Next Steps

I touched on this in the message this morning at church; check this out... The Apostle Paul had a personal encounter with Christ while he was on his way to Damascus to hunt down Christians; following that transformational encounter Paul goes blind and awaits Ananias' visit.

"Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized" Acts 9:17,18

Paul got up and was baptized; he doesn't go to a baptism class, he doesn't have to have all of his questions answered, he's all in, and he is now willing to publicly identify with a movement he was only days before wanting to eradicate. Immediately he was baptized.

A couple verses later the Bible tells us that, "At once he began to preach in the synagogues" We would ask, "Paul don't you need to go to seminary first? Don't you have a lots of questions that need to be answered before you start telling people about Jesus? Shouldn't you be a spiritual giant before you share Christ with others?" Paul would say, "No. I've been transformed by the living God, that's enough for me; I'll just do the next right thing."

Shortly after being run out of Damascus by the Jewish leaders, Paul made his way back to Jerusalem where the Apostles were, in order to learn from them and gain more knowledge about Jesus. After learning at the feet of the Apostles, Paul began to set out on his missionary journeys; and through the power of the Holy Spirit, transformed the spiritual landscape of the gentiles.

Immediately after salvation, Paul was baptized, he shared his faith with others, he proactively grew in his knowledge about Christ, and then went out to spread the good news. What's the next right step for you?

FYI:

July 26th following the 10:45 service is our annual Church Picnic & Baptism. If you have never obediently followed the biblical command to be baptized I would encourage you to take that step.