Our Contacts: Neighbours, Friends, Acquaintances and Relatives.

Hymn – The Old Rugged Cross;

Acts 10 vs 23 - 38(The message) says; 23-26 The next morning he got up and went with them. Some of his friends from Joppa went along. A day later they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had his relatives and close friends waiting with him. The minute Peter came through the door, Cornelius was up on his feet greeting him—and then down on his face worshiping him! Peter pulled him up and said, “None of that—I’m a man and only a man, no different from you.”

27-29 Talking things over, they went on into the house, where Cornelius introduced Peter to everyone who had come. Peter addressed them, “You know, I’m sure that this is highly irregular. Jews just don’t do this—visit and relax with people of another race. But God has just shown me that no race is better than any other. So the minute I was sent for, I came, no questions asked. But now I’d like to know why you sent for me.”

30-32 Cornelius said, “Four days ago at about this time, midafternoon, I was home praying. Suddenly there was a man right in front of me, flooding the room with light. He said, ‘Cornelius, your daily prayers and neighborly acts have brought you to God’s attention. I want you to send to Joppa to get Simon, the one they call Peter. He’s staying with Simon the Tanner down by the sea.’

33 “So I did it—I sent for you. And you’ve been good enough to come. And now we’re all here in God’s presence, ready to listen to whatever the Master put in your heart to tell us.”

34-36 Peter fairly exploded with his good news: “It’s God’s own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! It makes no difference who you are or where you’re from—if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open. The Message he sent to the children of Israel—that through Jesus Christ everything is being put together again—well, he’s doing it everywhere, among everyone.

37-38 “You know the story of what happened in Judea. It began in Galilee after John preached a total life-change. Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all this because God was with him.

Cornelius was the first gentile to convert to the faith and though it was his heart desire, he carried those connected to him on the journey to salvation. His actions destabilized the status quo, placed a demand on the Holy Spirit and he and all present with him received his outpouring. Cornelius’s baptism marked an important event in the history of the early church because he understood he had been chosen for a higher alternative by God. We are being challenged this morning to be like Cornelius who was a good friend, a thoughtful neighbour, an encouraging acquaintance and an accommodating relative.

·      You and I need to pray for ourselves first that we will be like Cornelius. Ask that the Lord himself will give us a compassionate and caring heart for all our contacts in Jesus name. We will not be selfish and self-centred and the Lord himself will put the burden of the salvation of these ones on each of us so we may tarry at this presence till it comes through in Jesus name.

·      Lord please grant us a large heart to carry the burden of our friends, acquaintances, neighbours and relatives in Jesus name. Please help us to be deliberate in speaking to them about Jesus through different mediums using words and deeds in Jesus name. 

·      May we be your evangelistic tools to these ones through our character, our speech, our actions and our attitudes in Jesus name.

·      Let your love consume these ones regardless of their race, colour, belief or disposition in Jesus name. We beg of you Lord, please visit our contacts – neighbours, friends, acquaintances and relatives and sow seeds of your word in their heart bringing a fruitful harvest unto you in Jesus name.

·      Let their hearts be fertile grounds to receive the message of salvation in Jesus name, that these ones will not be lost O Lord.

·      May our neighbourly acts and daily prayers draw them all closer to the Cross and into your loving arms as well as bring them your attention O God in Jesus name.

·      We beg of you Holy Spirit, reach out to the heart of all our contacts no matter who they are or where they are from and please bring them into the kingdom of God through an encounter with you in Jesus name.

Colossians 1 vs 26 - 28(The message) says, 26-28 This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it’s out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less.

Like the Paul in the above scripture our assignment is to preach the message of the Cross. We need to commit ourselves to this as we have been equipped to carry out this instruction so that we can help our contacts likewise. Every one of them need the Holy Spirit to help them to mature in him.

·      Holy Spirit please reveal the mystery of the Cross to all our neighbours, friends, acquaintances and relatives in Jesus name.

·      Use us O Lord as carriers of your pure and undiluted Message to these ones in Jesus name.

·      Help us Holy Spirit to preach Christ only to these ones by seizing every opportunity you give to us and adding nothing to his message in Jesus name.

·      We yield the lives of all those connected to us unto you Holy Spirit this morning, bring them to maturity in Jesus name.

·      We declare that it will be Christ no more no less in our neighbours, friends, acquaintances, and relatives’ lives in Jesus name.

Ephesians 1 vs 7 - 12; (The message) says 7-12 Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

11-12 It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

·      We stand in the gap and intercede for all our contacts, standing on the precious blood of the Lamb that they are free from every penalty or punishment chalked up in Jesus name.

·      Bring to their realisation the sacrifice of the Messiah so they are aware that you Jesus has paid the price on their behalf in Jesus name.

·      We ask Holy Spirit, please let them in on the plans of Jesus for each of their life in Jesus name.

·      Let our neighbours, friends, acquaintances and relatives each encounter Calvary so that they will find out who they are and who they are living for in Jesus name.

·      Jesus please put your eyes on these ones and reveal your designs for glorious living to them one by one in Jesus name.