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TAKING GROUND | Week 3 | Sermon · Rewind

Rock Point Church

45 min

Pastor Daniel Goulding · Sep 25, 2023 · 5 min read · 45 min listen

The big idea

The gospel of hope in Jesus isn't just for us — it's for the people we're most convinced God could never reach.

In this message

The big idea
Point 1 of 7The most pivotal conversations often look completely ordinary
Point 2 of 7Cornelius was a devout outsider whom God was already pursuing

Point 3 of 7God had to root prejudice out of Peter, not just deliver a message to Cornelius
Point 4 of 7Peter's rooftop vision confronts him with a truth he's slow to accept
Point 5 of 7Peter obeys the Spirit's nudge and crosses a barrier he never would have crossed before
Point 6 of 7Peter preaches the gospel and the Holy Spirit falls before he even finishes
Point 7 of 7It took ten years because the church was still dealing with prejudice, and Peter's struggle didn't end here
Take it into your week
Transcript

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Scripture in this message

Acts 1:8
Mark 7
Matthew 15
Romans 10

Rewind AI drafted the Big Idea and some point headings shown here from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Pastor Daniel Goulding · Sep 25, 2023 · 45 min watch · 2 min read

TAKING GROUND | Week 3 | Sermon

In this message

Big Idea
Key points
Application

Scripture in this message

Acts 1:8
Mark 7
Matthew 15
Romans 10

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

The gospel of hope in Jesus isn't just for us — it's for the people we're most convinced God could never reach.

In Acts 10, God uses a vision, a Roman officer's prayers, and an ordinary knock on a door to break Peter's prejudice and open the church to the whole world. Pastor Daniel shows that the same biases that kept Peter from Cornelius still live in our hearts, and that God is inviting us to walk where His Spirit leads, trusting He's already working in the very people we've written off.

Key points

1
1The most pivotal conversations often look completely ordinary
Pastor Daniel opens with the story of a sweaty pest control salesman named Ethan who showed up at his door. What started as a sales pitch turned into a doorstep conversation about Ethan's imploded life as a former worship leader, and years later they're still doing life together. He warns that busyness and snap judgments about how people look can become barriers that make us miss these turning-point moments.
2
2Cornelius was a devout outsider whom God was already pursuing
Pastor Daniel walks through Acts 10:1-8, introducing Cornelius as a Roman officer in Caesarea who feared God, prayed, and gave generously, yet still sensed something missing. An angel tells him God has heard his prayers and to send for Simon Peter, a three-day journey away in Joppa, even though the evangelist Philip lived right next door in Caesarea.
3
3God had to root prejudice out of Peter, not just deliver a message to Cornelius
Pastor Daniel explains that God sent for Peter specifically, the most prominent leader in Acts, because this moment was about breaking something in the church's heart, not just informing a Roman soldier. Peter is staying with a tanner, someone who handled dead things and would have made a Jew ceremonially unclean, showing Peter had already begun opening his mind but still had a long way to go.
4
4Peter's rooftop vision confronts him with a truth he's slow to accept
In Acts 10:9-16, Peter falls into a trance while praying and sees a sheet full of unclean animals with a voice telling him to eat, followed by the words 'do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.' Pastor Daniel notes this happens three times because Peter is stubborn, and connects it to Jesus' earlier teaching in Mark/Matthew that it's the heart, not external rules, that defiles a person.
5
5Peter obeys the Spirit's nudge and crosses a barrier he never would have crossed before
As Cornelius' messengers arrive, the Holy Spirit tells Peter to go with them without hesitation. Pastor Daniel points out Peter invites Gentiles into his home overnight, something forbidden for a cultural Jew, showing real, if incomplete, progress; Peter later gets confronted about this in Acts 11.
6
6Peter preaches the gospel and the Holy Spirit falls before he even finishes
Peter tells Cornelius' household the story of Jesus, His death and resurrection, and forgiveness of sins through His name, and the Holy Spirit falls on the Gentiles mid-sermon, before Peter reaches his second point. Pastor Daniel highlights that the Jewish believers with Peter are amazed to hear Gentiles praying in tongues and praising God, and Peter has them baptized.
7
7It took ten years because the church was still dealing with prejudice, and Peter's struggle didn't end here
Pastor Daniel notes that even after Acts 10, Peter later refuses to eat with uncircumcised Gentiles and has to be corrected by Paul, showing this wasn't a one-time fix. He connects this honestly to the church's own history of using the Bible to justify slavery, warning that all of us carry biases — racial, political, or otherwise — that God has to keep rooting out.

Application

Pastor Daniel's charge is to find your one and let God do the rest.

Name one person to pray for
Think of one specific person in your life and ask God for opportunities to have spiritual conversations with them this week, trusting God has already been working on their heart.
Set aside real time alone with God
Follow Peter's example of stepping away to pray without distractions so you can actually hear the Spirit's nudge rather than staying too busy and loud to notice it.
Name and surrender your own prejudice
Admit honestly, as Peter had to, that you carry bias toward certain people or groups, and ask God to keep rooting it out rather than assuming you're past it.
Surrender your life to Jesus
If you sense God nudging you today, respond right now by believing in Jesus and asking Him to take control, since forgiveness and peace can't be earned on your own.

Take it into your week

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“the book of acts starts. Acts one eight, Jesus told him, now that you have my spirit in you, you have the holy spirit. Here's what you guys are gonna do now. You're gonna be my witnesses here in Jerusalem”
Read the whole chapter →
From the transcript
“There's a scene that's recorded I think in Mark seven in Matthew 14 or 15 where Jesus was sitting with his disciples. He sits with them to have a meal, which again as these cultural Jews, you had to go through this whole ceremonial hand washing”
From the transcript
“There's a scene that's recorded I think in Mark seven in Matthew 14 or 15 where Jesus was sitting with his disciples. He sits with them to have a meal, which again as these cultural Jews, you had to go through this whole ceremonial hand washing”
From the transcript
“It's why Paul will tell us in Romans chapter 10, here's the danger if we don't ever share this. Look what Paul says in Romans 10. He says, how can people call on Jesus to save them unless they believe in him”
From the transcript
“It's why Paul will tell us in Romans chapter 10, here's the danger if we don't ever share this. Look what Paul says in Romans 10. He says, how can people call on Jesus to save them unless they believe in him? Okay, it starts with belief. But how can they believe in him if they've never heard about him? And how can they hear unless someone tells them”

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Sign in to track your progress through this devotional.

Day 1

Related passage

It had been ten years since Jesus rose from the dead and told His followers the message was for everyone — every nation, every people, every corner of the earth. And yet, somehow, it had stayed neatly inside the boundaries of one culture. Not because God changed the plan, but because the people carrying the message brought their assumptions along for the ride. That's what Pastor Daniel pressed on when he opened Acts 10. Cornelius is a Roman centurion — the kind of person Peter would have crossed the street to avoid. But God had already been at work in him: his prayers were heard, his generosity was noticed, and an angel showed up with a message. Here's the striking part, though — the angel didn't deliver the gospel himself. He told Cornelius to go find a man named Peter. God, with all the resources of heaven available to Him, chose to entrust the message to a human being. He still does. The people in your life who seem far off may already be further along than you think — quietly praying, quietly searching. You might be the person God has already assigned to them. That's not pressure; it's an invitation to pay attention.

For reflection

Who is one specific person in your life that God might already be preparing to hear about Jesus — and what has kept you from moving toward them?

Pray

Pray for the one person who came to mind, asking God to continue the work He has already started in their heart.

Day 2

Related passage

Peter didn't receive his vision in the middle of a busy afternoon. He went up to the roof to pray, and in that intentional stillness, God spoke. Pastor Daniel made a point of that sequence — the stillness came first, and then the voice. We live in a moment when silence feels almost countercultural. There is always a screen, a notification, a next thing pulling at our attention. And yet the pattern throughout Scripture is consistent: people who hear God clearly tend to be people who have made space to listen. The vision itself was disorienting. A sheet full of animals Peter had been taught his whole life were off-limits, and a voice telling him to eat. Three times. God was patient with Peter's confusion, but He was also persistent. He didn't say it once and move on. If you've sensed a nudge from God that you've brushed off — toward a person, a conversation, a step of faith — it may be worth asking whether that nudge has come more than once. Stillness isn't just a spiritual discipline for its own sake; it's how we stay in the kind of conversation with God where He can actually redirect us before we drift too far.

For reflection

What practices or rhythms help you get genuinely still before God — and is there a nudge you may have talked yourself out of more than once?

Pray

Pray for the discipline and desire to carve out real stillness, and ask God to speak clearly into whatever He's been trying to redirect in you.

Day 3

Related passage

When Peter finally walked through Cornelius' door, he said something remarkably honest: 'You know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this.' He named the bias out loud. That kind of self-awareness doesn't come easily, and it doesn't come without cost. It meant admitting that something he had held as right and proper was actually getting in the way of what God was doing. Pastor Daniel was direct about this: we all carry prejudice and bias. The question isn't whether we have it — it's whether we're willing to let God examine it. Bias doesn't always look dramatic. Sometimes it's the quiet assumption that the gospel is really for people who are mostly like us, mostly ready, mostly asking the right questions. Sometimes it's the person we've written off without realizing it — the coworker, the neighbor, the family member we've quietly decided is a lost cause. Peter had to walk into an uncomfortable room before the Spirit moved in power. The discomfort wasn't a sign that something was wrong; it was a sign that something was about to change. Asking the Holy Spirit to show us what's in our own hearts is one of the bravest prayers we can pray.

For reflection

Is there a person or a group of people you've quietly assumed the gospel isn't really for — or that you aren't the right person to reach?

Pray

Ask the Holy Spirit, honestly and specifically, to reveal any bias or prejudice that might be limiting your willingness to carry the message of Jesus to the people He's already placed around you.

Day 4

Related passage

When Peter finally opened his mouth in Cornelius' house, he preached one of the clearest summaries of the gospel in the entire book of Acts. And right at the center of it was this: peace with God — the forgiveness of sin — is available through Jesus Christ alone. Not through religious effort. Not through being a good person, or generous, or devout. Cornelius was all of those things, and an angel still told him he needed to hear from Peter. Pastor Daniel was careful here: striving, giving, and religious performance cannot earn what Jesus already purchased. This is the heart of the message we carry. It's genuinely good news, not a to-do list. And it's good news for the very reason it feels almost too simple — it doesn't depend on the person being ready enough, clean enough, or religious enough. It depends on Jesus. That's why the gospel can travel across every cultural boundary, every background, every kind of brokenness. The terms don't change based on who's receiving it. When you think about the one person you've been praying for, remember: the message you carry isn't about your performance in delivering it. It's about what Jesus has already done.

For reflection

How does it change the way you think about sharing your faith to remember that the gospel is genuinely good news — not a standard someone has to meet first?

Pray

Pray for a fresh sense of the good news yourself — that peace with God is already available through Jesus — and let that reality be what you carry into conversations this week.

Day 5

Related passage

Pastor Daniel described walking in the Spirit with a phrase worth sitting with: taking the next uncomfortable step of faith God is prompting, and then trusting Him to provide the next step from there. That's it. Not a five-year plan. Not having all the answers ready. Just the next step. Galatians 5 gives us the picture of what it looks like when someone is genuinely being led by the Spirit — and it's a life marked by love, patience, kindness, and faithfulness, not by having everything figured out in advance. Peter didn't know what was waiting for him in Cornelius' house. He just knew he was supposed to go. And when he got there, the Spirit moved in ways Peter couldn't have scripted. The fruit of the Spirit isn't produced by trying harder; it grows when we stay connected to the vine and keep saying yes to the prompts that come. That means when God puts a name on your heart, you don't have to have the perfect words. You just have to go. The same Spirit that moved in that room in Caesarea is the Spirit living in you. Trust that He knows what He's doing in the person He's sending you toward.

For reflection

What is the one next step of faith you've been aware of but have been waiting to feel more prepared or confident before taking?

Pray

Pray for the courage to take the next step — just the next one — and ask the Holy Spirit to lead from there.

Day 6

Pastor Daniel returned to Romans 10 more than once, and it's easy to see why. 'How can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?' There's a beautiful and slightly uncomfortable logic to it: the message travels through people. God could have arranged it otherwise — angels, signs, any number of means. But He didn't. He looked at His church and said, you carry this. That's not a burden; it's a trust. The person God is already preparing in your life — the one you've been praying for since the first day of this devotional — cannot hear unless someone speaks. And the someone God has positioned in their life, at this moment, may genuinely be you. Not because you have a theology degree or a polished testimony. Because you're there. Because God placed you in proximity to them for reasons that were never accidental. You don't have to have all the answers. You don't have to win an argument or explain every hard question. You just have to be willing to say something about Jesus — honestly, personally, without pretense — and trust that God has been doing the heavy lifting long before you showed up.

For reflection

What would it look like for you to say something honest and personal about Jesus to the person you've been praying for — without feeling like you need to have everything figured out first?

Pray

Pray specifically for an open door — a natural moment — to have a real spiritual conversation with the person on your heart.

Day 7

Related passage

Reading Acts 10 as a whole, what's striking is how many moving parts God coordinated — Cornelius' prayers, an angelic visit, a three-day journey, Peter's rooftop vision, a Spirit-powered moment in a Gentile home — all so that one household could hear the gospel and find peace with God. God was doing the heavy lifting from the very beginning. Peter's role was simply to show up, to say yes, and to speak. And in doing so, he stepped into one of the most significant moments in the history of the church. That same pattern is still in motion. Somewhere in your week — in your neighborhood, your workplace, your family — God is orchestrating the same kind of behind-the-scenes work in someone's heart. He is not waiting for you to become more polished or more prepared. He is asking you to do what Peter did: let the vision He's given you override the biases you've carried, walk through the uncomfortable door, and trust that when the Spirit moves, He more than makes up for everything you lack. The gospel is still breaking through boundaries. You don't have to be extraordinary to be part of that — you just have to be willing.

For reflection

Looking back over this week, what has shifted in the way you see yourself as someone God can use — and what is one concrete thing you want to carry forward?

Pray

Pray with gratitude for what God has already been doing — in you and in the person on your heart — and ask Him to keep making you willing to take the next step as He leads.

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

Think about a time you were surprised by who showed up somewhere you didn't expect them — this message is about the moment the early church got that same kind of surprise, and what it cost one man to be ready for it.

Discussion questions

1
Acts 10 shows that the gospel had been alive for roughly ten years before it was formally proclaimed to a non-Jewish person. What does that gap reveal about how bias and prejudice can operate even inside a community that genuinely loves God?
Related passage
2
When Peter finally enters Cornelius' home, he says in Acts 10:28 that Jewish law forbade him from being there — and yet he walked in. What does it look like, practically, for someone to take that kind of uncomfortable step of faith before they feel fully ready?
Related passage
3
Pastor Daniel pointed out that in Romans 10, angels consistently direct people to another human being to hear the gospel — never delivering the message themselves. What does it say about God's design that He has specifically entrusted the message of Jesus to people like us?
4
The gospel Peter preaches in Acts 10:34-43 is that peace with God comes through Jesus Christ — not through striving, giving, or religious effort. How does that framing of the gospel shape the way we might introduce it to someone who is already trying hard to be a good person?
Related passage
5
Pastor Daniel challenged us to ask the Holy Spirit to surface the biases and prejudices in our own hearts that might be quietly limiting where and to whom we carry this message. What kinds of things — attitudes, assumptions, comfort zones — tend to shrink the circle of people we imagine the gospel is actually for?
Related passage
6
Pastor Daniel invited everyone to identify one specific person and begin praying with real desperation for a door to open with them — and he said God has already been doing the heavy lifting in that person's heart. How might that idea change the way a community like ours thinks about and prays for the people around us?

Pray together

Courage to take the next uncomfortable step, and open eyes to see the people God is already preparing around us

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Continue the series

TAKING GROUND

Week 3 · 3 messages

Where these passages are preached

Acts 1 Mark 7 Matthew 15 Romans 10

Explore related topics

Breaking Down Barriers God's Inclusive Grace Peter's Vision Prejudice and Bias Sharing the Gospel Walking in the Spirit

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