Service: C3 Destiny Church, Sunday 20 September 2026
Speaker: Ps Vicki Simpson
Key scriptures: 2 Peter 1:12; Acts 10:9-28; Genesis 22; John 10:10; Jeremiah 1
Watch the message on YouTube
Summary
This message was about having the courage to “upgrade to present truth”: when God shows us something true, we have to choose whether to align our believing with it or hold on to what we’ve always believed.
Ps Vicki began with 2 Peter 1:12, where Peter reminds believers of things they already know and are “established in the present truth.” She then told the story of her DNA test. Her Italian family had always believed they were really Spanish, even carrying the nickname “the Spanish ones” in their village. The test said 49% Italian, 1% Greek, and no Spanish at all. A cousin finally explained the joke: generations ago a great-great-grandfather went to Spain on holiday and took a suspiciously long time to come home. Once you know the truth, you have a choice: keep repeating the old story, or line up with what’s true.
The Bible doesn’t change, but our understanding of it can. The main case study was Cornelius and Peter in Acts 10. Cornelius, a God-fearing Roman officer, was told by an angel to send for Peter. Meanwhile Peter, praying on a rooftop, saw a vision of a sheet full of unclean animals and heard, “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.” When Cornelius’s messengers arrived, Peter, who had been raised never to enter a Gentile’s home, went with them, saying, “God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean.” It was a huge cultural and religious shift, and Peter had the courage to obey. That is what being prophetic really means: hearing what God is saying now and obeying it.
Ps Vicki gave more examples. Abraham obeyed God’s instruction to offer Isaac, but he also listened when God spoke again and stopped him; we become religious when we make an idol of what God once said instead of listening to what He is saying. Martin Luther rediscovered that “the just shall live by faith” and put the Bible into everyday language. Believers’ water baptism was also restored over time. In each case, someone had to be brave enough to step into present truth.
Sometimes the most courageous upgrade is about yourself. Ps Vicki shared how she came to faith at 19 after reading about abundant life in John 10:10, and how she later felt God’s call but belonged to a church that didn’t recognise women in ministry. When a leader told her he saw a prophetic call on her life, Jeremiah 1 confirmed it, and she had to choose to believe what God said about her. Revelation can also come through conversation, so she encouraged people not to carry struggles alone but to talk and pray with mature believers.
Every time God shows us something new or challenging about ourselves, we can avoid it or upgrade to present truth, and that’s how we grow personally and as a church. The message moved into a time of prayer and prophetic encouragement, closing with the reminder that “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” and that the pain of obedience is far less than the pain of regret.
Five questions for reflection
- Ps Vicki’s family believed they were Spanish for generations until the DNA test. Is there something you’ve always believed about yourself or God that might need to be tested against the truth?
- In Acts 10, Peter let go of a lifelong religious tradition when God spoke. What do you think made him willing to change, and what makes that hard for us?
- What’s the difference between holding to sound doctrine and ‘making an idol of what God has said’? How can we stay open to what God is saying now?
- Ps Vicki said revelation can come through conversation. Who could you talk and pray with about something you’ve been carrying alone?
- ‘The pain of obedience is a lot less than the pain of regret.’ Where is God inviting you to upgrade to present truth this week?