Faith Community Church by the Sea

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Title Page
A Change of Heart

• Faith Community Church by the Sea
• Date

My Chosen Instrument
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The Most Dangerous Game
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Murderous Threats
Acts 91-2
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Sauls Perspective on Christians

• Sauls hatred of Christians is so strong that it
  is described as his every breath. From the
  moment of Stephens death, Saul had made his
  solitary and severe mission to eradicate
  Christians from the face of the earth.
• He thought Jesus was a political anarchist and
  religious blasphemer.
• And he viewed Christians as polluters of Jewish
  purity.

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Acts 269-12a

• I too was convinced that I ought to do all that
  was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of
  Nazareth. And that is just what I did in
  Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief
  priests I put many of the saints in prison and
  when they were put to death, I cast my vote
  against them. Many a time I went from one
  synagogue to another to have them punished, and I
  tried to force them to blaspheme. In my
  obsession, I even went to foreign cities to
  persecute them. On one of these journeys I was
  going to Damascus

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A Come to Jesus Moment
Acts 93-9
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Paul saw the Lord Jesus

• 1 Cor. 91
• Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I
  not seen Jesus our Lord?
• 1 Cor. 158
• Then he appeared to James, then to all the
  apostles, and last of all to me also

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Gods Goads

• Goad kentron (that which pricks or stings)
• Goads were used on long sticks to prod or poke
  reluctant beasts of burden to get them to move
• Saul had been resisting Gods pricking, stinging,
  and prodding in his heart and mind
• The Holy Spirits prodding and reasoning
• The witness, courage, and faces of dying
  Christians
• The words of his own famous teacher, Gamaliel,
  advising the Sanhedrin to use caution and
  tolerance with these Christians,
• His own misgivings and unsettled questions as he
  persecuted people who returned grace for his
  greviences and showed peace and joy against his
  rage.

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New life in Christ is always marked by

• Preceding goadsquestions that wont go away and
  doubts that demand answers.
• A divine encounter.God seeks us, not we God
• An end of our pride and independence
• Revelation of Gods plan for us to serve him
• 5. Connection with other believers for
  encouragement and accountability.

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Hebrews 515

• For we do not have a high priest who is unable
  to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have
  one who has been tempted in every way, just as we
  are- yet was without sin. Let us then approach
  the throne of Grace with confidence, so that we
  may receive mercy and find grace to help us in
  our time of need.

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John 155-8

• I am the vine and you are the branchesremain
  in me and I will remain in you. No branch can
  bear fruit by itself, it must remain in the
  vine.if a man remains in me and I in him, he
  will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do
  nothing.

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• As the reality of the words sink in, Jesus speaks
  again,
• Now, get up and go into the city, and you will
  be told what you must do.
• Acts 2210 says all you have been assigned to
  do.
• The Christian life does not begin and end with
  salvationthat is only the starting point. It
  has its fullest experience in serving God and His
  kingdom.

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Ephesians 416

• From him (Jesus) the whole body, joined and held
  together by every supporting ligament, grows and
  builds itself up in loveas each part does its
  Work.

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Acts 2616-18

• I have appeared to you to appoint you as a
  servant and as a witness of what you have seen of
  me and what I will show you. I will rescue you
  from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am
  sending you to them to open their eyes and turn
  them from darkness to light and from the power of
  Satan to God, so that they may receive
  forgiveness of sins and a place among those who
  are sanctified by faith in me

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Obedience Over Fear
Acts 910-16
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2 Cor. 1123-27

• I have been in prison more frequently, been
  flogged more severly, been exposed to death again
  and again. Five times I received from the Jews
  the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was
  beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times
  I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in
  the open sea. I have been constantly on the
  move. I have been in danger from rivers,
  bandits, my own countrymen, gentiles, in danger
  in the city, in the country, at sea, and false
  brothers. I have labored and toiled and gone
  without sleep. I have known hunger and thirst
  and have often gone without food. I have been
  cold and naked.

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A Change of Heart and Family
Acts 917-19
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As they sat around that table and talked they
realized that

• 1). God can change the most hardened of men or
  women
• 2). God loves to use even the most obscure
  Christian if they are devoted to him (Acts 2212)
• 3). That we should never be afraid to obey Gods
  will, because he works both ends of the story.
• 4). That we should never underestimate the value
  of one person brought to Jesus Christ.

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