Pathways to the Nations Sample

Day 3

Kingdom Communities

For Cornelius, Peter’s willingness to step into his home made all the difference. When later recounting the story of the centurion’s new faith, Peter says that the message he brought meant salvation for Cornelius’s entire household (Acts 11:14).

Think beyond immediate families. According to Acts 10, Cornelius’s expectant household (oikos in the Greek) included his immediate family, servants, attending soldier, relatives, and close friends (Acts 10:2,7,24).

Now try thinking about your relational network for one minute and listing some names. Who sits down for meals with you? Who greets you by name most weeks? You may run into the same people regularly at the store, office, school, mailbox, or gym. You may connect with coworkers at your desk, online, or in the parking lot.

What might it look like for you to purposefully reach out to one of those people with an invitation to talk—or just a short message of encouragement? For someone who has an interest in spiritual things, what difference might you make in that person’s life? Who on your list could get a heartfelt text from you this week?

You may want to reach communities overseas with the gospel. Many missionaries start by building friendships in their new neighborhoods, in the communities where God plants them. If you want to influence people of a different culture for Jesus, consider how you’re doing now in reaching out in your own culture to people in your current sphere of influence.

You know that Jesus wants His Good News to extend to all nations, but you can start right where you are. You can impact your own household, your network, for Jesus’ Kingdom. Unlike Peter, you won’t fall into a trance before stepping over the threshold of a non-Jewish home for the first time. But you can make the first step in a relationship in your community.