Sermon Video: Peter and the Gentiles, Part 1 - Acts 10:1-29

Have you ever wondered how wide or how deep God's mercy is?  Are there any sinners to vile to be saved?  Are there any sinners who fall outside of the scope of God's redemption?  In Acts, Luke answers the first question by showing the Saul of Tarsus could be redeemed even though his heart was full of murderous intent.  The second question is answered when God calls Peter to go to Caesarea and share the Gospel with a Roman centurion named Cornelius.
The choice of Cornelius was not one that Peter made himself; he was doing great work for God in Joppa when God sent him a perplexing dream about clean and unclean animals.  While Peter was trying to figure this vision out, wondering if God was being literal or metaphorical, messengers from Cornelius arrived to say that God had told Cornelius to send for Peter.  Wait a minute; God had spoken to a Roman soldier??  This is actually the third time in Luke's account (which includes his Gospel) that a Roman centurion has played a key role, the other two being the amazing faith of the centurion from Capernaum and the centurion's proclamation at the foot of the cross.  Now, God has once again found faith amongst the Gentiles by choosing this man, a man with a reputation of devotion to God and service for the poor, to be the recipient of Peter's first foray into sharing the Gospel outside of the Covenant people.
Cornelius sent for Peter without knowing what message he would bring, I'm not sure that Peter knew what he was going to say until he arrived at Cornelius' house.  The message that Peter had to share will be in part 2 of this message, but his conviction that he must share the Gospel with them was made perfectly clear when Peter entered Cornelius' house to discover a large crowd of friends and relatives that had all gathered to hear what this messenger from God had to say.
There can be no boundaries to the Gospel, there can be no man, woman, or child that is off the list of potential believers.  God's grace is deep enough, God's grace is wide enough to reach us all.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video