptized. No objections, so moved.

He gave orders for him to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. And afterward, Cornelius asked him to stay with him for several days. I bet they had a feast. Bacon for the first time. Golly.

Something to be remembered. I love you all and I want for you to live a life where you get more and more and more light from above. So what we see in Cornelius is he turned towards the light that he knew and he got more light. I'm doing a funeral next Saturday up in Sheridan and the lady's favorite flower is a sunflower. She's kinda crazy about them, and we're planning on using sunflowers.

And the thing about sunflowers is when the sun comes up over there. Sunflowers looking this way, and as it's going, the whole way across the sky, the sunflower is looking towards that light and it grows from that. If you put a philodendron, hey, I know a plant, up on a shelf and you've got a window over there, it'll lean towards that light and it gets more light as it leans to the light. Cornelius leaned into the light and honestly, Peter also leaned into the light. And so, I believe that it gets easier to obey the spirit and it gets easier to hear the spirit if you will be obedient to the spirit.

Baptistry is still full. If you believe in and I'm not trying to twist your arm. If you're if you believe in Jesus and you haven't done it, you're welcome to do it today. I'll invite the band back up here. I'm giving you space though.

If you come forward, Connor, you got baptized three weeks ago and we had a spontaneous baptism three weeks ago in the second service. I offer it every time. It has never happened in thirteen years. And there were two. Amen, brother.

Here we are. Amen. You wanna say anything? Hi,

all. I'm I'm Max. This isn't on, but I'm a witness. I'm a Peter. You know?

I fought it. I ran from it. It's the truth. It's the light. I can't not know it.

So Amen.

Jesus, our lord, I now baptize you in the name of the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit, buried with Christ. Is there anybody else? Have a second service too. We're gonna get close if you want to. Why not?

I'll tell you what, the band's gonna play. Would you stand and sing? Thank you, Lord.