Thursday, January 22nd

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Thursday, January 22

Acts 10: 34-43

So Peter opened his mouth and said: "Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

Picture the scene.

Cornelius, the Roman soldier who serves a pagan emperor, has invited a bunch of his Roman friends and family to his house so they can all hear what a Jewish man named Peter has to say about God.

Peter, the Jewish fisherman who became a disciple of Jesus, and who once tried to kill a Roman soldier with his sword, is being led to Cornelius’s house.

Just a few days earlier Peter would have considered it a sin to enter the house of a Roman. Just a few months before Peter would have hated Cornelius without even meeting him, simply because he was a Roman.

Peter preaches the gospel of Jesus to a room full of people that he would have regarded as unclean and unreachable “outsiders” just days earlier.

It’s a crazy and completely miraculous scene; one that simply could not have happened without God’s intervention and design.

God has arranged for an Apostle of the good news to be in the same room with a Roman spiritual seeker along with his friends and family.

God led Cornelius to Peter; and God led Peter to Cornelius. He brings them together by the power of the gospel and for the purpose of the gospel. Peter summarizes the gospel like this:

To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

I think this story is an example of what some call a “divine appointment.”

As pastor I have the privilege of hearing lots of stories like this.

Our church has a very active food ministry, called “Shepherd’s Heart Food Pantry.” Many of our clients happen to be Spanish speaking. We are also getting ready to launch a church-wide 8-week small group experience called “The All Time Best Seller Book Club” and encouraging people to invite friends who may never have read the Bible to join the experience. Well, Erin Wise, who is the Director of Shepherd’s Heart Ministries, made sure to put a few Spanish versions of the New Testament on a table near the food pantry where they could be easily seen. Soon some of the Spanish speaking people coming for food started asking about the All Time Best Seller book Club, and before we knew it we had 17 families signed up for a Spanish speaking study group! And guess what? A couple of months ago we hired a new worship leader named Eli Munoz who happens to be bi-lingual. So Eli is leading our first ever Spanish speaking Bible study group!

That feels like a “divine appointment” to me! That feels like a Book of Acts story to me.

I could share many more stories just like that but the real question is, “What’s your story?” or, “What divine appointment might God have for you today?”

Pastor Brian Coffey