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1 By Beailc Wllbon ]
INTRODUCTION
The first century church made a major break
through in the event recorded in Acts 10 and 11.
After hying and growing for perhaps eight years
as an all-Jewish body, the church took its gospel
message toa family of uncircumcized Gentiles at
.Caesarea. There was no problem with getting the
Gentiles to accept Christ and be baptized. It had
been less easy to persuade the messenger, Peter,
to approach Gentiles with the messager of salva
tion; and it was still less easy to gain acceptance
for Gentiles among the Jewish Christians.
Despite all the marvelous vitality of its early
days, the church did not reach beyond the descen
dants of Abraham. Even Peter seemed to forget
that folk afar off are included in the gospel pro
vision and promise. Philip, "the evangelist,"
preached successfully in Samaria, and Peter also
worked for a time there. It was a step toward "all
nations."
God would wait forever for the church to address
Gentiles with the gospel. For that major break
through He found Cornelius, a Roman army offi
cer, ready to listen, and He prepared a reluctant
apostle to bring the message. Again it was Peter,
chosen to use the keys of the Kingdom, who
opened the way to salvation in Christ.
LESSON BACKGROUND
Chapter eleven of Acts shows how the Jewish
Christians were brought to accept Gentiles as
bona fide members of the body of Christ. It does
not even mention the name of Cornelius, but
dwells on the means by which God persuaded Pe
ter, first to approach the Gentiles at all, and then
to recognize that they were accepted for disciple
ship on the same basis as the Jews.
THE LESSON
"When Peter went to Jerusalem, those who were
in favor of circumcizing Gentiles criticized him,
saying, You were a guest in the home of uncir
f cumpized Gentles, and you even ate with them!'
So Peter gave them a complete account of what
had happened from the very beginning: While I
was praying in the city of Joppa, I had a vision. I
saw something coming down that looked like a
large sheet being lowered by its four comers from
heaven, and it stopped next to me. I looked closely
inside and saw domesticated and wild animals,
reptiles, and wild birds. Then I heard a voice say
ing to me, ’Get up, Peter; kill and eat!' But I said,
'Certainly not, Lord! No ritually unclean or de
filed food has ever entered my mouth.' The voice
spoke again from heaven, 'Do not consider anyth
ing unclean that God has declared clean. " (To
learn the rest of the story, read Acts 11.)
If Peter was irritated at what could seem a per
sonal affront to him as an apostle, he didn't show
it. Neither did he argue. He set forth the facts and
let them speak for themselves. So also the story of
the gospel is still better than all reasonings to con
vince the unbeliever.
Peter was a guest of Simon the tanner in Joppa,
and had gone to the housetop to pray as the noon
meal was being prepared. Every detail of the ex
perience pointed toward God's intervention.
Prayer led to a sleep-like trance, in which Peter
saw a vision. Heaven itself lowered the "vessel" in
front of the hungry man. It was for him!
The subject of eating permeates the whole dis
cussion. It is the visible part of the question "What
and who is acceptable with God?" The voice identi
fied immediately as from the Lord on Heaven, di
rected Peter to get up, kill, and eat. Peter, a thor
ough going, lifelong Jew, had totally abstained
from foods prohibited by God's law. And that was
the basis of his refusal to follow God's command
at this time. Peter had a perfect record of compli
ance up to now, and he was Pot about to break it,
even at a word from Heaven. Peter did not say,
"Lord, to eat this meat would be to go against
Your law." As a real traditionalist he said, "I re
fuse to break my record." How like most of us he
- wasi
The cleansing power of God changes the most
- common or unclean thing into something very
uncommon. And God can do that with anything
or anyone. Peter was to learn that through Jesus'
2 sacrifice at Calvary every person could be lifted
"'2 out of the ranks of the "unclean."
Acts 10 and 11 tell of three conversions. Peter
was converted to acceptance of the truth that the
> gospel is for all men everywhere, and so he
- preached to Cornelius. Cornelius was converted to
fUll and obedient acceptance of Christ as the Sav
ior sent by the God he already worshipped. The
Judean brethren were converted to acceptance of
the fact that God really included Gentiles in His
salvation plan.
The conversions marked a conclusion and a be
ginning.
AABWE
r‘ .. ' V"*' '/•
Changes
Its Name
AfUr and exciting and enthu
siastic second year in Charlotte,
the local chapter of the American
.Association of Black Women En
trepreneurs has changed its name
and re-organized as a local or
ganization. The group's new
name is the Carolina Association
of Black Women Entrepreneurs
(CABWE). There are over 100 !
members and they expect to top 160
early this year.
One of the main reasons for re
organizing-under a local chapter
was the size of the business com- !
munity in Charlotte and sur
rounding area and the tremen
dous response to this group's ac
tivities held during 1986.
Under the leadership of Jean
Henderson, past president, and
Judy Diamond, past vice presi
dent, women were drawn to come
together and combine energies in
finding resources, gaining in
sight into common problems such
as financing a business and
gathering vital business know
how about starting a new busi
ness.
The group holds its monthly
meetings at McDonald's Cafete
ria on Beatties Ford Rd. and in
each month's meeting there is al
ways something worthwhile for
the new and experienced woman
business owner to gain. The
group is conscious of the buying
power of the black community in
Charlotte, and has actively sought
out those black businesses that
they could patronize and help sup
port. The approximate total of
sales done between businesses in
the AABWE organization
(among member businesses only)
with the combined efforts of the
City and County M/WBE pro
grams is well over $100,000.
The group has also gained the
respect of all the other AABWE
chapters across the U.S. because it
was the largest chapter. While in
Asheville, NC, for the annual
convention last year, the group
learned that their growth and rec
ognition had been instrumental
in bringing AABWE into the na
tional limelight.
The yearly agenda has includ
ed a number of forums of value to
black businesswomen. The high
light of the year was the "Women
Business Owners' Conference"
featuring lecturers Rosha
McGill, Jean Henderson, Mari
lyn Wright, and Joan Jackson.
Workshops were sponsored by
the group at the Charlotte Chamber
of Commerce - including a work
shop facilitated by Louise Warren
of the Digital Equipment Corpora
tion, entitled "You Can Surpass
Yourself."
AABWE Charlotte Chapter also
got a scholarship program off to a
gigantic start with four high
school seniors receiving $1,000
each to the schools of his/her
choice.
The next meeting of Carolina
Association of Black Women En
trepreneurs (CABWE) will be at
McDonald's Cafeteria on Beatties
Ford Rd. on Monday night, Janu
ary 26, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Re
freshments will be served and a
cover charge of $2 per person.
Highlights of the first meeting for
1987 will be election of officers,
agenda for 1987, and committee
assignments. Please bring busi
ness cards. For ^nore informa
tion, call Laura McClettie at 535
5370.
Local Teachers
Participate In
Vkfeoconfermce
"I* Independent Studio Teaching a
Viable Career?" will be discussed in
a four-hour videoconference on Jan
uary 29. Sponsored locally by Com
munity School of the Arts and the
Bill Duff Piano Company, the con
ference will take place in the Cable
vision auditorium, 316 E. Morehead
St., in Charlotte. Starting at 11
a.m.
The videoconference will be
broadcast live from Cincinnati via
satellite to workshop sites through
out the U.S. and Canada. The con
ference is presented by "Clavier"
magazine and produced by Baldwin
Piano and Organ Company. It is *e
timated that mors than 10,000
teachers and students will be in at- ‘
tandarice coast to coast.
Five outstanding music educators,
all recognized independent studio
teachers, will serve is panel mem
bers. Telephone hook-ups at each1
sits will allow attendees across the
country to phone in questions for
the panel. SST'V -£ 1
r.'Hilp#:, • f
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