Be Disciples Podcast
Discipleship Podcast - Dakota Smith, Kyle R. Morris and David Glavin walk through the Bible for the purpose of equipping their listeners to disciple others. To live as a disciple of Jesus Christ, all followers of Jesus are commanded to proclaim the gospel and teach people the word of God (Matt 28:18-20).
Be Disciples Podcast
Acts: The Power of Prayer and the Holy Spirit in Cultural Shifts
Have you ever wondered how God's Word can spark transformation in your life and those around you? Join us as we celebrate our 87th episode of the Be Disciples podcast, sharing our journey of growth while diving into the powerful story of Cornelius in Acts 10. Discover how this centurion's devotion to God led to a revelation that changed the course of history for the early church.
In this episode, we examine the implications of Cornelius' spiritual discipline and his vision that ultimately led to the inclusion of Gentiles in God's family. Be inspired to seek God's revelation in your own life, as we challenge you to pray and ask God to make Himself known to you. Hear the story of an atheist employee of Richard Dawkins who, against all odds, came to Christ and witness the extraordinary ways God moves in people's lives.
As we continue our study, we discuss the impact of cultural change within the church and how Peter and Paul's encounters with Cornelius and other Gentiles shifted their understanding of God's plan. Learn about the importance of trusting in the Holy Spirit's guidance and how embracing change can lead to a thriving, growing church community. Don't miss this episode as we explore the transformative power of God's Word in our lives today.
Welcome to the Be Disciples podcast with your host, Kyle Morris, and Dakota Smith. This is episode number 87. We are studying the book of Acts. We're going to be in chapter 10 today How you doing.
Speaker 2:Dakota. I'm doing well, Bro. 87 episodes 87. 87. Do you remember we first started doing this? Yeah, it's been like three years. It was really corny and awkward, Yeah.
Speaker 1:I've deleted those episodes. So if you guys try to go back too far. I got rid of those, so there may not actually be 87 published but this is the 87th one we've done.
Speaker 1:Somebody actually came to me this last week and was like oh yeah, i'm enjoying your podcast and listen to one of our interviews, one of our early on. I was like. He even asked me. He was like hey, it seems like there's some episodes missing, because it says it's episode 86, but there's only like 70 something published. I said, yeah, i got rid of the ones that were terrible, just the ones that I didn't know anything about editing. I didn't know anything about podcasting, didn't even have intro music, nothing was there, and so I've definitely-.
Speaker 2:Even just bantering back and forth and knowing it's okay to interrupt, like I just did to you, right there and not over speaking.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I just haven't told you to stop doing that.
Speaker 2:We just naturally learned.
Speaker 1:Yeah, i mean there is something about a podcast that's a little different than maybe a sermon or any speaking in public or being on the phone, just the cadence and things like that. But you learn a lot over time And so, yeah, the podcast has been a lot of fun over the years. Now We can say years for the podcast and I can't wait till we get to hit episode 100. That would be 13 episodes from now. So, yeah, the podcast has been a great opportunity to just sit down and read the Bible and have conversation about it.
Speaker 2:It's our hope We've been in conversation about this. It's our hope that we can make it into a video podcast as well, where you can hear us and see us. We don't have exact dates of when that's going to happen, but we would love to include you into this discussion in a visual way as well. But again, the ultimate purpose is to use this to help you walk conversationally through the scripture so that you understand how to do that with others.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we do have a vision to expand content to our community. For the purpose of Ottawa Bible Church, where we pastor for Ottawa, kansas, for Franklin County. We want to provide more opportunity, more content of what the Bible has to say and bring truth to the community. So that's our goal, that's our audience per se. Some of you listening maybe not even close to that context. That's okay, we're glad you're listening and we hope that it helps any person know the Lord more. But we really do. We do have a passion for people to know the truth, because we know there's just a lot of noise from the world, a lot of lies. The Satan is always attacking, throwing darts, trying to get us off a kilter, using words that come from scripture to twist and to turn. So we want to make sure that people are getting what the Word of God says. So that's why we're here and we've been enjoying it a lot.
Speaker 2:Something else about our church other than expanding media content in the future, and we're talking, maybe, of ramping that up in 2024. But immediately, right now, it's the week of EBS. Your children, my children, are here at Vacation Bible School and they're learning about being keepers of the kingdom And it's amazing to see just under just under 100 children in here every single day worship in the Lord, singing songs, learning God's Word, doing games, doing crafts, stuff like that. Our people and our volunteers at the church have done an excellent job putting it together And it's well improved from last year. So it's exciting to see our community getting to know. Hey, ottawa Bible has a great VBS and children here at the gospel there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and in the curriculum we're using answers in Genesis, vacation, bible School curriculum, keepers of the kingdom, like Dakota said, and the songs are just full of just truth. Saying what is truth? What side are you on? That's right. Are you living for the kingdom of God or are you living for the kingdom of evil? And so I just think the simplicity of good versus evil, the simplicity of even today's, was about truth, right, not allowing your feelings or your imagination to define truth, but to actually be founded, like standing firm on God's Word and knowing what is foundational to believe. So we don't get twisted by the things of the world And just teaching children there is truth and there are lies, and we have to know the truth in order to know what the counterfeit is.
Speaker 2:That's right. Well, something that was said in the VBS video today that I really loved is that it's okay to be imaginative and creative and to pretend, but be careful that you don't take pretending too far. And I think that comment of not, you know, taking pretending too far is so relevant for our day and age, because what our children are growing up to learn is that pretending determines your actual identity And that's just. that's a lie from the pit of hell. So I think we're doing a good job with our kids ministry. if I were to do my best to objectively give an evaluation, i think our kids are learning the Bible and it's exciting to see what's happening here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we are going to get into the book of Acts now, but let's start off in prayer before we dive into the Word and just give this over to the Lord. Let's pray, father, thank you for this wonderful day that you have made, the creation that is all around us, the beauty of who you are and all that you have done, lord, and I thank you for each and every person listening to this podcast. Each and every one of you is special to the Lord. You're made in his image and he wants you to know him, and so we have this podcast so that we can talk about God, we can glorify his name as we continue to walk in this life for the gospel and for the truth. So let us just be filled up with your Word today. Let us be encouraged each step as we go through the book of Acts. In Jesus' name, amen, amen.
Speaker 2:So here we have the book of Acts, which could also be titled the Acts of the Holy Spirit. Paul midway through chapter 9, has been put on the bench for a while in Tarsus, for about five years. The book of Acts continues on with Peter. Peter has now been on the move all throughout the region of Judea, Galilee, Samaria. Many people are turning to the Lord, and now he finds himself in Joppa with a man named Simon who is a tanner. That would have been an unclean place to reside too. So it's preparatory for the passage we're going to tackle here. We're going to do our best to tackle Acts 10, 1 through 23.
Speaker 2:So here we go, Verse 1, now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually. About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him Cornelius, and fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he said What is it, Lord? And he said to him Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God, Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter. He is staying with a tanner named Simon whose house is by the sea. When the angel who was speaking to him had left, he summoned two of his servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants, And, after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. Verses 1-8, Pastor Kyle any initial observations. Peter gets this vision.
Speaker 1:Yeah, i mean, here we have Cornelius, and Cornelius is a Roman, we know that. So he's a Gentile, he's a soldier, part of the Italian cohort. I mean, give some details maybe about this guy who's well trained, probably somewhat well educated, i would say, has a family And the most important thing is that he fears God. That's right. He fears God. That he is in continual prayer I notice that the continuation of his prayers not just he prayed from time to time, but always in relationship, always talking to God, always concerned about God's business. I think that's really important, giving alms to God. So there was definitely, i would say, spiritual discipline in his life because of the fear he had for the Lord, a healthy fear of who God is. So I think it tells us a little bit about who Cornelius is and what he believed, and just a little bit about his life. But I loved knowing kind of where he was at spiritually, as this vision comes right. Yeah, i think we see.
Speaker 1:It says in the ninth hour of the day, the vision of a vision. In a vision, an angel of God came to him, Cornelius, and he stared at him in terror. I love this because one we know that throughout the Bible a lot of people fall on their face in terror. This is a Roman centurion, a soldier, who's not supposed to be afraid of anything. He's in terror, it says.
Speaker 1:But what did he do? He stared almost like frozen in terror, didn't fall down, because I think there's a part of him that He was in communication with God. He was clearly practicing spiritual discipline in prayer by giving alms that almost like he wasn't. He wasn't caught off guard by the Lord speaking to him, but at the same time, like if anyone saw an angel, which everyone throughout the Bible is terrified when you see an angel, because it's something that you've never experienced before, something that you can't even fathom that it is terrifying to see something of a spiritual being. So his reaction wasn't falling his face, but it was terror, but it was. He did say what is it, lord? Mm-hmm. His response was I know where this is coming from, so I just think there's definitely a connection between Cornelius, his relationship with God here, how serious it was, and Just his response. I thought it was really cool that, yes, he responded in terror, but also with the right question calling him Lord and knowing where that was coming from.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you tackled his response. I'm gonna tackle his setting a little bit. He's north of Joppa, it's about 30 miles, so just setting the scene for another passage to come. Also when it says that he was a commander in the Italian cohort. There's a note that I have in John, chapter 18, verse 3, that says a cohort was anywhere from 300 to 600 soldiers, so he was Man highly respected because of the amount of people that he was in charge of.
Speaker 2:I also find it interesting that you can have an individual who's So dedicated to God and yet not born again yet, which you kind of wonder, like I mean Peter has to go there and share the gospel with him. He's a Gentile. He's not in Israel yet. This is fulfilling Acts 1a. You know Jerusalem, judea, samaria, to the ends of the earth.
Speaker 2:But it's interesting that God starts to draw and do a work on people's hearts as they start to seek him and It should be no surprise to us that this man has been giving. This man has been a, a respecter of Jewish persons, like, contrary to what the experience was like with other Individuals under the Roman Empire. This man was probably beloved by all the Jews. He gave alms and I Don't think it should surprise us that when a man is seeking the face of God in prayer, especially God will respond, and he did this continually. So I think sometimes we're maybe Too short lived in our dedication, like we pray for just a little bit, oh, god didn't do anything, but he continually prayed and assumed if I never receive a response from God, at the very least I'm seeking to honor him, and that should be a similar attitude we have.
Speaker 1:Yeah, i think, as Christians, There's a couple things that can happen here practically when we talk about a few practical things here. One is repentance When we, when we do get saved and we repent and we recognize that we're sinners and that we can't live a life that That is able to get us into heaven, because we are stained by the sin and that's only Jesus's blood that can wash away our sins With. Sometimes we forget about the continual repentance that we need each and every day for sanctification, for sanctification in our life, yeah, not to keep salvation, but to grow in our walk with Christ, to recognize I'm still a sinner, i still need to grow, i still need help, and this is something I have to continually do throughout my life. That that's one thing. The other thing is this and I've actually thought about this recently like there are things that I I want in my life, maybe some desires, and I don't know yet if they're the, if they're God's desires, yet right, and I'm in that, maybe a place of like hey, i want to know if God desires these things too in my life and and I should I need to work on Giving those over to God and making sure that those things are Godly, even though I know in Practicality they're not sin, mm-hmm. But I want to know if God blesses those things and wants me to have those things and wants me To pursue those things. But if I never pray about them, what am I saying? I don't really care what God thinks, i just want to do it. I just want to do it myself And I will just do it because initially it's not sinful. But it may end up becoming an idol, may end up getting in the way.
Speaker 1:What we can know about Cornelius is he truly cared what God thought, mm-hmm, because he pursued God. He pursued him with a fear, he pursued them. He pursued him with a respect. He honored him by honoring God's people. So I just see that whenever we go after God, god will show us what he wants from us. And even if our desires You know, god says you know, that's not what I want you to do, i want you to do something else. We can know that God's desires are truly greater, because he knows exactly what's going on and and we know that we will get ultimate joy out of God's desires and not our own. So it's cool to see Cornelius do this and it gives us a reminder as Christians, are we praying as much as somebody who isn't even saved, who's seeking after God? Yeah, in the things in our lives and I think that's something we can take away From this passage to learn about prayer and to learn about seeking God's will and his desires for our lives.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and this is to come. But in Acts, chapter 17, you're gonna see Paul preaching a very similar message on Mars Hill, to Gentiles who aren't saved yet. So just a brief aside, this passage, which we'll talk about in a couple episodes, or rather couple months. Paul says this He's speaking to those on Mar Hill.
Speaker 2:Mars Hill, the God who made the world and all things in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself Gives to all people life and breath and all things, and he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation.
Speaker 2:Here it is that they would seek God, if Perhaps, they might grope for him and find him, though He is not far from each one of us, for in him we live and move and exist, and even some of your own poets have said, for we also are his children. Being the children of God, we ought not to think that the divine nature is like Which sorry gold or silver stone, and which formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, god is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because he has fixed today in which he will judge the world and righteousness through a man whom he has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead. So, right there that text in act 17, to grope for God is literally the same word used of a blind man Who's reaching his hand out for coins. It's a. You know you're blind, but you're searching for help, and I think that's what Cornelius is doing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's in that very spot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, i mean, even if you don't have to be blind to get, i mean just in a dark room. I always tell my wife all like I can't see in the dark. For some reason my wife can see better in the dark than I can. But like man, when it's dark you, when it's dark they got special powers. Listen, you know, don't turn your back. They got special powers eyes in the back of their heads you can see in the dark, okay, But I can't.
Speaker 1:And we have a dog and it loves to just lay right where I wanna walk.
Speaker 2:One of these days.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna die because.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna trip over to this dog.
Speaker 1:But I'm always like, right, you're sticking your hand out looking for a wall, something familiar, trying to fill your way around. And yeah, cornelius is just saying God, i know you're out there and I don't really know necessarily who you are, what you look like, but I do see you in a sense, in your people and show me who you are. And I think that's what Cornelius is doing. I think anytime anybody calls out to God and says show me who you are, and that's truly what they desire, i think God shows up Absolutely, In fact, just from reading Acts 17,.
Speaker 2:God actually wants everyone to seek after him, And I know this is getting into the weeds theologically here, but God is desiring that everyone would seek after him, that they would find him. And then God, of course, moves and draws the heart as well. And yeah, big conversation here, sovereignty free will, that kind of stuff. But nevertheless God desires that people would seek him. But I think this.
Speaker 1:Maybe you're listening and you have a friend that said hey, listen to this podcast And you're an atheist, an agnostic, i don't know, just somebody who's like I don't really think God's that involved or that God doesn't exist, and you've probably gone through as many possible things to prove that he doesn't, or as many possible things to say look, here's evidence that there can't be a God. I would actually challenge you this I challenge you to pray and ask God to reveal himself to you Absolutely, instead of testing all the other things that God doesn't exist. How about you go ahead and ask him and let him reveal himself to you? Because you can't just go testing all of one side. You gotta test the other side of it, and I would challenge you to do that, and I think Cornelius is doing that.
Speaker 1:I think he truly sees what God is doing amongst his people And he's interested, at least to the point where this God is real, and I wanna know who this God is. And I challenge you to do that too, because if we never do that, then I think we're just continually serving ourselves and worshiping our own thoughts and really elevating ourselves to a God-like level. But pray to God, even if you don't really think he exists. Pray to him and see what God will do.
Speaker 2:I was just watching something from the Living Waters Ministry, ray Comfort. There was an individual who was Richard Dawkins right-hand man. He was his videographer, he did all of his content, he sold all of his apparel, he ran a store for him, he made his website And I forget his exact name. But honestly, if you just look up Ray Comfort Richard Dawkins' employee or something like that comes to Christ, you're gonna find an hour-long interview. This just happened.
Speaker 2:He and his wife stopped being a part of Richard Dawkins' organization, moved away, went to a church, heard the gospel and he just became a believer within the last year. That's awesome. And he read Lee Strobel's Case for Christ and all this stuff and he was doing that very thing. He was asking, like God, okay, if this is real, can you just help me to know? Is Jesus real or not? So here he goes from hanging out with Richard Dawkins who Richard Dawkins actually dedicated a handful of books with his name in it and said specifically dedicated to Sean, and I just forget his last name. But if that can happen, just because an atheist is seeking after Christ, even those who have perpetually tried to deny or suppress the truth of God, god will answer and it will be undeniable in their heart. I think sometimes we're busy trying to prop up like this is the right belief system, forgetting that there's the God who's behind that belief system, who can actually meet the person at more than just an intellectual level.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so Dakota, let's go ahead and read 9 to 23 and just kind of see. We see a vision to Cornelius, and now we're gonna see Peter's part in this as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, why don't we just do actually 9 to 16. Okay, go for it. What God continues to do? so verse nine on the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, peter went up on the house top about the sixth hour to pray three o'clock.
Speaker 2:But he became hungry and was desiring to eat. But while they were making preparations he fell into a trance and he saw the sky opened up and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, and there were in it all kinds of forfeit animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. A voice came to him get up, peter, kill and eat. But Peter said by no means, lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean. Again a voice came to him a second time What God has cleansed no longer consider unholy. This happened three times shocker with Peter, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky. I think the sixth hour. I was mistaken, it's probably about noon, but nevertheless Peter has obviously had an encounter with the Lord which is much more intense than Cornelius' is an interesting to the contrast Cornelius. He's not really as fazed by it. But Peter's like what He's, the one who has a lack of clarity.
Speaker 1:Yeah, i mean again, peter, peter, still Peter. He's growing, he's maturing. We see that in the previous section we talked about then last episode. I think he's just allowing the Lord to work, but it's almost like Peter always needs three times before he gets something sometimes. But doesn't that feel like that's not just Peter? I think that's all of us. Sometimes We need more than one lennage to get us seeing what God is doing in our lives. But here Peter has a vision. He's three times.
Speaker 1:This happens about the sheet, four corners, animals of all kinds, ones that clean, unclean, and God says to kill and eat. And so kind of an interesting vision. Why here, why now? Why does Peter need to know this? Why does it come to Peter and not somebody else? I think the tons of questions start to come up, like why does Peter, who has been, who historically ministers to the Jews, but who is clearly going to talk to a gentile need to have this vision about meat and eating and what's unclean and what's clean? What are your thoughts, dakota, on kind of the time in which this is happening?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, i think Leviticus, chapter 11, speaks to us about all of the dietary laws, or you could say the kosher laws, the ceremonial laws of the ancient Israelite. And those ceremonial laws were meant to practically keep them separated from all the other nations who ate differently, wore clothes differently, their customs and their culture was differently, and it was God's built-in way of protecting a nation from becoming like all the other nations. But I think what you find here is, now that the Holy Spirit has come, it's no longer necessarily what you eat and how you cleanse yourself that sets you apart as a covenant community. It's now who indwells you that sets you apart as a covenant community. I think that's why the foods were declared clean and I think that's why the practicality of the ceremonial law especially the sacrifices, to say the least, has been done away with and now the covenant community, with Jew and Gentile combined together in the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2:I think they are. Now you can have Jew and Gentile together, because being pure before the Lord doesn't come down to food. Now it comes down to if you know Him and if that your heart regenerated. So I think God is actually teaching Peter a bigger lesson about who is now considered clean by having an introductory conversation with him about food to begin with, because where is he about to go? He's about to go to Cornelius' household. They eat unclean food possibly, or at least people he is around. He's about to go hang out with Gentiles, and this is all new for Peter, but God's preparing him for a Gentile commission.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I mean, look back at Cornelius. Cornelius is praying. Clearly He's maybe looked to the Jewish people to understand how to talk to God, how to search what God wants for his life, and has this fear of the Lord and has respect for the Jewish people. And now Peter's going that way and God's preparing Peter to talk to Cornelius.
Speaker 1:Maybe Cornelius is really searching like I just want to know this God, i just want to have a relationship with this God, but maybe feels like because he's not Jewish That's right He can't quite go full into knowing really who God is because he's not part of God's chosen people. It's like he wants to be Jewish Yeah, he wants to be, but he's like I just, you know I'm doing some of these things and I know it's right because I believe in God, but I'm not quite sure the process here And now Peter's on his way and we're starting to see this connection about what does it truly mean to follow Christ, or to even know that Jesus Christ existed, died on the cross, rose again, all that's the gospel and what that is. Cornelius clearly needs to know what that is and Peter's on the way.
Speaker 2:The famous scriptural phrase which says not all who are of Abraham are really of Abraham. Meaning just because you're Jewish by blood doesn't mean that you have the faith of Abraham. And this is what I think is happening. Is you've got those with an Abrahamic like faith? Paul's going to advocate for this in Romans, chapter four.
Speaker 2:All who have an Abrahamic like faith are a part of the church, Jew and Gentile, And I think the church is distinct from Israel. No doubt. I think God has a plan for Israel. I don't think God has replaced Israel, But I think for now, in this interim period before his second advent, the church has filled with Jews and Gentiles. And what distinguishes the church from every other distinction institution, organization? the church specifically has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, And Cornelius is about to find out. I can be a part of this relationship with God. There's just a message I haven't heard yet. So God is trying to prepare Peter to bring that message to him that he's never heard yet, And that message will get him farther than prayers and alms. That message will get him salvation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think Peter we know at least from other places in scripture at times struggles with the Gentile connection. Jew like having to become Jewish Galatians. Paul confronts them face to face, right, and so I think this is just continually training Peter. I think Paul has less of an issue with it, even though he was a Pharisee. He tends to have less of an issue with, you know, gentiles having to do certain things. He's like no, it's just the gospel, peter, that's what Paul's going to say. And so Peter maybe needs a little bit more letting go of tradition, of things of the past, and so Peter is going to take some more, need more time for that. And so, yeah, this is kind of leading up to our next episode. I wish we could just go further and do more, but I think we'll do a little cliffhanger. You can, of course, read ahead in the chapter, but if you want to come back, please come back as we finish out chapter 10. You need finishing thoughts from me.
Speaker 2:Well, I was just going to say believer or nonbeliever. Imagine someone who's a Muslim. They place their faith in Jesus Christ And all they've heard their whole life is no, that's dangerous stuff, right? Imagine a Muslim like leaving behind prayers, you know, in the mosque and speaking to an Imam and not celebrating during Ramadan anymore. That would be culturally very difficult for that person to make that transition into becoming a Christian, even Christians who have been born again. But maybe they've been stuck in a tradition or a cycle or like some type of maybe even as far as legalism for a number of years, and then God starts doing something. Now their whole world has been shaken up and it's going to take them time to see that, like God can actually work past your customs and your ceremonies and your traditions. So, whether it's pre-conversion or it's post-conversion, i think this is an experience a lot of people can have. So at the very least, we can identify with Peter.
Speaker 1:Yeah, read the book of James, read 1st and 2nd Peter, like. These are all people Jewish people trying to like, changed their whole life because of following Jesus. So I think it's really important that, yes, the Jewish people knew the one true God, but when Jesus came, they had to radically change their lives in order to follow Christ, even though it was the same God. And that's a big deal to come to terms to and have to change everything.
Speaker 2:This gets a little more sensitive. Here at Ottawa Bible Church we've traditionally been a smaller church of about 70 to 90 people, just kind of hovered around there in my understanding the last couple decades. Now the church is beyond, let's just say, 300, conservatively 370, extending the numbers. We're having to change how we do things a little bit And the real question is it's okay to give over things you've always known when the Holy Spirit's on the move? The real question is like well, why should I give up my customs and my culture and my tradition or my way of life or things that I'm used to? You probably shouldn't give them up, unless, of course, the Holy Spirit doesn't want you to be bound by that And therefore he's doing something new.
Speaker 2:And I'm only saying this because a lot of churches that grow deal with growing pains. We'll call them that, And I think it's necessary for the common individual in a church that's growing to remember that you are important to God's plan. You have your identity in Christ. God has called you to be a part of what he is doing. That just might look differently in one season than it did in the past, And some of those growing pains of getting over, like wait, I've never eaten anything unclean.
Speaker 2:Some of those growing pains, I think, are necessary so that we take, here it is, ownership of the moment, so that we trust that the Holy Spirit's moving and working. And when everybody is trusting that the Holy Spirit's working, what does God do with that church? He grows it and he sees that they have faith in what he's doing and people buy in. And I think that's the idea. Saying Lord, is this essential to the faith Or is it not? Help me to live a life where I'm detecting, you're leading and I'm not just stopping in one place because that's what I've known, That's what I'm comfortable?
Speaker 1:God calls us to a life of faith which entails risk at the end of the day, Yeah, i think it's good that we make sure we mention what's the Holy Spirit doing here, because we're in the book of Acts And so we got to make sure that we recognize that the Holy Spirit's moving. God is actually teaching Peter what it looks like to follow the Holy Spirit, because Peter's learning And then Peter's going to go teach other people, and same with Paul and all the apostles and the disciples who are following the leading of the Holy Spirit in this way, no longer doing the things of necessarily the traditions or the law, to be set apart by the food they eat, by the things they wear, by the actions that they do, but they're now set apart by the Holy Spirit himself, and that is what marks the believer, it's what marks the church is that the Holy Spirit indwells in the believer and is actually there with you each and every moment. You now abide in Christ together. So if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you've got the Holy Spirit right there with you, guiding you, counseling you, leading you.
Speaker 1:Listen to the Holy Spirit. Make sure that you continue to be in prayer, as Cornelius is doing, seeking the God, and Peter as well, confirming God. Is this what you're telling me to do? And stay in prayer, because it's so important, because the Holy Spirit wants to talk to you And Jesus is interceding for you. And so talk to God. He wants to listen to you. That abiding.
Speaker 2:Jesus says, will produce much spiritual fruit.
Speaker 1:Yes, amen. Thank you so much for listening to the Be Disciple Podcast. Come back next week to listen to Acts the rest of Acts, chapter 10, where we'll be talking about Peter and Cornelius and the interaction that they have, and so thank you so much for listening. Share this with your friends, your family. We would just want people to know God's Word by reading God's Word right here, alongside with you. Have a blessed week.