The Role of the Church in the Great Commission
Let It Grow
Week 3 • April 20-26, 2024
FAMILY THEME
THE CHURCH EXPANDS
Cornelius Calls for Peter
1At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment.
2He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.
3One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
4Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.
5Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.
6He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
7When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants.
8He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.
Peter’s Vision
9About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray.
10He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.
11He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.
12It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds.
13Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
14“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
15The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
16This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
17While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate.
18They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.
19While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you.
20So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”
21Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”
22The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.”
23Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.
Peter at Cornelius’s House
The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along. 24The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence.
26But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”
27While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people.
28He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.
29So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”
30Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me
31and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor.
32Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’
33So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”
34Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism
35but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.
36You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.
37You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached—
38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
39“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross,
40but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.
41He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
42He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.
43All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
44While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles.
46For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said,
47“Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”
48So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.
Most little kids belong to a “secret” club at some point in their childhood. Media depicts the boys’ clubhouse door often sports a sign declaring, “No girls allowed!” The girls hang a similar, yet opposite sentiment, bedecked in daisies and ladybugs: “No boys allowed!” Exclusion reigns until they mature and welcome the opposite gender. Because of centuries-old prejudices and fears, the early church was in danger of becoming an exclusive club of Jewish converts. Even Peter held preconceived notions about who was “good to go” (and who wasn’t). The Holy Spirit opened his eyes to the truth that salvation through Christ is available to all. Sadly, our churches today often exclude certain groups of people from our midst. While we might not post signs saying, “No (insert political stance) allowed” or “No drug users allowed,” we get the point across through our actions and attitudes. We desperately need to remember that the grace of God extends to all people.
Does my youth group or circle of Christian friends exclude certain groups or types of people? If so, what can I do to bring about change? Why do I want others to see me as welcoming and loving?
Think of one way you can get outside your comfort zone to share Christ’s love this week.
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran.
11When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.
12He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.
14Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
15I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
16When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”
17He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
18Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it.
19He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.
20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God
22and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”
During the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, residents of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico experienced black blizzards, which were swirling storms of dust so thick they turned day into night. Dust coated everything from furniture to food to lungs. On May 11, 1934, one such devilishly dirty storm spread east for two-thousand miles, enveloping the Statue of Liberty in a cloak of dust.
Dust coats everything. It spreads everywhere. It is no respecter of persons, places, or things. Isn’t it interesting that God told Jacob his descendants would be like the dust of the Earth? While the Dust Bowl of the 1930s brought
destruction, God planned a dust bowl to bring blessing. This was the same promise God had made to Abraham years before. God’s desire has always been and always will be for Christians to make God’s presence known in every corner
of the world, to cover its people with grace, mercy, justice, and love.
In what ways has God blessed me through other believers? How can their acts of love, kindness, and truth inspire me to cover my world with Jesus?
One of the best ways to cover your world with Christ is through prayer. Write down the names of five people and pray for them this week, asking God to allow you to bless them.
Jesus Restores a Demon-Possessed Man
1They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.
2When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him.
3This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain.
4For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him.
5Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
6When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him.
7He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!”
8For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”
9Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.”
10And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
11A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside.
12The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.”
13He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
14Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened.
15When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
16Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. 17Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
18As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him.
19Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
20So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.
The story of the demon-possessed man in Mark 5 breaks my heart. Although not stated emphatically, the passage implies that the man suffered alone in the tombs, without the benefit of comfort from family or friends. I can’t really blame them;
nothing is scarier than evil in action. Maybe they walked away because there was nothing they could do, or perhaps they abandoned him because they blamed him for an action they believed brought on the possession. Whatever the reason, the tortured soul suffered in solitude until Jesus arrived and set him free. Instead of allowing the man to follow Him, Jesus instructed him to return to his family and friends. Talk about a tough assignment! However, the man set free by Jesus turned around and headed home, and the people marveled when they saw what Jesus had done in this man’s life.
How do I measure my personal righteousness? Do I compare myself to others?
Some people think their pasts make them unfit for sharing the gospel. That’s not true. If God has transformed your life, be like the man in Mark 5 and show friends and family the transformation that has occurred because of Jesus.
5So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
6Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?
12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,
14but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17“I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.
18The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
19“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.
20Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21“Woman,”Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
The Disciples Rejoin Jesus
27Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,
29“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
30They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
31Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34“My food,”said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.
35Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
36Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.
37Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true.
38I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Many Samaritans Believe
39Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”
40So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.
41And because of his words many more became believers.
42They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
A group selfie snapped at an awards show, a video of a sneezing panda, a series of photos of a cranky cat with snarky quotes—these are stellar examples of social media posts “gone viral.” Like the influenza virus, these zany tidbits spread like wildfire thanks to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and email. It’s amazing—and slightly terrifying—how quickly news spreads on the Internet.
Jesus reached out to a Samaritan woman, which was totally taboo for a Jewish man to do. Jews rarely interacted with Samaritans. However, Jesus reached out with the promise of eternal life through faith in Him, and the news went viral. Without help from a smartphone, iPad, or laptop, the Samaritan woman spread the good news to everyone she encountered. It’s amazing how quickly the gospel spreads through people who are passionate about it.
In what ways am I helping the gospel go viral? How can I use the resources I have to share hope and faith with others?
Sharing a picture or meme isn’t the definition of discipleship. Personal relationships and personal contact are far more effective. Make time for face-to-face conversations and hands-on service.
5Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.” 6But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7“or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
My friend Molly, our high school mathematics teacher, recently started a GoFundMe account to raise money to purchase a Swivl robot for
her classroom. She posted a link on Facebook. One of our mutual friends suggested that she contact our local Parent-Teacher Organization for a donation. Molly’s response: “I didn’t even know we had a Parent-Teacher Organization!”
Paul pointed out the obvious to the Romans. He asked how people could be expected to seek out Christ if they didn’t even know He existed. It’s no secret that people seek out lots of different sources to fill the need in their souls that can only be filled by Christ. Food, money, popularity, success, harmful relationships—all of these things fail to fill the void in our lives. How do we fill that void? Read verse 9 for the answer.
Jesus brought salvation to all. Have I allowed preconceived notions and prejudices to prevent me from sharing Jesus with people who are outcasts (“bullies,” the unhoused, people with different worldviews, the school “weirdos,” etc.)?
Salvation is available to everyone. It’s not a new concept. Memorize Romans 10:9. This will be an important verse to remember when sharing the gospel with others.
13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
My friends Nathan and Samantha recently endured an agonizing one-year separation when Nathan was deployed to Afghanistan through the National Guard.
Thanks to amazing technological advances, Samantha and their five children were able to communicate with Nathan on a regular basis via video chatting. Doing this brought near a loved one who was thousands of miles away.
Paul reminded the Ephesians that God brought those who were far away from salvation into the family of love, even closer than a laptop screen. That’s some serious good news. Sometimes it feels like some of our friends and family members are a million miles away from God. Worlds apart in the area of faith, we feel the agonizing distance. However, we should never lose hope. We must keep connecting with those who need Jesus. He will save the most hardened
of hearts.
How can I express Christ’s love, mercy, kindness, peace, and hope to those who feel distant from Him?
Paul was living proof that no one is so sinful that Christ cannot save them. Check out his story in Acts 7:54-8:3 and 9:1-22. Pray for those close to you who are far from Christ.
