Scripture: Acts 10:34-43 (NRSV)
I remember growing up in church hearing the stories about Jesus feeding the multitudes, healing the sick, making the lame man walk and bringing Lazarus back from the dead. I wondered how could a man perform such miracles. As a child, my wonder was more of an amazement and awe of how God could do all these things that appeared to be impossible and simply believed. However, as an adult, our wonder can sometimes turn into times of questioning and doubt of “how can I believe?”
The passages today remind us that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. He is Lord of our needs, worries, sicknesses, deaths, finances, community and world. Like Jesus, we have access to be anointed with the Holy Spirit and power to go about doing good and praying and believing with others that he continues to be Lord of all. He is our Creator, Comforter, Healer, Redeemer, Deliverer, Provider, Sustainer, Restorer, Lover, Savior and so much more. The text ends by stating that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sin.
Beyond forgiveness, today I challenge you to BELIEVE like a child that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. Whatever your life situation might be – graduating with no definite plans, recently losing a loved one or simply feeling unsure about where you are at in your relationship with God – do as Cornelius did in this chapter: fear God, give alms generously (time and money) and pray constantly. The God of peace shall answer you as he did on this day.
Scripture: Acts 10:34-43 (NRSV)
Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, 35but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. 37That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; 40but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, 41not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and 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 ordained by God 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.”