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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion Tuesday, January 27, 2004 PCO’S Help Us Grow in Our Faith |
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Frontline Devotion for Tuesday, January 27, 2004, by Pastor Dave Sonnenberg
Bible text:
Acts 10: 1-23a
In the story today, we hear about Cornelius, a Captain of the Italian guard, who
was stationed in Caesarea during the time of Paul. Cornelius is
described as a God fearing man who prayed, but at this point he was not “of
the way”, which is the description of the early Christian movement.
Cornelius was probably very much like those in today’s world who describe
themselves as spiritual, yet not religious. They are sympathetic to
religious causes, yet likely aren’t members of any church institution.
Cornelius is kind of an interesting character. The text pictures him as a
man of prayer who lived a “Godly life”. The text describes him as
someone who was a good citizen that others admired. Pastor James
Forbes once describe Cornelius as a PCO - a precious consenting other. He
then went on to talk about how God used this Precious Consenting Other to help
the religious (esp. Peter) grow in his faith and his understanding. In a
nutshell, Cornelius was a fulfillment of a vision that Peter had received that
said that the message of Jesus could incorporate non-Jews as well.
As you will read tomorrow, this PCO will become fully incorporated into the
Christian community. For today, he is on the fringes or even outside.
But, it was from their, as a PCO, that he helped the early Christians grow in
their self-understanding and in accepting that the movement could be more
inclusive than it was currently.
Basically, as I read the story of Cornelius, I am conscious of how non-Christian
people or stories draw me deeper into my own faith and encourage me to reach out
with more enthusiasm. Perhaps today you can spend the time to reflect on
some of the PCO’s in your life- those who may not be “of the way” but
inspire you to take your faith seriously. And as the story goes, you just
never know when someone may come and join you.
Lord God, we thank you for the people of this world and for all those who help
move us deeper into our faith. We thank you for those who call us to be
more open and look at people in new ways. Help us to live as people of
“the way” and to always extend the invitation for others to join in
partnership with us. We praise you for the gift of Christian community and
for the way you reveal yourself in many and various ways in this word.
Amen.
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All are welcome to join and share in our Devotional Ministry on the "Frontlines" of the world. Frontline Devotions are sent via email daily. Sign up by clicking on the box to the left. Pastor Dave welcomes feedback. Contact him at pastordave@goodshepherdonline.org. |
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