We got mauled last week by a winter storm which began Saturday night and didn’t let up until it had dumped about 7-8″ by late Sunday morning. I wrote about that here. I had planned on preaching on Hypocrisy last Sunday, but thanks to the storm I simply reworked my sermon schedule. I will be preaching that sermon this week and the one originally scheduled for this week will not be preached until April 12th. I am starting a new series called “Famous Last Words” next week which will go through Easter.

If you read this passage by Paul, you will notice some pretty blunt language. Paul was not going to allow Peter to get off easily. You see, after Paul’s encounter with Jesus on the Road to Damascus in Acts 9, his life was radically changed. He went from a Christian-hating Jewish leader to a Jesus-loving, Gentile-reaching Jewish teacher. Meanwhile, Peter was having his own encounter with the Holy Spirit in Acts 10 where he is commissioned to go to the house of Cornelius (a Gentile) and preach the Gospel of God’s love and acceptance. He went from a Gentile-hating Jewish leader of the early church to a Gentile-loving Jewish leader of the early church.

That is…until the Judaizers made their presence known in Galatia. Peter withdrew; Paul rebuked. God’s message through Paul was simple: salvation in Jesus Christ was as much for the Gentiles as it was for the Jews. Same as today. The Gospel is for all people, of all ilk, of all nationalities and races.

I’ll thank you again for your prayers. 🙂