"Practicing Your Purpose" | Acts

Описание: Sermon Title: "Practicing Your Purpose"
Sermon Text: Acts 9:20-31
Preacher: Dr Mike Chandler
Date: February 1, 2026

Observations from Acts 9:20-31:

1. The Christian claim of Christ's sonship is a foolish sounding message from foolish seeming lips. v. 19-22

Preaching that message didn't go "well" in Damascus. v. 25
Preaching that message didn't go "well" in Jerusalem. v. 30

2. The fiascos you call failures could be God's plan for you to practice your purpose. v. 23-25 v. 29-30

3. The church should serve as both an "Arabia" and a "Damascus" for those finding their purpose. v. 26-28

4. Trust that God is always composing the big picture. v. 31

Biblical Text:

And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

Saul Escapes from Damascus

When many days had passed, the Jews[a] 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.

Saul in Jerusalem

And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists.[c] But they were seeking to kill him. And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

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.