Lesson Date: August 7, 2011

Focal Scripture Passage: Acts 10:1 – 11:18

AIM: To lead adults to recognize that the gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone regardless of their racial, social, religious or ethnic background, and to confess any sins of prejudice and be willing to invite anyone and everyone to hear the gospel.

 

INTRODUCTION (Create Learning Readiness): Before class: Consider studying the racial and ethnic makeup of your class enrollment and prospect list.  Is your class open to people of different races and ethnic backgrounds?  If not, what could you do to make it more open?

When class begins: Tell the class that we sometimes hear talk of prejudice in America.  During the last century many of our institutional prejudices were eliminated, but ethnic and racial prejudices still exist in our world.  Unfortunately, there are even prejudices in the religious world.  Read the following to the class:

In his autobiography, Mahatma Gandhi says that during his student days he was interested in the Bible.  Deeply touched by reading the gospels, he seriously considered becoming a convert.  Christianity seemed to offer the real solution to the caste system that was dividing the people of India.  One Sunday he went to a church to see the minister and ask for instruction on the way of salvation and other Christian doctrines.  When he entered the sanctuary, however, the ushers refused him a seat and suggested that he go and worship with his own people.  He left and never went back.  “If Christians have caste differences also,” he said to himself, “I might as well remain a Hindu.”[1]

We know that prejudice will not ultimately keep one of God’s elect from coming to faith in Jesus Christ, but the incident described above is very unfortunate and un-Christlike.  Remind the class that in ancient times a great deal of prejudice existed between Jews and Gentiles.  Faithful Jews avoided contact with Gentiles as much as possible.

 

HEART OF THE LESSON (Bible Study):

1.     Review.

a.     Briefly review the first nine chapters of the book of Acts.

b.     Especially remind the class that Jesus told His followers to take the gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and throughout the world.

c.     Chapters 1-7 tell about the gospel covering Jerusalem and Judea.  Two weeks ago, we learned about the gospel going to Samaria.

d.     Last week we learned about Saul’s conversion.

2.     Cornelius’ Vision.

a.     Read Acts 10:1-2.

b.     Using information on these verses and in the Sunday School Teacher Book (page 48), explain who Cornelius was.

c.     Locate Caesarea on the map.

d.     Ask a volunteer to read Acts 10:3-8.

e.     Ask: “What did Cornelius see?” (an angel).

f.      The angel told him that God heard his prayers and honored his alms.

g.     Ask: “What did the angel tell Cornelius to do?” (send for Peter to come and speak to him).

h.     Ask: “Did he obey the angel?” (yes).

3.     Peter’s Vision.

a.     The Apostle Peter was 33 miles away in Joppa (locate Joppa on the map).

b.     Read Acts 10:9-16.

c.     Ask: “What did Peter see in his vision?” (something that looked like a sheet descending from heaven; the sheet was filled with animals).

d.     Remind the class that God had given the Jews very strict dietary laws.  The sheet contained all sorts of animals, including those that were unclean – the ones Jews were forbidden to eat.

e.     A voice from heaven told Peter to kill and eat the animals, but Peter refused.

f.      Ask: “What did the heavenly voice tell Peter in verse 15?” (he should no longer call those things that God has cleansed common or unclean).

g.     This vision and conversation happened three times, after which the sheet containing all the animals went back up to heaven.

4.     Peter’s Perplexity and Response.

a.     Tell the class that it is hard for us to understand the seriousness of the dietary laws to the Jews.  When we think of dietary restrictions, we might think of the advice we hear about avoiding high-cholesterol and high-fat foods.  That is good advice and good for your long-term health, but we all know we won’t die if we eat one greasy hamburger.  The Jews, on the other hand, had very strict dietary laws that were not to be broken at all.

b.     Ask a volunteer to read Acts 10:17-18.

c.     Peter was extremely perplexed about the vision he had seen.

d.     At that time, the men Cornelius sent to find Peter arrived at his house.

e.     Ask a volunteer to read Acts 10:19-20.

f.      Ask: “What did the Holy Spirit tell Peter?” (to go with the men to Cornelius).

g.     Read Acts 10:21-23.

h.     Ask: “Did Peter obey God?” (yes).

5.     Peter Met Cornelius.

a.     Ask the class to listen for who Cornelius called together to hear Peter, as you read Acts 10:24-27 (his family and friends – many people).

b.     Tell the class that Peter reminded Cornelius that it was unlawful for a Jew to come into the home of a Gentile, but God told Peter not to judge anyone as unclean.  Cornelius explained why he sent for Peter.

c.     Read Acts 10:28-33.

6.     Peter’s Sermon.

a.     Peter’s sermon is recorded for us in Acts 10:34-43.

b.     Ask the class to look at those verses and complete the following statements:

c.     Verse 34 – God is no _____________________________________.

d.     Verse 35 – Who is accepted by God? _________________________.

e.     Verse 36 – Jesus is Lord of __________.

f.      Verse 43 – Through Jesus’ name _____________ believes in __________ shall receive ______________ of ________.

7.     The Gentiles were Saved and Received the Holy Spirit.

a.     Peter told Cornelius and all those gathered at his house about salvation through Jesus Christ.

b.     Ask a volunteer to read Acts 10:44-48.

c.     Ask: “What happened to all those who heard the Word of God?” (they were saved and received the Holy Spirit).

d.     Ask: “What was the reaction of the Jews (“they of the circumcision”) to this?” (they were astonished that Gentiles could be saved in the same way as Jews).

e.     Verse 46 lets us know that these Gentiles received the Holy Spirit just as the Jews did in chapter 2 (see notes on pages 7-8, 51-52, and 70 of the Sunday School Teacher Book for further explanation).

f.      Ask: “What did Peter command to be done to Cornelius and the other new believers?” (that they should be baptized).

g.     Baptism is an act of obedience that shows the new convert is fully accepted into the local body of believers.  At this point Gentile believers were fully accepted into the body of Christ and were no longer considered second-class citizens!

8.     Peter Reported back to the Church in Jerusalem.

a.     Read Acts 11:1-3.

b.     Tell the class that when Peter returned to Jerusalem the apostles and other (Jewish) Christians argued with him, saying that he was wrong to fellowship and eat with Gentiles.

c.     In Acts 11:4-17, Peter told them about his vision and what happened at Cornelius’ house.

d.     Read Acts 11:18.

e.     Ask: “How did the Jewish believers in Jerusalem react when they learned about all this?” (they glorified God that He would save Gentiles as well as Jews).

 

PERSONAL APPLICATION: To the amazement of the early Jewish Christians, salvation through Jesus Christ was available to the Gentiles, just as it was to the Jews.  The Jews disliked and avoided all contact with Gentiles, but God reached across all ethnic barriers to save them.  The Gentiles who received Christ were not “second-class” Christians; they were full-fledged members of the body of Christ.  Ever since that time, the church has been made up of genuine believers, regardless of their ethnic, racial, or religious background.  The good news for us is that salvation through Jesus Christ is still available to anyone – Jew or Gentile – who truly repents of his sin and places his faith in Jesus Christ.

Ask: “How many of you are of Jewish ancestry?” (probably very few, if any).  Say to the rest of the class, who are of Gentile (non-Jewish) ancestry: “If the gospel had not encompassed Gentiles as well as Jews, you would have no hope of salvation.”  We should praise God that He does not limit the gospel to one ethnic group.

As long as there has been sin in the world, there has been prejudice.  Those who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior should confess any sins of prejudice and be willing to invite anyone and everyone to hear the gospel.  We should not put up man-made barriers to salvation such as racial or ethnic differences.  All human beings are sinners in need of a Savior.  We should invite anyone and everyone we know to turn to Jesus Christ for salvation.  Urge everyone to do that.  Lead a closing prayer of repentance and forgiveness.

 

CONCLUSION: Ask: “Do you know someone of a different ethnic group that is not a Christian?  If you do, why don’t you invite that person to come to Sunday School with you next Sunday?”  Ask everyone to read the Daily Bible Readings and to do the learning activities in their quarterly this week.