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TAKING GROUND | Week 2 | Sermon · Rewind

Rock Point Church

Pastor Daniel Goulding · Sep 18, 2023 · 45 min watch · 2 min read

TAKING GROUND | Week 2 | Sermon

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In this message

Big Idea
Key points
Application

Scripture in this message

Acts 9
Acts 9:19
Deuteronomy 22
Acts 6
Acts 7
Acts 22

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

Changed people change people — God's plan to transform the world runs through transformed lives.

In Acts 9, the dramatic conversion of Saul of Tarsus — history's most zealous enemy of the church turned its most powerful evangelist — reveals that when someone truly encounters the risen Jesus, their entire purpose is reoriented. God does not simply adjust problems or promise prosperity; He remakes a person from the inside out, shifting their worldview, their values, and their mission. That transformation is not merely personal: changed people become change agents, and God's strategy for reaching cities, families, and the world flows through them.

Key points

1
1God's plan to change the world is to use changed people to change people.
2
2A genuine encounter with the resurrected Christ fundamentally changes your purpose for existing.
3
3Following Jesus does not remove your problems — it changes the nature and quality of your problems.
4
4If you live for the approval of people, you will be destroyed by their disapproval.
5
5True peace is experienced not in the absence of problems but in the middle of them.
6
6God must change our worldview before our behavior will ever truly change.
7
7The greatest weapon you have to spread the message of Jesus is the story God has given you.

A story from life

Pastor Daniel's story of buying and renovating an ugly, run-down house in San Diego to use for youth ministry

Illustration

C. S. Lewis quote from Mere Christianity about God rebuilding a person like a house into a palace

Application

Pastor Daniel calls every believer to stop treating Jesus as a problem-removal service and instead surrender fully to Him — trusting that He will rewrite your purpose, not just your circumstances. Practically, this means asking God to change the way you see the world: your workplace, your neighborhood, your kids' school. You are not there by accident. God has placed you in your specific sphere of influence because He wants to reach the people around you, and the most powerful tool you carry is not a program or a platform — it is your own story of transformation. The challenge this week is simple and weighty: wake up, believe that God can rewrite the story of your family and your city through you, and start having the conversations He opens the doors for.

Take it into your week

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“we're gonna see today in Acts chapter nine, just this unbelievably powerful story of transformation and life change, arguably one of the most important conversion stories in the entire Bible”
From the transcript
“I wanna start reading in verse 19. The second part of verse 19. It says that Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days and immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogue”
From the transcript
“remember the context of Saul's mind. Deuteronomy chapter 22 part of the old testament says that for a man to die to be hung on a tree, that is a cursed man”
From the transcript
“We see Saul first on the scene in Acts chapter six and seven when the first martyr of the New Testament shows up, a man named Stephen, a man who runs the lunch program for the widows”
From the transcript
“Stephen preaches this brilliant sermon that's recorded in Acts chapter seven, basically walking through meticulously all the old testament and showing exactly how it connects to Jesus”
From the transcript
“He's a man who admittingly, if you fast forward to Acts 22, he talks about how he persecuted the church. He said that's all he did. He was a known terrorist”
From the transcript
“Here's how the story continues. In verse 23, it says that after a while, some of the Jews plotted together to kill Saul”
From the transcript
“Verse 24 says, they were watching for him day and night at the city gate so that they could murder him. But Saul was told about their plot”
From the transcript
“It says in verse 26 that when Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers. Okay. Now he's trying to meet with the Christians, but they were all afraid of him”
From the transcript
“Look at this last verse that happens in here. It says in verse 31, it says, the church then had peace throughout Judea, throughout Galilee and Samaria. It became stronger as the believers lives in the fear of the Lord”

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

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

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Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7

Before Saul became Paul, he was convinced he was doing God a favor by hunting down followers of Jesus. He had credentials, zeal, and a mission — and every bit of it was aimed in the wrong direction. Then, on a road to Damascus, the risen Jesus showed up and asked a single question: 'Why are you persecuting Me?' Not 'why are you so wrong?' Not 'why are you so bad?' Just — why? There is something worth sitting with in that question. Jesus met Saul in the middle of his worst moment and reoriented him rather than condemned him. Pastor Daniel's point lands here: a genuine encounter with the resurrected Christ doesn't just adjust your behavior — it changes your entire reason for getting up in the morning. Saul thought his purpose was to destroy the church. Three days later, blind and fasting in Damascus, his purpose was being completely rewritten. That rewriting is not just a first-century story. It is the normal pattern of what Jesus does. He does not simply fix a problem or two and leave the rest of you intact. He remakes the whole thing — worldview, values, direction. The invitation today is simply to let that sink in: the same Jesus who stopped Saul on that road is alive, and He is still in the business of rewriting people's stories.

For reflection

Where in your life are you still operating with a purpose you chose for yourself rather than one shaped by an encounter with Jesus?

Pray

Pray for openness to let Jesus ask His own questions about the direction your life is currently heading.

The speed of what happens after Saul's conversion is almost jarring. He eats, regains his strength, and — almost immediately — he is in the synagogues proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God. The people who heard him were stunned. This was the man who had come to Damascus to arrest Christians, and now he was the one making the case for Jesus. Pastor Daniel's first key point rests right here: God's plan to change the world is to use changed people to change people. There is no program mentioned, no strategy meeting, no platform built. There is just a man whose inside has been turned upside down, and that change is spilling out into every conversation. This is worth holding onto when you feel like you don't have enough to offer. Saul didn't have a curriculum. He had an encounter, and he had a story. The same is true for anyone who has genuinely met Jesus. Your transformation is not just personal — it is missional. The people in your workplace, your neighborhood, your family aren't waiting for you to have all the answers. They are often waiting to see whether what you say you believe has actually changed anything about how you live. That is the most compelling argument any of us can make.

For reflection

What is one way your life looks genuinely different because of Jesus — and who around you might need to hear about that?

Pray

Pray for the courage to let your story be visible to at least one person in your sphere this week.

It did not take long before people wanted Saul dead. He had barely found his footing in his new faith when a conspiracy formed to kill him at the city gates. Pastor Daniel was honest about this: following Jesus does not remove your problems — it changes the nature and quality of your problems. That is a harder truth to sit with than a promise of ease, but it is also a more honest and ultimately more freeing one. Saul's old problems were spiritual — he was running from God and didn't know it. His new problems were real and physical, but they came with something the old ones never did: a purpose worth suffering for. There is a difference between hardship that is simply random and painful, and hardship that comes because you are moving in the direction God is calling you. Neither one feels good in the moment, but one of them has a shape to it. The disciples in Damascus lowered Saul over the city wall in a basket in the middle of the night — which is not a triumphant image. But he got out. He kept going. The problems did not stop him because his purpose was bigger than his comfort. That is not a guilt trip. It is a genuine invitation to reframe how you are looking at the hard things in your own life right now.

For reflection

Is there a difficulty in your life right now that might look different if you viewed it as part of a purpose rather than just an obstacle?

Pray

Pray for a shift in perspective about one specific hard thing you are currently walking through.

When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, the disciples were afraid of him. They weren't sure whether to believe he had really changed. And honestly — that makes complete sense. This was the man who had stood approvingly while Stephen was stoned (Acts 7). He had a track record, and that track record was terrifying. But the passage also notes that Barnabas stepped in, vouched for Saul, and brought him into the community. Two things are happening in this moment, and both of them matter. First, Saul had to keep moving forward even when people didn't believe him yet — and that required a deep confidence rooted in something other than other people's approval. Pastor Daniel put it plainly: if you live for the approval of people, you will be destroyed by their disapproval. That is not a personality observation; it is a spiritual one. When your identity is grounded in who Jesus says you are, other people's skepticism, rejection, or criticism — though it still stings — doesn't get to define you. Second, community matters. Barnabas is easy to overlook, but without him, Saul might have been shut out. You will need people who see what God is doing in you, and you may be that person for someone else.

For reflection

Whose opinion are you most tempted to build your sense of worth around, and how is that shaping the way you live?

Pray

Pray for a deeper rootedness in what Jesus says about who you are, especially in a relationship where approval feels fragile.

After the early storms of Saul's conversion and all the conflict surrounding it, Acts 9:31 offers a moment that reads almost like a slow exhale. The church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace. It was strengthened and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, and it grew in numbers. That is a remarkable sentence, and Pastor Daniel pointed to it as the theological and experiential counterpoint to everything hard that came before it. True peace is experienced not in the absence of problems but in the middle of them. The early church had been through persecution, displacement, betrayal, and uncertainty. They had not been delivered from a hard world — they had been sustained through it. The peace described in this verse is not the peace of everything being calm. It is the peace of a community walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit even in a world that was actively hostile to what they believed. That kind of peace is different from what the world offers. It is not the peace that says nothing is wrong. It is the peace that says something deeper than your circumstances is holding you. That is worth pursuing and worth asking God for today.

For reflection

Where do you most need the kind of peace this verse describes — not the removal of difficulty, but a steadiness in the middle of it?

Pray

Pray for the Holy Spirit's comfort in the specific place where your circumstances feel most unsettled right now.

In Acts 22, Saul — now Paul — stands before a hostile crowd in Jerusalem and does the most powerful thing he can think to do: he tells his own story. He does not lead with an argument or a theological framework. He says, 'Let me tell you what happened to me.' Pastor Daniel's point is clear: the greatest weapon you have to spread the message of Jesus is the story God has given you. Not a program. Not a platform. Your story. What is striking about Paul's account in Acts 22 is that he doesn't minimize the before. He describes himself as someone who had Christians arrested, imprisoned, and killed. He does not clean it up. And that honesty is part of what makes it compelling — because the contrast between who he was and who he is now is the whole point. The same logic applies to you. You don't need a dramatic before-and-after story for it to be powerful. What you need is the willingness to be honest about what life looked like before Jesus got hold of you, and then honest about what changed. Your story belongs in the conversations God is already opening around you — at work, at school, in your neighborhood. You are not there by accident. Pastor Daniel's challenge for this week was simple: start having the conversations He opens the doors for.

For reflection

How would you tell your own story of transformation in two or three honest sentences — and who in your life might need to hear it?

Pray

Pray for God to open a specific conversation this week where your story would be the most natural and truthful thing to share.

Looking back over the whole sweep of Acts 9, a single thread runs through every scene: God is not interested in making small adjustments. He remade Saul from the inside out — his worldview, his values, his mission, his relationships, his enemies, his suffering, his peace. And the strategy He used was not a program or a movement or a political moment. It was one person whose inside had been completely transformed, showing up in the places he was placed and letting that transformation do the talking. Pastor Daniel's challenge lands here at the end of the week with full weight: stop treating Jesus as a problem-removal service. Wake up, believe that God can rewrite the story of your family and your city through you, and start having the conversations He opens the doors for. That is not a call to perform or to have it all together. It is a call to show up — in your workplace, your neighborhood, your kids' school — with the honest belief that you are not there by accident. The God who remade the church's greatest enemy into its most powerful voice is not done rewriting stories. He is rewriting yours. And through you, He may be working on someone else's story too — someone who doesn't know it yet.

For reflection

What would it look like this week to live as someone God has specifically placed in your sphere of influence — and what first step feels most honest right now?

Pray

Pray for a fresh sense of purpose for the specific places and people God has already put in your path.

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

Saul of Tarsus went from hunting down followers of Jesus to becoming one of the most unstoppable voices for Him in the ancient world — this message asks what it looks like when an encounter with the risen Jesus doesn't just fix a problem but rewrites a whole purpose.

Discussion questions

1
In Acts 9:19-22, Saul immediately begins proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues — the very places where he had previously come to arrest believers. What does that kind of immediate, public reversal suggest about what a genuine encounter with the risen Jesus actually does to a person?
2
Pastor Daniel made a distinction between treating Jesus as a 'problem-removal service' and surrendering to Him fully. Looking at Saul's story in Acts 9:23-25, how do those two expectations play out differently when real opposition shows up?
3
One of the key points from this message is that if we live for the approval of people, we will be destroyed by their disapproval. How does Saul's experience in Acts 9:23-26 — rejected by his old allies and initially distrusted by his new ones — illustrate what it costs to no longer make human approval the center of your identity?
4
Acts 9:31 describes the church walking in the 'fear of the Lord' and in the 'comfort of the Holy Spirit' during a season of peace — yet that peace came on the other side of real conflict. What might that pattern teach us about where true peace is actually found?
5
Pastor Daniel challenged us that God places people in specific workplaces, neighborhoods, and schools not by accident but as part of His strategy to reach others — and that the most powerful tool we carry is our own story of transformation. What makes a personal story of transformation more or less compelling than a program or a platform, based on what we see in how Saul engaged people in this passage?
6
This message argued that God must change our worldview before our behavior will ever truly change. How might that reordering — seeing the world differently before acting differently — change the way a community of people approaches the city or neighborhood around them?

Pray together

Ask God to rewrite your purpose — not just your circumstances — and to open your eyes to the people He has already placed around you

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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TAKING GROUND

Week 2 · 3 messages

Where these passages are preached

Acts 9 Deuteronomy 22 Acts 6 Acts 7

Explore related topics

Change Agents Conversion and Transformation Encountering Jesus Personal Testimony Purpose Reorientation

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