Series: The Birth of the Church (Acts)

Preacher: Ps. James Tang & Sam Leung

Date: 14th September 2025

Passage: Acts 9:1-19

Sermon Summary:

The story of Jesus’ confrontation with the apostle Paul is one of the most dramatic in Scripture: Paul, who then went by his Hebrew name Saul, was actively persecuting the church. He was breathing threats and murder against the followers of Jesus (Acts 9:1), and even obtained a permit from the high priest to capture any Christ-followers he found in Damascus. (v.2) But on the way to Damascus, the Lord Jesus appeared to him in a flash of blinding light, posing the question “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (v.4)

Saul’s transformation from Saul to Paul happened because he was confronted by the gospel. He was confronted by Jesus Himself, confronted by the devastating news that there was nothing he could do to earn his salvation, nothing he could do to be righteous. For three days and three nights, Paul ate and drank nothing as he reflected on the truth of his blindness—that he had been pursuing God according to his own means, instead of chasing after Jesus whom God had set before him.

The rest becomes history after Ananias obeyed God’s call to lay hands on Paul. Because of Ananias’ obedience, we have the most prolific church planter in history. Because Ananias listened, the gospel was taken beyond Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria to Rome. According to church history, it might even have made its way to Spain, which was Paul’s idea of the ends of the earth. All this couldn’t have happened without Ananias’ participation in God’s plan, but it wouldn’t have happened if Saul had not encountered the Person of Jesus in the first place.

Who are you, church, in the story of this confrontation that becomes conversion? Are you Saul, needing to be confronted by the Person of Jesus? Are you following your own way instead of the Jesus way? Are you Ananias, whom God invited to participate in His plan of salvation? Or are you Paul, a story of God’s grace in progress?