Naringal Church

Paul's Call

Romans 1:1-6

Romans 1:1

“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God.”

Paul was saved on the Damascus Road. But that was just the start. Paul was then called, and so are we if we call ourselves Christians. Paul was called to:

1. Serve Jesus

• Forgiven 1 Timothy 1:12-17

• Focused Philippians 3:10-11

1. Be an Apostle

• Gifted 1 Corinthians 12:7-11

• Commissioned 1 Corinthians 15:9-10

1. Be set apart

• To love I Corinthians 13:4-7

• To Witness 1 Corinthians 1:18, 23

“A great commitment to the great commandment (John 13:34-35) and the great commission (Matthew 28:18-20) makes a great church/Christian.” - Rick Warren

John 13:34-35 (NIV)
³⁴ "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
³⁵ By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)
¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Jesus is calling us. Are we listening?

Apostle Paul Sermon Series

Today we commence a new sermon series on the life and teaching of the Apostle Paul. Paul was a truly remarkable man, arguably the most influential person, apart from Jesus,in the history of the Christian Church. His conversion, his passion, his wisdom, his writing and theological understanding, his perseverance whilst facing extreme suffering, and his total commitment to Christ, make him a giant of our faith. I look forward to learning more about Paul in order to be better equipped to serve Jesus. I hope you do too.

Paul's Conversion

Acts 9:1-19

Acts 9:18

“Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized.”

The word “conversion” means:

“To change from one state to another, from a bad life to a good one.”

Paul later described Christian conversion in 2 Corinthians 5:17:

“If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

What happened to Paul on the road to Damascus that day? Jesus:

1. Stopped him v3

• This wasn't part of Saul's plan James 4:13-16

• Saul's bravado crumbled v1-2 & 8-9, Math 7:24-27

1. Questioned him v4

• Jesus questioned his motive John 13:34-35, 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

• Jesus questioned his logic Acts 26:14, Proverbs 14:12

1. Commissioned him v15-16

• Jesus forgave him 1 Timothy 1:12-16

• Jesus saw his potential Philippians 3:12-14

Paul “saw the light.”

Have you?

Leanne and I are now back from our big trip and keen to get our teeth into ministry again at Naringal. To have 3 months holiday and travel around much of Australia is a fantastic privilege, and we thank all of you who filled in for us and kept the church functioning well in our absence. We visited a number of churches during our travels, and it was an intriguing exercise to see church through the eyes of a first time attendee. Some questions we asked ourselves about each church, and ultimately about our church were:

• Is this church welcoming? Every church thinks they are welcoming, but a new comer bases their ***essment on parking, toilets, children's facilities/safety (daughter Kelly tells us that our grandson can already crawl through the side fence of the Naringal Church play ground), friendliness of the people both before and after the service, access to the morning tea area, and quality of the coffee!

• Is this church relevant? I heard a friend of mine say that he could not invite any of his work colleagues to his church because they would just not connect with anything that was happening there. That's really sad!

• Is this church making a difference in their community? How would this community be any different if this church ceased to exist?

• Do people encounter Jesus here? The coffee, the fellowship, the singing, the pastoral care, are simply not enough. People need to know Jesus. I recently had a new attender tell me they were ready to make a commitment to the Naringal Church. My response was “Don't do it! The Naringal Church will ultimately disappoint you. But Jesus won't. Make a commitment to him, and out of that commitment will flow a desire to commit to the church.”

Malcolm