Cornelius stared at him in terror. “What is it, sir?” he asked the angel. And the angel

replied, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering!

Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter.” (Acts 10:4-5)

Let’s be honest…This Simon Peter guy is a pretty big deal by the time we get to Acts

10. Yes, Peter ran like a scared jack rabbit when Jesus was imprisoned and crucified

(like any of us would have.) And NO, I would not have wanted to be at Peter’s “Post-

Persecution Performance Review.” In fact, If I were Jesus I would probably have fired

Peter after denying me three times. But what does Jesus do? He puts the guy in

charge!

Shortly after the resurrection, Peter loses all fear of death and begins preaching boldly

in front of thousands. The church grows from 120 to over 5000 in just a few chapters in

Acts and Peter is performing miracles and bringing the dead back to life. In short, Peter

is a Rock Star! However, Peter has a problem that Jesus is about to confront. Peter

believes that he knows who God can and cannot use. At the top of Peter’s list are the

Jewish Christians. Just under that group are traditional Jews who might be open to the

Gospel. Beneath that group of people is 20 feet of dirt and underneath that (in Peter’s

heart) is everyone else…non-Jews or “Gentiles”…you know “common folk.”



But as we saw in Acts 10:15 yesterday, Jesus challenged this line of thinking by telling

Peter “What God has made clean, do not call common.” And how does God transform

unclean men and women into uncommon Christians? He calls them! In the same way

that Jesus called Peter out of the fishing industry and how the Holy Spirit called

Cornelius to send for Peter, if we have placed our trust under Jesus it’s because He first

called us! This was the point Jesus was making in John 6:44 when he said “For no one

can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me…” Any believer that

professes Christ does so because he or she has been called by the Holy Spirit and has

been transformed from un-clean to un-common. That is Amazing Grace!

Review John 6:44 & Ephesians 2:8-9

Q: If you love Jesus, it’s because Your Heavenly Father supernaturally called or “drew”

you to Christ. Does your life &worship reflect an awareness of this incredible grace?

Jimmy Carter