Rethink Church - Turning Saul's to Paul's

Who then can be saved?

We have seen the church born

We have seen major growth

We saw martyrdom and persecution

We saw the church scattered and being chased

Bad people with bad intentions

Let’s talk about bad people

John Bunyan - foul mouthed, angry man - wrote Pilgrims Progress

John Newton - slave trafficker - wrote Amazing Grace

C.S Lewis - atheist scholar - most read Christian author

“The greatest enemy to human souls is the self-righteous spirit which makes men look to themselves for salvation.”~Charles Spurgeon

Ephesians 2:8 CSB

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—

Today we will look at Paul

Acts 9

The conversion of Paul show us that....

No one is beyond God’s Love

Acts 8:3 CSB

Saul, however, was ravaging the church. He would enter house after house, drag off men and women, and put them in prison.

Paul was on a mission

Acts 9:1–2 CSB

Now Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

He was an enemy of the church

I am not that bad -

Colossians 1:21 CSB

Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds as expressed in your evil actions.

The conversion of Paul show us that....

2. Change often happens to people when you least expect it.

Acts 9:3 CSB

As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him.

It was a moment

“The conversion of a soul is the miracle of a moment, but the manufacture of a saint is the task of a lifetime.”  ~Alan Redpath

Everything changed - he was not argued into it, convinced, cajoled

It was a the moment he was confronted with the reality of Christ

How do we pray for someone who seems to be so cold toward God?

a. Pray for an event

b. Pray God’s word

The conversion of Paul show us that....

3. You might be surprised at how God chooses to use you in the process.

Acts 9:10–12 CSB

There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” “Here I am, Lord,” he replied. “Get up and go to the street called Straight,” the Lord said to him, “to the house of Judas, and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, since he is praying there. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him so that he may regain his sight.”

This was not an apostle, not a religious leader

It was someone who said yes

1 Corinthians 1:26–27 CSB

Brothers and sisters, consider your calling: Not many were wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

Be that foolish thing

Changing Saul’s to Paul’s

There are only 2 type of people

You have to decide which one

__ I am like Saul and need to change

__ I am like Ananias and I need to obey God and go to: __________

  “Christ’s voice sounds now for each of us in loving invitation; and dead in sin and hardness of heart though we be, we can listen and live. Christ Himself, my brother, sows the seed now. Do you take care that it falls not on, but in, your souls.” ~Alexander MacLaren