Acts 8, 9 & 10

Cornelius was a Roman centurion stationed at Caesarea. Today his rank might be equal to a sergeant-major. He is described as a "God-fearer or God worshipper." This is what they called Gentiles who were tired of all the gods and were frustrated with their ancestral faiths. They attached themselves to the Jewish religion. They weren't circumcised or didn't keep the Law. But they attended the synagogue and they believed in one God and in the ethics of the Jewish religion. Cornelius was a man who was seeking God, and he found Him.

But before Cornelius could be welcomed into the early church, some thinking had to change. Because strict Jews believed that God had no use for the Gentiles.

At the same time Peter is hanging out with a tanner named Simon. Since a tanner worked with the dead bodies of animals he was permanently unclean according to Jewish Law. Not exactly good company for a devout Jew. But this tanner was a part of the new Jewish sect following Christ. At lunch Peter heads up to the roof to pray. The houses had flat roofs, and since the houses were small and probably crowded it was common to use the roof for privacy. There Peter has this strange vision of lunch handed down to him on a sheet. Jews had strict food laws and could only eat animals which chewed cud or whose hoofs were cloven. But the sheet had both unclean and clean food.

Peter had to learn some new rules. And to see Gentiles in a new way. And it starts with Cornelius.