Acts 10-11

So there's this man named Cornelius who is a centurion. He is devout and God-fearing, but he doesn't know about Jesus. An angel appears to him and instructs him to send for Peter. So Cornelius sends some of his men to fetch Peter. Then, Peter receives a vision from God about a large sheet filled with all sorts of animals that were considered "unclean". He is instructed to kill and eat, but Peter is reluctant to eat something that is "unclean". Peter is told to not call unclean what God has made clean, and this happens three times. When the vision is over, the men sent by Cornelius meet Peter and ask for him to come with them to meet Cornelius. Normally, Peter would've said no because Jews do not normally associate or have dealings with non-Jews. However, because of his vision, Peter agrees and goes to meet Cornelius. Peter understands that this vision was the beginning of the gospel being preached to the Gentiles. Now, the gospel was previously preached to the Ethiopian eunuch by Philip, but this is a big step as well. But we see Peter realizing from this vision in verse 34. He speaks of how God does not show favoritism, but accepts from every nation.

Peter meets Cornelius and Cornelius has gathered a large number of people to hear what Peter has to say. Peter tells them the good news about Jesus and the Holy Spirit falls upon those who hear. Generally, there may be opposition to the fact that Gentiles are receiving salvation, but Peter mentions how no one can stand in the way of these people being baptized since they have received the Holy Spirit. They can't really debate anymore because they are seeing with their own eyes that God has worked in them and given them the Holy Spirit.

When Peter leaves that place and meets up with other followers of Jesus in Jerusalem, he is criticized by some of the circumcised believers. These circumcised believers were all probably Jewish since that was their tradition. So instead of arguing with them, Peter simply tells them what happened. When he is finished telling them what happened, they don't have anything else to object, but instead praise God. This is a new thing they have heard that is cause for joy. The Gentiles are being allowed repentance leading to life.

We see other groups of followers of Jesus preaching the word to Gentiles as well and more people believing. In addition, Barnabas is sent to Antioch who encourages the believers there. Then he goes to Tarsus looking for Saul and brought Saul to Antioch where they taught many. Next we hear about a prophet named Agabus who predicts a severe famine. As a result, the believers try to help each other sending gifts to other elders via Barnabas and Saul.