Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton,
the official podcast of Cross -Christian Fellowship,
Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico,
where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're
here. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for another
day. We thank you for this time to come together
in praise and worship of you, to hear your word
and to learn from it and to grow. We ask that
you open the eyes of our hearts and our minds.
Don't only lead us to know your word, but to
actually understand it and know how to apply
it in our lives and guide us in how to share
it with others in the world as we leave here
today. In Jesus' name. Amen. All right. While
they're figuring out the PowerPoint here, there
was some kind of an update with the software
that we use. As you guys know, for a couple of
weeks, we're having smooth sailing there. And
then some update happened. Yeah, it's just been
goofy ever since. Something just did not update
properly. But that's okay. Again, it's great
to have everybody here with us. Welcome to everybody
joining us online as well. Last week, we looked
at the question, are you a Scrooge? Right? We
kind of picked up, we're using Scrooge as our
illustration this month. You know, after we watched
A Christmas Carol. But are you a Scrooge? And
of course, the answer... That we came back with
is that we should all be able to say yes, right?
We tend to forget. We just think of the old Ebenezer.
We don't think of the new Ebenezer, right? It's
kind of like the Grinch. People think of the
Grinch, and what do they think? Right? This grumpy.
Goofy green guy. Probably has a medical condition.
I don't know. It's just not a natural color.
But still, the Grinch was no different. What
happens at the end? His heart grows how many
times? And he finds the reason for the season,
right? Just like Scrooge. And that's the thing.
And that's what we're going to be looking at
today. When we come to Christ, we have a new
identity. We become a new person. As the word
says, a new creation. Right? And part of that,
though, is we also have to be accepting of that
new creation. And not only just for ourselves
and what we become, but for others as well. We
like to hold on to people's past. Instead of
helping them to embrace their future. It's kind
of a hard pill to swallow. We cling to the old,
right? And the Bible warns us about that, you
know, not holding on to the good old days. And
really, when we look at the good old days, if
we actually reflect on it and we look back in
history, we quickly will realize they're not
quite as good as we remember. They had their
issues as well. All right. But like I said, we're
going to continue. We're going to continue to
use Scrooge as our illustration. As we start,
we have to ask ourselves, why is Scrooge still
remembered for being a humbug, right? This is
a big thing. Bah, humbug. My mom is over here
kind of smiling because she'll say something
when I'm leaving the house. Hey, be careful.
And I'll tell her, humbug. Right? Yeah, it's
funny. It's funny, but if we think about it,
and we think about the transition of Scrooge,
what is it really? Right? It's pretty sad, given
the fact that this is how his character is remembered,
even though he was totally transformed, totally
renewed as a man. He came to know the Christmas
spirit again. But it's like the old saying, you
can do a hundred good things, but you mess up
one time, one time, and that's what you'll be
remembered for. In the case of Scrooge, it's
a bit reversed though, right? A hundred bad things,
and then he turns a new page. And really, in
our lives, that's how it is for us, right? We
lead these lives. We're born. We grow up in the
world. All this worldly stuff, regardless of
what our families may do, what our friends may
do who do go to church, who try to encourage
us to go to church, what do we still get hung
up on? What do kids still get hung up on today?
What do most adults still cling to? The world.
The worldly stuff. But then you come to Christ.
You're born again. Do people see that? Do people
want to see that? No. They want to cling to the
past. You know, it's a paradox. You know, in
fact, being in the Christmas season, someone's
a bit grumpy, right? Kind of angry. Maybe a bit
of a McCrudgen. What do we usually call them
this time of year? Scrooge, that's right. Ah,
don't be such a Scrooge. Lighten up, pal. It's
Christmas. Right? It's not the way we should
be doing it, though. The sad thing, though, is
because the life he did live up until the very
end of the story, he did become a universal illustration
of a Debbie Downer in this season of giving,
in this season of love. He was. He was a miserable,
old... angry man. Which in and of itself makes
his transformation into a new man even that much
more miraculous. Because he was a very, very
hard man. We could safely say he's one of the
hardest of men. And we could see the exact same
thing about several other people in the Bible.
And there's one specifically we're going to be
looking at. So I'm going to encourage everybody,
let's go ahead and open our Bibles, Bible app,
whatever you have, to Acts chapter 9. So Acts
chapter 9, we're going to start off with verses
1 through 9. We're going to go through this chapter
pretty good today. So Acts chapter 9, verses
1 through 9. And just for time's sake, I'm going
to go ahead and start trucking through here while
everybody's turning there. And the word says,
then Saul, still breathing threats and murder
against the disciples of the Lord, went to the
high priest and asked letters from him to the
synagogues of Damascus so that if he found any
who were of the way, whether men or women, he
might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed,
he came near Damascus and suddenly a light shone
around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground
and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul,
why are you persecuting me? And he said, who
are you, Lord? Then the Lord said, I am Jesus,
whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you
to kick against the goads. So he, trembling and
astonished, said, Lord, what do you want me to
do? Then the Lord said to him, Arise and go into
the city, and you will be told what you must
do. And the men who journeyed with him stood
speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.
Then Saul arose from the ground. And when his
eyes were opened, he saw no one. But they led
him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.
And he was three days without sight and neither
ate nor drank. So Saul, who we later know as
Paul, that's who we're talking about here. He
was a bad dude. He was a real bad dude. This
right here, this guy, he made it his personal
mission to go after Christians. He was the RoboCop
of his day. Dead or alive, you're coming with
me. Right? He didn't care. He wanted them done.
He wanted them gone. He wanted to break the church
and destroy it. You know, it was his personal
mission. He was running Christians down. You
know, right here, it's talking about, he's getting
papers, basically. He was getting... He was getting
the judgments, the decrees to say, hey, if you're
a Christian, you were to go with this man. He
was your bounty hunter. Plain and simple, right?
To put it in modern terms, of course. You know,
he very much had that attitude that the only
good Christian was a dead one. That was his mindset.
He was very devout in his beliefs and what he
stood by. He didn't question it. He didn't question
what he heard or was told by his elders. He latched
onto it and he ran with it. And he ran hot and
heavy. That is until this moment. You could say
he'd come face to face with Jesus. Right? He
didn't see anybody. There was a light. He knelt
down. He closed his eyes. He caught up. He didn't
see nothing. He was blinded. Took away his sight.
It's kind of like the song Amazing Grace, right?
Once was blind, but now I see. Saved a wretch
like me. Literally blinded. Couldn't see. The
men who were with him heard the voice as well.
Like, what's going on here? It's kind of scary,
isn't it? It's like, whoa, what? Where's this
coming from? There's only one place it could
be coming from, right? Ooh, we must have messed
up. Just like Scrooge, Saul was an evil, broken,
hardened man. The hardest of the hard. He had
no intention of changing at that point in his
life. He was in desperate need of redemption.
He was in desperate need. The salvation that
only comes from Jesus Christ. God saw the redeeming
qualities within him. The qualities that no other
Christian could see in him. Even his own people
were scared of him. So it's pretty incredible
to see this transformation, this metamorphosis
taking place. No, he was dead set against this
Christian God and the people who followed him.
I want to pick back up in the reading now. We're
just going to keep on trucking through verses
10 through 19. So Acts 9, 10 through 19. The
word says, now there was a certain disciple at
Damascus named Ananias. And to him, the Lord
said in a vision, Ananias. And he said, here
I am, Lord. So the Lord said to him, Arise, and
go to the street called Straight, and inquire
at the house of Judas for the one called Saul
of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying, and in
a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming
in and putting his hand on him, so that he might
receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord,
I have heard from many about this man. how much
harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.
And here he has authority from the chief of priests
to bind all who call on your name. But the Lord
said to him, Go, for he is a chosen vessel of
mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings,
and the children of Israel. for I will show him
how many things he must suffer in my name's sake.
And Ananias went his way and entered the house.
And laying his hands on him, he said, Brother
Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on
the road as you came, has sent me that you may
receive your sight and be filled with the Holy
Spirit. Immediately there, Hallelujah is right.
So much like Scrooge, his reputation preceded
him. People knew of him long before he even came
around the corner. It's kind of like my belly
before I turn a corner in a room, right? It's
just right there in front of me. But that's how
he was. That was his reputation. People were
terrified of him. His own people even were like,
this is not a guy I want to run into in a dark
alley. I'm glad he's on my team. Because he's
very much the guy you want to make sure is on
your team. You did not want to upset him. Not
even in the slightest. People, to say that they
were intimidated by him is putting it lightly.
It's not even a strong enough word. They were
downright terrified. You know, he's the kind
of guy, people would avoid him if they could.
He was a bloodthirsty zealot that was out to
destroy the church. And going to visit him as
a Christian? This is like walking up to the hangman.
It's your own noose saying, I'm ready. Here you
go. String me up. That's what it was. 100%. And
Ananias, he knew this. He absolutely knew. That's
what he's playing with. He's like, Lord, seriously?
You want me to go to who? This dude's going to
kill me. At the very least, he's going to string
me up and chain me up and take me to jail. Bad
stuff is going to happen. That's his line of
thinking. Right? Not only that, here's a Christian.
This is one of God's children. It's like, this
is Saul. Lord, do you not realize how hard he
is? There's no way this guy can become one of
your children. There's no way this guy could
ever be a follower of Jesus. Are you kidding
me? Really? Are you serious? But being a good,
loyal Christian, you know, he's like, you know
what? I'm going to voice this concern because
we should. When we pray and we're worried about
something and something's scary, right? Because
this is a scary situation. We should definitely
be praying. We should be taking that burden and
unloading it at the feet of Jesus Christ, right?
And that's what he's doing because he swallows
his pride and he goes. He steps out in faith.
He's a loyal servant and does exactly what the
Lord told him to go and do. See, and this is
why it's important. When the Lord puts it on
your heart that you need to go somewhere, that
you need to go and do something, you just do
it. You don't question. Some of us, we go about
it kind of half -hearted too. It's like, oh,
I want you to go. I want you to go here and I
want you to do this. Okay, fine. We kind of drag
our feet, right? We're kind of slow because we
don't know what we're going into. Instead of
being like, you know what? The Lord told me to
do this. Let's do it. I'm game. Tag me in. I'm
going in, coach. Right? When the Lord says go,
he's doing it for a reason. When he's put it
on you, he's done it for a reason. And it very
well may be a reason like this because he's using
you as a tool for a miracle in somebody else's
life. To go and remove the seeds of doubt in
their life. That's what was happening here with
Ananias. That's what was about to happen with
the disciples. They're bringing about a miracle
in Saul's life. Jesus has already taken away
his vision. Ananias is going to be used to give
him back that vision. And then not only that,
but to spend time with the disciples to learn
what the word truly is, who the Lord truly is,
what had been missed by the Pharisees and the
Sadducees and all these other people of high
esteem that he had known throughout his life.
You see, when we look at this, you have to realize
he didn't just spend a little time with them.
He didn't spend minutes with them. He didn't
spend hours with them. He spent days with them,
learning, soaking it in. See, and this is a thing,
this is one of those places as well, as we're
about to see a little bit more of. The word tells
us that we need to forgive, that we need to pray
for our enemies. We need to forgive everybody.
Doesn't say we have to trust them right away
though, does it? Forgiveness and trust are two
different things. Trust, just like a relationship,
takes time. It takes time. It takes effort. Because
once you've broken trust, it takes time to get
back in the door. It does. Amen, Ted. Amen. So
we're going to finish off this passage here in
verses 20 through 28. There's a few more verses
after that, but this is what we're looking at
for today, right? So Acts 9, 20 through 28, the
word says, Immediately he preached the Christ
in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.
Then all who heard were amazed and said, Is this
not he who destroyed those who called on this
name in Jerusalem? And he has come here for that
purpose so that he might bring them bound to
the chief priest. But Saul increased all the
more in strength and confounded the Jews who
dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is
the Christ. Now, after many days were passed,
the Jews plotted to kill him. But their plot
became known to Saul, and they watched the gates
day and night to kill him. Then the disciples
took him by the night and let him down through
the wall in a large basket. And when Saul had
come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples,
but they were all afraid of him and did not believe
that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him
and brought him to the apostles, and he declared
to them how he had seen the Lord on the road,
and that he had spoken to him, and how he had
preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.
So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and
going out. Think of it this way. Your sworn enemy.
The guy who is out to end your life, right? And
he doesn't just want to beat you. He doesn't
just want to cripple you. He wants you dead.
And now all of a sudden you're expected to welcome
him in the door. How would that go over? Think
about that for a second. How well would that
go over? You're supposed to welcome this guy
in the door and worship God together. Some of
us can't even bring ourselves to talk to certain
coworkers or certain managers, let alone invite
them to church, which is exactly the place we
should be inviting them. We should be praying
over them. There's a hesitancy on this part.
They're just in fear of him. Like, no, this is
a bad dude. I'm not even a waste of breath. You
should. You absolutely should. And that's what's
happening here. You see, as a church, all too
often, we fail worldly people. Not only that,
we fail new Christians. We fail new Christians.
You ever think of that? I mean, they come in
the door and we're like, oh, cool. You know Jesus.
You want to get baptized. Great. And now all
of a sudden we expect them to know everything
that's in the word. I can tell you right now.
I'm a pastor. I don't know everything that's
in there. I have a lot to learn. We got Pastor
Mike. He still learns stuff all the time. Darren,
Gary, my wife. We got Brother Ted over there.
I guarantee. Ted's great. He can pull up. He's
one of these people who's really great at citing
the book, the chapter, the verse. But even he
still learns. All of us have stuff to learn.
I don't care if you have one of those photographic
memories where you read something once and it's
still there. You have things to learn. We all
do. But we fail people because we put them at
bay. We want to stick to our clicks. Barnabas
himself, he knew this well. He'd seen it himself.
He himself was a new convert, right? Not as new
as Saul, but he was a recent convert to Christianity
as well. And he recognized this because he'd
seen the same thing that we deal with in our
day with kind of pushing people away happened
back then as well. So he stepped out. He used
his voice. That's right. He spoke up. And he
became the bridge between Saul and the apostles.
Saying, brothers, brothers, brothers, you're
missing. It's like you of all should know better.
Forgive him and give him a chance. Let me tell
you what I saw. Let me share some testimony with
you. And that was what was needed to bring down
those walls. He knew Saul had become a new creation
in Christ. So he stepped into that gap and it
interceded for him. Literally, Saul, who'd become
a full 180 degrees from who he was and has now
been preaching for the Lord instead of persecuting
him. It's hard when we see it. We see it in churches
all the time. People we know are drunkards, but
we don't say anything. We turn a blind eye. People
we know that have other addictions, porn, gambling,
maybe certain drugs because they're legal now
or they're the acceptable type in society, right?
But then somebody comes through the door who's
desperately in need, and we don't want them here.
They're down and out. And all of a sudden, oh
no, you can sit here, but don't make a ruckus.
Don't cause a scene. And as soon as we're done,
back out the door. That's even if they get in
the door in the first place. There are places
in this city that have people looking at the
doors and watching cameras, and if they see somebody,
get them off the property. That's not right.
That's not what we're called to do. For all we
know, this is somebody who just got out of a
rehab facility themselves. They have nowhere
to go. They have no one to go to other than going
back to their old life. So they're coming in
desperate, looking for Jesus because they've
heard just a little bit and they want to know
more. And then we're shunning them and pushing
them back out the door. I could tell you last
night, we had a lady. She came in here. She'd
just gotten out of the hospital. She still had
her bracelets on her. She was coming in. She
was just looking for a little help and a little
joy. We welcomed her in. It was wonderful. She
did what she needed to do. She used the bathroom.
She got some coffee. She visited a little bit.
She hung out for a while. She got warm. And I'm
not doing this to boast because then we had other
people in here. This whole back row, was filled
for quite some time than a few of these other
benches. We had a lot of people come through
last night. Matter of fact, we ran out of cocoa,
so at first I didn't think we had enough cocoa.
We ran out quick. We had some people that would
come in, though, and they would take a look at
her sitting over here, and they'd turn around
and they'd walk right back out that door. We
had people who were over here, and as soon as
they saw her, they moved over here. That is not
right. That is not the way it should be. I have
to applaud Brian. He did a wonderful job last
night. Tess was out here, and she's telling people,
hey, if you need the restroom, you want something
to drink, or you just want to warm up, our doors
are open. Come on in. And he's out here with
everybody. Hey, what can I help? We got cups
over here. We got coffee over here. We got cocoa
over here. Yeah, the restrooms are back here.
What else can I get you? Very warm, very welcoming,
the way it should be. It was wonderful. Yeah,
praise God indeed. Amen. Just like the other
day after we got done with our movie and Pastor
Mike and Darren here, both of them, they went
right out. We had a ton of food. And what did
they do? Hey, we got some food. Are you hungry?
That is the way we should be acting every time.
Because just that little bit of kindness may
be the only kindness that they're going to find.
And it may be the only time that they get to
see Jesus for a while. Because the stuff that
they're dealing with and the world that's in
front of them. that they're trying to escape.
It may be the one thing that brings them to knowing
Christ and being saved. But then when we see
someone who comes from that background, all of
a sudden we're judging. Next door in the tattoo
shop, we have some amazing people. One of the
guys himself is more than happy to share his
testimony. He was sharing it last night. People
see him like, this is a scary dude. He looks
like a thug. He's got the tattoos, right? And
the bald head. And all that. But he's a wonderful
dude. He says, you know what? I wish I had this
when I was a kid so I didn't have to learn it
from the county. But people see him and they
still want to run the other way. Shouldn't be
that way. Like, you know what? God bless you,
man. How can I pray for you? We should be recognizing
it's a new creation. This is temporary. This
is what binds us to earth. This is what fights
us every step of the way because it's not going
with us. So it doesn't care about Jesus. It cares
about what it can get right now because it knows
it's borrowed time. And we need to recognize
that when somebody comes to us and be like, you
know what? Even if you are new in Christ and
you're still an infant, you're still on milk
and you're not up to meat yet, we will get you
there. Come in and have a seat. Welcome to the
family, brother. Welcome to the family, sister.
That is what Saul was dealing with. That's exactly
what he was dealing with. We don't see the struggle
that people deal with to reconnect with loved
ones. who have turned against them. The struggle
that they go through with dealing with jobs or
adjusting to a new life. When people look at
us and they look at our past, we want them to
know, hey, stop looking for me there. I don't
live there anymore. But what about when it comes
to us and how we look at them? We start judging
them based on their past, not where they are
now. We need to change this. This is a failure
on our part as the church. This is the failure
that Saul had to deal with. Saul, who became
Paul, one of the greatest disciples, right? He's
one that we look at very endearingly now. So
we need to extend that same courtesy to others
that we want to extend it to us. For Saul, the
struggle was very, very real. He had a long,
long road in front of him. He'd gone from being
the persecutor to being the persecuted. His old
reputation did him no favors. None. However,
like Scrooge, his life had come a full circle.
He was no longer the man he used to be. He was
no longer hardened, softened to the Lord. He
was a new man, a new creation. And just like
each of us, he had to leave the old behind and
embrace the new. That can be hard. That can be
scary. You have to start walking with the new.
You have to start walking with Jesus. And I'll
remind you, nothing, absolutely nothing in this
world is too hard for our Lord to overcome. There's
nothing in this world that is too big for us
to ask for the Lord to help us to overcome, and
he will walk us through it. He has the power
to transform every man, woman, and child on this
planet and to give us a new life, something new
to run toward and to embrace, provided we put
our trust in him. But the biggest part of this,
though, is in order to do so, we have to learn
to forgive others. We have to learn to forgive
ourselves. And it's never too late to do so.
We hold on to grudges and we hold on to them
way too long. So I'm going to encourage you all.
I'm not saying to trust everybody. Trust is different.
Trust takes time. Just like a relationship takes
time. But we have to learn to forgive and we
have to learn to love. And that is what we are
called to do in our commandments and in our hearts.
Life becomes so much better when that happens.
In doing so, like I said, you will find the greatest
gift of all, that gift from the Lord of love,
mercy, and grace in your own heart from the one
who came and died for you so that you could be
reunited with the Father. All right, and before
we go to pray here, I'm going to encourage everybody
to just hang out just a little bit longer as
I get done because Brian's going to come up and
he's going to lead us in a communion here after
I get done praying. So let us pray. Lord, we
thank you for your love and never giving up on
us, even when we've given up on ourselves. You
pick us up. You dust us off. You help us get
reoriented and start moving forward again in
the way that you need us to go. Help us to accept
that none of us that believe and trust in you
are the same person that we used to be, that
we're changed. And we're continuing to change.
We're continuing to grow. Our character is changing
and evolving with it to become more like you
and less like the world. Help us to accept that
in you, we've all been made new as well. Help
us to see that there's a better life and a better
future ahead as we follow you. We thank you for
all this, all that you've done, all that you're
doing, and all that we know you will do because
of your promises. In Jesus' name, amen. Until
next time, take care and God bless.