Sunday Worship Service February 1, 2026

Prelude
Call to Worship Genesis 2:7
Hymn JBC # 3 Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC #514 I need Thee ev’ry hour
The Prayer Time
Offering
Scripture Acts 10:23b~33
Prayer
Sermon “I am only a man myself”
Prayer
Hymn JBC# 278 There’s within my heart a melody
Doxology JBC # 672
Benediction

In today’s scripture passage, it is written that Peter left the town of Joppa, where he had been staying, and headed for the town of Caesarea.
Both Joppa and Caesarea were towns located along Israel’s Mediterranean coast. From Joppa in the south to Caesarea in the north, the distance was approximately 60 kilometers.
It is written that Peter was not alone; some of his brothers went with him. These "brothers" do not refer to blood relatives but to brothers in faith who believe in the same Jesus Christ.
While staying in Joppa, Peter saw a vision while he prayed.
This is described in the section preceding today’s passage, which we studied during last week’s service.

Peter saw this vision while he was praying during the noon hour and feeling hungry.
In the vision, heaven opened and something like a large sheet descended to the earth. Inside the sheet were all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds of the air (v. 12).
Then Peter heard a voice. The voice said, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat."
Although Peter was hungry at the time, what the voice said was shocking to him.
This was because those creatures were exactly what Jews were strictly forbidden to eat according to Biblical law. Peter had never eaten any of those animals before.
Therefore, Peter rejected what the voice said in the vision, replying, "These are unclean foods that I have never once eaten."
He may have felt that by eating them, he would lose something he had long cherished—perhaps his pride as a Jew, or his own sense of self-worth and confidence.
However, God told Peter that something new was about to happen. The voice said, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean" (v. 15).

This happened three times.
Prior to this event, Cornelius, a centurion in the Roman army stationed in Caesarea, had received a message from an angel of God.
Though Cornelius was a gentile (foreigner), not a Jew, he was a believer in the true God of Israel, lived a life of sincere faith, and gave generously to those in need. Furthermore, such his way of life influenced his family, and his entire household feared God.
The message to Cornelius was, "Send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Peter."
Being a man of faith, Cornelius believed the word of God (delivered by the angel) and sent two of his trusted servants and one of his soldiers to Joppa, where Peter was.
What happened to both Cornelius and Peter was that God had arranged it so that they might meet.
God orchestrated an encounter between Cornelius and Peter by speaking to them through an angel and a vision.
I believe that the encounters we experience are never accidental; God brings us together in various ways according to His plan.
God works and advances His plan by bringing us together and bringing us into fellowship.
God brings about these encounters in mysterious ways, but we can trust He has a plan and something to tell us through these encounters.

Cornelius had gathered his relatives and friends and was waiting for Peter.
The fact that Cornelius was not alone but gathered his relatives and friends to wait for Peter suggests he felt that what was about to happen was not something meant for him alone.
It is written that when Peter met Cornelius, Cornelius fell at Peter’s feet in reverence (v. 25).
For Cornelius, the man whom God had told him to summon had finally arrived.
To Cornelius, Peter must have looked like a messenger of God, or perhaps even like God Himself.
Then Peter made Cornelius get up and said to him:
"Stand up. I am only a man myself" (v. 26).
Peter’s own experience in the faith was a big reason he said this.
Why was Peter able to say these words?
It was because he had met Jesus Christ and had experienced being shown just how small, weak, and sinful he was in the presence of God’s greatness.
In Matthew 18, it is described how the disciples, while Jesus was living on earth with them, were arguing among themselves about "who is the greatest."

Peter was one of those disciples. Peter and the disciples were arguing, "Who is the greatest among us?" and "It must surely be me."
Peter once asked Jesus, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?" Peter must have had considerable confidence as a disciple in himself.
Peter likely held the confidence that, "I have left everything to follow the Lord. Someone like me must certainly be the greatest."
Before Jesus was arrested and crucified, He told His disciples, "You will all fall away because of me" (meaning they would falter and flee, abandoning Him).
At that time, Peter said to Jesus, "Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will."
When Jesus further told Peter, "This very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times," Peter declared, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you."
However, Peter (and all the other disciples), who had spoken so boldly, fled just as Jesus had said when He was arrested.
And when others accused him, saying "You also were with that man Jesus," Peter vehemently denied knowing Jesus three times, saying, "I don't know the man." It was exactly as Jesus had foretold.
All of this must have left a painful mark on Peter’s heart for a long time after that.
Through these events, Peter must have been made painfully aware of his own weakness and sinfulness.

Yet, the resurrected Jesus appeared to such a man as Peter, encouraged him and the other disciples, and told them that God remembered them and that their sins were forgiven.
Peter, who had been shown his own weakness and ugliness to the point of disgust, received a great, immense hope from Jesus: "The Lord has forgiven someone like me. By His mercy, He has given me life again and now lets me live anew as one who shares the Gospel."
That is why, looking at Cornelius kneeling before him, Peter was able to say, "Stand up; I am only a (weak, sinful) man myself." He had no choice but to say so from his heart.
This is because, through Jesus, Peter had been shown the truth that he was truly a weak and sinful person, and the truth that we all humans are the same.
"Man is man, and God is God." This is a vital message that runs throughout the Bible.
However, we commit the sin of making things that are not God into God. Treating what is not God as God is called idolatry.
We also create hierarchies and artificial differences between people, acting as if there is a difference even in our inherent value as human beings.
However, God told Peter through the vision, "Do not call anyone impure or unclean." It means that all people are precious.

Humans have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Yet, God has redeemed and forgiven us through the death of Jesus on the cross.
Our sins are forgiven through the precious sacrifice of Jesus. God has forgiven us to be born again and God made us clean through Jesus.
Through Jesus, we have been given the blessing of being considered precious in the sight of God.
Is that not a truly great and amazing blessing and grace? In the face of God's grace, we can do nothing but feel gratitude and humility.
Let’s read what Cornelius said in today’s passage in the last verse (33).
"It was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us."
The fact that we are here together in the church means that we are in the presence of God.
And that means we have been permitted to be in God's presence and permitted to hear His Word.
The opportunity to hear the Word of God has been given to us. So, let us not miss this opportunity, but rather let us hear everything that God is trying to tell us now without exception and with great expectation.

God speaks to us in various ways. He speaks to us especially through the words of the Bible, and through this worship service where the words of the Bible are spoken aloud and explained.
The Word of God spoken and shared through worship never stops giving us new strength and sustenance in our lives.
God grants us wonderful grace—beyond what we ask or expect—especially through His Word, right here in this place of worship.

Therefore, let us gather for worship with great gratitude and expectation. And let us together receive the blessing of hearing and sharing the Word through worship with heartfelt thanks.