The Life of Paul: His Story in the Hands of God

Power of our Story in the Hands of God

Paul’s Story

Before Damascus Road (Compelled to the Live for the Law

Born a Jew, Roman citizen, of the city Tarsus, from the Tribe of Benjamin, trained as a Pharisee. Unto the law, “Blameless”

His family, his heritage, his education, compelled him to follow a set of decrees and commands; to ensure that others were faithful to its expectations and guidelines. In his own words, He was a zealot for the Law of Moses!

After Damascus Road (Compelled to live for (Christ)

-blinded

After Damascus Road (Compelled to live for Christ)

After Damascus Road

-heard the voice of Jesus

-led to the city and fasted 3 days

-revealed what he must do, what he must go through, and who would come speak to him (chosen for a purpose)

-welcomed into the brotherhood & the family of God (baptized as affirmation)

Power of His Story placed into the hands of God, was a defining moment for Paul

1 Corinthians 2:2 ESV

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

1 Cor. 2:2

Galatians 1:16 ESV

was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

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Galatians 1:16 ESV

was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;

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Do you have defining moments in your life? in your journey of faith? How did you know it was defining?

Paul’s Story was woven into being compelled by Jesus to live in a manner worthy of the calling. In like manner, our story in the hands of God always points us and others back to Jesus.

Do you have defining moments in your life? in your journey of faith? How did you know it was defining?

How have they shaped your life? how have they impacted your relationship with God? your relationship with others

Defining moments can be low points or high points

High points and/or low points in our life become defining moments (powerful) in the hands of God, when they bring about transformation in us and begin to impact those around us for the sake of God’s kingdom.

Paul’s Story was woven into being compelled by Jesus to live in a manner worthy of the calling. In like manner, our story in the hands of God always has the capacity to point us and others back to Jesus.

is a watershed experience for the Apostle Paul

-Galatians written before . He was in Galatia when these things were happening and wrote his letter to them while in Antioch.

Faith, not flesh is the basis of salvation. The children of promise are those who receive by faith that Jesus is the Christ, salvation has come through his death, and by the power of the resurrection we are infused with the Life of God’s Spirit to live and move and have our being.

Paul’s defining moment, on the road to Damascus informed everything he knew personally about God and compelled him to make known the gospel in the manner to which he was called.

Having been delivered so radically by Jesus out of the world of religion and legalism, he would not allow the church to go back to what they had been given salvation from.

would the calling of Paul the church be hamstrung by the weight of religiosity?

Would the church go back to life before Christ?

Or would the church be freed to blossom into a story being wielded by the wisdom of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, and nurtured by the nail-scarred hands of the Son?

Would Paul and the church be freed to blossom into a story being wielded by the wisdom of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, and nurtured by the nail-scarred hands of the Son?

Our life and our story, the righteous expression of salvation and covenant expectations ought to create space for transformation within and around us

First insight from the Life of Paul: Our story in the hands of God.

-Doesn’t matter the age

(Ethan telling preschool teacher about Jesus. “Church people make me nervous. But I had lots of Jesus conversations with Ethan. If only church people were more like a preschooler.”

Physical limitations do not matter:

Joni Eareckson Tada (paralyzed at a young age through an unfortunate swimming accident. Yet, she has travelled the world proclaiming the name of Jesus)

Color of Skindoesn’t matter:

Martin Luther King Jr.. Civil Rights movement and non-violent civil disobedience.

Social Statusdoesn’t matter:

John Wesley. 1 of 15 children. Son of a rector minister, in a remote little town in the Isle of Axholme.

Gender doesn’t matter:

Mother Theresa

Application: Have you put your story (your life) into the hands of God.

When was the last time you asked God to take your story and made yourself available to work in and through you?

Are you Discovering the potential impact of your story in the hands of God?

-compelled to live the life as a follower

-maturing through the brokenness, blind spots, bondage, and immaturity into transformation and (w)holeness?

-experiencing freedom of Christ?

OR living in bondage to religiosity and legalism?

-Litmus test is the life of Christ unfolded in you and through you.

The pastor shall say:

Dear friends in Christ: God, through Moses made covenant with Israel, saying to the people, “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” ().

In the days of the New Covenant, Christ Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” () and on the Day of Pentecost the Apostle Peter declared, regarding the salvation given through Christ, “The promise is to you and to your children” ().

It is therefore our privilege to present our children to the Lord and our duty to raise them in His ways. Nathan & Desiree now bring Ava Grace to offer her in dedication and to pledge in the presence of this congregation to bring her up in the Lord’s discipline and instruction.

Let us pray:

Almighty and everlasting God, who has made saving covenant with Your people and who, out of Your loving-kindness, has ordained that they should live before You in families; we thank You that it is our privilege to dedicate our children to You, in steadfast hope that they will cleave to Your covenant and live to Your glory. We entreat You for Ava Grace that she may be delivered from the power of sin and Satan and be set apart to You by the Power of the Holy Spirit.

wer of the Holy Spirit. We pray for these parents that they may be given divine aid, so that both by instruction and example they may lead this child in the way of everlasting life, and so all may come in unity together to Your eternal kingdom. We pray for this congregation, that we may faithfully discharge our duties to both parents and child, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Questions to parents: 1. Do you, in the presence of God and this church, solemnly dedicate this child to the Lord? Answer: We/I do. 2. Will you endeavor to live a life before this child that will give witness to your faith in Jesus Christ? Answer: We/I will. 3. Do you accept the authority of the Old and New Testaments as the Word of God? Answer: We/I do. 4. Out of them, will you endeavor diligently to teach this child the commandments and promises of the Most High God, so that your child may early come to personal faith in Jesus Christ? Answer: We/I will. Then the pastor will say: Let us acknowledge our duty to support this family with our prayers and encouragement, thereby aiding the parent(s) and child to fulfill all that has here been promised. The congregation will affirm this by standing. 159 Appendix A — The Rituals The pastor shall then take the child in his arms and say: Name this child. Even as Joseph and Mary brought Jesus in the time of His infancy to the temple to present Him to God, so now, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we present ______________ in an act of dedication to God, with a prayer that at an early age in life he/she may experience His justifying and sanctifying grace. Amen

We pray for Nathan & Desiree that they may be given divine aid, so that both by instruction and example they may lead Ava in the way of everlasting life, and so all may come in unity together to Your eternal kingdom.

We pray for this congregation, that we may faithfully discharge our duties to both parents and child, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Questions to parents:

1. Do you, in the presence of God and this church, solemnly dedicate this child to the Lord?

Answer: We/I do.

2. Will you endeavor to live a life before this child that will give witness to your faith in Jesus Christ?

Answer: We/I will.

3. Do you accept the authority of the Old and New Testaments as the Word of God?

Answer: We/I do.

4. Out of them, will you endeavor diligently to teach this child the commandments and promises of the Most High God, so that your child may early come to personal faith in Jesus Christ?

Answer: We/I will.

Then the pastor will say:

Let us acknowledge our duty to support this family with our prayers and encouragement, thereby aiding Nathan & Desiree and Ava to fulfill all that has here been promised.

The congregation will affirm this by standing.

The pastor shall then take the child in his arms and say:

Ava Grace. Even as Joseph and Mary brought Jesus in the time of His infancy to the temple to present Him to God, so now, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we present Ava Grace in an act of dedication to God, with a prayer that at an early age in life she may experience His justifying and sanctifying grace. Amen