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· Money to give away?
God Is Full of Surprises
As we get started today, what is the best surprise that you have ever received?
Most people wonder at one time or another how this salvation stuff works. Maybe they’re wondering if they’re really saved or not. But believe me, this is common. This talk jumps off the Biblical case study of Paul’s conversion story to take a behind-the-scenes peek at the process of conversion. Even though not everyone’s conversion process is identical to Paul’s, but we can all relate to the points of his story. The real subject of this story isn’t Paul or even his conversion. It’s the grace of God that we will really learn about.
What does the word conversion mean?
Well, today, we are going to be looking at how God is full of surprises, and we are going to be looking at what surprises we see when we are converted or when we begin to believe in God.
The Opening Act:
· Reading: Un-dragoning (Pages 62-63 in the print version)
Ever since Christ first came to earth, people have been trying to invent easy, painless, no-cost ways of getting saved. But true conversion to Christ is a deep and radical change, and change is always painful. There’s a great “un-dragoning” story in the Bible that illustrates the depth of this change and what has to happen to each of us if we’re to enter into an authentic relationship with Christ. This story is so important it’s repeated 3 times in one book, the book of Acts. Go ahead and turn with me to Acts 9:1-21 and we will take a look at the story of Paul’s conversion. Here’s what happens when God tears into your life.
The Main Event:
1. God singles you out.
In Acts 9:1-21 it says, “1”
Paul was a dragon. He was a rabid opponent of Christ and His church. In Acts 8:3 it says that Saul was destroying the church. In Acts 9:1 it says that Saul breathed out murderous threats. And in Acts 9:20-21 says that Saul raised havoc in Jerusalem.
Here Jesus opposes Saul as forcefully as Saul had opposed others. He calls him out and blinds his eyes, knocking him to the ground. There’s an old saying, “The gospel is bad news before it is good news. It first confronts you with your sin before it offers you grace.” And that is exactly what Jesus does. He accuses Saul of persecuting Him.
Have any of you ever had your name called by someone in authority. Now before you answer that, there are 2 basic categories of times this would happen. One is positive, like when you win a raffle, a contest, or a game. Or like when you make the school play or graduate from college or something special. The other is negative, like when the principal tells you to report to the office or the judge calls your name in traffic court. So, have any of you ever had you name called by someone in authority?
Now, imagine if God were to call your name and He was not very happy with you. Has that ever happened to any of you? Perhaps you sensed God was confronting you, singling you out because you were traveling down the wrong road. Maybe He did it through a parent, a minister, a close friend, a perfect stranger, or maybe He talked to you through your conscience like we talked about a few weeks ago. Have any of you ever had that kind of an experience?
Sooner or later all people need and will hear the painful news that spiritually they are out of line. And in that, God singles you out, and tries to teach you something.
2. God surprises you with His grace.
In Acts 9:5-6 is when Saul realizes that Jesus is speaking to him. And to be honest with you, Jesus is probably the last person in the world that Saul expected to meet. But there’s a greater surprise. When God confronts a person, we expect thunder and lightning and judgment. We expect there’s hell to pay for sin. But Saul didn’t get that. He got simple instructions to arise and begin following Christ. He got grace.
· Object Lesson: I’ll Take the Cash
I’ll take the cash:
Stop your message, and ask if there’s a visitor in the room. Walk up to
the first one you see and hand them the money. No questions asked, no strings
attached, it’s that person’s to keep. If your group has no visitors, bestow the money
on the person who is newest to the group.
Grace is one of the most shocking, surprising things in the universe. Through Christ, God offers every person free forgiveness, free membership into His family, a free inheritance in Heaven, and it’s an awesome deal. Much like ________ did nothing to earn that money, it is theirs as a free gift. In the same way, we have a free gift from God, and all we have to do is accept it.
So, I would challenge you all to reflect on whether you have truly accepted and received God’s grace. Have you been gripped by what Jesus did for you when He died for your sins? Has the idea of having Hell cancelled and Heaven secured transformed your hearts?
So, our first 2 points can be summarized like this: Saul had a head-on collision with Christ on the Damascus Road. It was painful. At that point God began to tear into his self-pride about his Jewish heritage, his self-righteous religion, and his self-chosen vocation as a persecutor of the church.
But then, he also received a grace that transformed him. Later in life Paul reflected back on this event in Philippians 3:7-8 and he said that, “… all those things he once loved became rubbish in comparison to knowing Christ.” You see, grace made him a new person.
3. God surrounds you with His family.
In Acts 9:17-19 we find Ananias defends Paul. When God brings you through a real conversion, He brings you to a real community as well. Salvation isn’t just an individualized experience. When you become a child of God you also become a brother or sister to the rest of His kids. You enter into His family.
And the incident between Ananias and Saul demonstrates this. It was the power of the gospel that made friends out of former enemies. It was this conversion that allowed Ananias to love Saul. He actually called him brother, laid hands on him, restored his sight, baptized him, fed him, and presumably brought him to the rest of the believers in Damascus as a new member of God’s family.
And the great thing about God’s family, is that there is diversity. Each individual, though they are the same in God’s eyes, are each very different and distinct individual. And that is a good thing, right? I mean I don’t know that I would want to go to a church that was full of people that were all the same.
Scripture continually reminds us to keep God’s family warm and welcoming. We’re to greet one another warmly, keep meeting together regularly, and love each other sincerely—through all our differences. So, God surrounds us with His family.
4. God sends you out to serve Him.
Every person who’s becomes a believer in Christ, is also commissioned by Christ. Whether you receive an immediate, specific calling to a certain ministry or the general calling to be a witness for Christ, every true believer should have a sense of being drawn into Christ’s service.
In Acts 9:15 it says, “…my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles…” You see, Saul happened to have a very specific calling and ministry in his life. God often takes the raw material from a person’s past and makes something new from it for the future.
And through that, Saul discovered a few things. Saul found that:
- God took his passion and made him a missionary.
- God took his hard-nosed personality and made him a tough, resilient martyr.
- God took his education and made him a writer of the New Testament.
A person who’s un-dragoned by Christ might find:
- God turning their anger away from people and toward the enemy
Satan.
- God turning their lust into passionate love for lost people.
- God transforming their addiction into a thirst for God’s truth.
- God transforming their ability or hobby—that used to be an idol—into an open door for sharing the gospel.
Once God’s grace enters people’s lives, it’s certain to transform them. Everyone knows what happens right about the time a person hits the 7th grade. They begin to change, or morph into a different person. Their feet and ears and legs grow. They get hairy and bumpy and sweaty. Their voices squeak, especially the boys. Their coordination goes out the window. And they generally feel out of place for a couple of years. No problem, it’s just the transformation from childhood to adulthood. A person just has to ride it out and laugh at themselves, realizing everything will be all right eventually.
But what if someone convinced you that this awkward feeling would last forever? That you would always feel this way and be this way? Well of course genetically you would be destined to change, but mentally you wouldn’t believe it anymore. And your mind might actually stunt your growth. Well that’s exactly how believing in God works. With God’s Spirit inside you, you are destined for a whole new life, but you need to believe it. In Romans 12:2 it says to, “…be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
If you want to truly be used by God, then it begins with your mind and a renewal of your mind that will allow you to serve God.
The Grand Finale:
There are real people all around that have been transformed by God’s grace and are now transforming the lives of those around them. We might not meet Christ in a blinding light or hear His voice boom out our names. We might not have scales drop from our eyes or receive a call to be missionaries. But most Christians experience these same things Paul experienced—and usually more than once. We get singled out by God, we are surprised by His grace, we become surrounded by God’s family, and then we are sent out to serve Him. They’re all signs of God’s love and grace in our lives.
Encore:
Get It?
· What does it mean that everyone is a dragon before they meet Christ? In what ways was Saul a dragon?
· What did Jesus do to un-dragon Saul? What were the steps in Saul’s conversion?
· What does the image of a dragon say to you about life before meeting Christ?
· What is most striking to you about Saul’s un-dragoning in Acts 9?
· What aspects of Saul’s conversion are common to every true convert?
· Describe the time when you felt God’s presence most powerfully. How does it compare to what Saul experienced?
What If? The Big Picture
· What if you met Jesus the way Saul did? Do you think that conversion experience would have been better than your own? Why or why not?
· Describe a time when God showed you that you were totally out of line. How did He show you?
· What surprises of grace have come your way? What’s the best thing about God’s grace?
· How has meeting Christ changed your relationships? Is being surrounded with God’s family a reality for you?
· Do you have a sense of mission in your life? If so, describe it. What has God called you to do?
· How does being a Christian change your perspective on what you want to do with your future?
So What? It’s Your Life
· Which of these four elements of Paul’s conversion story—conviction of sin, experience of grace, membership in God’s family, call to service—do you think is most forgotten or neglected in our world today? Why?
Does anyone have anything that they would like to add before we close this evening?
Well, if there is nothing else, just remember that most Christians experience these same things that Paul experienced. We all get singled out by God, we are surprised by His grace, we become surrounded by God’s family, and then we are sent out to serve Him. These are all signs of God’s love and His grace in our lives.
Let’s Pray!
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