What does it look like to have confidence in Christ? - Acts 11:1-18 sermon | Prescott Anglican Church

Text: Acts 11:1-18

When the world seems increasingly uncertain, it's easy to respond with fear. But in Acts 11:1–18, Peter's encounter with Cornelius reminds us that God is at work even when his plans challenge our expectations. This sermon for Trinity XXI explores how God prepares, calls, and transforms his people through the Holy Spirit—and why Christians can live with confidence in Christ rather than fear of the world around them.

Sermon manuscript:

There is no shortage of things to be afraid of.

Turn on the news, and we see political unrest, violence, and uncertainty. Look at our communities, and we see declining religious participation and growing indifference toward the Christian faith. Look at our own lives, and we find worries about our families, our finances, our children, and the future.

Sometimes the world seems to be coming apart at the seams.

But as Christians, we face a choice: Will we live in fear of what is happening around us, or will we live in confidence in what Christ has already accomplished?

In Acts 11, we find the early Church facing a similar choice. God is doing something extraordinary, something that will change the course of history. Yet rather than immediately rejoicing, some believers respond with fear and criticism.

Their response has much to teach us about our own.

When God Challenges Our Expectations

Peter has just returned to Jerusalem after visiting Cornelius, a Gentile who, along with his household, has received the gospel and the Holy Spirit.

This should have been an occasion for tremendous rejoicing. The good news of Jesus Christ was spreading beyond Israel! The promises of God were being fulfilled!

But that isn't how everyone responds.

Instead, Peter is criticized by those Luke calls the circumcision party.

"You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them." (Acts 11:3)

To understand their reaction, we need to recognize just how radical Peter's actions were. These weren't simply people who had different political opinions or cultural preferences. The division between Jews and Gentiles was deeply rooted in centuries of religious and cultural identity.

And now Peter had entered a Gentile household, eaten with them, and welcomed them into the covenant community.

For some, this was scandalous.

These critics weren't outsiders. They were believers, people who had received the gospel themselves. Yet they struggled to accept what God was doing.

Why?

I suspect that at least part of the answer was fear.

Fear of change. Fear of losing something familiar. Fear that the world they understood was being turned upside down.

We aren't so different.

Sometimes God calls us to repentance, to a new ministry, or to something that challenges our expectations. And instead of responding in faith, we become paralyzed by fear.

But we are not called to live in fear. We are called to confidence in Christ.

The Greatest Threat to the Church

I began my ministry in Hancock County, Maine, a place where religious participation was remarkably low. According to the figures I encountered, fewer than one in five residents participated in any kind of religious community.

It was a difficult place to minister.

And increasingly, the rest of the country seems to be moving in a similar direction.

We can look at declining church attendance, secularization, cultural hostility, and religious conflict and wonder what will become of the Church.

But I have become convinced that the greatest threat to the Church isn't simply something outside of us.

It is our own ambivalence and self-centeredness.

When we become so consumed by the world around us that we forget the hope we have been given, we lose sight of our calling.

The answer isn't to retreat in fear. It is to become more deeply rooted in Christ, ready to give a reason for the hope that is within us.

And Peter shows us what that looks like.

Four Ways God Was Already at Work

Peter's response to his critics is remarkable.

He doesn't become defensive. He doesn't lash out. Luke simply tells us that Peter began explaining what happened, in order.

And as Peter recounts the events surrounding Cornelius's conversion, we discover that God had been at work long before Peter understood what was happening.

We can see four ways in which God was acting.

1. God Gave a Divine Vision

Peter begins by recounting the vision he received in Joppa: a great sheet descending from heaven, filled with animals that Jewish ceremonial law regarded as unclean.

A voice commanded him to rise, kill, and eat.

Peter resisted, but the voice answered, "What God has made clean, do not call common." (Acts 11:9)

God was teaching Peter something much greater than a lesson about food.

Holiness comes not through ritual observance, but through faith in Jesus Christ.

Throughout Scripture, God calls his people to clean hearts, repentance, and genuine faith. The outward signs of our faith matter, but they point to something deeper: the transforming work of God within us.

And that transformation is possible only through Christ.

This is the gospel.

You and I have sinned. We have fallen short of the glory of God. We have done selfish things, and we cannot repair our brokenness by our own efforts.

But Christ came. Christ died. Christ rose again so that you and I might have life.

That is the good news at the heart of everything Peter is describing.

2. God Gave a Divine Command

As Peter's vision ended, three men arrived from Cornelius.

The Holy Spirit told Peter to go with them without hesitation.

And Peter went.

There is a simple but profound lesson here: When God calls you to something, do not delay.

If you are convicted of sin, repent.

If God is calling you to encourage someone, reach out.

If he is calling you to share the good news of Christ, speak.

If he is calling you to serve his Church, respond.

We often want everything to be perfectly arranged before we obey. We want certainty about the outcome. We want to know that nothing will go wrong.

But Peter didn't have all the answers.

He had the command of God, and he obeyed.

3. God Made Divine Preparations

While Peter was receiving his vision, God was already preparing Cornelius.

Peter didn't know what was happening in Caesarea. He didn't know that an angel had appeared to Cornelius or that his household was being prepared to hear the gospel.

But God knew.

And this is tremendously encouraging.

We are not responsible for arranging every circumstance or preparing every heart. We are called to be faithful to what God has given us to do.

When we share the gospel, we can trust that God is already at work in ways we cannot see.

Sometimes the most important preparations are happening quietly, beyond our awareness.

4. God Acted Through the Holy Spirit

Then Peter describes the most extraordinary part of the story.

"As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning." (Acts 11:15)

Peter had barely begun preaching when the Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius and his household.

The same Spirit who had descended upon the apostles at Pentecost was now being poured out upon the Gentiles.

God was making his purposes unmistakably clear.

As a preacher, I find this profoundly encouraging.

When God's Word is proclaimed, the Holy Spirit is at work. If someone is convicted of sin, encouraged in faith, or drawn toward Christ, it isn't ultimately because of the eloquence or ability of the preacher.

It is because God is working.

And this should encourage every Christian who shares the gospel.

It is not our responsibility to convert hearts. That is the work of the Holy Spirit.

Our responsibility is to be faithful.

The Holy Spirit and Ordinary Worship

There is a criticism of liturgical worship that I encounter from time to time: that a structured service leaves little room for the Holy Spirit.

But I think this misunderstands how the Spirit works.

Week after week, we gather for worship. We hear the Scriptures read. We pray the Psalms. We confess the faith in the Creed. We hear the gospel proclaimed. We confess our sins and receive the assurance of forgiveness. We gather around the Lord's Table and receive the body and blood of Christ.

And week after week, the Holy Spirit works through these ordinary means.

The liturgy becomes something like breathing.

We may arrive distracted, discouraged, anxious, or joyful. But the Word is still proclaimed. The prayers are still offered. The promises of God are still declared.

And through it all, the Spirit is forming us, drawing us closer and closer to Christ.

That isn't because we are especially good at liturgy.

It is because the Holy Spirit is faithful.

We don't need to manufacture extraordinary experiences to encounter the work of God. He is already at work through the ordinary means he has given his Church.

Who Are We to Stand in God's Way?

Peter ends his explanation with a question:

"Who was I that I could stand in God's way?" (Acts 11:17)

And suddenly, his critics fall silent.

They recognize that what has happened isn't Peter's innovation. It is God's work.

And their fear gives way to worship.

"Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life." (Acts 11:18)

They glorify God because he is saving people.

And this is something we must remember: our salvation is not an end in itself. God saves us for his glory.

The Gentiles receive the gospel, the Church recognizes God's work, and God is glorified.

What began with criticism ends with praise.

Living in Confidence, Not Fear

Every morning, it seems there are a hundred things we could worry about.

What kind of world will our children inherit? Will our families be okay? What will happen to our finances? What does the future hold for our church? What will become of our country?

These are real questions, and sometimes the answers are frightening.

But we are given a choice.

Will we allow those fears to dominate us?

Or will we live in confidence in what Christ has already accomplished?

The same God who gave Peter a vision, commanded him to act, prepared Cornelius's household, and poured out the Holy Spirit is still at work today.

He speaks to us through his Word. He calls us to repentance and obedience. He prepares hearts and circumstances in ways we cannot see. And he continues to form his people through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Even when the world seems chaotic, God has not abandoned his Church.

Even when we cannot see what he is doing, he is working for his glory.

And even when life is frightening, we are not alone.

The world may give us a thousand reasons to be afraid. But Christ has given us a greater reason to hope.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.