We Can Make A Big Difference For God! Series

We Can Make a Big Difference for God!

Acts 9:1-18

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - Jan. 26, 2014

INTRODUCTION:

*Our God likes to use little things to make a big difference in His world. Max Lucado pointed this fact out, when he wrote:

-"That guy who gave Jesus the donkey on Palm Sunday is just one of the long line of folks who gave little things to a big God. Scripture has quite a gallery of donkey-givers. In fact, heaven may have a shrine to honor God's uncommon use of the common. It's a place you won't want to miss. Stroll through and see Rahab's rope, David's sling, and Samson's jawbone. Wrap your hand around the staff which split the sea and smote the rock." (1)

*I also think of the widow's mite, and the little boy's lunch that Jesus miraculously multiplied to feed over 5,000 men, plus women and children. God surely uses little things to make a big difference in His world. And we can see this truth tonight in the life of Ananias.

*Most every Christian knows about the incredible way God used the Apostle Paul. But God also used Ananias in a wonderful way, and God can use us too.

1. So, how can we make a big difference for God? -- First: It's by God's greatness.

*We have to keep focused on God's greatness. And in vs. 1-5, God gives us a glimpse of His greatness. We see it when the Lord revealed Himself to Saul.

1. Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest

2. 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.

3. And as he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.

4. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?''

5. And he said, "Who are You, Lord?'' And the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.''

*How great is our God? -- Great enough to keep watch over all His flock, as they were being persecuted by men like Saul, and great enough to keep His eye on those evil people who were trying to hurt the Lord's church.

*How great is our God? -- Great enough to shine brighter than the sun, great enough to knock Paul or anyone else to the ground, and great enough to strike Paul with blindness.

*But why did the Lord do that? -- Todd Coget explained that "Christ had to flash a bright light from heaven to get Saul's attention. And God had to do something drastic in Saul's life to get him to understand the truth. Christ physically blinded Saul to tell him that he was spiritually blind as well. Christ blinded Saul to let him know that he wasn't seeing the truth. He wasn't seeing God. He wasn't seeing Scriptures correctly. He wasn't seeing the Way to God. And he wasn't seeing what God wanted him to do with his life." (2)

*It turns out there are some very good reasons why Jesus blinded Saul. And the Lord has the power to do it. We serve a God who has all power. There is nothing good that He can't do!

*Listen to this description of Jesus from Colossians 1:15-17 in the New Living Translation:

15. Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation.

16. Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see-kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through him and for him.

17. He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation together.

*Church: That's our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! That's our God!

2. And we can make a big difference for God, if we will be mindful of His greatness. -- But it's also by His grace.

*In 1 John 4, the Bible tells us that "God is love," and in this Scripture, we see a most amazing display of His love. God loved Paul enough to stop him on the Damascus Road that day. But this miraculous encounter is much more surprising when we remember what Saul was like at the time.

*Listen to vs. 1-2 again:

1. Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest

2. 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.