Full Sermon The Risen Jesus Makes a Huge Difference in Our Lives based on Acts 9:1-22

Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I. Time that made a huge difference in life. Think back to a time in your life that made a huge difference. Maybe that time was your wedding day. Or the death of a loved one. Or starting a new job. Or making a big mistake. Or maybe a number of smaller things that led you in a certain direction in life.

II. My thoughts about a job after high school. I remember when I was a senior at Billings West High School in Billings, Montana, back in 1981. I was trying to decide what job to do after I graduated from high school or what college to go to for further education. I had two places I was considering going to college. One place was Montana State University in Bozeman where I had lived for a few years when I was in 6th grade and the start of 8th grade. A lot of students from Billings were planning to go to Bozeman for college. I was thinking of taking classes to be an engineer of some kind and making the big bucks. The other place was in Seward, Nebraska, to a college called, Concordia Teachers’ College. My pastor, Robert Luinstra from this area of Iowa, encouraged me to go to Seward. He said that I could become a Lutheran teacher or become a Lutheran pastor after going to seminary for a few more years after college. He said that if I decided not to become a pastor I could still be a teacher.

I usually had good grades in most classes in school, but my senior year I had trouble in my class called Physics and I barely passed that class. I decided that studying to become some kind of engineer was not best for me, since my gifts were more in the area of teaching and reading and telling others about God’s Word, the Bible. I had taken honors English classes from 8th grade through 12th grade and I learned how to read for understanding and write papers. I also enjoyed history classes in school. I decided to go to Concordia and take up elementary school teaching with a major in history. I thought I might want to be a Lutheran pastor, since a pastor writes a lot of sermons and studies the history of the Bible. In college I also took classes to learn Greek and Hebrew. I would not recommend learning Greek and Hebrew at the same time like I did along with taking other classes, but I somehow survived. I have loved reading the Bible since I was a teenager and I have read the Bible cover to cover about 35 times or more. I had never visited Seward before, but I ended up going to college for 4 years there. I had never visited Fort Wayne, Indiana, but I ended up going to seminary there for 3 years after college plus one year of vicarage in Fort Dodge, Iowa. For me the good news that Jesus was crucified and raised for all of my sins and wrongs has continued to move me to be a pastor and preach that good news to others. As you advance in years you can look back and see how God used certain people and certain events in your life to make you into the person you are today.

III. Saul’s early years and the big change. The risen Jesus made a huge difference in the life of Saul, (who is also known as Paul). This was the same Saul, (better known as Paul), who stood by and approved of the killing of Stephen. Stephen was the first Christian to die for believing in Jesus. In Acts 8 Saul, better known as Paul, went from house to house looking for believers in Jesus and put them in prison. He wanted to get rid of this group of people who were followers of the Way as the early Christians were known. The risen Jesus changed all that when Saul, (also known as Paul), was going to Damascus to look for more followers of the Way to drag back to Jerusalem and put in prison.

IV. Read Acts 9:3-6 and comment. Acts 9:3–6 records for us, “Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And he said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’”

The voice of Jesus told Saul, also known as Paul, that Jesus was the One he was really persecuting by putting followers of the Way into prison. The friends of Saul, (also known as Paul), had to lead him into the city of Damascus since he had lost his sight.

V. Jesus and reluctant Ananias in Acts 9:15-16. Jesus also spoke to a man named Ananias who was a believer in Jesus. Ananias was told to go and lay his hands on Saul, (also known as Paul), so that he could regain his sight. Ananias was reluctant, because he knew that this man had done much evil to believers in Jesus in Jerusalem. Acts 9:15–16 tells us, “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. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.’” Ananias did as he was told. He laid his hands on Saul, (also known as Paul), so that he could see again. He also was baptized and started eating some food.

VI. Saul’s dramatic turn around summed up in Acts 9:20-22. The dramatic turn around in the life of Saul, (also known as Paul), is summed up in Acts 9:20–22 , “And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’ And all who heard him were amazed and said, ‘Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?’ But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.”

VII. Conclusion. The persecutor of the early Christian church became a preacher of the good news about the risen Jesus. We are not persecutors of the Christian Church, like Saul (also known as Paul was), but we are baptized into the Christian faith as he was. The risen Jesus made a huge difference in the life of that persecutor turned preacher, who was one of the greatest missionaries for Jesus and wrote a good portion of the New Testament of the Bible under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The risen Jesus makes a huge difference in our lives, too. We can do our part to tell others the same good news that Paul declared in Galatians 2:20 , “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.” Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.