September 22, 2024 - Acts 10-11

Peter and Cornelius.  This story is full of so many lessons:  God’s salvation is for the whole world, not just for Jews; the gospel is not bound to any one culture; God will grant the gospel to those who seek him; the necessity of the gospel being preached or told by a messenger (the dream did not provide the gospel, it connected Cornelius with Peter, who could share the good news with him); like Peter, we can harbor cultural and ethnic biases that keep us from sharing the gospel; opposition sometimes comes to those who push the boundaries of gospel proclamation (some of the Jerusalem Jews opposed Peter’s preaching to Cornelius).  But, at the end of the day, God will have the gospel preached where and to whom he wishes.

In Christ there is no east or west,

in him no south or north,

but one great fellowship of love

throughout the whole wide earth.

In Christ now meet both east and west,

in him meet south and north.

All Christly souls are joined as one

throughout the whole wide earth.   -- John Oxenham (1908)