The Church Shows No Partiality Part 2

Last week, we saw from the story of Cornelius that Peter learned that the gospel message was for everyone. After Cornelius and his family's conversion, news spread quickly that the Holy Spirit also came upon the Gentiles. In the 11th chapter of Acts, we will see that this news was unpleasing to the Jewish followers of Jesus. Like Peter, they thought the message was only for them, but they will find from Peters's witness defense that they were wrong. The Jewish people were accustomed to not associating with non-Jewish people, but now, since they learn God came for everyone, they must learn to accept them with no partiality. When we read this story, it might be easy to point the finger at the Jewish followers, but we shouldn’t be so quick to judge. We often are no different when extending a warm and welcoming relationship with people within our church. When was the last time you said hi to someone new in the youth group or went out of your way to talk to someone who has been coming for years? This week, we learn that the church is united under the gospel and that we are to accept one another just as Christ Jesus accepted us. We are a family!