WEBVTT 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:12.699 Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church 00:00:12.699 --> 00:00:15.279 Henley and thanks so much for tuning into our 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:19.000 podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast, 00:00:19.019 --> 00:00:20.839 you can have an encounter with Jesus that'll 00:00:20.839 --> 00:00:24.359 change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring 00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:26.820 message from our preaching team. Hey everyone, 00:00:27.140 --> 00:00:28.519 my name is Tex. If you don't know me, I'm one 00:00:28.519 --> 00:00:31.390 of the pastors here at Encounter Henley. and 00:00:31.390 --> 00:00:34.009 I have the privilege of kicking off our new series 00:00:34.009 --> 00:00:39.530 so as people we love everybody may not agree 00:00:39.530 --> 00:00:42.729 but the statistics which say we love big and 00:00:42.729 --> 00:00:45.789 loud And we love stories. If you look at like 00:00:45.789 --> 00:00:48.469 the top 10 grossing movies of all time, there 00:00:48.469 --> 00:00:51.710 is like two Avengers, a Star Wars, a Jurassic 00:00:51.710 --> 00:00:54.649 Park, like two avatars. I've never even seen 00:00:54.649 --> 00:00:57.170 these two avatars. But we just like big and loud 00:00:57.170 --> 00:00:59.609 stories seems to be like where the money is, 00:00:59.689 --> 00:01:01.770 right? So we just seem to love these big and 00:01:01.770 --> 00:01:03.549 loud stories. If you look at the highest rated 00:01:03.549 --> 00:01:06.250 and the highest attended like music concerts 00:01:06.250 --> 00:01:09.849 of the last year, it's always big and loud. It's 00:01:09.849 --> 00:01:13.109 like... and like your mileage may vary with the 00:01:13.109 --> 00:01:15.689 artist but we're talking like Metallica and Madonna 00:01:15.689 --> 00:01:17.790 and Bruce Springsteen and these are not like 00:01:17.790 --> 00:01:20.609 string quartets yeah so it's like big and loud 00:01:20.609 --> 00:01:23.510 is where we seem to go and we love stories and 00:01:23.510 --> 00:01:27.269 we love this kind of noise and uh and Christians 00:01:27.269 --> 00:01:29.069 I know that we like to think sometimes that we 00:01:29.069 --> 00:01:31.230 get to step a little bit out of society and like 00:01:31.230 --> 00:01:34.030 not us nah we love a big story more than anyone 00:01:34.030 --> 00:01:36.810 else in the world the Bible is chockers with 00:01:36.810 --> 00:01:40.140 just these big stories about big people doing 00:01:40.140 --> 00:01:42.959 big things and the stories that we kind of tend 00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:46.939 to love most of all are a big juicy testimony. 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:50.480 One of my favorite testimonies comes from John 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:53.280 Newton and he starts with this quote he says, 00:01:53.500 --> 00:01:56.719 I am not who I ought to be, I am not who I wish 00:01:56.719 --> 00:02:01.159 to be, I am not what I one day will be, but by 00:02:01.159 --> 00:02:05.010 the grace of God I am not who I once was. I love 00:02:05.010 --> 00:02:06.629 this quote, I think it's glorious, kind of sums 00:02:06.629 --> 00:02:09.150 up to me coming into a relationship with Jesus 00:02:09.150 --> 00:02:12.009 in like one fell swoop. Now Newton's conversion 00:02:12.009 --> 00:02:15.189 came when during a harrowing storm at sea, the 00:02:15.189 --> 00:02:18.490 ship he was on began to sink. So this is in like 00:02:18.490 --> 00:02:22.729 the 1700s, mid 1700s. I know, very current. Right, 00:02:22.789 --> 00:02:25.569 so his ship began to sink and he prayed to God 00:02:25.569 --> 00:02:28.389 for mercy out of sheer desperation. And stop 00:02:28.389 --> 00:02:30.610 me if you've heard this one before, but the seas 00:02:30.610 --> 00:02:33.639 began to settle, everything calmed down. And 00:02:33.639 --> 00:02:35.639 then he was okay. Everything was okay. So he 00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:37.719 was like, okay, I've been saved. I will begin 00:02:37.719 --> 00:02:40.120 to turn my life towards Jesus. Now, Newton went 00:02:40.120 --> 00:02:44.419 on to become an ordained Anglican minister. He 00:02:44.419 --> 00:02:47.500 was an abolitionist, a proponent for the abolition 00:02:47.500 --> 00:02:51.000 of slavery. And he also wrote a little song called 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:55.300 Amazing Grace. So this guy went on to have a 00:02:55.300 --> 00:02:57.539 pretty incredible life with a lot of these big, 00:02:57.539 --> 00:03:00.550 these big signposts that you can point to. Now 00:03:00.550 --> 00:03:02.849 before he did any of that though, the ship that 00:03:02.849 --> 00:03:07.250 he was actually on was a slavery ship, which 00:03:07.250 --> 00:03:10.509 he was the captain of. So this guy went from 00:03:10.509 --> 00:03:13.849 a perpetrator of slavery to a proponent for the 00:03:13.849 --> 00:03:16.849 end of slavery. So when he wrote the words and 00:03:16.849 --> 00:03:19.650 sang the words, I'm not going to sing it, amazing 00:03:19.650 --> 00:03:22.430 grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch 00:03:22.430 --> 00:03:24.830 like me. He knew what it meant to be a wretch 00:03:24.830 --> 00:03:26.629 because he was one of the wretchedest of the 00:03:26.629 --> 00:03:30.520 wretches. He had been just like Literally going 00:03:30.520 --> 00:03:34.259 backwards and forwards just Continuing this cycle 00:03:34.259 --> 00:03:39.000 of slavery He knew what it meant and much like 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:42.219 in today's reading This is one of those like 00:03:42.219 --> 00:03:44.639 big and radical transformations This is someone 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:47.620 who goes from a pretty pretty bad place to a 00:03:47.620 --> 00:03:51.400 pretty pretty good space pretty quickly Now the 00:03:51.400 --> 00:03:53.699 problem I've got with that and I know I can see 00:03:53.699 --> 00:03:55.580 the irony of me starting where I'm going with 00:03:55.580 --> 00:03:59.219 what I'm about to say Which is that? When we 00:03:59.219 --> 00:04:02.620 only talk about these big and loud stories, we 00:04:02.620 --> 00:04:04.879 actually have a tendency to overlook kind of 00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:06.800 the smaller and quieter stories that are just 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:10.000 as powerful and have just as much impact. And 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:13.080 I'll be honest, a lot of those stories are your 00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:17.660 stories. They are testimonies of people who were 00:04:17.660 --> 00:04:20.240 raised in a Christian home, have had a life of 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:23.779 steady and obedient discipleship, a life basically 00:04:23.779 --> 00:04:26.839 lived entirely in relationship with Jesus. For 00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:29.879 some reason, We just kind of always go for the 00:04:29.879 --> 00:04:31.879 big and the bold and we forget to look at the 00:04:31.879 --> 00:04:35.560 other side of that coin And I fear that by by 00:04:35.560 --> 00:04:38.500 overlooking the power and faithfully inconsistent 00:04:38.500 --> 00:04:40.939 Look, honestly, it's not really our fault. It's 00:04:40.939 --> 00:04:45.699 just not as loud It's it can't be summed up as 00:04:45.699 --> 00:04:47.660 cleanly in a one. Well, okay. How about this? 00:04:48.819 --> 00:04:52.120 How does this sound one line tagline from slave 00:04:52.120 --> 00:04:57.069 trader to abolitionist Sounds pretty good I've 00:04:57.069 --> 00:04:59.089 been asked to share my testimony lots of times, 00:04:59.329 --> 00:05:01.829 because for some people it's kind of, you know, 00:05:02.209 --> 00:05:04.250 big and exciting, but it's effectively my tagline 00:05:04.250 --> 00:05:07.569 is, from atheist to pastor. Oh, sounds good, 00:05:07.649 --> 00:05:09.449 right? Title of a book I'm never going to write. 00:05:12.029 --> 00:05:14.170 But both just sound a little bit more exciting 00:05:14.170 --> 00:05:16.970 than, was born, raised in a Christian house, 00:05:17.209 --> 00:05:18.750 faithful disciple of God, and then died at 90. 00:05:20.269 --> 00:05:22.430 It's just, sorry, like it just doesn't sound 00:05:22.430 --> 00:05:25.410 as exciting. But what we're doing when we say 00:05:25.410 --> 00:05:26.930 it's not as exciting and what we're doing when 00:05:26.930 --> 00:05:29.089 we kind of remove the power from that is we're 00:05:29.089 --> 00:05:32.009 actually just ignoring the power that Jesus offers 00:05:32.009 --> 00:05:33.990 in not just the big but also in the very, very 00:05:33.990 --> 00:05:38.149 small. We are putting way too much emphasis on 00:05:38.149 --> 00:05:40.269 the dramatic than we are from the small and the 00:05:40.269 --> 00:05:43.589 faithful. And what I love about today's reading 00:05:43.589 --> 00:05:44.930 and today's scripture that we're going to be 00:05:44.930 --> 00:05:46.790 talking about is that we're actually offered 00:05:46.790 --> 00:05:51.290 both sides of that coin in the one story. So 00:05:51.290 --> 00:05:54.709 before today's scripture in Acts 9, in Acts 8... 00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:58.399 We find Saul just kind of moseying along, dragging 00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:01.439 followers of Jesus from their homes, imprisoning 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:04.160 them, having them stoned to death. He's a hell 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:07.500 of a guy. So, to start Acts 9, we find him continuing 00:06:07.500 --> 00:06:10.160 on this path. He's gone and received permission 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:13.000 from the high priest to carry on this war against 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:15.639 followers of Jesus all the way in Damascus. Now, 00:06:15.639 --> 00:06:17.759 Damascus is not a local town. He's going to pass 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:20.040 over a lot of other towns to get there. Damascus 00:06:20.040 --> 00:06:22.180 is about 200 k's away. So, that's the equivalent 00:06:22.180 --> 00:06:24.500 of like from here to Port Piri. he does not have 00:06:24.500 --> 00:06:26.379 a Mitsubishi Outlander, right? So he's got to 00:06:26.379 --> 00:06:27.759 get there pretty slow. He's gonna go with horse, 00:06:27.800 --> 00:06:30.060 he's gonna go with people. So why is he going 00:06:30.060 --> 00:06:32.379 that far? Why is he going all the way to Damascus? 00:06:33.139 --> 00:06:36.199 Well, he's going there because Damascus is a 00:06:36.199 --> 00:06:39.839 trading hub. And in these times, trading hubs 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:42.319 were not only where goods and services got exchanged, 00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:45.980 but for Saul, more importantly, this is where 00:06:45.980 --> 00:06:50.000 ideas got exchanged. And for him, it's in cities 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:53.040 like Damascus that a radical new view on religion 00:06:53.420 --> 00:06:55.639 could be shared and then could spread quickly 00:06:55.639 --> 00:06:58.220 and easily. Because Saul doesn't just want to 00:06:58.220 --> 00:07:00.560 wipe out the followers of Jesus, he wants the 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:06.800 entire movement snuffed out. And it's here... 00:07:06.829 --> 00:07:10.290 on this road to persecution surrounded by companions. 00:07:10.769 --> 00:07:12.689 Again, what I love about this story is that there 00:07:12.689 --> 00:07:14.689 are other people around to bear witness to this. 00:07:14.970 --> 00:07:16.529 This is not something that happens in the deep 00:07:16.529 --> 00:07:18.370 dark night in a private bedroom. This happens 00:07:18.370 --> 00:07:21.629 on a road in the middle of the day and still 00:07:21.629 --> 00:07:25.430 comes a blinding light from heaven. And it's 00:07:25.430 --> 00:07:27.350 through this, through this moment that Jesus 00:07:27.350 --> 00:07:29.870 chooses to speak to Paul, to Saul, sorry. We'll 00:07:29.870 --> 00:07:32.069 get to that later. He chooses to speak to Saul. 00:07:32.370 --> 00:07:34.569 Now Saul in this moment, this light is so bright, 00:07:34.589 --> 00:07:36.889 the booming voice from the sky is so powerful 00:07:36.889 --> 00:07:38.949 that he can do nothing but clench his eyes shut 00:07:38.949 --> 00:07:43.110 and fall to the ground. The power of Jesus completely 00:07:43.110 --> 00:07:47.810 overwhelming. And a voice speaks and says, Saul, 00:07:48.769 --> 00:07:54.230 Saul, why are you persecuting me? Now Jesus uses 00:07:54.230 --> 00:07:59.470 his name twice. Jesus does this. three times 00:07:59.470 --> 00:08:02.370 in total in the Bible. One of which Kara talked 00:08:02.370 --> 00:08:04.509 to us about just a couple of weeks ago when he 00:08:04.509 --> 00:08:07.730 talks to Martha and another time here and what 00:08:07.730 --> 00:08:10.430 he's really doing is he's making it personal. 00:08:10.829 --> 00:08:12.990 He's ensuring that you know you need to stop, 00:08:13.250 --> 00:08:15.490 I need you to hear me and I need you to pay attention 00:08:15.490 --> 00:08:19.730 to me. So in this moment, again, we're on a road, 00:08:19.810 --> 00:08:22.550 we're surrounded by other people. What he's saying 00:08:22.550 --> 00:08:26.129 is, Saul, make no mistake about it, I am speaking 00:08:26.129 --> 00:08:32.529 to you. He's taking a massive moment and a massive 00:08:32.529 --> 00:08:35.549 statement and He's making it super personal. 00:08:38.509 --> 00:08:40.169 And again, to make sure that He's aware of just 00:08:40.169 --> 00:08:41.830 how personal this is, He says, Saul, you are 00:08:41.830 --> 00:08:45.049 not just persecuting my followers, you're actually 00:08:45.049 --> 00:08:48.169 persecuting me, revealing in that moment that 00:08:48.169 --> 00:08:50.190 Jesus' followers are not just His followers, 00:08:50.210 --> 00:08:53.129 they are a part of Him and He is a part of them. 00:08:53.830 --> 00:08:56.750 So we are locking in and securing the important 00:08:56.750 --> 00:09:01.570 covenant between these people. So Saul responds. 00:09:02.509 --> 00:09:06.649 He says, who are you, Lord? Which is quite an 00:09:06.649 --> 00:09:09.570 interesting response. Lord is this interesting 00:09:09.570 --> 00:09:14.269 word in there. Saul is Jewish. He believes in 00:09:14.269 --> 00:09:19.409 God. He's not waging a holy war because he doesn't 00:09:19.409 --> 00:09:22.250 believe in God. He's persecuting followers of 00:09:22.250 --> 00:09:24.789 Jesus because he doesn't believe that Jesus is 00:09:24.789 --> 00:09:28.279 the Son of God. And as a result, he believes 00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:30.740 that the followers of Jesus are actually spreading 00:09:30.740 --> 00:09:34.340 a dangerous lie. He believes that the persecution 00:09:34.340 --> 00:09:38.000 of followers of Jesus is actually in defense 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:42.679 of God. And Jesus knows this. He'd have to know 00:09:42.679 --> 00:09:45.620 this. So Jesus directly answers Saul's question. 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:47.820 And I love this because sometimes Jesus talks 00:09:47.820 --> 00:09:50.259 in parables and every now and again he's like, 00:09:50.340 --> 00:09:53.200 question, answer, right now, coming hot and fast, 00:09:53.240 --> 00:09:55.980 bang. I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:00.460 There's no room for interpretation with that 00:10:00.460 --> 00:10:07.179 he's saying so who am I I'm Jesus Now this this 00:10:07.179 --> 00:10:09.679 gets a little bit interesting because you can 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:12.659 make no mistake about it Saul absolutely knew 00:10:12.659 --> 00:10:17.440 who Jesus was Some scholars believe that Saul 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:19.480 was actually a member of the Sanhedrin which 00:10:19.480 --> 00:10:23.259 was the very group that That sentenced Jesus 00:10:23.259 --> 00:10:26.419 to death Saul knew he Jesus was Jesus knew who 00:10:26.419 --> 00:10:29.860 Saul was Well, he thought, he thought he knew 00:10:29.860 --> 00:10:32.460 who Jesus was, because now in this moment, what 00:10:32.460 --> 00:10:36.759 if Jesus is exactly who he says he is, and who 00:10:36.759 --> 00:10:39.580 he had said he was, or who others said he was? 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:42.120 Then Saul's persecution of Jesus' followers, 00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:45.100 when Jesus himself isn't a holy war waged in 00:10:45.100 --> 00:10:47.559 the name of God, now it's an act of defiance 00:10:47.559 --> 00:10:51.490 against God. So in that moment you can imagine 00:10:51.490 --> 00:10:53.789 Saul's shock as everything that he thought he 00:10:53.789 --> 00:10:56.509 knew, everything he felt justified in, is flipped 00:10:56.509 --> 00:10:59.889 on its head, wiped out in a single moment, in 00:10:59.889 --> 00:11:02.330 a single sentence, in a single interaction with 00:11:02.330 --> 00:11:06.169 Jesus. That is the power of when Jesus speaks 00:11:06.169 --> 00:11:08.370 to you directly. He has the ability to upturn 00:11:08.370 --> 00:11:13.450 everything in your life immediately. Jesus just 00:11:13.450 --> 00:11:16.230 says one other thing. He says, go and wait and 00:11:16.230 --> 00:11:19.950 you'll be told what to do. So Saul's now been 00:11:19.950 --> 00:11:25.210 called into action. And now Saul makes an incredible 00:11:25.210 --> 00:11:28.970 choice, which is he goes from defiance to obedience. 00:11:31.190 --> 00:11:33.669 This is a three sentence conversation with Jesus. 00:11:35.350 --> 00:11:39.889 And he responds. So Saul stands. Keeping in mind, 00:11:40.029 --> 00:11:42.629 he's had his eyes closed this entire time. Remember, 00:11:42.730 --> 00:11:45.049 big light from the sky, big booming voice, very 00:11:45.049 --> 00:11:47.409 overwhelming. He's had his eyes closed the entire 00:11:47.409 --> 00:11:50.799 time. And when he stands and opens his eyes, 00:11:50.840 --> 00:11:52.700 he finds that he can't see anything. He's completely 00:11:52.700 --> 00:12:00.700 blind. In this moment, Jesus has caused Saul's 00:12:00.700 --> 00:12:04.740 blindness, made him blind, to allow Saul to actually 00:12:04.740 --> 00:12:06.980 be able to see for the first time in his life. 00:12:11.320 --> 00:12:16.139 So Saul again, this is this big, scary... Like 00:12:16.139 --> 00:12:18.120 if you've seen Inglorious Basterds, the Tarantino 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:19.940 film, like this is Hans Lander, like this guy 00:12:19.940 --> 00:12:23.460 loved what he did. He was good at it, man. He 00:12:23.460 --> 00:12:26.159 was this big, scary, intimidating guy and now 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:28.799 he is being raised to his feet and led by the 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:30.899 hand into a city because he's unable to do it 00:12:30.899 --> 00:12:34.360 for himself. And for three days Saul doesn't 00:12:34.360 --> 00:12:37.240 eat, he doesn't drink, he sits and waits and 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:43.000 prays. So far in this story, Jesus' power has 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:46.120 been pretty overwhelming. It's been that big 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:48.240 story we were talking about before. This was 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:52.419 the Avengers part of this story, right? And again 00:12:52.419 --> 00:12:55.100 what I love now is that the perspective shifts. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:58.220 We go to the other side of the coin and we get 00:12:58.220 --> 00:13:01.279 to see how Jesus can be equally as powerful, 00:13:01.320 --> 00:13:04.019 maybe more powerful, in the small and the quiet. 00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:09.820 So introverts, this part's for you. In Damascus 00:13:09.820 --> 00:13:14.500 there's a disciple named Ananias. Now it makes 00:13:14.500 --> 00:13:16.000 it really clear again. We've got to remember 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:18.419 when we're reading the Bible, it doesn't make, 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:20.460 like there's not accidental words in there. They 00:13:20.460 --> 00:13:22.919 don't kind of add or leave out details for no 00:13:22.919 --> 00:13:25.279 reason. They make it really clear that Ananias 00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:28.240 is a disciple. He's not a pastor, he's not a 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:30.860 teacher, he's not a rabbi, he's not, he's a disciple, 00:13:31.059 --> 00:13:33.740 which effectively is like any of us in this room. 00:13:34.100 --> 00:13:37.200 Ananias is a guy. He's a follower of Jesus, but 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:42.940 he's just a guy. So to Saul, when Jesus presents 00:13:42.940 --> 00:13:47.070 himself, violent, abrasive, big, loud, spiritual 00:13:47.070 --> 00:13:49.789 power, booming voice, light from the sky. With 00:13:49.789 --> 00:13:52.210 Ananias a much more gentle approach is used. 00:13:53.409 --> 00:13:55.909 He just presents, just, don't you love, he just, 00:13:56.149 --> 00:14:00.850 the Lord presents himself in a vision. Small, 00:14:01.429 --> 00:14:04.429 it's quiet, it's personal, and he asks him to 00:14:04.429 --> 00:14:07.289 go and pray for Saul so that he can heal Saul. 00:14:08.669 --> 00:14:12.090 And what I love is that Ananias doesn't, he doesn't 00:14:12.090 --> 00:14:16.840 question God's authority at any stage. He doesn't 00:14:16.840 --> 00:14:20.960 question really what he's been asked to do. He's 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:26.299 faithful, he's obedient, and the story plays 00:14:26.299 --> 00:14:28.840 out to show how much power can be shown through 00:14:28.840 --> 00:14:32.120 that. But the one thing is is that Ananias is 00:14:32.120 --> 00:14:36.419 undoubtedly terrified. So he does kind of have 00:14:36.419 --> 00:14:38.440 he's not he like he doesn't question like is 00:14:38.440 --> 00:14:40.720 that you got it's just like bang Okay, cool talking 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:44.440 with God got it right, but he's terrified Because 00:14:44.440 --> 00:14:47.259 remember Adonis is just a guy and what has happened 00:14:47.259 --> 00:14:50.100 now is this is the equivalent of I don't even 00:14:50.100 --> 00:14:52.179 know like one of the characters in Star Wars 00:14:52.179 --> 00:14:53.840 It doesn't have a name imagine. I'm assuming 00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:55.460 on a rebel base somewhere There was someone who 00:14:55.460 --> 00:14:57.899 was responsible for making porridge, right? So 00:14:57.899 --> 00:15:00.379 that person has now been told like hey if you 00:15:00.379 --> 00:15:02.200 could just go have a cheeky sit down with Darth 00:15:02.200 --> 00:15:05.320 Vader That would be sick. Don't worry, under 00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:09.000 control. You can imagine they wouldn't be feeling, 00:15:09.259 --> 00:15:12.399 they might have one more question, right? So 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:16.080 he's been asked, hey, I need you to go and pray 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:17.519 for him. I need you to go and pray for Darth 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:20.820 Vader. So man and I is just like, just quickly, 00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:23.379 just so we're clear, the big, the black helmet 00:15:23.379 --> 00:15:25.840 and the cape and the lightsaber and the choke. 00:15:26.299 --> 00:15:29.019 Yeah, yep, that's the one. He's like, they were 00:15:29.019 --> 00:15:30.100 pulling, he was pulling the man and the woman. 00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:34.200 Yeah, yeah, that one. Ananias is being asked 00:15:34.200 --> 00:15:37.100 to go and sit in audience with and pray for someone 00:15:37.100 --> 00:15:39.899 that had been punishing people for the threat 00:15:39.899 --> 00:15:42.559 of what Ananias was about to go and do. For the 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:45.460 very uttering of the idea of what Ananias was 00:15:45.460 --> 00:15:48.279 about to live out. There's absolutely no way 00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:50.919 he wasn't scared. The fear is understandable. 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:55.779 But Jesus and God through all this makes it really 00:15:55.779 --> 00:15:57.720 clear that He's not doing it in His power, He's 00:15:57.720 --> 00:16:00.299 doing it in the Lord's power. And the Lord says 00:16:00.299 --> 00:16:04.190 you must go. and presents him with this really 00:16:04.190 --> 00:16:07.710 small but really caring affirmation, which is 00:16:07.710 --> 00:16:11.190 he's like, hey, I've given Saul a vision. He 00:16:11.190 --> 00:16:14.990 knows your name, he's expecting you. So now what 00:16:14.990 --> 00:16:17.429 he's saying to Ananias is, hey, I know this is 00:16:17.429 --> 00:16:19.309 big and I know this is scary, but I've actually 00:16:19.309 --> 00:16:22.580 already paved a way. I've actually already made 00:16:22.580 --> 00:16:25.179 the way and the space and the how that you're 00:16:25.179 --> 00:16:28.059 going to go in there to do this. So he's both 00:16:28.059 --> 00:16:30.639 empowering Ananias and he's equipping him with 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:33.519 the confidence to go and do a really hard and 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:36.000 what no doubt in Ananias' brain is a potentially 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:39.259 very dangerous thing to do. Now this is when 00:16:39.259 --> 00:16:41.159 you talk, Tim talked the other week during what 00:16:41.159 --> 00:16:42.960 that mean about some of those expressions we 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:45.799 use all the time. One of the ones we use all 00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:47.980 the time is God doesn't call the equipped, He 00:16:47.980 --> 00:16:51.460 equips the called. And Ananias' story is the 00:16:51.460 --> 00:16:55.759 living representation of that. Now in Luke 11 00:16:55.759 --> 00:17:06.960 28, Jesus states, which is what Ananias does. 00:17:09.579 --> 00:17:16.220 Ananias goes because he's been told to go. That's 00:17:16.220 --> 00:17:20.380 it. So he goes. and he places his hands on Saul. 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:23.420 And again, I love all this because it's a long 00:17:23.420 --> 00:17:25.319 passage, but all the bits of action are actually 00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:27.700 quite short. And he prays this prayer. He says, 00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:31.859 Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to 00:17:31.859 --> 00:17:34.140 you on the road as you were coming here has sent 00:17:34.140 --> 00:17:36.799 me so that you may see again and be filled with 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:43.319 the Holy Spirit. That's it. And immediately, 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:46.519 scales fall from Saul's eyes and he can see again. 00:17:47.319 --> 00:17:50.339 and then he gets up and is immediately baptized. 00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:59.720 This is Jesus' power playing out through three 00:17:59.720 --> 00:18:03.740 simple actions, three simple stages, which are 00:18:03.740 --> 00:18:10.779 call, obedience, and response. Anna and I are 00:18:10.779 --> 00:18:13.099 opening two words of this prayer. Two words is 00:18:13.099 --> 00:18:14.779 all it takes to start breaking down barriers. 00:18:15.180 --> 00:18:19.589 Brother Saul. This becomes an immediate affirmation 00:18:19.589 --> 00:18:21.970 of Saul's acceptance into a loving community 00:18:21.970 --> 00:18:25.269 that mere days ago he was trying to completely 00:18:25.269 --> 00:18:29.549 wipe out and eradicate. His healing becomes an 00:18:29.549 --> 00:18:32.589 affirmation of Jesus' power and his baptism becomes 00:18:32.589 --> 00:18:35.910 Saul's obedient response to an undeniable and 00:18:35.910 --> 00:18:38.829 life -changing encounter with Jesus through Ananias. 00:18:41.799 --> 00:18:43.779 And Saul goes forth from here, I love this, he's 00:18:43.779 --> 00:18:45.180 got all this build up and then it just kind of 00:18:45.180 --> 00:18:47.559 like the beats just happen so quickly. Saul goes 00:18:47.559 --> 00:18:49.799 forth from here, he changes his life completely, 00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:52.640 he even changes his name to Paul, who you may 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:55.559 have heard of. His life was once dedicated to 00:18:55.559 --> 00:18:57.819 punishing followers of Jesus and all of a sudden 00:18:57.819 --> 00:19:00.500 through this interaction, he changes it and goes 00:19:00.500 --> 00:19:02.619 completely other way and dedicates his entire 00:19:02.619 --> 00:19:05.240 life to spreading the power and saving grace 00:19:05.240 --> 00:19:09.180 of Jesus. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound 00:19:09.180 --> 00:19:15.900 that saved a wretch like me indeed. Now Jesus 00:19:15.900 --> 00:19:20.119 had to break Saul down. He had to echo this spiritual 00:19:20.119 --> 00:19:22.660 blindness with a physical blindness in that moment. 00:19:23.640 --> 00:19:26.279 But what I love about this is that at no point 00:19:26.279 --> 00:19:28.920 was it Jesus' intention to leave him in that 00:19:28.920 --> 00:19:32.579 state. He immediately offers him a way out and 00:19:32.579 --> 00:19:39.779 a way through. Now Jesus as well, using Ananias 00:19:39.779 --> 00:19:42.200 to restore Saul's sight, becomes proof that Jesus 00:19:42.200 --> 00:19:44.740 was alive in his people. And I love the one part 00:19:44.740 --> 00:19:47.000 that Ananias adds to the prayer is that part 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:52.359 about via the Holy Spirit. Ananias has had this 00:19:52.359 --> 00:19:55.619 one -to -one conversation with Jesus. Saul's 00:19:55.619 --> 00:19:57.339 had this one -to -one conversation with Jesus, 00:19:57.359 --> 00:19:59.740 but the power is coming through Jesus via the 00:19:59.740 --> 00:20:04.200 Holy Spirit. And that is proof, again, these 00:20:04.200 --> 00:20:06.339 promises fulfilled, prophecies fulfilled, that 00:20:06.339 --> 00:20:09.140 Jesus is still alive in his people. And in turn, 00:20:09.140 --> 00:20:11.440 that the power of God truly is still alive in 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:16.220 the people of God. And again, the message of 00:20:16.220 --> 00:20:19.240 all of this is this life -changing huge that 00:20:19.240 --> 00:20:24.420 we talked about before. But the execution is 00:20:24.420 --> 00:20:28.819 a simple prayer by a simple man acting in obedience 00:20:28.819 --> 00:20:33.109 to the call of God. And that church is powerful. 00:20:36.049 --> 00:20:37.930 Now those three stages we talked about before, 00:20:38.130 --> 00:20:42.329 call, obedience and response. They're the foundation 00:20:42.329 --> 00:20:45.230 of everything that we should aspire to live out 00:20:45.230 --> 00:20:54.430 as followers of Jesus. And it's funny as we go 00:20:54.430 --> 00:20:56.329 through this church planning journey and I go 00:20:56.329 --> 00:20:59.740 through this transition from where I was to the 00:20:59.740 --> 00:21:01.519 man I am now to moving into ministry and all 00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:04.160 these kind of things. I've had this realization. 00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:06.079 We've been talking a lot about our plus ones 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:09.359 recently. And as I was writing this, I realized, 00:21:10.059 --> 00:21:12.599 I mean shock horror, my natural personality type 00:21:12.599 --> 00:21:15.720 is I am someone who likes the big. I am someone 00:21:15.720 --> 00:21:18.519 who likes loud. I am someone who just loves a 00:21:18.519 --> 00:21:21.400 big twisty story. That's my favorite thing. I 00:21:21.400 --> 00:21:25.960 really do. I just love big. And the problem I 00:21:25.960 --> 00:21:28.319 had in writing this sermon and reading this text 00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:32.720 over the last week or two is that I know that 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:35.839 because that's my natural inclination I am really, 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:41.220 I'm super guilty of pursuing that methodology 00:21:41.220 --> 00:21:46.240 of doing things. I respond to the big and I respond 00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:48.299 to the dramatic, so that's what I'm driving for. 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:52.319 And I want to do powerful things, like I want 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:54.640 to see powerful movements of God and I want to 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:57.539 see powerful actions of God, but if I'm being 00:21:57.539 --> 00:22:01.319 truthful, I don't want them the way that Ananias 00:22:01.319 --> 00:22:09.900 did them. I think I've been trying to do them 00:22:09.900 --> 00:22:13.279 the way that Jesus does, expecting these big 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:18.839 dramatic things. And as a result I've been ignoring 00:22:18.839 --> 00:22:23.119 the small acts of power and in the process I've 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:29.779 been guilty of making Jesus power smaller. And 00:22:29.779 --> 00:22:31.440 it was through unpacking the scripture the last 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:35.539 couple of weeks that I had this big realization. 00:22:36.460 --> 00:22:38.180 Maybe this will resonate for some of you in the 00:22:38.180 --> 00:22:44.099 room as well. Jesus didn't send Ananias to Saul 00:22:44.099 --> 00:22:49.220 to convert him. That wasn't part of the conversation. 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:58.000 Jesus called him to go and to pray and to be 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:01.000 obedient and to respond to what was asked of 00:23:01.000 --> 00:23:05.200 him. But at no point was there a conversation 00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:09.059 about conversion. At no point was there a conversation 00:23:09.059 --> 00:23:13.720 of, hey, baptize him. But that happened as a 00:23:13.720 --> 00:23:19.119 result. Call from God. obedience from Ananias, 00:23:19.359 --> 00:23:21.880 response from both Ananias and in turn Saul. 00:23:24.119 --> 00:23:26.299 And I think I'm starting to realise that there 00:23:26.299 --> 00:23:28.920 are people in my life that God has called me 00:23:28.920 --> 00:23:31.779 to action with and I haven't taken it because 00:23:31.779 --> 00:23:35.299 it doesn't look the way that I want it to look. 00:23:37.059 --> 00:23:39.559 Because it feels scary to me. I was talking to 00:23:39.559 --> 00:23:41.880 a few of the guys, was it last week we were praying 00:23:41.880 --> 00:23:46.220 for plus ones? And I realized in that moment 00:23:46.220 --> 00:23:48.799 that I've been a bit of a coward because I've 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:50.920 not been, my plus ones have not been the people 00:23:50.920 --> 00:23:53.359 in my life that are the hardest plus ones in 00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:55.940 my life. I've shot for like the middle ground. 00:23:57.079 --> 00:23:58.859 I really have. I've shot for the people I'm like, 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:01.400 maybe if I squint a little bit, which I know 00:24:01.400 --> 00:24:03.779 I squint a lot, right, but like if I squint a 00:24:03.779 --> 00:24:06.579 little bit more, I can see how that person will 00:24:06.579 --> 00:24:08.799 become a follower of Jesus. I can see how that, 00:24:08.920 --> 00:24:11.539 I could see myself being at that person's baptism 00:24:11.539 --> 00:24:21.299 one day. But there's part of me that's recognizing 00:24:21.299 --> 00:24:24.400 I'm meant to be praying for the souls in my life 00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:28.279 For the people that seem big and scary or distant. 00:24:28.279 --> 00:24:30.279 It can be both. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying 00:24:30.279 --> 00:24:32.019 all of you go and change your plus one to the 00:24:32.019 --> 00:24:36.119 person you're most afraid of in the world But 00:24:36.119 --> 00:24:38.299 the people that I'm most afraid of in the world 00:24:38.299 --> 00:24:40.400 to have these conversations about Jesus with 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:42.920 or to have conversations with my faith We are 00:24:42.920 --> 00:24:46.720 actually people who I should be closer with Their 00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:50.990 family if I'm being honest and I'm avoiding living 00:24:50.990 --> 00:24:52.890 it out in a way that might open the door to them 00:24:52.890 --> 00:24:55.410 and that is where I am not being obedient to 00:24:55.410 --> 00:24:59.509 God's call. This is beautiful quote from Sam 00:24:59.509 --> 00:25:02.789 Chan in his book, Evangelism in a Skeptical World, 00:25:03.650 --> 00:25:05.849 that kind of made me feel a tiny touch better. 00:25:08.470 --> 00:25:10.410 And that's this, we need to know what our role 00:25:10.410 --> 00:25:14.390 is. Our role is to communicate the gospel in 00:25:14.390 --> 00:25:18.210 both word and action. But our role is not God's 00:25:18.210 --> 00:25:22.710 or Jesus or the Holy Spirit's. Our role is not 00:25:22.710 --> 00:25:30.390 to convert people. To hear the call of God. Call, 00:25:30.670 --> 00:25:33.609 obedience and response. What I love about this 00:25:33.609 --> 00:25:37.029 is that as he so typically does, this is one 00:25:37.029 --> 00:25:40.930 that Jesus himself modeled. Jesus was called 00:25:40.930 --> 00:25:43.930 to live out a human life with human temptation 00:25:43.930 --> 00:25:46.230 and everything that met. Banj, you can come back 00:25:46.230 --> 00:25:51.049 up if you would like. Now Jesus lived out that 00:25:51.049 --> 00:25:54.750 calling in full active obedience of God's will 00:25:54.750 --> 00:26:02.750 as the only sinless man to have ever lived. Now 00:26:02.750 --> 00:26:04.650 Jesus continued in that obedience all the way 00:26:04.650 --> 00:26:13.269 to the cross. His final earthly response being 00:26:13.269 --> 00:26:19.769 that of suffering a painful crucifixion. Bless 00:26:19.769 --> 00:26:24.210 you. Now to onlookers, this act would have looked 00:26:24.210 --> 00:26:28.910 like an ordinary man suffering a painful but 00:26:28.910 --> 00:26:35.089 ordinary death. But we, you and me, in this room, 00:26:35.109 --> 00:26:37.829 we have the benefit of knowing that this was 00:26:37.829 --> 00:26:40.299 anything but normal. This was anything but ordinary. 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:43.579 This was the most immensely powerful act of all 00:26:43.579 --> 00:26:47.880 time. With Jesus' death taking atonement of our 00:26:47.880 --> 00:26:50.480 sins and ensuring our own reconciliation with 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:57.880 God. He was called so He obediently responded. 00:27:03.299 --> 00:27:06.359 But what... When I came back, we do all this, 00:27:06.440 --> 00:27:07.920 we talk about this, when we come back to this 00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:09.380 story, and this is the pit I couldn't shake, 00:27:09.420 --> 00:27:11.200 so I'm just going to talk about it here. Why 00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:13.339 does Jesus offer healing and kindness to Saul 00:27:13.339 --> 00:27:16.599 at all? Why? Of all the people in the Bible, 00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:19.319 this is a guy who was as anti -Jesus as you can 00:27:19.319 --> 00:27:25.059 get. So why him? This is a broken and dangerous 00:27:25.059 --> 00:27:30.559 man who doesn't deserve it. And there it is. 00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:39.470 Deserve it. None of us deserve it. None of us 00:27:39.470 --> 00:27:43.349 deserve forgiveness. None of us deserve the love 00:27:43.349 --> 00:27:47.329 of Jesus, but that's exactly the point. Love, 00:27:47.589 --> 00:27:50.849 salvation, grace, they're not hours to earn. 00:27:52.869 --> 00:27:57.839 They're gifts to be received. Regardless of background, 00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:00.339 regardless of where we find ourselves on the 00:28:00.339 --> 00:28:02.920 road of persecution, be that internal or external, 00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:06.539 regardless of how big or small we feel our actions 00:28:06.539 --> 00:28:09.740 or our responses have been until now, this isn't 00:28:09.740 --> 00:28:16.660 something that we earn. It is a gift. The power 00:28:16.660 --> 00:28:18.880 of an encounter with Jesus is that we are all 00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:23.440 the broken sinner, but we've all been fearfully 00:28:23.440 --> 00:28:26.450 and wonderfully made by a loving God. and simply 00:28:26.450 --> 00:28:31.470 that is enough. Thanks so much for tuning into 00:28:31.470 --> 00:28:34.650 this week's message. If you felt challenged or 00:28:34.650 --> 00:28:37.450 need prayer, we'd love to hear from you on Instagram 00:28:37.450 --> 00:28:40.529 at encounterhenny or if you're interested in 00:28:40.529 --> 00:28:43.250 how you can support this ministry please go to 00:28:43.250 --> 00:28:47.890 our website encounteradelaide .com .au Thanks 00:28:47.890 --> 00:28:49.970 again for listening. God bless you.