How God Wants To Grow Our Church Series

How God Wants to Grow Our Church

Acts 10:23-36

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - Feb. 23, 2014

*Think about the answer to this question: "On a scale of 1 to 10, how committed are you to seeing our church grow?" Church: We need to be more committed than ever before. A five-minute look around our country or our community makes that clear.

*We need to be more committed than ever before to help our church grow. If we're a 2, Lord make us a 4! If we're a 4, Lord make us an 8! We need to be more committed, because the Lord is fully committed. On a scale of 1 to 10, He's a million, right? God wants His church to grow! And in this Scripture He shows us how He does it.

1. First: God will grow our church with the same kind of men we see in this Scripture.

*God will grow our church with the same kind of people we see in vs. 24-33, so what kind of people do we see here?

[1] In vs. 24-26, we see someone who highly exalted Jesus Christ.

24. And the following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them, and had called together his relatives and close friends.

25. As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him.

26. But Peter lifted him up, saying, "Stand up; I myself am also a man.''

*Peter was saying: "Stand-up! Don't worship me. I'm not God. There's nothing really special about me. I'm just a sinner like you. If you really knew me, then you would know I even denied the Lord on the night before He was crucified. I'm a sinner. But I'm a sinner saved by grace! I am a sinner saved by the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ!"

*Peter never forgot who he was, and who Jesus was. Peter was always careful to give the glory to God. We saw this demonstrated back in Acts 3, when Peter and John went to the temple to pray, and they met a beggar who had been lame from the day he was born.

*Listen to what happened when the man asked for money:

6. Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.''

7. And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

8. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them walking, leaping, and praising God.

9. And all the people saw him walking and praising God.

10. Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

11. Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon's, greatly amazed.

12. So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?

13. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go.

14. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,

15. and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.

16. And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all."

*In 1 Peter 1:3, Peter said: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

*And Peter opened his second letter with these words:

1. Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

2. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. (2 Peter 1:1-2)

*Peter never forgot who Jesus was, and Peter never forgot who he was. Yes, he was an Apostle, but Peter would have said, "I'm just a sinner, saved by grace."