Acts 10:1-48 - To the Ends of the Earth: The Doctrinal Necessity for International Missions

Forty-eight nations are currently participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup at stadiums throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada. It’s an expanded field this year that includes first-time participants like Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan. In order to qualify, teams had to advance out of their respective regional tournaments across the 6 continental confederations. There’s a lot of debate about who should be in or who got left out. 

Like the World Cup, the church is international in flavor, made up of the redeemed from every tribe and language and people and nation. Yet how does one qualify?

The book of Acts describes how the church was born and became a global movement. At the very beginning, Jesus told his disciples that they would be his witnesses to the very ends of the earth. Early on, it was distinctly Jewish. We’ve read how the church was established first in Jerusalem and then spread throughout all the surrounding regions of Judea and Samaria. But in chapter 10, we come to a revolutionary development. Luke tells how a foreigner named Cornelius qualified to participate in the people of God. The whole incident revealed that a Gentile could be saved just like a Jew, by believing in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins.

Cornelius’ conversion story would have ripple effects throughout the church, which we’ll explore in the following episodes. It also highlights the importance of international missions today. No one, not even a good man, is saved simply by believing that God exists or by honoring him in certain ways. The times of ignorance are over; all people everywhere must repent and put their faith in Jesus. Therefore, God prepares you and me to proclaim the gospel so that those who’ve never heard can be saved.