PAUL

CALL INTRO FROM TOM

         +. It is my privilege to be the lead-off batter for a 5-week series of messages we are entitling “Called” Jonathan and Colton and I will share in preaching from 5 passages of the Bible to see what we can learn about what it means to be called by God. 

Now just in case that sounds to you like a preacher recruitment program we would like to you to know that each and every follower of Jesus Christ has a calling on their life. This is not at all something reserved for professional Christians but is for every person who calls on the name of the Lord to be saved.  In short, you have a calling from God on your life and we want to help you better understand and respond to it in reckless obedience.

Change of Character

Acts 9:1-9 made me glad altar call?

Intro Series: Explain text context, each week is something that needs changed

Open with the story about Luke and Starburst… It has often been said that character is who you are when no one else is watching. I fear too many of us, like Luke, think that the sins that we commit that no one sees are allowed to remain in our lives. I wonder how many of us appear as Christians when our public reputation is being considered, but continue to allow sinful characteristics to remain present in the background and private places of our lives. Allow the Holy Spirit to challenge you with that thought as we look at our text.

9 Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, 2 and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; 4 and he fell to the ground and 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 get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.” 7 The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

PRAY

Saul on his way to Damascus, he was going to kill those who proclaimed Christ. Killing Christians (make personal with sins of the day) PREACH IT. MAKE SURE YOU TRANSITION WELL HERE…

Conversion even meant he had a new name. He was no longer to be associated with his previous life in anyway. Saul’s conversion was a conversion of will, intellect, and emotion, which then dictated the abiding purpose and direction of his subsequent life and activity. If you are transformed today was your conversion a conversion of will, intellect, and emotion, which then dictated the abiding purpose and direction of your life and activity?

Many times we will be doing what we believe is right only to find ourselves in constant cycles of pain and depression, and because we have never truly experienced the full indwelling of the Holy Spirit we don’t believe that the gratification that can exist Spiritually is even real.  You have never given enough of yourself to Him so that your experience might be full in Him.

When you were saved was there a change? Too many times people get saved and they make the changes that they know that they have to, the changes that everyone else can see, but too often we remain founded in sinful qualities using excuses such as I was born this way, or that’s just who I am. But God has more than that planned for you.

With that in mind let’s talk today about three aspects of your character that should have changed or need to change as a result of your relationship with Christ.

Will

Saul’s perception of God’s will was something that was ultimately distorted by his apparent thirst and drive to fulfill his own will. He carried this out by using the arena of God as a channel for which he could fulfill his fleshly appetites for power, position, and recognition.

Throughout the years I have seen too many times where people use the church as an outlet to achieve something that they could not accomplish elsewhere. Pastors, teachers, staff members, and members of church boards are too often a picture of individuals who are looking to find recognition, power, or leadership even though they may lack the skills, commitment, and Spiritual maturity to hold such positions. This happens so frequently in the church as we have created and accepted an environment where we should let everyone be involved, because somehow we have inferred from Jesus’ ministry that He would do the same. The reality of the matter is that Jesus always required more than the world of His followers.

            Next month we will be talking about church and board membership. Please understand that as a pastor that if you have come to me with stories of frequently being late for work, an inability to pay your bills, or difficulty in holding down a job, I will probably think and pray twice before considering the idea of putting the future and the business of the church in your hands. All too often though it is these individuals who are the only ones that step forward. That is probably somewhat a result of the fact that those that are responsible enough to handle these positions, know the reality of the responsibility and may not necessarily desire it.

            Please be careful that you aren’t using the phrase “will of God” when you are ultimately yet very simply using God’s kingdom or church as a platform to carry out your own will. An easy way to test this is to consider your attitude when you disagree with something that is being said or done by church leadership. Could your perceived version of God’s will by blinding you to what God ultimately wants to accomplish in His church and kingdom.

Saul’s conversion of his will to God’s will was a transition from seeking power through leadership, to a place of humility through servanthood. Ask yourself today if your perception of God’s will is truly seeking what’s best for others, or instead what might be most pleasing to you within the context of the church. The most famous prayer regarding the will of God, was the prayer that Jesus prayed before going to the cross. It may justify the statement that the test of God’s will may often be something that causes us discomfort or even pain.

Intellect

It could be argued that Saul was one of, if not the smartest man in his culture. Intellect is something that is a very easy thing to boast in any given society. In today’s time, we could do this by writing an informative profile on our church website describing all of our Pastor’s degrees. Or we could be sure to include our title or degree in the signature of our emails. I know people that will make sure that you are aware of every single book they have read. I don’t want to come across as critical or anti-intellectual. In fact, I believe that God calls us to be more intelligent than world by being good stewards of the minds that He gave us to use for His glory. By all means, invite every Doctor, Lawyer, and Professor you know to be a member of the church, but know this… Jesus used the common man. Though I would not want to speak negatively of the disciples, we could even perhaps refer to them as the derelict of society.

Not only must you turn your intellect over to God, but you must allow it to be transformed. In 1 Corinthians 1:27 Paul writes, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. One of the greatest obstacles to God using us to the fullest extent possible is our intellect or rationale. Even in my own life, I would be scared to think how many times God may have asked me to do something that I considered radical, so I wrote it off, assuming that God would never really want me to do something that doesn’t make sense to us or especially those around us. Today, I believe that life is far too short to take a chance at not doing something radical for God simply because it might be in opposition to our best judgment.

Saul or at that time Paul, could have easily reasoned his way out of every difficult and grueling situation that he encountered in his ministry. A man of his intellect could have easily preached a softer message, and have had the equivalent of a modern day megachurch. But instead, because he allowed his character to be utterly and completely transformed, his intellect and rationale did not stand as an obstacle to God’s purpose for his life. He endured beatings, stoning, imprisonment, cold, heat, shipwreck, not to mention loneliness, and undoubtedly endless bouts of spiritual warfare. In light of Paul’s challenges what relatively small, insignificant sacrifices have you chose not to make because of “Your” better judgment. Surrender your will, surrender your intellect, and surrender your emotion…

Emotion

Rather than trying to overwork Paul’s story to consider the transformation of his emotions. Let’s simply consider his teachings. He writes to move away from anger, malice, tempers, lust, addictive lifestyles, bitterness, ungratefulness, and grumpy, complaining spirits. Most specifically in Corinthians he writes that in CHRIST all old things are gone, and ALL things are new. I don’t care if you WERE bitter, if you WERE an angry person, if you WERE someone with an addictive personality, if you WERE mean and cranky, if you WERE someone with a bad temper. When you say, “That’s just the way I am” you are stating that you have made a choice to not allow God to affect your character to the fullest extent, and heal you of all the sinful characteristics that no longer need to plague your life. You are NEW in Christ.

Surrender your will, surrender your intellect, and surrender your emotion. Allow God to miraculously and methodically change your character so that the purpose and direction of your life can be guided and formed by Him.

ALTAR CALL – REDEEMED

As they come I’ll remind you of the statement that I shared in reference to Saul’s conversion at the beginning of the message. Saul’s conversion was a conversion of will, intellect, and emotion, which then dictated the abiding purpose and direction of his subsequent life and activity. If you are transformed today was your conversion a conversion of will, intellect, and emotion, which then dictated the abiding purpose and direction of your life and activity?