This week we find ourselves in Acts 11.

Take a second to be in prayer with the Lord.

Asking Him to guide your time in His word.

Asking Him to make His spirit known to you.

Asking Him to remove distractions, to remove anxieties, to remove temptations to misuse this time.

Now, go on and flip open your Bible and read Acts 11.

As we looked at the scripture on Sunday morning, Rob offered us a helpful way to help work through the truths and takeaways from any passage of scripture we are trying to study.

We focused on the following within this chapter of Acts:

(1) S e t t i n g

How can knowing where and when the scripture takes place help in understanding the context for us today?

(2) C h a r a c t e r s

Who is involved in the story and how do we fit into the story now? What is said about each person?

(3) P o i n t  o f   V i e w

From whom is this story written? Who is speaking? What can this help us understand? What can we infer they were thinking/feeling at the time of the scripture?

(4) T u r n i n g  P o i n t 

What seems to be a change in tone? Where is there a shift in action?

(5) T h e o l o g i c a l   T h e m e s

Ex: How does this fit into the theme of salvation? How does this fit into previous prophecies? What questions does this passage raise in your head?

(6) T e r m s   o f   i n t e r e s t

What are some phrases that stand out? What words repeat? Why do the actual words used matter?

Now, go on and try to work your way through these 5 questions. Using this as a kind of mapping exercise for the section of scripture we are in this week (yes, even if you joined us for our Sunday Morning bible study, go back and answer these for yourself)

***You might need to use what we have studied thus far in Acts as well as the passage in Acts 11. It’s so helpful to try to sort through some of these thoughts for yourself before simply scrolling to see the answers. 

Did you come up with some interesting things? Awesome!

Now here is an example of what this process looks like. We have been blessed with Rob’s work-through of the above exercise. Read through the following and see what you were able to get from the scripture and what Rob found from it. Take notes on parts that interest you and things you want to go back and look at later.

Setting: Jerusalem – from Joppa to Caesarea to Jerusalem

Characters: Peter, brethren at Jerusalem, church at Antioch, men of Cyrene and Cyprus, Barnabas and Saul

Point of View: Luke, omniscient 3rd person

Plot: 

(1) Peter’s report at Jerusalem

• Peter tells the story of gentile conversion to Jerusalem brethren
• Brethren are initially mad about Peter associating with gentiles
• Peter recounts story about vision, preaching event to the household and their receiving of the HS
• Peter says how he is convinced by their receiving the HS that God has included the gentiles in his plan
• The brethren are convinced and glorify God

(2) The Church at Antioch

• The church that was scattered in the persecution of Stephen resettled in Phoenician, Cyprus and Antioch
• After they settled in those places that shared the gospel to Jews alone
• The men in Antioch who were from Cyprus and Cyrene, began preaching Jesus
• Jesus blessed their preaching and a large number who believed turned to the Lord
• The Church heard about God’s activity and sent Barnabas to Antioch
• Barnabas rejoiced and encouraged the men of Antioch to remain true to the Lord as he witnessed God’s grace
• Barnabas is described as: a good man, full of the HS and of faith
• Barnabas traveled to Tarsus to find Saul
• Barnabas and Saul came to Antioch and spent a year teaching many in the Church
• The disciples were first called Christians here in Antioch
• Some prophets came to Antioch from Jerusalem and one named Agabus prophesied about a famine 
• In response to the famine the disciples who could sent money through Saul and Barnabas

Peripeteia “Turning-point moment”

• Report in Jerusalem
  • Verses: 15-17 – the story of the Gentile Household Receiving the HS
• The Church in Antioch
  • Verses: 20-21 – the story of those in Antioch receiving the Lord in large numbers

Theological Themes

• Informing the church about ministry verses keeping it to ourselves
• The church voicing its issues with one another only and not resolving conflict vs working through the issue looking for God/Jesus’ activity and word
• Being lead by Jesus vs being beholden by traditions

Terms of Interest

• Gospel sharing
  • “speak to words to you by which you will be saved…” (11:14)
  • “Speak the word” (11:19)
  • “Preaching the Lord Jesus” (11:20)
• Gospel Response
  • “received the word of God” (11:1
  • “Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ” (11:17)
  • “a large number who believed turned to the Lord” (11:21)

Using both what you have come up with during your study of Acts 11 and with what Rob informed us with in the scripture, seek to answer the following questions:

vv. 1-3 "Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, 3 “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

• Why was Peter back in Jerusalem? On what account do we find Peter coming back to the church?
• What is the brethren’s attitudes initially to what Peter recounts? (you did what? with who?)

vv. 4-13 "But Peter began and explained it to them in order: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. 6 Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. 7 And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ 10 This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. 11 And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea.12 And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house. 13 And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter"

• Why was Peter able to speak with confidence about his actions in Caesarea? Was he following his own direction or that of the Spirit?
• Have you ever felt the Spirit leading you in a certain way and been too afraid to actually follow? (much like Peter needed to be told 3 times to do something)

vv. 14-18 14 he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?”18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

• What do vv. 14-18 reveal about Peter’s encounter with the Spirit that we didn’t see in Acts 10? (hint: look for the red letters)
• How have you been able to hear the calling of the Lord thus far in your life? Have you been able to discern His voice? 
• How have you taken the gift of the Holy Spirit for granted in the past?
• Have you ever tried to stand in God’s way in your life?
• What would it look like to ask yourself “Where is God moving and how can I be a part of that?”
• How does your confidence in choices/ direction of your life increase when you allow your life to be directed by the Spirit and not your own thoughts/opinions?
• How can we better have a curiosity when it comes to the Spirit moving in others’ lives instead of an attitude of judgement?

verses 19-30 "19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, 24 for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. 25 So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

27 Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). 29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers[d] living in Judea. 30 And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul."

• What did Barnabas’s do that encouraged the church at Antioch? 
• How can you encourage those doing the work of the Lord? (Ex: when on mission trips we are easing their load, we are there to be extensions of their current work for the kingdom)
• How did Barnabas’s actions show that the church needs training and teaching, not just additional numbers of those saved?
• What is different in being called a follower of God verses being called a “christian”? (hint: Christian literally means little Christ)
• Why is it important to not just follow tradition, but to follow a Savior?

v. 23 “When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose”

Remain faithful to the Lord friends. We are praying for you!

This past Sunday morning we found ourselves in Acts 10 as we continue to follow the life of the early church as God leads, convicts and corrects.

In Acts 10 we are met with two main characters, Peter and Cornelius, and one beautiful plan of our Savior. Peter and Cornelius may just seem like 2 individual characters with their own stories, but in our discussion Sunday morning we spoke about how they truly do represent something much grander. They represented two people groups becoming one in the eyes of the Lord. Those who had been identified as God’s chosen people and those who had not, those who were jews and those who were not, those who thoughts of themselves as the beloved and those who were seen as common.

What’s even crazier is that Acts 10 is actually the moment you and I enter the story, the moment in which we become considered God’s children, and no longer to be dependant on a basis of being born jewish or not.

Okay, so let’s go on and get into the discussion points then:

Go on and read Acts 10 in it’s wholeness and then we will break down some key points in the verses as well as providing some additional scriptures to further explain concepts touched on:

In verse 1-2 we are introduced to character #1: Cornelius (he’s going to represent you and me, so let’s root for him in this story!)

vv. 1-2 "At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, 2 a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God." 
vv. 3-4 "About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” 4 And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God"

It’s important to note who exactly Cornelius was. He was described as one who “feared God“. He was not a born Jew, yet he followed Jewish culture, participating with those who were following God. Here we see him representing the nations of those who lived in accordance to that which pleased God, seeing him giving alms and adhering to prayer customs. 

• We looked at Hebrews 11:6 to see a description of someone after God’s heart, someone who pleased the Lord
• Other examples of people who found favor with the Lord we mentioned were: Job, Moses, Abel, Abraham, David

We see the Lord met Cornelius in his time of prayer. We must remember that God loves to meet us as we seek Him, more on this at the end of this post.

**Do you believe that when you seek the Lord you will find Him, like truly believe that? Spend some time praying to the Lord right now. We know that prayer pleases Him and yet we forget to actually stop in the hustle of life at times and pray. The Lord loves to hear you, your desires, your hurts, your heart. So pause and pray and expect the Lord to meet you there!

Look to verse 5-8 to answer the following questions:

What did the Lord ask of Cornelius?

What was Cornelius’s response?

vv. 5-8 "And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.”7 When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, 8 and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa."

We find that Cornelius was faithful to follow the Lord’s direction to send men to Joppa, even though he may have been slightly confused as to the why behind the action. Take a second to think about what the Lord has been calling you to do that you have laid to the side and said, “I need some more reasoning in order to do that”. Be challenged to let the Lord lead, even when it feels uncertain as to why. We can trust His character which means we can trust His steps forward.

In verses 9-16 we pick back up with character #2, Peter. We have been following his life in Acts thus far and have knowledge that he is seen as a leader, a disciple near to the vision and direction of the Lord. (refer to Acts 2:14 where Peter had the courage to preach at Pentecost).

vv.9-16: "The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” 16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven."

Some questions we looked at that are worth answering:

(1) What symbolism can we find in the voice having to speak to Peter 3 times? (refer to John 21 and Mark 14:66)

(2) What is odd about the request to kill all kinds of animals? How did this go against previous Jewish law?

(3) What did vv.15 mean to Peter, what does vv. 15 mean to us today?

We stopped and talked about the idea of clean, acceptable, worthy things. Sometimes, we like to be the judge of the  labels we put on people saying things like: “He looks unfit to be used in the Kingdom of God” “She doesn’t look acceptable for this church” “I cannot be worthy of being a daughter of the King because of my past”…

When thinking of the Lord as the final judge on all things, we must lay down our own opinions, our own judgements, our “normals” when we enter His kingdom. We must be reminded that our inheritance is not product of  anything we ourselves  have done, it is not because of some special quality that we possess, it is not from our ability to stay clean in a dirty world, and it is not by the color of our skin.

In Peter’s vision we get a glimpse of what the Lord is up to. God is breaking down barriers to the gospel, he is unifying a people, he is building up an impartial church. Let’s continue in the scripture:

In verse 17-23 we see Peter inwardly questioning the vision he had and yet the Lord being faithful to speak to Him and comfort Him in the way He was calling Peter to act.

vv. 17-23 " Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate 18 and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. 19 And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.” 21 And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?” 22 And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” 23 So he invited them in to be his guests."

From here we see the story of Cornelius coming into the presence of Peter, immediately feeling as thought he should fall on his face before Peter, a Jew. (Go on and read verse 24-29 here) and yet there is something so powerful in what Peter’s response is, what the Lord is trying to tell his people.

vv. 28 "And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean."

We are met with the impartiality of God, and in turn the impartiality we are to live with.

Here are some verses to explore more on this idea, to see this beautiful characteristic of the Lord:

• Gen. 12:3, Gal. 3:8, Romans 2:6-16

Some more questions to look at with these verses:

In what ways have you been impartial in your love over the past 2 weeks?

How have you decided for yourself who deserves patience, who deserves kindness, who deserves your time?

How do you normally judge others? What do you notice about people you are interacting with?

Continue on and read verse 34-35.

vv. 34-35 "So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him."

A humbling thought we discussed in the context of God’s impartiality was that there wasn’t anything in you that made Him choose you. There was no special characteristic, no excellent skill, no extreme beauty in you or in me that granted us a place in His kingdom. You see, it’s all HIM, His beauty, His grandness, His perfect character in us that makes us worthy.

You see, we love to have things specific to us that others notice and love us for. The teacher made an exception for me on a deadline because she knows I normally get my work done. That friend spent extra money on me for Christmas because she loves me a little bit more than her other friends. The coach put me in the game more than my teammates because I am simply better than they are and they all know it.

The Lord here is literally saying to flip that notion on it’s head and start a new way of living. A life that doesn’t cling to favorites, special treatment, or pedestals to try to be put on.

If that is the case, then our actions should image Christ better in our ability to see all people as deserving of the gospel in word and deed. We no longer get to stand for division or “fairness based on merit” or to rest in our given family name or wealth.

Convicting right?

God went through great lengths to bring you and me into this story. God spoke not to just Jew, not to just Gentile here. We see Him reaching both Cornelius and Peter, and it’s kind of a big deal. He did it to make sure His love was a redemption story for ALL and not just some. How beautiful is that?

(**Read Ephesians 2:11-22 to enrich your understanding of what God is making a way for as he lifts the title of “chosen” off of only Jewish born individuals and places the  title friend on ALL who have chosen to follow Him and have been covered by His blood)

Take some time to go on and finish reading Acts 10.

Below are some more thoughts and references to help as you explore some of the themes and application of this chapter.

(1) Acceptability, cleanliness, goodness.

What does the Lord say is acceptable in His children?

Who is God now saying is clean in the eyes of the Lord if it is not just those born Jewish?

What is the Lord making clear in this passage about what our idea of good in someone should actually look like?

(2) Further exploration on how we must seek the Lord, much like Cornelius and Peter. Both were seeking guidance from God, praying daily, in tune with the Spirit, willing to follow where He was leading. Here are some verses that lean into the idea that as children of God, we must seek Him and as we seek Him he promises us we will find Him!

• Deut. 10:12, Jer. 29:12-13, Gen. 4:26

(3) Read Isaiah 49:6

Sit with the wording “Oh it is too small a thing, too light a thing…”

How is it too small a thing to only love those whom it is easy to love? To love the ones who look like us, do like we do, speak like we do?

Why would it be too light a kingdom is God simply wanted His people to be kind to those who were worthy by the world’s standards (i.e. to count the beautiful as worthy, to reach the wealthy, etc)

See, He’s pushing us to much, much more and it’s up to you and me to follow where he nudges us further or not.

(4) The Lord is a Lord of peace, and peace is a promise He keeps!

Read Eph. 2:17 which quotes Isaiah 57:19

Peace is gospel we need to preach to one another. Peace with God and peace with one another.

How have your actions over the past 2 weeks preached peace? How have the preached conflict?

God’s aim to unite Jew and Gentile is a plan to unite you and me. Let us rejoice in our Father’s effort to bring ALL to himself!

We are praying for a spirit of impartiality in our ministry and in you this week!

-Your First College Crew