Order, Words, & Voices
04.23.23, Prayers and Alms, Acts 10:1-17, 34-48
Order
Pre Worship Music
Opening Song Billy/Linda
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Amazing Love
Reading 1 Pettys
Call to Worship Response/Lord’s Prayer Rick
Reading 2 Acts 10:1-17, 34-48 Musgroves
Songs Billy/Linda
Draw Me Close
Eagles Wings
Message Prayers and Alms Rick
Music Draw Me Close Billy/Linda
Community/Peace Rick
Benediction Rick
Post Worship Music
Slides Note: There is a blank title slide between each Section – except for message/sermon slides.
Music (slides)
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Chorus
Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning
New mercies I see
All I have needed
Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness
Lord unto me
Verse 1
Great is Thy faithfulness
O God my Father
There is no shadow
Of turning with Thee
Thou changest not
Thy compassions they fail not
As Thou hast been
Thou forever wilt be
Chorus
Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning
New mercies I see
All I have needed
Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness
Lord unto me
Verse 2
Summer and winter
And springtime and harvest
Sun moon and stars
In their courses above
Join with all nature
In manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness
Mercy and love
Chorus
Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning
New mercies I see
All I have needed
Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness
Lord unto me
Verse 3
Pardon for sin
And a peace that endureth
Thy own dear presence
To cheer and to guide
Strength for today
And bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine
With ten thousand beside
Chorus
Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning
New mercies I see
All I have needed
Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness
Lord unto me
You Are My King (Amazing Love)
Verse
I’m forgiven
Because You were forsaken
I’m accepted
You were condemned
I’m alive and well
Your Spirit is within me
Because You died
And rose again
Chorus
Amazing love
How can it be
That You my King
Would die for me
Amazing love
I know it’s true
It’s my joy to honor You
In all I do I honor You
Ending
You are my King
You are my King
Jesus You are my King
Jesus You are my King
Reading I (Slide) Acts 10:1-18
In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort, as it was called. He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God. One
afternoon he had a vision seeing an angel of God saying to him, “Cornelius.” He stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?”
The voice answered, “Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa for a Simon who is called Peter.” When the angel left, Cornelius called two of his slaves and a devout soldier from the ranks of those who served him, and after telling them everything he sent them to Joppa.
Acts 10:1-18
Call to Worship (Slides)
Leader: Jesus has commissioned each of us to live like him, actions lived out loud.
Response: To live the life he showed us how to live.
Leader: Jesus called us out of our religiosity and legalism to live freely in the same way he lived.
Response: The Spirit stretches us to love all, to welcome all, to accept all.
Leader: God presented an array of food for the hungry apostle Peter to eat.
Response: Peter refused, he said “the food is profane.”
Leader: God said again, and again, eat the food I have set before you.
Response: Peter continued to refuse.
Leader: God said, “That which I have created is not profane.”
Response: God said, “All that I have created is blessed.”
Leader: God created and then proclaimed that all of his creation is good.
Response: How can we then say anything, or anyone, is profane?
Leader: May we see those considered profane through the eyes of God.
Response: May we love those considered profane with the heart of God.
Lord’s Prayer (Slides) ‘Join me in the prayer of Jesus’
Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, On Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us. And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Reading II (Slide) Acts 10:34-48
Peter began to speak to Cornelius and his family: “God shows no partiality, but in every people anyone who fears God and practices righteousness is acceptable to God. God sent his message to the people of Israel, in the preaching of peace by Jesus Christ—the Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee, the message told how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that Jesus did both in Judea and in Jerusalem.
They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses – we ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” As Peter was speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word.
The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the gentiles. Peter said, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” So he ordered Cornelius and his household to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
Acts 10:34-48
Music (Slides)
Draw Me Close (will probably repeat)
Verse
Draw me close to You never let me go
I lay it all down again
To hear You say that I’m Your friend
You are my desire no one else will do
‘Cause nothing else could take Your place
To feel the warmth of Your embrace
Help me find the way bring me back to You
Chorus
You’re all I want
You’re all I’ve ever needed
You’re all I want
Help me know You are near
Eagle’s Wings (will probably repeat)
Verse
Here I am waiting
Abide in me I pray
Here I am longing for You
Hide me in Your love
Bring me to my knees
May I know Jesus more and more
Chorus
Come live in me
All my life take over
Come breathe in me
And I will rise
On eagle’s wings
Message – Prayers and Alms ( Slides)
Chapter 10 of the book of Acts takes place around a decade, give or take a year or 2 – After the resurrection and the Ascension have taken place. During this time God has been busy among the believers – doing a work of which they did not fully comprehend.
The community of followers of Jesus were becoming a thing.
(Slide – Leave up screen share until notified to close it)
Organic community
- Community of faith begin relating to each other daily and listening to the apostles’ teachings – Share Their Possessions. Barnabas Sells a Field and Contributes the Money. Devisiveness/Selfishness – – Ananias and Sapphira crave the attention Barnabas gets, so they too sell a field and then lie and subsequently die when they boast of giving all their earnings to the apostles
(Slide) Spirit Involvement
- Pentecost, 3,000 new followers,
- Healings and Miracles -Peter and John Heal a Lame Man
- Philip Preaches to the unacceptable Samaritans and to the Ethiopian Eunuch/Transgender
(Slide) Becoming Noticeable
- Peter and John Arrested, More believers join the community and more miracles take place. Apostles Arrested and then Freed by an Angel
- Stephen Arrested and Stoned
- Saul, soon to be called Paul, Persecutes the Believers
- Saul, soon to be called Paul, joins the Believers
- Saul, soon to be called Paul, Preaches everywhere
(Slide) Institutional Necessity
- Matthias is chosen to replace Judas
- Office of Deacons formed to take care of widows
- Establishment of a governing type group
(Slide – ‘Acts 10 brings us face to face with the practice of exclusivity’)
In this passage we see a major moment which will be Peter’s greatest challenge, a moment that could probably be marked as the Pentecost for the Gentiles. We see the Jewish Jesus believers community now stretched in ways they did not expect. Diversity had arrived, it was an act of God, whether Peter and the Jewish believers were ready for it or not, the tent was about to be drastically enlarged, and the great commission to show Jesus through their lives was about to intersect with the discomfort of God’s greatest commandment to love God and everyone else. For the apostle Peter this would be scary, for Cornelius this would be encouraging, and for the community of faith, which would ultimately become the church, this would be a never ending challenge that is still a challenge today – possibly confronting the church today with the question, ‘have we gone backwards?’
The historical moment detailed in Acts 10 brings us face to face with the practice of exclusivity – restricting certain persons or communities from being a part of the followers of Jesus. Along with the question inclusivity – ‘will the church ever accept all peoples?’ Why was Peter, and the leaders, so steeped in the laws of separation and exclusivity?
(Slide) Pastor Jakob Topper is answering that question with his congregation this morning by explaining it like this: ‘[The law] set the people apart, preserved their heritage and identity when that was the highest goal. As they were prisoners in Babylon, and earlier in Egypt, Israel did not go quietly into the night, when they so easily could have.
(Slide) The law code was essential in that. But now, Jesus says that the law has served its purpose. The role of the law is complete. It did its job, and it did it well, but that stage is complete, and the next stage is going to be less exclusionary and more inclusive.
(Slide) It’s going to be less about purity and more about mercy. Less law and more love. That’s what Peter’s vision is all about this morning. No animal is unclean. That was for a specific time and place, but it wasn’t the animals themselves that were unclean.
(Slide ) It was the season of life that demanded those measures, but that season of life is over. Where you once needed to button down the hatches and huddle tightly to survive,
(Slide) now it’s time to throw wide the gates and announce from the rooftops that God shows no partiality and everyone, no matter who, no matter where, no matter when, everyone is welcome in the family of God.’ (Rev. Jakob Topper)
(End Screen Share)
With that in mind, let’s take a look at Cornelius. Cornelius was a centurion of the Italian Cohort, meaning that he was in charge of eighty soldiers. In particular, Cornelius was from Italy, the home base for the Roman Empire. This is probably an indication that Cornelius is a ‘somebody’ he is ‘going somewhere.’
While Roman Centurions play a significant role in the death of Christ, we also see a handful of Centurions who play a positive pivotal role in the identification of Jesus. In addition to Cornelius, one centurion caught Jesus’ attention verbalizing his understanding of Jesus’ authority, another centurion pronounced, at the cross, that Jesus was most definitely the Son of God.
Centurions were usually, at least publicly, gentiles although there was possibly a very small margin of those who believed in the God of the Jews – openly living out the ‘how to live’ belief, combined with not really knowing what to do with it, what direction to go, a faith that was a constant conundrum.
Two significant points we see about Cornelius.
- He was a devout man who feared God with all his household.
- He gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God.
While there were those Gentiles that were conditionally welcomed into the Jewish community, Cornelius was not of them by choice or invitation. He was not a Jew and therefore would not have been able to participate in the usual practices of Judaism, so he did what he could. He lived a life of witness in view of his family including all in his household, as well as to his community. Plus, he was a man of prayer. He is described as a Devout man. Basically, Cornelius may be one of the most significant examples of a follower’s grasp of Jesus’ command in the Great Commission – ‘Go and live out the life of Jesus for the world to see.’ A commandment that Cornelius probably had never heard.
Peter, on the other hand, was Jewish, steeped in the traditions and teachings of Judaism. As a Jewish follower of Jesus, Peter considered Jesus to be the fulfillment of the promised Messiah. For Peter, as a follower of Jesus, he was still a Jew, and therefore he was still confined by the law and practices of Judaism. As God began the process of expanding Peter’s understanding of faith and the practice of faith, Peter found this growth process to be a struggle.
“God, have you forgotten Leviticus 11?” Peter must have thought as God instructed him to kill and eat that which was considered to be unclean. Three times God told him to do this and three times Peter resisted on the grounds of adherence to his religion.
Peter was stuck in his literal interpretations of his religious obligations and the accepted legalistic paths. Cornelius, however, was free in his pursuit of a God he did not know, and along the way, his family, his servants and slaves, and even some of his employees/soldiers, joined him on this journey because of what they saw in his life.
Cornelius does as God directed him to do – he sends 2 of his slaves, plus a devout soldier, and shares with them everything the angel said. This fact is significant, none of these men needed to hear, it was their job to obey. However, the relationship they had with Cornelius reveals that they also were on this faith journey with him, knowing the details was essential as this was their path also.
Peter was greatly puzzled about what to make of the vision that he had seen and especially confused by God’s words, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” As Peter questioned the answer began to unveil itself through a knock on his door.
Upon arrival at Cornelius’ home, Peter began to speak to Cornelius and his family and household: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every people anyone who fears him and practices righteousness is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all.”
‘As Peter spoke truth, even he was shocked by the response of the people, ‘the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.’
This entire experience was huge. Not long after this, Peter would have to go before the governing council in Jerusalem to explain the baptism of gentiles and there, he will just recount the appearance of the Holy Spirit as a justification. Accepted by council. Gentiles, who just a short time before were unacceptable, were now a part, and essential part of the community of believers.
No one likes to have their basic faith thinking challenged, it is even more discomforting to have that thinking confronted by God. Peter, nor the Jerusalem council enjoyed that. However, once they heard of the arrival of the Spirit to the Gentiles they humbled themselves. It is not foundational doctrine that is being challenged, it is humanity’s interpretation of God’s truth that is ready to be considered.
Let’s now take a final look at the work of the Spirit by taking a couple of steps back in the story, even before we first meet Cornelius. The work of the Spirit witnessed by Peter was just a tip of the iceberg. God had been at work long before our telling of the story takes place. The Spirit had been doing a work in Cornelius, directing a faith journey, guiding his life. The Spirit had been doing a work in the household of Cornelius, opening the eyes of his family, his slaves, servants, and employees. The Spirit had been doing a work in Peter, challenging his exclusionary religious practices and beliefs, softening his heart, showing him what loving others really means (this will be a continual struggle for Peter). And the words on the pages of Acts 10 bring us, midway, into the story of this pivotal moment of the sharing of the good news of Jesus.
But, some time before we were welcomed into the story, Cornelius gave an offering to God. It was a memorial offering. For those able to go to the Temple in Jerusalem to make offerings, they sometimes would make a memorial offering. This often would be done through a grain offering ultimately given for the priests, but this would be a small section of the grain offering, separated out as a set aside request that God would notice the person giving the offering, that God would remember them. This is not like our practice of making a memorial gift of memory of another person. It is an offering of a gift asking God to ‘remember me’, or ‘remember my love ones’ – for Cornelius it was a offering made asking God to remember that he believes even though he cannot go and make a gift in the temple, a gift asking for God to reveal himself, even though Cornelius in unable to take part in the moments of teaching and learning about God and about Jesus. It was an offering to God from Cornelius asking that God show himself more, to give Cornelius and his household more understanding, more knowledge, more God.
The angel told Cornelius his memorial offering was noticed and received – what took place with Peter, and for Peter as well, was a response from God to the truth seeking gentile named Cornelius.
Close
Music (Slides) (will probably repeat)
Draw Me Close
Verse
Draw me close to You
never let me go
I lay it all down again
To hear You say that I’m Your friend
You are my desire no one else will do
‘Cause nothing else
could take Your place
To feel the warmth of Your embrace
Help me find the way
bring me back to You
Chorus
You’re all I want
You’re all I’ve ever needed
You’re all I want
Help me know You are near
Community (Slides)
- Next Sunday, April 30, Acts 13:1-3; 14:8-18, ‘Seeing Good’
Benediction (Blank Slide)
May we walk securely in the confidence of the defeat of death on the cross. May we release our burdens at the wonder of the empty grave. May we continue forward in our hope proven through the resurrection. May we meet our world understanding the blessedness and struggle of humanity. May we live in our reality with the challenge to be salt and light. May we show Jesus through our lives. May we see others with God’s eyes. May we glorify God in our lives.
Closing Peace
Leader: May the Peace and Hope of the Lord go with you.
Response: And also with you.
Leader: Go in the Peace and Hope of the Lord.
Order, Words, & Voices 