Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”
Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.
Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

• Acts 9:32-43

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.
The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.
About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.
While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”
Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”
The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.
The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along. The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”
While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”
Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”
Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached—how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who 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 whom God appointed 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.”
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
Then Peter said, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

• Acts 10:1-48

The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’
“I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
“The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.
“Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’
“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”
When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

• Acts 11:1-18

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Acts 9:32-43 ‘Peter leaves Jerusalem’: “Having inserted Saul with appropriate and violent suddenness into the narrative of the Jerusalem apostles, Luke brings us back into Peter’s story. Having found his Way down to Joppa, Peter will be called from there on another and more widely significant errand. But there is no such thing as a small errand in the kingdom of God. We will find that Peter was where he was on proper business from the Lord, the gospel business of healing and encouraging and building up God’s people.”

• N. T. Wright, Acts (from the For Everyone Bible Study Series)

Acts 9:32 ‘Lydda’: “Lod in the OT. Located about ten miles southeast of Joppa, it was a hub servicing roads from Egypt to Syria and from Joppa to Jerusalem.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 9:33 ‘Aeneas’: “Use of ‘certain man’ to describe him means he was an unbeliever (cf. v. 36). His paralysis was incurable by the limited medical knowledge of that day.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 9:36-43 ‘Tabitha’: “We have to assume that there were many others like Tabitha who lived their lives in faith and hope, bearing the sorrows of life as well as celebrating its joys, and finding in the small acts of service to others a fulfillment of the gospel within their own sphere, using traditional skills to the glory of God. Luke is right to draw our eyes to the small-scale and immediate, in case we should ever forget that these are the people who form the heart of the church. I am privileged to know plenty of Tabithas. The day before I wrote this I met one whose specialty is chocolate truffles. When I meet such people I greet them as what they are, the beating heart of the people of God.”

• N. T. Wright, Acts (from the For Everyone Bible Study Series)

Acts 9:36 ‘Jaffa’: “A seacoast town today known as Jaffa, south of modern Tel Aviv. Tabitha. She was more commonly known by her Greek name, Dorcas. Both names mean ‘gazelle.’ ”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 9:43 ‘Simon, the tanner’: “Cf. 10:5, 6. Peter breaks down a cultural barrier by staying with a tanner, an occupation despised by Jewish society because the tanner dealt with the skins of dead animals. The local synagogue probably shunned Simon.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 10:2 ‘A God-fearing Gentile’: “Cornelius fell in the category of a God-fearer, a Gentile who attended the synagogue and worshiped the God of Israel but who had not yet become a proselyte through circumcision and hence was not yet a full member of the community. He was described by Luke as devout, a man of regular prayer. He was a seeker after God and was generous with his money. Those he sent to Joppa told Peter that Cornelius had the respect not only of his peers in the Roman army but of the Jewish community in the neighborhood as well (10:22).”

• N. T. Wright, Acts (from the For Everyone Bible Study Series)

Acts 10:12 ‘all kinds of four-footed animals’: “Both clean and unclean animals. To keep the Israelites separate from their idolatrous neighbors, God set specific dietary restrictions regarding the consumption of such animals (cf. Lev. 11:25, 26).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 10:14 ‘saying “no, Lord” ’: “This is a curious expression. If Peter had said, ‘No,’ there would have been a clear consistency in his language and tone. But ‘No, Lord,’ is an odd jumble of self-will and reverence, of pride and humility, of contradiction and devotion. Surely, when you say, ‘No,’ it ought not to be said to the Lord, and if you say, ‘Lord,’ you ought not to put side by side the word no. Peter always was a blunderer in his early days, and he had not grown out of his old habits of honest impetuosity. He meant well, and his expression was not intended to convey all that we might easily make of it. At any rate, it is not for us to condemn him.  Who are we that we should sit in judgment on another saint of God? We are not without fault ourselves.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Acts 10:15 ‘God has cleansed’: “More than just abolishing the OT dietary restrictions, God made unity possible in the church of both Jews, symbolized by the clean animals, and Gentiles, symbolized by the unclean animals, through the comprehensive sacrificial death of Christ (see note on Eph. 2:14).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 10:23 ‘invited them in’: “Self-respecting Jews did not invite any Gentiles into their home, especially soldiers of the hated Roman army. some brethren. Six Jewish believers (11:12), identified as ‘those of the circumcision’ in verse 45.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 10:34 ‘God shows no partiality’: “Taught in both the OT (Deut. 10:17; 2 Chr. 19:7; Job 34:19) and NT (Rom. 2:11; 3:29, 30; James 2:1). The reality of this truth was taking on new dimensions for Peter.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 10:42-43 ‘Peter’s sermon to Cornelius’: “These two verses are an extract from a remarkable sermon, a sermon Peter preached in the house of Cornelius. What did Peter preach? There were six heads in his sermon, though he spoke only of one subject, that is, Christ. The apostle spoke first of the Lord’s person: ‘He is Lord of all’ (v. 36). Peter is clear on the sovereign Godhead of Jesus. Having spoken of his person, Peter then spoke of his life—’how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power’ (v. 38). This was the spring of Jesus’s life’s power-his anointing from the Holy Spirit. Peter set out the tenor of Jesus’s life in the next sentence: ‘He went about doing good and healing.’ Then Peter moved on to his third point, which was the Savior’s death—’they killed him by hanging him on a tree’ (v. 39). Peter does not take away the offense of the cross or put it in smooth language. Then Peter passed on to the Lord’s resurrection, for that is an essential part of the gospel: ‘God raised up this man on the third day and caused him to be seen’ (v. 40). It was no fiction. He was openly shown on many occasions to those best able to recognize him (v. 41). Then Peter came to the judgment—which he felt it necessary to preach, declaring that Jesus Christ who died and rose again is now designated the judge oi all mankind (v. 42). And lastly, Peter preached salvation by the Lord Jesus most fully and graciously when he said, ‘Through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins’ (v. 43). This was what Peter was driving at, and when he had reached this point, enough truth of God had been taught to save a soul—and God, the Holy Spirit, at once used it.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Acts 10:44-45 ‘no favorites’: “Cornelius and his household don’t even have a chance to say, ‘We believe.’ The Spirit comes upon them and they speak with tongues just as the apostles did on the day of Pentecost. There are many signs of new life recorded in Acts, of which ‘tongues’ is only one, and it is by no means always present; but sometimes, when it happens, it happens for a purpose. Here the purpose is clear: Peter and those with him (circumcised, that is, Jewish, men) need to know that these uncircumcised people have been regarded by the Holy Spirit as fit vessels to be filled with his presence and voice. And if that is so, there can be no barriers to baptism. All this is What is meant by the opening line of Peter’s speech, ‘God has no favorites.’ ”

• N. T. Wright, Acts (from the For Everyone Bible Study Series)

Acts 10 ‘Reflections’: “The Holy Spirit is first of all a moral flame. It is not an accident of language that He is called it the Holy Spirit, for whatever else the word holy may mean it does undoubtedly carry with it the idea of moral purity. And the Spirit, being God, must be absolutely and infinitely pure. With Him there are not (as with men) grades and degrees of holiness. He is holiness itself, the sum and essence of all that is unspeakably pure. …
“The Holy Spirit is also a spiritual flame. He alone can raise our worship to true spiritual levels. For we might as well know once for all that morality and ethics, however lofty, are still not Christianity. The faith of Christ undertakes to raise the soul to actual communion with God, to introduce into our religious experiences a supra-rational element as far above mere goodness as the heavens are above the earth. The coming of the Spirit brought to the book of Acts this very quality of supra-mundaneness, this mysterious elevation of tone not found in as high intensity even in the Gospels. …
“The flame of the Spirit is also intellectual. Reason, say the theologians, is one of the divine attributes. There need be no incompatibility between the deepest experiences of the Spirit and the highest attainments of the human intellect. It is only required that the Christian intellect be fully surrendered to God and there need be no limit to its activities beyond those imposed upon it by its own strength and size. How cold and deadly is the unblessed intellect. A superior brain without the saving essence of godliness may turn against the human race and drench the world with blood; or worse, it may loose ideas into the earth which will continue to curse mankind for centuries after it has turned to dust again. But a Spirit-filled mind is a joy to God and a delight to all men of good will. …
“The Spirit is also a volitional flame. Here as elsewhere the imagery is inadequate to express all the truth, and unless care is taken we may easily gain a wrong impression from its use. For fire as we see and know it every day is a thing, not a person, and for that reason it has no will of its own. But the Holy Spirit is a Person, having those attributes of personality of which volition is one. He does not, upon entering the human soul, void any of His attributes, nor does He surrender them in part or in full to the soul into which He enters. Remember, the Holy Spirit is Lord. ‘Now the Lord is that Spirit,’ said Paul to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 3:17).”

• A. W. Tozer, God’s Pursuit of Man

Acts 11:1-18 ‘more trouble’: “With what took place in the home of Cornelius, Gentiles were admitted as full members of the new and rapidly developing Jesus family without having to become Jews in the process. In his otherwise fast-paced narrative, Luke gives the story several repetitions. We can only conclude that for Luke the admission of Gentiles into God’s people, without needing to take on the marks of Jewish identity (that is, circumcision and food taboos), was one of the central and most important things he wanted to convey. But just as there were anxieties and divisions already within the Jerusalem community at the start of Acts 6, so now a further and potentially more divisive split is starting to open up, which will turn within a few years into a major problem.
“For the first time we encounter a group in Jerusalem who will become more and more significant as the story goes on, and who crop up for good measure in the writings of Paul: a group of Jewish believers who were insisting on the importance of circumcision. This is clearly a hard-line group within the Jerusalem believers, not a group of unbelieving Jewish rigorists. The phrase in verse 2 literally means ‘those who are of the circumcision,’ which could simply mean ‘all Jewish men.’ But verse 2 seems clearly to be talking about a smaller pressure group within the larger, but still Jewish, group of believers. Things were not static in the political world of Jerusalem through the forties and fifties of the first century. The law was the equivalent of the national flag at a time when the whole nation felt under intense and increasing pressure. To welcome Gentiles as equal brothers and sisters must have looked like fraternizing with the enemy.”

• N. T. Wright, Acts (from the For Everyone Bible Study Series)

Acts 11:3 ‘ate with them’: “The Jewish believers were outraged over such a blatant breach of Jewish custom. It was difficult for them to conceive that Iesus could be equally Lord of Gentile believers.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 11:14 ‘your household’: “All who were under Cornelius’s authority and care, who could comprehend the gospel and believe (cf. 16:15, 31). This does not include infants.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 11:15 ‘at the beginning’: “God attested to the reality of Gentile salvation with the same phenomenon that occurred at Pentecost (see note on 8:17).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics

Acts 11:18 ‘repentance produced by the author of life’: “One of the greatest obstacles the Christian religion ever overcame was the inveterate prejudice that possessed the minds of its earliest followers. The Jewish believers, the twelve apostles, and those whom Jesus Christ had called from the dispersed of Israel were totally attached to the idea that salvation was for the Jews. They could not bring themselves to the thought that Jesus had come to bring salvation ‘even to the Gentiles.’ Nevertheless, such was the case. By ‘repentance resulting in life’ we are to understand repentance that is accompanied by spiritual life in the soul and ensures eternal life to everyone who possesses it. There are repentances that are not signs of spiritual life but of natural life; they are only effected by the voice of nature speaking in people. But the repentance here spoken of is produced by the author of life.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Acts 11:1-18 ‘challenge’: “The contemporary moral climate does not favor a faith as tough and fibrous as that taught by our Lord and His apostles. The delicate, brittle saints being produced in our religious hothouses today are hardly to be compared with the committed, expendable believers who once gave their witness among men. And the fault lies with our leaders. They are too timid to tell the people all the truth. They are now asking men to give to God that which costs them nothing.”

• A. W. Tozer, That Incredible Christian

 

My Thoughts

This is a large passage, but it talks of Peter’s journey to the sea, and the resistance that he faced upon his return to Jerusalem.

Peter first goes to Lydda.  He heals a man named Aeneas.  We see the result of legitimate, God-given healing miracles.  Everyone who knew Aeneas turned to the Lord.  Peter was not glorified.  People did not flock to Peter for healing.  God’s kingdom was increased and spread.

The same thing happened when Peter hears that a wonderful woman named Tabitha (Dorcas) had died.  He goes into her room, clearing everyone else out.  This is similar to Jairus’ daughter.  Then he prays.  He then simply says, “Tabitha, get up.”  There was no holding of hands, touching, or breathing upon the dead person.  Tabitha needed a little help in getting up.  I need help sometimes, and I have not just died.  In the case of Tabitha’s return to the living, the Scripture says “many” people believed.  Odd, a healed man and everyone believed.  A woman raised from the dead, and only “many”, and Tabitha seemed to be that type of person that if you knew her, you loved her (a lot like my wife and my mother-in-law with everyone having something that they made or painted or improved with a crocheted edge or embroidered flowers, etc.).

Then we hear a story within a story and then the story retold.  Cornelius is a centurion and a God-fearing man who gave gifts to the poor.  An angel tells him exactly where to find Peter, and that Cornelius’ household will be rewarded for Cornelius’ good works.  Cornelius sends men to find Peter.

In the meantime, Peter has a dream where the same thing happens three times.  A sheet full of animals that Levitical Law would call unclean appears and Peter is told to eat.  While Rev. Spurgeon talks about the absurdity of saying “No, Lord” Peter is not alone.  Ezekiel was told to eat food cooked over a fire made from his waste.  Ezekiel refuses, and God relents, allowing the fire to be made from animal waste.  God does not back away from the command to Peter to kill and eat.  There is a point to be made.

As Peter ponders the dream, there is a knock at the door.  While Peter acknowledges that he is the person they are looking for, Peter does not leave until the next day, bolstered by the dream from God and in defiance of the “Law.”  The Chosen People were supposed to shine Light upon the Gentiles, and not dining with them or even entering their homes is in conflict with what God wanted them to do.  Do not accept their gods, but show them what love God has for them.  When Peter returns to Jerusalem, that inconsistency becomes magnified.

Peter preaches yet another sermon in the first half of Acts.  Peter speaks of Jesus, how Jesus was killed and was raised from the dead.  Peter speaks about how the prophets foretold and testified to Jesus.

At this point, the entire household, that had been expanded by Cornelius inviting his extended family and friends, began to speak in tongues.

First, Peter does not wish to touch an uncircumcised person and now he witnesses the Holy Spirit at work within them.  Peter orders them to be baptized.  I assume the baptism was performed by the circumcised people that Peter brought with him.

Now the council in Jerusalem is upset with Peter.  Peter repeats the entire story, at least a summary of what kind of person Cornelius was, the dream, and what happened in Cornelius’ house.  Only then did the council acknowledge that it was possible for Gentiles to get the Holy Spirit.  But then, this same council will probably be the same group of people who insist on circumcision, make a controversy out of people eating meat used in pagan sacrifice, etc.

As Rev. Wright wrote, God knew this would happen, and yet God’s Will be done even to the last days.

This Passage is notable in that Cornelius opened the door for Gentiles to be part of the audience, but that only by God giving Peter the dream.

We also see that miraculous healing continues, but the connection to saving of souls is important.  Many faith healers are charlatans but maybe because they attract attention to themselves and their purpose is not leading people to God.  While many theologians today are cessationists, in that once the Bible canon was complete, they believe miraculous signs ended, I am in a middle ground camp.  John’s testimony in Revelation shows miraculous signs will continue.  Old men will dream dreams, and young men see visions.  Healing miracles can happen, but happening by demand of an earthly power?  Highly unlikely, but even the Antichrist will have tricks up his sleeve.

Yet, if we take the focus of our message away from Christ and Christ alone, and specifically saving souls, is there any power left to move forward?

Some Serendipitous Reflections

Acts 9:32-43 Aeneas and Dorcas: 1. Why is it that Tabitha was raised, but Stephen died, even though Peter was there too (8:2)? How would you explain God’s ways to Stephen’s widow or mother? How might the results of Stephen’s death and Tabitha’s resurrection help you to understand God’s plans?
“2. How have you experienced God‘s healing in your life? What resulted from this healing for others?
Acts 10:1-7 Cornelius calls for Peter: 1. Are you very ‘God-fearing’? If evaluated by how you treated others this week, what would others say?
“2. What memorial offering does your lifestyle present before God? How does Cornelius’ life challenge you?
Acts 10:8-23a Peter’s Vision: 1. What +are some principles or beliefs you have held that have limited your ability to reach out to people ‘different’ from you? How would others around you feel if you moved beyond these limits?
“2. What new relationships has God given you recently? How has he brought these people into your life? How have you influenced each other?
Acts 10:23b-48 Peter at Cornelius’ House 1. Using this story, how would you respond to the question: ‘Can people who have never heard the gospel be saved’? If your answer is ‘yes,’ why then did God send Peter to preach (see also 11:14)? If it is ‘no,’ how do you explain verses 34-35?
“2. Toward what groups of people do you feel prejudiced? How has that developed? What evidence is there that the lesson of Peter’s vision has broken through to you with respect to these people?
“3. Consider the make-up of your community and of your church (ethnically, socially, politically, age-wise, etc.). Are there some people who would just assume that your church is not for them? Are there some forms or practices you could change to remove those barriers? How would you feel about making those changes?
Acts 11:1-18 Peter Explains his actions 1. How can this principle affect the way you treat ‘unacceptable’ people you meet?
“2. How have you been criticized for breaking the religious traditions you grew up with? Why did you do so? What did you feel was at stake?
“3. The lesson of 10:34-35 and 11:18 was not easily learned, even by Peter (see Gal 2:11-14). What might have happened if the early church denied the new principle (1O:15,28 and 11:9) which God taught Peter?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

This portion of Acts is divided into five sets of questions as noted above.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.