When God Shows Up

Welcome.....take time to praise the Lord.....

Our theme this year is, With God All Things Are Possible or With God Nothing Shall

Be Impossible.....elaborate...

Please turn with me in your bibles to Acts 9 verses 1 through 15. Let’s all stand and read together. Please tell someone, expect the impossible.

My to-pic for today is, When God Shows Up. When God shows up as it did in Saul’s

case, whose name was changed to Paul, three things happened;

Number One - There was conviction. In verse 5 of our text Saul asks the question, "Who

art thou, Lord?" Number Two - There was conversion. In verse 6 of our text Saul asks

another question, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Number Three - There was

consecration. In verse 15 of our text, the Lord said about saul, "Go thy way; for he is a

chosen vessel unto me".....

Saul was on a mission to destroy the people of God. Let’s look at verses 1 and 2 of our

text (read) Saul was on a mission of destruction in persecuting God’s people. The bible

says he was breathing out threatenings and slaughter...............he obtained legal documents

from the high priest to carry out his plans..........elaborate......

While Saul was on his way to carry out his destructive scheme, in the mids’t of his

planning and scheming, God showed up. Let’s look at verses 3 and 4 of our text (read)

I want somebody to know that God has a way of showing up uninvited. It is true that

God is everywhere. It is true that we can’t hide from God; but what would you do if God

suddenly showed up, and you knew without a doubt it was God? Some of us would be

shocked if God showed up. Some of us would be wondering what’s going on, if God

showed up.............elaborate....

As Christians, sometimes we might wonder if God has taken a vacation. Sometimes we

might wonder where is God when we need Him. Saul thought he was doing alright. He

thought he was pleasing God. He thought he was in the will of God, when suddenly God

showed up..........elaborate....

Sometimes we might feel God has abandoned us. Sometimes we might feel all our hope is

lost, when God suddenly shows up............

Let me pose a few questions to you today. What would you do if God suddenly showed

up at your house one day? What would you do if God suddenly showed up on your job?

What would you do if God suddenly showed up while you were on the telephone being

critical? What would you do if God suddenly showed up while you were watching the late

night movies on Saturday night, knowing you had to go to church the following morning?

Would you change anything, or would you just continue doing what you were doing?

Saul thought what he was doing was alright, but in the mids’t of his doing, God showed

up......elaborate.....

Whenever God shows up, we cannot be the same any more. Whenever God shows up he

changes things.............elaborate......... When God showed up in Saul’s life, conviction

reached him, and he asked the question, Who art thou, Lord? Tell me something, I want

to know. Can you hear the Lord saying, Saul, I am glad you asked that question, so let me

tell you who I am. I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Let’s all be very careful in

attempting to persecute a child of God. Because in persecuting a child of God, we would

be persecuting Jesus himself.......elaborate.. Saul was confronted with Jesus himself, and

he had to account for his actions. Saul, just in case you did not know, I am the Son of the

one whom you love so much; I am the Son of God. I am the one who came to save people

from their sins. I am the door...........I am the way, the Truth and the Life............I am the

light of the world.......... I am the Alpha and the Omega.......I am the first and the

Last.........Saul in order to get to God you have to go through me.............elaborate....

Saul now that you have been told who I am, what are you going to do? When conviction

reaches us, and we have been told who Jesus is, then it is time for a change to take place;

it is time for conversion. Saul saw himself condemned; he saw himself guilty before God;

he saw himself lost and undone; and so he submitted himself to the will of the Lord. In

verse 6 we read these words (read) Saul made himself available to be used by God, Lord,

what wilt thou have me to do?.......elaborate...

How do you see yourself before God right now? Saul thought he was doing fine, but