Prov 23:7 ‘as a man thinketh in his heart, so he is”

 I take Acts 10:34-43 as a sub text

 Thinking Outside the Box

Perhaps you have heard the expression: “think outside the box.” As a church, we need to start thinking outside the box. The reason is clear: in order to reach a new generation,  we need to think like them, and not like ourselves.
As I continue, I want to warn you that thinking outside the box will feel uncomfortable. You will want to resist this idea, and you will want to go back into the box. So get ready, God is going to use you this morning as we all start to think outside the box. First, let me illustrate how we think in the box.
THINKING INSIDE THE BOX ILLUSTRATION:
I will take this box here and start to throw things in it. These are things which we all think about when we think about church. Here I am going to throw in a hymnal. So we sing songs out of the hymnbook. Let’s throw in there the KJV Bible. Nothing wrong with this translation. It is just thinking inside the box. Let’s throw in a piano. Let’s throw in this brochure about the WMU. Let’s through in this brochure about an evangelist. Let’s through in these brochures about conferences from the Missouri Baptist Convention. Let’s through in the offering envelopes. Let’s throw in this Sunday School record. Let’s throw in this tote board showing all of our numbers. Do you see where I am going with this? Let’s throw in God’s Little Toy Box. Let’s throw in Safe House brochure. These last two things were “outside of the box” kind of thinking a decade ago. I am not saying we shouldn’t do them. I am just saying that for us, they are “inside the box.”
The problem is that we can’t reach new people if we keep doing the same thing we have always done. So what is it going to take to reach new people?
Say it together: THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX
What are the ingredients to thinking outside the box?
The first ingredient is VISION. 
Let’s look at the first verse:
“Then Peter began to speak: “Now I really understand that God doesn’t show favoritism,” (Acts 10:34, HCSB)
Peter starts by saying that he really understands that God doesn’t show favoritism. Where did he get this idea? God revealed it to him in a vision. God showed him a vision three times. If you read about it, God shows him a bunch of animals which were forbidden for Peter to eat. God says to kill and eat these animals. Peter declined three times. God said to Peter “Don’t call unclean what God has made clean” and then the vision ended. Peter didn’t get the vision at first.
“While Peter was deeply perplexed about what the vision he had seen might mean, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions to Simon’s house, stood at the gate.” (Acts 10:17, HCSB)
So God brought the answer to him. The Holy Spirit tells Peter to go and meet Cornelius. After they meet, Peter gets it.
“Peter said to them, “You know it’s forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner. But God has shown me that I must not call any person common or unclean. That’s why I came without any objection when I was sent for. So I ask: Why did you send for me?”” (Acts 10:28–29, HCSB)
The vision drove the thinking. Peter learned that God doesn’t show favoritism. What does that mean?
“Then Peter began to speak: “Now I really understand that God doesn’t show favoritism,” (Acts 10:34, HCSB)
To show favoritism means to favor or keep with the same people, practices, customs, and ideas. In Peter’s context, he had to learn that sharing the good news was not just for Jews. Sharing the good news was for Gentiles as well.
Our problem is a local, cultural, and generational problem. We think that to “do church” we need to do it a certain way. We learned that we can change what that certain way is. We can adapt and do new things. But soon, those new things became traditional things and these traditional things aren’t enough to reach people.
Sometimes you need a new vision to reach a new group of people. A new vision drives the thinking. A new vision helps you to start thinking outside the box.
What is the vision? I have to reach new people. The vision is seeing what God sees. It is a picture of the end result. The end result is to reach new people. In our case, to reach the next two generations.
To be continue=>>