Empowering and Equipping Series: No Limits Acts 11: 1-18

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1 1 08/30/15 Avondale Meute Empowering and Equipping Series: No Limits Psalm 148; Acts 11: 1-18 Pearl: The gospel of Jesus Christ is way ahead of us. Function: To convince worshippers that the gospel of Jesus Christ ought to expand us and change our minds and hearts a little or a lot each and every day. Think of one of the most memorable ways that the Spirit of God changed your mind about something. 1. I am sorry if you cannot think of anything. a. People like to say that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That would be true. But the thing is that this God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever is a God who is constantly way out ahead of us expanding our perspectives, blowing our minds, pushing and prodding us to change a little or a lot each and every day! b. You ought to be learning some new way that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is changing the world each and every day. c. This is the nature of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is always on the move. It is always changing minds and hearts. It is always pushing us and prodding us in some way. d. It is not the nature of the gospel of Jesus Christ to remain stagnant. It is not its nature to remain status quo. As C.S. Lewis wrote in the Chronicles of Narnia about the Christ-figure Aslan the lion, Aslan is on the move. 2. We cannot contain the gospel. We cannot make it stay the same. We want to make it stay the same. We want to keep it in our comfortable categories. This is not the nature of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our understandings and conceptions of it should always be stretching and expanding. a. The early church immediately rejected the idea that the Gentiles were now being included in family of Jesus Christ. i. It is understandable that they did so. There was always a great separation between Jews and Gentiles. Even Jesus himself, when he lived and ministered kept his sense of mission only among the Jews. There were times when Gentiles got his attention and he did associate outside of the limits of the Jews but on rare occasion. He made comments as to his

2 amazement to the effect of, I have not seen such faith in all of Israel! (Luke 7:9). b. Peter came among the circumcised believers in Jerusalem and they confronted him on his going beyond such profound limits of their beliefs and traditions. i. It is instructive how Peter responded. 1. He proceeded to explain step by step how he himself was changed by the Spirit of God. 2. It is instructive that the people listened to him. They allowed him to explain. a. Sometimes you don t even allow others to explain how they changed their mind about something. b. Sometimes you don t even want to hear a different opinion than your own. 3. On subjects that you are being challenged on have you sat down with someone and asked them how they came to their position? Have you truly tried to understand? Have you tried on their viewpoint for size? 4. After Peter explained how he had changed, many accepted his story and changed their minds as well. c. The notion of Gentiles being included in the covenant family of faith in the early church was completely revolutionary and radical. i. Imagine one of the most sacred beliefs that you hold and having it challenged to its foundation! That is what this was like. ii. You can rattle off any number of controversial issues facing the church today, and there are plenty. No current issue is bigger or more divisive as the issue of the acceptance and inclusion of the Gentiles. iii. Yet Peter, who then continued his ministry and mission among mostly the Jewish Christians (Paul would be the major one to advance the gospel among the Gentiles), as the main leader of the original twelve Peter needed to be the source of the change of minds and hearts. Peter needed to give permission. Jesus told him that to him were given the keys to the kingdom of God (Matthew 16:19). 1. So God provided this vision of the sheet coming down from heaven with animals originally considered unclean 2

3 3 and the command to Kill and eat. In the vision as Peter protested to God that nothing unclean had ever passed his lips, God responded, What God has made clean, you must not call profane. iv. The point is that Peter had a major change of mind and heart and he accepted it. As he shared it with others many accepted his testimony and changed along with him. 1. But the fact is that this issue of the inclusion of the Gentiles in the church would keep dividing the church for generations! The gospel of Jesus Christ is always way ahead of us! People have always had a penchant for segregating themselves as in and out. People have always had a penchant for categorizing people. But the gospel of Jesus Christ is always seeking to remove those limits, those categories. 1. I do not need to state any of the issues today around which believers disagree and around which believers then categorize each other as being this or that, in or out, saved or unsaved, etc. We all know them so well. 2. I will say with great certainty, though, that the Lord is interested in changing your perspective in some way. This is the nature of the gospel. This is the nature of our God. God is way out ahead of you in your thinking and in your grasp of the gospel of life. 3. But it is not for me or for you to change another s perspective or mind; this is the work of the Lord. Be sure that the Lord is at work on you trying to expand your mind and heart to catch up with his gospel. a. Incidentally, no one catches up with the gospel of Jesus Christ. 4. You and I have limits to our thinking and believing. Jesus Christ is always at the point of our limits seeking to remove those limits. 5. It is only the Holy Spirit who changes your mind and your heart. It is not any teacher or preacher. We can point to the issues. We can bring up the parameters of thinking. We can explain our understanding. a. But it is the Holy Spirit working on you day and night to expand your perspectives and beliefs in order to catch up some with his glorious gospel.

4 4 The gospel of Jesus Christ is always way out ahead of us. The only limits within the kingdom of God are those limits which are within God s own nature. The only limits within God are the limits of his grace and goodness. And can you think of any limits to God s grace and goodness? 1. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the gospel of no limits. a. This past week the Steelers added Michael Vick and signed him to a one year contract with the team. Eagles fans know what it is like to have someone so hated and vilified on your team. b. In the days since I am surprised at how many of my friends, many of whom profess to be Christ-followers, are protesting and pronouncing that their love for the Steelers has ended. i. The Steelers starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is another player hated by many for his womanizing and the courtdismissed accusations of rape. ii. Both men have pronounced that they are changed. Both have apologized and at least one claims to have come alive in Jesus. My son sees him in church worshipping regularly. 1. Still many are not able to allow the possibility that God s amazing grace has changed these men. Still many are holding grudges and rejecting them for their former mistakes. 2. Isn t our gospel all about people being changed and transformed? c. There are no limits to what the gospel can do! 2. How is the gospel pushing and prodding you? a. Perhaps it is asking you to take an interest in someone who is the last person with whom you could see yourself associating. i. Someone you know you disagree with on so many issues. It really won t hurt you to get to know and understand them. b. Perhaps it is asking you to get involved in some new form of service to someone who is poor or lonely or hungry or in prison. According to a local school district study Avondale Borough has 15% of its people living in poverty. West Grove Borough is only 4%. This should contribute to your congregational sense of mission. c. Perhaps the gospel is asking you to pray with a partner or read a book with some other believers.

5 5 d. Perhaps you are being challenged by God s Spirit to read the Bible, especially the New Testament with an open mind and heart to what the Spirit will teach you. e. Perhaps you will be challenged to get involved in attacking systems of injustice. The gospel being extended to the Gentiles was unheard of and un-thought of and completely unexpected in the first century. Yet the gospel is always way out ahead of us and indeed the Gentiles were included. While many accepted this inclusion, many did not, even for generations the limits and the boundaries remained in place. The same kinds of barriers and limits are still kept up today in the 21 st century. The gospel of Jesus Christ is all about breaking down these limits; it is the gospel of no limits so that the kingdom of God can really gain traction transforming you and me and all the world. Where will the gospel take you today? Where will it take you tomorrow? Believe me, it is always way out ahead of you and of the church! Go out to the limits of your thinking and believing and it is at those limits that you will find the gospel of Jesus Christ most at work!