Worship
“Adoption Song” by Brandon Lake
Scripture Foundation
“Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right… All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.'” -Acts 10:34-35, 43, NIV, emphasis added
The First Gentile Awakening
The gospel was now to go forth from the Jews to the Gentiles, to bring them in, graft them in, and send them forth to the ends of the Earth. God’s heart has always been for every nation, tribe, and tongue. The pioneers of the Church, His followers, had to adopt this same passionate belief.
Breaking Down Barriers
Interestingly enough, the hatred between Jews and Gentiles was mutual. Male Jews thanked God they were not a woman, a slave, or a Gentile. If a Jew married a Gentile, they would have a funeral for the Jew because that person would be considered dead in their eyes. To enter a Gentile home was to deem one unclean. Equally on both sides of the fence, hatred mounted.
God’s Heart for All Nations
“This entrance of Gentiles into the church was not a new plan, but something promised long before. The Old Testament looked for the day when a light would shine in the darkness of the Gentile world…” -David Guzik
The Current Reality
Church, there is something so key for us in the application of this passage. God does not show favoritism. He gave His life for the entire world (John 3:16) unto salvation. But here is the grave reality. According to a Barna study, approximately only 17% of the Church in America is actually familiar with the term “Great Commission.”
A Shifting Landscape
For generations, we were the No. 1 missionary sending nation around the globe. In 2019, John Morgan unearthed that Christianity is undergoing a seismic shift in the West. The Global South and the Two-Thirds World are turning to Christianity and sharing the gospel at a much faster pace than the West.
Questions for Reflection
Where did we go wrong as a nation? How did we go from a Gentile Awakening in Acts to our current reality? Where is our passion and drive for the gospel to reach the ends of the Earth?
Our Call to Action
“As we reflect on these truths, we should both celebrate the fact that God’s grace has come to all people and remember that we have a responsibility to take the gospel to people groups that are still unreached… Peter’s vision of clean and unclean animals doesn’t just make an abstract point about the character of God’s covenant people; it is a call to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.” -Robert Mohler, “Acts 1-12 For You”
The Mission Continues
We are called to:
- Pray for this mission
- Give to this mission
- Perhaps go on this mission
- Be on that mission wherever God calls us
Wherever God calls you to go, be on that mission.