Who’s Waiting for You?
Scripture Reading: Acts 10:1-6 & 34-43
1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the
Italian Regiment, 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms
generously to the people, and prayed to God always. 3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw
clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!”
4 And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?”
So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. 5
Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. 6 He is lodging with
Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do.”
34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35
But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. 36 The
word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is
Lord of all— 37 that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began
from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were
oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. 39 And we are witnesses of all things which He
did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. 40 Him
God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, 41 not to all the people, but to
witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from
the dead. 42 And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was
ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. 43 To Him all the prophets witness that,
through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”
Cornelius was a man who feared God and revered Him. He did all that he knew to do
to honor God; he gave generously to those in need, he was constantly in prayer but
was still lacking something. He did not know God. The angel that comes to him tells
him that Peter is going to tell him something he needs to do. Peter’s just realized that
when Yeshua said go preach to all nations He really meant ALL nations! Not just to
the Jews living in those nations. The Holy Spirit has been both preparing Cornelius to
receive the Gospel and preparing Peter to deliver it. So, Peter simply tells them and
the Holy Spirit does the rest.
Matthew 28:16-20
16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed
for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven
and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I
have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
We’ve been given a commission to go and preach to everyone who doesn’t know the
truth. Yeshua says He will be with us through it all. We have been given all the
authority on heaven and on earth to do this. So, why aren’t believers doing it? Not
only are most believers not sharing the Gospel with the whole world, they’re not
sharing it with their friends, their coworkers, their families; usually because they’re
scared. They’re afraid of offending someone. But sometimes the Holy Spirit has
already been working on the person and they’re just waiting for someone to come and
share the truth with them, like Cornelius was. And there are going to be times when
things don’t go as well.
Acts 16:16-22
16 Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of
divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed
Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who
proclaim to us the way of salvation.” 18 And this she did for many days.
But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus
Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour. 19 But when her masters saw that
their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace
to the authorities.
20 And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, exceedingly
trouble our city; 21 and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to
receive or observe.” 22 Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates
tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods.
Now, that didn’t go so well, huh? But guess what? Even that was for a purpose.
Acts 16:27-30
27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open,
supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul
called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”
29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he
brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
The jailer and his whole family would not have been saved that night if Paul and Silas
had not been arrested that day. God is at work in all of this. But why would we
subject ourselves to abuse for the Gospel’s sake?
Ezekiel 3:16-21
16 Now it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word
from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely
die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save
his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.
19 Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked
way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.
20 “Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a
stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in
his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will
require at your hand. 21 Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should
not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have
delivered your soul.”
Overcoming fear takes practice; repetition. Doing something over and over and over
takes away the fear element. We need to get out and witness, witness, witness, so
when the Spirit leads us to speak, we will be well exercised.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date January 13, 2008
Scripture Reading: Acts 10:1-6 & 34-43
1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the
Italian Regiment, 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms
generously to the people, and prayed to God always. 3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw
clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!”
4 And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?”
So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. 5
Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. 6 He is lodging with
Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do.”
34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35
But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. 36 The
word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is
Lord of all— 37 that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began
from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were
oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. 39 And we are witnesses of all things which He
did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. 40 Him
God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, 41 not to all the people, but to
witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from
the dead. 42 And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was
ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. 43 To Him all the prophets witness that,
through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”
Cornelius was a man who feared God and revered Him. He did all that he knew to do
to honor God; he gave generously to those in need, he was constantly in prayer but
was still lacking something. He did not know God. The angel that comes to him tells
him that Peter is going to tell him something he needs to do. Peter’s just realized that
when Yeshua said go preach to all nations He really meant ALL nations! Not just to
the Jews living in those nations. The Holy Spirit has been both preparing Cornelius to
receive the Gospel and preparing Peter to deliver it. So, Peter simply tells them and
the Holy Spirit does the rest.
Matthew 28:16-20
16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed
for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven
and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I
have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
We’ve been given a commission to go and preach to everyone who doesn’t know the
truth. Yeshua says He will be with us through it all. We have been given all the
authority on heaven and on earth to do this. So, why aren’t believers doing it? Not
only are most believers not sharing the Gospel with the whole world, they’re not
sharing it with their friends, their coworkers, their families; usually because they’re
scared. They’re afraid of offending someone. But sometimes the Holy Spirit has
already been working on the person and they’re just waiting for someone to come and
share the truth with them, like Cornelius was. And there are going to be times when
things don’t go as well.
Acts 16:16-22
16 Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of
divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed
Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who
proclaim to us the way of salvation.” 18 And this she did for many days.
But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus
Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour. 19 But when her masters saw that
their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace
to the authorities.
20 And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, exceedingly
trouble our city; 21 and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to
receive or observe.” 22 Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates
tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods.
Now, that didn’t go so well, huh? But guess what? Even that was for a purpose.
Acts 16:27-30
27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open,
supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul
called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”
29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he
brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
The jailer and his whole family would not have been saved that night if Paul and Silas
had not been arrested that day. God is at work in all of this. But why would we
subject ourselves to abuse for the Gospel’s sake?
Ezekiel 3:16-21
16 Now it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word
from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely
die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save
his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.
19 Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked
way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.
20 “Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a
stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in
his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will
require at your hand. 21 Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should
not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have
delivered your soul.”
Overcoming fear takes practice; repetition. Doing something over and over and over
takes away the fear element. We need to get out and witness, witness, witness, so
when the Spirit leads us to speak, we will be well exercised.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date January 13, 2008
