Not Done Yet | Part 4

Pastor Bill Bush · Jul 14, 2020

Big Idea

When I surrender to the love God has for me, I will seek the life He asks of me.

God's love for us doesn't have to be earned through rule-keeping — it flows from who He is and what Jesus did on the cross. When we truly grasp that God sees not our sin but His Son, that love frees and empowers us to embrace the mission and people He puts in our lives, even when it costs us.

Key points

1
1It's relationship, not religion
Pastor Bill walks through Acts 9, where Saul, a zealous Pharisee, persecutes Christians because he believes his rule-keeping earns God's favor. He explains that religion says 'I do these things, therefore God gives me these things,' while a relationship with Jesus flows from His love, not for His love. He turns to Romans 8:1-4 to show that because of Jesus there is 'no condemnation,' introducing the idea of imputation — God no longer sees our sin, He sees His Son.
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2It's people over programs
After Saul meets Jesus, God doesn't send him a program — He sends him a person, Ananias, who overcomes his own fear to pray for Saul and restore his sight. Pastor Bill traces how the Damascus believers protect Saul, then Barnabas vouches for him with the apostles in Jerusalem and disciples him, letting Saul grow into the leader. He stresses that programs gather people but it's real relationships that transform them.
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3It's mission over myself
Pastor Bill shows that God tells Ananias Saul is His 'chosen instrument' who will also suffer for His name, and that Saul embraces this suffering rather than resisting it. He reads from 2 Corinthians 6 where Paul lists beatings, imprisonment, sleepless nights, and hunger endured for the gospel, showing a life poured out for mission rather than self.
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4Paul's final charge shows what a surrendered life looks like at the end
Turning to 2 Timothy 4, written as Paul awaits death, Pastor Bill highlights Paul's charge to Timothy to keep a clear mind, not fear suffering, and fully carry out the ministry God gave him. Paul's confidence wasn't in his own record but in Christ's righteousness imputed to him, letting him say he 'fought the good fight' without regret.

Application

Pastor Bill frames the response around his three-part shift: relationship not religion, people not programs, mission not myself.

Check whether it's relationship or religion
Ask yourself honestly whether you have a personal relationship with Jesus or are just practicing a religion of rule-keeping, trying to earn what God freely offers.
Get connected to people, not just programs
Look at whether you're growing with real people in community or just attending programs, and if you're struggling, consider whether it's because you lack real connection to others.
Embrace mission over yourself
Choose to get on mission with God even when it costs you, trusting that suffering for His name is worth it because of the love and righteousness He has already given you.
Keep a clear mind and stay faithful
Like Paul's charge to Timothy, don't chase after only what you want to hear or fear suffering — keep telling others the good news and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.

Take it into your week

Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“So we're gonna go into chapter nine. I just wanna read the story. And this is the story about how he ends up meeting Jesus. In chapter nine, it says, meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats”
From the transcript
“And if you go to the book of Romans chapter eight, I think it'll pop up on the screen here, This is Paul writing this later on in his life. Later on, he's already come to know Jesus”
From the transcript
“And what's interesting is in Romans seven, he's talking about how we're no longer bound to the law. The law was the rules. And and he says the law's not bad”
From the transcript
“I just wanna read the first four verses of chapter eight. He says, so now, when you understand that you know Jesus, he goes, so now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus”
From the transcript
“Look at verse 10. Says, now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord spoke to him in a vision calling Ananias. Yes, Lord, he replied”
From the transcript
“I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again. So I'm giving you the vision of who he is”
From the transcript
“Verse 13, but Lord, exclaimed Ananias, I've heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to believers in Jerusalem”
From the transcript
“But then look what it says in in verse 14 15. But the Lord said, go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel”
From the transcript
“if you go to chapter 13, which is, you know, we're gonna look at what happens in between, he grows to this point where where God sends him and he's the guy that ends up starting to fulfill the last part of Acts one eight”
From the transcript
“But then look what it says in verse 16. And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake. Wait, what”
From the transcript
“verse 17 then says, so Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him. Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road has sent me so that you might regain your sight and”
From the transcript
“And look at verse 21, all who heard him were amazed. Isn't this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus' followers in Jerusalem? They asked”
From the transcript
“it says Saul, verse 22, Saul's preaching became more and more powerful. Meaning, he got more and more throat punchy”
From the transcript
“Verse 29. He debated with some Greek speaking Jews, but they tried to murder him. Paul was probably he was man, I think I'm kinda throat punchy”
From the transcript
“I wanna go read that again. When the Lord said to this guy, Ananias, who was afraid of going to talk to Paul, he said, Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles, the kings, as well as the people of Israel”
From the transcript
“If you just turn over, I wanna read something out of second Corinthians. He wrote in a church he started in in Corinth, and in first Corinthians, he was challenging the people to to to you know what”
From the transcript
“As God's partners in chapter six, he he talks about how I beg you. He says, you need to accept the love of Christ. That's the first couple verses. And he goes, you need to to lean into your salvation”
From the transcript
“Because then in verse three, he says this, we live in such a way, he's talking about himself and his missionary partners, that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry”
From the transcript
“I wanna read one last little passage. And if you go to it's second Timothy. This is the last thing that Paul wrote why he was still alive. He was in jail”
From the transcript
“chapter four in in second Timothy, this is the last chapter of scripture we think he wrote. He knew he was gonna die. He's at the end of his life, and he's trying to encourage this younger pastor, Timothy”
From the transcript
“In verse three, he says, for a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears wanna hear”
From the transcript
“He loved the book of Romans. It was his favorite book in the Bible, and his favorite chapter was Romans chapter eight. He loved, there is now no condemnation for those who have Jesus”

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Day 1

Before Paul was an apostle, he was Saul — a man absolutely certain he was on God's side. He had the credentials, the zeal, the doctrinal precision. And he was dead wrong. What stopped him on the Damascus road wasn't an argument or a better theology; it was an encounter. Jesus didn't hand Saul a corrected rulebook. He asked a personal question: 'Why are you persecuting Me?' That question cuts to something Pastor Bill pressed on hard: the difference between a religion and a relationship. Religion says, 'Here is what you must do to be right with God.' Relationship says, 'God has already moved toward you — what will you do with that?' Saul's entire framework had to collapse before something real could be built. That's not a comfortable moment, and the text doesn't dress it up as one. Saul was on the ground, blind, and shaken. But it was precisely there — stripped of his credentials and his confidence — that Jesus met him. If you've ever felt like your faith was more about performance than presence, you're in good company with the man who would become Paul. The starting point isn't trying harder. It's letting the question land: 'Who are you, Lord?'

For reflection

In what areas of your faith have you been operating more like a contractor trying to fulfill a deal than a person loved unconditionally by God?

Pray

Pray for honesty about whether your faith has felt more like a contract to keep than a relationship to rest in.

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message centers on a single, surprising claim: that the Christian life was never meant to be a contract we fulfill, but a relationship we receive — and Paul's story in Acts 9 is one of the clearest pictures of what that shift actually looks like.

Discussion questions

1
In Acts 9, Paul was one of the most zealous religious observers of his day — and yet Pastor Bill described his faith as contractual rather than relational. Looking at what the passage shows about Paul before and after the Damascus road, what do you think the difference actually is between those two ways of living?
2
Romans 8:1 opens with 'there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.' Pastor Bill connected that to the idea of imputation — that God sees His Son when He looks at us. What does that claim do to the way we might think about our standing before God day to day?
3
After his conversion, Paul wasn't handed a curriculum — he was given people: Ananias, the Damascus believers, Barnabas. What do you notice about the role each of those relationships played in his growth, and what might that suggest about how spiritual formation actually works?
4
Pastor Bill drew a distinction between programs that bring people together and relationships that actually transform them. How might a community of people — a group like this one — lean more toward the kind of relationships he was describing?
5
In Acts 9:15-16, God tells Ananias that Paul will suffer greatly for the mission — and Paul later embraces that suffering willingly. Pastor Bill argued it wasn't because Paul was earning anything, but because he trusted the God who loved him. What does that suggest about the connection between receiving grace and being willing to give something up?
6
At the end of his life, in 2 Timothy 4, Paul describes himself as being 'poured out like an offering' and looks forward to the crown of righteousness. Pastor Bill also pointed to his own father as someone who lived that way. What does a life that ends like Paul's — costly but full — actually look like in ordinary, everyday terms?

Pray together

Receiving God's love as the starting point — not a finish line to reach — and the courage to let that love shape what we're willing to give

Topics

Christian Community God's Mission Grace Over Works Imputation of Christ's Righteousness Relationship With God

Not Done Yet | Part 4

Big Idea

Key points

Application

Take it into your week

Scripture in this message

7-day devotional

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Small-group discussion guide

Open

Discussion questions

Pray together