Saul of Tarsus: Born Saul of Tarsus, the Apostle Paul was a brilliant young man, a rising star in the Jewish faith, who was a violent persecutor of Christians. But then he met Jesus, and it changed everything. Eventually, Paul would become not only the preeminent Apostle to the Roman world but one of the most influential people who has ever lived! If God changed Paul's story in such a dramatic way, what might he do with our story? Recorded on Apr 16, 2023, on Philippians 3:1-14 by Pastor David Parks.

The Life of Paul is a new sermon series (mostly) from the book of Acts in the Bible. The Apostle Paul has a fantastic story. Born Saul of Tarsus, Paul was a brilliant young man who was a violent persecutor of Christians. But then he met Jesus, which changed everything. Eventually, Paul would become not only the preeminent Apostle to the Roman world but one of the most influential people who ever lived. Paul's story offers a great case study of what it looks like to learn the way of Jesus.

Sermon Transcript

All year, we’re focusing on Learning the way of Jesus. And today, we get to start a brand new sermon series on the life of the Apostle Paul. Now, Paul’s story is a fascinating story, but also, Paul’s story serves as a great case study for learning the way of Jesus. And the reason is that Paul wasn’t raised in a Christian home. Born Saul of Tarsus, Paul was a brilliant young man who was a violent persecutor of Christians at the very start of the Christian movement. But then, Paul met Jesus, which changed everything. So, Paul, the persecutor, became Paul the Christian, and one who was persecuted himself for Christ. Eventually, Paul would become not only the preeminent Apostle to the Roman world but one of the most influential people who has ever lived. Paul’s life and ministry have influenced billions of people for 2,000 years. How did all this happen? How did someone so diametrically opposed to the Christian faith become the greatest missionary for Christ? How did the one who sought to have Christians imprisoned or killed become one who gave all of his life and suffered many hardships for the work of advancing the gospel among all peoples? In our Easter service last week, we considered the plausibility of the resurrection of Jesus. Paul’s story is a compelling piece of evidence that Jesus is alive to this day as the King of all Creation. How else would you explain his conversion? But over the course of the next ten weeks, we’ll follow the story of his life, his conversion to Christianity, his suffering, his ministry, and more. We’ll be mostly in the book of Acts, but, as we’ll do today, we’ll draw on a few passages from his letters, as well. So today, we'll begin the story of Saul of Tarsus, the mighty Apostle Paul, and our case study on learning the way of Jesus. If you have a Bible/app, please take it and open to Philippians 3:1. We’ll put the Scripture up on the screens for you as well. But we’re going to unpack this text as we work through it in four parts, and then I just have one takeaway for you at the end.

Philippians 3:1–3 (NIV), “Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. 2 Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—“ Let’s pause here. So we’re coming right into the middle of a letter, so it might feel a little random. But Paul is using really strong language here to warn his brothers and sisters in Christ about a dangerous way of thinking. We’ll get to what the threat was in a minute, but from the beginning of the letter, it’s clear that Paul is writing to Christians in the Gr...