1-3 Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, "You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them."
18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, "Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life."
Even the early church struggled with not accepting those who were different are not part of their group. But hearing how God worked they realized His hand was in this. Sometimes God does things different than we expect in people we don't expect. But we need to listen and look for God's hand in it.
Acts 11
ReplyDelete1 The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that people who were not Jewish had accepted God’s word.
15-17 “When I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came to these people. This was the same thing that happened to us in the beginning. I remembered that the Lord had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized by the Holy Spirit.’ When they believed, God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. So who was I to interfere with God?”
18 When the others heard this, they had no further objections. They praised God by saying, “Then God has also led people who are not Jewish to turn to him so that they can change the way they think and act and have eternal life.”
26b The disciples were called Christians for the first time in the city of Antioch.
29-30 All the disciples in Antioch decided to contribute whatever they could afford to help the believers living in Judea. The disciples did this and sent their contribution with Barnabas and Saul to the leaders in Jerusalem.