Today I am looking at the New Testament reading from this past Sunday’s Lectionary, which is Acts 10:34-38. The broad context of these verses is the directive to proclaim the Gospel to all nations. God directed the gentile Cornelius to seek Peter out and hear the message of the Lord Jesus, and salvation in His Name. So far believers who were following Jesus were only Jewish. Even though the Lord had told His followers while on the Mount of Olives, right before His ascension into heaven, that they were to take His message to all nations, so far they were reluctant to do that. They had felt that God’s message and love were only for themselves, the Jews, and not for the gentiles.
Earlier in chapter 10 of Acts we read of the vision that Peter had from the Lord, 10:9-16. Here the Lord is starting to break down the prejudices that Peter had in his life up until then. The passage for today gives his testimony to that. As Peter states in verse 34, he knows that “God is no respecter of persons.”
How do we feel when we see some new people come into our church or Bible study group? Do we truly feel that everyone is welcome to come to the Lord, to come and worship at our church? Are there some groups of people that we would prefer would not come? Perhaps someone from a different race or nationality. Maybe someone who is not quite in the same economic group that the rest of the church is. “The way they dress will make our church look seedy!” Or if your church has more older people, and someone younger comes in, perhaps you don’t like that. “They will bring all their modern music.” Or the other way around, if your church is more geared to the younger generation, and you don’t want to see too many “old folks” coming in. Whatever it may be, Acts 10:34 clearly states that God does not show favoritism. Everyone is welcomed by Him, and that should be the case in our churches and by every Christian. As the children’s song says, “Red and Yellow, Black and White, they are precious in His sight.”
Sarah I am one of your sisters in the upper room family. I ask that you pray For our church and our pastor especially since he is our leader. There seems to be a Jezebel Spirit trying to Bring all kinds of separation And confusion. This person seems to be very spirit filled and knows the Bible very well. Our men’s ministry has fallen away to zero. Our ladies ministry And children’s ministry has been affected. Our church congregation is losing Ground and there is tension in the church. The pastor seems to have scales on his eyes. I’m afraid the real target is our pastor. He’s had to have serval surgeries and while he was recuperating he had two falls. Just last night his wife told us he is having chills. I don’t know much about the Leviton’s Spirit.(I don’t even know how to spell it but I know it’s like a snake that wraps around you) just please pray and reach out to others to pray for our church in our pastor and for the congregation. Thank you. Susy
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