Created for a purpose

Hilary loves practical things What is my purpose? Why was I created?

Context

The church was booming.

Peter preached at Pentecost in Acts 2.

Peter and John preach the gospel to the council in Acts 4

The church establish servants to serve food in Acts 6.

In Acts 7, Stephen was man who loved God and loved God’s Word.

Then there was a man, Saul

Hated Christians.

Stephen preached the gospel of Jesus faithfully

The crowd gets angry and begins stoning Stephen.

Saul approved of Stephens murder and began arresting Christians.

Big Idea: Created for a purpose!

Stand to read

Acts 9:1–2 ESV

1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Leader: This is God’s Word.

Everyone: Thanks be to God.

Explanation

Saul sought to eradicate the world of Jesus.

Saul was a very educated man,

He went to the Jewish high priests looking for arrest warrants to throw followers of the Way in prison.

Many of which ended in their deaths.

All because they were Christians.

He wanted the name of Jesus completely erased from history.

He was “breathing threats and murder” = Obsessed.

Frothing at the mouth.

This was a violent pursuit.

He didn’t only stop in Jerusalem, he followed these people.

This was relentless.

We have people in our lives that we don’t believe will ever come to know/follow Jesus.

This person doesn’t deserve grace

They’ll split hell wide open

They’ll never change.

I hate them because of what they’ve

Being a Pharisee, he believed that Jesus was a cancer to society

He believed Jesus was a false Messiah and that his followers were a major problem to religious power.

While Saul is on his way to capture Christians, a light shown from heaven around him.

Acts 9:4–7 ESV

4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.

This is incredible.

Saul has arrest warrants, and on his way to serve them he gets thrown to the ground by Jesus.

Jesus’ question is very personal.

“Why are you persecuting me?” (v. 4)

My dad took my nephew Christopher out to eat at Texas Roadhouse

There was a kid picking on Christopher—Pushing him.

My dad told me that he was ready to shove that kid into the barrel of peanuts and wait for his dad to come and shove him in too!

You don’t mess with Papaw’s buddy.

“Mess with them and you’ll mess with me!”

Jesus identifies with His people.

He confronts Saul and takes his sight for three days.

Saul’s buddy’s are dumbfounded.

They didn’t see Jesus like Saul did, but they heard his voice, watched Saul fall to the ground and now he’s blind.

This was a big moment.

Saul is sent into Damascus for three days physically blind, which reveals his spiritual blindness.

Jesus appears to a disciple named Ananias and He tells Ananias about Saul and gives him some instructions.

Acts 9:11–12 ESV

11 And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”

Ananias answers with some natural skepticism.

Acts 9:13–14 ESV

13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.”

“I’m sorry, you want me to what? Lord, have you not heard about Him?”

He’s a corrupt murderer who has come to Damascus for the sole purpose of capturing/killing people who worship you.

Acts 9:15–16 ESV

15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

Jesus has a mission for Saul.

Damascus was an absolute sovereign set up!

God chose Saul before he was born, now Saul has been brought to this moment in Damascus to receive the grace of God!

Saul thought he was the hunter, not the hunted!

Saul: “I’m gonna get me some Christians.”

Pft. You think.

Saul’s gonna get got.

Saul was on this mission to arrest Christians, yet Saul was arrested by God’s sovereign grace.

Noticed who saved Saul.

Saul did not volunteer to meet Jesus, fall off a donkey, and be blind for three days.

Jesus said that Saul was “a chosen instrument”

Silas is not my son because he chose to be.

Silas is my son because Hilary and I decided to expand our family.

There is nothing that he can do to take away his status as my son.

Silas did nothing to contribute to the conversation and the decision.

If you’ve been saved by the blood of Jesus, it was because of God’s amazing grace not because of anything you’ve done!

We’ve been changed!

Our identities are not in who we were, but in who we are in Christ.

Gospel presentation

Before the world began, God had set His affections on those who would believe in Jesus.

God gave up His Son Jesus, so that you and I can become children of God!

Jesus willingly died on the cross and took your sin and your shame!

He became your sin!

He took the punishment from God for your sin!

The Father received the sacrifice and raised Jesus to life

Now, those who put their faith in Jesus are given a new identity in Christ!

Galatians 2:20 “20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

If you’re a Christian, this is true of you.

You don’t have to live in the guilt and shame you carry.

Give it to Jesus.

We have been changed and we are not who we used to be.

The Lord advocates this to Ananias because he knows that the gospel can transform anyone!

The Lord calms Ananias’s fears and he goes.

Acts 9:17 ESV

17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Explanation

Ananias calls Saul “brother”

Ananias acknowledges Saul’s new identity in Jesus.

Not only does Saul have a new identity in Christ, but he’s also has a new family in Christ.

Ananias tells him that he’ll receive his sight and the Holy Spirit

Then Ananias baptizes him.

Boom. Everything changed!

Now, Saul who once despised Jesus and the Church is now buried with Christ in baptism and is identified with Christ and His people.

Acts 9:20 ESV

20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

Church

We were created to tell people about Jesus.

God chose Saul to take the gospel to the Gentiles and the ends of the world.

Take the Next Step

Write down your gospel story.

How you became a Christian

Share that with your cabins.

Think of a friend who you know doesn’t know Jesus

Tell them about what you’ve learned here at camp.