Eastgate Notes
I’ve decided that the best way to keep track of and read back over my past notes that I take in church is to post them. Maybe someone else needs to hear what I’ve heard too.
EG; September 2, 2007
We get jaded in Church. We see the same people “making decisions” and weeping at the altar and we get cynical about their decisions. Some people stand and make fun of the Easter and Christmas crowd, saying “here come the 2 times a year people” acting like they are better than those people. The reality is in our cynicism we forget the fact that God changes lives. (My favorite quote I heard at the Willow Creek Arts Conference from Nancy Beach: “Cynicism lacks courage”.
It is amazing how reluctant people are to talk about God. I believe in the gospel, but I’m worried that someone else won’t buy into it.
Saul was a Hebrew name. A Jew would have 2 names. A Hebrew name, one that he was known by to only Hebrews, and a Gentile name, the name that he went by to those outside the Jewish culture. He went by Paul because he became a missionary to the Gentiles.
Tarshish was an intellectual city. Saul’s father was a Roman citizen, which means he was probably rich and grew up with lots of money. Saul’s father was a Pharisee. Saul was a deciple of Gamamiel, the “rock star” of Pharisee Rabbi’s. Saul’s job was to go around defending the Jewish faith from Christians, and had the authority to kill or have them killed. That’s why his conversion was so amazing. He believed he was doing what God wanted by persecuting Christians. He wasn’t necessarily a bad person, and was very devout about what he was doing.
Acts 9:1-20
Saul’s conversion to Paul. When Paul’s conversion comes about, he gets the gospel almost immedialty. He was so scholarly, he had probably memorized the entire Torah, Isaiah, etc… This means he knew the prophecies about Jesus from the Old Testament. Salvation through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus made complete sense to him.
1) Your faithful sacrificial service, like Stephen’s, can help change someone’s life.
2) No one is outside of God’s ability to restore.
3) Our mission is our response to God’s change in our lives.