Built Different: "Our Family is Built Different" – Rev. Dr. Christy Lipscomb

God’s kingdom crosses the lines of skin color, language, money, and citizenship. Christ’s love, not a political party, a cultural trend, or a church growth strategy, compels a multiethnic church. The ministry of reconciliation means more than different-looking people showing up in the same room. The gospel brings people into a family they would never have built themselves.

Acts 10 brings together Peter, a Jewish follower of Jesus, and Cornelius, a Gentile who fears God, prays, and gives generously. Cornelius has an incomplete understanding of the gospel. Peter has an incomplete understanding too. God goes to great lengths to bring them together because loving God separately is not the whole picture.

The sheet filled with clean and unclean animals challenges what Peter believes faithfulness requires. God’s command, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean,” reaches beyond food to people. Jesus has brought a new covenant, but Peter is still learning its implications. Peter’s strong reaction exposes an uncomfortable possibility: convictions and preferences can grow out of incomplete theology. The gospel is bigger than the boundaries Peter has carried into it.

God leads both men into obedience before either understands the whole plan. Their mutual effort takes shape in three ordinary actions: obeying God, entering each other’s homes, and making the whole thing a group project. Hospitality requires both roles. Being the host welcomes someone into familiar space; being the guest crosses a threshold into somebody else’s world.

Ethnic unity needs that kind of real community. Diversity means little without relationships in which people actually share life. Consistent presence, conversations before and after worship, shared meals, and a walk across the room help build a family rather than an audience consuming services. Intentional friendship across differences strengthens what attendance alone cannot. The Holy Spirit builds multiethnic churches through ordinary people willing to move beyond familiar patterns.

The Holy Spirit’s arrival on Cornelius’s household makes God’s welcome unmistakable. God does not erase their culture or language; he makes them one in Jesus. Shared life in the Spirit leaves no room for delight in the suffering of immigrant brothers and sisters, even where political disagreements remain. Paul’s call to humility, gentleness, patience, and peace gives unity its everyday shape. Jesus is not simply saving a collection of individuals. He is creating one people, his people.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Sincere faith can carry incomplete theology. Peter’s devotion to Jesus did not mean every implication of the new covenant had settled into place. God’s correction exposed a boundary Peter still considered faithful. Spiritual maturity includes allowing God’s word to challenge preferences that feel too settled to question. [13:05]
• 2. The gospel builds an unexpected family. The gospel joins people who would not naturally choose the same table. That family challenges the assumption that comfort and familiarity should determine belonging. God’s work in Peter and Cornelius shows that a fuller understanding of his kingdom can require relationship with someone previously kept at a distance. [16:10]
• 3. Unity requires being guest and host. Hospitality remains incomplete when every relationship happens on familiar ground. The role of guest gives up control and receives another person’s welcome, rhythms, and space. Ethnic unity grows through that mutual movement, not through one group always doing the inviting and another always doing the adjusting. [22:32]
• 4. One Spirit makes belonging unmistakable. The Holy Spirit’s presence among the Gentiles overturns any claim that they belong less fully to God’s family. Shared life in Christ does not erase cultural differences or settle every disagreement. The bond of the Spirit does rule out treating another Christian’s suffering as a reason to celebrate. [39:52]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [01:40] - A Church Reflecting God’s Kingdom
• [04:07] - Peter and Cornelius: Why Bring Them Together?
• [07:18] - Peter’s Vision of the Sheet
• [11:35] - When Convictions Need Correcting
• [16:10] - A Family Nobody Would Build Alone
• [20:20] - Three Actions That Build Ethnic Unity
• [27:40] - Building Community, Not Just Diversity
• [34:42] - Intentionally Building Friendships Across Differences
• [37:26] - One Spirit, One Family, One People

Bible Reading

Acts 10:1-48
“At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, 'Cornelius.' And he stared at him in terror and said, 'What is it, Lord?' And he said to him, 'Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.' When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him: 'Rise, Peter; kill and eat.' But Peter said, 'By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.' And the voice came to him again a second time, 'What God has made clean, do not call common.' This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven. Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, 'Behold, three men are looking for you. Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.' And Peter went down to the men and said, 'I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?' And they said, 'Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.' So he invited them in to be his guests. The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, 'Stand up; I too am a man.' And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. And he said to them, 'You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.' And Cornelius said, 'Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing and said, "Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea." So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.' So Peter opened his mouth and said: 'Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.' While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 'Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?' And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.”

Observation questions

1. In Acts 10:1–23, how does God prepare Cornelius and Peter to meet? What steps does each man take before knowing the whole plan? [20:31]
2. How does Peter’s response to the vision in Acts 10:9–16 compare with his explanation of it when he enters Cornelius’s home in verses 27–29? [24:19]
3. In Acts 10:23–33, who else becomes part of Peter and Cornelius’s meeting? What details show that this is more than a private conversation between two men? [25:07]
4. In Acts 10:44–48, what convinces the Jewish believers that God has welcomed the Gentiles, and how does Peter respond? [39:05]

Interpretation questions

1. Why might Peter have believed that refusing the food in his vision was an act of faithfulness? What does God’s correction reveal about how sincere devotion can exist alongside an incomplete understanding? [13:00]
2. Cornelius needs to hear the gospel, while Peter needs to recognize whom God welcomes. Why is their meeting important for both men rather than only for Cornelius? [16:59]
3. Peter welcomes Cornelius’s messengers and then enters Cornelius’s home. Why does being both guest and host matter for building relationships across ethnic boundaries? What could remain unequal if one group always did the hosting? [22:18]
4. How does the Gentiles’ reception of the Holy Spirit challenge the idea that they must first adopt Peter’s cultural background to belong fully to God’s family? [39:52]

Application questions

1. Peter needed God to challenge a boundary he thought was faithful. Is there a preference about who you worship with or spend time with that you may need to examine in light of Scripture? What would help you approach that honestly rather than defensively? [14:53]
2. Think of someone in your church whose ethnicity, language, income, or background differs from yours. What is one natural way you could begin or deepen a friendship with that person over the next few weeks? [35:11]
3. Which feels more comfortable to you: welcoming someone into your world or receiving an invitation into theirs? What makes the other role harder, and what might help you become more open to it? [22:32]
4. Real community grows through ordinary, consistent presence. What currently makes it difficult for you to connect before or after worship or share life during the week? What small, realistic change could make room for those relationships? [31:04]
5. Shared life in Christ leaves no room for celebrating an immigrant brother’s or sister’s suffering. When immigration comes up in conversation or online, what do you notice in your own reactions? How could you show compassion in a concrete way, even where political disagreements remain? [40:30]
6. Building unity can involve misunderstanding or hurt. If you have experienced that, what would a wise next step toward connection look like—with appropriate care and support? How could this group help without pressuring you? [36:51]