Broken Vessels Week 1 – David Nasser

Overview

Tonight in Campus Community, we began our series Broken Vessels. For the first installment, Pastor David unpacks verses 20 -22 in the 9th chapter of Acts. In this passage of scripture, we see a newly converted Paul preaching in the synagogues. We see in the previous chapters, that Paul was completely against the mission of the church and playing for the other team. However, Jesus changed Paul’s life, and just four days after being saved, he begins preaching. Pastor David emphasized that this is still happening in today’s church in China.  Chinese converts are told to think of 5 people who are not Christians and told to share the gospel with those people.  This method appears to be “Un-American” and counter-cultural to western believers, however, Pastor David challenged us to seriously consider why we are not sharing the gospel. God uses broken vessels, like Paul and like you and me.

Verses

Acts 9:20-22

20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?”22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

Quotes

After Paul’s conversion, at once he began to preach the gospel. The takeaway — the proclamation of the gospel is not for the mature in the faith.

New believers can share the gospel with others because they have the power of God’s Word and the power of their testimony.  They do not need polish.

Paul always caused havoc! He stopped casting havoc against God and stated causing havoc for God.

Without The Gospel God’s gifts can become a curse. With The Gospel, God’s gifts become a blessing.

Whatever gift God has given you, that is the vehicle that he has given you to share the gospel with others.

When we are wrecked by the gospel, we become a wrecking ball for the gospel.

Questions

1) At times, we know that the path we are on leads to destruction, yet we have too much pride to switch teams. Is there anything holding you back from being allegiant to Christ?

2) Who are five people in your life that need to hear the gospel?  How can you share the gospel with them?

3) Do you know the gospel well enough to share it with someone else?  Do you see the power of your own testimony?  What holds you back from sharing the gospel?

4) How can a gift become either a blessing for God’s glory or a curse, causing havoc against God?  (Intellect, athleticism, beauty, humor, etc)

5) What gifts in your life could you be using to share the gospel with others?