God delights in answering the prayers of His people, not because of our worthiness, but out of His own righteousness. We can approach Him with confidence, knowing that He hears us and responds according to His perfect character. Even when we feel desperate or unworthy, we are invited to bring our needs before Him, trusting that He is able and willing to move in our lives. Let your prayers be filled with faith, not in yourself, but in the God who is always faithful and just. [27:09]
Psalm 65:5-6 (ESV) "By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas; the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might."
Reflection: What is one specific need or burden you are carrying today that you can boldly bring before God, trusting Him to answer in His righteousness rather than your own merit?
Day 2: Approach God’s Throne with Confidence
We are encouraged to come before God’s throne of grace with boldness, not shrinking back in fear, but trusting in His mercy and grace. Even when we don’t know how to pray or feel inadequate, God invites us to draw near, promising to meet us with compassion and help in our time of need. This confidence is not arrogance, but a humble assurance rooted in Christ’s finished work and God’s loving invitation to His children. [28:25]
Hebrews 4:16 (ESV) "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
Reflection: When was the last time you hesitated to pray because you felt unworthy or unsure? How can you take a step of confidence today and approach God honestly with what’s on your heart?
Day 3: God Pursues Us Even When We Don’t Seek Him
No one truly seeks after God on their own; it is God who pursues us, orchestrating circumstances and moments to draw us to Himself. Like Saul on the road to Damascus, we may think we are in control or following our own path, but God is the one initiating, using every part of our story—even our pain and mistakes—to bring us to a place of encounter with Him. He wastes nothing in our lives, and His pursuit is relentless and loving, calling us to respond to His grace. [43:23]
Romans 3:10-12 (ESV) "As it is written: 'None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.'"
Reflection: Can you look back and see a time when God was pursuing you, even when you weren’t seeking Him? How might God be pursuing you right now through your current circumstances?
Day 4: Transformation Begins with Humility Before Jesus
True transformation starts when we are humbled before Jesus, recognizing that salvation is entirely His work and not our own. Saul’s encounter with Christ left him blinded and on his knees, a powerful picture of how God brings us low so He can lift us up. Humility is the soil in which God’s grace takes root, and only when we lay down our pride and self-reliance can we truly receive the new life Jesus offers. [58:49]
Acts 9:3-6 (ESV) "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.'"
Reflection: Is there an area of your life where pride or self-sufficiency is keeping you from fully surrendering to Jesus? What would it look like to humble yourself before Him today?
Day 5: The Church’s Role in Discipling and Restoring
God not only pursues and saves us, but He also places us within the community of believers for discipleship, care, and growth. Just as Ananias was used to restore Saul and help him begin his new journey, God uses the church to encourage, disciple, and walk alongside those who are being transformed. We are called to invest in others, to be willing to step out in faith and love, even when it’s uncomfortable, trusting that God can use us to help others experience new life in Christ. [01:05:20]
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."
Reflection: Who is someone in your church or community that God might be calling you to encourage, disciple, or walk alongside this week? How can you take a practical step to invest in their spiritual journey?
Sermon Summary
This morning, we gathered as a family, celebrating God’s faithfulness and the unique ways He is at work among us. We rejoiced in answered prayers—like the steady reduction of our church’s debt and the blessing of faithful servants such as Lauren, whom we sent out with love and prayer as she embarks on a new chapter. We also acknowledged the needs among us, lifting up those who are suffering, and asking God to be the light in their darkness and to use us as instruments of encouragement and hope.
Turning to Acts 9, we reflected on the story of Saul’s dramatic encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Saul, a man fiercely opposed to the church, was not seeking God—yet God was seeking him. This encounter was not the result of Saul’s religious zeal or good works, but of God’s sovereign pursuit. We saw how God orchestrates every detail, even the painful and confusing moments, to draw people to Himself. Saul’s blindness was a vivid picture of spiritual lostness, and his healing a symbol of the new life and vision that comes only through Christ.
We considered how God uses the church, represented by Ananias, to disciple and care for new believers—even those we might least expect. Ananias’ obedience, despite his fears, reminds us that God often calls us to invest in people who may seem unlikely candidates for grace. The transformation of Saul into Paul, the great missionary, is a testament to the power of God’s grace to redeem and repurpose even the hardest hearts.
Finally, we were challenged to recognize that, just as God pursued us, we are now called to pursue others with the hope of the gospel. Our own stories of rescue and transformation are not meant to end with us; we are to become pursuers—seeking out those who are far from God, loving them, and pointing them to Jesus. We closed by praying for those who may be experiencing their own “Damascus road” moment, that they would respond to God’s call and find new life in Christ.
Key Takeaways
1. God is the relentless pursuer of hearts, even when we are not seeking Him. Saul’s story shows that no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace, and that our past—no matter how broken or misguided—can be redeemed for His purposes. God uses every circumstance, even pain and loss, to get our attention and draw us to Himself. [52:40]
2. True transformation begins with humility. Saul’s encounter with Jesus brought him to his knees, both physically and spiritually. Salvation is never about our works, heritage, or religious activity; it is entirely the work of Christ, received by those who are humbled and ready to surrender. Pride must give way to a posture of dependence on God. [58:49]
3. When we attack or criticize the church, we are, in reality, doing so to Christ Himself. Jesus so closely identifies with His people that to persecute or gossip about the church is to wound Him. This calls us to a higher standard of love, unity, and respect within the body, recognizing the sacredness of Christ’s relationship with His church. [61:29]
4. God uses the church as His instrument of care and discipleship. Ananias’ willingness to obey God and invest in Saul, despite his fears, demonstrates the vital role we play in nurturing new believers. Sometimes, God calls us to love and disciple those we least expect, reminding us that His grace is bigger than our prejudices or doubts. [63:31]
5. Our calling does not end with being pursued and saved; we are now sent as pursuers. Like lion cubs learning from the Lion of Judah, we are to grow, mature, and actively seek out those who are lost, offering them the hope and transformation we have received. The gospel compels us to move from being the pursued to becoming pursuers, participating in God’s mission to redeem the world. [67:46]
Acts 9:1-22 (ESV) — (Read aloud as a group. If time is short, focus on verses 1-19.)
Observation Questions
What was Saul doing at the beginning of Acts 9, and what was his attitude toward the followers of Jesus?
Describe what happened to Saul on the road to Damascus. What physical and spiritual changes did he experience?
How did Ananias respond when God told him to go to Saul? What concerns did he have?
After Saul’s encounter with Jesus and his healing, what did he immediately begin to do?
According to the sermon, what does Saul’s blindness represent? ([49:59])
Interpretation Questions
The sermon says Saul was not seeking God, but God was seeking Saul. What does this reveal about God’s character and the way He works in people’s lives? ([47:26])
Why do you think Jesus said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” instead of “Why are you persecuting my church?” What does this teach us about Jesus’ relationship with His people? ([57:44])
Ananias was afraid to go to Saul, but he obeyed anyway. What does this show us about the kind of people God uses to disciple others? ([01:03:31])
The sermon mentions that true transformation begins with humility. Why is humility necessary for someone to be changed by God? ([58:49])
Application Questions
The sermon talked about God using pain, loss, or hard circumstances to get our attention. Can you think of a time when God used a difficult situation in your life to draw you closer to Him? How did you respond? ([52:40])
Saul’s story shows that no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace. Is there someone in your life you have given up on or thought was “too far gone” for God to reach? How might God be calling you to pray for or reach out to them? ([47:26])
Jesus said that attacking the church is attacking Him. Have you ever found yourself criticizing or gossiping about the church or other believers? How does knowing this truth change the way you speak about or treat the church? ([01:01:29])
Ananias invested in Saul even though he was afraid and unsure. Is there someone God is calling you to encourage, disciple, or reach out to—even if it feels uncomfortable? What is one step you can take this week? ([01:03:31])
The sermon challenged us to move from being “pursued” to being “pursuers”—to actively seek out those who are far from God. Who is one person you can intentionally pursue with the love and hope of Jesus this month? ([01:07:46])
Saul’s transformation began with humility and surrender. Is there an area of your life where you need to let go of pride and depend more on God? What would it look like to surrender that area to Him? ([58:49])
The church played a vital role in Saul’s growth and discipleship. How has the church (or a specific person in the church) helped you grow in your faith? How can you be that kind of encourager for someone else? ([01:03:31])
Sermon Clips
But he doesn't realize that he's the one that's being pursued. I want you to view, we just sang a song a while ago that as Jesus being referred to as a lion of Judah. You ever watch lions when they're going after prey? Man, they're crouching in that tall grass and they're looking from a distance and they're just inching closer and closer and they don't have any idea. The prey don't have any idea. Those poor gazelles don't have any idea that those lions are right there in the grass and they're getting closer and closer and closer. And you can just see the lion's eyes get bigger, the teeth are getting bigger and the drills get down. I mean, they're so ready to pounce on those gazelles. I don't have any idea that they're seeing. are being pursued by the enemy or by the enemy. Saul had no idea when he woke up this morning that he was being pursued by a holy, holy, holy God. He had no clue whatsoever, guys. That's why the Bible says that suddenly he showed up. Suddenly he showed up on him. Suddenly, and guys, it wasn't some voice in heaven, Paul or Saul saw him, Jesus, in his glorified state talking to him.
[00:48:00]
(69 seconds)
#JesusIsThePursuer
Let me tell you how God pursues you. He uses your circumstances. He uses, Jesus conversations that, that you have had with people that has either been sharing the gospel with you, or maybe you're a believer and you've been out of the church for a while or whatever. God's going to bring people into your life to be, to be a light in the dark world, but also be a, an encouragement, but also maybe to share the gospel. And so you'll, you'll think about those conversations. You'll think about the times you sit in worship services just like this. You'll think about the times you've been to Bible studies. You'll think about the time, if you're listening to Christian radio, a song that might've come on or, or whatever. God will use circumstances to, to prove to you how he's pursuing you. He'll use bad health as a way to pursue you. That seems kind of callous of the Lord, but he will. He'll use maybe a job loss to pursue you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That seems, again, very hard of the Lord to do that. He may use something very, very difficult in your life, but God's not going to waste it. Why? Because He's pursuing you.
[00:51:47]
(61 seconds)
#GodUsesCircumstancesToPursue
Saul was captured by Jesus. You go there in verse 3, and you see the conversation that takes place, and Jesus' response to Saul was, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Now, notice that. He didn't say, why are you persecuting my church? Why are you going after my people? He said, why are you persecuting me? Isn't that interesting? Why would Jesus say that? Jesus wasn't there. Was he? And so he makes this statement, and I love his response. He's like, Lord, or who are you, Lord? Now, he wasn't referring to Jesus as Lord. He was basically in that culture in the Greek. It was like a sign of honor. And so what he was saying is like, who are you, sir? It wasn't, he didn't realize it was the Lord Jesus at this time. It's just, it was a response of honor. Who are you, sir? He didn't realize that he was talking to the glorified Jesus. And in his response, he says, I am Jesus, the one that you're still persecuting. But get up and go into the city, and you'll be told what you must do. And so you see this pursuit, and he's captured by the grace of Almighty Christ. What a wonderful, wonderful thing to know that this blinding flash of light was not some figment of his imagination that caused him to fall on his knees in the dirt.
[00:57:06]
(84 seconds)
#JesusConfrontsThePersecutor
And I just want to say this. When Jesus does something in your life, he always starts with humility. You can never be saved. You can never ask Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of your life and forgive your sin, unless first you are humbled by him. See, humility is the beginning of all things. If there's an ounce of pride in my heart to think that I had something to do with my salvation, my friend, you never really got saved. Because it had nothing to do with your works, or you're a good person, or where you come from, what type of family life you've got, or whatever, how much money, and how big your barns are. You have nothing to do with being saved. It was all Jesus, 100%. So it always starts with humility, but yet humility is still the grounds by which God does the work within our life and transforms our soul. So he begins with humility.
[00:58:29]
(50 seconds)
#SalvationBeginsWithHumility
But number two, he realized that he was not attacking the church. He realized that he was attacking Jesus. See, a lot of times the world thinks that they're attacking the church, they're attacking Orchard Crest Baptist Church, and maybe we make the news about it or whatever. But all they're doing, they're not attacking us, they're attacking Jesus. They're attacking because of who you are. They're attacking you because of who you represent. They're attacking you because of who you follow. They're attacking you because of who you love. They're attacking you because of who you are. They're attacking you because of who you're serving. They're not attacking you. They're attacking Jesus. And I know some people are like, well, it sure does hurt when they attack Jesus. And it does because he tells us we're going to suffer. Didn't he not say that I've got to show Paul the things he must suffer? Did Paul not suffer? Absolutely. He was stoned. He was stoned in prison. He was starving. He was thirsty. He'd been threatened by many, many, many, many times to be killed. He was bit by a snake. He was thrown into fire. I mean, Saul went through it, or Paul went through it. But Jesus showed him how much he was going to suffer. Listen to me. Every day, Jesus shows us how much we're going to suffer. That's part of what it means to be a believer because the world hates Jesus. And since we represent Jesus in this way, in a physical way, then, of course, it's going to seem like they hate us. But Jesus told us that we'd be hated because we follow him.
[01:00:13]
(86 seconds)
#AttackingJesusNotChurch
So what can we learn from this? What we can learn is that Jesus is always the initiator. In everything going on in our life, Jesus is the one who initiates his activity in our lives. Why? Because we still are people that's not going to pursue God. We still live in the flesh. We did. We do. And so there's times and days that there's days that I don't pursue God, but yet he's pursuing me. And so when you think about everything, God orchestrated every event leading up to this moment. In Saul's life. But also it leads up to this moment this morning. That this morning that maybe some of you might choose Jesus.
[01:02:34]
(40 seconds)
#QuietHeroesShapeDestiny
Going from being pursued to the pursuer. This is good news for us as a church. You realize that when God saved you, he didn't save you to just stay where you're at. Now you are part of the pride, if I can, of the line of Judah. You know what lionesses do all the time with their cubbies? They're teaching them how to prey on the enemy, don't they? They need to eat. They need to find, figure out how to feast for themselves. I know that's kind of a weird way to do that, but you realize that we belong to the line of Judah. And he's teaching us to do the same thing, to grow up, to feast for ourselves, to be a prey of the enemy, not to be looking for trouble. We don't need to be looking for trouble. That's not the point. But we are to go after those who have no hope, that have no peace, that have no purpose, and be like the apostle Paul by going to Gentiles, by going to Kings, by going to Israelites and telling him about Jesus.
[01:07:33]
(66 seconds)
#CalledByNameToChange
``Maybe this morning, God's calling you by name. Maybe this morning he's saying so and so it's time you've been resisting you've been turning your back on me you've ignored everything i've used but today today right now it's time and he's calling you by name that this morning you might have a suddenly moment and god shows up and he changes your life.
[01:08:42]
(35 seconds)
Father, I thank you so much that you never write anybody off. Father, I thank you for the story that we have here in the scripture of saul now paul the most amazing missionary church planter this world has ever seen father how you took a hard hard heart and you transformed it and you gave saul a brand new heart you gave him new eyes and new ears a new mind a new way of life you changed his life and lord for many in this room you've done the same thing you've changed many people's lives in this room because they heard you say saul saul why are you persecuting me and father i wonder this morning whose name are you calling now whose name are you saying at this very moment heavenly father that you're wanting to transform their life and save them from their sin.
[01:09:20]
(71 seconds)
