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"Here as in Heaven."
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You're listening to GARDEN CHURCH Podcast. We're in a series called Church on Fire, a journey through the book of Acts. This is the story of ordinary people filled with the spirit carrying the presence of Jesus into every corner of the world. The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is alive and in us today. Join us as we step into the call to be people set on fire for his mission.
Darren Rouanzoin:Thank you. Alright. Costa Mesa, what's up? That was amazing to worship with you. Thank you team, worship team.
Darren Rouanzoin:Can we give it up for the worship team? Nelson, thanks for clearing that off. I appreciate you. I like your shoes. Well done.
Darren Rouanzoin:Well done. Hey grab your bibles. We're gonna go to Acts nine. We're gonna we're gonna go to Acts 10 but I wanna go back. Pastor Bill preached last week and I wanna just have a quick word about that.
Darren Rouanzoin:I loved his message. Was at the 10:30 service and I loved his message but I wanna just highlight because what we've learned as we preach the scriptures is that the engine of the message has to be the text. Yeah? And I agree with pastor Bill that when we live in the world that we live in, I don't know about you but there have been a lot of my prayers that have been met with not yet. We live in the the coming of the kingdom of God now and not yet reality.
Darren Rouanzoin:Most of us have experienced the not yet reality. We've seen our prayers go unanswered but acts nine doesn't record a not yet reality. It records a now reality. And it's very important that we highlight this before we go to chapter 10 because chapter nine is the testimony of Jesus through two people being healed. And the the emphasis is not what happens when one person comes and heals somebody and that person makes it about themselves.
Darren Rouanzoin:Excuse me. Makes it about themselves or makes it about their ministry. It is the ministry of Jesus that healed Enaeus who was paralyzed for eight years and as a result of his suffering being met with yes and amen a region awakens to Jesus. One person's suffering met by Jesus that becomes a testimony for a region meeting Jesus. Tabitha's the same story.
Darren Rouanzoin:A woman who's marked by generosity towards widows. She dies. And Peter mimics his rabbi. He does what he watched Jesus do. He pushes everyone out praising quiet.
Darren Rouanzoin:Says something similar to Jesus Talitha Kumb. Tabitha Kumb. Little girl get up and she rises from the dead. This is the first story of someone dying and coming back to life done by someone else other than Jesus in the in in the book of Acts. In other words Jesus's ministry is still moving through whom?
Darren Rouanzoin:People like Peter. This is so important church. We make Peter out to be the super apostle. He put his foot in his mouth all the time. He said one thing, did another thing, denied Jesus three times, says, I you're the Messiah and then tries to deny the Messiah the cross and he's called the Satan.
Darren Rouanzoin:All this stuff happens to Peter which is exactly the point. Jesus will use those who are obedient to him. But here's my point. It was a result of the miraculous and a regional awakening to Jesus that leads to one of the most significant turning points in human history. Acts chapter 10.
Darren Rouanzoin:You didn't see that coming. What do you mean? Well here is what I mean. Whispered into the heart of Abraham was this idea that his descendants would one day bless the Gentiles. All throughout the Old Testament the vocation of Israel was to fulfill God's desire and dream for creation earth to be like Eden.
Darren Rouanzoin:That the Israelites would live in such a way and covenant relationship with Yahweh that the world would be blessed and know the knowledge of Yahweh. And the the prophets call it out when they the Israelites live for themselves and neglect the mission that they're called to. In Acts 10 is the moment the wall begins to come down. Are you with me church? Are we there?
Darren Rouanzoin:Are you are you listening right now? I don't got no clever story I am just gonna preach. Here we go. Acts chapter 10 let me see your Bibles. I am fired.
Darren Rouanzoin:Eight thirty was on fire. So if 08:30 was on fire Costa Mesa. You have it coming. Alright. Acts chapter 10.
Darren Rouanzoin:You ready? At Caesarea. Alright. Pause right there. I'm not gonna get through it today.
Darren Rouanzoin:At Caesarea. This is a city and what you need to know, anytime you read scripture I wanna help you with your bible study at home. How many of you are doing bible studies on your own? Alright. Some of us look.
Darren Rouanzoin:Was I was surprised. Wait. Way more. Don't lie. You know what happens when you lie in church?
Darren Rouanzoin:Acts chapter five. Now I know if you're telling the truth right? Because you know what happens in Acts five. Okay. At Caesarea this is a port city that Herod built for Caesar Augustus and he called the city Caesarea named it after Caesar.
Darren Rouanzoin:And he built this engineering feat. This act This port was was using underwater capability to pour in concrete two thousand years ago. And Caesar sorry. Herod built two statues to false gods to welcome Caesar if he ever chose to visit the city, Caesarea. And so if you're going by boat to to this 30 miles outside or to Caesarea, excuse me.
Darren Rouanzoin:You would have seen a 90 foot statue dedicated to Caesar Augustus and another statue dedicated to the goddess, Roma, the god of Rome. And you would smell the incense of sacrifice being offered to these false gods. So remember this when you're doing your bible study, geography is theology. I just want you to think about that because we got a couple of places we need to look at. So it's at Caesarea that this story takes place.
Darren Rouanzoin:Let's read it. There was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian regiment. He and his and all his family were devout and God fearing, which means they worshipped Yahweh. His, he gave generously to those in need which is the old testament phrase for almsgiving and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three, which is the ninth hour, which was the prayer hour of the Jewish people.
Darren Rouanzoin:In the afternoon, he had a vision. He distinctly distinctly saw an angel of God who came to him and said, Cornelius. Now can I pause for a moment? I wanna make a point. This is just me saying that Cornelius met God in his daily devotion.
Darren Rouanzoin:Like people are like, when's God gonna move? Well in scripture God moved on the day of Pentecost. That was a liturgical festival in the yearly calendar that people gathered to bring first fruits offering and re covenant with the Lord. And God decided to descend through the power of the Holy Spirit and indwell the church on a liturgical moment. All to say God will meet you in your rhythms if you stick with it.
Darren Rouanzoin:Yeah? I'm I'm assuming you guys have a daily rhythm of prayer? Yeah. Church, I'm assuming you have a daily devotion with Jesus? And now you're lying.
Darren Rouanzoin:What? Say I'm not asking for an I'm asking for an honest response. May this I I don't have this in my notes but I stopped in two services because I want you to hear God will meet you if you set the table. But let me say it might take forty years. It's worth setting the table for that one encounter.
Darren Rouanzoin:History pivots on one man's daily devotion. I love the story of Luke where where it's the arrival of John the Baptist and and Zechariah is in the temple. He's a He's been cast He he threw lots through chants. He's now burning incense in the temple on that moment that a Levite would be able to do that and he can't do the worship act in that moment that's dedicating the incense to Yahweh. He is met by an angel and the angel meets him in the temple of the Holy One and says, Your prayers are answered.
Darren Rouanzoin:Not our prayers. Your prayers Zechariah for a baby. It just happens to be the the one who will prepare the way for the Messiah. It's our prayers answered through one prayer. Same with Cornelius because that's how God works.
Darren Rouanzoin:That's how God works. Cornelius prays and an angel shows up and says his name, Cornelius. Cornelius stared at him in fear as one does to an angel. What is it Lord? He asked and the angel answered, your prayers and gifts to the poor.
Darren Rouanzoin:Hold on. Hold on. Your prayers and your almsgiving have come up as a memorial offering. I want you to do a bible study on memorial offering before God. Now, send some men to Joppa, circle Joppa, to bring back a man named Simon who's also nicknamed Peter, the rock.
Darren Rouanzoin:He's staying at another Simon's house, The Tanner. Not as cool as The Rock, whose house is by the sea. When the angel who spoke to him and had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa. I love this story so much.
Darren Rouanzoin:The story is about Cornelius first. He's a soldier, a centurion, he oversees a 100 soldiers. His pay, I just wanna give you the statistics on this. So a normal soldier would make 255 denarii a year. He makes 3,755 denarii a year.
Darren Rouanzoin:He's making a lot of money. So his almsgiving is is received. He's giving to the poor and the angel says, your prayers and your gifts to the poor have been kept as receipts in heaven. Not just that, it's a memorial offering. It's straight from Leviticus chapter two when a priest would take a grain offering, burn a portion of the grain as incense to the Lord.
Darren Rouanzoin:He's saying what priests do in the holy temple as a grain offering to the Lord, you've been doing in your life all along. And it shouldn't surprise us. Jesus says, when you pray, go into the closet, shut the door and your father who's in secret will reward you. When you fast, when you give and your right hand doesn't know from the left, God sees your hidden life. We have a hidden life of generosity.
Darren Rouanzoin:Some of us. We have a hidden life with the Lord that the Lord is tracking. So one observation from this text is that heaven keeps receipts. Some of you have been praying for years for your kids to turn back to Jesus. Heaven is collecting your prayers.
Darren Rouanzoin:And we did a series on Revelation there's these bowls in heaven that are metaphoric for God collecting the prayers of the saints and one day the saints I'm sorry. God will pour out the bowls and him pouring out the bowls after he's collected all these prayers is a symbol of God intervening in history because of the prayers prayed by saints. We can tilt culture. We can tilt God's hand towards something. We can't wield him like a force but we can out of obedience partner with heaven because he's keeping track of your prayers.
Darren Rouanzoin:Your tears are collected with Jesus. The longings you have for on earth as it is in heaven Cornelius what was the content of his prayer? Oh Lord help me find a girlfriend. I'm not saying that he doesn't care. I'm not saying that.
Darren Rouanzoin:But I can imagine the content of his prayer as a gentile that can only go so far into the presence of God at the temple as a God fearing Jew who's devout and generous. That God has been longing from creation to bring him into his home. Whom shall I send? The Jew who's kept himself clean. God keeps his receipts.
Darren Rouanzoin:He's tracking it. The second thing I wanna just highlight because I love this and just in case you didn't know angels know how to preach the gospel. Yeah? Have you read part one? See Do you watch season one?
Darren Rouanzoin:Gospel of Luke? You know it. Right? Luke chapter two. Mary and Joseph you know they Because Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a Roman census should be taken they have to travel during the pregnancy to Bethlehem.
Darren Rouanzoin:She gives birth to a Messiah and angels show up on on the field and what do they say? We bring you gospel. The Messiah's been born. Go find him. There's a star over his little you know under your tree and a giant seven head dragon according to Revelation chapter 13.
Darren Rouanzoin:Go back and listen to that. I mean if you didn't hear that one. Now I'm confusing you. Angels know how to preach the gospel but notice the angel doesn't preach the gospel to Cornelius. Isn't that interesting?
Darren Rouanzoin:Because in Acts there's a shift since Pentecost no longer are angels the primary herald of the good news. It's now the church. And he's And the angel saying, Cornelius, get to church. Get to the church that's still part of the problem. Get to the church that hasn't yet figured out the revelation that I'm gonna bring them.
Darren Rouanzoin:They're gonna walk down the stairs still confused and wondering what this vision is which I'm about to read to you in a second And they're going to see what I'm doing God as I include the Gentiles into the family of God. You see now the church is the primary agent of God's activity through people like Peter who don't yet know what God is about to do to break down that hostile wall that's divided the world. Jewish people chosen by God and everyone else and now the wall comes down once and for all and it comes down through individuals to invite everyone else into the story. How are doing church? You hear this story?
Darren Rouanzoin:I'm in I love it. I don't need I don't need your affirmation on this but I wanna just make a couple more observations. So so Cornelius gets this encounter with the angel and the angel leaves and he doesn't go, well when can I when can I fit in my schedule Joppa? When will it be convenient to really work out this thing that's gonna disrupt my plans? You know like I heard the whisper from this angel to say go to Joppa but it's really not convenient I got Friday night lights on Friday.
Darren Rouanzoin:I got practice on Wednesday with the kids. I got school and we got lessons. We only have a few days left of school so they need to finish that project. Also, we're moving so I gotta really make sure I get some time to you know take the pictures off the wall and paint so I get my deposit back. That kind of mindset that we love, history waits for those who move instantly because of a whisper.
Darren Rouanzoin:Cornelius immediately calls his servants and it's 03:00 in the afternoon and by noon the next day 30 miles away those people traveled through the night to find Peter. There is an urgency right now church to waking up to the whispers of God and moving on the promptings of the Holy Spirit. God is moving outside of the four walls. That's the point. He always has.
Darren Rouanzoin:There are people in your life that are not yet followers of Jesus that are God fearers that are looking. They're searching on YouTube for answers. They're using Google and AI. They're going to chat GPT as divine wisdom and they need Jesus and they're stirred. They don't know where to go.
Darren Rouanzoin:They're waiting for you to have freaking obedience in your heart to bring the gospel in your workplace at the school wherever you are but you're too concerned about your comfort and convenience. What? This is what God's doing. He's doing an Acts 10 moment for the church. Wake up Because it's moving outside of your comfort zones.
Darren Rouanzoin:Yes. And if you think this is the era to be relevant forget that. This is the era to stand on the word of God and obedience to his promptings. And for so long we've just sat comfortably waiting to be fed and go to the next church especially in Orange County with the next best worship set with the funniest you know pastor and the best content. Forget that.
Darren Rouanzoin:God wants a missions movement from people who claim to follow Jesus. We are the missionary and the voice of God in scripture you'll see is always a sending voice. You're like, well I don't hear his voice because you're not listening to him send you outside of your comfort zone. You don't need an $8 lavender latte to hear the voice of God. It tastes a lot better but still.
Darren Rouanzoin:I don't want to offend any baristas in the house. I appreciate you especially in Costa Mesa. You got coffee all over the place. And I I see you every time I'm trying to get away from my office. I see our GARDEN CHURCH at every coffee shop.
Darren Rouanzoin:I've decided I no longer go to all the cool coffee shops that have great coffee. I go to Starbucks because none of you are there. It's true. I got daydream, you know, got kit, I got vacancy, I got work in progress, I got all these coffee shops. Adios.
Darren Rouanzoin:Aloha, adios. Adios. Aloha. I was in Hawaii. Chill.
Darren Rouanzoin:Alright? It was an honest mistake. Whatever. My point is you guys need some jobs. How many circuit riders I see?
Darren Rouanzoin:You're like, you're getting missionary funds to work at coffee shops but I am too so I can't I can't But I don't have an office so that's the problem. Waiting for all you generous people to give so we can have more space. Problem is I was I was driving here I'm like, man I just wanna do a 10:00 service here again. I'm I'm tired of preaching all these services. And then it's full after 09:30 and I'm like, we gotta do multiple services.
Darren Rouanzoin:Lord Jesus help us out. Waiting for you to be obedient. God is waiting to move the world forward through your obedience. He doesn't operate outside of the church right now. He's he will so in he does operate outside of the church.
Darren Rouanzoin:The kingdom of God is beyond the church. Let me just say that because I will correct my theology all day long. Revival is a judgment on the church. Revival is first judgment on the church that doesn't participate in the next thing God's doing. We'll get I'm gonna show you that in a second.
Darren Rouanzoin:Let's go to Acts chapter, 10 verse nine. I'm supposed to leave right now in like three minutes. Forget that. Oh, got thirteen minutes. You you talk to Romaine.
Darren Rouanzoin:Just say, go long on worship. Yeah. Cool. Alright. Just tell him, this whole thing's messed up.
Darren Rouanzoin:Fend for yourself. I'm staying. This is live stream. Hey, just pipe in at 10:30. We're so glad you're here.
Darren Rouanzoin:I wanna shout out to the family that came from Florida that watches us from Florida and made a trek out here to come to church last week. Alright. Nine. Here we go. Verse nine.
Darren Rouanzoin:About noon which wasn't a prayer hour, the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city pity pity, Peter went up to the pity went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat which is what happens when you get hungry. This is any fights that happen after church. Acts chapter 10 verse 10, I became hungry and wanted something to eat. You're quoting scripture now.
Darren Rouanzoin:And I fell into a trance. Okay. Here we go. Listen. He saw heaven opened which is apocalyptic language and it's used in the gospel of Luke when Jesus is baptized heavens open.
Darren Rouanzoin:It's also used in Acts chapter eight when Stephen is martyred. Heaven opens as a significant symbol of what God is doing in the moment. He is about to do something that is irreversible and here's the vision he sees, a large sheep being let down on earth and, with four corners, it contained all kinds of four footed animals as well as reptiles and birds then a voice told him, get up Peter, kill and eat And then to a phrase that doesn't exist in the scriptures that shouldn't exist in your life. Surely not Lord. It's usually, yes Lord.
Darren Rouanzoin:But if it's surely not, he's not Lord. Surely not Lord. And look at his response. I have never eaten anything impure or unclean. And then the voice spoke to him a second time.
Darren Rouanzoin:Thank you Peter. Do not call anything impure that God has made clean. This happened three times. Remember Peter? God bless Peter.
Darren Rouanzoin:Thank God we have Peter in the scriptures. Three times he denied him. Three times he's restored. Three times he needs some reformation in his life. And he is hearing God.
Darren Rouanzoin:And I'm a kind of three time person in my first when it comes to Jesus. I'm like, Jesus says something. I'm like, oh okay I heard it. But would you just I'm gonna put out a fleece now Lord. I'm gonna put this out.
Darren Rouanzoin:I just need this to happen. Then that happens like, okay. Time out. One more thing. I love you Jesus but one.
Darren Rouanzoin:And then when he does that then I'm for sure gonna do it but usually it's like seven more times for me. Peter is a three times disciple. I like that. While Peter was wondering about the meaning of this vision. I love this.
Darren Rouanzoin:He doesn't have it figured out. He's confused what And we'll understand in a second. The men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's house was and stopped at the gate because Gentiles don't enter the corridor of the Jews. Because if a Gentile goes in through the gate, they're now guests. And if you're a guest of a Jew, you now accept them as who they are.
Darren Rouanzoin:You extend forgiveness and table fellowship and there's all sorts of hospitality, rituals and commands that are required for you to embrace that person which is in itself theology. This is why Jesus when he goes to hang out with Zacchaeus, people go, he eats with sinners. Because their theology is being understood by the gift
Intro/Outro:hospitality that Jesus is participating in eating a meal with a sinner.
Darren Rouanzoin:That means he is like them or they are like him. And as a rabbi, he should know better that to have Because table fellowship with Zacchaeus is to extend fellowship and grace. It means that Zacchaeus and him are family unless he knows that's exactly what he was saying. Because Jesus is perfect theology. But here, hospitality precedes theology.
Darren Rouanzoin:And so they wait outside the gate and it says, they called out asking for Simon who's also known as the rock and he was staying there. He was. While Peter was still thinking about the vision, he's stuck in the vision. I don't know what this means. He hears the spirit speak to him and says, Simon, three men are looking for you.
Darren Rouanzoin:Set up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate. Go with them for I have sent them. Peter went down and said to the men, I'm the one you're looking for. Why have you come?
Darren Rouanzoin:The men replied, we have been, we've come from Cornelius The centurion. He is a righteous and God fearing man who is respected by all the Jewish people. He Here's his resume. An angel visited him and told him to come to this house that we could hear what you have to say. Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.
Darren Rouanzoin:Wow. Significant theology happening. Heaven opens. He hears from God say, get up Peter, kill and eat. That word kill is not butcher language, it's alter language.
Darren Rouanzoin:Comes from Leviticus. This is a technical term for ritual sacrifice. The voice is re framing the meal to be an altar. Eat what was once forbidden as if it is now altar pure. The God who once said, keep it separate is now saying, make it the sacrifice.
Darren Rouanzoin:The same God but a new command with a new table but the same holiness. Peter's response is surely not Lord. Surely not Lord is what we say to a God. We will not We don't obey because we listened to him before And why does Peter say no? Because he says, I've never eaten anything unclean.
Darren Rouanzoin:Meaning, I have obeyed you already. He is defending himself with his track record of obedience. He is holding up his obedience like a shield for God, from God to do the thing God's asking of him of him now. What is it exposed about the religious heart when our resistance to the new thing God's doing is wrapped in spiritual language for the old thing we did? Wow.
Darren Rouanzoin:What happens when you refuse to obey the next move of God? It gets dressed up in pride from the last move of God. Wow. Have you noticed that often times, this is my experience, that the new thing God's wanting to do is most resisted by those that participated in the old thing God did? I remember the story of Calvary Chapel here in Costa Mesa.
Darren Rouanzoin:God began to move with hippies and we don't It wasn't romanticized back then. The hippies were not They weren't cool. They they were ideologically far from the church. They had habits and lifestyles that they didn't agree with. And they started coming to Calvary Chapel and the elders said, what about the carpet?
Darren Rouanzoin:Imagine if Chuck Smith said, You're right. We'll keep them out for the sake of the carpet. He said, Rip up the carpet. You see this is what happens in our own life it's not some institutional thing it's that God spoke to us and we obeyed and it cost us something. And then God wants to speak again and it's gonna cost us something only we we already did that God.
Darren Rouanzoin:Not again. Brothers and sisters God's moving right now and I I think the greatest threat to God moving is the church that's comfortable. Not church out there, church here 09:30. Your comforts, your past obedience that's sitting on a shelf like a trophy is now blocking the the new people that God wants to bring in. I see it all the time.
Darren Rouanzoin:You have your accolades you have your previous church experience this is a new thing you've come from other places you've been a part of the moves of God and you hold it up like a resume the only resume I want is obedient sacrifice to Jesus. Oh, you need someone to mop up? I got you. Even though I served as a leader in the other church, leadership in this church will always be marked by Jesus foot washing and it won't be a stepping stone to finally get your way. It will always be sacrificial service to the voice of God.
Darren Rouanzoin:Is that okay? Can I say that? I said it. I'm gonna keep going. Peter tries to defend himself and I think this is a moment where we need leaders and shepherds to step up.
Darren Rouanzoin:I wanna just say Costa Mesa, we need house church pastors. We need houses. We need meeting space. We need like look at what showed up overnight. I was praying why was the last five months so hard?
Darren Rouanzoin:This is why. Y'all showed up. We didn't go from one service to two service to three services to four services. We went to two churches. And the only person we hired was a part time kids pastor.
Darren Rouanzoin:That's true. Now we've hired some more people. But we weren't planning on this. We need the church to be church. What our vision is we're gonna do a vision night in Costa Mesa soon and we're calling all of you that wanna build this next season to come and and be a part of this because we wanna we wanna lay down vision and call you to be a part of what God's doing.
Darren Rouanzoin:But don't bring an agenda of what God did We're looking and feasting on God what God is doing now. Amen? John, how much time I got? Hold up that timer for me. Five minutes ago.
Darren Rouanzoin:Great. He says, Don't call anything impure that God has made clean. That word clean is exactly the phrase that's used by the priests in Leviticus chapter 13 when they declare that the leper has been clean so the priests examine the leper and saw the disease was gone and he pronounced to the leper clean which is life giving words by the way because if you were a leper it meant you weren't fit for community. You weren't fit for table fellowship. You weren't fit for your family.
Darren Rouanzoin:You weren't fit for the job. You had to stay outside the camp. So when the Levitical priest in Leviticus chapter three said, clean. You got your family back. You got your work back.
Darren Rouanzoin:You got your community back. You got fellowship back. You got temple sacrifice back. You get all of that. So when God to Peter says, don't call it unclean.
Darren Rouanzoin:He's not talking about stuff. He's not talking about food. He's talking about people. People who have been outside. People who have been excluded.
Darren Rouanzoin:People who can only go so far to the presence of God as a God fearing Gentile who's uncircumcised. This is that decisive moment where the high priest in heaven who is Jesus Christ announces to Peter, clean. You don't negotiate the verdict you obey the word. You hear that? That's the gospel.
Darren Rouanzoin:And so Peter comes down the stairs three times having heard the same thing, having seen the same thing. This is the signature mark of Peter's life. Three denials by the charcoal fire. Three restorations on the shore in John chapter 21 and now three visions on a rooftop in Acts chapter 10. And it's the conviction and I just want to make this clear the food laws were never about health.
Darren Rouanzoin:I know the Christian circles especially in Orange County wanna wanna turn the Daniel diet into a diet that we follow because God's ordained it as No. Daniel eating vegetables was saying, I'm not gonna participate in the idolatry of the king of Babylon. This isn't like take that and make a you know an app that helps sell and make lots of millions of dollars. That's not what was going on. It's about idolatry.
Darren Rouanzoin:It's about not signing the contract to the king of Babylon. It's about resisting where resistance matters most. Same here. We know that it wasn't about the the health of the body. It was always about identity.
Darren Rouanzoin:Be holy as I am holy. Leviticus chapter 11. The daily ritual of refusing certain foods was a daily reminder that Israel was a particular people set apart for the sake of the world. I said, for the sake of the world. Not from the world but for the sake of the world and that's it.
Darren Rouanzoin:Holiness was always about mission. Holiness was about getting Israel ready to bring in the nations to Yahweh. Acts 10 doesn't cancel holiness. It reveals what holiness had always pointed to. And for centuries Israel said no to the wrong table so they could say yes to the right one and now Jesus the true Israel has come, lived perfectly, died as the sacrifice risen as Lord and from heaven says, the wall's done.
Darren Rouanzoin:The fence that served its purpose is no longer needed. Sacrifice the old separation on the altar for my new mercy. God is not lowering his standards, he is expanding his family. The sheet is not one of compromise for is, for for Peter. The sheet is a celebration of a long awaited inclusion of the Gentiles.
Darren Rouanzoin:Acts chapter 10, while Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, he has guests outside and there's so much here to process that that God is using Peter to move towards the people God's moving towards right now. And it says, the spirit said three separate times in the book of acts. I got too much content to give you. I'm gonna slow down. Hold on.
Darren Rouanzoin:Three separate times in the book of acts, it says the spirit said. Acts chapter eight, the spirit speaks to Philip to go to the Ethiopian. In Acts chapter 13 verse two, he speaks to the church in Antioch, set apart Paul and Barnabas for my purpose. In Acts 10, he speaks to Peter to go down and don't hesitate. If you look at what the spirit says, how the voice in Acts speaks, it's always a sending voice.
Darren Rouanzoin:You're like well I'm not hearing God speak it's because you're not willing to obey him to make you uncomfortable. You're so cozy with that lavender latte and that pilates class and that rhythm and routine that is really a self help sorcery that he is speaking but he's speaking to those who are willing to go for his sake. Spirit speaks to missionaries. The spirit always speaks to missionaries because the church is the missionary. Alright.
Darren Rouanzoin:Can I Alright? And then the word is do not hesitate. That word hesitate in Greek means to hesitate or to discriminate. And both are true in that moment because the spirit says, I sent them. And I just wanna I wanna camp out on this and then I'll I'll pray.
Darren Rouanzoin:It says in the scripture that he's in Joppa. He stays in Joppa. They come to Joppa. Joppa Joppa Joppa. I love this so much because I because geography teaches theology.
Darren Rouanzoin:Geography is theology. Joppa is the oldest port in the world to this day. It's in Tel Aviv. And I've been there. Not much to see.
Darren Rouanzoin:But Joppa tells the story. If you were to do a bible study a word study on Joppa, you know that Joppa is the port that a prophet in the old testament hears the voice of God. Go to your sworn enemies and tell them that the wrath of God's coming. Call them to repent. So this prophet runs to Joppa, gets on a boat and goes the opposite direction.
Darren Rouanzoin:His name's Jonah. Here's the voice of God. Go to the enemies of Israel. Tell them to repent. And he says, I knew that you were merciful and you you would show kindness.
Darren Rouanzoin:So I didn't obey. Now, a few thousand years later, Peter, another prophet, hears the voice of God in the same town and rather than run from the voice of God, he welcomes what will be the Gentiles in to the family of God. It's the story of Joppa's redemption. How many cities need to be redeemed right now through your obedience? How many places of work might see a redemption take place because of your obedience in the workplace?
Darren Rouanzoin:How many schools might see revival because just a few listen to the voice of God? That's what God's after right now. Awakening a movement to people who hear his voice and will go after the things of God. It says that Peter invited them in to be his guest. That's a significant theological statement which we'll talk about next week because I'm gonna continue with the Gentile Pentecost.
Darren Rouanzoin:Next week is Pentecost Sunday. We're baptizing folks here. We are baptizing. Right? You said that great.
Darren Rouanzoin:And we're gonna look at what's called the Gentile Pentecost. How Pentecost starts in Acts two and then expands. There's a little bit of a Samaritan one and then we get to the Gentile one and then we get to Ephesians. There's these these fires are expanding beyond Jerusalem going to the ends of the earth and we're praying for a Pentecost here. But I just wanna open this up to say, is the spirit doing right now?
Darren Rouanzoin:Well, Garden Church, I wanna invite you to hear the spirit's voice and obey it on the go. Peter didn't fully know what it meant but he started down the stairs and then he interpreted it along the way. Clarity is the enemy of obedience. So when you finally get to trusting God you'll see him move. Second, I believe God's tearing down the categories that we've been protecting.
Darren Rouanzoin:I'm not just talking about the political ideologies you disagree with. I'm talking about the annoying people in your life that God wants you to befriend and bring over. Stop making it a category like, oh, us versus them. What about the people that are You haven't text back in a while because they just bother you. They just talk too much.
Darren Rouanzoin:Let's start with them. You don't need to go on a YouTube show and you know battle 20 people that disagree with you. You could just start by showing hospitality to your coworker who chews loud. Lastly, would our hospitality go first before our theology? I pray that the Lord pushes you beyond what you're capable of and comfortable with.
Darren Rouanzoin:Can we all stand?
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