This week's Sermon @ First B Jackson January 26th

In one paragraph

Before the sermon, Pastor Carl introduced Steve Gilmore, a longtime valley resident and pastor from Driggs who has worked in recovery ministry for over twenty years. Steve announced a twelve-week neurotheology and recovery program launching at the church, combining brain science and inner healing, open to anyone who wants to live with more joy. The sermon then picked up in Acts 9, walking through...

Read together

1. Acts 9:1 starting point for the sermon, where the narrative of Saul begins
2. Acts 6:8-10 describing Stephen as full of grace and power, performing miracles, and being debated by men from various synagogues including Cilicia
3. Philippians 3 Paul describing his religious credentials before his conversion, circumcised on the eighth day, tribe of Benjamin, Pharisee, persecutor of the church, blameless under the law
4. Galatians Paul saying he was advancing in Judaism beyond his contemporaries, extremely zealous for ancestral traditions
5. Romans 7 Paul's exposition on coveting and the law, doing the things he does not want to do and not doing the things he wants to do
6. Matthew Jesus telling disciples that those who kill them will think they are doing God a favor
7. Matthew 25 whatsoever you have done to the least of these my brothers, you have done to me
8. Isaiah 55:8 his ways are not our ways, his thoughts are not our thoughts, referenced when Jesus calls Saul his chosen instrument
9. 2 Corinthians 11 list of some of the sufferings Paul endured, including being lowered over a wall

Talk about it

1. Pastor Carl described Saul as someone who was 'advancing in Judaism beyond many of his contemporaries' and who believed he was doing God a favor by persecuting Christians. Have you ever been absolutely convinced you were right about something that turned out to be completely wrong? What did that realization feel like?
2. In Romans 7, Paul writes about doing the very things he did not want to do and failing to do the things he wanted to do. Pastor Carl connected that directly to addiction and to patterns like doom scrolling. Where do you see that same pattern showing up in your own life?
3. When Jesus confronts Saul on the road, he does not say 'you are persecuting my followers.' He says 'you are persecuting me.' Pastor Carl pointed out that Jesus identifies himself with his church that personally. How does that change the way you think about how you treat other people in this congregation?
4. Ananias pushed back on God's instructions and laid out exactly why sending him to Saul seemed like a terrible idea, and God said go anyway. When has God asked you to do something that made no sense to you at the time, and how did you respond?
5. Pastor Carl noted that after three days of blindness and fasting, one of the first things the text records about Saul's restoration is that he got up, was baptized, ate some food, and regained his strength. Steve Gilmore also talked about the brain science of recovery and the importance of doing it together with other people. What does this story suggest to you about what genuine transformation actually looks like in a person's life?