The apostle Paul’s influence within the early Christian movement is massive. He made three missionary journeys, planting churches throughout much of the ancient Greco-Roman world. Thirteen of the letters he wrote to those various churches are included in our New Testament. Additionally, he had indirect influence through his traveling companion and attending physician, Luke, who wrote a two-volume history of Jesus’ life and of the early church. In many ways, Paul is the theological powerhouse who helped the early church articulate its theological convictions and draw out those implications for the New Covenant community of the Spirit, comprising Jews and Gentiles together as one new family. We owe so much to the apostle Paul.
This Sunday in the book of Acts, we join Paul before he was an apostle and before he was even a follower of the risen Christ. He went by the name of Saul, and was so antagonistic against Jesus and His people that he was doing everything in his power to persecute Christians into oblivion. And then one day, Jesus met him on the road to Damascus with blinding light. It was this moment that changed his life forever.
Come discover the power of the Gospel that really can change our lives. Paul went from a hostile murderer to the greatest evangelist of his time, all because of the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And that same Gospel is still changing our lives today. Because in Christ, we are loved, more than we know!
