A Surprising Way Forward
Sunday, May 31, 2026
Scriptures: Acts 10
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In this final message of Acts Part One, Scott explores the unexpected border-crossings of Acts 10 through four key themes:
Slippery Slopes: Our deepest personal and spiritual growth rarely happens overnight; it unfolds gradually over time and out of sight.
Growth Curves: The real risk of faith is found in entering new relationships that stretch us, rather than just holding onto new ideas.
Who's Converting: In a surprising twist, it is Peter’s own heart that is converted as he realizes that a Jesus-centred faith refuses to draw lines around those God welcomes.
A Transgressing God: Ultimately, we are challenged to trust a God whose Spirit intentionally lands on "outsiders," disrupting our neatly manicured systems of certainty. -
Community is shaped by the conversations we share. These questions and reflections are a tool to help you meaningfully engage with the themes of this week's teaching.
Connect: Connect around one of the most helpful practices in the life of any follower of Christ - taking a look at what has changed in your theology. Scott had this question for us during the coffee break:
In what way has your theology changed the most over the past year? The past few years?
Share: Scott noted in the sermon that Peter's massive shift with Cornelius didn't happen in a vacuum; he was already practicing flexibility by staying at a socially marginalized tanner's house.
And Scott also mentioned this quote by a wonderful theologian Willie James Jennings, “Peter shows us that the real risk of faith is found not in believing in new revelations but in new relationships.”
Can you think of and share about a boundary you’ve crossed or a relationship you've built that quietly prepared you to be more open-minded later on?
How do your current, everyday spaces stretch your willingness to welcome others?
Reflect: Reflect on the reaction of Peter and his Jewish co-workers, how they were "astonished" when the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles, completely bypassing their expected religious order.
Why do we find it so easy to identify the Spirit's work exclusively within our own political tribes, social circles, or cultural mindsets?
What happens to Christian communities when the Spirit intentionally works outside of our parameters?
Engage: Engage the idea of transformation as normative for faith. In the sermon, Scott challenges our tendency to trap God inside our own intellectual understanding:
"We do this by adopting a faith of the mind where God is limited to what we've learned. We have a tendency to hold on to theological systems and practices marked by clear boundaries - where we can maintain a sense of what's right and wrong for our own security."
How does treating faith as an ongoing "series of events in which transformation is normative" change the way you read scripture and treat people who disagree with you?
Take away: What is one thing that you're taking with you into your week, either from the sermon or our conversation?
Benediction based on the sermon:
As you go into your week,
may you have the courage to trust a transgressing God:A God who bridged cosmos and reality to enter your human story;
A God who jumps social boundaries to include those you might otherwise exclude;
And a God who speaks directly to your heart—
through ancient words and modern poets,
through your favourite novel, through the vulnerability of a stranger,
and in every undeserved kindness.
Amen. -
CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 118
MUSIC Curated by Curt Muller
Bethel Music - We Praise You
Bryan and Katie Torwalt Arrangement - Holy Spirit
Hillsong Worship - O Praise The Name
Maverick City Music - Fear is Not My Future
EUCHARIST INVITATION
Written by Bobbi S.
SERIES BUMPER
The Way Forward: Within Reach Series
