In Acts 11 we have the conclusion of the story of Cornelius, a Roman military officer who comes to faith in Jesus through the witness of the apostle Peter. In the previous chapter, the author Luke described how God brought these two men together at Caesarea so the gospel could spread beyond Jewish borders. In the present chapter, the story is re-told from the perspective of Peter himself when he returns to Jerusalem and discovers that everyone isn’t exactly thrilled about what has taken place. Peter’s approach is to emphasize God’s guidance through the entire process. Through his testimony we learn an important lesson. If we want to partner with God in His mission to reach lost people—even people who are not like us, but from various ethnic, cultural, social, and economic backgrounds—then we must develop a greater sensitivity to the work of the Holy Spirit. Effective gospel witness always advances by the leading of God’s Spirit. Today as then, Christ’s mission will succeed despite the objections of critics (v 1-3), through ready and willing messengers (v 4-12), to the glory and praise of God (v 13-18). Having heard the evidence as presented by Peter, all the criticism ceased and the worship began! The church wasn’t growing in the way people had expected. But God’s grace was abounding to Jews and Gentiles—insiders and outsiders—and the barriers that separated people were coming down. As Cornelius, a God-fearer, meets Christ in the Judean city of Caesarea, the gospel is also spreading further north along the Mediterranean coast. By now it has even reached Antioch—the large, cosmopolitan, and thoroughly pagan chief city of Syria. With a doctrine and lifestyle distinctly counter-cultural to their new environment, the church was “preaching the Lord Jesus,” and many came to faith because “the hand of the Lord was with them” (v 19-21). So what happens when a new ministry grows in unconventional ways? People start talking, and some may be suspicious. A situation like this needs to be handled with care! Spiritual oversight can be seen as control; and if not done carefully, it can stifle initiative, dampen zeal, and lead to discouragement. So the Jerusalem church wisely sends Barnabas, an ambassador of grace, who humbly invites Saul, a gifted teacher, to join him for a year of team-teaching in this growing, multicultural church. The genuineness of their faith is shown when God leads them to send a generous famine-relief offering to their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem. No wonder the Antioch community took notice and began calling these disciples Christians, or “Christ-ones” (v 22-30). For further meditation: