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1 At Caesarea there was a man namedCornelius, a centurion in what wasknown as the Italian Regiment. 2 Heand all his family were devout andGod-fearing; he gave generously tothose in need and prayed to Godregularly. 3 One day at about three inthe afternoon he had a vision. Hedistinctly saw an angel of God,

who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “Whatis it, Lord?” he asked. The angelanswered, “Your prayers and gifts tothe poor have come up as a memorialoffering before God. 5 Now send mento Joppa to bring back a man namedSimon who is called Peter. 6 He isstaying with Simon the tanner,

whose house is by the sea.” 7 Whenthe angel who spoke to him had gone,Cornelius called two of his servantsand a devout soldier who was one ofhis attendants. 8 He told themeverything that had happened and sentthem to Joppa. 9 About noon thefollowing day as they were on theirjourney and approaching the city,

Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 Hebecame hungry and wanted somethingto eat, and while the meal was beingprepared, he fell into a trance. 11 Hesaw heaven opened and somethinglike a large sheet being let down toearth by its four corners. 12 It containedall kinds of four-footed animals, as wellas reptiles and birds.

13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter.Kill and eat.” 14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peterreplied. “I have never eaten anythingimpure or unclean.” 15The voice spoketo him a second time, “Do not callanything impure that God has madeclean.”

16 This happened three times, andimmediately the sheet was taken backto heaven. 17 While Peter waswondering about the meaning of thevision, the men sent by Cornelius foundout where Simon’s house was andstopped at the gate. 18 They called out,asking if Simon who was known asPeter was staying there.

19 While Peter was still thinking aboutthe vision, the Spirit said to him,“Simon, three[a] men are looking foryou. 20 So get up and go downstairs.Do not hesitate to go with them, for Ihave sent them.” 21 Peter went downand said to the men, “I’m the oneyou’re looking for. Why have youcome?”

22 The men replied, “We have comefrom Cornelius the centurion. He is arighteous and God-fearing man, who isrespected by all the Jewish people. Aholy angel told him to ask you to cometo his house so that he could hearwhat you have to say.” 23 Then Peterinvited the men into the house to behis guests.

The next day Peter started out withthem, and some of the believers fromJoppa went along. 24 The following dayhe arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius wasexpecting them and had calledtogether his relatives and close friends.25 As Peter entered the house,Cornelius met him and fell at his feet inreverence.

26 But Peter made him get up. “Standup,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”27 While talking with him, Peter wentinside and found a large gathering ofpeople. 28 He said to them: “You arewell aware that it is against our law fora Jew to associate with or visit aGentile.

But God has shown me that I should not

call anyone impure or unclean. 29 So when Iwas sent for, I came without raising any

objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”30 Cornelius answered: “Three days ago Iwas in my house praying at this hour, atthree in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in

shining clothes stood before me

31 and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heardyour prayer and remembered your giftsto the poor. 32 Send to Joppa for Simonwho is called Peter. He is a guest inthe home of Simon the tanner, wholives by the sea.’ 33 So I sent for youimmediately, and it was good of you tocome.

Now we are all here in the presence ofGod to listen to everything the Lordhas commanded you to tell us.” 34 ThenPeter began to speak: “I now realizehow true it is that God does not showfavoritism 35 but accepts from everynation the one who fears him and doeswhat is right.

36 You know the message God sent to the

people of Israel, announcing the good newsof peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord

of all. 37 You know what has happenedthroughout the province of Judea,beginning in Galilee after the baptism thatJohn preached—38 how God anointed Jesus

of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power,

and how he went around doing goodand healing all who were under thepower of the devil, because God waswith him. 39 “We are witnesses ofeverything he did in the country of theJews and in Jerusalem. They killed himby hanging him on a cross, 40 but Godraised him from the dead on the thirdday and caused him to be seen.

41 He was not seen by all the people,but by witnesses whom God hadalready chosen—by us who ate anddrank with him after he rose from thedead. 42 He commanded us to preachto the people and to testify that he isthe one whom God appointed as judgeof the living and the dead.

43 All the prophets testify about himthat everyone who believes in himreceives forgiveness of sins through hisname.” 44 While Peter was stillspeaking these words, the Holy Spiritcame on all who heard the message.

45 The circumcised believers who hadcome with Peter were astonished thatthe gift of the Holy Spirit had beenpoured out even on Gentiles. 46 Forthey heard them speaking in tonguesand praising God. Then Peter said, 47

“Surely no one can stand in the way oftheir being baptized with water.

They have received the Holy Spirit justas we have.” 48 So he ordered that theybe baptized in the name of JesusChrist. Then they asked Peter to staywith them for a few days.

A centurion - a non-commissioned officer, but he leads 100 men.

- And he’s part of the Italian Cohort, probably a garrison of 600 soldiers assigned to Caesarea to protect the

Roman Governor

Caesarea was where the Roman governor resided.

Jews during this time hated the Roman government. Roman soldiers are seen as traitors, oppression and evil men.

But God was at work in Cornelius.

Cornelius was- a devout man

- Abandoned polytheism and worship of Caesar

- Prays to Yahweh and gives generously to the poor

- Has a good standing with the Jewish population

The Holy Spirit makes God real in a person’s life, brings conviction of sin

and empowers to do good.

The Holy Spirit convicts. You don’t have to convict of sin; that’s not your job. That’s the role of the Holy Spirit. And

the good news is the Holy Spirit knows no hard cases.

There’s no heart too hard, there’s no culture too far removed that the Holy

Spirit can’t do his convicting work.

Cornelius sends an entourage to go meet Peter. Joppa was about 30 miles

away from Caesarea.

Peter was fasting and went to the rooftop to pray. He got hungry and

then sees a heavenly vision.

God commands Peter to kill and eat, but he resists.

Sometimes, God commands us to do something that are unusual to us and

does not make sense at first.

Ex. He hangs out with sinners and tax collectors. He doesn’t hang out with

upright, religious folks. Somehow Peter missed that about Jesus, but now

through the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, Peter gets it.

36 You know the message God sent to the

people of Israel, announcing the good newsof peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord

of all. 37 You know what has happenedthroughout the province of Judea,beginning in Galilee after the baptism thatJohn preached—38 how God anointed Jesus

of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power,

and how he went around doing goodand healing all who were under thepower of the devil, because God waswith him. 39 “We are witnesses ofeverything he did in the country of theJews and in Jerusalem. They killed himby hanging him on a cross, 40 but Godraised him from the dead on the thirdday and caused him to be seen.

41 He was not seen by all the people,but by witnesses whom God hadalready chosen—by us who ate anddrank with him after he rose from thedead. 42 He commanded us to preachto the people and to testify that he isthe one whom God appointed as judgeof the living and the dead.

43 All the prophets testify about himthat everyone who believes in himreceives forgiveness of sins through hisname.” 44 While Peter was stillspeaking these words, the Holy Spiritcame on all who heard the message.

Elements of Peter’s Sermon:1. Jesus is Lord of all.

2. Jesus is anointed with the Holy Spirit [He went about doing good and healing all who were under the

power of the devil]3. Jesus rose from the grave.

Elements of Peter’s Sermon:

4. Jesus will judge all people.5. In Jesus, there is forgiveness of sins.

Be encouraged when you share your faith. Holy Spirit’s going to give you

words. Talk about Jesus. Trust the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus through your

imperfect words.

43 All the prophets testify about himthat everyone who believes in himreceives forgiveness of sins through hisname.” 44 While Peter was stillspeaking these words, the Holy Spiritcame on all who heard the message.

There’s a priority to salvation historically. Scripture tells us it’s first for the Jew, then for the Gentile, but

there’s no prejudice. God is no respecter of persons.

There are no second-hand citizens in the kingdom of God, no second-class citizens in

the kingdom of God. There’s neither Jew nor Gentile, there’s neither male nor

female, there’s neither slave nor master, there’s neither rich nor poor, there’s neither

black nor white.

Everyone whom God saves has equal standing in the kingdom of God and

equally receives the greatest gift that we have until Jesus returns, the abiding

presence of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit makes Jesus real in us and he empowers us to live, speak and

perform good works like Jesus.

For some of you, you need to identify with Cornelius before—before he

meets Peter. His story is your story.

If you’ve received new life in the Holy Spirit, you have a new faith, you have a new love, and you have a new power.

You’re not perfect, no one is other than Jesus, but progressively, you’re

becoming a woman, you’re becoming a man who thinks, feels, speaks, and acts like Jesus, because that’s what the Holy

Spirit does.

Just like Cornelius who became hungry for God, believe in the Lord and be

filled with the Holy Spirit

We also need to identify with Peter before he met Cornelius because many of us, like Peter, have obstacles in our own heart that keep us from reaching

out to people.

We’ve put up walls of separation. We’ve called unclean that which God

doesn’t call unclean. We’ve called people that Jesus is loving and reaching out to off-limits and

unreachable.

And the Holy Spirit wants to remind you that no heart is too hard, no sin is too great, no one is too dead that the Holy Spirit can’t breathe life into that person, and the Holy Spirit is calling

you to go.

FAITHWORKS CHRISTIAN CHURCH GLOBAL

Presented By:

Pastor Richard NilloFCC Main, San Mateo, 4PM Afternoon Service

January 17, 2016

Website: http://faithworkschristianchurch.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Faithworks-Christian-Church-Global-292363410916567/