The Gospel For All People [LIVE] - 04/26/2026

Grace Way it's so good to see y'all. It's so so good to see y'all. Y'all look amazing today. Happy 83rd birthday. The Lord is my shepherd. We shall not want. He leads us beside still waters and restores our souls even in the darkest valley. He is with us. So come let us worship the shepherd who calls us by name. We come to hear his voice and follow where he leads. Father God in the name of Jesus, good shepherd, good father, you know us by name and you lead us into life. So as we gather, steal the noise around us and let us hear your voice. Restore what is weary in us. Guide us in paths of righteousness and remind us that your goodness follows us all our days. In Jesus name. Come on, let the church say Amen. Amen. Grab your viewing online or in person for the first time. Welcome to Grace Way. Happy birthday Grace Way. 83 years. Come on. I try with all my might. I just can't win the fight. I'm slowly drifting. A bag of mud. And just when I ran out of room, I met a man I didn't know. And he told me that I was not alone. Come on, if you know it, I want you to sing it out. You picked me up. You turned me around. You placed my feet on solid ground. I thank the Master. I thank the Savior. Because you healed my heart. You changed my name. Forever free, I'm not the same. I thank the Master. I thank the Savior. I thank God. I cannot deny what I've seen. Got no choice but to believe. My doubts are burning like ashes in the wind. So, so long to my old friends. Come on, wave at him. Burden and bitterness. You can't just keep it moving. No, you ain't welcome here. Mountain, lava, walls, streets of gold. I've seen them how you saved my soul. This wayward son has found his way back home.

You picked me up. You turned me around. You placed my feet on solid ground. I thank the Master. I thank the Savior. Because you healed my heart. You changed my name. Forever free, I'm not the same. I thank the Master. I thank the Savior. I thank God. Come on, we celebrate at 83 years. Let me see your cocked up hands. Hail, Lost Another One, I am free. I am free. I am free. Hail, Lost Another One, I am free. I am free. Oh, I am free. If you're free in the room, come on sing it. Hail, Lost Another One, I am free. I am free. I am free. Hail, Lost Another One, I am free. I am free. Hail, Lost Another One, I am free. I am free. Oh, I am free. Hail, Lost Another One, I am free. I am free. You picked me up. You turned me around. You placed my feet on solid ground. I thank the Master. I thank the Savior. Because you healed my heart. You changed my name. Forever free. I thank the Master. I thank the Savior. Master, I thank you today. I thank God. Come on, oh magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together.

Get up, get up, get up, get up out of that grave. Get up, get up, get up, get up out of that grave. Get up, get up, get up, get up out of that grave. Get up, get up, get up, get up out of that grave. Get up, get up, get up, get up out of that grave. Get up, get up, get up, get up out of that grave. You picked me up, you turned me around, you placed my feet on solid ground. I thank the Master, I thank the Savior, you healed my heart, you changed my name forever free. I thank the Master, I thank the Savior, I thank God. Come on, do we have any grateful people in the building? Yes, Lord. So grateful. So great. There was no way until you made one. Grace upon grace, hallelujah. Even though I don't deserve it, you did it. Even though I couldn't earn it, you give it. Come on, sing it, you know it. Who am I that you keep me on your mind? God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. All my life you've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. Holy, holy, there's only one. Come on. I give you glory for all that you've done. Even though I don't deserve it, you give it. Even though I couldn't earn it, you give it.

Who am I that you keep me on your mind? God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. All my life you've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. Who am I? Who am I that you keep me on your mind? God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. All my life you've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. Yeah. Come on, hands lifted all over the room as a sign of surrenderance to King Jesus. You're a good, good father. And I, I'm lifting both of my hands. Cause you gave me chance after chance, after chance. And I, I'm giving all that I am. Cause you gave me chance after chance, after chance. And I, I'm lifting both of my hands. Cause you gave me chance after chance, after chance. And I, I'm giving all that I am. Cause you gave me chance after chance, after chance. Who am I that you keep me on your mind? God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you All my life, you've been right here God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you Who am I? Who am I? That you keep me on your mind God, I'm just grateful for you

God, I'm just grateful for you All my life, you've been right here God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you I survived and I'm here to test it God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you If I'm alright, if they say I'm out of my mind God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you Good morning, Grace Way. Wow, if we think back through our lives and think back through the life of this church, I don't know that we can get to where we are without the natural response of just being grateful for Him. Amen. I'm grateful for you. If you are new here or if you've been coming to Grace Way for a bit, I just want to say welcome home. Thank you for being here. There's a connect card in the seat back in front of you if you are new here. Just ask that you fill that out and take it to our next steps desk out in the lobby after service. We'd love to get to know you a little bit better. Man, I'm just so grateful for you guys. As we continue worshipping, we do this every month, but we're going to partake in communion as a family. And communion is one of those things that it's a sacred moment. Scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 11 that every time we eat of the bread and drink of the cup, we will proclaim His death until He comes. Amen. And so we're going to do that today. Like I said, it's a sacred moment for those who walk with Jesus and believe in Jesus. But if you don't, you're still welcome here. And I just invite you during this time that we're taking communion that you just think about what it might be like to walk with Jesus. Think about what it might be like to be in relationship with Him and to have a Savior so that you know exactly what's going to happen when we come to the end of our time. Amen. And so as we do that as believers, reflect on His body that was broken for us. Reflect on His blood that was poured out for our sins. And when we do that, just give thanks for that. Lashia is going to call us down in the middle of the next song. Go ahead and grab your elements. Go back to your seat. Take it as you feel led and just reflect on that moment. I want to invite our ushers down.

We're going to receive today's tithes and offerings. This is another act of worship. This is a time where we get to say thank you for everything that you've done for us. And so this is how we can give back to you, Lord. And can I challenge us? We do something around here called the generosity jump. If you're new to giving or if it's something that you want to jump back into, this is something where we go, Lord, you let me know what I should do for every single week for the next six months through the end of October. What am I going to do every single week in the way of giving? And just do that. If the Lord tells you to do something, do that. You're going to see that what a blessing it is to give. And so let us pray. Lord, we're thankful for today. We're thankful for the history of this church. We're thankful for the history of your church. We're thankful for everything that you've done. Lord, let these gifts just further your kingdom. Let them move out into our community. And we're just so thankful for the way that you're going to bring your future kingdom into the present through these gifts, Lord. We love you. We trust you. We're thankful for your amazing grace on us. And it's in Jesus' name, all God's people said, amen. Amen. Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I'm found, was blind but now I see. T'was grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed. My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me. And like a flood, His mercy reigns, unending love, amazing grace. I want to invite the communion team down here. Also, our brothers and sisters, there's communion up top as well for you. Come on, let's take this time together. The Lord has promised good to me, His Word my hope secure. He will my shield and foreshield, as long as life endures. My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me. And like a flood, His mercy reigns, unending love, amazing grace.

My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me. And like a flood, His mercy reigns, unending love, amazing grace. The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, the sun forbear to shine. But God who called me here, shall be forever mine. My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me. And like a flood, His mercy reigns, unending love, amazing grace. Can you lift your hands and sing this? My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me. And like a flood, His mercy reigns, unending love, amazing grace. All right, family. Let's pray together, shall we? Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, we thank you for this moment to be reminded of your goodness and of your grace, to be reminded of who we were, to be reminded of where we were going and what we loved, to be reminded that we had believed a lie and that we're a part of a culture that was stealing and killing and destroying, and that you went first, that you said yes, not to me because I was good or moral or religious, not to me because I had earned it, not to me because I had potential, you said yes to me because you are unlike anyone else, and when I was your enemy, when I was not looking for you, when I was going the wrong direction as quickly as I could, you intersected my life in your grace after being long-suffering and patient with me, and you saved me. And now there is no condemnation because I am in you, and now all of your wrath has been poured out on Jesus, and I am a new creation. Old things are passed away, everything is new, and now the power of the resurrection and the Holy Spirit of God calls me home. And now I am just passing through. Now I am a part of a kingdom that has come and is coming again. Now I serve a different king. Now I live by a different constitution. Now I meet every morning to new mercies, and one day, God, I will stand before you and I will not say you're welcome.

But I will say, your grace is amazing. Lord, as we celebrate 83 years, we acknowledge that your grace is amazing, that your promises are yes and amen, that you are good and faithful, and we honor you today. We praise you today. We sing to you today. We pray to you today. We give to you today. As we open up your word, we now ask for soft hearts to hear what you have to say to us. Speak and move. Rest on this place. Lord, lead us. You're in charge. We sure are glad. We love you, and in Jesus' name, all God's people said, amen and amen. Hey, welcome to church, y'all. How are you? It's good to see you. Take a couple minutes, pass in peace, and then grab your seat. All right, fam. How we doing? How we doing? Are you good? Awesome, awesome, awesome. I see some people looking for seats. Do me a favor, if you would, squeeze in a little bit. Got some seats up in the balcony, got some seats over here, got some seats over here. Hey, if I haven't had the chance to meet you, my name's Tim, I'm the lead pastor here. We're honored to have you here today. If you're a first-time guest, thanks for joining us. Come on, church.

Show some love. Say hello. If you're a first-time guest, man, we appreciate you being here. If you're watching us online, thanks for joining us. And then men at Crossroads and at Ozarks, we love you. We're excited to have you be a part of our church. Come on, these churches that we have in correctional facilities, they aren't ministries, they're church members, all right? So brothers, we love you and praying for you. Graceway, you're 83 years old today. Unbelievable, unbelievable. You look great for 83, all right? Hey, I'm gonna, I wanna show you, show you a couple pictures here to kind of talk about our story. This out here on our far left side, this is our founding pastor, Dr. Wendell Zimmerman. And this might be my favorite picture in all of our history. You may see that sign show up someplace in our building. God is bigger than the devil, yes. And so in 1943, our founding pastor, Wendell Zimmerman, if you've been up at the ballparks, you saw Zimmerman Park. Those are named after him. to our founding pastor. Our church was founded off of Swope Parkway and started with 14 months, seven days a week of big tent revival church services. And so don't make fun of big tents. We're here because of that. 14 months in a row and our church grew. Dr. Zimmerman is with Jesus now. He was our senior pastor for 25 years.

Our second senior pastor was a man by the name of Truman Dollar. This is him with the hipster glasses right here. So Dr. Zimmerman or Dr. Dollar was significant in our history for two reasons. First off, whenever a lot of churches, especially predominantly white churches were moving to the burbs for cheaper land and for homogenous people groups, Dr. Dollar said, no, we're staying in the city. We're gonna be a part of the complexity of this culture. We're gonna be a voice in this culture. And this was during civil rights when our country was not able to figure it out. And Dr. Dollar was going into Kansas City and meeting with black and brown pastors and saying, God calls us to be unified. Let's figure it out. And so we praise God for that. And what feels normal to us now, which man, unfortunately is still not normal, right? Really started with Truman Dollar. He is also the leader who brought us to this location. Again, we're not in Belton or Lee's Summit or Leawood or any of those places. Nothing wrong with that. We might have a campus in those places someday, but this is our home, Raytown, Missouri. And the reason that we're in Raytown is because we don't wanna respond to culture in our city.

We wanna make it, okay? And so that began with Truman Dollar, who is also with Jesus. And then he got the OG, right? The man himself, Pastor Jeff Adams, who in God's grace is not with Jesus. He is typically on the second row of the first service when he is in the country, which he is not today. But Pastor Jeff has been connected to this church, Pastor Jeff and Ms. Cheryl, for almost 60 years. So he was a student pastor here and then was sent as a missionary to El Salvador, was there during two civil wars. Loved it. And if you know Pastor Jeff, you know he's more of a Latino than he is from Wichita, Kansas, all right? He is a Hispanic who looks like a white man. And he was pastoring in El Salvador and Dr. Dollar had left to go to Detroit, Michigan. We don't know why, all right? But he had, and the church found Pastor Jeff much to his dismay as he traveled into Columbus, Ohio. The church in Kansas City found and said, we wanna meet with you. And much to his dismay called him back to be our senior pastor, which he was for 34 years. And Pastor Jeff did two things, really. Well, really three things. Man, he preached the Bible.

If you've ever heard Pastor Jeff preach the Bible, my guy can get after it. Secondly, he taught us about personal discipleship. And thirdly, Pastor Jeff is a missionary at heart. And so a church that was predominantly white became multi-ethnic. And then under Pastor Jeff became multicultural. And because we're 83 years, we're also multi-generational. But this, I love this. This is our first building right here. It was an old car garage and the members of the church were scrubbing the floor to get the oil out so they could put seats and pews in. You can see the congregation right here. And then our second building, this is off of Swope Parkway. This building still existed when I came to Kansas City. It's no longer here. You can see, look at the auditorium with the red carpet. Come on somebody, all right? If God can't move on the red carpet, it ain't gonna happen. You know what I'm saying? And then you see that we began to build this location, the future home of one of America's fastest growing churches in the 60s, a man by the name of Elmer Towns wrote a book called The 10 Fastest Growing Churches in America. And this church is number six. Yeah, and so God was really blessing the church. You can see the auditorium when Pastor Jeff was here.

Look at him sitting with their suit and ties on the chairs on the stage, come on, all right? And then this, this was, this is this room. This is how it looked. And I just want you to see the difference from here to here to here. And then in 2017, by far the best dressed pastor that has ever, right, okay, all right. I thought y'all thought I was kidding. because you laughed, but yeah. And we moved, we added this part of the building, changed our name to Graceway, and now we're number one. Come on, somebody, all right? And what a blessing it is. And let me do just say, the church is a special thing for many reasons, but one of the reasons that the church is so special is because we do not know the names of our forefathers and foremothers. We don't know the names of the people who scrubbed the floor to get the oil out. We don't know the names of people who got out second mortgages to pay for the church. We don't know the names of volunteers who are Dream Teamers now. We don't know the names of single mamas who gave not out of abundance, but out of scarcity, because God's promises were yes and amen. But listen, you don't have to know their names

to know that you're standing on their shoulders, right? That's what the church is. And let's also understand that if Jesus doesn't come back, I'm certainly not the last lead pastor. I will forever be the best dressed lead pastor, but I'm not the last lead pastor. And someday, somebody is going to look at a screen, it's probably gonna be a hologram, not an LED, right? And they're gonna tell the story. And what are they gonna say about us? Perfect, best dressed. Obviously, but come on. We gotta think about this on our birthdays. What are we becoming and who are we becoming it for? And hopefully we're becoming it for the glory of God and for the generations of Graceway that come after us. But let's not fail to honor God's grace in our midst through folks you don't even know their name. People that stepped across lines that are normal to us now so that we can celebrate this. Somebody made a decision out of conviction and belief in God years and years and years ago that we get to be this and we get to do that for the generations that come after us, okay? So happy birthday, Graceway. We throw a big party on the zeros and the fives. So in two years, there were 83 today. So we got some crumbled cookie for you out in the lobby. We just figured when you're 83, why not buy cookies that have 2,200 calories

in each one of them, right? Yeah, in Jesus' name. Actually, we paid extra. There's no calories in them. You can eat them guilt-free. But happy birthday, Graceway. So excited to be in this with you. What a blessing it is, what a blessing it is. Hey, if you have a Bible, get over to Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter 10, let me pray for us and we're gonna get after it. Father, would you speak to us now? Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness. Thank you, Lord, for the amount of sermons that have been preached from this stage, the amount of disciples that have been made in this building, the difference that has been made. Lord, we're standing on the shoulders of your plans and purposes and the faithfulness of your people, and we're grateful. Speak to us now, Lord, continue to build this church today. Save people, set people free, call people into purpose and ministry. Lord, make it hard to go to hell in this city. And let us be a faithful link in the chain that is this church, not only in Kansas City, but around the world for your glory and our good. In Jesus' name, all God's people said. Amen and amen. When Ash and I were dating, one of our favorite dates

was to pile into my 1993 Toyota Celica. What you know about 1993 Toyota Celica? True story, last week, my son sent me a picture of a car that he was looking to buy. It was $30,000 to which I said, son, you must not be good at math because I know how much money you have. But the other thing, the car that he sent me was a 1993 Toyota Celica, which means I should have held on to that car. I could have sold it to Noah for $30,000, right? I'll give you a deal, 29,900, son, in Jesus' name. But we would pile into my Celica, we would stop by the grocery store and get some odds and ends, and we would go to the symphony on the prairie. In Indianapolis, where we were dating and where we ultimately got married, they had this massive prairie, this massive field, and at the bottom of it was a half shell in which the Indianapolis Symphony would perform every Saturday. And so we would go, and it was fascinating to me. It was always just a beautiful day. And the conductor would stand up in this half shell, and again and again and again, he would do this. He would tap the podium, and then he would point. And a certain section with a certain instrument and certain artist, they'd get going, and he'd let him go. And then he'd tap and he'd point, and then another section.

And before long, the sound that was coming out of that. shell with the sun setting right behind it with a beautiful girl who would ultimately become my wife. A whole lot of pieces being conducted to create something majestic, something beautiful, but everybody had to play their part. You get what I'm saying? So this is the story of Acts chapter 10 and this is the perfect text for our 83rd birthday. We're going to be in Acts 10.1 through 11.18, just for sake of time I'm not going to read it to you, but I want to tell you the story and I want to tell you a little slowly because I don't want you to miss it. I don't want you to miss it. So in Acts 10 we see the major turning point in the book of Acts, literally the major turning point, the first major turning point in the early church. This is the fulfillment of Acts 1 in verse 8. Remember Jesus is resurrected before he ascends, he gets the apostles together and he says, Listen, all authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore, make disciples, go to Jerusalem, wait for the Holy Spirit, and then start in Jerusalem, go to Judea and Samaria, and then go to the ends of the earth. This is the beginning of the church going to the ends of the earth. This is the beginning of that fulfillment. It's also a fulfillment of Matthew 8 in verse 11 when Jesus had interacted with a centurion. The beginning of the book of Acts is what Jesus began to do and teach, continuing, meaning most of the things that you see in Acts you can go back into the gospels and go, Oh, Jesus did the same thing there. We've seen that again and again and again. Today Peter is going to interact with a centurion named Cornelius. In Matthew 8 Jesus interacted with a centurion from Capernaum and when he gets done he says about this centurion, This is faith unlike I've seen anywhere else, and he makes this prophecy. I tell you, many will come from east and west and will recline at table with Abraham, Isaac,

and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Now some theologians think Jesus is talking about when his future kingdom comes into the present, the second coming of Jesus, but it clearly isn't that. Jesus is making a prophecy that's showing up in Acts chapter 10. He's given an Easter egg that Peter missed because Peter is going to interact with a Gentile centurion. Acts chapter 10 is the inclusion of the Gentiles in the people of God. Let me unpack this for a little bit because I need you to understand that God does not have two people. God does not have two people groups. He does not have the Jews and the Gentiles. He has one people group, the church. And some of you are getting messed up on your geopolitics because you don't understand this. There is not Jew and Gentile. There is the church, and you are either in Christ and in the church or you are not. It has nothing to do with ethnicity. This change begins to take place in a practical way in Acts chapter 10, and then Luke tells us three times. In Acts chapter 10, in Acts chapter 11, and in Acts chapter 15, Luke is going to tell us the same story. It's like he wants us to pay attention to it. And then the Apostle Paul is going to tell us the theology under the story in the book of Romans, in the book of Galatians, in the book of Ephesians, and in the book of Colossians. This idea that before the foundation of the earth, God's plan was the church. God did not send Jesus. The Jews reject Jesus, and God go, oh shucks, didn't see that coming. No, it was always God's plan to bring the nations to Him. That's why at the second coming, every tongue, tribe, and nation will bow before the King. Why? It was always the plan in Jesus to not make two people, but to make one the church.

And it's happening. It's happening in the book of Acts. And so in Acts 10, we're introduced to a man by the name of Cornelius. And I'm already preaching 76 percent better than you all are responding. I got my girl right here who's always responding. The rest of you, come on, wake up. You got to sleep in. I'm giving you a cookie. Say amen. Say amen if you're tracking with me. All right. So in the New Testament, you're like 76. Yes, 76. Exactly 76 percent better. In the New Testament, there's this interesting thing happens. It shows up three, four, five times. There's this positive light that the Bible, the New Testament puts on Roman centurions. Have you ever noticed that? So a Roman centurion was an officer in charge of a hundred soldiers. He was a part of an Italian regiment that was 600 soldiers. And so in a regiment, there was... was six centurions. It's the equivalent of like a staff sergeant. It's not an enlisted officer, it's kind of the highest rank in a non-commissioned officer that existed in the military. And the Bible says that Cornelius, this is the way it describes him, was a devout and God-fearing man. And so in our language, we would say Cornelius was spiritual. Maybe even seeking. But what the Bible doesn't say is that he had been regenerated by the blood of Jesus. Let me just help you here today. You bump into people and they say, oh yeah, I'm spiritual. Okay. I need you to understand the question isn't whether or not you're spiritual, the question is whether or not you've been made alive. And so I'm not spiritual. I once was dead and now I'm alive because the tomb is empty. I'm not seeking, I've been found.

And so this is kind of this space right before the Holy Spirit brings you back to life. If you are a Christian, you were dead in trespasses and sins, and now you have been made alive. Call it whatever you want, but in our culture, we got all these words that are around, I'm still dead, but. I'm still dead, but I'm good dead. I'm still dead, but I'm religious dead. I'm still dead, but I'm moral dead. Yeah, but you're still dead. Whatever kind of makeup you want to put on it as we put you in the dead box, you can call it what you want. But we're not talking about moral dead. We're talking about dead or alive. And so Cornelius is a good man. He's a moral man. He's a religious man. He's a spiritual man. He's a God-fearing man, but he's not been brought back to life because the tomb is empty. And he has a vision in Acts chapter 10 where the angel of the Lord tells him that God has heard his prayers and tells him to send men to Joppa, which is 33 miles away, to a man who is staying in the house of Simon the Tanner. His name is Peter. And the scripture tells us that Cornelius calls some of his soldiers in and says, I've had a vision. Go to Joppa and find Peter. The scripture tells us in Acts 10 and verse 9 that the next day as the soldiers are traveling toward Joppa, Peter also has a vision of his own on the sixth hour of prayer. Now let's pause here for a second. The sixth hour of prayer. You need to understand that in Jewish religion there are three times that you pray every single day. Tradition holds that the three prayers correspond with the three Jewish forefathers. So Abraham in the morning, Isaac in the afternoon, and Jacob in the evening. The practice is traced biblically to guys like Daniel who prayed three times a day. To guys like King David who prayed in the evening, the morning, and at noon. It really solidifies during exile when there is no temple. And the Jewish people, rather than coalescing around sacrifice three times a day, they now coalesce around prayer three times a day. And so Peter is praying on the sixth hour, which is noon. He's up on the house, he's praying, and the scripture tells us that he gets hungry, and while they're making him food, he continues to pray and he has a vision. Now let me pause here for a second, because what I want to say to you is that many of you do not have a prayer practice. You pray whenever it feels right to you. You pray when you need something. You pray when you're stressed out. You don't pray on certain days and at certain times no matter the day. Now here's what I need you to understand. There were times that Peter prayed on the sixth day, and it wasn't—the sixth hour,

and it wasn't exciting. Nothing happened. It didn't work. But watch. If Peter hadn't prayed on this day at the same time, he would have missed the vision that God had for him. What am I trying to say to you? I'm trying to say that your spiritual disciplines don't need to always be exciting to still be important. And what I'm saying is that God probably, probably isn't going to say, oh shoot, this is when they normally pray. So maybe you ought to develop habits and rhythms in which God can break in when He wants, and you don't miss it. So Peter is praying at noon. He gets hungry. He says, hey, can you all put an Uncrustable in the microwave for me? And while they're doing it, he has a vision. And in the vision, this is 10 and verse 12, a sheet comes down containing all kinds of animals. Here's how you should hear that. Kosher animals and not kosher animals. Clean animals and unclean animals. And he hears the command. Then, rise Peter, kill and eat, and Peter responds in very Peter fashion. He says, by no means, Lord. Now what Peter is saying is that he still thinks about his faith like a Jew. He still is observing Torah. He still has internalized Jewish purity boundaries. God responds, what God has made clean, do not call common. And Peter says again, by no means, Lord. So God says again, what I call clean, don't call common. And Peter says again, by no means, Lord. And God says, say it one more time. You ever done this with your kids? Go clean your room. But I was thinking, no, I need you to go clean your room. But I was thinking, if you say that one more time, I'm going to bury you in your room. That's what happens. Three times. Now it's interesting, isn't it, that three times. Three times is kind of Peter's thing, isn't it? We'll talk about that in a little bit.

But Peter kind of starts arguing with God, and God says, I'm doing something. I took something that you think is common, and I made it clean. And the word there in the Greek is a definitive divine action. God is not suggesting, God is not saying, let's talk about it and debate about it. God is saying, I did it, now change. And what you find out is that this really isn't about food. It really never was. This is about people. And what people get to come in and what people have to stay out. What this means is that the ritual purity laws in the Old Testament have been fulfilled and transcended in Jesus. Just like he said on the Sermon on the Mount. You have heard it said, but I say. He says, I didn't come to remove the law, I came to fulfill the law. And these show up in that same way, and what this means is that John 3.16 now means actually whosoever. Up until this point, whosoever meant whosoever wants to become a Jew. And God is saying, I'm doing something different, Pete. And I mean that whoever believes in my Son will be saved. This is Acts 10.17-33, Luke giving us that divine orchestra. This is the Spirit of God, tap, tap, tap, Cornelius, you get a vision. Tap, tap, tap, Peter, you get a vision. Peter, stop arguing with me, they're coming because they got a vision. You're going to mess up the song, Peter. What I need you to see is that the Spirit of God is the agent that saves people. And how does it work? It means that God speaks to somebody who is already saved about somebody who isn't. This is the reason that I want you to have a prayer habit. Because I don't want God to say, I really have plans for Larry and you to miss it. It's both that are occurring.

And when Peter finally gets it through his head, he doesn't just believe what God said, watch this, he obeys what God said. Some of you believe too much and act too little. God is calling you to be a part of what He is up to. You need mechanisms to hear it. Read your Bible and pray. Read your Bible and fast. Read your Bible and sing. These mechanisms that God gives us to be a part of what He's doing. And what the enemy does is he says, oh, those are so redundant and religious. No, no, no. Those are you putting the megaphone to your ears so you don't miss what God has to say. And there are things and souls and realities at stake when a Christian saved by God's grace doesn't listen to God for somebody else. So Peter gets up and he goes to Caesarea and he goes to a Gentile's house and he violates Jewish norms and he steps across cultural and theological lines and when he does, he hears that God was already there, already at work with people in places that Peter would have never thought. And Peter does what all good Baptists do. He gives a sermon about what he's experiencing and he says in Acts 10 verse 34, truly I say that I understand that God shows no partiality and then to verse 43, he does this interesting thing and I understand it because I've done it. He's not quite comfortable with what God is doing, so he starts to recite doctrine. He starts to retell the gospel. He starts to say. And the other thing that God's doing and the other thing about Jesus to these people who already believe what he's saying Are you with me? so Peter is trying to get his own bearings and then in verse 44 it says this and While Peter was still saying these things meaning his sermon ain't even done The Holy Spirit fell on those who heard the word and I love this as a preacher

Because God is saying to Peter you've talked enough I'm gonna do something. So it's clear that I'm doing something whether you're talking or not This is what every biblical preacher wants for God to interrupt For God to talk over and so Peter is getting his theological bearings and while he's talking the Holy Spirit bang falls and the believers from among the Circumcision who had come with Peter were amazed why 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, this is Gentile Pentecost Then Peter declared can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people who received the Holy Spirit just as we have and he commanded them to Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and they said to him. Why don't you stick around? Let's have a barbecue That's what happens they asked him to remain for some days this is why we do potlucks in church friends This is where it comes from Now I'm preaching 87% better What's happening in this text the symphony of God Is starting to play Go back to act 7 up until this point. Everything was happening with the Jews in Jerusalem act 7 Peter or Stephen is arrested gives the gospel the historic gospel and they kill him and this wave of persecution Goes over the church and God uses the persecution to move people out of Jerusalem into Judea Samaria and the uttermost one of those people is in Acts chapter 8 Philip. Where does he go first? He goes to Samaria and then he goes a little further into the dirty south and he sees the Ethiopian Eunuch be converted. The Ethiopian eunuch is not a Jew What is going on now? Now we're going to Samaria. Uh-huh. Why acts 1 8? What is going on now now? Ethiopian eunuchs can become Christians. Uh-huh. Why acts 1 8 and then in Acts 9 Saul a very religious Jew has a Christophany is knocked off of his horse and God says to him I commission you to go to the Gentiles and Then in Acts 10 we bump into Cornelius a Roman a military leader and He is calling out to God saying if you exist and the God that he didn't know

Existed gives him a vision and says I heard you Now I want you to go and get my guy Pete and this is gonna mess him up a little bit But I'm doing something in your life and I'm gonna use him to do it because as I'm doing something in your life I'm gonna do something in his life Don't miss the seismic Move of God that makes space for you and I This is God taking all of the Covenant all of the people group all of the doctrine all of the culture all of the history and not just turning it on its head picking it up by its head and Slamming it on its face Why why why why so that grace way could turn 83 years old? That's why? We don't turn 83 years old without acts 1 8 years-old without acts 7 8 9 and 10 and you can imagine God doing something this profound The church folks are like this is amazing, right? wrong That's not what happens. The response of the church in Jerusalem is not celebration. It's controversy 11 in verse 1 now the Apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles Also had received the Word of God so when Peter went up to Jerusalem the circumcision party That's not a party you want to go to come on somebody What part are you in you Republican circumcised I I Think I'll be a Republican The circumstance Where was I? Now I'm preaching 42% better than y'all. The party of the circumcision criticized him and said, listen to this, this seismic move of God, and they say, you went where? To eat what? With who? This is adventures in missing the point, friends. Wouldn't it be great if we had learned from this? Yeah. And so Peter says, well, uh, so I went up to prayer and they're like, good, that's good.

Good Jewish activity. And then, and then I had a vision. Okay. What was the vision? Well, there was this sheet and all kinds of animals. Well, what do you mean all kinds of animals? Like kosher animals and not kosher. Hmm. And then God said, Hey, kill it and eat it. What? You get what I'm saying? And so Peter says, and then these soldiers show up at my house and then I go. And honestly, I'm trying to figure out what's going on. So I just start spouting all the theology that I can remember. And then they interrupt me and God's Holy spirit falls on. Do you remember guys in acts two, when we were in that room and the spirit of God fell on us and, and, and fiery flame, and we all started speaking in light. Do you remember? That's what happened. And then I didn't know what to do. I just said, go find me an inflatable pool. And I just started baptizing all these Gentiles. Verse 18, when they heard these things, they fell silent. I wish they had been silent on the front end of the story, but they figured it out and they glorified God. And they said, then to the Gentiles, also God has granted repentance that leads to life. Then to Tim Dunn on October 18th, 1994, he's a Gentile. God has granted repentance that leads to life. There's some beautiful things in this story. I love this story. I'm grateful that I get to preach it to you on our 83rd birthday. So Peter and the church, they are following God and they are grappling with God as he takes a turn that they did not see coming. And they're grappling with the implications of what they thought was true. And if God has taken a turn, what does that mean for you and I? And the effect of them taking that turn of understanding that they are following, not leading God, the effect was not only to their benefit, but to our benefit. We are not graceway synagogue. We are graceway church. And it's hard to not wonder on our 83rd birthday, as we look over our shoulder at the faithfulness of saints who came before us, don't know their name, but you can't be experiencing the goodness of God without the faithfulness of people who came before you. And we know without a shadow of a doubt that there were people who had to make changes that were hard for them to make that we benefit from. And we should also know that we in 2026 are not asking God to follow us. We are declaring that we will follow him. And what you need to know is that when we do that, not only do we benefit, but the generation that comes after us benefits. One day, somebody is going to stand on this stage as the fifth or sixth or seventh lead pastor of graceway, and they are going to put some type of AI-generated document or image up,

and they are going to say, here's our founding pastor, and then here's Truman Dollar, and then here's Jeff Adams, and wow, that man's incredibly well-dressed. And it was in this era of graceway that this and this and this and this and this happened. And all the things that you all think are normal were not normal to them. The world was crazy in 2026. If you read the history books, you will know that they were in every kind of war that there was. You will know that they couldn't get along at home or abroad. You will know that they were in debt up to their eyeballs. You will know that the world was wild, and yet there was a group of people in this location, Raytown, Missouri. Now, this is the original. Now we got locations all over the state. Come on, somebody. But it started in a very inauspicious place, Raytown, Missouri, and there was a group of people who didn't look like each other, talk like each other, believe like each other, dress like each other, and God did something in their midst. And when God turned it on its head, they didn't say, by no means, Lord. They said, you're the king, Lord. You're the king, Lord. It's a beautiful thing to see the church struggle to follow God, because we struggle to follow God. But it's also a beautiful thing to see that ultimately what they said they believed, they did. There's also something pretty ugly in this story. Peter argues with God about theology. The word theology means the study of God. And God says, here's my theology, Pete, and Pete says, by no means, Lord. And God says, Pete, my theology is that what I call clean, I don't want you to call common. And a second time, Peter says, by no means, Lord. And God comes back to him and says, I don't think you hear me, son. What I call clean do not call common, and if you say by no means, Lord, you're going to stand before me right now, I'm going to kill you on the spot. But Peter argues with God. This isn't the first time that Peter has done this. Remember Mark 8, Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and

after three days, rise again. And he said this plainly, meaning he wasn't subtle. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, get behind me, Satan, for you have not set your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. Peter argues with God three times, and then Peter is known for doing something else three times. First he rebukes God, and then he denies God, and now he argues with God, and what I want to put in front of you is that each time builds on the other. To say to Jesus, no, you're not going to the cross. To say to the little girl, no, I don't know him. To say to God, no, they can't come in, are the same fallacy. They're the same rebellion. They're the same foolishness, and it's ugly to see it. We do it, but when you see it, come on, Pete, third time's the charm, don't you know? And then finally Peter gets it, and I'll give it to him, because now the third time, after arguing three times, and on this third time, he finally goes, okay, okay, okay. And he goes to the church, and surely the church is going to pick it up quicker than Peter, but they don't. They argue with Peter, and they criticize him for breaking Jewish ceremonial law and eating barbecues in the hood with the Gentiles. Here's what I want you to see. One part is beautiful and inspirational, and one part is ugly and a warning. Here's the warning. The obstacle to the work and purposes of God, the obstacle to the work and purposes of God, the obstacle to the work and purposes of God was not Cornelius. It was the church. Now, to their credit, they finally figured it out, and they followed, and they grew, but watch, they thought that they were defending doctrine to God. Now, I am not advocating for less doctrine.

I am not advocating for negating doctrine. I am calling us to a better doctrine, and when Jesus taught His disciples doctrine, He encapsulated it for them, and He gave them something that is uniquely Christian. In Matthew 22, one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. Teacher, what is the great commandment in the law? And he said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind. This is the first and great commandment, and the second is like it, meaning this is hand in glove. If you do the first, you'll do the second, but if you don't do the second, you're probably not doing the first. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Here it is, on these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. In other words, if you are going to fulfill the law, you had better get these two right, and if you get these two right, you probably got the rest right, but if you get either of these wrong, you get them all wrong. Let's talk about doctrine, church. Jesus says, here it is, simple as I can give it to you. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. And then in Luke chapter 10, we see that a stands before him to also put Jesus to the test and says teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life and he said to him what is written in the law how do you read it and he answered him you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your strength all your mind and your neighbor as yourself and he said to him you have answered correctly do this and you will live but desiring to justify himself he said well who's my neighbor to which Jesus told him the parable of the Good Samaritan in which the outcast the the people group that a good Jew would not step foot on their lawn let alone go to their house they were outside of the plans and purposes of God

God does not only put them in the story God makes them the hero of the story and says talk to me about who your neighbor is talk to me about who your neighbor is and just in case you think that Jesus hasn't gone far enough Matthew 5 you have heard that it was said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy but I say to you love your enemies pray for those who persecute you so they may be sons of your father who is in heaven for he makes the Sun to rise on the evil and the good and he sends rain on the just and the unjust for if you love those who love you what reward do you have you're not even the tax collectors do the same but if you greet only your brothers what more do you are you doing than others do not even the Gentiles do the same you must therefore be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect the church must continually learn and relearn kingdom inclusion Peter needed to be educated by the Holy Spirit and so do we now I do not mean at the expense of biblical theology and doctrine do not hear me saying that we put aside biblical theology and doctrine for inclusion what I am saying is that some of you presume your theology to be biblical and it is not we live in a time that is about being right our currency is about being right we are on a gold rush to run to our part of the internet plant a flag monetize the flag and say I'm right and if you want to be right come to me and it shows up in the church we invite people who are like us in and we build walls to keep people who aren't like us out we are better in this country and better in the church at keeping people out than we are at inviting people in while the church serves a king who jumped the God-human line who jumped the heaven-hell line who jumped the death-life line in this text rightly should inspire us look at the church figuring it out look at the church grappling with their preferences and their prejudice look at the church grappling with their theology and the doctrine they said some dumb things and Peter did it again but they eventually got there and grace way on our 83rd birthday we're gonna say some dump some dumb things we gotta grapple with the but we gotta get there we are not asking God to follow us we are saying God we are following you who I didn't see him turn it there you better figure out a

way to turn that wheel last week we saw a church who is walking in the fear of God the comfort and presence of the Holy Spirit that needs to be us and this week if your theology is not big enough to show the heart of God for all people you have bad theology you say yeah yeah but but I'm I'm a Democrat and they're Republicans yeah but I thought we should wear masking coat and cove it and they didn't yeah but I I didn't vote for Trump and they did now I grew up in the city and they grew up in the sticks I'm straight and they're or I'm gay and they're straight I'm rich and they're poor or I'm poor and they're rich and you know what they say about rich people I'm right and they're wrong and we come to God and we say this is who you will be at work in and this is who you will not And what we do is we take the church and we see it not built so that the gates of hell cannot prevail against it, no, we morph it and more mutate it into our image and our preferences and what happens? The plans and purposes of God have a barrier in front of them that is not the world. It wasn't Cornelius. It was Peter. Mission requires cultural disruption and what I want to say to you is do not be more interested in disrupting somebody else's culture if you are not willing to let the Holy Spirit disrupt yours. Do not take the gospel to somebody and say, well, I guess everything's going to have to change and then say to the Holy Spirit, no, you're going to have to fit into my paradigm and box. If we are going to be on mission, we have to say to God, this culture and this church is yours. Turn it how you want. Oh, I didn't see that coming. I don't like that. Wow. Okay.

Oh, I don't like that song. Oh, I don't like that version of the Bible. Oh, I don't like that he always talks. Are we calling God to our thing? Are we saying this is God's thing and he gets to do what he wants? Are we telling God who he gets to save and who's welcome? Or are we saying it wasn't too long ago that I wasn't welcome and here I am? You know, I watch the news and I watch the church on board the news and put fence after fence after fence after fence after fence between us and the world and call it theology. When Jesus says, let me boil this down for you. Let me talk slowly. I need you to love God and love your neighbor as yourself and a lot of us, because we think we're slit, go, well, who's my neighbor? And God says, the one who doesn't look like you, talk like you, think like you, but I got plans for him. Church, we turn 83 today, and when we look over our shoulder, we see the faithfulness of God. And when we look into the future, we say, Jesus, if you don't come back, we pray that our best days are ahead of us. But if that is ever to be a possibility, we must walk in the fear of the Lord in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. We must be holy. We must seek to have a robust and faithful doctrine. We must have the conviction to stand in a world that has lost its doggone mind. And we must be empowered, not by our intellect, our acumen, or our network, but by the Holy Spirit of God. There is no path forward that God will bless, and we must grapple with who we think God is and who we presuppose God will work with, invite in, or what he might do. We must reject out of hand tribalism and fragmentation. Jesus prayed against it in John 17.

We must understand that your view of the world when you're bringing it into the church on our 83rd birthday is directly contradicting the articulated heart of God. Jesus prayed that we would be one. And we must wrestle through what we think is true, and when we find out that we were wrong, we must repent and change. We must not look back on this season of this church and say, wow, we were stubborn, wow, we had a culture, wow, we thought we were right. No, we must look back and say, wow, God led us here. And we said some dumb things and we got it wrong, but God, please don't let us be the barrier to your heart and work. We honestly are trying to make it hard to go to hell in Kansas City, and we're afraid, Lord, that we might be the ones who are complicating that. If you're in the room today, I've spent the majority of time talking to church folk. So maybe you're in the room today and you're a cynic. Maybe you're in the room today and like Cornelius, you're spiritual. Maybe you're in the room today. And you would even say, I'm fairly devout, and I fear God. What this story tells you is that what you are seeking for is a God who is already looking for you. Cornelius had a vision, and God said, I hear you, and here's what I want you to do. And maybe you're too cynical to pray. And I would say to you, what do you have to lose? What if you just said, God, I'm cynical that you even exist, but if you do exist, show me. But maybe you're spiritual, maybe you're even seeking. Your next step isn't on the lap of spirituality. Your next step is surrender to a God who is looking for you. I don't want you to be spiritual, I want you to be alive. I don't want you to be seeking, I want you to be found.

So why don't you close your eyes for a minute. Everyone close your eyes. And if you're in the room today, and you say, I still have questions, but I'm willing to surrender to God today, I want you to pray this prayer with me. Jesus, thank you for creating me and for loving me. I know that I've ignored you and I've gone my own way. I also know that I need you in my life. I'm sorry for my sins against you and others. I believe that you died on the cross for my sins and that you rose again. You are God and I am not. I ask you to forgive me. As much as I know how, I'm ready to change direction by giving you my life. I'm ready to follow you from now on and do what you want me to do. Please come into my life, make me new on the inside, help me to grow so that I can be like you. And with every head bowed and every eye closed, if you just prayed that prayer with me, would you raise your hand? I'm gonna give you a minute here. Give you a minute here. Someone from our team has just put a Bible in your hands. That Bible is bookmarked in the gospel of John. John was Jesus's best friend. He writes a book about Jesus and I want you to get to know Jesus from his best friends.

Why don't you just start reading the chapter a day? Don't try to read the whole thing, just a chapter a day. The gospel of John is bookmarked with two things. One is a resource called You Said Yes, just to kind of help you understand and start taking some steps on things like reading your Bible and praying and telling you how to do that. The other is a connect card. I'd love for you to drop it in a box, bring it down to the team, give it to me, take it to the next steps desk. Not because we wanna spam you, but we just wanna follow up and we wanna give you some resources and we just wanna welcome you into God's family and church. Why don't we do that right now? Appreciate you, appreciate you, appreciate you. What a blessing it is. Why don't you stand up? Prayer team, why don't you come on down? If we can pray for you, don't go that way, come this way. If you came prepared to give and you didn't, you can do it at the boxes in the back. Growth track step three and four happening today. Crumble cookie, calorie free, pray it over. Happy birthday, Grace Way. Let me pray for us. Lord, we love you.

Thank you for being faithful to us. Help us to be faithful to you for your glory and our good. In Jesus' name, all God's people said, amen and amen. I love you, Grace Way. Have the best day.