"The Power of A Story"
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Acts 10:3-48

Introduction: The 18^th century Methodist minister John Wesley once said: “Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin/  and desire nothing but God/  and I care not a straw whether they are clergymen or laymen; such (men) alone will shake the gates of hell.”

            The amazing part of OUR story is that God is at work in US, at work in the world, seeking to reconcile the world to Himself. If you were to take the time to write out a time-line of your story, you would begin to discover that your life is a “story of grace.” Your life reveals to you and others the acts of grace that have occurred throughout your journey.

            But discovering your story isn’t just about you understanding how God has worked and is working in your life. It needs to go further. Your story is a tool for you to share Christ with others. Your story is a tool to impact others’ lives for Christ. The events and circumstances that God has used to reconcile you to Himself/  will help others to be reconciled as well.

I.                   Being Available- (Acts 10:30-33)

a.      God acts on our behalf- In the scripture we just read from Acts,

chapter 10, we see many things that help us to understand how our story can be powerful in touching the lives of others for Christ. The part of the passage where we began, in verse 30, we see a Gentile (a non-Jew) named Cornelius, who was praying. While he was praying, he had a vision, and someone in dazzling white clothes (probably an angel of the Lord) spoke to him in this vision saying: “Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. Send therefore to Joppa, and ask for Simon, who is called Peter;…”

            Cornelius, through prayer, was led by God to call for Simon Peter. This came out of a time of prayer. The truth is, that through prayer, either by someone who is praying for themselves, or someone who is praying for another in need, God will come to that person. Sometimes God will put your name, or my name on this person’s mind, or sometimes God will just lead us to this person. But either way, God works on our behalf to give us opportunities to be used by Him.

            But we have to be AVAILABLE. We have to believe that when we have encounters with others, these are divinely appointed. God has placed it on our heart to open up and share with others. We must let God anoint us for this time so that we might be used by Him.

            In the book of Acts, when Peter was summoned to go and visit Cornelius, he resisted. He resisted because he was a Jew, and Cornelius was a Gentile, and up to this point only the apostle Paul had been willing to share the gospel with the Gentiles. Peter did not want to make himself available to Cornelius. He was resistant to go to someone who was different than him.

            Has that happened to you? God has prodded your heart to talk to someone, and you resisted? Or God has placed you in a situation where you could reach out for the Lord to another, but you resisted? It is easy to do, because if we doubt that God wants to use us/  if we doubt that we have the skills or abilities/  if we doubt that God will anoint us for this experience/ or if we doubt that God would have us to talk to someone different than ourselves/   we will hinder God’s acting on our behalf!!

b.      We act on God’s behalf- You see, the exciting thing here is that God

acts on our behalf so that we have the opportunity to act on God’s behalf. And even more, when we have those opportunities to act, we will discover that God has prepared us for this time!

Let me give you a couple of examples:

Example 1- My father died in September of 2003. He had congestive heart failure, and had a heart attack. The paramedics came and took him to the hospital, where he was on a ventilator for 3 weeks, until his blood pressure got so low that we took him off the ventilator and he died soon after. It was difficult to watch my father die. And I have to be honest with you, there are times when I still miss my father. But it is amazing how after going through my father’s death, God led me to many people who were struggling with the loss of a loved one. Even though their situation is different from mine, I still was able to have a sense of what they were going through, and God was able to use this event in my life to reach out and comfort others and connect them with God.

Example 2- Because of the nature of my job, being a minister, I often get into discussions with people about God. Sometimes there are people I feel that God led me to for a specific purpose. As we talk I can see the opportunity God is giving me to share Christ with them! It is up to me to follow through in this opportunity and share with them about the love and salvation Christ offers them. OR, maybe I need to encourage them to commit their lives to God all the more!

II.                Lord of All- (Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 26:69-75; John 21:15-19)

a.      God is for all- As we look further into this passage in Acts 10, we

discover the wonder of this story. For Peter and so many other Jews, they thought that God was the God of only the Jews. But Jesus didn’t just come for the Jews, Jesus came for everyone. As Acts 10:34 says- “Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality.’”/  Through this experience of being led to Cornelius’ house, Peter begins to understand the bigger picture, that God does not think more highly of one person than another; God does not love one race more than another; that God does not reach out to one nation more than another. As Peter says in Acts 10:36- “…Jesus Christ..is Lord of all.”

            What a great realization this is for Peter./  And for us./   If we realize that God shows no partiality, that God is the God of all, then we might begin to get to that place where we are motivated to tell others about this important news.

            Example- My son Tyler created his own prayer that he prays every night. Part of it went like this: “God thank you for everyone in the world and bless everyone in the world.” I thought this was a sweet sentiment, but one night I decided to have a talk with him about this. “Are you really thankful for everyone in the world?” I asked him. We began to talk about what the word everyone meant, and who fit into this category of everyone. Are you thankful for those in the world who are bad or evil? “NO,” he answered. So we decided to change the prayer to this: “God, thank you for everyone in the world who knows Jesus, that they know Jesus. And help those who don’t know Jesus to come to know Jesus.”/  Well, Tyler liked that prayer better, and now that is what he prays./   GOD IS THE GOD OF ALL!!

b.      Peter tells the story- So Peter tells the story of Jesus. A story that is

very real and personal to Peter. The story of Jesus being baptized, and then starting his ministry. The story of Jesus being anointed with the power of the Holy Spirit and going out to heal the sick and care for the oppressed. And then Peter adds the personal part: “We are witnesses to all that he did…” Witnesses to the crucifixion, and witnesses to His being raised from the dead. And even more, witnesses to Jesus telling them to “preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained as judge of the living and the dead.”

            Peter was WITH Jesus, and experienced the grace of God. Peter saw Jesus share the grace of God with others. Peter knows that the story of his life is a grace story. He tells Cornelius, Cornelius’ family, and Cornelius’ friends about this great story. And then in verse 43 Peter says: “…everyone that believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through His name.” Peter tells this from the perspective of one who has experienced this grace of forgiveness, and now is passing it on to others.

c.      A more personal story- Let me deviate a moment from this passage in

Acts, and imagine for a moment Peter telling an even more personal story; another part of this grace story. What story might that be? The story of his denying Jesus 3 times found in Matthew 26:69-75. Imagine Peter talking about watching Jesus from a distance after he was arrested, and others ask: “Weren’t you also with the Galilean?” And Peter says: “I do not know what you are talking about.” Then Peter goes to another place, and a servant girl says to the bystanders: “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” To which Peter says: “I do not know the man.”/  A little more time goes by, and some people come up to Peter and say: “Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.” Interesting wording, huh; betrays you. And Peter responds emphatically: “I do not know the man!” Then as Peter tells the story, he talks about how at that moment he hears the cock crow, and remembers Jesus warning him about his denials./    Peter is crushed!

            But the story of grace doesn’t stop there for Peter. Peter is able to fast forward to after Jesus’ resurrection, to a time when Jesus and Peter have a one-on-

one. This part of the story is found in the gospel of John, 21:15-19. Here Jesus eats breakfast with Peter and then after the breakfast says to Peter: “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” And Peter responds: “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus asks a second time, and Peter again affirms his love for Jesus. Jesus asks a third time, and this time Peter sounds frustrated, but still affirms his love./     Three times Peter denied Jesus. Three times Jesus asks Peter to affirm his love for him. This was not for Jesus. This was God’s grace. Jesus is giving Peter the opportunity to be forgiven for his sin, not only by God, but so that he might be able to forgive himself as well. Jesus wants Peter to know that he will still be a leader in the kingdom of God./  What a powerful story Peter has to tell to let others know of God’s love and forgiveness and second and third chances.

III.             Part of the Family- (Acts 10:44-48)

What is the response to Peter’s story? The Spirit of God falls upon them and

they are touched by the power of God. And the scripture says in Acts 10:45- “The circumcised believers (that is the Jews) who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.”/ God allowed them to see His grace given to others because of their faithfulness. God allowed them to see His power shared with all who believe. God allowed them to see that when we tell the story of God, and when we tell our story of how God’s grace has been active in our lives, God will work in a way that others become part of the family too!

            So I ask you this: If you were to look at your life, what are some of the difficulties of your life where you have seen God’s grace at work? What are some of the difficulties of your life that might be a connecting point with someone who doesn’t believe; who isn’t a part of the family of God? What story of God’s grace can you tell to another?

            You see, it is about opening ourselves up, like Peter did, to realize that there are many who might seem like they are not like us, but who are not a part of the family of God, and we have the opportunity to share a part of our story with them. By sharing our story, we open the door for God to work in their life; we have the opportunity to build a bridge that will allow them to walk over to God. We have an opportunity to tell them about Jesus and the grace He has shown to us, and the grace He wants to give to them.

    -STORY- “Courage,” Stories for the Heart, p. 27/ In 1917, during WWI, a battle between the Germans and Americans was taking place. In the battle a German soldier rushes toward the American trench, and in the process gets shot, falls, and gets tangled in some barbed wire. He is screaming in agony. All the American soldiers just sit there, listening to him scream, not moving to help at all. Finally, an American soldier crawls out to help him. The Americans stop firing; soon after the Germans stop firing as they watch in silence. The American untangles the German and carries him back to his trench. As he turns he is grabbed by a German officer, who proceeds to take off his Iron Cross (which is the German highest honor for bravery) and pins it on the American!/  Everyone who is watching is stunned by this action!

Sometimes, it takes courage to share your story. In some ways it is like going onto a battlefield where others might be shooting at you. You might look at non-Christians as being the enemy. But really they are lost sinners just like you were once! If you share their story, they might just become part of the family of God.

Conclusion: If you see someone lost, or in pain, and no one is helping them, take some time to let them know how they are lost and where they need to go. If God gives you an opportunity, I encourage you to take advantage of it by sharing that part of your story of how God touched your life with His grace. By sharing your life with them I promise you, God will use it to make a difference. God will plant a seed with your story, and help it to grow to become part of God’s story. There is power in our stories. May we believe this, today and every day. Amen.