Be Disciples Podcast
Discipleship Podcast - Dakota Smith, Kyle R. Morris and David Glavin walk through the Bible for the purpose of equipping their listeners to disciple others. To live as a disciple of Jesus Christ, all followers of Jesus are commanded to proclaim the gospel and teach people the word of God (Matt 28:18-20).
Be Disciples Podcast
Acts: Embracing God's Plan
Explore the inspiring story of Saul's journey from a notorious persecutor of Christians to one of the most influential Apostles spreading the gospel and writing much of the New Testament. We'll examine how his spiritual regeneration led him to spend time with other disciples of Christ, learning more about Jesus and using this knowledge to proclaim Him as the Messiah in synagogues, despite his past notoriety. Witness the awe-inspiring change in Saul as he becomes Paul, a testament to God's miraculous power.
We all have our own unique stories of becoming born again and engaging in early ministry. Reflect with us on the maturing process that each Christian goes through and the realization that God has a plan for our lives, even when it may not seem clear at the moment. We encourage you to savor the present, to grow and learn, and to trust in God's plan. So, sit back and immerse yourself in this exciting episode, celebrating the power of discipleship and the growth of the church!
Welcome to the Be Disciples podcast. With your hosts, kyle Morris and Dakota Smith. We are here to continue our study in the book of Acts. Dakota, how are you today?
Speaker 2:I'm good man. It's been a busy week for you, though.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's been pretty busy. The summertime is a time for our youth group to do a lot of ministry, right, because they're out of school and they're able to do some extra things. So we've got something we call Shade Tree Bible Club for the next two weeks, where our youth are out teaching children the gospel. They're the teachers for the next two weeks And I actually get to sit back, watch, listen, critique, give them feedback, pray over them, be there for support, things like that. So right now they're at a church in a place called Homewood, kansas.
Speaker 2:Just north of us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's just a little tiny farming community where they have a church there. It's been pretty faithful, been there for a long time And so they're there. And then they're going to be in Ottawa at one of our church members' homes next week.
Speaker 1:And so, if you're listening, pray for them. They get to share the gospel with kids And even though it's fun it's with songs and games and puppets and missionary stories and teaching God's word and sharing the gospel each and every day It's just a great time for them to be equipped. It is for children, but they still get to learn the foundation And when you take something that you've been learning for a while and then you teach it, it builds a stronger foundation.
Speaker 2:And confidence too, confidence to keep going and doing it. They are fulfilling, excuse me, the vision of our church, which is to live sent. We want to teach our people how to do that, and what better way than to send your youth to different locations around the surrounding community to bring the gospel to others? So there's that. And then this summer, later on, you have a summer camp with the youth in the silent springs.
Speaker 1:Yep Narcansaw, so that'll be a good week just to spend time with them hanging out as they grow, where they get to be the ones sitting and learning and also having fun. I think they had a lot of fun last year.
Speaker 2:This will be their second year going, so yeah it'll be good, be more used to the rhythm of actual summer camp.
Speaker 1:Yeah, There'll be less of the unknown. You know there's always the nervousness of going somewhere new. And they won't have that this year because they've already been there. It's more of an excitement of, oh, we get to do that again. So that's a different feeling, a more natural feeling to a youth group when you've gone through a few seasons with them. So that's been a lot of fun. And we also just had a men's discipleship meeting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, on Sunday.
Speaker 1:Extremely encouraging.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was encouraging. Upstairs in the activity center We had a men's discipleship meeting, just wanting to survey different men. What do you feel like you need in being ministered to as a man? and practicality when do you think you can actually meet? And it was really fun just to see the entire room. I think we had 35 guys and I know we had another about 10 who said they wanted to be there but just physically couldn't. So there's an enthusiasm. And when you see the men of the church rising up and saying I want more man, is that a healthy thing. And when it's multi-generational in nature older guys, younger guys, middle-aged guys and they're all coming together that starts to build for a pretty powerful church.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it's cool when you get a group of guys and a few of them really speak up about their needs. I need to learn spiritual discipline. I need a deeper understanding of God's word.
Speaker 2:I need to know how to respond to the culture, how to lead my family, my wife.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And so when you get a few guys saying that all, and then all the heads are nodding yes, And you know that then everyone starts to build a trust. That's right. Well, we're all in the same boat. We all maybe do different things and have different personalities and all this different stuff One's a farmer and one's an engineer and one's a school teacher And there's all kinds in the room but they're all there for the same reason and that's the gospel and they want to know God more. And so it's encouraging to see a bunch of men step up and we've invested in some men already who are in teaching roles or now leadership roles, And this is the kind of a bigger wave of men to now take and to grow, And hopefully you see some of them become leaders And even if they don't come leaders in the church, they're leaders in their homes, raising their children to know the Lord, And that's really important.
Speaker 2:So this is a great segue to our podcast, because one of the in fact our very first guest that we had was Tim Reed from Arizona Christian or Southwestern Bible College, And his famous phrase is always be a disciple, make a disciple, And that's literally the heartbeat of this podcast. That's why we call it be disciples podcast, because if you're a disciple then you should be making a disciple, And I think the reason why I'm kind of on this point right now is the men that we have invested in this is now a great opportunity for them to go invest into the men who are already hungry. that multiplies the extension of our efforts and then, going forward, you hope that those men would then disciple other men and it continues to grow and multiply and catch momentum in the church. So that's how it's done. You start with a group of faithful men who buy in completely. you give them the tools and the resources and then you send them and then they have a group and then they teach and then it multiplies and multiplies. So, needless to say, it's exciting times at Ottawa Bible Church.
Speaker 2:Sunday, You know a summer service. both services were full, Like that was. that's exciting. It's exciting to see it could have been more full, but it's exciting to see enthusiasm even in what's considered a downtime during the calendar year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think, even with people on vacation and doing things, there's some that I'm feeling they're still engaged weekly. Even if it's not on Sunday morning, they're either serving in some capacity, still engaged in the work of the ministry. And that's what you want is, even when you're gone on a vacation, they're still engagement because they are the body of Christ And you don't just remove yourself from the body of Christ for a while and then try to and then come back. No, you're always a part of it. Even on vacation you're a part of the body of Christ.
Speaker 2:So it's hard to disengage, yeah.
Speaker 1:It's really cool to see all of that taking place, but we are in the book of Acts, we're in chapter nine, and we're actually talking about a guy by the name of Saul who has just been converted on the road to Damascus, is now in Damascus, has met a guy named Ananias and who the Lord told Ananias and Saul that they would be meeting each other through dreams, and gave that to them, and so now we're going to see the beginning of a I would call a line of discipleship That is probably one of the most famous, in which we get most of the New Testament from, and so this is the beginning of that, and so let's read chapter nine. We're going to be starting in verse 19.
Speaker 2:Yeah, why don't you pray for us and we'll start?
Speaker 1:All right. Dear Lord, father, thank you for the ability to record and just talk about the Bible. Lord, the Bible is what we should be most faithful to, because it is the truth and it is your word, your words, that you want us to follow. So, lord, equip us in your words so that, as we go about our lives, we understand what it means to know you, to follow you, to glorify your name, to live in godliness, so that when we get to heaven, when we stand before you, you will say well done, good and faithful servant. So, thank you for all who are listening. Prepare their hearts that they would use this as a ministry in their own lives, but that they would out pour into other people. In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 2:Amen, amen. Verse 18, where we were at in the last podcast, just says and Immediately after Ananias had prayed over Saul, there fell from his eyes something like scales and he regained his sight and he got up And was baptized. Verse 19 and he took food and was strengthened. Now today's text and I'll read a few and then we'll stop when we'll talk. Now, for several days He was with the disciples who were at Damascus and immediately He began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying he is the son of God. All those hearing him continued to be amazed and we're saying is this not he who, in Jerusalem, destroyed those who called on this name and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests? but Saul kept increasing and strength and Confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ. So Kyle 19 to 22. I'm sure there's a little bit that we can chew on here. It's interesting what the New Testament has to say about Saul, who's been born again and, really, the results of that spiritual regeneration.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the first verse tells us that he was spending some days with the disciples. So before he, it says the next verse, he immediately. But he spent some days with the disciples. So whoever was in Damascus who are followers of Christ and we're not necessarily talking about the Apostles He was spending time with. He was spending time with disciples, which is followers of Christ, but that was Ananias and whoever else was there most likely.
Speaker 1:You know, hanging out getting to know, like, hey, who are the other for Christ followers? What do you guys know? What have you heard learning? You know, because, at this point, saul has just been a persecutor of Christians. Right, you guys have called Jesus the Messiah. That is wrong and you're gonna be persecuted for it. Now he's on the other side. Okay, jesus came to me, proved that he is who he says he is. How about? can you guys tell me more about who this Jesus is? because I've just been writing him off.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's got to learn something and I get it now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, help me almost being a little educated, and remember Saul is a very educated man in the scriptures. So absolutely We're not talking about some guy who knows nothing the equivalent of three PhDs.
Speaker 2:I once heard yeah so. Smart dude.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're talking about a smart guy. So I would say, the information that he's gaining and making the connections of scripture You know, which would be our Old Testament to Jesus prophecy, all that I get, he's probably just like Taking this all in and making all these connections. So then, as he, as he does that, it says he immediately went to the synagogues like I can't leave that, i can't keep this inside. I'm. I'm Saul, for one, they're gonna let me come in there because I'm Saul, right, and then I'm gonna tell them that Jesus is the Messiah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, hey, guys, i got it all wrong. I'm so sorry. Yeah, you the Christians out there, yeah, i try to kill them, but I'm wrong. I'm actually wrong. Yeah, what?
Speaker 1:no, like I was just trying to think of somebody like modern day, someone who's just not for Christ and all of a sudden just is like, well, i'm wrong. Christ is the king, he's the Messiah. I'm following him.
Speaker 2:I mean, this is not a perfect parallel, but can you imagine like a Richard Dawkins one day being like, oh my gosh, i've been wrong the whole time, and he goes back to the atheist community and he starts preaching to them again? Not a perfect parallel, but yeah, I mean maybe of some of this a similar weight. It was shock and awe for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, i mean any public figure that would that has spoken against Christ, persecuted, the, you know people who follow the gospel and then all of a sudden just saying I'm wrong and now I'm gonna proclaim it. What an amazing thing. And so so he immediately does that, so he, he's being discipled, he immediately goes and proclaims it, that Jesus is the Son of God.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm. Verse 21 says they weren't just amazed. All those hearing him continued to be amazed, which means amazement overtook them on multiple occasions.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and they asked the question. it says in there Is this not the man who erect havoc in Jerusalem for those who called?
Speaker 2:Jesus, yeah, David twin.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like, who is this guy? We, we know him as somebody we were afraid of. But it's interesting that you know Saul doesn't like He is hanging out with some of the disciples and I'm sure whoever knew Ananias, and they were trusting of Ananias to be around Saul because, remember, saul, still the persecutor of Christians, that's what he's known as. So but Saul doesn't say, hey, give me an audience with the rest of the Christians around here. So I was, no, i'm gonna go to the synagogue, because the synagogue is the place in which people are not proclaiming Christ, and I'm gonna go there and proclaim Christ like Jesus did.
Speaker 1:He went into the synagogues in time And so we see him going straight to the Jews Because he would get the audience and he would be able to kind of make his public Declaration of his faith To them, so that he can start to gain a reputation that he is no longer a persecutor of Christians But a Christian himself. And I think that is a critical point for Saul to do this, because he needs to not be quiet in his conversion, because it is a radical conversion and he's a public figure. He's not some guy who's just been hanging out on a boat fishing. He's, he's a public guy, people know his name, and so this is a big deal.
Speaker 2:He had the influence, prepared for his ministry before he was even born again, something that I kind of just caught in the text here in 19 through 22. Do you notice the two different statements? Verse 20 he's proclaiming Jesus is the son of God. You know, there's a hint of understanding about the Trinity already Right there, something the Jews would have been a little bit foggy on at this point, not that it wasn't in the Old Testament scriptures, but you know, i mean, one of the reasons why they rejected Jesus as the Messiah is because he proclaimed to be God. So He's, he says he is the son of God. And then verse 22 He was increasing in strength. I think that's spiritual strength, obviously and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that.
Speaker 2:This is. What does it say Jesus? Jesus is the Christ. The word Christ means Messiah. So he's proclaiming him as the son of God and the Messiah. He's speaking about his divinity, in other words, and he's speaking about his earthly nature as the Messiah. So he's. He's got a pretty complete picture of who Jesus is, after having spent time with the disciples enough to preach at least.
Speaker 1:Yeah, i mean, and it says that he's, he's proving, so he's persuading, right, he's preaching. So you know, we see, we see Saul actually doing these things That we do today. Right, when we preach, we persuade. We want people to know that Jesus is the son of God, that he is the Messiah. So he's still he's doing the same thing. He's he's gonna be leading the way in which people should go out and do and do this preaching That Jesus calls his disciples to do, especially ones that are called into this type of ministry the preachers, the teachers, the evangelists.
Speaker 2:So, and he's an apostle, and so he is going to be preaching the word you know, i could even maybe we'll kind of wrap up this last little section here, but John Benzinger, pastor at Redeemer Bible Church, told me a long time ago There's three things that keep you away from the cults like. There's three things a true Bible believing church must believe, at least Foundationally. To start with, these are the big ones. Number one you've got to get the Trinity right. Number two you've got to get the scriptures right. Number three you've got to get salvation right. In no particular order, they're just all critical the Trinity, the scriptures and salvation. Paul is speaking about Christ Being the fulfillment from the Old Testament. He's speaking about the identity of Christ, hence the Trinity, and one would have to assume that because of those things, because he has an Acura and accurate view of the scriptures and an accurate view of the Trinity, he's accurately preaching on salvation as well, and that would have confounded the Jews. So then from there we start into verse 23. Do you want to read 23 to 25?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I'm in the ESV Okay. 23 to 25 says this when many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, But his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.
Speaker 2:Yeah, paul speaks about this later on in Galatians, i believe, when he starts recounting his testimony of how he was saved and some of the events that immediately followed. He was let outside of the walls of Jerusalem, literally in a basket. I used to hear that story and not think it was that big of a deal. You know, for whatever reason, like oh okay, they lowered you down in a basket. But like, imagine the pressure of that moment. You're inside the city walls of Jerusalem prior to 70 AD, when you know, jerusalem fell. Everybody's looking for you Religious authorities, people of high power and command. They're looking for you to kill you, to take your life And in the middle of the night you've got some friends who are just like dropping you down a few hundred feet. You know, in a little like wicker basket like
Speaker 2:another deliverance in a wicker basket, right? So I mean that would have been a pressure-packed moment At any given time. Paul was, as he's being let down and relieved of the pressure of being persecuted, he's probably thinking well, i make it all the way to the ground. Are they going to catch us in the middle? How fast do I have to run when my feet hit the ground, like Paul is, in one sense, was saying I was running towards Christians to persecute them. Now I am a Christian running away from persecution, like I think of what the text is showing us, the tables have turned.
Speaker 1:They have. I mean, i just go all the way back to like Moses, delivered in a basket for the purpose of God's people, to lead His people. We have Saul being delivered out of the city in a basket to go and be somebody who we will know as we go through the Book of Acts, a great missionary to go plant churches. So we see this individual. God delivers in so many different ways and he protects him And we're going to continue to see that in this chapter and chapters coming. The work of God in the midst of what's happening, not distant but active in each and every moment to make sure that the church continues to grow and people continue to know His name, because God has a plan and God is working that plan into motion through His people which are called the church.
Speaker 2:So you start to see this theme developing. It starts with Saul as the one seeking to persecute Christians. Number two Saul becomes a Christian and he gets persecuted. He has to flee because he finds out about the plan of the Jews. Now, looking verses 26 all the way to, let's just go to verse 30, and then maybe we'll close on verse 31 as a singular statement. But 26 to 30 says when he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples, but they were all afraid of Him. Did I get something wrong here? Was he let down in a basket in Jerusalem?
Speaker 1:No, outside of Damascus. Outside of Damascus? my bad. Now he goes to Jerusalem.
Speaker 2:Okay, verse 26,. When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples, but they were all afraid of Him, not believing that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles different than the disciples we've been reading about and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road and that he had talked to him, and how, damascus, he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus And he was with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord, and he was talking and arguing, or literally apologizing, like giving a defense with the Hellenistic Jews. But they were attempting to put him to death. But when the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus. Okay, a lot to chew on in 26 to 30. And my bad about getting the whole letting down at a basket thing wrong. For some reason. I had Jerusalem in my mind, but it was Damascus. He's now in Jerusalem.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's now in Jerusalem, like the center, the hub of where the church has started. It's where not only are there disciples, but there are the apostles are in Jerusalem, which is a big deal, because we will learn more about the apostles and acts, some of the other ones, and then we'll also, throughout the Bible, you see apostles writing things and also doing ministry, so it's really important. But he goes there and he's trying to associate with the Christians And they're like bro, you're trying to kill us.
Speaker 2:Why would we talk to you Like dude, you're just a spy, get out of there Like where's your crew?
Speaker 1:What a faker. Like you're just trying to get in. You're trying to be a mole, trying to like say you believe in Jesus, now We don't believe you. Right, like your reputation matters. I think that's a good thing to see here. Like the way you live your life is how people see you and understand what you believe. If you're out there proclaiming to be a Christian but your life doesn't look like it, nobody's going to believe you. You know, nobody believes Saul because his reputation was that of somebody who persecuted Christians. And so we have Barnabas that comes along And clearly Barnabas knew something more about Saul and brings Saul to the apostles to talk to them. Because if Saul gets the approval of the apostles and gets to go through whatever interview process I think of maybe interviewing a pastor or calling an elder or whatever right You're going to you need to look at their life, you need to interview them.
Speaker 2:You need to evaluate.
Speaker 1:Like, obviously, at this point Saul's life isn't like he doesn't have much to go on, other than hey, i preached in Damascus, that's about it. So they're going to have to evaluate him in order to kind of give the stamp of approval for Saul. And I think once he gets that stamp of approval, then we see that he moves freely. it says, amongst Jerusalem people know him as a Christian and no longer as a persecutor of Christians. So you kind of see the order in which Saul goes through to gain some approval amongst the people.
Speaker 2:The elders showed a certain amount of prudence and discernment before they gave their approval. If you just look at what's happening in the text, obviously Barnabas has bought in, because Barnabas saw what he was doing in Damascus. You read the text, actually, and there's a lot happening here. I just counted a big list of 10 things. Tokalhold of him brought him to the apostles, described to them how he'd seen the Lord. He talked with them at Damascus, he spoke boldly in the name of Jesus. He was with them. He's moving freely, speaking out, boldly talking and arguing. There's a lot of action taking place here. This is not like a. what I'm trying to say is this the point is, saul didn't show up for five minutes and the guys are like oh praise God, you're born again.
Speaker 2:Yeah go ahead. No, there was a lot of action, a lot of discernment that was used in this temporary season in Saul's life, before he heads to Tarsus, which one comment in my Bible says he'd be there then for five years. He's in Damascus for the short term, jerusalem for the short term, and he's about to be somewhere for a five-year hiatus.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it's important that he had witnesses of his testimony.
Speaker 2:Very true.
Speaker 1:Because I just think of any young person who has a call to ministry, or a young person who comes to know Jesus and wants to be real active and become a teacher of some sort of God's word. There needs to be a witness of your life.
Speaker 1:And affirming And so we have Barnabas. Barnabas would have known Ananias would have known these people, all these people who have witnessed Saul preaching, proclaiming Christ's name in the synagogues, having these conversations in Damascus, knowing that he had to escape because they were going to kill him Like all of these were a witness of what Saul's done up to this point, even though it hasn't probably been very long. We do know that he has somebody to stand up for him and say no, i've witnessed him, in front of persecution and the fear of death, proclaiming Christ's name. you can trust him, because I've seen him do it.
Speaker 2:And teaching and preaching it accurately as well, right, yeah?
Speaker 1:And so the apostles clearly give him the stamp of approval, which is good. And so Saul continues, and then he gets, then he's out there, he's being active, like you said. He's like all right, let's bring it.
Speaker 2:Speaking out boldly in the name of Jesus moving freely.
Speaker 1:it says Yeah, just going around town engaging in conversation telling guys probably that he knew Like Hey, remember me last time.
Speaker 2:I was here. He's got all those relationships.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he probably was like Hey Joe, remember last time we were talking about how to get Christians and like persecuting. I want to tell you something different now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then they never believe what happened to me. Yeah, christians are right. Yeah, and Joe's over there like, oh my gosh, what happened to Saul?
Speaker 1:He's lost his mind. What do you mean? Jesus spoke to you.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:What do you mean? You went blind. This is a weird story.
Speaker 2:Well, i think it's really interesting the pattern between the two scenes that we've seen last episode's podcast and this one here. In the last episode you see Ananias right, comforting, encouraging Saul. Saul gets taught. Saul starts to preach. Saul gets persecuted. Same thing's happening here. It's not Ananias, but it's Barnabas. And what's he do? Barnabas takes him before the apostles. Again, he's equipped or affirmed theologically and he begins preaching. And then what happens? After he's speaking and moving about freely in the name of Jesus, he's persecuted by the Hellenistic Jews, that's, greek speaking Jews who live outside of the area of Israel. They're like no, now we're gonna persecute you. So encouragement, affirmation, teaching and preaching, persecution same pattern happens yet again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, i mean this is the pattern in which Jesus talks about in the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes played out. You know, saul recognized who he was. He was a sinner. I mean, you see, this pattern of a Christian's life and I think that's something to point out. Like Jesus talks about the result of becoming a Christian if you're following Christ, the result in persecution, this same pattern will exist amongst all these disciples who are following Christ. I think that's important to catch.
Speaker 2:So, before we land the plane in this episode on verse 31, which I actually think is a pithy bridging statement, or it acts kind of like a sinew or a stitching in the book of Acts Before we get to the critical nature of verse 31, i think this is a good place for us to pause Again.
Speaker 2:The episode that we're working on is the conversion of Saul and his ministry, and this podcast is for the purpose of equipping others who are working through the scriptures, making disciples, so and so forth. Can you and I, in terms of application, think back to our own life where we were saved, engaged in early ministry, but then it seemed like the Lord put us away for a while? Yes, yes, i mean like that's both of our stories to you know different details, but the nature of we were born again, caught on fire, started doing ministry right away, we started growing our knowledge and understanding and then suddenly we're sent to Tarsus for five years, metaphorically speaking, yeah, or we're moving around and living in random apartments and seemingly not doing important things for the Lord. Right? You see what I'm saying? Like there's we're not apostles, but there's some principle here to be carried away in our own lives.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's a maturing process. Even though Saul is educated and all of these things, there's a time for him to grow in his walk with Christ because it's yeah, he's still a young believer. Technically, even though he's smart, he's still a young believer. I mean I just remember times of you and I talking I mean we lived in multiple different apartments together throughout our kind of young adulthood before we got married and there were multiple like when's the Lord going to use us? When is he going to call us to this or to that? I can't wait till this happens or that happens. And I mean if you and I now could go back to those guys and be like, hey, guys, god's got it under control, i know in retrospect.
Speaker 2:Speak to our younger selves, that'd be amazing, yeah.
Speaker 1:And be like hey guys, god's got it. You have no idea what's going to happen, but it's going to be cool. So I mean we have to keep that in our mind. Even today, now in ministry, now as shepherds doing the work, there's still things that we're like, we're striving towards, and we have to understand that God's using this time to prepare us for the next thing and that we need to be good now, in this time, and love it and enjoy it and learn and grow, and not I think that's comes with maturing.
Speaker 1:When we were young, it was like I just want to get there. Now it's like, yeah, i can't wait for whatever God has for me, but I'm also enjoying the now and I'm growing and learning, and so we're going to see that through Saul's life many, many times, and I think that, as a Christian, we need to take note of God's going to put you in these seasons of growth and these seasons of being patient and staying in place, the seasons of moving. If you just really continue to follow Christ, it'll be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:When was your moment? What year was that when you were in Jamaica and you thought to yourself oh man, what am I doing with my life? Was that 2006 for you?
Speaker 1:2006, yeah.
Speaker 2:The summer of 06. And see, i and I'm just kind of like renewing these memories. If you're listening for the first time, kyle and I have been best friends for the last 15 years and you and I have always been on very parallel paths. So the summer of 2006 year in Jamaica and you get a call to ministry. The summer of 2006, i'm flying 90 miles an hour down the freeway in Las Vegas. I get a call to ministry. Both of us received calls to ministry during the exact same summer in our life and we didn't even know each other.
Speaker 1:Nope we didn't?
Speaker 2:I mean, isn't that amazing? And then, like we first met each other and we only became friends because we both liked the Dallas Cowboys and don't hate us for that, don't hate us for that And living in these obscure apartments with grease stains all over the carpet.
Speaker 2:and there was a while there where it was truly like. I mean, i was pursuing an education degree nothing against teachers, that just my longterm calling was not to be a teacher. You were in behavioral health but that wasn't your longterm calling. It seemed like we were in these obscure places and we were always talking about like when are we going to meet our wives and when's all this going to happen? But we always had that perpetual conversation. You know, we'd be sitting there at a Chili's watching a football game and you and I would always say stuff like bro, i just feel like something big is going to happen.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And isn't it amazing, like those big things are here, like now, we're pastors at a thriving church, we're having gospel impact, we're growing as men and the Lord, our families are thriving. So to the person out there listening, if you feel like you've got a call from the Lord, maybe like some good advice here, some good counsel was when the Lord puts you in a place or in a quiet season just to relax and grow, it's not him neglecting your call to ministry that you thought originally had. Like right now, shannon and I were growing a garden in our backyard. Some of those plants are producing no fruit, but those plants are still growing every day And they will reach a certain size, the nature of the plant to where it will start producing fruit and then we can start bearing fruit from the plant. But right now the job is to cultivate it and take care of it.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:And I think that's what's happening with Saul, that's what's happening with us.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So yeah, call to ministries are always unique. There's great resources out there for learning more about calls to ministry. You can look at Midwestern Seminary. Dr Jason Allen and Jared Wilson both write on the call to ministry. So, yeah, if you ever want to know more about call to ministry and throughout scripture, acts is a good place to be. The pastoral epistles are a good place to be Also just to learn more about that. But let's look at the last verse because, like you said, it's a critical verse in acts. That kind of you said is the stitching Here that holds it together Well.
Speaker 1:I'm sure it so verse 31 says this. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up and, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
Speaker 2:Well, i think just the natural bridge here is that when God starts doing something in a person's life, especially for ministry, that individual must remember that it is not for their own fame or renown. You and I were just talking about this concerning HB Charles's book on preaching That what God does in and through you is ultimately for his church. It's not for you to become some famous speaker or something like that. And a young man called to ministry can actually fall into that trap because he thinks, oh, i've had an experience that must mean the Lord's gonna make me famous.
Speaker 1:No, yeah right, That's not it. And I think the perspective here and he he got into this more into his book like when you're called into ministry and to preach The word of God at a local church, no matter where that is, whether you're in small town, a hundred people, and Your church is only like ten, or you're in a metropolitan area where your church is in maybe in the thousands. See, you're called to preach the word of God first, and it's not about you, it's about the word, it's about God, it's about glorifying him. And so this idea of you becoming famous by using God's word, that would just be wrong, because that's not the calling in which Um Christ has given preachers. Preachers are proclaimers of somebody else's word, not your own word.
Speaker 1:So you got to be careful there, but here we see peace amongst the regions Here. I mean, i think first, the immediate piece is what Saul's not persecuting Christians. Yeah, that's one of the peace, right? We don't have to worry about that guy anymore, right, he's not going around leading a leading a, a band of guys to go around and arrest and drag people back to Jerusalem, like gosh, jesus saved us from that one.
Speaker 2:Right like persecution. The most zealous religious man on earth wanted to kill us. Now no longer.
Speaker 1:Well and you think about, maybe, the shockwave of him coming becoming a Christian. Right, we have people who want to kill him, but at the same time now there's confusion, so it almost creates a little bit of peace. Well, now we got to re. Now we got to figure things out as enemies of God. Right Now we have to figure out how to get these Christians and our leader just became a Christian. What peace would that bring? man, people would be coming to Christ because, well, if Saul became a Christian and he knows Jesus, maybe I should rethink things.
Speaker 1:So it creates this time, i think, of peace. I think that's on purpose. We always see the church multiply in times of persecution, throughout acts. That's been a theme, it'll continue to be one. So, yeah, you just see this, this time of peace. But then there's also what I love this peace and building up right multiplication of the saints and walking in the fear of the Lord, not in the fear of men, not fear of persecution, but in the fear of the Lord, but also in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Yeah, it multiplied. So you see one Jesus, you see the Holy Spirit. There's a fear for God, that God comes first. It's not the persecution of man that we should worry about, but it's what God wants for our lives. But then the comfort of the Holy Spirit. I love that because I think sometimes we get Fearful of men more than we are fearful of God.
Speaker 2:Maybe stop preaching truth.
Speaker 1:Yep, and then we're no longer worried. We're more worried about our self comfort and taking that into our own hands When the comforter, the Holy Spirit, is there to do that in these times. So I think all of this is to say Everything needs to be turned over to Christ. Saul's life was completely turned over to the point where I don't care if I die for the gospel. Now, that's how serious this conversion was. It went from I'm gonna kill christians to I don't care if I die for Jesus. So there is a huge Shift in Acts where we now see the ministry of Saul, but he also, we know in verse 30, goes to tarsus, which is where he's from, and he'll spend time waiting and ministry will take place as we continue to go through acts.
Speaker 2:Well, just some, something that I'm seeing you mentioned. The church is enjoying peace. Um, it's enjoying edification, it's being built up. It's walking in the fear of the Lord, which Proverb says the fear of the Lord leads to wisdom. So they're not fearing man, they're not not afraid of you. Know, what can man do to me? Nothing. They're walking in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. It's saying these things continue to increase.
Speaker 2:One thing that I just kind of realized What happened to Saul ministered to the church. That's what led to the peace in the church. Like that, the church thought to themselves Oh man, like the Lord is really doing something. But you're gonna see Saul put on pause here for a while yet again, because the next scene is Peter. So what is God going to be doing in Saul for five years in Tarsus?
Speaker 2:Well, by the time I know we're in chapter nine right now, but by the time you get to chapter 11, verses 25 to 26, he's going to be called. Guess with who He's going to be called? with Barnabas, set apart by the Holy Spirit. Together, paul and Barnabas together will go on mission. So, in parallel aspects of our life, how things have worked out in the ministry we were put on pause and isolation, seclusion for a while. So it's like you and I can relate with that. Even It encouraged the church to see young men born again given a ministry call. Years later, here it is again. It's another wave in their life And I'm not trying to make it all about us, but we have this living experience of what's happening in Acts. That's pretty exciting.
Speaker 1:Well, we know that God doesn't just call one individual by themselves to do all the work by themselves, often in pairs, and it just that's the way the church works right. We don't do this church thing individually, we do it together as the body of Christ. So I think that's really important to know one. you're never alone in it. Like, even if you are somehow in isolation, you're imprisoned or something crazy, you still got the Holy Spirit dwelling in you. But also the church. we are a body. we're to function together And I think you know we see God use people together to be unified in the gospel to do his work.
Speaker 1:And so if you're thinking that's to be done alone, or maybe you're striving to be the one to do everything on the own because you want to be seen as a person look how well I'm serving the Lord I think maybe you need to reevaluate that in your life, that everything we should be doing, it should be done together. You know a lot of times. you know when Dakota is preaching, week after week. there are times he talks to me about his sermons or talks to other people about his sermons and talks to mentors and gathers information, and he's not doing it by himself. You know, when we're thinking about a ministry or starting one up, we're evaluating who's done it before and getting information and gathering from other pastors, other churches, and we don't think we have all the answers. Other people have done it. Let's work together as the church and do it well.
Speaker 1:So that's a good reminder for us. You're not alone. You're supposed to do it together. Jesus calls you into ministry as the saints, as a body to work together. So be encouraged. I hope that the Be Disciples podcast is one of those things that you can come to to learn about Jesus Christ and to learn about the Bible and to disciple others. So thank you so much for listening to the Be Disciples podcast. Please share on any platform that you can. We just want people to know God's Word. We do this as a podcast for our church family, but anybody around the world as you're listening. thank you so much for taking the time to study God's Word with us. Have a blessed week.