December 12th, 2013
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Mission, Unity and Love

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Mighty God, Your will stands firm forever; Your truth endures from age to age. I give all praise to You.

Read Acts 11:1-18

[1] The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. [2] So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him [3] and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.” [4] Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: [5] “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. [6] I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. [7] Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’ [8] “I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ [9] “The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ [10] This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again. [11] “Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. [12] 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. [13] He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. [14] He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’ [15] “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. [16] Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ [17] 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?” [18] 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.”

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION

Meditate

Breaking a church tradition can meet with serious pushback. But when we clearly see that God is doing a new thing, we must stand firm.

Think Further

What a contrast between the joyful scene of Cornelius’ conversion and Peter’s return to the church in Jerusalem! Coming home, Peter runs into a storm of criticism from conservative, Jewish believers (2). His response is a model of Christian grace and humility: he simply recounts his own experience, emphasizing over and again that he merely followed where the Holy Spirit clearly led. Interestingly, he describes the outpouring of the Spirit upon his hearers as coming at the point where he was just “starting to speak” (15). Either his memory was playing tricks with him, or he had actually intended an extremely lengthy sermon! He now adds that when the Spirit came, he suddenly recalled the words of Jesus concerning the promise of the baptism with the Holy Spirit (16). It was as if he was saying, “Now I see it; that is what the Lord meant!” 

The outcome of this defense of cross-cultural mission is that the conservative believers who had never gone beyond the confines of Jerusalem come to recognize that God has been the real actor in this drama. He used Peter to grant the Gentiles “repentance unto life” (18). The question for us is this: can we handle criticism and opposition from believers, who may seem utterly out of touch with the realities of mission, with the same grace as Peter. Peter had witnessed the emergence of a new and unanticipated form of the church. Similar tensions can arise today when people responding to the Spirit go far beyond the confines of existing traditions. Will they imitate Peter’s determination to maintain unity and love; and will the defenders of the tradition be able to recognize where God is at work and celebrate the mission of God, the divine plan and purpose for the healing and salvation of the world?

Apply

How can you distinguish between a trend and a fad? Can you think of a time when God’s Word showed you clearly that a trend was God’s will?

Closing prayer

Gracious Lord, help me to truly rejoice at every sign around me of Your grace active in people’s lives.

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