Weekly Newsletter 5/10-5/17

FBC Marysville Weekly Newsletter

Last Week:

- On Sunday, we celebrated Mother's Day. A special time for us to express gratitude for all that moms have done for us. We celebrated by offering a small gift and donut bar for the ladies.

 If you missed out on your gift, stop into the Next Steps room on Sunday to receive yours.

Announcements:

- Fellowship Meal: This Sunday, May 17th, we will cook out together after our Sunday morning gathering. We will eat together, fellowship, play a game, and more. Feel free to bring any sides and desserts you would like to share with our family. The church will provide the mains.

- Baptism: This Sunday, we will baptize Taylor Roberts as she desires to express her faith and follow Christ in obedience by observing this ordinance.

- Background Checks: Anyone working with our little ones in any capacity must undergo a background check. We have info sheets in the foyer for our volunteers to fill out, in order that we could run them as a group, paid for by the church.

- Cohorts: Sign-up for summer discipleship cohorts! The information for each opportunity we offer can be found on the board in the Next Steps room.

Prayer Requests:

- The Sick: There are many sick members of our family at the moment. Pray for them, that they might recover and be able to gather with us again soon.

- Community Groups: Pray that our community groups would be vibrant, centered on God's Word, and helpful for life. 

- Gospel Opportunities: Pray for opportunities to share your faith with someone and invite them to church.

Weekly Devotional: From Acts 21:37-22:29

On Sunday, we picked up our study of Acts at the end of chapter 21 and worked through to verse 29 of chapter 22. Previously, we had seen Paul attacked in Jerusalem because a rumor had spread about him saying he taught that all should forsake the Law. This was not true, however the mob seized, beat, and nearly killed him for this. The mob was interrupted by the Roman Tribune, and Paul was brought back to the barracks. Paul asks to speak the people and he is allowed, so he defends himself by first explaining who he is in the first place. Many did not know because of the confusion of the uproar which had occurred. Paul then explains to the Jewish mob his testimony of conversion to Christ, his calling to witness to the Gentiles, and his background for their validation. Of course, Paul's words did not land well on the crowd, so they cried out for him to be killed when the Romans set their minds on flogging him to get answers out of him. Paul explained that he was himself a Roman citizen, so they withheld his beating and held him in the barracks, detained until answers could be known.

For this week, I would like to focus on a few aspects of Paul's conversion as he retells it here in our text.

1.) The Source of transformation

"As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' and I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.'"(Ac. 22:6-8 ESV)

Paul thought he had things figured out. He was zealous for God, or at least thought he was. He was on his way with papers from the High Priest himself to bring captive Christians back for trial and punishment from Damascus. Also, Paul was on a trajectory that would have brought him to the forefront of the religion he long wished to serve, then Jesus enters the room. Many of us can relate in some regard because we had our way of life, our sin, our desires, our pursuits. We had a plan and maybe a good one at that, but Jesus, the Source of life and transformation entered into our lives and called us to Himself.

See, salvation is of God, faith is a gift, and eternal life only comes by God's intervention. If you have wrestled with the concept of sovereign grace to this point, look no further than Paul's conversion. Paul was bent against Christ and His church, but was radically saved by the grace of Jesus on God's initiation. What a reality! What a picture for us to ponder this week! That the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe has called us to Himself for adoption, despite that fact that we were dead in our sins and bent against Him. Praise Him for He has made us new by His gracious gift of salvation by faith in Jesus. Jesus makes clear that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that no one comes to the Father, but through Him! Jesus is the sole source of true transformation. (See also Ephesians 1 and 2)

2.) The mark of transformation

"The God of our fathers appointed you to know His will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from His mouth; for you will be a witness for Him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on His Name."(v.14-16)

After Paul's encounter with Christ, he is visited by a messenger named Ananias who was sent by Jesus to affirm and instruct Paul of his next steps. Something interesting is Ananias explains to Paul how he has in fact encountered Jesus and that he would be a witness the world over for Christ. In addition to this, the first and immediate step for Paul is baptism and having sins washed away by calling on Jesus' Name. This is important wording by the writer Luke here. Baptism is as some say the outward representation of the inward transformation. In other words, it is repentance and faith that saves us, but baptism is the mark of this covenant we are making with Jesus that serves as our opportunity to proclaim to others that we are followers of Christ! Baptism is this mark of transformation that the Lord has given us to celebrate the death of the old man or life, accompanied by the simultaneous new life that begins by faith in Christ.

3.) The next step of transformation

"And He said to me, Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles."(v.21)

Paul once more encounters Jesus, is instructed to leave the city, and to go to the Gentiles where he would serve the Lord by planting churches, and evangelizing the lost. Before the Lord ascended after His resurrection, Jesus told the disciples to go. Here He tells Paul to go, and my plea for you today is to recognize that though Christ spoke directly to the early disciples in His great commission and calling of Paul, He commands us to go as well. We are the foot soldiers of the Kingdom and have been entrusted with His gracious and glorious gospel message of good news for the hurting. Whether in our own household, in the workplace, or on the world stage, our mission field is wherever we happen to be standing at any given time. Go, friend! Make disciples! Share Jesus' incredible message of salvation with everyone you come across. Paul wrestled with the Lord over his calling, but all Jesus really had to say was 'Go'. 

This week, take heart knowing that God could transform a man who did his best to destroy Christians. Understanding that God, the source of everlasting life, by His gracious will transforms sinners like you and me everyday. As Newton said, "I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I wish to be, but by the grace of God, I am not what I once was."

Anthony Lampron, Pastor