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When you see
(underlined words)
Recap
What do we plant?
Why do we plant?
Where do we plant?
When do we plant? When
How do we plant? By
(The Love of Jesus, Increase of None’s and Done’s, Our Third Places, We See God Moving, Listening, Loving People)
Who Plants
9 The next day as Cornelius’s messengers were nearing the town, Peter went up on the flat roof to pray. It was about noon, 10 and he was hungry. But while a meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners. 12 In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. 13 Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.”
14 “No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean.”
15 But the voice spoke again: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.” 16 The same vision was repeated three times. Then the sheet was suddenly pulled up to heaven.
17 Peter was very perplexed. What could the vision mean? Just then the men sent by Cornelius found Simon’s house. Standing outside the gate, 18 they asked if a man named Simon Peter was staying there.
19 Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Three men have come looking for you. 20 Get up, go downstairs, and go with them without hesitation. Don’t worry, for I have sent them.”
21 So Peter went down and said, “I’m the man you are looking for. Why have you come?”
22 They said, “We were sent by Cornelius, a Roman officer. He is a devout and God-fearing man, well respected by all the Jews. A holy angel instructed him to summon you to his house so that he can hear your message.” 23 So Peter invited the men to stay for the night. The next day he went with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Joppa.
24 They arrived in Caesarea the following day. Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 As Peter entered his home, Cornelius fell at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter pulled him up and said, “Stand up! I’m a human being just like you!” 27 So they talked together and went inside, where many others were assembled.
28 Peter told them, “You know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean. 29 So I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. Now tell me why you sent for me.”
30 Cornelius replied, “Four days ago I was praying in my house about this same time, three o’clock in the afternoon. Suddenly, a man in dazzling clothes was standing in front of me. 31 He told me, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been noticed by God! 32 Now send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. He is staying in the home of Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.’ 33 So I sent for you at once, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here, waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you.” —Acts 10:9-33 (NLT)
1. A Vision to Peter
Acts 10:9–16; 11:4–10
2. A Vision to Cornelius
Acts 10:3–8, 30–32; 11:13–14
3. Disciples are Made
Acts 10:44–46; 11:15–17
Who Plants?
(Everyone! We all have a role to play.)
What’s Your Role?
Practitioners/Pioneers
Missional Mentors
Permission Givers
Prayer Partners
Person of Peace
Go Beyond the Sermon…
All summer, there will be daily devotions to help you take the sermon into your day-to-day life. Keep up through the church app, website, or on our social pages.
Questions to Ponder:
As a church we often identify who is in and who is out. Befor Peter’s transformation by the Holy Spirit, who did he believe was in God’s saving grace and who was not?
How did Peter’s theology change after the vision?
How has the church been negatively affected by our own actions andby outside critics?
How might the Holy Spirit be calling the church to a ministry of both/and?
What hurdles do you anticipate in this work?
For Further Reading: Fresh Expressions: A New Kind of Methodist Church For People Not In Church