Peter and Cornelius - Alyssa McKnight
Have you ever prayed for God to move in your life, and then said no when he actually did?
It sounds absurd when you put it like that. But most of us have done it. We ask God to shake things up, to use us, to lead us somewhere new. And then, when the moment arrives, we hesitate. It's too difficult. Too confusing. It doesn't fit the categories we've always lived by. We're quite comfortable where we are, thank you very much.
This Sunday at One Church, Alyssa McNight, who serves in our children's ministry, brought a message from Acts 10 as part of our series in the book of Acts. It's the story of two very different men, a Roman centurion named Cornelius and the apostle Peter, and the two visions that changed the course of Christian history. You can watch the full message in the video above, or listen to the audio version below.
Two men, two visions
The story begins with two men who, by nature, nation and occupation, could hardly be more different.
Cornelius was a Gentile, a Roman centurion living in Caesarea, the administrative capital of Judea and the heart of Gentile power. He was a professional, battle-hardened commander in the Italian cohort, an elite troop recruited directly from Italy. And yet Scripture tells us something surprising about him: he was a devout man who gave generously, feared God and prayed continually. Cornelius was sincere, devout, generous and prayerful, but he still needed to hear the gospel.
Peter, by contrast, was a Jew, one of Jesus' closest disciples. He had been an eyewitness to Jesus' teaching, had received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and was now leading the early church.
Two men in different cities who had never met and never planned to. But as Alyssa pointed out, in the most important way they were similar: both were praying and waiting on God. And to each of them, God sent a vision. An angel told Cornelius to send men to Joppa to find Peter. And on a rooftop in Joppa, Peter fell into a trance and saw a great sheet lowered from heaven, filled with all kinds of animals, and heard a voice say, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat."
"No, Lord": Peter's understandable refusal
Peter's reply is one of the strangest sentences in the New Testament. "By no means, Lord," or as the NIV puts it, simply, "No, Lord."
What a response. As Alyssa asked, who else is thinking, "Peter, do you know who you're talking to?" The fact that he says "Lord" shows that he does. Peter knows it is God he is saying no to.
But here's the thing: Peter isn't being maliciously defiant. He's honestly confused. Refusing to eat unclean food was, in Peter's mind, most likely an act of obedience. He was being faithful to the dietary laws of the Torah. And it went deeper than food. These laws defined Peter's identity. They were core to what it meant to be Jewish.
The vision, of course, was never really about food. God was using the food to represent a group of people: the Gentiles. At that time, Peter would have seen Gentiles like Cornelius as unclean outsiders. Jewish custom made entering a Gentile's home and eating with them defiling, and generations of trauma and hatred sat between the two peoples. For Peter, going to a Gentile's house, eating with him, sharing the gospel with him and accepting him like a brother would have felt like betraying everything he understood about his own faith.
So we can understand Peter's response. But as Alyssa put it, understandable or not, he was still denying God.
"The boundaries that Peter placed around God were limiting Peter's ability to be obedient."
His traditions were shaping how he thought God could work and who he thought God could reach.
Isn't this so typical of us?
Alyssa then turned the question on all of us. Don't we also pray for moments to be obedient to God? That his will would be done in our lives, that he'd shake up the ground of our traditions and break down the walls of our religion? But when that moment actually comes, do we respond like Peter? Surely not, God. That's too difficult. That's too confusing. I'm quite comfortable with what you've already provided.
She was careful to add that discernment still matters. We should absolutely test spirits, prophecies and words. But the question remains: when the time comes, are your heart and mind willing to be completely shifted, even if it seems incomprehensible, or not what you had planned?
Compare Peter's response with Cornelius's. When the angel appeared to him, Cornelius stared at him in terror and said, "What is it, Lord?" In the midst of terror, awe and confusion, he was open to whatever God was about to do. On that day, it seemed the Roman outsider was more responsive to God than the apostle.
Alyssa shared a wonderfully blunt quote from Charles Spurgeon, which she kindly reworded for modern ears:
"If you have become too careful and controlled, may the Lord stir a fire in you and burn away all the red tape that holds you back... Many people may never be reached through your ministry if you are always studying what is proper instead of acting with courage and urgency."
It sounds harsh, but isn't it true? Our minds are often so focused on control, on knowing everything in advance, that we limit what we believe God can do. Like Peter, we're not trying to be disobedient. We're just living according to the categories we've always known. But what opportunities to share God's word and make disciples are we missing because of those categories?
The God who is patient with our limits
If all of that leaves you feeling a bit hopeless, Alyssa had good news. God doesn't just stop at our limitations.
Notice what happens in the story. God doesn't send the vision once, watch Peter refuse, and say, "Oh well, you've lost your chance." God sends the vision three times. He understood that Peter needed a bigger emphasis to break through his rigid tradition, and he was kind enough to provide it.
God will do the same with us. If our hearts and minds are receptive, surrendered and open, he will prepare them to be changed. It might happen in a matter of minutes or days, as with Peter, or over a much longer season. But God is not a God of confusion. He is loving and kind, even as he upturns our assumptions about him and reshapes our understanding to align with his.
And what a transformation it produced. When Peter finally went to Cornelius's house and preached, the Holy Spirit fell on everyone who heard, in a way that closely mirrored Pentecost. The believers who had come with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Spirit was being poured out even on Gentiles. And when the believers back in Jerusalem criticised Peter for entering a Gentile's home, his answer said it all: "If God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God's way?"
From "No, Lord" to "Who am I to stand in your way?" That is the journey of this whole passage, and it's the challenge Alyssa left with us.
Learning to abide
So how do we actually make that journey? Alyssa spoke honestly about a recent season where God radically shifted her own life in the space of a week, calling her to something she wasn't expecting. Out of that experience, she pointed us to one central practice: abiding in God.
To abide means to dwell, to reside, to make your home somewhere. It means being in continued, close and permanent relationship with God, intertwined with the Holy Spirit like interlocked fingers. In John 15, Jesus says, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me."
Alyssa drew out two things from this passage. First, it's not a one-way street. As we draw near to God, God draws near to us, and we begin to experience Christlike character, obedience and love that we could never produce on our own. Second, Jesus promises that those who abide in him and have his word abiding in them can ask whatever they wish and it will be done. How can that be?
"The natural outcome of abiding is that our will aligns with God's. What we want will mirror what God already has planned for us."
Practically, abiding looks like the basics: time in prayer, reading and studying the word. They're the foundations for a reason, and none of us ever masters them. Notice that in Acts 10, both Cornelius and Peter, at entirely different stages of their journeys, were doing the same thing when God encountered them: they were praying. Abiding is ultimately a heart posture, not a box to tick. Are you making your home in God? Because if he truly is your dwelling place, your will becomes his. Your "No, Lord" becomes "Who am I to stand in your way?"
Who is your Cornelius?
Alyssa closed with two searching questions.
First: who is your Cornelius? Who have you been keeping at a distance, assuming God would not welcome, use or pursue them? Is there someone God is calling you to see differently, not as a problem or an outsider, but as a person made in his image and within reach of his grace? If no one comes to mind, ask God to show you someone.
Second: what is your "No, Lord"? What categories have you learned to live by? Is it a view or tradition God is challenging? A reputation you're trying to protect? Or maybe it's simply comfort and routine, a complacency that keeps you from stepping out in boldness. Whatever it is, it's worth wrestling with, because whatever is holding you back is harming both your own faith and the people God is calling you to reach.
And if you're new to all of this, or you're convinced that God couldn't work through someone like you, the whole point of Acts 10 is that this is far from the truth. The apex of the chapter comes when Peter declares, "I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism, but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right."
"No background, no nation, no past, no personality, no weakness, no decision can ever place you beyond God's grace."
Perhaps your step today is trusting Jesus for the first time. Perhaps it's letting him challenge a boundary you've carried for years. Either way, may our response be: "Yes, Lord. Who am I to stand in your way?"
One way to live it out this week
Set aside ten minutes this week to pray one honest prayer: "God, who is my Cornelius?" Ask him to bring to mind one person you've been keeping at a distance, someone you've quietly assumed is beyond his reach or outside your responsibility. Then take one small, concrete step towards them: a conversation, a coffee, a message, an act of kindness. Don't overthink it or wait until it feels comfortable. Abide first, then act.
A short prayer
Father, thank you that you show no partiality,
and that through Jesus, forgiveness and new life are offered to everyone who believes.
Forgive us for the times we have placed limits around you,
letting our traditions, fears and comforts stand in the way of obedience.
Give us receptive hearts, and teach us to abide in you.
Show us the people we have overlooked or kept at a distance,
and make us bold and compassionate as we share the good news of Jesus.
May our response to your leading be, "Yes, Lord, who am I to stand in your way?" Amen.
Personal Reflection
When was the last time you sensed God prompting you to do something and your first response was closer to "No, Lord" than "Yes, Lord"? What was behind your hesitation?
What categories, traditions or assumptions might be limiting how you think God can work, or who you think God can reach?
Honestly assess your current rhythms of prayer and Scripture. Are they a box you tick, or are you making your home in God?
Small Group Discussion
Read Acts 10:1-16 together. What stands out to you about how the story introduces Cornelius and Peter? What surprises you about each man?
Cornelius was sincere, devout, generous and prayerful, yet he still needed to hear the gospel. What does that tell us about the difference between being spiritually searching and knowing Jesus?
Peter says "No, Lord" to God, and Alyssa suggested he thought he was being obedient by refusing. Have you ever discovered that something you thought was faithfulness was actually a limitation you'd placed on God? Share if you can.
Alyssa said, "The boundaries that Peter placed around God were limiting Peter's ability to be obedient." What kinds of boundaries do Christians today tend to place around God?
Compare Peter's "No, Lord" with Cornelius's "What is it, Lord?" What would it look like for you to approach God with more of Cornelius's openness?
God sent Peter the vision three times rather than giving up on him. How have you experienced God's patience while he changed your mind about something? How should his patience with us shape our patience with others?
Read John 15:4-7. What does abiding in God look like practically in your week right now? What is one change you could make to move from ticking boxes to genuinely dwelling in him?
Who is your Cornelius? Share one person or group God might be calling you to see differently, then spend time praying for one another: for receptive hearts, for boldness, and for the people you've named.