In this sermon from our WIND + FIRE series, Pastor Tim Matthews speaks on the life of Paul and how the church must rise up. Acts 8:1-3 (ESV) “And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” In this passage, Saul is ravaging the church – causing harm, severe distress – then he gives examples – Saul enters the homes of believers dragging men and women from them But like all great stories there’s a plot twist, a radical change – Saul falls Saul goes from predator to prey – from hunter to hunted What happened? How does Saul go from a feared enemy to one needing an escape route out of a city? Jesus happened! Jesus enters the story! The one who was crucified now resurrected Jesus Jesus says that the Holy Spirit WILL come Jesus says that they WILL receive power Jesus says that they WILL be his witnesses Jesus says that His life and message will not only reach Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria but also to the ends of the earth How does Saul rise? He rises by God sending him a brother to help him rise We don’t need the church to fall but we need the church to rise We the church are the chosen family on earth to catch people when they fall and to help them rise Here’s another plot twist for us: Saul needed the church and now the church needs Saul If we want to be where God dwells, a good place to start is to be a part of His body Imagine the grace we could offer the world, even our enemies, if we truly believed that there is no one on earth that is too far gone Imagine if we believed that the resurrected Jesus actually listens and answers our prayers, that He is not indifferent, that He goes into action – would that motivate us, wake us up, deliver us from the deception of prayerlessness Imagine how our lives would be if we could lay our hands on someone and call them brother, sister, solely because they belong to Jesus