Sermon

Which Country Is Best?

Theme

God does not show favoritism.

Object

None

Scripture

Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. Acts 10:34-35 (NIV)

Good morning! Has everyone had a good weekend? How many of you have watched the Olympics? Did anyone watch the opening ceremonies?

In the opening ceremonies, each country gets to parade into the stadium. Do you know how many countries are participating in the Olympics this year? 204! That is a lot of countries. There are countries from all over the world. North America, South America, etc.

Which country is the best? Do we determine the best country by who wins the most gold medals? By how big the country is? By how much money it has? Do you think God has a favorite country?

Guess what? There was a guy in the bible named Peter, who thought that the Jewish people were the best. He thought they were better than anyone else in the whole world. Do you know what God showed him? He showed Peter that he was wrong and Peter said ‘I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right.’

God does not show favorites. He doesn’t care how big or how small, how much money or how many gold medals a country has. He loves every person in every country in this whole world. So, if God loves every person in every country in this whole world, should we? We can show God’s love to people across the world, by praying for them, by helping those in need and even by going and visiting other parts of the world, if that’s what God wants. God does not show favorites and we should make sure that we don’t either.

Dear God, we thank you for the perfect way that you love us and we ask that you would help us love all of your people around the world in the same way. In Jesus Name, Amen.