Date: May 3, 2026
OPENING: Your Starting Point
Proverbs 4:23 NLT — “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”
INFORMATION: Assignment Revealed
Acts 9:3-5 NLT — “As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked. And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!'”
What happened in those 3 days — 4 layers of real breakthrough:
1. Jesus stopped him
- Paul fell down, was blinded, and led by hand into Damascus.
Acts 9:9 NLT “He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.”
2. Jesus confronted the lies he was living
- “Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” — Saul believed he was serving God. His problem wasn’t just bad habits — it was false beliefs. Lies about God’s purpose for his life. Bad decisions can hold you back, but often the root issue is a false belief — a lie you believe that’s holding you back.
3. Jesus revealed truth
Acts 9:17 NLT — “So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
- Breakthrough is rooted in truth. Not your truth — God’s truth
4. Jesus positioned him for breakthrough
Acts 9:12 NLT — “I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.”
- God isn’t waiting for you to figure it out.
INSPIRATION: The Invitation Is Now
1. See your starting point
- Pause and recognize where you are.
1 Timothy 1:15-16 NLT — “This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’ — and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners.”
2. You’re defined by God’s mission, not your bad choices
- Paul was on the right road for breakthrough but had the wrong mission.
2 Corinthians 5:17-19 NLT — “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.”
MOTIVATION: What Holds You Back?
Obstacle 1: “My past disqualifies me.”
- Paul said he was the worst of all sinners.
Romans 10:9 NLT — “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Obstacle 2: “I don’t know where to start.”
Psalm 37:5 AMP — “Commit your works to the Lord [submit and trust them to Him], And your plans will succeed [if you respond to His will and guidance].”
TRANSFORMATION: Your Starting Point
Decide what your starting point is: Salvation, Baptism, Join as Family, Connect, Serve, Lead?
THREE CALLS TO ACTION:
- Today — Decide: is this your starting point?
- This week — Pray for those God places in your path:
“Father, I pray you encounter [name’s] life this week. Show me an opportunity to encourage them with your hope and healing. Send me to help them find their path home to You.”
- This month — Be praying for the next one to come home.
Following Jesus, Sent On A Mission
The Community