Story Spine
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- Once upon a time...
- And every day...
- But one day...
- And because of that...
- And because of that...
- Until finally...
- And ever since...
- The moral of the story is...

The conversion of Saul, though radical, is no fictional story - it is a true historical event. George Lyttleton was converted to Christianity after trying to disprove the conversion of Saul. But how did this incredible transformation happen?

Saul was: by birth a Jew, by conviction a Pharisee, by citizenship a Roman, by education a Greek and by grace a Christian.

Saul said of himself in Phil 3:5-6 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

Saul was totally educated, totally committed and totally wrong. You can be completely sincere and sincerely wrong.

You may not be persecuting anyone, but could you, like Saul, have some misguided zeal that needs to be redirected toward Christ?

Conversion is the result of Jesus’ initiative.
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Conversion implies the divine gift of realization that I am utterly helpless and need divine, miraculous help. The change that occurred that day was initiated not from within but from without. God simply takes initiative here.

“You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.”
-C.S. Lewis

Notice how closely Jesus identifies with His followers. To persecute Jesus followers, is to persecute Jesus himself.

“Every blow that is struck on earth is felt in heaven. While Saul was hitting the church Jesus had been feeling the pain.”

How far can this be extrapolated? This should make us evaluate how we treat, speak and think about Christians of different denomination, ethnicity, age bracket or politically affiliation.

Resistance to God’s prompting, direction and design for life will bring affliction, not abundant life or shalom. In what arena(s) of your life are you kicking against the goads - resisting God's prompting, direction or design for life.

Two Questions Everyone Should Ask:
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1. Who are you / Who is Jesus?

Conversion is an encounter with Jesus.
Conversion is never simply the regret for past misdeeds, never simply the learning of truths about God and never simply an emotional experience of God’s Spirit working in our heart. No! Conversion involves the acceptance of the claims concerning the life and identity of Jesus as the crucified, risen, and exalted Lord who is Israel’s Messiah and the Savior of the world.

2. What do you want me to do NOW?

Conversion is a change from enemy to servant.
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While not many Christian converts resemble Saul in that they persecuted followers of Jesus before their conversion, all human beings, prior to coming to faith in Jesus, are God’s enemies exposed to and threatened by God’s wrath and judgment (Rom 1:18–3:20). Conversion at it’s roots, is not merely an intellectual decision, but a surrender to the supreme authority of the Lord Jesus.

Saul's own record of his sufferings for Jesus:
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2 Corinthians 11:24-28 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

Jesus’ basic call to discipleship was to a cross.

"It is easy to die for Christ. It is hard to live for Him. Dying takes only a few minutes or at worst an hour — but to live for Christ means I have to die daily. "
- Sadhu Sundar Singh

Conversion involves integration into the fellowship of believers.
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The archenemy of the church was welcomed as a brother; the dreaded fanatic was received as a member of the family.

Why does Jesus use Ananias?
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God doesn’t need us, but He delights in using us.

Barnabas is generous with his resources, gracious toward people and took a risk for the sake of the gospel and unity of the church.
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When we glorify risk-taking today, most often we do so about our personal exploits. Here is another type of risk-taking: accepting new people and pushing them forward. This is Christian risk-taking. Because Christianity is a religion of love, some of our greatest exploits are ventures of love.

Who is someone you need to take a gospel-risk on by extending the right hand of Christian fellowship and bring them into the body?

The transformative power of God's grace can radically change a person's life and purpose!

- Either you, or someone you know, needs to experience the transformative power of God’s grace.

- Let this serve as a reminder, that even the most least likely people can be saved.

- Have you given up on anybody? Don’t!