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Agenda #5: Perpetuate Prejudice · Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast

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Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
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Have you ever been the recipient of prejudice?
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I mean, someone prejudges you because of your
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race or your sex. What's it feel like when people
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judge you and they don't even know you? They
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put you in a box. Worse yet, what happens when
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we do that in the church? That's today on Living
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on the Edge. We all walked into our biases. We
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didn't choose them. They were handed to us by
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family, culture, history, and years of assumption
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we never stopped to question. Today, Chip Ingram
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opens Acts chapter 10 and makes a case that's
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as pointed as it is honest. The question isn't
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whether you're prejudiced. It's how much and
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what God wants to do about it. I'm Dave Drury,
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and this is Living on the Edge, continuing Chip's
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series, The Jesus Revolution. Now, after the
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message, Chip will be sharing about our mid -year
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match, so stay with us. Well, here's Chip with
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his message titled, Perpetuate Prejudice. Of
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all the diabolical things that we've discussed
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that are subtle, this may be the most diabolical
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way that Satan brings death and destruction to
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people. I want to walk through a very clear explanation
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of what prejudice is, how it develops. And here's
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the thing, you can kind of relax. This message
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is not about, are you prejudiced or not? Please,
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no, no, no, no, no. This message is only about
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how prejudiced you are. Everybody is prejudiced,
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okay? Now, let me show you why. First, we are
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all born into a cultural bias. You grew up in
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a family, in a culture, in a language, with a
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religious orientation. You learned during that
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time there's a bias. You looked at life through
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a lens that came from parents and grandparents
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and where you came from in the part of the country
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or the part of the world. Second, apart from
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interaction outside our group, we grow up assuming
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our view accurately defines reality. You're a
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little kid and you don't know any better. And
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they say, this is what's true about black people.
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This is what's true about those white people.
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This is what's true about people from the South.
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You know those people from California, what they're
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like. Well, here's how rich people are. Well,
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you know those homeless people, what their real
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problem is, they need to. All those things are
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implanted into your mind. And you assume, unless
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you get outside your world, your group, and your
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box, that your view really is in alignment with
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reality. Third, generations of socialization
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and indoctrination create barriers at best and
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hatred at worst with those that are different
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from ourselves. See, we always, out of our insecurities,
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when anyone is different from us, it creates
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a barrier. I'll tell you why in just a second.
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There's barriers between tall people and short
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people. There's barriers between people from
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red states and blue states. There's barriers
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between people that believe that and don't believe
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that. There's all kind of barriers. You name
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a difference. There's barriers between do you
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shop at Walmart or Nordstrom's? There's barriers
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between geography, religion, politics, gender,
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color of skin, race, religious orientation. The
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moment there's something different, at best it
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creates a barrier. At worst, it breeds hatred.
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There's people that grow up and they're taught
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from an early age. Those people, and you can
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fill in who they are, they should be dead. One
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of our missionaries works in Beirut. He said,
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it's so hard for the Syrians that we're working
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for. They don't want to help. and they don't
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want to help people from Libya and they don't
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want to help some people from other places because
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they don't want them to become Christians. They're
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taught from little kids to hate other people.
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And that's true. It's true all across the world.
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Different tribes, different orientations, people
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from different religions. Notice four, internal
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inaccurate assessment. It's a nice way of saying
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pride. internal, inaccurate assessment. This
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is who you really think you are. An external,
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inaccurate assessment, that's prejudiced, results
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in the fulfillment of Satan's agenda to kill
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and to steal and destroy. Now, lest you just
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think of pride as people that are arrogant and
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have just a higher view of themselves, I put
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the definition. Pride is a high or inordinate
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opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit,
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or superiority. And then here's the part I wanted
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you to see. Whether as cherished in the mind
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or displayed in behavior. I think for most Christians,
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it's often cherished in your mind. You have attitudes.
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You have labels. Those people are like that.
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Then you generalize to all those people. Notice
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prejudice, this external inaccurate view, is
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a preconceived judgment or opinion. It's having
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an adverse opinion without learning or without
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just grounds or sufficient knowledge. It's an
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irrational attitude of hostility directed toward
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an individual, a group, a race. Or their supposed
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characteristics. And you think maybe I'm overdoing
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this. Just think of words like Rwanda, Bosnia,
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Sudan, Northern Ireland, South Africa, race in
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America. Millions of people, millions of people
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have died. Because deeply rooted in the psyche
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of little boys and girls growing up was those
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people deserve to die. They're from that tribe.
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They're from that ethnic background. Historically,
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they're from that religion. We need to kill them.
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This religion, we need to kill them. Satan has
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had a heyday with prejudice and it's rooted in
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we're okay and we're better and we're superior
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and those that are different, we dehumanize them
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so then when we do terrible things, we can justify
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it. This is all nice and theoretical out there,
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but it's not so nice and theoretical when it
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gets up close. I'm this 28 -year -old non -prejudice
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person and I find myself in my first pastorate
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in a little rural town in Texas where people
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use the N -word and argue about the KJV versus
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the NID translation in the same sentence. It
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was a world that I'd never seen. John Deere hats,
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skull under the lip, gun in the back of the pickup,
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and the public swimming pool purchased by a couple...
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business people and filling it in in 1968 lest
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black and white children swim together. And for
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a year and a half, I just thought how narrow
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and bigoted and redneck they were and how prejudiced
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I became toward them for their prejudice and
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how superior I was to them. And I remember God
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whispering about a year and a half into my journey
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as the young suburban pastor. You know, Chip,
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I love these people. I sent you here to love
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them, but you're not doing very well. All you
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do is judge them. And every time you see a gun
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in the back of a pickup or a John Deere hat,
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you generalize and you label and you think they're
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all the same. And you don't see them the way
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I see them. And I went on a journey to learn
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how to love people that were very different than
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me. And I realized I was deeply prejudiced. And
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so in God's great ironic humor, he says, well,
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Step one is there. Now I'm going to take you
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to Santa Cruz. And so, you know, highest per
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capita of lesbians. And, you know, the government
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thinks that Berkeley is too far right. And people
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are tattooed and pierced in places that it's
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unimaginable that you could actually tattoo and
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pierce yourself in those places. And there's
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sort of the Santa Cruz mindset. And for at least
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a year and a half or two, I remember sitting
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in different places watching people and just
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thinking, this is nuts. And there was an arrogance
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about it. And we were alternative this and new
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age that. And it's like God had to whisper a
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little louder, hey, Chip, I love these people.
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You don't even like them, let alone love them.
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And I went on a journey. I went on a journey
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where I asked God and I began to see. I need
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to see people the way God sees people. And you
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know what I learned after a couple years there?
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I learned there's not a nickel's worth of difference
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between a guy in a John Deere hat who uses the
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N -word and argues about this type of the Bible
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and two lesbians in the corner being very affectionate
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in terms of my attitude towards both. They may
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have some behavior that God... absolutely says
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is not correct and will be painful and hurt them,
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but he loves both of them, and both of them have
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learned some of that behavior from the prejudice
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and the backgrounds, and the only way they'll
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be liberated and loved is if someone doesn't
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judge them but loves them and gets into their
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life, and I realized I wasn't doing that. I was
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an eight or a nine in prejudice, not a two or
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a three. And there is only one thing on the face
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of the earth that has the power to break prejudice
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that you have in your heart and I have in mine.
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The reason we don't feel like we're very prejudiced
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is because we stay in our little group most of
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the time. And most of in our Christian view,
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we cherish in our mind and we look at people
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and we judge them in our mind. And because we
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judge them in our mind, look at the bottom of
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your notes. Here's what happens. The problem
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is prejudice creates walls between individuals
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and groups so the gospel can't move from one
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person to another or from one group to another.
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That's the problem. When I see people that way,
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there's a barrier. I may not hate them, but I
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so disapprove or I so am irritated or feel so
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superior that the gospel can't get beyond it.
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Jews and Gentiles at this point in historic cultural
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history hate one another. This is like the head
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of the NAACP and the KKK becoming friends. That's
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what it's like. And there's only one power. There's
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only one thing that can break those kind of things
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down. And here's the story. It's in Acts chapter
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10. And the story is the gospel smashes hundreds
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of years of prejudice and hatred. And notice
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it's through an enlisted soldier and a fisherman.
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It's not through powers. It's not through legislation.
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It's not through some elite group. There's an
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enlisted soldier in the Roman army who's oppressing
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the Jews, and there is a Jew who's a blue -collar
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worker who's been following an itinerant preacher
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named Jesus, and a transformation occurs where
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things that have been embedded in his soul and
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mind and thinking since he was a little boy and
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his father and his grandfather and his grandfather
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before him, the Spirit of God and the The gospel
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liberates him in ways that change the course
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of history. I've divided it into a number of
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vignettes. How did it happen? Let's look first
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at Cornelius' vision. At Caesarea, there was
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a man named Cornelius, and he was a centurion.
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It means he's over 100 soldiers. In what was
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known as the Italian Regiment. He and his family
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were devout and God -fearing. He gave generously
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to those in need, and he prayed to God regularly.
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One day, about three in the afternoon, he had
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a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God who
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came to him and said, Cornelius. Cornelius stared
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at him in fear and said, what is it, Lord? And
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the angel answered, your prayers and gifts to
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the poor have come up as a remembrance before
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me. Now send to Joppa and to bring back a man
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named Simon, who's called Peter. He's staying
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with Simon the Tanner, whose house is by the
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sea. When the angel who spoke to him had gone,
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Cornelius called two of his servants. and one
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of his soldiers, who was a devout man, and he
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told them everything that had happened, and he
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sent them to Joppa. He's a Gentile. We learn
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from chapter 11, he's not circumcised. In the
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polytheism of the day, it just got so messy and
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so crazy. A number of people honestly seeking
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after God would actually begin. They wouldn't
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be necessarily even proselytes, but they were
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called God -fearers, and they knew there was
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one true God, and they were reaching out, and
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they would begin to often worship in the outer
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courts of the temple. Vignette number two. Peter's
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been staying with this tanner, and he's hungry.
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And while he's hungry and they're fixing lunch,
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something happens. Pick it up at verse 9. About
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noon the following day, as they were approaching
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the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray.
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He became hungry and wanted something to eat,
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and while the meal was being prepared, he fell
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into a trance. He saw heaven open and something
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large like a sheet being let down to the earth
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by its four corners. It contained all kinds of
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four -footed animals as well as reptiles of the
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earth and birds of the air. And then the voice
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said to him, Get up, Peter, kill and eat. Peter's
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response, Surely not, Lord, Peter replied. I've
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never eaten anything impure or unclean. In that
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sheet was a number of things that they were forbidden
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to eat. You might jot in your notes Leviticus
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chapter 11. It gives very clear detail about
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these kind of animals you can eat, these kind
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you can't. And I mean it's in the law. He's heard
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it from a little boy. And now he's having a vision
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that is breaking with what he's learned all of
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his life. The voice spoke to him a second time.
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Do not call anything impure that God has made
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clean. This happened three times. And immediately
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the sheet was taken back to heaven. While Peter
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was still wondering about the meaning of the
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vision, the men sent by Cornelius had found out
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where Simon's house was, and they stopped at
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the gate. They called out if this Simon, who's
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also known as Peter, was staying there. While
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Peter was still thinking about the vision, the
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spirit, he gets this inner nudge, said to him,
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Simon, these three men are looking for you, so
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get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to
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go with them, for I have sent them. So Peter
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went downstairs and he said, I'm the one you're
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looking for. Why have you come? The men said,
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we come from Cornelius, the centurion. He's a
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righteous and God -fearing man who's respected
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by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him
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to have you come to his house so he could hear
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what you have to say. Then Peter invited the
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men to the house to be his guests. Mark that,
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if you will. This is a good Jew inviting Gentiles
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into the home, offering hospitality. And he actually,
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because of this, Ate with them. Vignette number
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three. Peter goes on a little journey to Cornelius'
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house. The next day, Peter started out with them
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along with some brothers. So he's got, we learn
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a little bit later, five or six other Jewish
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people come. They'll be giving a testimony a
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little bit later. And they go along with him
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to Joppa. The following day, he arrived in Caesarea.
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Cornelius was expecting them, and he called together
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his relatives and close friends. As Peter entered
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the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his
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feet in reverence. But Peter made him get up,
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said, Stand up, I'm only a man myself. And talking
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with him, Peter went inside and found a large
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gathering of people. And he said to them, Now
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think about this. Ever since he's a little boy,
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he has said they're dirty, they're bad, they're
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evil. In fact, the term for a Gentile among the
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Jews, they're dogs. So his first words are, you
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are well aware that it's against our law for
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a Jew to associate with a Gentile and to visit
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him. But, but, God has shown me that I should
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not call any man impure or unclean. So when I
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was sent for, I came without raising any objection.
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And this is so great. May I ask why you sent
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for me? There's not an agenda. He's not like,
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hey, I'm going to be the big evangelist. He's
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like, I've never done this before in my life.
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I'm probably scared to death. I'm thinking, what
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are all my friends going to think if anybody
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could see me here? Would someone tell me while
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I'm here? Cornelius answered, four days ago,
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I was in my house praying at this hour at three
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in the afternoon. And suddenly a man with shining
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clothes stood before me. And said, Cornelius,
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God has heard your prayers and remembered your
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gifts to the poor. Send to Joppa for Simon, who's
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called Peter. He's a guest in the home of Simon
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the Tanner, who lives by the sea. So I sent for
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you immediately, and it was good of you to come.
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Now we are all here in the presence of God to
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listen to everything the Lord has commanded you
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to tell us. And so he's just a seeker. He just
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wants to know more about God. And what the Scripture
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says, when people, any time they take honest
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steps toward God, God's going to reveal himself.
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And so Peter's going to come, and now Peter's
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going to realize, next vignette, I'm supposed
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to share the gospel with these people. In Peter's
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mind, this truth, this gospel, this Messiah is
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for our little group. It's for the Jews. He's
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our Messiah. God is going to do an amazing thing.
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Then Peter began to speak. He's going to give,
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we basically get the footnotes. I mean, just
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the high points of his sermon. I now realize
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how true it is that God doesn't show favoritism,
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but he accepts men from every nation who fear
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him and do what is right. And that word accepts
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doesn't mean they become Christians. It means
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literally the Hebrew word is he lifts his face
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in favor. In every nation, when God sees people
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that are open and he says he lifts his face,
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he favors them. He goes on to say, this is the
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message God sent to the people of Israel, telling
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the good news. of peace through Jesus Christ,
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who is Lord or sovereign over all. You know what
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has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee
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after his baptism, that John had preached, how
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God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy
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Spirit and with power, and how he went about
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doing good and healing all those that were under
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the power of the devil, because God was with
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him. We are witnesses of everything he did in
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the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. And
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they killed him by hanging him on a tree. But
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God raised him up from the dead on the third
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day and caused him to be seen. He wasn't seen
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by all the people, but by witnesses whom God
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had already chosen, by us who ate and drank with
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him after he rose from the dead. He commanded
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us then to preach to all the people and to testify
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that he's the one whom God appointed as judge
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of the living and the dead. And all the prophets
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testify about him that everyone who believes
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in him receives forgiveness of sins through his
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name. Now this is an interesting time. So basically
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he said, you know, let me just tell you the story
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of Jesus. He was promised and he was the Messiah
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and he came and John preached and as he went.
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preaching and he healed people and God authenticated
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and he is Lord. He's the sovereign. He's the
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one true God. And as he did, he demonstrated
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that by power over the works of the devil and
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he healed people. And then he came back from
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the dead and it's not an image or a dream or
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another religion. We ate with him and we walk
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with him. And I bet the sermon was a little bit
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longer and he spoke very specifically, but he
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says, here's what you got to get. God made him
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the judge over the living and the dead. So this
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one true God who came and gave his life to give
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forgiveness to whosoever would believe, those
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who respond, there's life, but he's also the
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judge, and those who reject, there's death. But
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there's forgiveness for everyone who believes.
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Now, this is one of those times where God doesn't
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allow the pastor or the preacher to figure out
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what he's gonna say. He just acts. He literally
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interrupts his sermon, vignette number six, while
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Peter was still speaking these words. He's got
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no control. He can't take credit. And by the
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way, later he's going to say, hey, it wasn't
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me, guys. He's going to get in a lot of trouble
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from his friends. What were you doing hanging
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out with those Gentiles? You mean you actually
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went in the house? And Peter's going to say,
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you know, I just did. And while I was in, bam,
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it happened. Notice it. While he was still speaking
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these words, the Holy Spirit came on all those
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who heard the message. The circumcised believers,
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or the Jews, who had come with Peter were astonished.
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Literally, the word means they were struck in
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awe. Their jaw dropped. Their eyes got wide.
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This can't be, but it is. Because the gift of
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the Holy Spirit had been given to them, even
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it adds to the Gentiles. For they heard them
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speaking in tongues and praising God. And then
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Peter said, can anyone keep these people from
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being baptized with water? They've received the
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Holy Spirit just the way we have. In other words,
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Acts chapter 2, I gave a message. God did this.
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Jews happened. Later on, chapter 8, when the
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Samaritans came to Christ, they believed, and
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then I came, and John came, and we prayed for
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him. Same thing happened. And now, I didn't even
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get to finish my message. Boom! God has now included
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the Gentiles into his church. So he ordered them
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to be baptized in the name of Jesus. They asked
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Peter to stay with them for a few days. And then
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just edging into chapter 11, the word got out.
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And the apostles and the brothers throughout
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all of Judea heard that the Gentiles had received
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the word of God. So we're thinking they're excited.
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This is awesome. They've come to Christ, the
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Savior of the world, all those Old Testament
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passages, the blessings of Abraham to all nations.
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It's going to be great, right? Wrong. So when
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Peter went to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers,
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the Jewish believers, criticized him and said,
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you went into the house of an uncircumcised man
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and you ate with him? And Peter explained everything
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precisely as it happened. God broke through prejudice.
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Prejudice keeps the love of God from moving from
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you. to another person that's different in you
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because you have ingrained thinking about them
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and you perceive them and think of them in ways
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that make a wall between you and them. When whole
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groups have prejudice against other whole groups,
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the truth and the love of God and the gospel
23:25
doesn't make it from one group to another. I
23:29
hope you get what happened here. Someone was
23:33
willing to take all the abuse and rejection and
23:36
get out of their comfort zone and say, I'm going
23:39
to begin to look at people through the lens of
23:41
God and truth, even if I get rejected by my friends,
23:46
in order to love people the way God loves them.
23:49
And what I want to suggest is very clearly in
23:51
each of these vignettes, there's a very specific
23:54
application about how God wants to remove the
23:59
walls that we've built. And again, this isn't
24:02
a make you feel guilty. This is subtle. This
24:05
is diabolical. This is Satan's agenda. I doubt,
24:10
I'm sure there's a few, but I doubt if there's
24:11
a number of people that, you know, when I said,
24:13
on a scale of one to ten, how prejudiced are
24:16
you? I mean, I doubt there's a whole lot of people
24:18
who go, I'm a nine. I like being a nine. I'm
24:23
just now thinking there's a lot of nines in the
24:24
room. At least by self -perception. But what
24:30
if you think you're a four or a five? And what
24:33
if you're an eight or a nine? And what if there's
24:36
people that God is working in where you work
24:39
in your neighborhood and where you work out and
24:42
that you have just unconscious prejudice so you
24:46
never cross a barrier of people that are different
24:49
and therefore the gospel doesn't go forth. Let
24:52
me give you the six principles that I've learned
24:54
personally and I hope they'll be helpful for
24:57
you. Principle number one from verses one through
25:00
eight, God is working in places and among people.
25:02
We assume he doesn't. Okay? He's working in places
25:07
and among people. If you would have asked Peter,
25:09
do you think God is speaking to some of those
25:12
Roman soldiers that are oppressing your people?
25:14
Peter would have said, no way. Practice. Assume
25:19
God is speaking to everyone, everywhere, and
25:22
wants to use you. When God was breaking my prejudice
25:26
in my time in Santa Cruz, I mean, it is a different
25:30
place. Let's just be very honest about this.
25:32
And there's a guy on the front row, and he had
25:34
very, very long dreadlocks down to about here.
25:37
He hadn't had a bath in either many weeks or
25:39
many months, so I could smell him almost from
25:41
here. He had a poncho, multicolored poncho, a
25:44
multicolored turban hat, various markings, and
25:48
he looks scary. And he's on the front row. and
25:52
I'm preaching, and I'm thinking, and I mean,
25:55
this guy, he's not like passive. He's going,
25:57
and I'm thinking, I wonder what's going on here.
26:00
And just every time I made eye contact, it was,
26:02
and so, you know, I get done with the message,
26:05
and I'm just, you know, thinking, I wonder, you
26:07
know, it's not like I have a conscious prejudice.
26:10
It's just like, who's the weird guy on the front
26:12
row, okay? And so, I get done, and as soon as
26:16
I get done, I come down and talk to people, and
26:18
this guy beats everybody there like this. And
26:21
I go, oh, my gosh, where's security? And he puts
26:24
his arms around me, and he hugs me, and he goes,
26:27
oh, that word from God so fed my soul. I'm so
26:30
happy to be here. And as I'm smelling him, I'm
26:34
going, whew. Later, Dan and I became good friends.
26:39
I learned Dan was purposefully on the street,
26:41
didn't have to be there. Later, I learned to
26:43
call him Dan Dan the Hippie Man. I started doing
26:47
some personal Bible study with Dan, and Dan had
26:49
a ministry to street people, and then he said,
26:50
I want to walk across the country, and he did.
26:52
And he got to Utah, and people were asking him
26:55
questions he couldn't answer, and we emailed
26:57
a little bit back and forth, and he said, you
26:59
know, I think I need some Bible training. So
27:00
he came back, went to Bible school, kept dressing
27:03
the same way, living on the streets the same
27:05
way, found a girl out there that had the same
27:07
vision. They got married and became missionaries.
27:12
Don't you dare believe that some of the weirdest
27:15
people that are different from you, that God
27:17
isn't working. Assume he's working in everyone,
27:21
everywhere, all the time, and he wants to use
27:24
you. Principle number two. Prayer is the prerequisite
27:29
to seeing others differently than our cultural
27:31
bias out of verses 9 through 16. Good Jews prayed
27:36
in the morning and they prayed at night. There
27:37
was a three -hour prayer meeting as well. But
27:41
Peter was just hungry. And he decided, I'm going
27:43
to go on the roof. And he's talking with God.
27:47
Unless your mind gets renewed, and unless you're
27:51
talking with God and being open and honest, he
27:53
can't reveal things to you. So you stay stuck
27:56
in your little box of your group and your background.
27:59
You have yours. I have mine. Everyone has theirs.
28:03
Prayer is the prerequisite to seeing others different
28:06
than our cultural bias. Because Peter met with
28:11
God, he could hear God. And God prepared him.
28:13
All that stuff about the sheep and the animals,
28:16
oh, I get it. Don't call anything unclean that
28:20
God calls pure. And so here's the practice. Ask
28:24
God to let you see others the way he does. I'll
28:30
never forget, Lord, would you help me see that
28:33
guy in the John Deere hat that when I walk in
28:36
to the wagon wheel, one restaurant at the time
28:40
in rural Texas, with the country music blaring
28:43
and this guy whispering about this loud, hey,
28:47
there's that new preacher boy that's over there
28:49
at Country Bible Church. It made me go, I can't
28:54
believe what you're doing. And I began to pray,
28:58
God, would you help me see him the way you see
29:01
him? Trying hard to see him that way doesn't
29:05
work. So what I found is, Romans 12, 2 says,
29:08
don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed
29:10
how? By trying hard, working hard. What's it
29:13
say? Don't be conformed to this world, but be
29:16
transformed by the renewing of your mind. Why?
29:18
So that you can prove or test or experience what
29:20
God's will is, the good, acceptable will of God.
29:23
And so on this card, it's very, very old. I wrote
29:26
it many, many, many years ago and reviewed it
29:28
probably hundreds or thousands of times. And
29:31
I just wrote, accepting others, removing prejudice.
29:34
I'd like to view others in light of their eternity
29:37
and need instead of by their outward appearance,
29:42
possessions, status, or abilities. And then I
29:46
wrote 1 Samuel 16, 7, God sees not as man sees,
29:49
for man looks on the outward appearance, but
29:51
God weighs the heart. I want to look people through
29:55
the lens of eternity. Are they heaven bound or
29:58
hell bound? I'm going to look at it through the
30:01
lens of need. You know what? That guy with the
30:04
John Deere hat or the two lesbians in the corner,
30:07
they have need. They have insecurities. They
30:10
have struggles. They've been through pain. How
30:12
would Jesus look at them? What would he want?
30:15
You don't have to agree with people's politics,
30:18
their religion, their sexual orientation. You
30:21
don't have to agree. But you can love them. That's
30:24
what Jesus did. That's why he got in so much
30:26
trouble. The early church got in a lot of trouble.
30:29
We're not getting in enough trouble. We need
30:32
to start loving people very different than us.
30:37
And so I just begin to read that card over and
30:40
over and asking God, just, I can't do that. Certain
30:46
prejudices are ingrained in my mind for years.
30:51
So I ask, and God will answer that prayer. Three,
30:57
walls of prejudice often come down a few bricks
30:59
at a time from verses 17 to 23. Peter didn't
31:03
go from this diehard prejudiced Jew with Gentiles.
31:06
You know, first of all, it was like, you know,
31:08
I'm kind of far away from the home base there
31:11
in Jerusalem. I'll just stay with this tanner.
31:14
I mean, he's ceremonially unclean, but you know,
31:17
it's a little baby step. And then pretty soon
31:19
when Cornelius' guys come, he let them in the
31:21
house. Then he traveled with them. He did a lot
31:24
of baby steps that were absolutely forbidden.
31:28
And I can only think that he knew, you know,
31:31
like I love one translation says, it says when
31:34
he crossed the threshold, when he went inside
31:36
that Gentile house, it was like, oh baby, there's
31:40
no turning back. I have just violated everything
31:43
that I have been taught all my life. I'm in the
31:46
house of a dog. But you know what? That's my
31:49
opinion. That is my prejudice. No, I'm in the
31:52
house of a God -fearing man that the Spirit of
31:54
God is wooing and drawing and actually sent an
31:57
angel, and God cares about him, so I need to
31:59
care about him, and I need to put away my stuff
32:01
and my prejudice and my background and what anybody
32:04
else thinks, and I need to love him and share
32:06
the love of Christ, and he did. And you're here
32:09
today because he did, fellow Gentile. And so
32:13
here's the practice. The practice is take small
32:17
steps this week to connect with someone much
32:21
different than you. And you know what? Just take
32:24
some baby. Let's start taking some bricks off
32:26
the wall, okay? So for me, it was like I decided
32:31
because that guy irritated me so much, I walked
32:33
in and I said, can I sit down? You know, there's
32:35
like four or five guys drinking coffee every
32:37
morning, John Deere hats, the whole. Can I sit
32:39
down? And they looked at me like, you preacher
32:41
boy? That's what they called me. I did not like
32:43
that. And I said, hey, tell me a little bit about,
32:45
like, where do you get those hats? So, like,
32:50
do you have a ranch or something? Well, yeah.
32:52
I just started asking questions. I just, I mean,
33:00
I thought John Deere was a lawnmower. I'm from
33:03
the city. I don't know anything. And I remember
33:08
in Santa Cruz when I would. find situations that
33:12
were just so appalling to me. You know, they're
33:15
protesting our church, and we're bashing them.
33:17
So I called the mayor and said, would you like
33:19
to have lunch? He's the mayor of Santa Cruz.
33:22
I mean, he graduated from Berkeley, and he thinks
33:25
they're too far right. Super ultra ultra out
33:29
there guy. And we had a two -hour lunch. And
33:32
he came thinking, okay, I'm going to meet with
33:34
this Bible -thumping, anti -intellectual bigot,
33:37
because that's what they think all Christians
33:39
are. And I think, here I am, the super, you know,
33:42
guy who thinks alternative, da -da -da -da. And
33:45
we had a two -hour lunch, and here's what I've
33:46
got to tell you, two things. Number one, I liked
33:48
him. It was almost disappointing. And you know,
33:54
two, I respected him. When I listened carefully
33:58
to his intellectual presuppositions about how
34:01
he viewed the world, what he did made sense.
34:04
At least he was consistent with his vision and
34:06
values and doing something. What we both agreed
34:09
on is we wanted to help the poor. And so I left
34:11
that with our church is going to help the poor
34:13
and he would help us help the poor. And we both
34:15
kind of went away smiling going, you know what?
34:17
We totally disagree on almost everything with
34:20
regard to a worldview. But I think I just met
34:24
a Christian that is not stupid, anti -intellectual,
34:26
bigoted, Bible -thumping jerk. You seem like
34:29
a real person. And I came away the same way.
34:33
And we begin to see God open some doors. Why?
34:38
Now, I'd like to tell you that in the middle
34:40
of lunch, he bowed, prayed the prayer, is in
34:42
the kingdom. But I took a few bricks off. And
34:47
I didn't let, in circles anymore, I didn't let
34:48
people talk about him the same way. Hey, I know
34:51
that guy. Now, I disagree with him, but he's
34:53
really a nice guy. And he's really trying to
34:56
do some good. And so you take steps. You take
35:00
baby steps for Obedience to God often alienates
35:05
us from our group and is the price tag to take
35:08
the good news across cultures. It's verses 23
35:11
to 33. Peter violated hundreds of years of tradition
35:16
and he gets flack for it. If you do what God
35:21
wants you to do, some fellow Christians are going
35:23
to say, why are you hanging out with them? You're
35:28
going to make Christians feel uncomfortable.
35:32
Here's the practice. Choose to please God, not
35:36
men. Choose to please God, not men. I remember
35:43
a crossroads. In a small rural town, there was
35:47
a lot of prejudice and two things happened. Number
35:49
one, I started bringing black kids and Hispanic
35:52
kids to church. And I was called in downtown
35:55
to a meeting of some leaders. Not all the leaders,
35:59
just two or three. Very powerful, very wealthy.
36:02
We're part of starting a church. And they basically
36:05
said, you know what? This is not really the kind
36:07
of church we're looking for, and you need to
36:09
keep your focus over here, and, you know, we're
36:11
just not really equipped. And, I mean, they used
36:12
all the sophisticated ways to say, look, we don't
36:15
want black kids and Hispanic kids coming to church.
36:18
And I don't know if you've ever been there, but
36:19
I was at a crossroads, and I felt like, you know
36:21
something? You know, Galatians, memorizing Scripture
36:24
was very helpful. Then Galatians 1 .10 came to
36:26
my mind, where the Apostle Paul said, If I please
36:30
people, I can't be a bondservant of Christ. And
36:33
I remember looking at them and saying, you know,
36:35
guys, I know you brought me here and you have
36:37
a picture of a church, but Jesus has a picture
36:39
of a church. And as long as I'm the pastor, I'll
36:42
tell you what, this is what I'm going to do because
36:45
I'm thinking his vision is probably way more
36:48
important than yours. And maybe if that's not
36:50
what you want to do, and see, I think I tell
36:52
every pastor, you ought to have your resignation
36:54
kind of written down somewhere in an envelope,
36:57
keep it in your top desk drawer. And if you're
36:59
not willing to be fired, you'll never be willing
37:00
to stand up for what's right. And so I remember
37:04
just saying, and you know something? It's amazing.
37:06
The power of the gospel breaks through. Some
37:08
of those same guys three years later when we
37:11
remodeled the black high school that we bought
37:13
and remodeled. and begin to partner with the
37:16
black church across the street. Those guys, I
37:19
watch them in a shop helping small black kids
37:22
learn about Christ and learn a trade. You know,
37:25
it just takes one person like you at your work,
37:28
at your neighborhood, at your health club, to
37:32
break a barrier. And when you do, God opens doors.
37:36
But you're going to have to please God, not please
37:37
people. I remember the second time for us was,
37:41
are we going to buy this? It was an abandoned,
37:43
it was... three or four acres. And it was the
37:46
black high school and had just disrepair, but
37:49
it was really inexpensive. And we were going
37:51
to buy it and remodel it. And we had, you know,
37:53
one of those big church meetings, the kind that
37:56
aren't good, where people stand up and argue
37:58
with one another. And we can't do that. That's
38:01
in the black section of town. And, you know,
38:03
they'll break the windows and on and on and on.
38:05
And it was, again, one of those moments of truth.
38:09
We never had any vandalism. But it was someone
38:12
else. You need to kind of wait as a pastor. What's
38:14
going to happen here? I remember a young woman
38:15
stood up and said, if the love of Christ can't
38:19
transcend race in this town, then we have no
38:23
business being here. I think it's God's choice
38:26
spot for us. Now, when you do that, you know
38:30
that two or three people that have a lot of money
38:31
are going to fold their arms and go, I'm out.
38:35
And you have to lovingly say, don't let that
38:37
door hit you too hard on the rear end on the
38:39
way out. People will use politics, power, intimidation,
38:45
and manipulation to keep you from doing what's
38:48
right. And by the way, when you do what's right,
38:50
there's a price. It's not Hollywood. It doesn't
38:54
mean, oh, everything goes great. I remember we
38:56
got, as a result of some of those moves, we got
38:59
where if God didn't show up with some money on
39:01
a certain day at a certain time, we were done.
39:04
And guess what? On that day, at a certain day,
39:09
On that certain time, exactly what we needed
39:11
came in. So choose to please God. Practice number
39:15
five is the good news of the gospel is for all
39:17
people of all backgrounds in all places. That's
39:22
Peter's sermons, verses 34 to 43. Peter said,
39:27
wait, when we preached the gospel, Pentecost
39:31
occurred and he included the Jews. I didn't even
39:33
get done with my message. The exact same thing
39:36
happened to the Gentiles. And Peter got new eyes.
39:39
All of a sudden, all those Old Testament passages
39:41
that he was skipping over about the nations and
39:44
the blessing through Abraham and what God wanted
39:46
to do for all people of all time, all of a sudden
39:48
they started to pop. See, you read your Bible
39:51
and I read my Bible through a lens. Try this.
39:56
Read your Bible for 30 days and just start looking
40:00
for the poor, the poor, the poor, the poor, the
40:02
poor, the poor, and see what the Bible says about
40:04
the poor versus how you think about the poor.
40:08
Read the Psalms. Read the Proverbs. And just
40:11
look for the word poor. And you'll realize, whoa.
40:15
God really is. He doesn't think they're all bums.
40:20
He doesn't think they're all just if they work
40:22
harder. Is that true in some cases? For sure.
40:25
That's not what the Scripture says. The practice
40:29
here, share the difference Jesus had made in
40:33
your life with someone this week. Okay? I mean,
40:36
we have to get out of, I'm trying to be a good
40:39
person and I come to church and I'm trying to
40:41
do what God wants me to do. Jesus is the answer
40:44
to the world's needs and when we... Share what
40:48
Jesus has done. And you don't have to share all
40:50
the four laws. You don't have to become a flaming
40:52
evangelist with a Bible this big in front of
40:54
your desk or your cubicle or put up stickers
40:56
everywhere. What you need to do is incarnate
40:59
the life of Jesus and begin in normal ways where
41:02
just in the passing in a conversation and maybe
41:05
even a work situation and we're so afraid of
41:08
offending people. Get more afraid of them never
41:11
hearing. And do it winsomely. Little statements
41:15
like, Oh, wow, I can't imagine what you're going
41:18
through. You know, I went through a divorce.
41:19
Apart from Jesus, I don't know how I'd be here
41:22
today. Your son's in ICU. Would you mind if I
41:29
prayed to the Lord Jesus? Let's get out of just
41:32
this God. It means anything in our day. Can I
41:35
pray for God? Yeah, God, you know, it can be
41:36
anybody. Share Jesus. And just share it in normal
41:40
kind of ways. Break through the barriers. And
41:46
do it with someone different. I have a new friend
41:50
where I play a little pickup basketball. His
41:55
name's Junior. And Junior's a big guy. And so
41:59
he had a number of tattoos. And then I noticed
42:02
he had some new ones that went up like this all
42:04
the way up his neck and then curled around on
42:05
his cheeks. And I said, whoa, Junior, you got
42:08
some new ones there. He goes, yeah, man, they're
42:09
really. And I said, well, what? You know, he
42:11
gave me a little background. See. I can tell
42:13
you 10 years ago if I saw that, I'd be like,
42:15
you know? And then later, you know, like three
42:19
weeks later, I said, you know, how about things
42:21
like, does it hurt? Yeah, it hurts. Well, so
42:24
instead of why do you do it or that looks weird
42:27
or so, so tell me, what's it mean to you? Tell
42:29
me what, have you ever wondered why people do
42:31
that? Why don't you ask them? You don't have
42:33
to judge him. So what's going on? Well, then
42:35
he came back later and he has a shaved head and
42:37
he has now this, it's sort of the hook cross
42:39
that goes down like this and the tattoo goes
42:41
all the way around. If I saw Junior on the street,
42:44
man, I'd be terrified. I got to tell you. Junior
42:50
is one of the nicest guys I know, and Junior
42:53
is my friend. In fact, he's so kind, he runs
42:55
the rec center. And so he said, you know, Chip,
42:58
it's fun kind of having you around. And he figured
42:59
out what I did, and I just in little ways, you
43:02
know. He said, how you doing? I said, well, I
43:04
can't play today, but I need to get worked out.
43:06
I'm preaching a big message about Jesus this
43:08
weekend. Oh, yeah, really? Good. He knows where
43:10
I'm going. I mean, and so he says, give me your
43:13
phone number. When the rec center is closed,
43:16
sometimes I open it up. So a couple weeks ago,
43:18
I get this text, want to play ball. It's from
43:21
Junior. You know, I don't know where Junior's
43:24
at spiritually, but little by little by little
43:27
by little, if someone doesn't cross a barrier
43:30
that's different and love Junior, how will he
43:32
ever know? And I'm no flaming evangelist. As
43:36
far as the first four or five months, all he
43:38
knew, here's some old white guy trying to play
43:40
ball still. Seriously, you know, and he wears
43:43
a lot of braces. And over time, we became friends.
43:49
Who in your world is different from you that
43:52
this week, this week, take a baby step, pull
43:55
a brick down? Finally, number six, God refuses
43:59
to allow himself or his ways to be put in a box.
44:03
Verses 44 through 46. Acts chapter 10 is not
44:09
a blueprint for the spiritual life. It's historical.
44:12
It's a historical picture of how God includes
44:15
people. It's the picture of how this revolution
44:18
of Jesus changed the world. So in Acts 2, they
44:20
speak in tongues because it's an external view
44:22
of the Spirit has come upon the Jews. In Acts
44:25
8, it doesn't say tongues, but there's an outward
44:27
manifestation. It probably is the Samaritans
44:29
get in. But notice that it happens at the time
44:32
here. It happens later here. Now the Gentiles,
44:35
it happens simultaneously. This isn't a picture
44:37
or a teaching about some second blessing. This
44:40
is a picture of Acts 2, 8, 10, and later in 19,
44:44
we have a group that were traveling somewhere
44:46
and had not even heard of the Holy Spirit. There
44:49
is no formula in the book of Acts. How people
44:53
and when they believe and sometimes they're baptized
44:55
before, sometimes they're baptized afterwards.
44:57
Here's what we do. We unconsciously assume inside
45:01
Christendom that the way God works with us is
45:04
how he's going to work with everyone. Can I give
45:06
you some real prejudice in the church? We got
45:08
one group over here. And you know why? Because
45:11
it's how you were trained. It's God's word. It's
45:14
principles. We don't want to get too emotional.
45:15
Those people that raise their hands and dance
45:17
around, they make me nervous. And then that one
45:19
guy said he had a vision from God or he had this
45:21
prompting from God. And you know what? There's
45:23
principles. We don't want that experience or
45:25
emotionalism. We're going to be men and women
45:27
of the word. And this group is over here going,
45:31
hello, I love you, Lord. I love you, Lord. I
45:34
had a vision last night. These people don't get
45:36
the spirit. They're just, you know, the frozen
45:38
chosen. Oh, they just work principles. They're
45:41
just trying to work it out. They don't get, they,
45:42
and there's prejudice. You need to love people
45:48
that are different. Could it be that the Spirit
45:50
of God wants to take the Word of God with a group
45:52
of people outside boxes and boundaries, inside
45:56
clear Scripture, and say, let's change the world
45:58
instead of judge one another? Why do we have
46:01
all these denominations? Because basically, the
46:05
arrogance and pride our way is better. Everyone
46:07
else is out to lunch. Here's the practice. Refuse
46:15
to assume that God will work in others the same
46:20
way he's worked in you. Could I just ask you
46:26
to please go on a journey and answer these questions?
46:32
The first question is pretty easy. I think you
46:34
can answer why we're all prejudiced. It's just
46:37
kind of, my prayer for you and me is that our
46:40
number goes down. You've got a number and I've
46:43
got one. It's just that it goes down. I'd like
46:47
you to think about how prejudice has really negatively
46:50
affected other people. You know, sometimes when
46:53
you look at it out there, it kind of helps you
46:55
realize how diabolical it is. And then third,
46:59
which of these six principles, Which one as I
47:04
was going through it, there was a little sort
47:06
of a loving dagger that said, oh, you need to
47:09
listen to this. Put a star by that one. And then
47:13
who or what group of people do you find yourself
47:16
judging? Just as I kind of threw stuff around,
47:20
is it an ethnic issue? Is it a wealth issue?
47:23
Is it a background issue? Is it people from different
47:26
parts of the world issue? Is it a work issue?
47:29
Is it an envy? I don't know. I've got it, you've
47:32
got it. Then what if you, number five, could
47:38
let the walls down? What if you started praying
47:39
for a specific person? Try to understand them.
47:45
Ask a question. Share at a meal. Maybe if appropriate,
47:48
ask them to forgive you. And finally, I want
47:52
to close with this. Can you imagine? Would you
47:57
please, can you imagine what God would do and
48:01
what would happen if they intergenerational?
48:05
That means young people admire old people instead
48:07
of they don't know anything. And old people would
48:11
look at young people instead of, eh, they're
48:12
always too loud and trying to do this and would
48:14
mentor them instead. Intergenerational, interracial,
48:19
intergender, interpolitical. where Jesus would
48:26
be the center, and we would so move beyond our
48:29
prejudice and love each other here, what would
48:33
God do? What would God do? It's not some big
48:40
thing that some important person, an enlisted
48:43
soldier, and a blue -collar fisherman change
48:47
the world. You are the answer to breaking down
48:52
the walls. in someone's life. You've been listening
48:58
to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram and the
49:01
conclusion of a message titled Perpetuate Prejudice.
49:05
We'll hear more from Chip in just a moment, so
49:07
don't go anywhere. Well, Chip told the story
49:10
of sitting down with guys in John Deere hats
49:13
in a Texas diner just asking questions about
49:16
their world and lunch with the mayor of Santa
49:19
Cruz who expected a Bible -thumping bigot and
49:22
left thinking, I just met a real person. Walls
49:26
come down a brick at a time. You don't have to
49:28
fix centuries of prejudice this week. You just
49:31
have to ask one question. Sit down with one person.
49:35
Pull one brick. Every message from the Jesus
49:38
Revolution series is available to stream on the
49:41
Living on the Edge podcast. Subscribe and share
49:44
it with someone who needs to hear it. And you
49:47
can find Chip's full -length sermons on the Chip
49:49
Ingram Sermon Podcast wherever you listen. The
49:53
Jesus Revolution moved through ordinary people
49:55
willing to cross ordinary thresholds. Well, here's
49:59
Chip on what it looks like to keep that movement
50:01
going right now. One of the most comforting and
50:04
uncomfortable things about the book of Acts is
50:06
this. The early church wasn't perfect, not even
50:09
close. In Acts 6, there's already a conflict
50:12
brewing over how the widows are being cared for.
50:15
There's internal division, complaints, hurt feelings,
50:18
people feeling overlooked. Sound familiar? Well,
50:22
here's what the early church did that made all
50:24
the difference. They addressed the problem directly.
50:28
They appointed godly leaders to handle it. The
50:31
early church refused to let conflict become a
50:34
casualty. The mission was too important, and
50:37
it still is today. And that's why when millions
50:41
of people in the course of a year listen to a
50:44
podcast or a radio broadcast or do a small group
50:49
resource, We're teaching marriages how to overcome
50:52
conflict. We're teaching pastors how to work
50:55
through difficulties and challenges that split
50:58
churches. Because problems are always going to
51:02
be there. And your gift to the mid -year match
51:04
this June is a vote for the mission over the
51:08
mess. Every dollar matched. Empowering living
51:11
on the edge to keep the main thing the main thing.
51:14
Learning to live and to love like Jesus. Keep
51:18
the main thing the main thing. That's the calling.
51:21
And right now, your gift makes it possible. Join
51:24
the mid -year match before the month is out.
51:26
Every dollar you contribute this June is matched
51:29
in full. Give online at livingontheedge .org
51:32
or call us at 888 -333 -6003. If you'd rather
51:38
send your donation through the mail, just address
51:40
your envelope to Living on the Edge, P .O. Box
51:43
3007, Atlanta, Georgia, 30024. Every dollar matched
51:49
right now. Again, just visit livingontheedge
51:52
.org or call our team at 888 -333 -6003. Well,
51:58
I'm Dave Drewy, and that's a wrap on this week's
52:00
program. More practical, life -changing Bible
52:03
teaching from Chip Ingram is ahead on Living
52:05
on the Edge. Today's program is produced and
52:11
sponsored by Living on the Edge.