Acts 10:1-48 Peter & Cornelius Fintry, 30/3/2003, am ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Who is your outsider? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Who do we consider those who could never come to faith, to church? - well to do, self-sufficient, capable? - neds, no interest in any kind of goodness, ... - That's who the Gentiles were to a good Jew: - excluded by God, by history, by habit! God draws Cornelius ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - God takes initiative - for reader, point is made clear that God was at work before Peter decided it might be a good idea! God prepares Peter ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Explain challenge to Peter's pre-conceptions! - folk who just can't bring themselves to call the minister anything other than "Mr ...."!! God welcomes Cornelius ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Awakened desire finds focus and clarity in Jesus, in his death and resurrection, in understanding sinfulness: - Cornelius must have felt a deep sense of unworthiness to bow before Peter! Also, v.42, judge - response is belief and request for forgiveness God Confirms Cornelius' Conversion ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Sending of Holy Spirit absolute confirmation of God's hand! - the experience made manifest in the act of baptism Conclusion ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - God at work in two individuals here: - in Cornelius, the outsider, drawing him to himself - nothing and no-one is impossible for God! - in Peter, changing his attitude to others, opening his eyes to God's grace and his own hardness of heart; an on-going process over all of Peter's life - God wants to work in us to! - to change our hearts, whether we are outside the faith or insiders! - always to introduce people to himself!