Sermons

Surrendering to God’s Mission.

November 19, 2021 Preacher: Pedro Samuel Series: Acts - The Gospel in Motion

Topic: Christian Living Scripture: Acts 11:1–18

Our passage today in many ways is a repeat of the story in chapter 10. But whenever Scripture repeats something, we need to take notice. There is an important lesson here that we might be prone to miss. Our text shows how God changed the thinking of these Christians on a matter that was essential for the spread of the gospel. If the Gentiles had been required to adopt Jewish rituals and ceremonies to be saved, the gospel would not have spread around the Gentile world as it did, and it would be a different “gospel.” The Holy Spirit inspired Luke to include this story twice so that the Jewish believers especially would see that salvation is not a matter of adopting Jewish rituals, but rather of God saving people of every race through faith in Christ alone.

But these Jewish Christians needed to change their thinking. The story shows how God began that process, and how He works to change our thinking. To accomplish His sovereign purpose in salvation, God has to change the wrong thinking of His people.

1. The Criticism (v.1-3)
2. The Explanation (v.4-15)
3. The Surrender (v.16-18)

Discussion Questions

  1. Discuss: Missions is not a program in the church; it is the program of the church.
  2. Why is a mono-cultural church (“Baby Boomers,” etc.) not biblical? Why should the church be multi-cultural/racial?
  3. What are some western church traditions that may hinder our outreach to this culture?
  4. Is there any wrong thinking that we as a church (or you as an individual) need to change to conform to God’s Word?

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