45 minutes
- Opening
- 3
- Passage
- 8
- Questions
- 24
- Application
- 5
- Prayer
- 5
Total · 45 minutes
Sermon Study · Leader Edition
The Gospel Paradigm
August 9, 2026 · Conrad Wozniak
Leader preparation · 2–3 minutes
Your aim for this conversation
Read Acts 10:1–11:18, the longest single story in Acts. If time is short, read 10:1–29, 10:34–48, 11:1–3 and 11:17–18, and tell the rest in a sentence or two.
The conversation is for each person to see where the gospel is sending them toward people unlike them, one step at a time, with Jesus at the center rather than shared style or opinions.
Essential questions: Q1, Q3, Q4. Use Q2 when time permits. Keep talk about segregation and politics on our own relationships.
Timing plan
The Big Idea
The gospel expands how we see people: God sends us face to face with people unlike us, one step at a time, to be joined heart to heart with Jesus at the center.
Remember Sunday’s message
Sermon reminders
01
The Narrative: Cornelius and Peter
Cornelius prayed and gave generously, but he stood outside God's people. In all four tellings of his vision the angel says to send for Simon, who is called Peter, and Conrad said this shows we have a relational gospel.
02
Stereotypes and Shifts in Perspective
Peter first answered the vision with "By no means, Lord," because it went against everything he knew. Conrad's charge was to take one step out of our culture and comfort zone, because that is how relationships across cultures grow.
03
Desegregation vs. Integration
The food laws had come to separate clean and unclean people, and we still keep apart from each other in many ways. Quoting Martin Luther King Jr., Conrad said the goal is not only elbows together but hearts together.
04
Peter's Message to Cornelius's Household
Peter said that God shows no partiality and that Jesus is Lord of all. Conrad said Jesus has to be at the center of the church's unity, and baptism unites people whom other marks keep apart.
Wednesday’s conversation
Reflect & discuss
Read Acts 10:1–11:18 together in the ESV.
1
Acts 10:1–8 · Essential · 5 minutes
Send for Simon
Conrad pointed out that the angel could have given Cornelius the message himself, but told him instead to send for Simon, who is called Peter. When has God used a face-to-face conversation with another person to draw you closer to him, and what did that person do that made a difference?
Leader notes
Follow-ups to have ready
- Conrad said moving a knot in a piece of wood would be hard, but "moving a knot in somebody's heart is near impossible without God." When have you seen God change someone's heart through an ordinary conversation?
- Where might God be sending you to someone, the way Cornelius sent for Peter?
If it stalls
Read verses 5 and 6 aloud and ask why God might have sent for a person instead of letting the angel give the whole message.
2
Acts 10:9–23 · Optional · 6 minutes
One step from home
Peter first answered the vision with "By no means, Lord," and Conrad compared the step Peter had to take to Frodo and Sam at the edge of a field, where one more step would take one of them farther from home than he had ever been. When has one step outside what you were used to opened up your world, and what made you willing to take it?
Leader notes
Follow-ups to have ready
- Optional, more personal: Conrad said Peter's refusal went against his upbringing, his education and the food laws he had always kept. What in your own upbringing still shapes who you feel at ease with?
- After that first step, what helped you take the next one?
If it stalls
Read verse 20 and ask why the Spirit needed to tell Peter to go without hesitation.
3
Acts 10:24–29 · Essential · 6 minutes
Elbows and hearts
Conrad read Martin Luther King Jr.'s warning about a society "where elbows are together but hearts are apart." Where are you near the same people every week without really knowing them, and what would help one of those relationships become heart to heart?
Leader notes
Follow-ups to have ready
- Conrad described wearing a red Angels hat to a Dodgers playoff game. What do you wear, say or do that shows which group you belong to, and how might it keep someone at a distance?
- What would heart to heart look like in this group?
Background you may need
- Conrad spoke about separation by race, class, background and politics. Keep the conversation on our own relationships rather than on national debates.
If it stalls
Offer a general example, such as a neighbor you wave to but have never had over, or a coworker you see every day but know little about. Let people pass.
4
Acts 10:34–48; 11:17–18 · Essential · 7 minutes
Jesus at the center
Peter told Cornelius's household that "God shows no partiality," and Conrad said Jesus has to be at the center, not worshiping the same way or thinking the same thoughts. What besides Jesus do you tend to look for before you feel close to another believer, and what is one step you will take before next Wednesday toward a believer who is different from you?
Leader notes
Follow-ups to have ready
- Optional, more personal: Conrad opened in prayer by confessing "any biases or prejudices that we come into this room with." Is there a bias you have noticed in yourself that keeps you from someone?
- Conrad said circumcised and uncircumcised were terms that kept people apart, but baptism unites. What does it mean to you that you share one baptism with believers very different from you?
If it stalls
Read 11:17–18 aloud and ask what turned the critics in Jerusalem from objecting to glorifying God.
Carry it into the week
Next Steps
From the sermon
- Read all of Acts 10:1–11:18 in your own devotions this week, including the verses not read aloud on Sunday.
- Read Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 to see the food laws behind Peter's answer.
- Make room for face-to-face relationships with people who may be different from you, so you can share the gospel in relationship.
- Take one step out of your culture and your comfort zone.
Application
Before next Wednesday, ask one person at church whom you know only by sight how they came to follow Jesus, and pray for them afterward.
My notes
Close in prayer
Thank God that he shows no partiality and that Jesus is Lord of all, and ask him to show each of us one step toward someone different and to keep Jesus at the center of our friendships.
Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the ESV Bible, © 2001 by Crossway. Text Edition: 2025. Used by permission. Permissions. Prepared for this small group from the August 9, 2026 sermon; questions and applications are editorial study material.
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