The Light That Disrupts: From Self-Reliance to Christ-Centered Identity

• Zeal Series Introduction 00:24:42 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor introduces the new sermon series titled 'Zeal,' focusing on the life of the Apostle Paul, specifically his conversion and transformation.
• Transformation by Jesus 00:28:30 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that Jesus takes hold of hearts to give people a brand new life and purpose, citing the example of Saul's conversion on the Damascus road.
• Universal Need for Salvation 00:35:40 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor asserts that everyone has an 'ugly past' and is a sinner in need of a savior, using Paul's own testimony to illustrate this point.
• Paul's Pre-Conversion Sinfulness 00:32:11 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor details Paul's violent past as a persecutor of Christians, citing specific biblical passages (1 Timothy, Acts, Galatians) to show Paul's honesty about his sin.
• Paul's Persecution and Conversion 00:34:23 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts Saul's history of persecuting the church and his dramatic conversion on the Damascus road to illustrate the power of encountering Jesus.
• Disruption of Self-Reliance 00:39:49 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains how Jesus disrupts human self-reliance by shattering false security, exposing spiritual blindness, and halting harmful momentum.
• Shattering False Security 00:41:41 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the example of Saul's sudden blindness and the 'sudden' light from heaven to illustrate how God interrupts human plans and self-sufficiency.
• Exposing Spiritual Blindness 00:45:28 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor connects Saul's physical blindness to spiritual blindness, using Revelation 3:17 to warn against self-righteousness and the need to see one's need for a Savior.
• Halting Harmful Momentum 00:47:46 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes how Jesus stops the 'harmful momentum' of self-righteous attitudes and redirects individuals toward God's will.
• Rewriting Identity 00:49:41 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor introduces the concept that encountering Jesus rewrites a person's identity, allegiance, and purpose, citing Paul's shift from viewing his credentials as gains to loss.
• Identity and Allegiance 00:50:40 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that encountering Jesus shifts a person's allegiance from self to Christ, rewriting their identity and moving their mindset from me-centered to Christ-centered.
• Saul's Conversion 00:51:10 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor details Saul's encounter on the Damascus road, highlighting how Jesus revealed Himself, causing Saul to realize his error and shift from persecuting Christ to serving Him.
• Purpose and Passion 00:54:02 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor discusses how Jesus redefines purpose and redirects passion, using Saul's transition from a zealot persecuting the church to a servant of the gospel as the primary example.
• Personal Testimony 00:55:31 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his old coach's transformation after meeting Jesus, which inspired the pastor to become a preacher and share the gospel weekly.
• Invitation to Salvation 00:58:43 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor invites the congregation to stand and pray, offering a specific prayer for those who feel they are living in darkness or are lukewarm in their faith to surrender to Jesus.

• Sermon Illustration 00:25:14 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal story about his high school coach who was previously a 'rough as a cob' bachelor who cursed and acted immaturely, but was dramatically transformed after meeting a believer and surrendering his life to Jesus, becoming a powerful proclaimer of the gospel.
• Sermon Illustration 00:35:55 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references the biblical account of Saul's conversion on the Damascus road, where he was breathing out murderous threats against disciples before encountering Jesus.
• Sermon Illustration 00:34:23 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts the biblical narrative of Saul's persecution of the church, his journey to Damascus, and his sudden encounter with the blinding light and voice of Jesus.
• Sermon Illustration 00:37:26 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a 'deep fake' or 'fraud' to describe how Saul previously viewed Jesus before his conversion.
• Sermon Illustration 00:44:23 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references the proverb 'Do you want to make God laugh? You tell him your plans' to illustrate God's sovereignty over human agendas.
• Sermon Illustration 00:55:31 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts the story of his old coach who, after meeting Jesus, transformed from self-reliant to a new creation, serving the Lord daily and inspiring the pastor to become a gospel preacher.

• Pastoral Charge 00:35:26 ▶️ 📄
  > Write down the statement that everyone has an unattractive past and is in need of salvation.
• Pastoral Charge 00:41:41 ▶️ 📄
  > Write down the principle that Jesus disrupts self-reliance by shattering false security.
• Pastoral Charge 00:45:28 ▶️ 📄
  > Write down the principle that Jesus disrupts self-reliance by exposing spiritual blindness.
• Pastoral Charge 00:47:46 ▶️ 📄
  > Write down the principle that Jesus disrupts self-reliance by halting harmful momentum.
• Pastoral Charge 00:49:14 ▶️ 📄
  > Abandon self-reliance, acknowledge Jesus as Savior, and surrender to His leadership.
• Pastoral Charge 00:49:14 ▶️ 📄
  > Abandon self-reliance, acknowledge Jesus as Savior, and surrender to His Lordship.
• Pastoral Charge 00:58:43 ▶️ 📄
  > Stand to your feet and pray.

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:09:39] My name is Krista, and I'm so glad you came to worship with us today.
[00:09:45] Talk about a few things coming up around here at Watermark.
[00:09:49] First up, our Renew ministry is looking forward to hosting their first parenting workshop on Saturday, October 10th from 9 to 1.
[00:10:00] Oh, parenting, the joys and the challenges.
[00:10:03] this is a great opportunity to learn about godly parenting using biblical principles you can register using our new church center app or the qr code in your bulletin next up make sure you save the date for our watermark fall festival sunday october 18th from five to seven this is
[00:10:26] going to be a super awesome evening filled with fun food and fellowship bring the whole fam out invite your neighbors your friends it's going to be a great evening together next up any of you
[00:10:37] newer to watermark you should definitely check out testing the water on sunday october 25th following second service this is a wonderful opportunity to get to know pastor joel the church staff just learn more about our awesome church you can register the same way using the
[00:10:56] church planning center and also um your qr code online all right guys let's get back to worship

[00:11:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:11:02] every day we get to look forward to eternal life with you we thank you that because of you we are

[00:20:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:20:42] now set free from sin and that each day we are able to live in righteousness jesus we thank you for all that you did for us and we thank you that our eternity starts here that we get the
[00:20:58] opportunity to worship you now, to tell others about you now. God, we thank you for your son, and we thank you for every opportunity to gather like this and to sing of all that you've done,
[00:21:14] of all that you've given us. Thank you, Jesus, for being our living hope. It's in your precious

[00:21:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:21:20] name we pray. Well, good morning. Wow, it's so great to see the Lord's house full today, And I mean, fool, the first service had this many people.
[00:22:00] So that's remarkable.
[00:22:01] It's amazing what God's up to.
[00:22:02] I think people are just, you know, really excited, not only about what he's doing, you know, here in this church, excited about life right now, right?
[00:22:10] Today, this weekend, it's not today, but in a couple of days, Mark's the last weekend of summer.
[00:22:15] Did you know that?
[00:22:16] So fall is right around the corner.
[00:22:18] We have had a lot of 90 degree plus days.
[00:22:22] So I know you're looking forward, like me, to fall.
[00:22:24] And it starts, as I understand, on Tuesday about 8.04 p.m., I think, if anybody's tracking that.
[00:22:32] And the weather is going to change dramatically right after that.
[00:22:36] I was watching this morning. It's going to be pretty cool.
[00:22:38] We're going to be in the 70s for highs later this week.
[00:22:41] So, whew, that's going to feel good, right?
[00:22:44] It's going to kind of renew our spirits, refresh our lives a little bit, which is a good thing.
[00:22:49] you talk about renewed lives or new lives, lives made new. On Friday night here at worship night, we celebrated with 15 people who took the step of faith to be baptized as believers.
[00:23:04] That was phenomenal to be a part of that. And I'm so thankful for the lives that are being changed here in this church. And since we built that phase of our church, the bridge, and we
[00:23:14] opened it a couple of years ago next month, we have kind of been counting, keeping up with the numbers of people who are baptized in that pool because every, every life, every number represents life that has changed, right? Made new. And so as we were going into Friday night's baptism, we had
[00:23:32] 84. And you can track that by the little counter. There's a little chalkboard on the corner of that 84. So I was thinking all week long, I was thinking, wow, it'd be really cool if we could
[00:23:43] at a hundred, right? If we could just get to a hundred, that'd be awesome. But the Lord chose to land us on 99. Does that mean anything to you? You know, if you think about Luke chapter 15,
[00:23:57] I call those the beginning of the lost narrative. Jesus talking about how much lost people matter to God. And because lost people matter to God, they matter to you and me. So Jesus talks about the shepherd who left the 99 to go find the one. That's right. And that's what
[00:24:15] Jesus wants us to do. That's what we're about. So the next time we have a baptism here at Watermark, we'll see that one be baptized. And I hope a whole lot more, don't you? And he will. He will
[00:24:29] send many more. And maybe even today, he will change a life that will soon testify to their salvation in Jesus Christ by following through with the example he said in baptism. Maybe you.
[00:24:42] So today we're continuing this series we started last week. We're calling it Zeal. It's a study of the life of the Apostle Paul. Chasing a cause. Finding a Savior. You know I've heard it said
[00:24:54] that notorious conversions always grab public attention. And the truth is we're inspired by lives that are transformed, that are changed. In fact, I've also heard it said that nothing inspires people more than a changed life for Christ's glorious sake. So when I was a sophomore
[00:25:14] in high school, I had a young coach who was rough as a cob. I mean, this guy was, he was rough.
[00:25:22] Looking back, you know, he's probably around age 30 at the time. And I couldn't believe that when of sort of thinking through it because I was thinking, he seems so much older at the time.
[00:25:31] But when you're 16 or 17, 30 seems ancient. Now it seems like a baby. You know, I've got kids older than that now. So I think about that. But I remember him being about 30. And I remember being
[00:25:43] surprised at how inappropriate he acted a lot of times, how immature he acted. Even in the 80s, when nobody really talked about that kind of thing from coaches or teachers, he cursed with reckless abandon he said the kinds of things to then that would probably get somebody fired today
[00:26:03] now I was never aware of him doing anything inappropriate but his character the things he said just the way he acted was was not impressive in any way was a single guy acted like a wild and
[00:26:16] crazy bachelor guys you know joked all the time about how how nuts he was how crazy acted and at that point in his life, he was not highly respected by any of us and was certainly not
[00:26:30] any kind of positive role model. Well, when we came back to practice after summer break, one fall, I think it was my junior, maybe it was my senior year, we were greeted by what appeared
[00:26:44] to be a dramatically changed man. And clearly something transformative had happened in our coach's life. And gone was the cursing, the inappropriate comments, the foolish, the immature behavior. The coach we had known before summer break was now a brand new man. So we asked him,
[00:27:06] what happened? You know, what has happened to you, right? So he began to share his testimony with us. And back then, coaches, teachers could do that without fear of reprisal. So he did.
[00:27:18] he shared how he had met a woman who was a believer he liked her she wanted him to go to church so he went to church with her and there he heard the gospel proclaimed and he literally
[00:27:31] saw the light he admitted that he was a sinner in need of a savior and he surrendered his life to Jesus his life was truly and dramatically transformed it was changed and we could all see
[00:27:44] He went from a wretched sinner to a powerful proclaimer of the gospel, zealously sharing Christ with anyone who would listen, including us boys.
[00:27:56] He became an inspiration to me and to my friends.
[00:27:59] I'll never forget what the Lord did in that man's life.
[00:28:04] I knew that if Jesus could change him, that he could change anyone, anyone.
[00:28:10] and every time I think of my coach's conversion, I think of Saul's conversion. Every time I think of Saul's, I think of his. You know, it happens all the time. Lives dramatically transform and lost people see the light and Jesus takes hold of their hearts and he gives them a brand new life
[00:28:30] and a new purpose for living. You see, that's what happened for Saul when he saw the light on that Damascus road. Well, look at that today. You know, the truth is some of you know what
[00:28:42] happens when you come face to face with Jesus because you've experienced that. He changed you too in the same way he did my coach, in the same way he did with Saul. Some of you are like my
[00:28:55] coach even today before he met Jesus. You're still living in your own sinful way. Maybe you haven't thought much about your your sin and how it impacts you how it impacts others how it distances
[00:29:07] you from God some of you aren't really bad people in fact you consider yourself a really good person you're not like Saul was you're not like my coach was so you're not really sure you need Jesus
[00:29:22] some of you are searching today you're looking for a fresh start and a whole lot more than just lower temperatures, right? You're not sure if God would have you because you know you're living in
[00:29:34] darkness right now in your life. Here's the truth, no matter where you are in life's journey, no matter where you are in your faith journey, I don't think the Lord has you here today by accident. I think
[00:29:46] you're here on purpose. I think he has you here for a purpose today. I think the Lord has much to say to you today about what happens when you come face to face with Jesus, when you see the light.
[00:29:59] Before we dig into God's word today, let's pray. Our Lord, we thank you so much for the opportunity you've given us to be in your house. God, it's always wonderful to be able to sing these praises
[00:30:11] to you, to honor you. And God, as we continue our worship now by opening your word to take a closer look at the life of the Apostle Paul. God, we're going to look at his conversion today,
[00:30:25] how you met him on that Damascus road. God, I'm always inspired by the fact that you met him right there. You met him right where he was, but you sure didn't leave him there. You changed his life
[00:30:39] dramatically. And God, you can do that for every person in this room today. I pray that you will.
[00:30:45] I pray that you are. And God, I pray that you'll inspire us today in a fresh and new way.
[00:30:52] In Jesus' holy name, I pray. Amen. You know, I love to hear the stories of changed lives. I just do. You know, all of those 15 that I told you were baptized on Friday shared their testimonies
[00:31:04] with me, some in a paragraph or two, some in long, almost a, you know, short story.
[00:31:10] and the truth is that if you're a believer, if you're a follower of Jesus, you have a story to share. You have a testimony to share. It may not be as dramatic as my coach's was. It may not be
[00:31:23] as dramatic as the apostle Paul's was, but if you have come to know Jesus in a real and personal way as Savior and Lord of your life, he has changed you. If you've seen the light, he has changed you
[00:31:36] in some way. He continues to transform you, to make you more and more like Jesus every single day in every imaginable way. And because of that, you have a story to share. And it's powerful.
[00:31:50] It is inspiring. And I'm telling you, nothing inspires people more than changed lives for Jesus Christ's sake. So last week, as we kicked off this series, Zeal, we're taking a look at the life of
[00:32:04] the Apostle Paul. We discovered that Paul had a really dark before picture. You remember that?
[00:32:11] You know, we may not like to think about Paul's dark pre-Christian side. It makes us a little uncomfortable to consider his violent past. After all, Paul did pin two-thirds of our New Testament.
[00:32:24] He would become affectionately known as the Apostle of Grace. But the biblical record here can't be ignored. You see, before Paul met Jesus, he was a notorious hater of all things Christian.
[00:32:38] He saw Christ followers as heretics and a horrible threat to his beloved Jewish faith. He didn't believe anything that Jesus had to say, and he would have labeled him a fraud. He wanted any Jew
[00:32:52] who placed their faith in Jesus to be severely persecuted, imprisoned, and even murdered for Christ's sake to stop them from spreading what he saw as meaningless religious propaganda you know the scriptures attest to the depths of Paul's sinful past before he surrendered his life to
[00:33:12] Jesus in fact Paul himself described his past in many passages I'll I'll take a look at those a few of those with you this morning in one in particular he was brutally honest take a look at this one in
[00:33:27] In 1 Timothy 1.15, he writes, Here's a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.
[00:33:34] Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.
[00:33:41] Paul knew he was a wretched sinner in need of a Savior.
[00:33:46] I'll give you a few others where Paul spoke plainly and clearly about his dark past as a relentless persecutor of the early church and of Christ's followers.
[00:33:56] Here's what he wrote in Acts 22, 4 and 5.
[00:33:58] I persecuted the followers of this way to their death.
[00:34:03] Arresting both men and women.
[00:34:05] Throwing them in a prison.
[00:34:07] As a high priest and all the council can themselves testify.
[00:34:11] I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus.
[00:34:15] And I went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.
[00:34:21] In Acts 26, 9 and 10 he writes.
[00:34:23] I too was convinced that I ought to do all that is possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
[00:34:31] And that, that's just what I did in Jerusalem.
[00:34:35] On the authority of the chief priests, I put many of the Lord's people in prison.
[00:34:38] And when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.
[00:34:44] In Galatians 1, 13 and 14, For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how I intensely persecuted the church of God tried to destroy it I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my father you know Paul had a past and it wasn't pretty as some of you have an
[00:35:08] unattractive past too maybe you you didn't hate all things Christian but you you didn't have much of an appetite for Christianity either, or for following Jesus. Maybe you were a good person, at least by culture standards. So you didn't see yourself as a say center in need of a savior.
[00:35:26] Maybe you're there today. Here's the truth. You might write this down that before we meet Jesus, we all have a not so pretty past. That's an ugly past. You know, there's not a person in this world
[00:35:40] who is not in need of salvation we are all sinners desperately in need of a savior and paul was about to come face to face with his soon to be savior in this dramatic damascus road conversion experience
[00:35:55] i want to read it with you all about that in acts chapter 9 verses 1 and following here's what it says meanwhile saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the lord's disciples He went to the high priest and he asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus
[00:36:13] so that if he found any there who belonged to the way, whether men or women, that he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
[00:36:22] As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.
[00:36:30] He fell to the ground and he heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?
[00:36:38] Who are you, Lord?
[00:36:41] Saul asked.
[00:36:42] I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, he replied.
[00:36:47] Now get up and go into that city, and you'll be told what you must do.
[00:36:52] The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless.
[00:36:55] They heard the sound, but they didn't see anyone.
[00:36:58] Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes, he couldn't see anything.
[00:37:03] So they led him by the hand into Damascus.
[00:37:06] for three days. He was blind. He didn't eat or drink anything. You know, before that dramatic encounter with Jesus on the Damascus road, Paul believed that Jesus was a huge phony, that he was a deep fake, a frivolous fraud. He was continuing on this relentless crusade to stamp out
[00:37:26] all things Christian, the Christian movement that continued to gain traction despite his tireless efforts. Saul had targeted Damascus for his next assault of the early church, and you may wonder why Damascus? Why was he headed there? He was a man on a mission. After severely persecuting the
[00:37:46] church in Jerusalem, Saul learned that there was now a group of believers, a community of believers that had headed to Damascus, which was about 130 miles northeast of Jerusalem, to establish the community of believers there. So he had gotten permission from the high priest along with the
[00:38:04] documentation that he needed to support his nefarious work so he could root out these heretical followers of the way. And Saul didn't care who they were, men, women, it didn't matter.
[00:38:18] If they professed Jesus as Christ and they were spreading the gospel, in his mind they needed to be in prison and he was more than willing to make that happen. He would drag them back to Jerusalem
[00:38:30] to be thrown in jail where they could renounce Christ or they could rot there. He believed that's what God wanted him to do. Now I wonder, I wonder how quickly his mind changed. How about you?
[00:38:45] You know what I would say? I think it changed suddenly. Suddenly. Maybe seconds after he saw that blinding light from heaven that suddenly flashed before him, then hearing the glorious voice of Jesus himself, that same Jesus that Saul believed was dead and long gone. But now
[00:39:05] Saul would be gripped by the living Christ and forever changed. You know, there are some powerful and positive changes, I think, that happened in Paul's life when he met Jesus. And those same changes can and will happen for you and me when we see and when we surrender our lives to the
[00:39:27] glorious light who is Jesus Christ. So I'm going to give you two major changes, life changes that happen when we see the light. I think this happens for everyone who authentically surrenders to Jesus as savior and lord it can happen for you and for many of you it's happening right now the first
[00:39:49] thing that happens is this jesus disrupts your self-reliance i want you to look again at verses one through three of chapter nine meanwhile saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the lord's disciples he went to the high priest he asked him for letters to the synagogues in
[00:40:07] Damascus so that if he found any there who belonged to the way whether men or women he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem and as he neared Damascus on his journey suddenly a light
[00:40:18] from heaven flashed around him so here's the truth Saul was completely reliant on himself on his agenda his authority his confidence he had an agenda that was fueled by this own you know self-righteous mission to destroy all who were part of the way he was fire breathing murderous
[00:40:42] threats against the church and make no mistake these were no empty threats Paul had the authority he needed he was armed with it to pull all of these people that were followers of the way back
[00:40:55] to Jerusalem he had that authority from the high priest from the Sanhedrin so he was marching confidently toward Damascus, convinced that his way was the right way. In his mind, those following the way were headed the wrong way. So Paul had a path. He had a plan in his mind. But Jesus was
[00:41:17] about to radically disrupt Saul's self-reliance, his agenda, his authority, his confidence.
[00:41:26] and he'll do the same thing in your life too do you know how he does that he does that the same way he did in Saul's life and I'll tell you three ways he does that you might write this down Jesus
[00:41:41] disrupts your self-reliance when he shatters your false security Paul thought he knew what was best he had a plan it seemed right to him in fact in his mind he believed he was doing God a favor
[00:41:55] or by rounding up all of those so-called heretics.
[00:41:58] But Saul's false sense of security in his life plan was about to be shattered.
[00:42:05] Look at verse 3 again.
[00:42:07] As he neared Damascus on his journey, circle this word, suddenly, suddenly, a light from heaven flashed around him.
[00:42:18] Jesus has a way of decimating your false security and mine.
[00:42:25] suddenly. Saul had been on his zealous mission to stamp out Christianity for some time, yet God waited. He was poised to strike at exactly the right time when the message would be heard loudly and clearly. God didn't offer any warning ahead of time. He let Saul
[00:42:46] commence with his murderous plan until suddenly he intervened dramatically, changing the course of Saul's life isn't that the way God often works to destroy our false securities yours and mine suddenly without warning you think you have it all together right all is rocking and rolling in
[00:43:08] your world you're living your best life secure in your plan and your agenda until suddenly you're not it happens all the time and without warning life takes a sudden turn disrupting our self-reliance shattering our our false security they could come in the form of a job loss or with a health scare
[00:43:30] or with the death of a loved one suddenly you're reminded that you're not in control that god is that your plan may not match his plan maybe you've been there before you know god gets
[00:43:45] your attention in those moments doesn't he you know in proverbs we read this wisdom it's in Proverbs 16 9 in their hearts humans plan their course but the Lord establishes their steps in other words our sovereign God overrules our plans to fulfill his purpose as Saul had a plan
[00:44:07] but the Lord overruled his plan to fulfill his purpose now I've heard it said often you probably you have too. Do you want to make God laugh? You tell him your plans, right? You ever heard that?
[00:44:23] God laughs at that. He has a tremendous way of reminding us and often suddenly that he's in charge. He calls the shots, not us. We'd be wise to doggedly pursue his will. Isn't that what Jesus
[00:44:36] taught us to do? Isn't that what he taught us to pray? Thy will be done, not my will, your will, Lord let me ask you a question who are you relying on these days yourself or the Lord
[00:44:52] whose will are you seeking these days is it yours or is it his where do you get your confidence where do you find your security is it in yourself or is it in him because if we forget
[00:45:05] he has a way of reminding us and often suddenly some of you know exactly what I'm talking about others of you will you see Jesus disrupts your self-reliance when he shatters your false security but not only that write this down he disrupts your self-reliance when he exposes your spiritual
[00:45:28] blindness take a look at verse 8 Saul got up from the ground but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing can you imagine how Saul must have felt in that moment you know helpless dazed
[00:45:42] confused, right? I would have. I can't see. He must have been at least a little panicked in that moment when he opened his eyes. He saw nothing but darkness. I know I would have been, but that's
[00:45:57] exactly what God wanted him to see. The truth is that Saul thought he knew God, that he could clearly see God's will, God's plan, God's truth. After all, as one of the religious elite, he
[00:46:10] believed he was spiritually enlightened but in reality he was living in spiritual darkness spiritually blind far from God see the Lord calls Saul to see literally where his heart really was in that moment and darkness it reminds me of the words of the church at to the church at Laodicea
[00:46:31] and maybe to us right in fact could be to any of us in this room Revelation 3 17 says you say I am rich. I have acquired wealth. I don't need a thing. But you don't realize that you're wretched
[00:46:47] and pitiful and poor, blind and naked. You know, the truth is some of you may think you have it all together. You're rich in your mind by the world's standards. You're self-sufficient. You're self-righteous. The world tells you to be. You're in need of nothing. Yet you're living in spiritual
[00:47:07] darkness and depravity and far from God. Some of you may be there today or you know someone who is.
[00:47:14] The Lord has a way of exposing our spiritual darkness, our blindness, and sometimes suddenly.
[00:47:24] So I ask you this, what do you see when you open your spiritual eyes? Do you see darkness?
[00:47:31] because Jesus wants you to see his glorious light.
[00:47:37] So Jesus disrupts your self-reliance when he exposes your spiritual blindness.
[00:47:44] But not only that, write this down.
[00:47:46] He also disrupts your self-reliance when he halts your harmful momentum.
[00:47:53] Lord has a way of halting self-righteous, self-reliant attitudes in their tracks.
[00:47:59] He can bring our hurtful and harmful habits to a dead stop. And in an instant, that's what he did with Saul. Jesus stopped him in his tracks.
[00:48:08] In fact, he put him on his high den, right? Knocked him there. In the blink of an eye, Paul's whole world would be changed. His agenda disrupted. His evil plans thwarted. In fact, years later, Paul would write in Philippians 3, 7, but whatever were gains to me, I now consider
[00:48:27] loss for the sake of Christ. And Paul would come to realize that his own lofty credentials were no benefit when compared to the glories of Christ, knowing and fully following Jesus as Savior and Lord. I'm going to ask you another question. What is your agenda in life? Because the truth is some
[00:48:49] of you are moving fast in the opposite direction the Lord wants you to go. You're embracing habits or attitudes or lifestyles that are not from him, that are not for his glory. He can stop your
[00:49:02] harmful momentum and he can get you headed in the direction that he wants for your life. And he can do it today. But you must abandon self-reliance and acknowledge him as savior and surrender to
[00:49:14] him as Lord and his leadership in your life. Some of you are really close to that. So close. In fact, that may be why you're here today. Jesus is ready to disrupt your self-reliance and maybe
[00:49:28] maybe suddenly maybe maybe now just like he did with Saul. When you see the light that's what he does but he does one other thing. He makes one other major change in your life that I want you
[00:49:41] to know. When you see the light Jesus rewrites your identity. When Saul encountered Jesus on that road it changed everything for him rewriting his identity including his allegiance and his purpose take a look again at verses four and five he fell to the ground and he heard a voice say to
[00:50:00] him Saul Saul why why do you persecute me who are you Lord Saul asked I am Jesus whom you are persecuting he replied Jesus Jesus had Saul right where he wanted him now Saul was about to discover
[00:50:19] that this Jesus, this Jesus he aimed to disparage and discredit and attempt to destroy was right in front of him. And when Saul encountered Jesus on that Damascus road, it changed everything for him. And when you meet Jesus, it will change everything for you too. I want you to note this,
[00:50:40] Jesus rewrites your identity when he changes your allegiance.
[00:50:46] You shift when you meet Jesus, when you see the light.
[00:50:51] You shift from serving yourself to serving him.
[00:50:54] Your mindset moves from me-centered to Christ-centered.
[00:50:59] Your allegiance changes to his values and his agenda and his will for your life.
[00:51:04] So when Jesus had Saul's attention, he asked him that life-changing question.
[00:51:10] Why are you persecuting me?
[00:51:13] Saul was running from Jesus.
[00:51:15] He was doing all that he could to destroy everything that Jesus had come to do.
[00:51:20] He wanted no part of any of it.
[00:51:22] Yet in this pivotal moment, when Saul heard Jesus' voice and was confronted with who Jesus really was, Saul asked this question.
[00:51:34] Who are you, Lord?
[00:51:38] You know what?
[00:51:39] You know what was representative of that question?
[00:51:43] This truth.
[00:51:45] He was ready.
[00:51:46] He was now ready.
[00:51:48] His heart was suddenly softened.
[00:51:50] His eyes were now open to the truth.
[00:51:53] He was ready to know who this Jesus was.
[00:51:57] And in that moment, Jesus revealed himself to Saul.
[00:52:01] I am Jesus who you are persecuting.
[00:52:07] Saul thought Jesus was dead.
[00:52:08] He thought his legacy was fraudulent, his message a lie.
[00:52:12] But in that moment, Saul realized that Jesus was alive, that the gospel was true, and that he was lost and living in darkness and desperately in need of salvation.
[00:52:24] From that moment forward, Saul's allegiance changed.
[00:52:28] He moved from serving his own murderous agenda against Christ to serving Christ's glorious gospel agenda to a lost, a broken, and dark world.
[00:52:39] Paul would later testify in Galatians 2.20, I've been crucified with Christ.
[00:52:44] I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
[00:52:48] The life I now live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and who gave Himself for me.
[00:52:57] Paul had a new life in Christ.
[00:52:59] and when you meet Jesus he'll change your allegiance too here's the question are your eyes open to the truth are you ready for Jesus to reveal himself fully to you maybe you've been running from him maybe you haven't been persecuting him but you've been running from him maybe you
[00:53:21] thought that you were good enough like the church at Laodicea you thought you were rich enough you are in need of nothing but yet maybe in this moment Jesus is revealing himself to you he's
[00:53:33] ready to change you your values your agenda your plans and if you've surrendered your life to him let me just ask you what are you still yet unwilling to release to his control to his will
[00:53:47] you see Jesus was right he rewrites your identity when he changes your allegiance But finally, Jesus rewrites your identity when he redefines your purpose and redirects your passion.
[00:54:02] Look at verses 6 and following.
[00:54:03] Now get up, go into the city, you'll be told what you must do.
[00:54:08] The men traveling with Saul stood there.
[00:54:09] They were speechless.
[00:54:10] They heard the sound, didn't see anyone.
[00:54:12] Saul got up from the ground, and when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing.
[00:54:17] So they led him by the hand into Damascus.
[00:54:22] for three days he was blind. He didn't eat or drink anything. Saul was filled with plenty of zeal, or as we learned last week, zelos in Greek. He burned white hot to persecute the church and
[00:54:36] all those associated with the way. But now Jesus captured Saul's heart. He redefined his purpose.
[00:54:44] He redirected his passion. Jesus would soon reveal a new path, a new plan, a new agenda for Saul.
[00:54:52] Let me tell you something, when you meet Jesus, when you see the light, when you surrender your life to him, he redefines your purpose. He redirects your passion. If you know him, are you passionately serving him and his agenda on purpose and for a purpose? Are you living your
[00:55:15] life with one goal in mind, as we say around here, to make an impression and to leave a mark for Jesus Christ. When my old coach met Jesus, everything changed in him. He was no longer
[00:55:31] self-reliant or self-centered or self-righteous. He became a new creation, an inspiring example for impressionable young men, just like me, ready to serve the Lord every day and in every imaginable way I knew that if Jesus could change him he could change anyone and I think it was in
[00:55:59] part his transformational story that the Lord used to inspire me to become a gospel preacher to surrender my life to his leadership to serving him to weekly sharing the gospel with those who may yet be lost and far from Him.
[00:56:20] And so every week I do that.
[00:56:22] Thinking, trusting, believing that somebody will see the light just like He did.
[00:56:32] Just like I have.
[00:56:34] Just like many of you have.
[00:56:36] And maybe one of you will today.
[00:56:39] That's my hope.
[00:56:41] So Paul knew that he knew who he was before he met Jesus on that Damascus road.
[00:56:47] And he knew who he was after that glorious encounter.
[00:56:52] You know, I read for you earlier 1 Timothy 1.15.
[00:56:55] I'm going to read it again.
[00:56:57] And this time I'm going to add 16.
[00:57:00] Here's a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.
[00:57:04] Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst.
[00:57:09] But for that very reason, I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His immense patience as an example for those who would believe in Him and receive eternal life,
[00:57:25] Paul became a glorious example of a life transformed, of a life changed.
[00:57:35] There's nothing more inspiring in this world than a changed life for Christ's sake.
[00:57:42] A person who recognizes that God has been remarkably patient with them, waiting for just the right time in just the right moment, just as he did with Paul, when suddenly God spoke to his heart
[00:57:55] because he knew he was ready to receive the message.
[00:58:00] Maybe that's you today.
[00:58:02] Maybe you're hearing this and for the very first time, you're seeing the light.
[00:58:07] You get it.
[00:58:08] Some of you in this room have seen the light.
[00:58:10] It may be a long time ago and years ago, but maybe you've kind of become like I mentioned that church at Laodicea.
[00:58:17] You kind of thought, I've got it all laid out.
[00:58:19] I've got it all figured out.
[00:58:20] everything's good you become kind of complacent in your faith kind of comfortable not really active you're not really burning white hot for Christ's sake to make an impression leave a mark for Jesus Christ in this world
[00:58:33] so today maybe that changes for you and I hope it will I want to invite you to stand to your feet I want to pray with you I want to pray for you for just a moment
[00:58:43] Father I thank you so much for your word I thank you for the way you moved in Paul's life.
[00:58:51] God, his story, his conversion story is dramatic.
[00:58:55] Some of us in this room have that kind of story.
[00:58:58] Others of us, God, don't.
[00:59:00] It's been more of a gradual journey for us, an opportunity for us to realize the truth that we're all sinners in need of a Savior.
[00:59:09] But we've surrendered our lives to Him.
[00:59:11] God, some in this room have been followers for a long time, but maybe they've gotten cold in their faith or even just lukewarm at best, God?
[00:59:19] Would you make us hot again?
[00:59:21] And white hot for Christ's sake?
[00:59:23] Would you use us in a powerful way to make an impression and leave a mark for Him?
[00:59:31] And God, if there's one in this room today that one lost sheep has heard this gospel proclaimed and would say, God, I see the light.
[00:59:45] I've been living in darkness.
[00:59:46] I'm a sinner in need of a Savior.
[00:59:49] and I know Jesus came to die on Calvary's cross to pay my sins penalty of death I know my sin separates me from you and it has for a long time God I've been too far from you
[01:00:04] I want to come near to you I want you to draw near to me and I know the only way to do that is through Jesus never anything I could do no way I could earn it
[01:00:13] or work for it but he's already done the work for me so I acknowledge that And by faith, I ask Him to be my Savior and Lord today.
[01:00:23] I don't know all that means, but I know you'll teach me.
[01:00:26] So God, make me a brand new creation today.
[01:00:31] I want to find my identity in you.
[01:00:35] I want to live for you.
[01:00:37] I pray it in Jesus' holy and precious name.
[01:00:40] Amen.

[01:00:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[01:00:41] There was a moment when the lights went out.
[01:01:16] When death had claimed its victory.
[01:01:20] The King of love had given up his life The darkest day in history Every curse is blood atone One final breath in him

[01:01:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[01:01:52] We know King Jesus today. He is holy. He is holy.

[01:06:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:06:29] And I was thinking about that as we were singing it even earlier today.
[01:06:32] I was thinking about that holiness that we as his followers, faithful followers, We trust in him as Savior and Lord of our lives, that we are holy as he is holy.
[01:06:43] You know what that means?
[01:06:44] That we are set apart.
[01:06:46] We are set apart from culture in a very special way to honor him with our lives, to make him known, as we say around here, to make an impression and to leave a mark for Jesus Christ in this world.
[01:06:58] So be holy this week as he is holy.
[01:07:02] Hail the name of Jesus.
[01:07:03] Make him known in this world.
[01:07:06] share your testimony, the life-changing truth about what Jesus has done for you. There are people in your life and your sphere of influence who are desperate to hear that. So make him known.
[01:07:20] And if you can't do it, then invite them to this place and I'll make him known. Amen. We'll do it together. It takes all of us for Christ's sake. Guys, I want to thank you so much for being here
[01:07:30] today. And if you prayed earlier to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord of your life, if you have seen the light today, I want to welcome you to the family of believers. Amen. We're here to encourage
[01:07:48] you in your faith journey. And by the way, if you're watching online, you've made that decision too. You reach out to me. Let me know that. We want to encourage you in your faith journey,
[01:07:58] continue to pray with you, talk with you about next steps in your journey. It doesn't stop there.
[01:08:03] He wants to make you in a fully devoted disciple, a follower of His, so we'll help you with that so reach out to me if you want to pray with someone our Renewed Ministry shepherds are available
[01:08:16] to pray with you and if you have any need today that you'd like someone to lift up with you, you see those shepherds wearing those gold lanyards in the bridge, they'd love to pray with you, they're more than willing to do that
[01:08:28] guys, thank you so much for being here today I hope you have a wonderful week, and I hope I see you next week. But before we leave this place to go on our way, let's pray.
[01:08:42] God, we thank you so much for this day. God, we're just so grateful for the opportunity you've given us to come together like this. God, to hell, the name of Jesus, to be able to worship you,
[01:08:56] to acknowledge you for your holiness, for your goodness, for your graciousness in every way.
[01:09:02] God, thank you so much for the salvation you offered to the Apostle Paul.
[01:09:07] God, thank you for the salvation that you offered to each of us.
[01:09:10] And I pray as we leave this place today that we would go in the power of the Holy Spirit, that you would use us to make an impression and to leave a mark for Jesus Christ's sake.
[01:09:20] We pray it in His glorious, His redemptive, His holy name.
[01:09:26] And all God's people said,