The Inclusive Gospel | Dr. John Ewart

Hey everybody, this is Pastor John Ewart from Inglewood

Baptist Church in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina.

Thank you so much for tuning in to our podcast.

You're going to hear from God today as we share.

From his word. About important issues facing

your life that can guide you according to the Bible.

Well, good morning Inglewood. Take your Bibles and turn to

Acts chapter 10 if you would. It's good to see everybody here

Acts 10 · chapter mention

this morning. Appreciate you, you being here.

Looking forward to Vacation Bible School.

It's going to be a lot of fun. So we're excited about the week.

Appreciate these baptisms. Amen.

Yeah. Next week we will be examining

the church at Antioch and actually concluding this initial

study in the book of Acts called Come Join the King's Mission.

I want to thank you for joining me on this very important

journey. We will return later and study

Paul's first missionary journeys in our missions month in

November. So we'll come back, but I've

been hinting about some new things coming that we must

reveal and teach. So our next brief series, which

will start in a couple of weeks, it's called Come Be the King's

Bride, and we're going to be talking for just a few sermons

about why, who, what and how church and church membership and

discipleship, as well as the church ordinances ought to take

place. We'll be celebrating the Lord's

Supper again in August, and this is going to then lead us into

that study that I've been hinting about for a long time

called Come Live. The Church's Vision, The Seven

Essentials of Discipleship, where we'll be sharing and

revealing our new mission and vision statements.

We'll be talking about the new discipleship goals that our

teams of leaders have been working on and working on and

working on. These are very biblical.

Nothing, nothing fancy or complicated, but extremely

important. And at that point, I think

you'll be able to really understand where this train is

headed. The new course that we believe

God has charted for the future of Inglewood.

It'll be something new. It'll be something different.

It'll be a change and and I will also share the details over the

next few weeks of a new strategy for our Connect groups that our

pastors and group leaders have already been discussing.

God has used this strategy and continues to use it.

It's a strategy I had the opportunity and privilege to

develop with a team of leaders years ago, and God has used it

to transform churches literally all around the world at this

point. And so it's what God used to

dramatically grow all the churches that I've ever served

as pastor and also was used to disciple our congregation to the

point of we were able to have around 90% of every single

resident church member actively involved in discipleship.

And that's something we want to see happen here.

It also gave us the opportunity to follow up on thousands of

people after a big event like Vacation Bible School or 4th of

July or something, we could personally follow up on

thousands because everybody was ready to participate.

It also LED us to the point where we were having multiple

baptisms every week. God's been blessing us here

already with that and that's been wonderful.

And you ain't seen nothing yet, I don't believe.

And so it will also help us to reach the 74% of the unchurched

people who surround us within 10 miles of us to be involved.

It will then also guide us to pray and minister together.

It's called reach, reaching every available community

household. And I expect what percentage of

participation I know isn't, that's crazy, just crazy, man.

And it's going to depend upon you being in the Connect group,

because I've been hinting pretty strongly about that for the last

several centuries. So they're actually

responsibilities for everybody. Even the preschoolers will be

involved. The preschoolers will be

involved, the children will be involved, the students will be

involved, the adults will be involved.

It's a lot of fun. Families will be able to do

things together. It's a great discipleship plan.

It is something new, something different and a change, but it

is a plan to reach 100% participation as well as 100% of

our communities. And in preparation for it, I

have just a small announcement to make.

So for several reasons. One is after careful assessment

and if anybody knows me, the theme song of my world, right,

you know, is assessment never ends.

There's bumper stickers and T-shirts.

I have a ball cap. And so people know that joke

about it. But after careful analysis and

assessment of our space, our building, our facility, as well

as our schedule, we've come to the conclusion that we need to

do some Connect group classroom relocation.

Now, this is a bulletproof shirt, so you can't do anything.

So here's what we're going to do, and I hope you'll understand

some of the whys. We'll continue to explain the

whys. I promise you we're not doing

this haphazardly. We've really thought and

prayerfully, prayerfully considered this.

There are good reasons for this, and I know that this may be the

end of my honeymoon. But if you'll trust me and truly

believe you'll come to understand and appreciate those

whys. I think one of the things we

need to do is we're going to move all of our children to

these ministry hallways on both sides of the ministry center.

Here's a couple reasons for that.

One is that would then provide a centralized drop off and pick up

for our parents, especially when they have multi children, so

they can get them all in the same zones, right?

Another big part of this, which is part of our assessment is it

provides us with a much more secure location for our

children. What we're going to do is we're

going to put one of the glass security doors much like we have

on this wing over here on this wing as well.

So both hallways will be secure and completely secure.

Our security team does a fantastic job and this will

actually help them on Sundays and even during the week.

So it's going to also here's the interesting part of it, because

of the strategies we're getting ready to implement, we are going

to grow. I cannot expect anything else.

I've never not seen it. So I can't expect anything else.

And we're actually going to have more available classroom for

children and adults by making this move.

And So what it means is we're going to be moving our children

out of the Lewis building and we're going to be putting adults

in the Lewis building. So it'll actually make more

classroom space available because we're actually going to

not only see our current Connect groups grow, but we're going to

have to create new Connect groups.

So either say Amen or Oh my. So what's going to happen is

reach is going to produce this growth and demand for space.

And and so don't simply think about where you are now and

who's coming now because this move will actually put us all in

better growth structures as well as a more secure and certainly

convenient for parents, dynamic for our children, our

preschoolers. So here's the deal.

The date for this move is coming quickly because summer's the

best time to do this. Summer's the best time we need

to do some paintings and moving furniture, some things like

that. And so August 10th is when this

is going to hit. So that's pretty fast and this

will affect almost everybody. So please prepare yourself.

And we recognize that there's some folks in the Lewis building

right now. We can't use a certain age

groups and upstairs because there's some rules about what

age children can be in an upstairs place in the state of

North Carolina. This will actually allow us to

use all the up there, upstairs space over there in a much

greater way. If you need an elevator, we

we'll be very sensitive to that. We'll make sure you're near,

you're near the elevator. But we know change is difficult.

I also pray that it's exciting and I, I pray that you'll be

willing to have flexibility and a willingness to grow.

I know that people will have preferences and we can't

accommodate all of those obviously, but we want to

certainly hear any concerns. I'd ask you to share your

concerns with your connect group leaders and they're going to

have the opportunity to interact with us.

But this is coming fairly quickly.

We've really thought through this pretty carefully.

Measuring rooms, literally, I've been around with my, my virtual

laser tape measure and all kinds of things.

So, so it's important for us to do this and I, I think you'll

see why as the months of fall hit us fairly quickly.

Something you might be interested to know is that in

the last service, the front parking lot was completely full.

And so now the back parking lot wasn't, but the front parking

lot was completely full. And so we're working through

some space issues. It may not look like it as you

look around this room today, but I promise you this fall it will

look this way. So I told you some big things

were coming. So please hang in there.

This is all very important. Please don't miss any part of

it. It'll be something new, it'll be

something different. A change is coming, and I pray

that you'll embrace that. And in Acts chapter 10, that's

Acts 10 · chapter mention

what we're going to do as well. And Acts chapter 10, something

Acts 10 · chapter mention

that has never, ever, ever happened before, takes place in

a message that I've called the inclusive Gospel.

Don't let that word scare you. That word inclusive can be scary

in our culture because of its often distorted definition and

interpretation, but I want to show you how it's properly and

biblically used, especially in this passage.

So something new, something totally different, a change.

Chapter 10, verse one. At Caesarea there was a man

named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian

cohort, A devout man who feared God with all his household, gave

alms generously to the people and prayed continually to God.

This is a six point sermon. Doesn't that bless your heart?

I actually got everybody out early in that first service too.

So I don't know what's going on. I'm, I move through this pretty

quickly, but there's just a lot in here that we need to

understand. And so the first thing I want us

to see is I want us to understand just authentic

searching and praying. There's some real authenticity

in this passage, some real honest searching going on.

Caesarea was a military headquarters for Roman armed

forces. It was named after Caesar

Augustus and it was the capital of the Roman province of Judea.

So it was an important place and God picks out a leader of

influence in the city, the centurion named Cornelius.

In order to influence him, a centurion would parallel about a

captain in today's army and would command a lot of men.

And he he was a military leader in a city that was primarily

Gentile. And that's the key part of this

story. There was a significant Jewish

population there, but it's primarily Gentile.

And but Cornelius was no ordinary Roman soldier.

He was what we would call a Gentile God seeker.

He was somebody who, even though he wasn't Jewish, he worshipped

Yahweh and he sought after Yahweh.

And you can tell from this passage that he's performing two

of the three Jewish rituals or rites by by offering prayers and

by giving alms to the poor. If he fasted, he would have done

all three. But what we see is don't miss

this description. He gave alms generously to the

people and he prayed continually to God.

He's truly seeking after Yahweh. What does God want for me and my

family? And he seeks the Lord.

And God responded to his authentic faithfulness and

answered his prayers. And God will do that.

Some of you would know this verse.

Jeremiah 2913 You will seek me and find me when you seek me

with what? Right?

And so here we see someone actually, honestly,

authentically seeking after God with his whole heart.

And God blesses that. God blesses his faithfulness.

And we're going to see something new.

We're going to see something different.

We're going to see a change. Look at verse 3 about the ninth

hour of the day. He saw clearly in a vision an

Angel of God come in and say to him, Cornelius.

And he stared at him in terror and said, What is it, Lord?

And he said to him, Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a

memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa, and

bring one Simon, who is called Peter.

He is lodging with one Simon, a Tanner.

This was the House of Simon, obviously, wouldn't it, whose

house is by the sea? When the Angel who spoke to him

had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout

soldier from among those who attended him, and having related

everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

So in awe and fear, which which I don't know how else you would

respond when you see angels, you know, throughout Scripture you

see people who are in awe and fear.

They're terrified when they see angels.

I don't know. I don't know how you're supposed

to respond. But Cornelius responded to, to

this angelic vision. The only way that it, that it,

that one should. What is it, Lord?

You know, he had no problem recognizing his superior as a

soldier. He recognized the Lord.

That's curious. That means boss, that means

leader, that means superior. That means the the ultimate one,

that means one who's above you. That word.

And so Cornelius obeyed as if he's commanded like a soldier.

So God receives his prayer. God received his generosity as a

blessed offering. And he answers his search with a

very specific plan. And, and I just believe God

still does that, that if we will surrender our whole heart, if

we'll seek after him completely, if we'll give him our time, our

talents, our tithe, our hearts and seek after him fully, God

will show us his plan. And I believe that he's doing

that. Our leaders have been diligently

praying and seeking God's mission and vision for this

church. And I'm going to be sharing with

you what the output of we believe.

That is what we believe God wants us to do in our next

chapter. We believe we've heard from God

and we know what He wants. So let us all authentically lift

our whole hearts and let's seek and let's obey to see what He

specifically desires from each one of us.

Look at verse 9. The next day, as they were on

their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the

housetop about the 6th hour to pray, and he became hungry, and

wanted something to eat. But while they were preparing

it, he fell into a trance, and saw the heavens opened, and

something like a great sheep descending, being let down by

his four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals,

and reptiles, and birds of the air.

And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter, kill and eat.

But Peter said, By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten

anything that is common or unclean.

And the voice came to him again a second time.

What God has made clean do not call common and this happened

three times and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

So the second thing I want us to see, it's just unexpected new

directions. Sometimes God does that.

The Cornelius party is about to arrive when Peter goes up on the

rooftop and and he's praying. You never miss the prayer

connections in these stories. Prayer surrounds and abounds in

these stories. Don't miss that.

If you want to seek God, we got to be devoted to prayer.

We got to be hearing him. We got to be listening to him.

We've got to be sensitive to the will of God for this next

chapter of his church here. And even though, and this has an

interesting point, even though Peter wasn't praying for what he

saw, don't miss that God responds with something new.

We might be praying for this and God brings us that and don't

miss that in life. Be sensitive to that, be open to

that. He may have a whole different

approach than what we thought would be the plan.

Something new, something totally different.

A what a change. He might just surprise you.

God might just catch you off guard.

He might make you face a real choice.

He might test your faith. He might test your obedience.

I mean, I don't know if you've ever done this.

I've been in here. Anyone ever believe that God

gave you a no or not yet or not that way when you wanted

something else? I've been there.

That's not what I wanted. God.

So Peter sees a sheet or the words can just mean container.

He sees this, this container or sheet coming down from heaven

and and it has clean and unclean animals with the command to kill

and eat them. Now this would have been

revolting to any Jewish person, regardless of how hungry they

might be, right? So Peter argues, and I don't

miss this Peter argues with the creator.

He he argues with the creator and the giver of the law about

the law. I don't know if you've ever done

that. You ever argue with God?

God, that's not what I wanted. That's not what I asked for.

God, you must be mistaken. God, you're really not paying

attention, are you? That's not what I'm after.

Think about how dumb it is if we believe that we can tell the

omniscient, omnipotent, perfect God what to do.

Let me tell you some deep theology.

You ready from Doctor Ewart? Here's some deep theology.

I'd tell this to my seminary. I'd do this in a doctoral

seminar. I got to teach a doctoral

seminar in a few weeks. And this is what I'd say to him.

People are silly. God is gracious.

He wins in the end. So I implore you, I beg you,

just give up now. It's much easier.

So. So Peter had to go through this.

Don't miss this. How many times you have to go

through it? He had to go through it three

times. There's something about Peter

and Threes isn't there to where he has to go through this before

he can learn. God commands Peter to obey.

God declared the food clean, but remember the food is just a

symbol. It's more than that.

He's declaring other peoples clean as well.

Others once thought to be unclean, others once thought to

be revolting, others once thought to be outside the gospel

touch. But now they could not be

considered ordinary, they could not be considered common.

Or the Word can mean worthless anymore.

We have worth and value in the Kingdom of God, not because of

us, but the fact that Christ died for us, paid for us,

intercedes for us. So if you're struggling with

some sense of of self value, find your worth in the eyes of

God who created you in a special way for a special purpose.

He wants you, He knows you, He hears you, and he seeks to be

known by you. And maybe that's unexpected for

some of you today, but that's exactly what you need to hear.

Maybe you need a new direction. You heard testimonies in baptism

back here about new directions. Maybe you need a new direction.

So God was preparing the way for the Gentiles.

I'm thankful for that because last time I checked, I'm a

Gentile. I'm not a Samaritan.

I don't have a Jewish background.

So I'm very thankful this moment's happening because this

is how I was able to receive the gospel and most of you.

But Peter was not expecting something that new, something

that different. Let me just show you how new and

different it is. Look at verse 17.

Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision

that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by

Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the

gate and called out to ask whether Simon, who was called

Peter, was lodging there. And while Peter was pondering

the vision, the spirit said to him, Behold, three men are

looking for you, Rise and go down and accompany them without

hesitation, for I have sent them.

And Peter went down to the men and said, I'm the one you're

looking for. What is the reason for your

coming? And they said Cornelius, a

centurion and upright and God fearing man who is well spoken

of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy Angel to

send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have

to say. So as Peter's working through

it, I mean, Peter has to work through this.

This is a big deal. This is brand new.

We look back on this now and it doesn't seem like that big a

deal. But you got to understand this

is a big deal. He's working through this.

He's pondering, he's perplexed, and the men arrive.

Now the Holy Spirit tells him in this verse, rise and go down and

accompany them without hesitation, for I've sent them.

He actually uses a very strong technical term for a command.

And in other words, it means you go and you go right now.

Don't hesitate, Inglewood. That's often my prayer for us,

that we would go and we'd go right now.

We don't have time to waste. Look at verse 23.

And you've got to understand the power of these first words.

So he invited them in to be his guest.

I'll come back to that. The next day he rose and went

away with him, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied

him. See, the third thing you got to

see here are amazing breakthroughs.

Part of God's new directions are going to bring new things, new

breakthroughs. Think about it.

Only God, only God could do this very unexpected, different new

thing. This is quite a change.

We've never done it like this before.

It was a huge step for this Jewish fisherman to invite to

invite these Gentiles into the house.

What a night that must have been.

I wonder if any of them slept or if they just sat in different

corners and stared at each other.

Totally unexpected. But my friends, that's the

gospel. Something new, something

different, a change. That's the gospel.

Look at verse 24. And on the following day they

entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and

had called together his relatives and close friends.

When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet and

worshipped him. But Peter lifting him up,

saying, stand up, I too am a man.

And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons

gathered. And he said to them, You

yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with

or to visit anyone of another nation.

But God has shown me that I should not call any person

common or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came

without objection. I asked then why you sent for

me? See, Peters figured it out.

He's understood the vision now, as far as the food, not just

meaning food, but representing peoples.

So amazingly, A Gentile Roman army officer seeks a Jewish

Christian fisherman, and they're willing to get together.

Old barriers were breaking down, and when he arrived, Cornelius

falls to the ground at his feet. Peter had experienced that

before, and he knew what to do. He made him rise.

He knew. Peter knew he had no power in

himself. He knew that everything came

from Christ. He also knew that he was

breaking the law according to the Jewish rabbis.

He knew that this was against all he had ever learned his

whole life. But God had amazingly changed

the rules. Grace does that.

Grace changes the rules. It breaks down barriers, it

opens new doors. It can do that in your heart

this morning. It can do that in your neighbors

hearts. It can do that across the city

and across this region. If we follow God's new

direction, he'll can use it as he sweeps across the the region

with amazing breakthroughs. God declared the Gentiles clean.

This was amazingly new, incredibly different.

It was a change. Now in verses 30 through 32,

Cornelius just repeats the story of the vision to Peter.

So let's go on to verse 33. So I sent for you at once, and

you have been kind enough to come.

Now, therefore, we are all here in the presence of God to hear

all that you have been commanded by the Lord.

Peter, please, we are hungry to hear the truth in the Word of

God. We want to hear everything.

We want to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.

We're we're starving for the truth.

Peter. They couldn't wait to know the

Word of God. Faithful people have been

searching, faithful people have been praying, faithful people

have been preparing. God had shown the way.

And my friends, I'm begging God every day of my life that God

would fill His house, that this house would be completely full

of people hungry to hear and to respond to His truth.

I cry out, the spiritual walls would fall.

I cry out for amazing spiritual breakthroughs.

And we must all help them to know the Word of God.

You hear me week after week, begging you almost to please

join a Connect group so that you can engage with others and

invite others to systemic Bible study.

What percentage of participation am I looking for?

And with this new plan, my friends, please select a group.

You might not enjoy it as much when I select one for you.

You have just a few weeks. Let's start the watch.

Verse 34. So Peter opened his mouth and

said, truly, I understand that God shows no partiality, but in

every nation, anyone who fears Him and does what is right is

acceptable to Him. Now that brings me to point #4

we're going to be really careful with this word because I want to

talk about this inclusive gospel.

Let's use this word the right way.

God shows no partiality. So in other words, no favoritism

is allowed in the Kingdom of God.

You got to hear the inclusiveness of the gospel.

The gospel transcends race. The gospel transcends culture.

The gospel transcends social economics.

The gospel transcends history. It transcends traditions.

It transcends prejudice. It transcends personal

preference. It doesn't matter where you're

from. It doesn't matter if you're from

Red Oak or you're from Taiwan. It doesn't matter how rough your

background. It doesn't matter how addicted

you are to your sin right now. The gospel is still for you.

That's the wonderful thing about this inclusive message.

But let's go on because there's another side to it.

Verse 36. As for the word that he sent to

Israel preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ, He

is Lord of all. You yourselves know what

happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the

baptism that John proclaimed how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth

with the Holy Spirit and with power.

He went about doing good and healing all who are oppressed by

the devil. For God was in was with him, and

we are witnesses of all that He did, both in the country of the

Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging

him on a tree. But God raised him on the third

day and made him to appear, not to all the people, but to us who

have been chosen by God as witnesses who ate and drank with

Him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to

the people and to testify that He is the appointed by God to be

the judge of the living and the dead.

To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who

believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through His

names. And that, my friends, is the

gospel. So the fifth thing I want you to

see is not only is this an inclusive gospel, but it also

carries a very exclusive salvation.

The gospel is totally inclusive in terms of the audience for

whom it is intended, but it is absolutely exclusive in terms of

how true salvation occurs. In other words, only by grace

through faith, specifically in Christ alone, can a person be

saved. It's amazingly inclusive in that

it reaches people from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

Yet salvation is exclusively personal.

It's very, very specific. You cannot be saved any other

way except by trusting in Jesus Christ.

Only. Jesus Jesus only is the way

salvation occurs. Now look at verse 44.

While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit

fell on who heard on all who heard the word.

And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with

Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit was

poured out even on the Gentiles, for they were hearing them

speaking in tongues and extolling God.

Then Peter declared, can anyone withhold water for baptizing

these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?

And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus

Christ. Then they asked him to remain

for some days. So while Peter's still preaching

something historically unique, something very, very different,

something amazing, something new took place.

Like a Thunderbolt. Like in Acts chapter 2, the Holy

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Spirit came upon this new type of people.

Don't miss this teaching. I've shared it with you for a

few weeks now. Don't miss this.

This is a unique moment in history where another type of

people has received the gospel. All types of people in the world

will be represented by the time we're done.

And with this study, we've still got a weird little group of John

the Baptist disciples coming up. And so remember that I taught

you. There was this historically

unique moment for the Jews, then a historically unique moment for

the Samaritans, then a historically unique moment now

for the Gentiles. So the Gentiles were saved and

filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, later, the more normative

pattern is as soon as we're saved, the Holy Spirit comes and

lives within us. We're baptized by the Holy

Spirit and dwelt by the Holy Spirit, gifted by the Holy

Spirit at the moment of salvation.

But these are unique moments to display, especially to these

Jewish believers, that even Gentiles can be saved.

And after they were saved in proper order, you'll see this.

They were baptized just like we saw today, baptized as a

testimony to what God had already done to them and for

them. So this in his uniquely historic

moment for them and frankly for us as Gentiles, because most of

us here are probably Gentiles. And so it's important for us.

And so this was new, this was different to change.

It was a new breakthrough for Acts 1/8 as well.

God is not just for you. He's not just for your kind.

He's for all peoples, no matter how dirty, no matter how lost,

no matter how confused, no matter how sinful, no matter how

distant, God is still for them. You can never be too far away to

be claimed by Him. And if you ever heard my full

testimony, you would believe that I believe that.

So pray God, pray God would remove the spiritual blindness,

pray God would move the spiritual ignorance, pray God

that would move the spiritual willfulness that would keep us

from embracing everything that He wants for us in this next

chapter. And we need to tell them.

We need to tell everybody. We need to tell them all

everything we know, just like Peter did.

So then we need to welcome them when God saves them.

It could be somebody different, it could be somebody new, IT

could be a change. Those unchurched around us could

look different than you do. They could act differently than

you do. They could be from totally

different backgrounds than you are.

We got to be ready. And unfortunately, there may

still be those that would have to be convinced that they are

OK. Which brings us to point #6

overcoming old habits. Look at Chapter 11, verse one.

Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout

Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of

God. So when Peter went up to

Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying,

You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.

So the word spreads. And some of the Jewish

Christians were not thrilled about what had happened because

they still believed in their immature theology, in their

immature discipleship. They still believed that in

order to be a Christian, you had to become a Jew first.

And so you see this, this confusion.

But notice what they were concerned about.

It wasn't that whether God had saved somebody.

It wasn't whether or not the power of the Holy Spirit was

truly revealed. What they were concerned about

is Peter, you sat down and ate with them.

They were more concerned about traditions.

They were more concerned about rituals than they were about

whether God was moving or not. Now, this might shock you, but

I've known people in churches like this.

I've been in a few churches, many of them not very healthy.

I've known people who are more concerned about whether those

new, whether those new people looked and acted like them,

whether or not the carpet would get dirty from so many using it,

whether someone else had to use my room.

It's called a called a pause. Do you like that, doc?

That's a, that's a pause. It's a true one.

This is one I experienced. Teresa knows this one.

Whether or not we're wasting water because we baptize new

believers every week, you need to hug your deacons here.

They are fantastic men, wonderful men who are serving

you. I've had other kinds of other

places I used to get chewed out because we were draining the

baptistery every week, because we were baptizing multiple

people every week, wasting the water.

Some of people are more concerned about other things

than whether new people are being saved, whether new

disciples were being made. Some don't like different.

Some people don't like new. Some people just don't like

change. Some people want things to be

just like they are or they remember.

They they want it to be like sometime they remember and some

almost Amish type historic moment back there in their

memory. They forget whose story this is.

This is not our story. This is not our mission.

This is not about Inglewood. This is not about John Ewart.

This is not about you either. This is about the Lord Jesus

Christ. It's his story and he's invited

us to join it, and it's a privilege.

Will we truly welcome all who God leads our way?

Because they're coming. The old Peter probably wanted to

chop off an ear or two, didn't he?

He's probably wondering where that knife was.

But if you look at him, he'd matured.

He handles the criticism much better if you read the whole

passage. So what he does is he repeats

precisely what had happened in verses 4 through 14.

He just tells the same story. We've already read all that and

then he ended with go to verse 15.

As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on

us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the

Lord, how he said, John baptized with water, but you will be

baptized with the Holy Spirit. If then God gave them the same

gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord

Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way.

You know, I often think, and I do often think about this

because I'm in the book of Acts a lot.

I don't just preach it, but I teach it in school and things

like that. So I think about this a lot.

You know, I think about the the many transitions the early

church had to experience as these new types of people were

being saved and brought into the Kingdom.

What they thought was right changed so many times.

What they thought was going to be the standard way changed so

many times. They faced change after change

on a regular basis, but their theology was solid.

So the old guard would have to welcome the new guard in in a

loving way, over and over and over and over again.

They had to become something new together.

It's not just the old anymore. Now they were the new church.

There was no time to look back to the past.

With God doing so many new things in their midst, they had

to look forward to the next chapter.

What's next? What's next?

What's the new direction? Because God might just do

something different. He might just do something new.

There might just be a change. So are you willing to become

something new? Are you willing to become

something different, to change, to join the king on his mission?

One last verse, verse 18. When they heard these things,

they fell silent and they glorified God saying then to the

Gentiles, God has granted also then to the Gentiles also, God

has granted repentance that leads to life.

They stopped arguing. They were quiet, reflective for

a moment and you got to give him credit.

They actually recognized God indeed had worked.

They even glorify him for what he had done.

They, they, you got, you got to kind of give him a little praise

here. They came around, which is not

always a common story. So if we respond biblically, God

can change people, maybe even maybe even us.

My mother, I always knew just what to say it exactly the right

moment. I was chewing gum in warmups.

One time I was on the varsity basketball team and I have a bad

habit of if I chew gum, my wife will testify.

She can raise her hand and say a minute and a minute.

If I chew gum, I smack my gum. I've done that my whole, I don't

know why that is. And sometimes I like to have

more than, you know, 3 or 416 pieces of gum in my mouth at the

same time. So, so in, in high school, I was

a starting varsity player. So I'm out there in warmups and

I'm, I got this big wad of gum and I'm just smacking away out

there. Now you got to understand this

is smaller town, big high school, small town.

And so everybody's there. The whole town's there.

The whole high school is there. All of my friends are there, the

whole team's there, the opposing team is there.

And my mother and father used to always sit on the top row behind

our bench in the gymnasium. That was their spot.

And I'm out there smacking my gum, doing my layups, and all of

a sudden, from the top of the gym in front of everybody, I

hear Johnny Ewart spit out that gum in front of my entire high

school team, all my friends, the whole town, the opposing town.

So throughout the game, the opposing team would constantly

elbow me and say just little Johnny still have his gum.

So I promised you I changed. I never chewed gum and warmups

again. Now, I also got tossed out of

that game for technical fouls, but that's a whole nother story.

There's an old African proverb. It says sometimes the place you

used to be is not the place you belong.

So wait, may we experience an openness to new?

To change, to growth, perhaps even a dissatisfaction with the

old, eagerly standing on our tip toes with excitement, peering to

see what the new chapter God has for us looks like for the future

God seeks. Change has to occur, and it's

coming very soon. I pray you're ready, I pray

you're willing, but the first question this morning, right now

at this instant, is God. What do you need to change in

me? For some of you, it may just be

a tweak. It may be an adjustment.

Maybe you're walking with him in a wonderful way right now, but

there's always, there's always that next step of maturity and

discipleship. For some of you would sit here

and you heard testimonies and baptism and you say, you know,

I've never trusted in Christ as my Lord and Savior.

And you heard the gospel being read to you today.

He died on the cross for you. He rose again and he's the only

one who can save you. Maybe you need to be saved

today. Maybe you need to be baptized

today. Maybe you need to join today.

Maybe you need to come and pray for these children, pray for

Taiwan, pray for this week where Inglewood is not only going to

do mission here, but do mission there.

And I pray God brings a harvest. Whatever we need to do, whatever

little tweak, whatever huge change, maybe it's giving up

something that you've been holding on to that you know you

shouldn't. It's time to let it go.

Let's pray and ask God to help us.

Father, we thank you. We thank you, Father, that you

created us to serve you, and you do not leave us alone.

But Father, you'll convict us. You'll bother us, You'll bug us.

You'll move in our hearts and minds, Father, because you want

us. You want us to know you, and you

want us to be obedient to you. So, Father, I don't.

I don't know what the needs are here today, Father.

I know in a crowd like this there are some.

Surely there's somebody here who's never trusted in Jesus

Christ as their Lord and Savior. They've never been saved.

They don't know what's going to happen to them when they die.

I pray in a moment they'd come and take a pastor by the hand

and just say I want to know what it means to be saved.

Maybe there are people here and they know that they need to have

a public testimony of baptism. They've never done that.

They see these wonderful testimonies today and they know

I, I need to do that. You're the, the Holy Spirit's

just convicting them now. Father, I pray, send your Spirit

in their hearts and minds. Show them, help them to listen

to you. Others just need to come into

these steps and pray. Maybe they want one of us to

pray with them about some issue in their life or someone they

know, someone they're burdened about.

Maybe they just need to come and pray over a vacation Bible

school or pray for the mission trip.

Father, whatever we need to do, let us be willing to make the

change. Give us the strength to do that.

Give us the faith to do that. Give us the power to do that.

So speak to us right now and let us not ignore you.

Father, help us as we worship you, as we praise you, as we

sing to you to respond in Christ's name, Amen.

Well, let's stand together. The worship team's going to lead

us. Some of us will be standing

here, counsel to pray. You can just come and kneel with

these steps. Whatever you need to do, you

come right now as God leads. Thank you so much for listening

today, and I also hope that you'll go to

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other resources that will bless you and your families.

Thank you once again.