Seeker Friendly
9/1/24
(Back to School Sunday)
Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
Father, we sit in the tabernacle of praise and welcome you in our midst. You are the mighty one who saves; move in every situation represented here today. You know each one intimately. Quiet us as we bask in the presence of your love. We sit silently listening for one beautiful note of the songs you sing over us. Fill us up to completion this morning from your word and through your Holy Spirit. Amen
Introduction
We are going to move forward in the book of Acts this morning. We will be hanging out in chapter 10 today.
Because we have a celebration planned for Back-to-School and our church cookout today, I plan on being brief unless Holy Spirit has other plans. We always want to be sensitive to what He desires to happen.
Message
Read Acts 10: 1-3
Stopping here we see our protagonist of this passage, Cornelius. What do we know about him:
He’s a centurion - an officer of the Roman army and probably had up to a hundred Roman soldiers under his command. He would typically oversee the day-to-day life of his soldiers and report to the hire-ups when required.
He was a devout man and served God along with His whole household even though he wasn’t a Jew.
He was a giver.
He was a prayer warrior.
God noticed! He sent an angel to intercept him. The angel instructed him to send for Peter.
It was while two of his servants and a trusted soldier were off to find Peter when we pick up the passage again.
Read Acts 10:9-16
God’s vision came to Peter not once - but three times. He wanted Peter to take notice of this vision. If something happens once, you might could blame it on indigestion or fatigue. But God gave Peter the same vision and instructions three times because He wanted Peter to sit up and take notice of what God was saying. And even while he’s contemplating what God meant by such a vision, the men sent by Cornelius arrive where he is.
Read Acts 10:17-24
Thankfully, Peter was listening to the Holy Spirit or he may have refused to go meet with these Gentiles. Because he was faithful, the whole world was changed. It was in Cornelius’s household that God publicly opened the doors of the church to the Gentile world.
Read Acts 10: 25-29
Cornelius’ name means horn. Now Cornelius was waiting for them, and had called together his relatives and close friends. Like a bullhorn, he’s letting the word out and many have gathered to hear what it is that Peter has to say to them. And Peter was astute enough to understand that the sheet vision was about this very moment in time.
Read Acts 10:34-43
Peter simply gives Cornelius and all that were in the house, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Read Acts 10: 44-46
And thus, the saving grace of Jesus was opened up to the whole world, beginning with a devout man named Cornelius.
I have a few points to make about this story.
God is always talking. If we listen, we will hear what He has to say.
If you can say to me, Pastor Deborah, I don’t hear from God, I would say to you…listen closer. Sometimes it’s our own running mouth and brains that keep us from hearing.
Make silent prayer time a thing in your life. Shhhhhh! People fear silence. They can’t sit in the quiet; they have to have a tv in the background or music or even white noise. Sit in silence during your prayer time and listen for the still small voice of God. Practice this until you begin to recognize His voice.
Reading and studying the Bible is another way. He speaks to our life and situations through His word.
Talk with other followers of Jesus because sometimes He will speak through them right to your situation.
Listen to Christian praise and worship music. He speaks through them as well.
Start paying attention. Peter needed the vision three times before God felt it was instilled in his heart enough for what was to come. Don’t be discouraged if it takes you longer. Afterall, Peter walked with Jesus in flesh and blood - he needed three times.
2. God’s children are God’s children.
Sometimes you’re stuck with a cliche’, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” or “All that glitters is not gold.” or “Clothes don’t make the man.”
You can’t see a person’s heart; you don’t know their back story; you have no idea, but God does. The word says
2 Peter 3: 8-9 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Every person’s walk is different! I can guarantee you that if we were all lined up to race a 100 yard dash, Joe and I would not finish the same. He could sit down and drink a soda at the finish line while he waited for me to get there. Why do we expect everyone’s Christian walk to look like ours?
Stop concerning yourself with the backstory, and concern yourself with the here and now. You don’t need to know everyone’s dirt nor how it got there; you just need to offer them the solution to cleaning it off. Peter sat in the midst of dirty Gentiles and offered them salvation!
3. God will go before you when He sends you but be a seeker.
I titled this message, Seeker Friendly. Now you may have heard churches call themselves seeker friendly, meaning that all sinners, no matter what, are welcome at their place of worship.
It’s gotten a bad connotation lately by standing for churches who compromise on holiness just to fill their seats. They don’t just accept the sinner, they also turn the other way to sin.
Today I want to use it another way. Let’s be a seeker friendly church, meaning we, the congregation, are the seekers. Let’s seek out those who need the love of Jesus every single day, everywhere we go. I’m a seeker, and I’m friendly. Let me tell you about my Jesus.
So I was making a purchase on Facebook marketplace wanting to buy something for church. I knew the girl was trying to give me a good deal, but she told me that she was needing gas money so trying to sell quickly by offering it cheaply. I met her right at the gas pump so she could put gas in her tank. I could have paid what she asked, but because I was listening to Holy Spirit, I have her what I had in my purse for the deal. I am not telling you this to pat my own back, I’m telling you to watch out for instances where you can be Jesus to someone.
I shared with her that I am a Pastor and generously poured the love of Jesus into her life for that brief moment. Be a seeker! Look for opportunities to share Jesus and shine the light on someone in their darkness. Trust that God will go before you to make a way for you. Just like he did for Peter and Cornelius. If God hadn’t prepared the way, the outcome may have ended differently. He goes before you too. He’s always helping us as we share Jesus.
Closing / Prayer
As we close this morning, I want to call up the kids who have gone back to school so that we can pray over you. As you walk amongst your classmates, or meet people in the marketplace, remember to be seeker friendly. Loving others and looking for people to help…always leave them with a God bless you, a Jesus loves you, or even a well-mannered smile. Let the world know who you serve.
