Prepare your heart for the Sermon by looking through these suggestions that will assist you in making the most of our time together hearing God's Word.
You will find suggestions for thinking more critically through the passage, meditating more intently on the text, and prayerfully seeking wisdom to deepen your understanding of the passage to be preached this Sunday.
Carefully Think
- Read Acts 10:1-48
- Who was Cornelius? What do you know about him from the text? (See especially Acts 10:2,22)
- How did the Lord speak to Cornelius?
- What did God ask Cornelius to do?
- How did God speak to Peter?
- What was the content of Peter’s vision?
- What kinds of animals did Peter get commanded to eat? Why is this significant? (Leviticus 11:26, 42, )
- At what point in the narrative was Cornelius saved? How do you know?
- What does Peter say that God revealed to him according to verse 28? Was this only regarding the uncleanliness of food?
- What did Cornelius ask to hear from Peter?
- What are the limits of God’s gospel? Is any nation left out?
- What credibility does Peter have to his account of Jesus?
- How many of the prophets validate the words and effectiveness of Jesus’s work on the cross?
- How did the Holy Spirit display himself in this passage? Where else have we seen this in the book of Acts?
- Why were the Jews amazed?
- What did peter command of these new believers?
- When did these individuals get baptized?
Prayerfully Meditate
- Read Acts 10:1-48 again.
- What does this passage teach about the inclusiveness of the gospel?
- What did God affirm about Cornelius’s life?
- What was the problem with Cornelius’s worship in verse 25?
- How does Peter respond to Cornelius’s worship? What can you learn from his response?
- How does God’s impartiality as described in this passage affect you?
- What are the pieces of the gospel that Peter shares with Cornelius?