What is the biggest change you can imagine right now? I don’t mean losing ten pounds to fit into pre-pandemic clothing … I mean REAL CHANGE. Epic transformation. What would it be?
I’m talking…
- Colin Cowherd in a Baker Mayfield jersey
- Sean Hannity becoming a Democrat
- Kevin Durant as the next mayor of Oklahoma City
- Nancy Pelosi wearing a “Trump in ’24” button
- Michael Buble releasing a rap album
You know … BIG CHANGE.
What would you think if you opened the newspaper this morning and saw any of those items as stories? After some expression of shock, you might say, “What happened?” In other words, something WILD has taken place that defies natural or normal expectations. Many of those items above, we might assume would require an act of God …
Well, let me take you back to the Damascus Daily News, front page article in 33 AD. Some local Jewish woman was drinking her coffee and headed out to pick up the papyri and see what the day’s headline was. Upon opening the paper, she shrieked, dropped her coffee and passed out cold … so surprised was she at the news that led that morning’s Daily. Upon coming to, she looks again to make sure she read it right the first time. Saul of Tarsus had converted to Christianity.
Now, while I don’t know HOW news was distributed in the first century, I do know that the revelation that Saul was now a Jesus follower was absolutely stunning. 10000x more stunning than any of the transformations I mention above. Saul was a killer of Christians … someone dead set on destroying the new Jesus movement, and now he was proclaiming Jesus as GOD? WHAT HAPPENED?
Well, this historical event is the backdrop of Paul’s ministry among the Galatians, including the message he was preaching and that we have been talking about on Sunday mornings at Wildwood in our “New Normal” series. This Sunday, we will begin to listen as Paul tells the story of WHAT HAPPENED that led to his transformation, and how that connects to the new that Jesus had normalized for all of us.
I hope to see you this Sunday, January 17, 2021 at Wildwood Community Church in our 9:00, 10:15, or 11:30 service (in person and with ministries running for children, students, and adults) or online at 10:15 in the stream – wildwoodchurch.org/live as we will look at Galatians 1:11-24 in part 3 of this series. We will also be celebrating communion together at the end of this week’s services. Hope you can join us!
NOTE: In this week’s services, the sermon will be first in the order of worship, with singing and communion at the end. Hope to see you this Sunday!