Saul’s preaching baffled and amazed the Jews in Damascus, which leads us to investigate what exactly he was preaching. In Acts 9:20 and 22, we see that his preaching and teaching focussed on two main truths: that Jesus is the Son of God and that He is the Messiah. These facts were crucial to people’s understanding of salvation: our preaching must always focus on the identity of Jesus and all He accomplished through His life, death and resurrection. The centrality of Christ is absolutely vital in all our preaching and teaching.

Paul frequently in his letters makes a link between doctrine and practical living. Many of his epistles—Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, and Colossians—begin with a theological foundation before they move into the practical sections. He did not write these things for seminary students to debate, but for everyday Christians, to help them live for Christ in their daily experience. In his pastoral epistles to Timothy and Titus, he stresses the need for ‘sound doctrine’ (1 Tim 4:16, 2 Tim 4:3, Titus 1:9 & Titus 2:1). What we believe is vitally important to how we live.

Aaron Shust’s 2011 album is entitled ‘This Is What We Believe’, and the title song gives us a similar doctrinal focus to Paul’s. It remains one of my favourite songs.

‘You are the Christ
Anointed One
Light of the world
God’s only Son

In the beginning was the Word;
Emmanuel has come to live with us.

Truly this Man is the Son,
The Son of God
Who takes away the sins of the world.
This Man is the Lamb,
The Lamb of God
Who takes away the sins of the world
This is what we believe.

You are the Way
The Truth and the Life.
You came to change
Our wrongs to right.

In the beginning was the Word
And we must sing of what we’ve seen and heard.

We believe that You are God,
Born to set Your people free,
Became the final sacrifice,
Conquered death to bring us life.’ (‘This Is What We Believe’, Aaron Shust)

Steven J. Cole writes about the ‘Mothball Navy’, 700 United States Navy ships which are anchored in different harbours around the country, waiting to serve if required. They receive regular maintenance to prevent rust and thus require a lot of money and effort to maintain them. He likens this to the fact that in any church, it’s usually 20% of the people who do 80% of the work,[1] saying that many Christians are doing nothing to serve the Lord.

Whilst it is easy to generalise and even condemn others unnecessarily, it is true that all Christians are called to serve God. Service could be said to be the hallmark of the Christian, for ‘even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’ (Mark 10:45) and Jesus, in washing His disciples’ feet, urged His disciples to do likewise. (John 13:1-17) Saul is an example to us of one whose conversion quickly led to his service. In Acts 9:19-31 we see him preaching in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God and the Christ. All his previous knowledge of the Old Testament is useful in this, as is his time spent with Jesus. We may not feel able to engage in this kind of ministry, but the truth of the Bible is that God accepts all our service. Jesus said, ‘if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.’ (Matt 10:42) Anyone can do that!

All of us need to be able to tell our story, of how Jesus has met us and saved us. (Ps 107:2) All of us are called to be witnesses. (Acts 1:8) We need to have a desire to serve Jesus, and if we ask Him, He will show us how best we can serve. If you’re interested in learning more about how to testify and explain the gospel, join with us at the Franklin Graham training day at Full Life Church in Maltby on Saturday 29^th February (9.30 a.m. – 12.30 p.m.) But whatever you do, don’t just sit back and do nothing – God wants us to be His servants, seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness.

[1] https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-23-getting-involved-ministry-acts-919-31

Just as Ananias proved to be a source of encouragement to Saul in Damascus, welcoming him into God’s family, so too Barnabas lives up to his nickname (‘son of encouragement’) when Saul faces suspicion in Jerusalem. (Acts 9:26-27) Barnabas has already been introduced to us (as Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, who sold a field and gave the money from this to the apostles (Acts 4:35-37)) and will feature prominently in the later missionary journeys as a companion to Paul initially and later as one to John Mark whose cause he defends (see Acts 13-15).

Encouragement was clearly a feature of Barnabas’s life and is something that is immeasurably precious but often overlooked because it is rarely ‘flashy’ or spectacular. With Saul, Barnabas’s endorsement of the vision he had experienced and explanation of his fearless preaching helped to overcome the apprehension and fear which still resided in some people’s hearts. He was willing to speak up on Saul’s behalf and was proactive in involving him in fellowship. Later, we see how he is prepared to give John Mark the benefit of the doubt (Acts 15:37-40), again demonstrating a willingness to see the best in someone. Such encouragement is very important (for we all make mistakes).

Encouraging is listed as one of the gifts needed in the body of Christ by Paul (Rom 12:8) and is something which can be practised on a daily basis. If we are not sure what to say or how to encourage, Paul reminds us that encouragement is provided in Scripture (Rom 15:4) and that God gives both endurance and encouragement to us! (Rom 15:5) Let’s work at encouraging others and building them up, for each one of us blossoms in the environment of encouragement – conversely, we wither and die when all we face are criticism and rejection. It doesn’t matter who we are: every single one of us needs encouragement and every single one of us can give it.

When reading the book of Acts, it’s not always easy to get a handle on timescales. Luke is keen to give us the main action points of the story of the spread of the church and his account of Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem (Acts 9:19b-31) seems much more condensed than Paul’s account in Gal 1:16-24. This passage reminds us, however, that there are definitely times and seasons, and we do well to consider the implications of this as we ponder our own lives.

It’s hard for us to be certain about time expressions such as ‘at once’, ‘after several days’ and ‘after many days’, but we know from Eccl 3:1 that ‘there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.’ I write this in the middle of winter in the UK, and the rains and winds leave me longing for spring mildness and sunshine days. Life is always made up of different seasons, however: both literally and figuratively. Already the church had faced persecution and martyrdom, times of suffering and oppression, but in Acts 9:31 we catch a glimpse of another season: ‘Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.’

Even though Paul himself suffered persecution (his escape from Damascus in a basket was hardly the most dignified of exits! – Acts 9:24-25), there was a time of calm for God’s people throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria. The church had been strengthened by God through the turbulent times of apostolic imprisonment and Stephen’s martyrdom; it is now strengthened by God in times of peace. It had grown in numbers during the difficult times (Acts 5:14) and continued to increase in numbers in times of peace. (Acts 9:31) We can’t determine which season we have to face, but we can be sure that God is with us in every season. As we live in the fear of the Lord, God will encourage us by the Holy Spirit, leading and guiding us always.

As a child, I didn’t value perseverance very highly – I don’t think most children do! I liked to be able to do things quickly and easily and if something required perseverance, I often lost interest. As I grew up, however, I learnt that there are probably more things in life which have to be worked at than things which we can do easily and instinctively.

As a grandparent, I see the same traits in my elder granddaughter. As we practise writing letters and numbers, she often gets frustrated and throws her pen down. “I can’t do it!” she says. Now that she has a younger sister, one of her favourite phrases is, “When I’m bigger…” The truth is that we never learn to progress to the next stage without perseverance, however; time is no automatic guarantee to progress, though it usually does help! Today, we read a lovely book about Augustus the tiger and there was a beautifully onomatopoeic description of rain: ‘Pitter patter, pitter patter, drip, drop, plop!’ She loved this sound, but found it a bit of a tongue-twister! “I can’t say it!” was the familiar refrain. We slowed it down and she found she could say it slowly, but not quickly. Yet another challenge requiring patience and perseverance…

The psalms are full of impatience and frustration; the question ‘How long, Lord?’ features in many of them (e.g. Ps 13:1-2, Ps 35:17, Ps 79:5) God rarely seems to answer this question with a specific time frame, but we can glean many clues as to what to do while waiting!

1. Keep praying

2. Keep trusting

3. Keep rejoicing

4. Keep worshipping

5. Keep following Jesus

6. Keep renewing your mind

7. Keep trusting

8. Keep in fellowship

I was once part of an online worship forum where I chose the user name ‘Keep Singing’. I suppose in many respects, perseverance is all about ‘keeping on…’ It’s as we keep on doing the right things that we find we can do things we formerly couldn’t and we also grow closer to God as we wait for Him.

Garry started a new series tonight, looking at Isaiah 61. This is a very famous passage, the beginning of which was quoted by Jesus at the start of His ministry (see Luke 4:14-19). It speaks of the Messiah and shows us how God desires to change situations and how He goes about changing those situations. It shows us the Sovereign Lord speaking (using both His names – ‘Adonai’ and ‘Yahweh’ – which identify Him as God Almighty, the One who will be what He will be). When God speaks, we have a duty to listen, for He speaks with authority (as did Jesus – see Matt 13:43, Mark 4:9, Luke 14:35). Jesus Himself spoke so persuasively that guards sent to arrest Him returned, saying ‘no one ever spoke the way this man does.’ (John 7:46)

Isaiah 61 shows us God commissions people. We may think this is obvious of the Messiah, that He was sent by God to secure mankind’s salvation, but in fact, God commissions all kinds of people, including prophets (Isaiah himself was commissioned in Is 6:8-9 and Jeremiah was commissioned at an early age – see Jer 1:4-7). Jesus gave His disciples authority and a commission to drive out impure spirits and heal every disease and sickness (Matt 10:1) and in 2 Cor 5:17-19, Paul makes it clear that God has given to every believer the message and ministry of reconciliation. We are all commissioned to spread the message of good news. (For those interested in learning how to do this more effectively, the Franklin Graham mission training day is on 29th February from 9.30 a.m. until 12.30 p.m. at Full Life Church in Maltby).

We are all at different stages of learning on this journey with God, however. Just as a baby comes into the world unable to speak and only gradually learns to understand words and eventually to speak them, so too the question of how God speaks to us and recognising what God is saying to us often comes gradually. We hear God’s word preached and read it for ourselves and gradually learn to recognise God’s voice. At first, it may not be clear what He is saying, but gradually we learn to discern His voice and to know Him better. As with any relationship, conversation is a two-way process. With strangers or casual acquaintances, it is hard to sustain conversations, but with friends, it is much easier. As we grow in intimacy with God, we learn to hear His voice more clearly.

Our response to God’s voice needs to be that of a servant, willing to work on behalf of another. Paul described himself as a servant and an apostle (Rom 1:1) – we have to learn to serve before we can be sent and set apart. The challenge before us is to listen, respond, obey and serve God when He speaks specifically to us. We are invited to be part of His plan, to be ambassadors for Christ. We too are called to speak.