Peter is sharing his story of how he came
to share the Gospel with people other than Jews. Peter explained how
salvation has come to everyone.
When
you and I share the story of God's activity in our lives, it will make an
impact upon others.
Acts
11:1-18 English
Standard Version (ESV)
The
catalyst of your story.
This is the
activity of God working in your life. You can not encounter the living
Christ and not be changed.
It starts
with your salvation story. You should have sanctification stories.
They are an
overflow of your relationship with Jesus Christ, and your opportunities to tell
your story.
11 Now
the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that
the Gentiles also had received the word of God.
2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision
party criticized him, saying,
3 “You went to uncircumcised men
and ate with them.”
The content of your
story.
Peter is starting to understand
God's redemptive story. The Bible is one story which is telling us over
and over through different people's stories.
The Bible is about giving us an
entire world view. Everything in our lives should be interpreted
through the lens of the Bible.
4 But Peter began and explained it to them in order:
5 “I was in the city of Joppa
praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet
descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to
me.
6 Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of
prey and reptiles and birds of the air.
7 And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’
8 But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or
unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
9 But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call
common.’
10 This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into
heaven.
11 And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the
house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea.
12 And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no
distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the
man's house.
13 And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house
and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter;
14 he will declare to you a
message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’
15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just
as on us at the beginning.
The stories that we tell should
be Biblically
Our stories must be validated by
Scripture. Jesus must be the center of our stories.
16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he
said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized
with the Holy Spirit.’
The consequences of telling your story.
God is glorified. A Biblical truth is learned. What God is
doing personally in your life should be publically shared, so God gets the
glory.
Christians are encouraged through our stories, and
non-Christians are introduced to Christ.
17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave
to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that
I could stand in God's way?”
18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified
God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance
that leads to life.”
The call to
tell your story.
God is telling us all to share our stories. Do you have a salvation story?
Do you have sanctification stories? It's about how the Spirit of God convicts us.
Ask the Holy
Spirit. What are you telling me through these words?
Darry Craft, Whitesburg Baptist Church
http://www.whitesburgbaptist.org/sermons/the-power-of-your-story/
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