Acts 11:1-18
John 13:31-35
“Will They Know Us?”
Jesus said, “When you love one another, people will know that you are my disciples.” In other words, the true followers of Jesus were not going to be identified by their race or culture, by their attire, or even by their practices of worship or prayer. There was going to be one characteristic that Christians would share in the generations to come, and that would be their striving to love one another.
In this morning’s wonderful story from the Book of Acts, we see the Apostle Peter growing in his understanding of the faith community that Jesus was forming in the world. Up until this point, the followers of Jesus has been Jewish people, primarily from Palestine. Their community had included men and women, mostly working people, but with some others with financial resources as well. But it has been limited to people who already believed in the One God of Israel, who followed in the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The disciples of Jesus had been people like Jesus, Jewish people who practiced their faith in the home and the synagogue, and followed the laws of Moses, including the circumcision of their men and the … Read more »