An Amazing Church Business Meeting

We've all been to church business meetings. Most are pretty routine. Some seem a bit trivial. Some are historical as major decisions are made. Some are divisive. Some are long.

There's one church business meeting that would have been exciting to attend. It's recorded in Acts 11.

Rumor had it that Peter had gone into the house of a Gentile and this wasn't sitting too well with the Jewish congregation back at home. Something had to be done.

They called him in before the church.

Peter explained how he had seen a vision of a sheet full of unclean animals coming down. Three times it came down and each time with the command to eat. But Peter had been following the Jewish dietary laws all his life. He'd never eaten any of these unclean animals. The voice in the vision said, "What I've called clean, don't call unclean."

Then he recounted how three men knocked at his door and asked him to come to the home of Cornelius. Cornelius had been visited by an angel, who told him to find Peter.

Peter came to the house of this Gentile, who had gathered his entire household to hear what Peter had to say. As Peter explained the gospel, the Holy Spirit came upon them and Peter recognized that it was the same phenomenon that had happened to them in Acts 2.

He concluded his report, "Therefore, if God gave them the same gift that He also gave to us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I possibly hinder God?" (v 17).

God's work was evident and Peter knew there was no reason for him to try to stop it, or to argue with God.

A new era of God's plan had begun.

The next verse reveals the response of the church: "When they heard this they became silent. Then they glorified God, saying 'So God has granted repentance resulting in life even to the Gentiles!'" (v 18)

Can you see that happening? As Peter tells his story, the church gets silent, sitting on the edges of their seats. When he reaches the climax, they break out in "Amen!" "Hallelujah!" "Praise the Lord!"

And we can keep praising the Lord today, too. His plan of salvation includes Gentiles - like me.